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HAVRE, Mont. (AP) — When Alicia Navarro disappeared in 2019 from her home in a Phoenix suburb days before her 15th birthday, she left a signed note for her family promising she would return.
“I will be back, I swear,” the note read. “I’m sorry.”
Believing she would keep her promise, Jessica Nunez never stopped searching for her daughter.
She paid for a billboard ad in Mexico that featured a photo of her daughter for a year. She bought 10 more ads in Las Vegas. She spoke at events and gave media interviews to raise awareness. She left flyers all around Glendale — at salons, truck stops, parks.
Nunez’s yearslong search came to an end Sunday when her daughter, now 18, walked into a small-town Montana police station near the Canadian border and identified herself as the missing teenager.
Police said Navarro told them she hadn’t been harmed, wasn’t being held, and could come and go as she pleased. She does not face any criminal charges, they added.
Investigators are now trying to determine what happened to Navarro after she disappeared and how she ended up in Havre, Montana, more than 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) from her home.
A spokesperson for the Glendale police said Friday that no one has been taken into custody in Navarro’s disappearance. Officer Gina Winn declined to say whether investigators know how long Navarro was in Montana.
Glendale police Lt. Scott Waite said at a news conference Wednesday they were looking into all the possible scenarios that could have led to Navarro’s disappearance, including kidnapping.
Over the years, Nunez had raised concerns that Navarro, who was diagnosed with autism, may have been lured away by someone she met online.
In Havre — a town of about 9,200 people surrounded by farmland and north of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation — Navarro’s story had residents buzzing even though most had never seen or heard of her. It also piqued interest when a team of heavily armed law enforcement officers entered an apartment and took a man into custody just a few blocks from the Havre police station Wednesday night, witnesses told The Associated Press.
As many as 10 uniformed and undercover officers showed up at about 8 p.m. and took him away in handcuffs. The man had been living in the apartment, said Rick Lieberg, who lives across the street.
A young woman later emerged from the apartment — one of six units in an aging building in a residential neighborhood — who Lieberg said he had not previously seen. The woman resembled a photograph of Navarro that was released by police, he said.
Jonathan Michaelson, who lives next door, said he was questioned Wednesday night by a plainclothes police officer from Arizona who asked whether he had ever seen a girl at the apartment next door. He said he had not.
“If she was in that apartment, I’m surprised I never saw her,” Michaelson said.
A person who works at the Dollar Tree in Havre, Jeff Hummert, said he saw a young woman resembling a photograph of Navarro last year in a city park just up the street from the apartment raided by police Wednesday. She was walking alone and carrying a plastic Walmart bag, Hummert said.
Theories about how Navarro came to be in Montana topped the conversation Friday among the regulars at a coffee shop inside Gary & Leo’s IGA, a grocery store in downtown Havre. With scant details from authorities, most of the talk — about Navarro’s possible destination and whether she was being coerced — was conjecture, said former county Coroner Steve Sapp, who joined the discussion.
“When you’re in law enforcement, all these different stories about what happened make it hard to tell which story is really true,” Sapp said. “I would really like to know more.”
Nunez declined an interview request. But for years, she had documented her efforts to find her daughter on a Facebook page titled “Finding Alicia” and an audio podcast. In an emotional video viewed more than 200,000 times since it was posted Wednesday, Nunez told her tens of thousands of followers: “For everyone who has missing loved ones, I want you to use this case as an example. Miracles do exist. Never lose hope and always fight.”
Nunez had amassed a loyal following on social media throughout the years while sharing inspirational quotes, photos of Navarro as a young child and posts addressed directly to her daughter.
“Alicia I know you will fulfill what you promised,” Nunez wrote in one post. “You will be back.”
People across the U.S. reached out to the Arizona mother to ask how they could help, creating an informal network of volunteers. They shared photos and information through the Facebook page.
Glendale police said this week that they received thousands of tips over the years.
In a short video clip that Glendale police said was taken shortly after Navarro arrived at the Montana police station, she can be heard telling authorities, “No one hurt me.” In another short video, Navarro thanked the police.
“Thank you for offering help to me,” she said.
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Yamat reported from Las Vegas. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-arizona-mom-never-stopped-looking-for-her-missing-daughter-she-showed-up-4-years-later-in-montana/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:31 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-arizona-mom-never-stopped-looking-for-her-missing-daughter-she-showed-up-4-years-later-in-montana/ |
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.wmar2news.com/lake-mead-expected-to-gain-20-feet-of-water-by-end-of-2023 | 2023-07-28T23:37:35 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/lake-mead-expected-to-gain-20-feet-of-water-by-end-of-2023 |
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The new prosecutor in Oklahoma’s biggest county announced Friday she’s dropping criminal charges against seven police officers in three separate fatal shootings from 2020, including one in which five officers were charged with killing a 15-year-old boy outside a convenience store.
District Attorney Vicki Behenna’s predecessor and fellow Democrat, David Prater, had filed criminal charges against the police officers before leaving office. Behenna said she hired a use-of-force expert to examine the evidence, and her office spent hundreds of hours reviewing the three cases.
“Under Oklahoma law, these shootings were justified,” Behenna said at a news conference.
“This was not just a quick, spur-of-the-moment decision. This was a very difficult, very fact-intensive decision and review,” she said.
The charges were dismissed with prejudice, which means they are permanently dismissed and can’t be refiled, she said.
A former federal prosecutor and defense attorney from the suburb of Edmond, Behenna is the first woman elected top prosecutor in the state’s most populous county. She defeated conservative Republican Kevin Calvey last year to win a four-year term.
The most high-profile case dismissed Friday involved five Oklahoma City officers charged with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Stavian Rodriguez. The teen was shot on Nov. 23, 2020, by officers responding to reports of an attempted armed robbery at a convenience store.
TV news reports of the shooting showed video of the boy dropping a gun then reaching toward his waist before being shot.
Willard Paige, the investigator for the previous district attorney, said the officers fired live rounds “unnecessarily,” and that an autopsy determined Rodriguez suffered 13 gunshot wounds.
Initially charged in the shooting were officers Bethany Sears, Jared Barton, Corey Adams, John Skuta and Brad Pemberton. All five have been on paid administrative leave since the shooting.
The teen’s mother, Cameo Holland, said in a statement that she intends to work to change the law to make it easier for police to be criminally charged.
“When the district attorney of Oklahoma County apologizes to your face for the justice system failing you, it’s clear we need changes in the law,” Holland said.
Behenna said Friday that she does not take these decisions lightly.
“These families are grieving,” she said. “No matter what this office does or says, these families are forever changed.”
Holland has a pending civil rights excessive force lawsuit against Oklahoma City and the five officers in federal court.
In another Oklahoma City case, Sgt. Clifford Holman was charged with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of 60-year-old Bennie Edward.
Holman, who is white, had responded to a call of a Black man harassing customers at a business in north Oklahoma City, according to a police affidavit by homicide detective Bryn Carter. When he arrived at the scene, Holman encountered Edwards, who was holding a knife and refusing officers’ commands to drop it, the affidavit states.
The shooting sparked days of protests and demonstrations by Black Lives Matter groups and other activists.
The third case involved The Village officer Chance Avery, who was charged with second-degree murder in the July 2020 shooting death of Christopher Pool.
Avery was called to the home by Pool’s wife, who was retrieving personal belongings, when Pool ran inside carrying a bat and was shot by Avery after refusing to drop it, police said.
Gary James, an attorney for Avery and Adams, one of the officers charged in the Rodriguez shooting, said he was “ecstatic” about Behenna’s decision.
“We’ve got seven police officers who were just doing their duty, and were placed in a position by all three of the deceased that they had to use deadly force,” James said.
Although criminal charges against police officers are not common, previous district attorney Prater — himself an ex-cop who served 16 years as the county’s top prosecutor — had secured criminal convictions against officers before.
In 2013, Del City police Capt. Randy Harrison was sentenced to four years in prison for second-degree manslaughter after shooting an unarmed teenager in the back as he ran away following a scuffle.
In 2019, another Oklahoma City police sergeant, Keith Sweeney, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a jury convicted him of second-degree murder in the shooting death of an unarmed, suicidal man.
Behenna said that in future cases involving police shootings, she will present evidence to a multi-county grand jury to make a decision on whether to file criminal charges, rather than making that decision herself.
Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley said the department has implemented “significant changes” since the fatal shootings, such as creating a training unit that has worked with every officer on de-escalation strategies. The chief’s statement Friday said officers are also provided with additional less-lethal equipment, like stun guns and weapons that deploy bean bags, as well as crisis-intervention training. | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/ap-charges-dropped-against-7-oklahoma-police-officers-in-3-separate-fatal-shootings/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:39 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/ap-charges-dropped-against-7-oklahoma-police-officers-in-3-separate-fatal-shootings/ |
8,600 lost power in Oak Ridge Wednesday afternoon
There's now more information about a widespread power outage in Oak Ridge last Wednesday afternoon.
Approximately 8,600 customers lost electricity on Wednesday afternoon, according to Lauren Gray, the city's senior communications specialist stated Thursday afternoon.
She stated in an email that the outage was caused by a static wire that fell on the city of Oak Ridge's transmission line and across one of the city’s distribution circuits. Electric crews had to replace the static line and repair some damages to the distribution circuit.
"We do not believe this was due to heat and we are not aware of any significant impact that was caused due to the outage," Gray stated.
Power went out at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday and came back sporadically as city Electric Department crews "were able to close different areas in, and had everyone back up by 4:05 p.m." | https://www.oakridger.com/story/news/local/2023/07/28/8600-lost-power-in-oak-ridge-wednesday-afternoon/70488556007/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:39 | 1 | https://www.oakridger.com/story/news/local/2023/07/28/8600-lost-power-in-oak-ridge-wednesday-afternoon/70488556007/ |
HAVRE, Mont. (AP) — An Arizona teenager who disappeared days before her 15th birthday nearly four years ago is safe after walking into a small-town police station in Montana this week, authorities announced Wednesday.
Police in Havre, Montana, said Alicia Navarro, now 18, showed up alone Sunday morning in the town of about 9,200 people near the Canadian border and identified herself as a missing teenager from the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.
Navarro’s disappearance on Sept. 15, 2019, sparked a massive search that included the FBI. Glendale police spokesperson Jose Santiago said over the years, police had received thousands of tips.
Investigators are now trying to determine what happened to Navarro after vanishing at age 14 and how she ended up in Montana, more than 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) away from her hometown.
When she disappeared, Navarro left a signed note that read: “I ran away. I will be back, I swear. I’m sorry.”
But her mother, Jessica Nunez, raised concerns that Navarro, who was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum, may have been lured away by someone she met online.
Law enforcement officers took a man into custody at an apartment just a few blocks from the Havre police station on Wednesday night, according to several witnesses interviewed by The Associated Press.
As many as 10 heavily-armed uniformed and undercover officers showed up about 8 p.m. and took away in handcuffs the man who had been living in the apartment, said Rick Lieberg, who lives across the street.
A young woman later emerged from the apartment who Lieberg said he had not previously seen. He said the woman resembled a photograph of Navarro that has been released by police.
“She came out, talked to the officers, then two ladies pulled up and then she got into a car with them and they left,” Lieberg said.
Officers remained on the scene for several hours, taking pictures and doing other work inside the apartment, Lieberg said. He said the young woman returned to the apartment building with the two women on Thursday, but he did not see her go into the apartment.
A second witness, Jonathan Michaelson, who lives next door, said he was questioned at the scene by a plainclothes police officer who said he was from Arizona and asked if Michaelson had ever seen a girl at the apartment. He said he had not.
“If she was in that apartment, I’m surprised I never saw her,” Michaelson said.
Glendale police Lt. Scott Waite, the lead investigator, said they were looking into all the possible scenarios that could have led to Navarro’s disappearance, including kidnapping.
“As much as we’d like to say this is the end,” Waite said, “we know this is only the beginning of where this investigation will go.”
Police said Navarro told them after her arrival at the station she hadn’t been harmed, wasn’t being held and could come and go as she pleased. She does not face any criminal charges, they added.
In a short video clip that police said was taken shortly after Navarro arrived at the police station this week, she can be heard telling authorities, “No one hurt me.”
In another short video, Navarro thanked the police.
“Thank you for offering help to me,” she said.
Authorities in both Montana and Arizona haven’t said how long Navarro had been in Havre before walking into the police station. Havre is surrounded by farmland and is north of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.
Waite described Navarro’s reunion this week with her mother as “emotionally overwhelming” and that Navarro said she was sorry for “what she has put her mother through.”
In an emotional video posted Wednesday to a Facebook account titled “Finding Alicia,” Nunez told her tens of thousands of followers, “I want to give glory to God for answering prayers and for this miracle.”
Nunez had been documenting her efforts to find her daughter on the Facebook page throughout the years. The account features hundreds of posts with photos of Navarro as a young child and pictures of Nunez holding up signs that read, “Children don’t just disappear!”
“For everyone who has missing loved ones, I want you to use this case as an example,” Nunez said in the video, which had been viewed more than 200,000 times. “Miracles do exist. Never lose hope and always fight.”
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Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writers Robert Jablon in Los Angeles and Amy Hanson in Helena, Montana, contributed. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-arizona-teen-alicia-navarro-missing-since-2019-shows-up-safe-at-montana-police-station/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:39 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-arizona-teen-alicia-navarro-missing-since-2019-shows-up-safe-at-montana-police-station/ |
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?”
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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and Metz reported from Salt Lake City.
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Follow Josh Funk on Twitter at www.twitter.com/funkwrite | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/ap-montana-train-derailment-report-renews-calls-for-automated-systems-to-detect-track-problems/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:39 | 0 | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/ap-montana-train-derailment-report-renews-calls-for-automated-systems-to-detect-track-problems/ |
HOUSTON (AP) — Just moments before rap superstar Travis Scott took the stage at the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival, a contract worker had been so worried about what might happen after seeing people getting crushed that he texted an event organizer saying, “Someone’s going to end up dead,” according to a police report released Friday.
The texts by security contract worker Reece Wheeler were some of many examples in the nearly 1,300-page report in which festival workers highlighted problems and warned of possible deadly consequences. The report includes transcripts of concertgoers’ 911 calls and summaries of police interviews, including one with Scott conducted just days after the event.
The crowd surge at the Nov. 5, 2021, outdoor festival in Houston killed 10 attendees who ranged in age from 9 to 27. The official cause of death was compression asphyxia, which an expert likened to being crushed by a car. About 50,000 people attended the festival.
“Pull tons over the rail unconscious. There’s panic in people eyes. This could get worse quickly,” Reece Wheeler texted Shawna Boardman, one of the private security directors, at 9 p.m. Wheeler then texted, “I know they’ll try to fight through it but I would want it on the record that I didn’t advise this to continue. Someone’s going to end up dead.”
Scott’s concert began at 9:02 p.m. In their review of video from the concert’s livestream, police investigators said that at 9:13 p.m., they heard the faint sound of someone saying, “Stop the show.” The same request could also be heard at 9:16 p.m. and 9:22 p.m.
In an Aug. 19, 2022, police interview, Boardman’s attorneys told investigators that Boardman “saw things were not as bad as Reece Wheeler stated” and decided not to pass along Wheeler’s concerns to anyone else.
A grand jury declined to indict anyone who was investigated over the event, including Scott, Boardman and four other people.
During a police interview conducted two days after the concert, Scott told investigators that although he did see one person near the stage getting medical attention, overall the crowd seemed to be enjoying the show and he did not see any signs of serious problems.
“We asked if he at any point heard the crowd telling him to stop the show. He stated that if he had heard something like that he would have done something,” police said in their summary of Scott’s interview.
Hip-hop artist Drake, who performed with Scott at the concert, told police that it was difficult to see from the stage what was going on in the crowd and that he didn’t hear concertgoers’ pleas to stop the show.
Drake found out about the tragedy later that night from his manager, while learning more on social media, police said in their summary.
Marty Wallgren, who worked for a security consulting firm hired by the festival, told police that when he went backstage and tried to tell representatives for Scott and Drake that the concert needed to end because people had been hurt and might have died, he was told “Drake still has three more songs,” according to an interview summary.
Daniel Johary, a college student who got trapped in the crush of concertgoers and later used his skills working as an EMT in Israel to help an injured woman, told investigators hundreds of people had chanted for Scott to stop the music and that the chants could be heard “from everywhere.”
“He stated staff members in the area gave thumbs-up and did not care,” according to the police report.
Richard Rickeada, a retired Houston police officer who was working for a private security company at the festival, told investigators that from 8 a.m. the day of the concert, things were “pretty much in chaos,” according to a police summary of his interview. His concerns and questions about whether the concert should be held were “met with a lot of shrugged shoulders,” he said.
About 23 minutes into the concert, cameraman Gregory Hoffman radioed into the show’s production trailer to warn that “people were dying.” Hoffman was operating a large crane that held a television camera before it was overrun with concertgoers who needed medical help, police said.
The production team radioed Hoffman to ask when they could get the crane back in operation.
Salvatore Livia, who was hired to direct the live show, told police that following Hoffman’s dire warning, people in the production trailer understood that something was not right, but “they were disconnected to the reality of (what) was happening out there,” according to a police summary of Livia’s interview.
Concertgoer Christopher Gates, then 22, told police that by the second or third song in Scott’s performance, he came across about five people on the ground who he believed were already dead.
Their bodies were “lifeless, pale, and their lips were blue/purple,” according to the police report. Random people in the crowd – not medics – provided CPR.
The police report was released about a month after the grand jury in Houston declined to indict Scott on any criminal charges in connection with the deadly concert. Police Chief Troy Finner had said the report was being made public so that people could “read the entire investigation” and come to their own conclusions about the case. During a news conference after the grand jury’s decision, Finner declined to say what the overall conclusion of his agency’s investigation was or whether police should have stopped the concert sooner.
The report’s release also came the same day that Scott released his new album, “Utopia.”
More than 500 lawsuits were filed over the deaths and injuries at the concert, including many against concert promoter Live Nation and Scott. Some have since been settled.
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Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
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Find more AP coverage of the Astroworld festival: https://apnews.com/hub/astroworld-festival-deaths | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/ap-worker-warned-organizer-someones-going-to-end-up-dead-before-crowd-surge-at-21-travis-scott-show/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:40 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/ap-worker-warned-organizer-someones-going-to-end-up-dead-before-crowd-surge-at-21-travis-scott-show/ |
ANNAPOLIS, MD — Pouring up a cold one for a cause, the public library in Anne Arundel County is teaming up with breweries to raise money to support the libraries efforts in keeping books available to all.
"Our library system, libraries across the country offer programs and access to all and we believe that you should be able to read whatever you want and that's reflected in the collection here in our library," said Cathleen Sparrow - executive director of the public library.
To help, four different breweries are coming up with their own beers inspired by different books people have tried to get banned.
Like Pherm Brewing's Lawn Boy inspired Mexican lager.
"I have three daughters, they go to the library it's cool to support and work and have it be a full circle type thing. We always try to have events here that have a ton of community participation," said Henry Jager, the owner of the brewery.
The library is using the money to fund its programming, things like art classes or journaling nights.
Through that work they believe they're helping to push back on the efforts to ban books.
"We're a community connector, we want people to be educated and make their own choice. You can't make your own choice if you're limited in what we offer or what you can read. I also think some of the damage is if we have one kind of thought process we have one kind of society." said Sparrow.
20 percent of the beer sales go towards the library.
At each location the brewery is also selling merchandise like pint glasses supporting reading banned books.
The full event list can be found on the library's website. | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/breweries-library-team-up-to-push-back-against-banning-books | 2023-07-28T23:37:42 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/breweries-library-team-up-to-push-back-against-banning-books |
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.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/dont-call-it-a-heat-wave-expert-weighs-in-after-a-month-of-record-breaking-heat | 2023-07-28T23:37:45 | 0 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/dont-call-it-a-heat-wave-expert-weighs-in-after-a-month-of-record-breaking-heat |
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Immigration advocates said Thursday that an online appointment system to seek asylum at the U.S. border with Mexico is out of reach for many migrants, in the latest legal challenge to the Biden administration’s immigration agenda.
The lawsuit says the administration, often working with Mexican authorities, has physically blocked migrants from claiming asylum at land crossings with Mexico unless they have an appointment through the CBP One app. It says the app is “impossible” for those with inferior internet access, language difficulties or lack of technical know-how. Appointments are capped at 1,450 a day.
“CBP One essentially creates an electronic waitlist that restricts access to the U.S. asylum process to a limited number of privileged migrants,” according to the lawsuit by advocacy groups Al Otro Lado and the Haitian Bridge Alliance and would-be asylum-seekers from Mexico, Haiti, Nicaragua and Russia who say they couldn’t get appointments while waiting in Mexico.
More than 38,000 people were processed for entry using CBP One in June and more than 170,000 got appointments during the first six months of the year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said last week.
CBP said late Thursday that use of the app has increased processing at land crossings to “historic levels,” significantly expanding access to asylum and humanitarian protections. At the same time, the agency said it continues to serve people “who walk up to a port of entry without an appointment.”
The lawsuit is the latest legal threat to the Biden administration’s carrot-and-stick approach to the border that combines new avenues for legal entry, like CBP One, and shuts down routes to asylum for those who enter the country without government permission.
Officials say the approach is working, noting a sharp drop in illegal crossings since a rule took effect on May 11 that allows authorities to deny asylum to migrants who arrive at the border without applying on CBP One or seeking protection in another country they passed through. In June, authorities stopped migrants nearly 145,000 times, the lowest level since February 2021 and down 43% from December’s peak.
But the lawsuits complicate President Joe Biden’s efforts to introduce new policies.
“Litigation is, to a certain extent, dictating immigration policy along the border, also in the interior,” Kathleen Bush-Joseph, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank, said.
A look at some of the other legal challenges and where they stand:
The government is appealing a federal judge’s decision to block the new asylum rule. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar delayed his ruling from taking effect for two weeks. It may fall to an appeals court to decide whether to keep the rule in place during what may be a lengthy challenge.
Some legal observers don’t expect a final resolution until 2025, probably in the Supreme Court.
Another closely watched case challenges the administration’s policy to grant parole for two years to up to 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela if they apply online with a financial sponsor and arrive at an airport. Texas is leading 21 states to argue that Biden overreached his authority, saying it “amounts to the creation of a new visa program that allows hundreds of thousands of aliens to enter the United States who otherwise have no basis for doing so.”
A trial is scheduled Aug. 24 in Victoria, Texas, before U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton. Legal observers anticipate a decision in the fall.
Mexico says the policy was critical to it agreeing to take back people from those four countries who enter the U.S. illegally and are denied asylum.
An appeals court could rule soon on the Biden administration’s use of what is known as humanitarian parole, in which asylum-seekers are released in the U.S. while they pursue cases in immigration court.
U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II said in a March ruling prohibiting the practice that the administration “effectively turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand.”
The Border Patrol paroled 572,575 migrants last year, including a record-high 130,563 in December. The practice sharply subsided even before the administration lost a lawsuit by the state of Florida, but it wants the option in case Border Patrol stations become too overcrowded.
Texas sued the administration in May to block Biden’s policies, particularly the use of CBP One. “The Biden Administration’s attempt to manage the southern border by app does not meet even the lowest expectation of competency and runs afoul of the laws Congress passed to regulate immigration,” the lawsuit states.
Indiana and 17 other states sued the administration on similar grounds, saying in its federal lawsuit filed in North Dakota that new policies “will further degrade our nation’s border security and make it even easier to illegally immigrate into the United States.”
Neither case appears headed toward swift resolution. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-as-illegal-crossings-drop-the-legal-challenges-over-bidens-us-mexico-border-policies-grow/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:45 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-as-illegal-crossings-drop-the-legal-challenges-over-bidens-us-mexico-border-policies-grow/ |
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.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force | 2023-07-28T23:37:46 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force |
BALTIMORE — The Department of Public Works announced Friday that while one pump at Cromwell Pumping Station is back in operation, there is still work to be done.
So far, the pump is in partial operation, pumping 15 million gallons of water through the system, according to the city agency.
Since the fire back on July 13 that knocked out electricity and caused major damage to equipment, the station's electricity has been restored, and repairs to the valve, motor, and control system have been made.
DPW says that repairs will continue through next week to evaluate the water system's performance and evaluate lifting the Voluntary Water Restriction Notice now that the pump station has resumed partial operations.
Residents and businesses are urged to continue to the Voluntary Water Restriction Notice to reduce excessive water usage. This system-wide voluntary water conservation request remains in effect for Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Howard County. | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/dpw-urges-residents-to-continue-to-conserve-water-as-they-repair-cromwell-pumping-station | 2023-07-28T23:37:48 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/dpw-urges-residents-to-continue-to-conserve-water-as-they-repair-cromwell-pumping-station |
Comedian and actor Frankie Quiñones talks about the second season of the show This Fool, now streaming on Hulu.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Comedian and actor Frankie Quiñones talks about the second season of the show This Fool, now streaming on Hulu.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/hulus-this-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles | 2023-07-28T23:37:51 | 0 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/hulus-this-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles |
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. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-the-daughter-of-son-hunter-and-an-arkansas-woman/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:52 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-the-daughter-of-son-hunter-and-an-arkansas-woman/ |
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.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/where-trumps-legal-issues-stand-as-he-sees-more-charges-in-classified-documents-case | 2023-07-28T23:37:52 | 1 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/where-trumps-legal-issues-stand-as-he-sees-more-charges-in-classified-documents-case |
As volunteer firefighters, Matt and Amanda Runyon are used to waking up to news of a fire. But on Tuesday night, it wasn't a phone call that got the couple out of bed. It was the smell of smoke, and the sight of flames in their living room in Westminster.
Ring doorbell footage shows the couple's two kids running out of the home.
"We quickly just got the kids out, got the animals out, and just watched our lives fall apart," said Amanda Runyon.
"We're used to being there to help people on their worst day, and now we face that worst day too," Matt Runyon said.
Instinct took over. The couple and their two sons - also junior firefighters - tried dumping water on furniture. It would prove useless.
"It went from being able to see clearly to - you can't see your hand in front of your face," Amanda recalled.
Used to jumping into action right away, the couple remembers feeling helpless as they waited for emergency crews to arrive - their fellow volunteers.
Matt volunteers for the Pleasant Valley Community Fire Company. Amanda is a firefighter and paramedic at Reese & Community Volunteer Fire Company.
By the time the fire engines left the station, some of the crew realized - they were going to their fellow firefighter's home.
"And i said, I know that address," said Sam Mann, chaplain and public information officer for the Reese & Community Volunteer Fire Company.
"We're a family here. And it's tough, it's a tough situation. Even though I've been doing this 40 some years, when it's one of your own, it's a tough situation," said Kenneth Hyde, assistant chief and president of the Reese & Community Volunteer Fire Company.
The next morning, those same people sprang into action once again, setting up a GoFundMe, and collecting donations of clothing and food.
It didn't take long for the community to step up too.
"We had almost a whole engine bay full of clothing," said Linda Bowen, member of the Reese & Community Volunteer Fire Company.
So far - the GoFundMehas raised more than $14,000 for this family of four.
"We can't even express how appreciative we are," Matt said.
The cause of the fire is officially undetermined, but the family believes it was started by a candle.
You can donate to the GoFundMe here. | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/husband-and-wife-firefighters-lose-home-to-fire-in-westminster | 2023-07-28T23:37:54 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/local/husband-and-wife-firefighters-lose-home-to-fire-in-westminster |
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.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid | 2023-07-28T23:37:57 | 0 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid |
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.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail | 2023-07-28T23:37:58 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday giving decisions on the prosecution of serious military crimes, including sexual assault, to independent military attorneys, taking that power away from victims’ commanders.
The order formally implements legislation passed by Congress in 2022 aimed at strengthening protections for service members, who were often at the mercy of their commanders to decide whether to take their assault claims seriously.
Members of Congress, frustrated with the growing number of sexual assaults in the military, fought with defense leaders for several years over the issue. They argued that commanders at times were willing to ignore charges or incidents in their units to protect those accused of offenses and that using independent lawyers would beef up prosecutions. Military leaders balked, saying it could erode commanders’ authority.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York spent about a decade in an uphill battle to reform how the military handles sexual assaults and get the legislative changes passed that were codified through Biden’s order.
“While it will take time to see the results of these changes, these measures will instill more trust, professionalism, and confidence in the system,” Gillibrand said.
The change was among more than two dozen recommendations made in 2021 by an independent review commission on sexual assault in the military that was set up by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. And it was included in the annual defense bill last year. But since it requires a change to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, it needed formal presidential action.
In a call with reporters previewing the order, senior Biden administration officials said it was the most sweeping change to the military legal code since it was created in 1950.
The Pentagon had already been moving forward with the change. A year ago, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force set up the new special trial counsel offices, which will assume authority over prosecution decisions by the end of this year. Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, that prosecution authority will expand to include sexual harassment cases.
The changes come as the military grapples with rising numbers of reported sexual assaults in its ranks.
While the services have made inroads in making it easier and safer for troops to come forward, they have had far less success reducing the number of assaults, which have increased nearly every year since 2006. Overall, there were more than 8,942 reports of sexual assaults involving service members during the 2022 fiscal year, a slight increase over 8,866 the year before.
Defense officials have long argued that an increase in reported assaults is a positive trend because so many people are reluctant to report them, both in the military and in society as a whole. Greater reporting, they say, shows there is more confidence in the reporting system, greater comfort with the support for victims, and a growing number of offenders who are being held accountable.
___
Associated Press writer Lolita Baldor contributed to this report. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-biden-orders-changes-to-the-military-code-of-justice-for-sexual-assault-victims/ | 2023-07-28T23:37:58 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-biden-orders-changes-to-the-military-code-of-justice-for-sexual-assault-victims/ |
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.wmar2news.com/lori-vallow-daybell-sentencing-here-s-what-to-expect | 2023-07-28T23:38:00 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/lori-vallow-daybell-sentencing-here-s-what-to-expect |
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.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force | 2023-07-28T23:38:03 | 0 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force |
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.wmar2news.com/why-are-mobile-home-residents-more-likely-to-be-killed-by-a-tornado | 2023-07-28T23:38:06 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/why-are-mobile-home-residents-more-likely-to-be-killed-by-a-tornado |
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. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-defense-presses-case-that-mental-illness-spurred-pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:05 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-defense-presses-case-that-mental-illness-spurred-pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre/ |
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.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail | 2023-07-28T23:38:09 | 0 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail |
PHOENIX (AP) — Homeless in America’s hottest big metro, Stefon James Dewitt Livengood was laid out for days inside his makeshift dwelling, struggling to breath, nauseous and vomiting.
Every day this month, temperatures have soared past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius).
Livengood said he stopped briefly at a free clinic that took his blood pressure and declared it acceptable. But he received no other medical help for his apparent heat exhaustion, or for the peeling skin on his arms he believes was caused by sun exposure. He is careful when he walks through the sprawling tent city, cognizant that if he falls, the simmering black asphalt could seriously burn his skin.
“If you’re going outside, let somebody know where you’re going so you can be tracked so you don’t pass out out there,” he said. “If you fall out in the heat, you don’t want a third degree burn from the ground.”
The 38-year-old sleeps in a structure cobbled together with a frame of scavenged wood and metal covered by blue vinyl tarp. The space inside is large enough to stand up and walk around in and features an old recliner and a bicycle Livengood uses less now that he spends more time inside with the sides of his dwelling open.
“Some of the friends that I’ve made down here, they come check on me if they don’t see me moving around,” he said.
Homeless people are among those most likely to die in the extreme heat in metro Phoenix. The city is seeing its longest run of consecutive days of 110 Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) ever recorded, clocking 28 in a row as of Thursday, even as the first monsoon storm of the season brought some overnight relief.
“It has been a scary situation this year and it’s especially scary for our homeless population,” said Dr. Geoff Comp, an emergency room physician for Valleywise Health in central Phoenix. “They have a more constant exposure to the heat than most of us.”
People living outside are also vulnerable to surface burns from contact with hot metal, concrete or asphalt.
Surgeons at the Arizona Burn Center–Valleywise Health recently warned about burns caused by walking, sitting or falling on outside surfaces reaching up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit (82.2 degrees Celsius). The burn center last year saw 85 people admitted with heat-related surface burns for the months of June through August. Seven died.
Record high overnight temperatures persisted above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) for 16 days straight after finally slipping to 89 Fahrenheit (31.6 Celsius) on Thursday after a storm Wednesday evening kicked up dust, high winds and a bit of rainfall.
If temperatures don’t drop sufficiently after the sun sets, it’s hard for people’s bodies to cool down, health professionals say, especially those who live in flimsy structures without air conditioning or fans.
“People really need a lot of water and a cooling system to recover overnight,” Comp said.
There is no air conditioner, fan or even electricity in Livengood’s home, just a little, flat piece of plastic he uses as a hand fan.
Unhoused people accounted for about 40% of the 425 heat-associated deaths tallied last year in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, during its hottest summer on record. More than half of the 425 deaths occurred in July and 80% occurred outdoors.
Maricopa County reported Wednesday that as of July 22, there were 25 heat-associated deaths confirmed this year going back to April 11. Another 249 deaths remain under investigation.
Livengood’s shack stands among some 800 people living in tents and other makeshift dwellings outside Arizona’s largest temporary shelter. The tents stand close together on concrete sidewalks, and seem to increase the stifling heat from the encampment called “The Zone.”
But the location is convenient. Nearby agencies provide social services, food and life-saving water, including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA and St. Mary’s Food Bank.
Livengood can get breakfast and lunch with faith-based groups in the area before taking a nap in his recliner.
On some hot days, the local transportation agency Valley Metro send over a couple of empty buses so people can sit for hours in the air conditioning. On other days, Livengood and a few friends walk to a nearby city park and sit in the grass under shade trees outside a public swimming pool.
“It’s a definite part of what keeps everybody safe down here in the ‘The Zone,’” Livengood said, ticking off the things people distribute: hygiene items, sunscreen, lip balm, hats and cooling rags. “A lot of love is given out here.”
Livengood tells of a childhood of trauma and neglect. Born in Phoenix and originally named Jesse James Acosta Jr., Livengood spent much of his early years in public housing in a low-income, largely African American neighborhood of south Phoenix. Both of his parents spent time in prison. His mother struggled with addiction, giving birth to a daughter behind bars, and later slipped into homelessness.
“My childhood has been filled with a lot of memories of being bounced around, never really having anything stable,” Livengood said.
Livengood was adopted at age 12 by a woman named Denise who legally changed his name to the current one. He and the rest of his adoptive family moved to Alaska, where his adoptive mother died in a traffic accident.
Livengood struggled in school and met the mother of his son. He later left behind the woman and their child to return to Phoenix, a decision he regrets.
Back in the desert, Livengood said he is well aware of the dangers from extreme heat from the pamphlets volunteers pass out with bottles of icy water.
“Yeah, it gets really hot out here, guys,” he said. “Stay hydrated, drink plenty of water even when you think you’ve had a lot of water. And drink more.”
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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. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-homeless-struggle-to-stay-safe-from-record-high-temperatures-in-blistering-phoenix/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:13 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-homeless-struggle-to-stay-safe-from-record-high-temperatures-in-blistering-phoenix/ |
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. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-homes-that-become-deadly-tornadoes-kill-disproportionately-more-in-mobile-homes-ap-analysis-finds/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:20 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-homes-that-become-deadly-tornadoes-kill-disproportionately-more-in-mobile-homes-ap-analysis-finds/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito says Congress lacks the power to impose a code of ethics on the Supreme Court, making him the first member of the court to take a public stand against proposals in Congress to toughen ethics rules for justices in response to increased scrutiny of their activities beyond the bench.
“I know this is a controversial view, but I’m willing to say it. No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period,” Alito said in an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal opinion pages. An account of the interview, which the paper said took place in New York in early July, was published Friday.
Democrats last week pushed Supreme Court ethics legislation through a Senate committee, though the bill’s prospects in the full Senate are dim.
All federal judges other than the justices already adhere to an ethics code that was developed by the federal judiciary. But the Supreme Court’s unique status — it’s the only federal court created by the Constitution — puts it outside the reach of those standards that apply to other federal jurists.
Democrats first sought to address that after ProPublica reported earlier this year that Justice Clarence Thomas participated in lavish vacations and a real estate deal with a top Republican donor — and after Chief Justice John Roberts declined to testify before the committee about the ethics of the court.
Since then, ProPublica also revealed that Alito had taken a luxury vacation in Alaska with a Republican donor who had business interests before the court. The Associated Press reported in early July that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, aided by her staff, has advanced sales of her books through college visits over the past decade.
The 73-year-old Alito, who joined the court in 2006, has rejected the idea that he should have disclosed the Alaska trip or stepped away from cases involving the donor, hedge fund owner Paul Singer. Alito penned his own Wall Street Journal op-ed, which was published hours before ProPublica posted its story.
Alito said that he is unwilling to leave allegations unanswered, though he acknowledged judges and justices typically don’t respond to their critics.
“And so at a certain point I’ve said to myself, nobody else is going to do this, so I have to defend myself,” he said in the newest column.
While no other justice has spoken so definitively about ethics legislation, Roberts has raised questions about Congress’ authority to oversee the high court.
In his year-end report in 2011, Roberts wrote that the justices comply with legislation that requires annual financial disclosures and limits their outside earned income. “The Court has never addressed whether Congress may impose those requirements on the Supreme Court. The Justices nevertheless comply with those provisions,” Roberts wrote.
The justices have so far resisted adopting an ethics code on their own, although Roberts said in May that there is more the court can do to “adhere to the highest standards” of ethical conduct, without providing specifics.
The column is co-written by James Taranto, the paper’s editorial features editor, and David Rivkin, a Washington lawyer. Rivkin represents Leonard Leo, the onetime leader of the conservative legal group The Federalist Society, in his dealings with Senate Democrats who want details of Leo’s dealings with the justices. Leo helped arrange Alito’s trip to Alaska.
Rivkin, in a letter Tuesday to leading Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the request was politically motivated and violates Leo’s constitutional rights. Rivkin also wrote that a congressionally imposed ethics code for the Supreme Court would falter on constitutional grounds. Separately, Rivkin represents a couple whose tax case will be argued before the court in the fall.
Alito talked with the Taranto and Rivkin for four hours in interviews in April and July, they wrote. They published an account of the earlier interview in April. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-justice-alito-says-congress-lacks-the-power-to-impose-an-ethics-code-on-the-supreme-court/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:26 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-justice-alito-says-congress-lacks-the-power-to-impose-an-ethics-code-on-the-supreme-court/ |
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?”
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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and Metz reported from Salt Lake City.
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Follow Josh Funk on Twitter at www.twitter.com/funkwrite | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-montana-train-derailment-report-renews-calls-for-automated-systems-to-detect-track-problems/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:33 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-montana-train-derailment-report-renews-calls-for-automated-systems-to-detect-track-problems/ |
Christie flames Trump: How can the GOP win with a candidate 'out on bail'?
Christie said his experience as U.S. attorney leads him to believe a cooperating witness is working with Jack Smith against Trump
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continued his war of words Friiday with former friend Donald Trump, as the ex-president continues to lead the Republican presidential primary field by a wide margin.
Christie, who like Trump has qualified for the Fox News debate on August 23, said it would be unprecedented to have an indicted candidate as a party nominee. Trump faces the possibility of being indicted a third time, this time related to the investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot.
"I think what our voters need to begin to think about is: we have a front-runner right now who, when he gets on the stage for the Fox News debate on August 23, will be out on bail in at least two different jurisdictions, if not three," Christie said in interview with Neil Cavuto on "Your World." ""How are we going to beat the Democrats with a candidate who is going to be out on bail, facing numerous self-inflicted wounds in courtrooms across this country?"
Trump has denied all claims against him, and recently called Special Counsel Jack Smith "deranged" and a "sick puppet of [Merrick] Garland and Crooked Joe Biden [who] should be defended and put out to rest."
On Friday, Christie noted Trump faces potentially further mounting charges from Smith, an ex-Kosovo War crimes prosecutor who also prosecuted former Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell's corruption case. McDonnell's conviction was however unanimously vacated by the Supreme Court in 2016.
GOP PRIMARY STAGE SHOWS ‘PARTY OF DIVERSITY’: CONWAY
On "Your World," Cavuto noted Christie will not be attending the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner like several of his opponents like Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, to which Christie said he had a slate of fundraisers to attend back east.
With Hunter Biden and Trump in the news as various allegations fly, Christie said the GOP front-runner brought scrutiny upon himself.
"Now, with the superseding indictment that was put forward yesterday, and I can tell you from having done this work for seven years as the U.S. attorney in the fifth-largest office in the country -- out of 94, we did 130 political corruption cases against Republicans and Democrats over seven years and never suffered a defeat," Christie said.
Prior to becoming governor, Christie was then-President George W. Bush's pick for U.S. attorney in the Newark office, which covers the entirety of the Garden State.
JOE BIDEN'S ‘SERGEANT SCHULTZ DEFENSE’ MAY WEAR THIN, CRITICS SAY
Christie said his experience tells him the superseding indictment from Smith's office suggests there is a cooperating witness from within the Trump Organization who is providing information on the former president.
Christie said he is the only candidates "unafraid" to challenge or criticize Trump, dismissing other critiques aimed at Trump from candidates like former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
He said Haley has criticized Trump, but said she has offered "mixed messaging" on whether Trump should run or be the GOP nominee.
Of Sen. Mitt Romney's, R-Utah, assertion that Republicans must rally around a non-Trump candidate to be able to wedge him off the stage, Christie said he didn't necessarily disagree but that it may be too early to do so.
He noted there were 17 GOP candidates in 2016 and that after the first debate, those numbers whittled down considerably in a short period of time without any such pressures.
"Mitt, I think, said that, you know, if you haven't done well by February 26, you should get out. I don't disagree with that, Neal. And I think that if you look at what I did last time, 8 years ago, I didn't do as well as I wanted to in New Hampshire in the beginning of February, I got out of the race and consolidated behind Donald Trump, supported him, chaired his transition, and worked to make him the next president of the United States -- And we succeeded."
For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion, and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media | https://www.foxnews.com/media/christie-flames-trump-how-can-gop-win-candidate-out-bail | 2023-07-28T23:38:35 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/media/christie-flames-trump-how-can-gop-win-candidate-out-bail |
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It was a big day at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine as zoological medicine residents strapped a 376-pound alligator to a table and began taking blood samples.
The alligator's name is Brooke, so named because he originally lived at the Brookfield Zoo before spending nearly 20 years at his current home, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. The park's reptile curator said that Brooke had recently been showing symptoms, including "intermittent head-rolling" in his lagoon habitat, so he was brought to UF to be examined and treated.
"Dr. Bridget Walker, a UF zoological medicine resident, performed a blood draw to obtain a sample for analysis, and Brooke received standard radiographs along with a CT scan during his stay here," university leaders wrote in a Facebook post.
GALLERY: Huge alligator gets a CT scan and medical treatment
As it turned out, Brooke was suffering from an ear infection.
St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park also posted on social media thanking the university's medical team and hailing their work as, "Gators taking care of Gators." The post also said Brooke's medical treatment was painless and stress-free.
"Brooke has years of experience coming to his name, accepting food (sometimes with medicine), and holding still. Some of our crocodilians are trained to remain still for blood draws without restraining them. So, however Brooke needs medical treatment, he will be able to receive it without any stress or worry," the post read in part.
Brooke is neither the first nor the biggest gator to be treated at the University of Florida. The College of Veterinary Medicine also made headlines when it successfully treated Bob, a 660-pound gator, for a leg injury. | https://www.wtsp.com/article/life/animals/st-augustine-alligator-medical-treatment-university-of-florida/67-8012def6-5383-4168-857b-3166592ef72d | 2023-07-28T23:38:35 | 1 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/life/animals/st-augustine-alligator-medical-treatment-university-of-florida/67-8012def6-5383-4168-857b-3166592ef72d |
FULTON, Mo. (AP) — At the entrance to Missouri prisons, large signs plead for help: “NOW HIRING” … “GREAT PAY & BENEFITS.”
No experience is necessary. Anyone 18 and older can apply. Long hours are guaranteed.
Though the assertion of “great pay” for prison guards would have seemed dubious in the past, a series of state pay raises prompted by widespread vacancies has finally made a difference. The Missouri Department of Corrections set a record for new applicants last month.
“After we got our raise, we started seeing people come out of the woodwork, people that hadn’t worked in a while,” said Maj. Albin Narvaez, chief of custody at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center, where new prisoners are housed and evaluated.
Public employers across the U.S. have faced similar struggles to fill jobs, leading to one of the largest surges in state government pay raises in 15 years. Many cities, counties and school districts also are hiking wages to try to retain and attract workers amid aggressive competition from private sector employers.
The wage war comes as governments and taxpayers feel the consequences of empty positions.
In Kansas City, Missouri, a shortage of 911 operators doubled the average hold times for people calling in emergencies. In one Florida county, some schoolchildren frequently arrived late as a lack of bus drivers delayed routes. In Arkansas, abused and neglected kids remained longer in foster care because of a caseworker shortage. In various cities and states, vacancies on road crews meant cracks and potholes took longer to fix than many motorists might like.
“A lot of the jobs we’re talking about are hard jobs,” said Leslie Scott Parker, executive director of the National Association of State Personnel Executives.
Lingering vacancies “eventually affects service to the public or response times to needs,” she added.
Workforce shortages worsened across all sorts of jobs due to a wave of retirements and resignations that began during the pandemic. Many businesses, from restaurants to hospitals, responded nimbly with higher wages and incentives to attract employees. But governments by nature are slower to act, requiring pay raises to go through a legislative process that can take months to complete — and then can take months more to kick in.
Meanwhile, vacancies mounted.
In Georgia, state employee turnover hit a high of 25% in 2022. Thousands of workers left the Department of Corrections, pushing its vacancy rate to around 50%. The state began a series of pay raises. This year, all state employees and teachers got at least a $2,000 raise, with corrections officers getting $4,000 and state troopers $6,000.
The Georgia Department of Corrections used an ad agency to bolster recruitment and held an average of 125 job fairs a month. It’s starting to pay off. In the first week of July, the department received 318 correctional officer applications — nearly double the weekly norm, said department Public Affairs Director Joan Heath.
Almost 1 in 4 positions — more than 2,500 jobs — were empty in the Missouri Department of Corrections late last year, which was twice the pre-pandemic vacancy rate in 2019.
Missouri gave state workers a 7.5% pay raise in 2022. This spring, Gov. Mike Parson signed an emergency spending bill with an additional 8.7% raise, plus an extra $2 an hour for people working evening and night shifts at prisons, mental health facilities and other institutions. The vacancy rate for entry level corrections officers now is declining, and the average number of applications for all state positions is up 18% since the start of last year.
At the Fulton prison, where staff shortages have led to a standard 52-hour work week, newly hired employees can earn around $60,000 annually — an amount roughly equal to the state’s median household income. The prison also is proposing to provide free child care to correctional officers willing to work nights.
If prison staffing is too low, “it can get dangerous” for both inmates and guards, Narvaez said.
Public safety concerns also have arisen in Kansas City, where a country music fan attacked before a concert last month waited four minutes for a 911 call to be answered and an hour for an ambulance to arrive. About one-quarter of 911 call center positions are vacant — “a huge factor” in the longer wait times to answer calls, said Tamara Bazzle, assistant manager of the communications unit for the Kansas City Police Department.
In Biddeford, Maine, a 15-person roster of 911 dispatchers dipped to just eight employees in July as people quit a “pressure cooker job” for less stress or better pay elsewhere, Police Chief JoAnne Fisk said. The city is now offering fully certified dispatchers $41 an hour to help plug the gaps on a part-time basis — $10 an hour more than comparable new workers normally would earn.
This month, Biddeford also launched a $2,000 bonus for city employees who refer others who get jobs. That comes a year after Biddeford adopted a four-day work week with paid lunch periods to try to make jobs more appealing, said City Manager Jim Bennett.
To attract workers, other governments have dropped college degree requirements and spiced up drab job descriptions.
Nationally, the turnover rate in state and local governments is twice the average of the previous two decades, according federal labor statistics.
Uncompetitive wages were the most common reason for leaving cited in exit interviews, according to a survey of 249 state and local government human resource managers conducted by MissionSquare Research Institute, a Washington, D.C. -based nonprofit. The hardest positions to fill included police and corrections officers, doctors, nurses, engineers and jobs requiring commercial driver’s licenses.
Along Florida’s east coast, the Brevard County transit system and school district have been competing for bus drivers. On days when drivers are lacking, the transit system has cut the frequency of bus stops on some routes. The school system, meanwhile, has asked some bus drivers to run a second route after dropping children off at school, often resulting in the second busload arriving late.
Since 2022, the county has twice raised bus driver wages to a current rate of $17.47 an hour. The school board recently countered with a $5 increase to a minimum $20 an hour for the upcoming school year. The goal is to hire enough drivers to regularly get kids to class on time, said school system communications director Russell Bruhn.
In Arkansas, the goal is to get foster kids into permanent homes in less than a year. But during the first three months of this year, the state met that target for just 32% of foster children — well below the national standard of over 40%. More than one-fifth of the roughly 1,400 positions in the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services are vacant.
Many new employees leave in less than two years because of heavy caseloads and the “very difficult, emotionally tolling work,” Mischa Martin, the Department of Human Services’ deputy secretary of youth and families, told lawmakers last month.
“If we had a knowledgeable, experienced workforce,” she said, “they would be able to work cases in a better way to get kids home quicker.” | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-mounting-job-vacancies-push-state-and-local-governments-into-a-wage-war-for-workers/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:39 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-mounting-job-vacancies-push-state-and-local-governments-into-a-wage-war-for-workers/ |
SPRING HILL, Fla. — Hernando County deputies and investigators announced the arrest of one man accused of trafficking two people, including a minor.
James Houllis was arrested on several charges this month including sexual battery. Sheriff Al Neinhuis said he groomed an adult woman for at least a year and lured a minor through an undisclosed dating app.
"Definitely, a sick individual to say the least," Neinhuis previously said.
The minor had run away from home, according to authorities.
While that may have put her in a vulnerable position, anyone can be groomed into trafficking, explained Madison Zivitski, prevention advocate with Selah Freedom, a local non-profit organization that fights human trafficking.
"The grooming process can be quick or it can take years," Zivitski said.
Grooming is the process traffickers or exploiters use to manipulate people.
They tend to find vulnerable people and the process can quickly start as a shower of compliments or gifts. Those being trafficked can then find themselves isolated from friends and loved ones, and dependent on those preying on them.
Neinhuis said the adult woman had been groomed in Colorado while she was a minor. Authorities in Aurora, Colorado are also investigating any unlawful activity by Houllis there.
As for the juvenile survivor, Neinhuis said Houllis lured her into his home posing as the adult woman through the app. The grooming process can also begin through outreach on the internet and social media apps.
Zivitski said she encourages parents or guardians to have an open channel of communication with their children. That way, they can more easily turn for help or guidance.
"The biggest thing is talking about it before something that happens," Zivitski said. "They don't want their parents or guardians to know that they're engaging in any kind of inappropriate behavior, but that just makes the problem worse."
One in nine children receives online sexual solicitation, according to Selah Freedom.
Zivitski also recommends having a safety plan in case children come across people online trying to solicit them for sex.
While more is to be said about how the adult woman was groomed, Zivitski said it's difficult for survivors to leave after enduring mental abuse.
"It's not always like that physical restraint that you might think of. It's psychological," Zivitski said.
Florida is in the top three states in the nation for sex trafficking, according to Selah Freedom. The industry is said to generate billions of dollars worldwide. | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/hernando-county-spring-hill-human-sex-trafficking-arrest/67-35efb1d6-2ad5-47da-bd0f-b301445ef940 | 2023-07-28T23:38:41 | 0 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/hernando-county-spring-hill-human-sex-trafficking-arrest/67-35efb1d6-2ad5-47da-bd0f-b301445ef940 |
NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Reyes sought shade under a tree in the Bronx on a day that felt like it was over 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius) because of the heat and humidity.
“It’s not like when you were younger, you were playing around,” said the 56-year-old who runs a daycare center. “Now it’s like you got the humidity. It makes you kind of not breathe the same way. So when you walk, you get a little more tired, a little more exhausted.”
Reyes was one of nearly 200 million people in the United States, or 60% of the U.S. population, under a heat advisory or flood warning or watch since Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
Dangerous heat engulfed much of the eastern half of the United States Friday as extreme temperatures spread from the Midwest into the Northeast and mid-Atlantic where some residents saw their hottest temperatures of the year.
Although much of the country does not cool much on normal summer nights, night temperatures are forecast to stay hotter than usual, prompting excessive heat warnings from the Plains to the East Coast.
From Thursday to Friday, the number of people under a heat advisory rose from 180 to 184 million and the number of people under a flood warning or watch dropped from 17 to 10 million.
Moisture moved into the Southwest, cooling somewhat the southernmost counties of California and parts of southern Arizona, but excessive heat warnings remain for much of the region.
On top of the heat, severe thunderstorms are forecast for multiple regions of the country. There are forecasts with flash flood warnings for Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, west to the Middle Missouri Valley through Saturday morning. There are severe thunderstorm warnings with a chance of quarter-sized hail Friday night for the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Tornado watches are posted in Wisconsin and New Hampshire, in addition to the heat advisories and potential for severe storms.
The prediction for continued excessive heat comes as the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service declared July 2023 the hottest month on record this week.
Scientists have long warned that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, by deforestation and by certain agricultural practices, will lead to more and prolonged bouts of extreme weather.
On Thursday, heat and humidity in major cities along the East Coast, including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City, made it feel above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius). Forecasters expect several records may break Friday with temperatures 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 to 8 degrees Celsius) above average.
The “dangerous” heat wave, as the National Weather Service called it, may begin to subside on Saturday as thunderstorms and a cold front from Canada progress through the region. It seems the hottest temperatures happened on Friday.
“By Sunday, the high temperature is going to be 86,” he said, “so that’s more typical weather you would expect in July.”
The Salvation Army in the Bronx was one of hundreds of cooling centers open in New York City to give people a respite from the scorching heat.
“It’s very hot every year. This year, it started last week, becoming very hot,” said Robert Ciriaco, a corps officer with The Salvation Army. “(It’s) very dangerous for people. Some people die. So that’s why we open to offer people (a place) to come to be comfortable.”
Philadelphia declared a heat health emergency as temperatures soared into the 90s, and city authorities opened cooling centers.
But some residents took the heat in stride. Alexander Roman, who brought his children to play in the fountain at the city’s iconic Love Park, said he is not worried about heat stroke as long as his family can cool down. “A lot of water with ice and it will be O.K,” he said.
In the Southwest and southern Plains, oppressive temperatures have been a blanket for weeks. One meteorologist based in New Mexico called the prolonged period of temperatures over 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius) unprecedented.
Due to the extreme heat, some of the nation’s large power grids and utilities are under stress, which could affect Americans’ ability to cool off.
In New York City, utility Con Edison sent out a text blast asking residents to be frugal with air conditioning to conserve electricity. Overtaxing an electrical grid can mean blackouts, which are not just an inconvenience, but can lead to equipment failures and major pollution as equipment restarts.
The country’s largest power grid, PJM Interconnection, declared a level one energy emergency alert for its 13-state grid on Wednesday, meaning the company had concerns about ability to provide enough electricity.
“PJM currently has enough generation to meet forecast demand, but operators continue to monitor the grid conditions for any changes,” said spokesperson Jeffrey Shields on Thursday.
PJM isn’t the only electrical grid to issue such an alert. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which mostly covers states in the Midwest and Northern Plains, issued a similar one Thursday.
The California Independent System Operator also issued an energy emergency alert for the evening on Wednesday, in part due to excess heat in Southern California, but that expired the same day. Anne Gonzales, a CAISO spokesperson, said they expect to be able to meet demand the next few days.
A spokesperson for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which covers most of Texas, said they expect their grid will operate per usual during this latest blast of extreme weather across the country.
The dangerous heat peaks in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and Midwest Friday and Saturday before a cold front is expected to bring some relief Sunday and into next week.
Heat experts and environmental advocates said that these effects of the high temperatures will not be felt equally.
“The impacts of heat are highly inequitable,” said Ladd Keith, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona who studies heat policy and governance. He explained that people experiencing homelessness feel heat effects more than the housed, and low-income and communities of color are often hotter than more affluent and whiter neighborhoods.
“When we’re talking about how to keep people safe, we not only need to be thinking about the neighborhoods that are disproportionately warmer during these heat waves,” said Jeremy Hoffman, director of climate justice and impact at Groundwork USA, an environmental justice nonprofit. “But (also) the folks that can’t avoid being outside during these heat waves, people that rely on public transportation, people that work outside, and the extremely elderly that may be living in substandard housing without a lot of ventilation and air conditioning.”
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Follow Drew Costley on Twitter: @drewcostley.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-nearly-200-million-people-in-us-are-under-heat-flood-advisories/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:46 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-nearly-200-million-people-in-us-are-under-heat-flood-advisories/ |
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.wtsp.com/article/news/verify/health-verify/ginger-ale-no-help-stomachache-because-no-ginger/536-b21c22d9-743a-4f5a-a9d6-a570ef090627 | 2023-07-28T23:38:47 | 1 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/verify/health-verify/ginger-ale-no-help-stomachache-because-no-ginger/536-b21c22d9-743a-4f5a-a9d6-a570ef090627 |
TAMPA, Fla. — Since 2015, the Florida Department of Transportation has installed devices to alert drivers when they're traveling the wrong way.
The devices, called wrong-way vehicle detection systems (WWVDS), detect a car traveling the wrong way. Then, a "wrong way" sign with lights flashing red and white turns on. Law enforcement is immediately notified and dispatched. An electronic interstate sign also alerts drivers on the road a wrong-way driver may be traveling in their area.
"Unfortunately, it has been a problem," Kris Carson, an FDOT spokesperson said. "It's not just the state of Florida. It's a nationwide issue."
In 2015, FDOT shared the results of a statewide wrong-way driver study. The study looked at 2009-2013. In that time, 280 crashes have occurred on Florida’s freeways and expressways resulting in more than 400 injuries and 75 deaths.
Oftentimes injuries are more serious in wrong-way crashes.
"They are, when you have someone going up the ramp the wrong way, going against traffic, we never know what speeds they're going to be at," Carson said. "But unfortunately, we do see fatalities, a lot of these crashes."
Since 2015, 45 wrong-way vehicle detection systems have been installed on Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties interstate on-ramps.
FDOT said in the few years existing signs have been in use, it's making a difference.
"So if someone were to go up a ramp the wrong way, radar detection, there's a trigger that goes off, the signs will flash, very bright, red white, wrong way," Carson explained. "We do feel the technologies are working here in our traffic management center, they will see motorists go up the ramp the wrong way and self-correct, the signs will go off red and white flashing grabbing the motorists' attention."
FDOT has plans to install an additional 23 wrong-way vehicle detection systems on the on-ramps of Interstate 275 and Interstate 4.
This will happen in three phases, starting in the spring of next year.
FDOT looked at where wrong-way crashes were happening the most frequently to decide where to install these detection systems. Each device costs roughly $200,000.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. | https://www.wtsp.com/article/traffic/fdot-wrong-way-vehicle-detection-systems-tampa-bay/67-7ca88aee-4204-4414-ba3a-c53e11bda5c5 | 2023-07-28T23:38:53 | 0 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/traffic/fdot-wrong-way-vehicle-detection-systems-tampa-bay/67-7ca88aee-4204-4414-ba3a-c53e11bda5c5 |
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.
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This story has been updated to correct that the officer was acquitted of the charge of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter, not manslaughter. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-officer-who-put-suspect-in-car-hit-by-train-found-guilty-of-reckless-endangerment/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:52 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-officer-who-put-suspect-in-car-hit-by-train-found-guilty-of-reckless-endangerment/ |
JEFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The nation’s top health official implored states to do more to keep lower-income residents enrolled in Medicaid, as the Biden administration released figures Friday confirming that many who had health coverage during the coronavirus pandemic are now losing it.
Though a decline in Medicaid coverage was expected, health officials are raising concerns about the large numbers of people being dropped from the rolls for failing to return forms or follow procedures.
In 18 states that began a post-pandemic review of their Medicaid rolls in April, health coverage was continued for about 1 million recipients and terminated for 715,000. Of those dropped, 4 in 5 were for procedural reasons, according to newly released data from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra sent a letter Friday to all governors encouraging them to bolster efforts to retain people on Medicaid. He particularly encouraged them to use electronic information from other federal programs, such as food stamps, to automatically confirm people’s eligibility for Medicaid. That would avert the need to mail and return documents.
“I am deeply concerned about high rates of procedural terminations due to ‘red tape’ and other paperwork issues,” Becerra told governors.
During the pandemic, states were prohibited from ending people’s Medicaid coverage. As a result, Medicaid enrollment swelled by nearly one-third, from 71 million people in February 2020 to 93 million in February 2023. The prohibition on trimming rolls ended in April, and states now have resumed annual eligibility redeterminations that had been required before the pandemic.
The new federal data captures only the first month of state Medicaid reviews from states that acted the most expeditiously. Since then, additional states also have submitted reports on those renewed and dropped from Medicaid in May and June.
Though the federal government hasn’t released data from the most recent reports, information gathered by The Associated Press and health care advocacy groups show that about 3.7 million people already have lost Medicaid coverage. That includes about 500,000 in Texas, around 400,000 in Florida and 225,000 in California. Of those who lost coverage, 89% were for procedural reasons in California, 81% in Texas and 59% in Florida, according to the AP’s data.
Many of those people may have still been eligible for Medicaid, “but they’re caught in a bureaucratic nightmare of confusing forms, notices sent to wrong addresses and other errors,” said Michelle Levander, founding director of the Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California,
Top CMS officials said they have worked with several states to pause Medicaid removals and improve procedures for determining eligibility.
South Carolina, for example, reported renewing Medicaid coverage for about 27,000 people in May while removing 118,000. Of those dropped, 95% were for procedural reasons. In a recent report to the federal government, South Carolina said it removed no one from Medicaid in June because it extended the eligibility renewal deadline from 60 days to 90 days.
Michigan reported renewing more than 103,000 Medicaid recipients in June and removing just 12,000. It told the federal government that the state opted to delay terminations for those who failed to respond to renewal requests while instead making additional outreach attempts. As a result, the state reported more than 100,000 people whose June eligibility cases remained incomplete.
People who are dropped from Medicaid can regain coverage retroactively if they submit information within 90 days proving their eligibility. But some advocacy groups say that still poses a challenge.
“State government is not necessarily nimble,” said Keesa Smith, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. “When individuals are being disenrolled, the biggest concern … is that there is not a fast track to get those individuals back on the rolls.”
Arkansas officials have been at the forefront of defending Medicaid cuts. They contend that many people likely don’t return forms because they no longer need Medicaid.
People are “transitioning off of Medicaid” because “they are working, making more money, and have access to health care through their employers or the federal marketplace,” Arkansas Medicaid Director Janet Mann said earlier this month. “This should be celebrated, not criticized.”
Insurance companies that run Medicaid programs for states said they are trying to reduce procedural terminations and enroll people in new plans.
The Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer Elevance Health lost 130,000 Medicaid customers during the recently completed second quarter, as Medicaid eligibility redeterminations began. Chief Financial Officer John Gallina said earlier this month that many people lost Medicaid coverage for administrative reasons but are likely to reenroll in the near future.
Leaders of the insurer Molina Healthcare told analysts Thursday that the company lost about 93,000 Medicaid customers in the recently completed second quarter, mostly due to eligibility redeterminations. Molina officials said they are trying to switch people who no longer qualify for Medicaid to one of the individual insurance plans they sell through state-based marketplaces.
Federal data for April indicates that some states did a better job than others at handling a crush of questions from people about their Medicaid coverage.
In 19 states and the District of Columbia, the average Medicaid call center wait time was 1 minute or less in April. But in Idaho, the average caller to the state’s Medicaid help line waited 51 minutes. In Missouri, the average wait was 44 minutes, and in Florida 40 minutes.
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Associated Press writer Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this report. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-paperwork-problems-drive-surge-in-people-losing-medicaid-health-coverage/ | 2023-07-28T23:38:59 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-paperwork-problems-drive-surge-in-people-losing-medicaid-health-coverage/ |
The rapper G Herbo pleaded guilty Friday to his role in a scheme that used stolen credit card information to pay for a lavish lifestyle including private jets, exotic car rentals, a luxury vacation rental and even expensive designer puppies.
Under a deal with prosecutors, the 27-year-old Chicago rapper, whose real name is Herbert Wright III, entered a guilty plea in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed several counts of aggravated identity theft.
He also agreed to forfeit nearly $140,000, the amount he benefited from what prosecutors have said was a $1.5 million scheme that involved several other people.
“Mr. Wright used stolen account information as his very own unlimited funding source, using victims’ payment cards to finance an extravagant lifestyle and advance his career,” acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 7, and he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. A voicemail seeking comment was left with his attorney.
From at least March 2017 until November 2018, G Herbo and his promoter, Antonio Strong, used text messages, social media messages and emails to share account information taken from dark websites, authorities said.
On one occasion, the stolen account information was used to pay for a chartered jet to fly the rapper and members of his entourage from Chicago to Austin, Texas, authorities said. On another, a stolen account was used to pay nearly $15,000 for Wright and seven others to stay several days in a six-bedroom Jamaican villa.
In court documents, prosecutors said G Herbo “used the proceeds of these frauds to travel to various concert venues and to advance his career by posting photographs and/or videos of himself on the private jets, in the exotic cars, and at the Jamaican villa.”
G Herbo also helped Strong order two designer Yorkshire terrier puppies from a Michigan pet shop using a stolen credit card and a fake Washington state driver’s license, according to the indictment. The total cost was more than $10,000, prosecutors said.
When the pet shop’s owner asked to confirm the purchase with G Herbo, Strong directed her to do so through an Instagram message, and G Herbo confirmed he was buying the puppies, authorities said.
Because the stolen credit card information was authentic, the transactions went through and it wasn’t until later that the real credit card holders noticed and reported the fraud.
G Herbo was also charged in May 2021 with lying to investigators by denying that he had any ties to Strong when in fact the two had worked together since at least 2016, prosecutors said.
Strong has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
G Herbo’s music is centered on his experiences growing up on the East Side of Chicago in a neighborhood dubbed Terror Town, including gang and gun violence.
He released his debut mix tapes “Welcome to Fazoland” and “Pistol P Project” in 2014, both named for friends who had been killed in the city. His first album was 2017’s “Humble Beast,” and his latest is “Survivor’s Remorse,” released last year.
His 2020 album “PTSD” debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200.
G Herbo also started a program in Chicago called Swervin’ Through Stress, aimed at giving urban youths tools to navigate mental health crises, after publicly acknowledging his own struggle with PTSD. In 2021 he was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 music list. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-rapper-g-herbo-pleads-guilty-in-credit-card-fraud-that-paid-for-private-jets-and-designer-puppies/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:07 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-rapper-g-herbo-pleads-guilty-in-credit-card-fraud-that-paid-for-private-jets-and-designer-puppies/ |
A New York man who stole a badge and radio from a police officer brutally beaten by other rioters during the attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Friday to more than four years in prison.
Thomas Sibick, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty in March for his role in the attack on Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who has described fighting for his life to defend the Capitol as lawmakers inside fled from the angry mob on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a letter to the judge, Sibick, 37, called the trauma Fanone experienced “undeniably sickening” and said he takes full responsibility for his “uncivilized display of reckless behavior.”
“It was an attack on the institutions of our democracy and not as some would make you believe legitimate political discourse. The attack was far from peaceful, my actions played a role that will follow me for the rest of my life,” Sibick wrote.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced him to 50 months in prison during a hearing in Washington’s federal court.
Sibick’s attorney Stephen Brennwald did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Following his arrest, Sibick spent eight months behind bars but was released on home confinement in October 2021 after his lawyer pressed the judge to free him while his case played out.
Sibick’s attorney had asked for a sentence of home confinement, writing in court papers that a mental health misdiagnosis resulted in his client taking medication on Jan. 6 that “severely and negatively impacted him.” Sibick’s attorney said, unlike other rioters, his client did not physically assault Fanone, and their interaction was limited to Sibick grabbing Fanone’s radio and badge.
“Mr. Sibick has made a remarkable change in his life since he received his correct mental health diagnosis and has begun cognitive behavioral therapy,” Brennwald wrote. “Because he sees January 6 for what it was, he is not a threat to re-offend in the future.”
Rioters kicked, punched, grabbed and shocked Fanone with a stun gun after pulling him away from other officers who were guarding a tunnel entrance on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. Another rioter threatened to take Fanone’s gun and kill him. Fanone said the attack gave him a heart attack and a traumatic brain injury and ultimately cost him his career.
Fanone’s body camera captured Sibick removing the officer’s badge and radio from his tactical vest, according to a court filing accompanying his guilty plea.
Others in the crowd escorted Fanone back to the police line. Before FBI agents showed Sibick the body camera video, he initially claimed that he tried in vain to pull the officer away from his attackers.
Sibick said he buried Fanone’s badge in his backyard after returning home to Buffalo. He returned the badge, but Fanone’s $5,500 radio hasn’t been recovered.
Other rioters have been charged with attacking Fanone, who lost consciousness and was taken to an emergency room.
Albuquerque Cosper Head, a Tennessee man who dragged Fanone into the crowd, was sentenced in October 2022 to seven years and six months in prison. Another man, Daniel Rodriguez of California, was sentenced last month to more than 12 years in prison for driving a stun gun into Fanone’s neck as the officer screamed out in pain. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-rioter-who-stole-badge-radio-from-beaten-officer-on-jan-6-gets-more-than-4-years-in-prison/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:13 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-rioter-who-stole-badge-radio-from-beaten-officer-on-jan-6-gets-more-than-4-years-in-prison/ |
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. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/28/biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-daughter-son-hunter-an-arkansas-woman/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:15 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/28/biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-daughter-son-hunter-an-arkansas-woman/ |
Davis brothers host 3rd Annual Youth Basketball Camp
Published: Jul. 28, 2023 at 5:58 PM CDT|Updated: 39 minutes ago
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) - Hundreds of Coulee Region kids have been hitting the hardwood this week to sharpen their skills.
It’s the third year that former La Crosse Central and Wisconsin Badgers basketball stars Johnny and Jordan Davis have held their annual basketball camp and while most kids left it all on the court, the memories they take with them will last a lifetime.
Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/28/davis-brothers-host-3rd-annual-youth-basketball-camp/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:16 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/28/davis-brothers-host-3rd-annual-youth-basketball-camp/ |
Mondovi Business Association helps storefronts expand and thrive
MONDOVI, Wis. (WEAU) - Starting your own business comes with many challenges, especially in a small town where business failures affect nearly everyone.
One organization is working to reduce economic challenges and help small businesses thrive. The Mondovi Business Association is made up of various local business leaders looking to make a difference in their community.
One way they do this is through the Energize Mondovi Grant. A $2,500 grant given to businesses looking to open or expand in the Mondovi Area.
The latest recipient of the Energize Mondovi Grant is Simply Rustic Boutique. The grant helped the owners to expand their design and decor business into a new space in downtown Mondovi.
However, Michelle Larson with the Mondovi Business Association said your business does not have to have a storefront in Mondovi to receive the grant, so long as the business helps with community engagement or contribute to economic development in the area.
“We want to bring in people that are outside of the Mondovi area to to help our economics, bring in new business, bring in new customers. We have a lot of small shops, but they’re really successful because they’re just really great at what they do. And we want to continue to be able to grow those,” Larson said.
The Mondovi Business Association also hosts large scale community events like their Crazy Day Sale coming up on August 17th. The Crazy Day Sale will feature dozens of sidewalk sales from local businesses and serve as a fundraiser for the Mondovi School District.
Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/28/mondovi-business-association-helps-storefronts-expand-thrive/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:16 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/28/mondovi-business-association-helps-storefronts-expand-thrive/ |
Healthy snacking company That's it. aims to simplify back-to-school nutrition with curated shopping lists
LOS ANGELES, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The new school year is approaching, and with it, parents are preparing for the accompanying stress of the back-to-school season. Amongst the biggest stressors for parents of school-aged children? Managing after school activities (24%), followed by finding healthy snack options (23%) and packing lunches / food prep (20%)1.
With 43% of parents' top stressors coming in as nutrition-related, That's it. has partnered with childhood nutrition expert Rachel Rothman, MS, RD, CLEC to take the guesswork out of shopping for healthy back-to-school snacks by creating two curated snack shopping lists for Target and Walmart. (Seventy percent of parents indicated that they will do the majority of their back-to-school shopping at one of these two retail giants2.)
"The best part about these snacks is the variety of ingredients and nutrients," said Rothman. "They all contain key nutrients, and are made from whole foods, without the use of flavors or additives. These snacks are all shelf-stable and can be eaten as a quick, nutritious snack, or as part of a more diverse meal to keep your kids fed as the weather cools off and fall schedules heat back up."
Keep reading for Rothman's hand-selected healthy picks:
Target:
- That's it. Mango & Blueberry Mini Fruit Bars
- Whisps Cheese Crisps
- Chomps Snack Sticks
- Simple Mills Crackers
- Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame
Walmart:
- That's it. Apple + Strawberry Mini Fruit Bars
- Terra Sweet Potato Chips
- Kars Nuts Second Nature Wholesome Medley Trail Mix
- BOOMCHICKAPOP Sea Salt Popcorn
- Wild Planet Wild Albacore Tuna pouches
That's it. Mini Fruit Bars are made from two ingredients: Fruit + fruit. These shelf-stable Mini Fruit Bars contain no juices, purees, concentrates or added sugars, and are all-natural, gluten-free, non-GMO, and free from all top food allergens – making them the perfect back-to-school snack for the whole family.
About That's it.
That's it. makes delicious, convenient, plant-based super snacks from only the purest ingredients, and completely free from the top 12 allergens. Since 2012, it has been innovating the natural foods category in the United States with its portfolio of simple and nutritious snacks made from real, whole foods. All That's it. products transparently contain six real ingredients or less, and absolutely no natural or artificial flavors, sugar alcohols, or artificial colors. Its flagship Fruit Bars, now the #1 fruit bar in America, contain only two ingredients: fruit + fruit. You can find That's it. nationwide at your local Starbucks, at major retailers such as: Target, Whole Foods, Costco, Sam's Club, 7-Eleven, Walmart, VONS, CVS and Kroger, and online at Amazon and www.thatsitfruit.com. Learn more on Instagram and TikTok.
Media Contact:
Chief Marketing Officer
That's it.
1 About Suzy Survey:
The "Parents' Plates" study surveyed 1,000 parents of school-aged children in the U.S. in July 2023. Survey was conducted via real-time consumer insights platform Suzy.
2 About Suzy Survey:
The "Back-to-School" study surveyed 2,706 parents of school-aged children in the U.S. in June 2023. Survey was conducted via real-time consumer insights platform Suzy.
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SOURCE That’s it Nutrition | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/dietitians-top-walmart-target-picks-back-to-school-snacking/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:17 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/dietitians-top-walmart-target-picks-back-to-school-snacking/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruling that upended President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loan debt changed his budget math, modestly lowering the projected deficit for this year, his budget office reported Friday.
The White House expects to pare back $259 billion in spending that otherwise would have gone to erasing student loans. This contributed to lowering expected red ink this year under Biden’s budget plans from $1.569 trillion to $1.543 trillion.
The Office of Management and Budget’s Mid-Session Review represents the administration’s first recalculations of the loan program since the court’s June decision, which will affect millions of borrowers.
The court decision initially was expected to reduce the deficit by $400 billion. But a portion of that money will instead be used to pay for a smaller income-driven loan repayment program that goes into effect this summer, according to the report.
Millions of Americans with student loans will be able to enroll in the new SAVE repayment plan that offers some of the most lenient terms the government has ever offered borrowers.
Looking ahead to 2024, the report projects that inflation will continue to decline and the unemployment rate will average 3.8% for the rest of the year. Unemployment is expected to hit 4.4 % in 2024, then decline over the rest of the 10-year budget window to an annual average of 3.8%.
The new forecast comes as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell earlier this week said staff economists no longer foresee a recession.
“There is clear evidence that the President’s economic plan — Bidenomics — is growing our economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down,” said Biden’s budget director Shalanda Young in a statement accompanying the report.
The administration has been pushing “Bidenomics” as an approach that spurs economic growth through promoting domestic supply chains and favoring firms that use those supply chains through tax credits and other measures. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-supreme-courts-student-loan-decision-will-lower-us-deficit-according-to-new-white-house-projection/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:20 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-supreme-courts-student-loan-decision-will-lower-us-deficit-according-to-new-white-house-projection/ |
Provides military services, DOD agencies with access to zero-trust technology
FORT MEADE, Md., July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Defense Information Systems Agency awarded a follow-on production other transaction authority (OTA) agreement for Thunderdome, DISA's zero trust network access and application security architecture.
Thunderdome will harden the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) networks and help warfighters defend against adversarial activity by employing network and resource access tools along with segmentation technologies. DISA's Thunderdome capabilities work in concert with identity and endpoint cybersecurity capabilities, and align to the president's Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity and the DoD's Zero Trust Strategy.
"Awarding this Thunderdome production agreement is an important step on our zero-trust journey and furthers DISA's mission to provide warfighters with a more secure operating environment," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert J. Skinner, DISA director and Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network Commander. "While DISA leverages these capabilities on our cyber terrain, this full-scale production agreement can be used to assist the military services and other DoD components in implementing key zero-trust activities."
This follow-on agreement to Booz Allen Hamilton is to broadly implement and operate Thunderdome's zero trust network access and application security architecture and comes after successful completion of an 18-month prototype. The period of performance for this follow-on OTA is for a one-year base period, with four one-year option periods for a total agreement lifecycle of five years (August 2023 through August 2028).
"The experience gained in partnership with industry as we implemented the prototype solution over the last 18 months has been invaluable, and we believe this award positions the department to meet critical zero trust adoption timelines in support of our warfighters" said Christopher Barnhurst, DISA deputy director. "We look forward to accelerating implementation activities and partnering across the department to expand access to the zero-trust capabilities Thunderdome provides."
For more information and pricing details, please contact DISA's Mission Partner Engagement Office.
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SOURCE Defense Information Systems Agency | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/disa-awards-thunderdome-production-agreement/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:23 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/disa-awards-thunderdome-production-agreement/ |
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A teenager recalled Friday how she helped save a girl who was severely wounded during a Michigan school shooting in 2021, telling a judge that she moved her to an empty classroom, applied pressure to stop the bleeding and prayed with her.
“I asked her if she knew who God was. She said, ‘Not really,’” Heidi Allen, 17, recalled.
“I think I’m supposed to be here right now,” she said, describing how she felt at the time. “Because there’s no other reason that I’m OK, that I’m in this hallway, completely untouched.”
Heidi testified at a hearing to determine whether Ethan Crumbley, 17, will get a life prison sentence, or a shorter term with an opportunity for parole, for killing four students and wounding seven other people at Oxford High School.
She said she recognized him as soon as he exited a bathroom and brandished a gun.
“It fired,” Heidi recalled. “Everything kind of slowed down for me. It was all slow motion. I had covered my head. I dropped down. … It sounded like a balloon popping or a locker slamming. It was very loud.
“I just prayed and covered my head,” she said. “I didn’t know if those were my last moments.”
Heidi wasn’t shot but others were. She said she took a girl into a classroom, installed a portable lock on the door and applied pressure to the girl’s wounds. The victim survived.
“I just kept reassuring her she was going to be OK. She was crying,” Heidi testified. “I don’t fully remember what she was saying. I was trying to stay calm.”
The shooter, who was 15 at the time, pleaded guilty to murder, terrorism and other crimes. But a life sentence for minors isn’t automatic after a series of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and Michigan’s top court.
Defense attorneys are arguing that he can be rehabilitated in prison and eventually released. They said the shooting followed years of a turbulent family life, grossly negligent parents and untreated mental illness.
A former warden, Ken Romanowski, testified about a variety of programs available in prison, such as mental health therapy, anger management, education and trade skills.
“Honestly, I think everybody has the potential for change. But he has to be the one who makes that choice,” Romanowski said, appearing for the defense.
A psychiatrist, Dr. Fariha Qadir, said Crumbley discussed having depression, hallucinations and hearing voices when they first met after his arrest. She has talked to him more than 100 times while in jail and prescribed medication for depression, mood and sleep.
James and Jennifer Crumbley are separately charged with involuntary manslaughter. They’re accused of buying a gun for their son and ignoring his mental health needs.
Earlier Friday, Judge Kwame Rowe denied a request by the shooter’s lawyers to stop students from testifying. They argued that it’s irrelevant when applying key factors set by the U.S. Supreme Court when determining a sentence for a minor.
“I’m able to discern what’s relevant to the… factors and what’s not relevant,” the judge said.
Prosecutors presented other witnesses Friday. An assistant principal, Kristy Gibson-Marshall, tearfully described how she tried to revive Tate Myre, a student whom she had known since he was 3 years old. He died.
“It was crushing. I had to help him,” Gibson-Marshall testified. “I could feel the entrance wound in the back of his head. … I just kept talking to him, that I love him, that I needed him to hang with me.”
It took “months to get the taste of Tate’s blood out of me,” she said.
Gibson-Marshall also knew the shooter, who passed by but didn’t harm her.
Separately, a 16-year-old boy explained how he hid in a bathroom with another student, Justin Shilling, who was killed by the shooter. Keegan Gregory said he suddenly found an opportunity to run behind the shooter’s back and escape.
“I realized if I stayed I was going to die,” said Keegan, who now wears a tattoo to honor the victims. “I just kept running as fast as I could, making turns so if he chased me I’d lose him.”
The hearing will resume Tuesday.
If the shooter doesn’t get a life sentence, he would be given a minimum prison sentence somewhere from 25 years to 40 years. He would then be eligible for parole, though the parole board has much discretion to keep a prisoner in custody.
There were opportunities to possibly prevent the shooting earlier that day. The boy and his parents met with school staff after a teacher was troubled by drawings that included a gun pointing at the words: “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”
The teen was allowed to stay in school, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Detroit, though his backpack was not checked for weapons.
___
Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-teen-says-she-just-prayed-while-saving-girl-in-michigan-school-shooting/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:27 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-teen-says-she-just-prayed-while-saving-girl-in-michigan-school-shooting/ |
PHOENIX (AP) — 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. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-the-backup-driver-in-the-1st-death-by-a-fully-autonomous-car-pleads-guilty-to-endangerment/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:33 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-the-backup-driver-in-the-1st-death-by-a-fully-autonomous-car-pleads-guilty-to-endangerment/ |
SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla., July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Icahn Enterprises L.P. (Nasdaq:IEP) announced today that it will discuss its second quarter 2023 results on a webcast on Friday, August 4, 2023 - 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. To access the webcast, viewers should go to this link (webcast). We encourage viewers to access the webcast 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time. A replay of the webcast will also be available for at least twelve months at Icahn events and presentations.
Icahn Enterprises L.P., a master limited partnership, is a diversified holding company engaged in seven primary business segments: Investment, Energy, Automotive, Food Packaging, Real Estate, Home Fashion and Pharma.
Investor Contact:
Ted Papapostolou, Chief Financial Officer
IR@ielp.com
(800) 255-2737
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SOURCE Icahn Enterprises L.P. | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/icahn-enterprises-lp-announces-q2-2023-earnings-conference-call/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:35 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/icahn-enterprises-lp-announces-q2-2023-earnings-conference-call/ |
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.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-the-mega-millions-jackpot-is-now-910-million-after-months-without-a-big-winner/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:40 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-the-mega-millions-jackpot-is-now-910-million-after-months-without-a-big-winner/ |
LIMERICK, Ireland, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NAC Aviation 29 Designated Activity Company (the "Company") today announced amendments to (i) its previously announced offer to purchase an amount up to the Tender Cap (as defined below) of its 4.75% Senior Secured Notes due June 30, 2026 (the "Notes") at a purchase price per $1,000 principal amount of Notes for cash (the "Notes Offer") as set forth in the Company's amended Offer to Purchase and dated July 28, 2023 (as amended hereby, the "Amended Offer to Purchase") and (ii) the concurrent purchase by way of assignment from lenders (the "TLB Lenders"), of loans (the "TLB Loans") under its term loan B credit agreement dated as of June 1, 2022 between, among others, the Company as a borrower, the financial institutions named therein as original lenders and Wilmington Trust (London) Limited as agent for the lenders (as amended from time to time, the "Term Loan B Credit Agreement" and, together with the Notes, the "NAC 29 Debt"), on substantially the same economic terms as the Notes Offer (the "TLB Offer" and, together with the Notes Offer, the "Debt Purchase Transactions"). The maximum aggregate amount (at face value) of NAC 29 Debt to be purchased by the Company pursuant to the Debt Purchase Transactions is $80,000,000 (the "Tender Cap").
The Company is hereby amending the Amended Offer to Purchase to (1) amend the Early Tender Premium component of the Total Consideration (both as defined in the Amended Offer to Purchase) from $30.00 to $10.00 per $1,000 principal amount for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase by the Company, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding the settlement date; (2) extend the Early Tender Time and the Withdrawal Deadline (both as defined in the Amended Offer to Purchase) from 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 7, 2023 to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 10, 2023; and (3) a clarificatory change to the table on the second page of the Amended Offer to Purchase. These amendments apply to both the Notes Offer and the TLB Offer.
The change in the Early Tender Premium has been made to ensure compliance with the requirements as set out in Clause 4.3 of side letter no. 2 to the intercreditor agreement that was entered into by, among others, the Company on 18 July 2023.
No further action is required to be taken by holders who have already validly tendered and not validly withdrawn their NAC 29 Debt in order to receive the Total Consideration, including the amended Early Tender Premium. Except as described herein, other terms of the previously announced Debt Purchase Transactions remain unchanged.
The complete terms and conditions of the Notes Offer are described in the Amended Offer to Purchase, dated July 28, 2023, a copy of which may be obtained from Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the tender agent and information agent (the "Tender and Information Agent") for the Notes Offer, by telephone at +1 (855) 654-2014 (U.S. toll free) and +1 (212) 430-3774 (collect), in writing at 65 Broadway – Suite 404, New York, New York 10006, Attention: Corporate Actions.
The complete terms of the TLB Offer are described in the Amended Auction Notice dated July 28, 2023, a copy of which may be obtained from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. as purchase agent (the "Purchase Agent") for the TLB Offer by telephone at +1 (855) 287-1922 (toll-free) or +1 (212) 250-7527 (collect), or in writing at One Columbus Circle, New York, New York 10019, Attention: Liability Management Group.
The Company has engaged Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. to act as the dealer manager (the "Dealer Manager") in connection with the Notes Offer and as Purchase Agent in connection with the TLB Offer. Questions regarding the terms of the Debt Purchase Transactions may be directed to the Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. by telephone at +1 (855) 287-1922 (toll-free) and +1 (212) 250-7527 (collect).
Cautionary Statement
None of the Company, the Dealer Manager, the Purchase Agent, the Tender and Information Agent or the trustee for the Notes, or any of their respective affiliates, is making any recommendation as to whether holders and/or lenders should or should not tender any NAC 29 Debt in response to the Debt Purchase Transactions or expressing any opinion as to whether the terms of the Debt Purchase Transactions are fair to any holder or lender. Holders and/or lenders must make their own decision as to whether to tender any of their NAC 29 Debt and, if so, the principal amount of NAC 29 Debt to tender and the bid price at which to tender. Holders of Notes should refer to the Amended Offer to Purchase for a description of the offer terms, conditions, disclaimers and other information applicable to the Notes Offer, and TLB Lenders should refer to the TLB Auction Notice for a description of the offer terms, conditions, disclaimers and other information applicable to the TLB Offer.
This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. The Notes Offer is being made solely by means of the Amended Offer to Purchase. The Debt Purchase Transactions are not being made to holders of securities in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction. In those jurisdictions where the securities, blue sky or other laws require any Debt Purchase Transactions to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the Debt Purchase Transactions will be deemed to be made on behalf of the Company by the Dealer Manager or Purchase Agent (as applicable) or one or more registered brokers or dealers licensed under the laws of such jurisdiction.
About Nordic Aviation Capital
NAC is a global leader in regional aircraft leasing and is expanding into larger narrowbody aircraft leveraging its world-class asset management platform. The firm is based in Ireland and currently has offices also in Singapore, Denmark, Toronto and Beijing.
Forward Looking Information Disclaimer
Some of the statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include statements regarding the Company's intent and belief or current expectations and may be identified by the use of words like "anticipate", "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "will," "should," "seek," the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, without limitation, the Company's ability to consummate the Debt Purchase Transactions, as well as matters beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, results or events.
Contacts:
Nordic Aviation Capital:
Media contact: marketing@nac.dk
Global Bondholder Services Corporation:
65 Broadway – Suite 404
New York, NY 10006
United States
Attn: Corporate Actions
Banks and Brokers call: +1 (212) 430-3774
Toll free +1 (855) 654-2014
Email: contact@gbsc-usa.com
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SOURCE NAC Aviation 29 Designated Activity Company | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/nac-aviation-29-designated-activity-company-announces-amendment-partial-notes-tender-offer-term-loan-b-offer/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:42 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/nac-aviation-29-designated-activity-company-announces-amendment-partial-notes-tender-offer-term-loan-b-offer/ |
ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has criticized fellow Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for supporting new standards that require teachers to instruct middle school students that slaves developed skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”
“What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating,” Scott, the sole Black Republican in the Senate, told reporters on Thursday after a town hall in Ankeny. “So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that.”
“People have bad days,” Scott added. “Sometimes they regret what they say. And we should ask them again to clarify their positions.”
DeSantis has been facing criticism from Florida teachers, civil rights leaders, President Joe Biden’s White House and even Black Republicans on the school standards. Vice President Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black vice president, traveled to Florida last week to condemn the curriculum.
DeSantis fired back on Friday, saying that “part of the reason our country has struggled is because D.C. Republicans all too often accept false narratives, accept lies that are perpetrated by the left.”
Campaigning in Iowa, he added that he was “defending” Florida “against false accusations and against lies. And we’re going to continue to speak the truth.”
The back-and-forth marked a shift in campaign styles for both DeSantis and Scott, who have not directly critiqued each other and have instead focused much of their antagonism toward President Joe Biden. It also comes as DeSantis’ effort has endured a mid-campaign reset, making staffing cuts to accommodate campaign expenses.
Another Black Republican presidential candidate, former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, has also criticized DeSantis over the curriculum, as have Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, two Trump allies who are among a handful of Black Republicans in Congress.
Scott’s comments came as he and DeSantis stumped in Iowa before the state Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner. At that gathering, 13 candidates in the GOP presidential primary field, including front-runner Donald Trump, will be addressing an expected 1,200 activists on Friday. Scott, part of the GOP’s most diverse presidential field ever, was asked for his opinion on the standards hours after DeSantis defended them to reporters.
“At the end of the day, you got to choose: Are you going to side with Kamala Harris and liberal media outlets or are you going to side with the state of Florida?” DeSantis said, citing Democrats’ criticism of the wording on slavery. “I think it’s very clear that these guys did a good job on those standards. It wasn’t anything that was politically motivated.”
Responding on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to reporters’ posts of Scott’s video, a super PAC supporting DeSantis on Thursday night called the posts “incredibly sloppy or intentionally disingenuous,” reposting video of DeSantis’ defense of the curriculum earlier in the day.
___
Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C., and can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-tim-scott-criticizes-ron-desantis-over-floridas-new-slavery-curriculum/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:47 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-tim-scott-criticizes-ron-desantis-over-floridas-new-slavery-curriculum/ |
NEW YORK, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Official Committee of Talc Claimants (the "Committee"), which has been tirelessly pursuing justice for its constituency of talc victims' injury by Johnson & Johnson's ("J&J's") talc products, is pleased with the court's decision to dismiss the second bankruptcy attempt. We believe the decision of the Honorable Chief Judge Kaplan was thoughtful, well-reasoned, and well-supported by the facts and law. This outcome now frees tens of thousands of victims to seek their justice through the tort system either before juries of their peers or by settlement on terms acceptable to them. The Committee has consistently contended the tort system is the rightful place for these claims to be resolved. Today's ruling validates the Committee's belief that J&J manipulated the bankruptcy system by using the "Texas Two-Step" legal maneuver and wrongfully sought to manufacture financial distress in its "Legacy Talc Liabilities" (LTL) Management subsidiary, solely to carry out a bad faith bankruptcy case. The company will now face the full weight of its conduct in the appropriate judicial forums.
"This ruling sends a clear message: multibillion-dollar, wholly solvent companies like J&J should not be allowed to use and in fact abuse bankruptcy laws to avoid accountability," said Brown Rudnick's David Molton, one of the co-counsels representing the Committee. "We are reassured by the Bankruptcy Court's reaffirmation that it will not allow solvent corporations to abuse the system and impose coercive, low-value and cram-down solutions on nonconsenting claimants. Justice should and now will triumph over corporate greed and legal chicanery."
"The claimants have waited long enough. Untold numbers of cancer victims have died while Johnson & Johnson attempted to manipulate the bankruptcy system to limit its liabilities," added Molton. "Now victims and their families can seek justice through the tort system – by presenting their case before a jury of their peers in courts of their own choosing."
The TCC filed its motion to dismiss on April 24, 2023, alongside several other movants, including the Office of the United States Trustee, numerous State Attorneys General, and other plaintiff groups, who shared a vision for this outcome. Chief Judge Kaplan's Opinion can be viewed on the case docket, available at: https://document.epiq11.com/document/getdocumentbycode?docId=4202926&projectCode=LCN&source=DM
About The Official Committee of Talc Claimants
The Official Committee of Talc Claimants (TCC), appointed by the Office of the United States Trustee (UST), an arm of the US Department of Justice, represents and acts as a fiduciary for all mesothelioma and ovarian cancer victims, as well as all subrogation claimants who have claims based on or derivative to the victims' talcum powder claims. For more information about the TCC, please view our website at https://www.ltltalccommittee.org/
The TCC is advised by counsel, an investment banker, a financial advisor, and claims estimation experts well-versed in mass tort, asbestos, talc, bankruptcy, and victim advocacy. These entities include Genova Burns L.L.C., Brown Rudnick L.L.P., Otterbourg PC, Massey & Gail L.L.P., Miller Thomson L.L.P., MoloLamken L.L.P., Compass Lexecon, FTI Consulting, and Houlihan Lokey.
Media Contact
questions@ltltalccommittee.org
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SOURCE Official Committee of Talc Claimants | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/official-committee-talc-claimants-applauds-decision-dismiss-ltl-management-second-bankruptcy-attempt/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:48 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/official-committee-talc-claimants-applauds-decision-dismiss-ltl-management-second-bankruptcy-attempt/ |
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Tom Durden, the Georgia district attorney who kick-started the prosecution of Ahmaud Arbery’s killing by calling in state investigators to take over the languishing case, has died at age 66.
The Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, which Durden led for 24 years before stepping down last year, confirmed Durden’s death in a Facebook post Friday. No cause of death was given.
During his career of nearly four decades, Durden served briefly as the second outside prosecutor overseeing the investigation into the February 2020 killing of Arbery. The 25-year-old Black man was fatally shot as he ran from white men in pickup trucks who chased him through their Georgia neighborhood. The shooter said he fired in self-defense.
The case stalled without charges for more than two months before Durden asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to take over from local police. GBI agents rapidly made arrests that led to three murder convictions. Durden stepped aside soon after the arrests, saying the case needed a DA with a larger staff.
“He played a significant role, as we know the others before him did nothing,” said Thea Brooks, one of Arbery’s aunts. “No matter how long he had it on his desk, he did the right thing.”
Following Arbery’s killing outside the port city of Brunswick in 2020, the local district attorney recused herself and the first outside prosecutor assigned, George Barnhill, opposed bringing criminal charges before he stepped aside.
Georgia’s attorney general then appointed Durden, who had the case for roughly a month amid a growing outcry for arrests. Durden asked the GBI to get involved after cellphone video of the killing leaked online May 5, 2020.
Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael were arrested on murder charges the day after GBI agents arrived in Brunswick. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, was charged soon after.
“The fact that he sent it to the GBI was a positive turn in the case for us, and I think he deserves credit for it,” said the Rev. John Perry, who led Brunswick’s NAACP chapter at the time Arbery was killed.
The job of prosecuting the McMichaels and Bryan was passed to the district attorney for Cobb County in metro Atlanta. All three men were ultimately convicted of murder in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison.
Durden joined the district attorney’s office as an assistant prosecutor in 1984, two years after earning his law degree from Mercer University. He was elected DA after his predecessor retired in 1998.
Durden prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases in the Atlantic Circuit, which covers six southeast Georgia counties outside Savannah.
“Mr. Durden was a true public servant to the State of Georgia for close to 40 years,” Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said in a statement. “My sincerest condolences to Tom’s family.”
In 1998, Durden successfully prosecuted four family members and a friend in the killing of Thurmon Martin, a case that would become known as Georgia’s infamous “tomato patch” murder.
Martin, 64, was shot while sleeping in May 1997 and buried behind his home in rural Ludowici. The case gained notoriety for the tomato plants growing atop Martin’s grave, as well as the defendants’ harrowing courtroom accounts of being abused by the slain man. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-tom-durden-georgia-da-who-ordered-takeover-of-stalled-ahmaud-arbery-investigation-dies-at-66/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:54 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-tom-durden-georgia-da-who-ordered-takeover-of-stalled-ahmaud-arbery-investigation-dies-at-66/ |
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In an unprecedented collaborative endeavor, Slovenia's Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy, in partnership with Global Footprint Network, announces a critical date for the planet: this year's Earth Overshoot Day lands on August 2nd.
The date, calculated by Global Footprint Network each year using National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, marks when humanity's demand for biological resources exceeds the Earth's capacity to regenerate them within that year. To spotlight this issue, the Ministry and Global Footprint Network are organizing a high-level event on August 1st, held in Ljubljana and online, to discuss the implications of overshoot. The high-level event enjoys support from key figures including President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28 and IUCN President Razan Al Mubarak, and Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel at UNEP Dr. Janez Potočnik.
"Slovenia, as the first EU country, joins the ranks of countries such as Ecuador, Japan, the Philippines, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates, leveraging Ecological Footprint data and officially endorsing the metric as a useful tool to steer environmental policy," affirms Bojan Kumer, Slovenia's Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy. He further elucidates that efforts to reduce Slovenia's Ecological Footprint by 20% by 2030 will spur greater opportunities for the country amid a future marked by climate change and resource constraints.
Razan Al Mubarak notes the Ecological Footprint's utility, "With this metric in hand, any country, region, city, or company can assess its current standing and determine how it can contribute to postponing this date (Earth Overshoot Day)." It provides valuable insights for forward-thinking strategies that address resource security and enable the transition towards a sustainable economy.
Earth Overshoot Day coincides with the European Parliament's recent vote on the Nature Restoration Law. The persistence of overshoot has led to land and soil degradation, fish stock depletion, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas accumulation. These symptoms are becoming more prominent every day across the planet, with unusual heat waves, wildfires, droughts, and floods, exacerbating the competition for food and energy.
"The biggest risk, apart from ecological overshoot itself, lies in complacency towards this crisis. Entities that act now are not just safeguarding the environment but future-proofing their economy and the wellbeing of their residents," underlines Steven Tebbe, CEO of Global Footprint Network.
Contacts
Watch event https://video.sta.si/
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SOURCE Republic of Slovenia Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/slovenias-ministry-environment-climate-energy-global-footprint-network-host-high-level-event-mark-earth-overshoot-day-2023/ | 2023-07-28T23:39:55 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/slovenias-ministry-environment-climate-energy-global-footprint-network-host-high-level-event-mark-earth-overshoot-day-2023/ |
ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Streams of air whirled by Ida Cartlidge in every direction, but she couldn’t breathe.
Between the thin walls and above the shaky foundation of a mobile home, Cartlidge, 32, miraculously survived a March tornado that carved a path of destruction through Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Mobile home residents in the path of a twister’s fury often don’t live to recount the experience.
“It sounded like a real loud train coming through,” Cartlidge said. “And I could feel the wind, it was so powerful you couldn’t even breathe while you were in the air.”
Cartlidge and her husband, Charles Jones, 59, had forged a quiet life in Rolling Fork with their three sons. She worked in customer service for an appliance company and Jones for a local auto parts shop. They viewed Rolling Fork as a refuge from city life and an ideal place to raise kids. The family lived in a mobile home park behind Chuck’s Dairy Bar, a diner that had long been a nexus of local life for Rolling Fork residents.
Then the tornado tore through the park, making it a point of misery.
Most of the 14 people who died in Rolling Fork when the March 24 tornado hit the Mississippi Delta lived in the mobile home park, with large families crowding into one or two-bedroom units. Such living arrangements have been a way to offset the financial strain endemic to the Mississippi Delta, where poverty is prevalent and stable jobs are scarce.
Tornadoes in the United States are disproportionately killing more people in mobile or manufactured homes, especially in the South. Since 1996, tornadoes have killed 815 people in mobile or manufactured homes. That’s 53% of all the people killed in their homes during a tornado, according to an Associated Press data analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tornado deaths.
Cramped living arrangements forced mobile home inhabitants to shelter just as they lived: with little space between them.
“The only thing I could tell them to do was get on the floor,” said Charles Jones, Cartlidge’s husband. “And I got on top. I got on top of my family.”
Just seconds before Cartlidge found herself burrowed beneath her husband on the mobile home’s living room floor, her father had called her. He had been watching the news and saw that a tornado had touched down in Rolling Fork.
Cartlidge heard car windows shattering outside. The home’s windows shattered next. She scooped up her 1-year-old son and dove to the floor, with her 11- and 12-year-old sons next to her and Jones atop them. They didn’t know the incoming winds had reached 200 mph (320 kph). The storm’s force was instead measured by the fear it induced.
“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.”
Her future was suspended in the air alongside her home. “You don’t know what’s happening next, whether you’re going to live it through it or not,” she said.
The next thing Cartlidge remembers is lying with her back on the ground and the baby resting on her chest. He was the only member of the family who made it through the storm unscathed.
Her fear didn’t subside. “All you could hear were people screaming and hollering for help,” she recalled.
Cartlidge propped herself up with a piece of wood and walked to the highway. She could feel her bones shifting with every step.
She suffered a crushed pelvis bone and broken shoulder. One of her sons punctured a lung and had shattered bones in his spine and shoulder blade. Jones injured his ribs and spine.
Since returning from the hospital, the family has been living in a motel room only minutes down the highway from where their mobile home used to be. Rain storms still make Cartlidge and Jones anxious, as they experienced the raw force of twister first-hand.
“The tornado’s going to win every time,” Jones said. “It’s just like when a nail meets a tire.”
___
Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mikergoldberg.
___
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. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-we-were-in-the-air-mississippi-family-recounts-surviving-tornado-that-tore-mobile-home-apart/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:01 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-we-were-in-the-air-mississippi-family-recounts-surviving-tornado-that-tore-mobile-home-apart/ |
Junior's Rolls Out a Dessert Fit for The King: Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana is Winner of National Cheesecake Day Flavor Contest
BROOKLYN, N.Y., July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Elvis Presley is the original rock 'n' roll legend, and Junior's is the original cheesecake legend. So, it is more than appropriate that peanut butter chocolate and banana – inspired by Elvis' favorite sandwich -- is now the newest limited edition Junior's cheesecake flavor, the result of a national flavor contest held in the lead-up to National Cheesecake Day, this coming Sunday, July 30.
Out of more than 5,000 entries across the country, Thomas Zahorec, from Greenville, South Carolina, channeled his inner King when submitting the winning flavor.
"Elvis had his numerous number one hits, and we have ours," said Alan Rosen, owner of Junior's. "So, I can't think of a better way to celebrate National Cheesecake Day than by creating this new flavor to honor the King, himself. Because just as you 'can't help falling in love' with Elvis, I know you won't be able to resist this peanut butter chocolate banana cheesecake. My deepest congratulations goes to Mr. Zahorec for inspiring our 25th flavor."
Rosen said that in addition to a $2500 cash prize, Zahorec will win a cheesecake a month for a year, including one of the new flavor, of course. And Junior's lovers around the country are also winners because the peanut butter chocolate banana cheesecake will be available for a limited time in Junior's restaurants and by mail order. This limited edition flavor will be available in various sizes through Labor Day.
About Junior's
Since the 1950s, Junior's Restaurant and Bakery in Brooklyn, New York has been famous for great food, great fun, great service, and, of course, the World's Most Famous Cheesecake. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, Junior's Restaurant and Bakery's menu features New York and Brooklyn comfort food dishes ranging from classic New York deli sandwiches piled high, famous 10 oz. steak burgers, salads, jumbo half pound hot dogs, fresh seafood and a full-service bar. For more information, visit juniorscheesecake.com.
Instagram: @JuniorsCheesecake, Facebook: @JuniorsCheesecake
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SOURCE Junior's | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/viva-las-cheesecake/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:02 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/viva-las-cheesecake/ |
HOUSTON (AP) — Just moments before rap superstar Travis Scott took the stage at the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival, a contract worker had been so worried about what might happen after seeing people getting crushed that he texted an event organizer saying, “Someone’s going to end up dead,” according to a police report released Friday.
The texts by security contract worker Reece Wheeler were some of many examples in the nearly 1,300-page report in which festival workers highlighted problems and warned of possible deadly consequences. The report includes transcripts of concertgoers’ 911 calls and summaries of police interviews, including one with Scott conducted just days after the event.
The crowd surge at the Nov. 5, 2021, outdoor festival in Houston killed 10 attendees who ranged in age from 9 to 27. The official cause of death was compression asphyxia, which an expert likened to being crushed by a car. About 50,000 people attended the festival.
“Pull tons over the rail unconscious. There’s panic in people eyes. This could get worse quickly,” Reece Wheeler texted Shawna Boardman, one of the private security directors, at 9 p.m. Wheeler then texted, “I know they’ll try to fight through it but I would want it on the record that I didn’t advise this to continue. Someone’s going to end up dead.”
Scott’s concert began at 9:02 p.m. In their review of video from the concert’s livestream, police investigators said that at 9:13 p.m., they heard the faint sound of someone saying, “Stop the show.” The same request could also be heard at 9:16 p.m. and 9:22 p.m.
In an Aug. 19, 2022, police interview, Boardman’s attorneys told investigators that Boardman “saw things were not as bad as Reece Wheeler stated” and decided not to pass along Wheeler’s concerns to anyone else.
A grand jury declined to indict anyone who was investigated over the event, including Scott, Boardman and four other people.
During a police interview conducted two days after the concert, Scott told investigators that although he did see one person near the stage getting medical attention, overall the crowd seemed to be enjoying the show and he did not see any signs of serious problems.
“We asked if he at any point heard the crowd telling him to stop the show. He stated that if he had heard something like that he would have done something,” police said in their summary of Scott’s interview.
Hip-hop artist Drake, who performed with Scott at the concert, told police that it was difficult to see from the stage what was going on in the crowd and that he didn’t hear concertgoers’ pleas to stop the show.
Drake found out about the tragedy later that night from his manager, while learning more on social media, police said in their summary.
Marty Wallgren, who worked for a security consulting firm hired by the festival, told police that when he went backstage and tried to tell representatives for Scott and Drake that the concert needed to end because people had been hurt and might have died, he was told “Drake still has three more songs,” according to an interview summary.
Daniel Johary, a college student who got trapped in the crush of concertgoers and later used his skills working as an EMT in Israel to help an injured woman, told investigators hundreds of people had chanted for Scott to stop the music and that the chants could be heard “from everywhere.”
“He stated staff members in the area gave thumbs-up and did not care,” according to the police report.
Richard Rickeada, a retired Houston police officer who was working for a private security company at the festival, told investigators that from 8 a.m. the day of the concert, things were “pretty much in chaos,” according to a police summary of his interview. His concerns and questions about whether the concert should be held were “met with a lot of shrugged shoulders,” he said.
About 23 minutes into the concert, cameraman Gregory Hoffman radioed into the show’s production trailer to warn that “people were dying.” Hoffman was operating a large crane that held a television camera before it was overrun with concertgoers who needed medical help, police said.
The production team radioed Hoffman to ask when they could get the crane back in operation.
Salvatore Livia, who was hired to direct the live show, told police that following Hoffman’s dire warning, people in the production trailer understood that something was not right, but “they were disconnected to the reality of (what) was happening out there,” according to a police summary of Livia’s interview.
Concertgoer Christopher Gates, then 22, told police that by the second or third song in Scott’s performance, he came across about five people on the ground who he believed were already dead.
Their bodies were “lifeless, pale, and their lips were blue/purple,” according to the police report. Random people in the crowd – not medics – provided CPR.
The police report was released about a month after the grand jury in Houston declined to indict Scott on any criminal charges in connection with the deadly concert. Police Chief Troy Finner had said the report was being made public so that people could “read the entire investigation” and come to their own conclusions about the case. During a news conference after the grand jury’s decision, Finner declined to say what the overall conclusion of his agency’s investigation was or whether police should have stopped the concert sooner.
The report’s release also came the same day that Scott released his new album, “Utopia.”
More than 500 lawsuits were filed over the deaths and injuries at the concert, including many against concert promoter Live Nation and Scott. Some have since been settled.
___
Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
___
Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
___
Find more AP coverage of the Astroworld festival: https://apnews.com/hub/astroworld-festival-deaths | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-worker-warned-organizer-someones-going-to-end-up-dead-before-crowd-surge-at-21-travis-scott-show/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:08 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/ap-worker-warned-organizer-someones-going-to-end-up-dead-before-crowd-surge-at-21-travis-scott-show/ |
Abraham Toro Player Prop Bets: Brewers vs. Braves - July 28
Published: Jul. 28, 2023 at 5:24 PM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
The Milwaukee Brewers and Abraham Toro, who went 1-for-3 last time in action, take on Yonny Chirinos and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, Friday at 7:20 PM ET.
In his previous appearance, he went 1-for-3 against the Reds.
Abraham Toro Game Info & Props vs. the Braves
- Game Day: Friday, July 28, 2023
- Game Time: 7:20 PM ET
- Stadium: Truist Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Braves Starter: Yonny Chirinos
- TV Channel: BSSE
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -238)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +450)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +150)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +115)
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Abraham Toro At The Plate (2022)
- Toro-Hernandez hit .185 with 13 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 22 walks.
- Toro-Hernandez got a hit in 44.2% of his 104 games last year, with multiple hits in 13.5% of them.
- He hit a long ball in 9.6% of his games last year (10 of 104), and 2.8% of his trips to the plate.
- Toro-Hernandez drove in a run in 24.0% of his games last season (25 of 104), with two or more RBIs in eight of those contests (7.7%). He had three or more RBIs in one game.
- He scored in 32 of 104 games last year (30.8%), including scoring more than once in 3.8% of his games (four times).
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Abraham Toro Home/Away Batting Splits (2022)
Braves Pitching Rankings (2022)
- The Braves pitching staff was second in MLB last season with a collective 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
- The Braves' 3.45 team ERA ranked fifth across all MLB pitching staffs.
- Braves pitchers combined to give up 148 home runs (0.9 per game), the fourth-fewest in the big leagues.
- Chirinos gets the start for the Braves, his fifth of the season. He is 4-4 with a 4.02 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings pitched.
- His most recent time out came in relief on Sunday, July 16 when the right-hander tossed 4 2/3 innings against the Kansas City Royals, surrendering three earned runs while giving up four hits.
- In 15 games this season, the 29-year-old has put up a 4.02 ERA and 4.5 strikeouts per nine innings, while allowing a batting average of .247 to his opponents.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/abraham-toro-hernandez-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:09 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/abraham-toro-hernandez-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
(The Hill) – President Biden on Friday made his first public remarks about his 4-year-old grandchild Navy, the daughter of his son Hunter Biden, after silence from the White House over the young girl amid legal disputes between her parents.
Biden said, in a statement exclusively provided to People, that his son and Lunden Roberts, the mother, are working to provide a life for her.
“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,” the president said. “This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter. Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”
The New York Times earlier this month published a piece about the child, writing that she’s never met Hunter Biden or her grandfather. After that was published, the White House dealt with questions in the briefing room from reporters asking whether Biden accepted Hunter Biden’s daughter in Arkansas as his granddaughter.
Roberts, who is in Arkansas, filed a paternity suit against Hunter Biden in May 2019, and the younger Biden appeared in court this May. In June, he reached a settlement in his child support case after he was ordered to sit for a deposition under oath to answer questions about his finances.
An anonymous source told People that the president and first lady Jill Biden have been “giving Hunter and Lunden the space and time to figure things out” and have been “following Hunter’s lead” throughout the legal proceedings involving the young girl.
Hunter Biden’s personal and legal troubles have been increasingly in the spotlight lately. He appeared in a Delaware court Wednesday, where his plea deal on federal tax and gun charges was put on hold by a judge who questioned the scope of the agreement. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/biden-offers-first-statement-on-hunters-4-year-old-daughter/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:14 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/biden-offers-first-statement-on-hunters-4-year-old-daughter/ |
Tyrone Taylor Player Prop Bets: Brewers vs. Braves - July 28
Published: Jul. 28, 2023 at 5:23 PM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
After going 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI in his last game, Tyrone Taylor and the Milwaukee Brewers face the Atlanta Braves (who will start Yonny Chirinos) at 7:20 PM ET on Friday.
He hit a home run while going 1-for-3 in his previous game against the Reds.
Tyrone Taylor Game Info & Props vs. the Braves
- Game Day: Friday, July 28, 2023
- Game Time: 7:20 PM ET
- Stadium: Truist Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Braves Starter: Yonny Chirinos
- TV Channel: BSSE
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -238)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +475)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +160)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +120)
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Tyrone Taylor At The Plate
- Taylor has three doubles, two home runs and two walks while batting .159.
- In 12 of 27 games this season (44.4%), Taylor has reached base safely via hit, and that includes multiple hits twice.
- He has hit a long ball in two of 27 games played this season, and in 2.2% of his plate appearances.
- In five games this year, Taylor has picked up an RBI, with more than one RBI once.
- He has scored in five of 27 games so far this year.
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Tyrone Taylor Home/Away Batting Splits
Braves Pitching Rankings
- The pitching staff for the Braves has a collective 9.5 K/9, the fifth-best in the league.
- The Braves have a 3.82 team ERA that ranks fifth across all MLB pitching staffs.
- Braves pitchers combine to give up the third-fewest home runs in baseball (108 total, 1.1 per game).
- Chirinos (4-4) gets the starting nod for the Braves in his fifth start of the season. He's put together a 4.02 ERA in 62 2/3 innings pitched, with 31 strikeouts.
- In his last time out -- in relief on Sunday, July 16 -- the righty tossed 4 2/3 innings against the Kansas City Royals, giving up three earned runs while surrendering four hits.
- The 29-year-old has put up an ERA of 4.02, with 4.5 strikeouts per nine innings, in 15 games this season. Opponents are batting .247 against him.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/tyrone-taylor-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:16 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/tyrone-taylor-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
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. | https://www.kait8.com/2023/07/28/biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-daughter-son-hunter-an-arkansas-woman/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:19 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/2023/07/28/biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-daughter-son-hunter-an-arkansas-woman/ |
DELMAR, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Many across social media feel confused about Twitter rebranding its iconic bird logo to a simple “X” symbol. At his Albany, New York-area studio on Thursday, the artist behind the original logo talked about its creation and leaving the brand behind.
Phil Pascuzzo is hard at work in his quiet suburban home in Delmar, mainly designing the inviting covers that tempt you to pick up a good book. You’d never guess he’s the designer of the world-famous Twitter bird icon.
“It’s so interesting. Most people have no idea,” laughed Pascuzzo. “It’s kind of like how Milton Glaser created the ‘I love New York’ logo, but when you see the I ‘heart’ NY, it doesn’t feel like anybody did it. It’s just there.”
Pascuzzo has run Pepco Studio, his independent freelance design studio, for the last 20 years, but he said that his first graphic design job out of college was where he met Biz Stone, one of the three Twitter co-founders. “We were both junior designers, so we were lowest on the rank, but he would just after every subway ride have all these wild ideas and we would just talk about them,” Pascuzzo recollected with NEWS10’s Mikhaela Singleton. “I would do these little doodles on Post-it notes, and he just liked my drawings.”
He said that Stone approached him around 2005 looking for a unique bird-themed design. The iStock image by Simon Oxley that was used when Twitter first launched couldn’t be its official logo, as that would violate iStock’s terms of service.
“I started sketching different birds. We knew we were going with blue, which — it’s great for like, feeling optimistic, feels like the future, blue skies,” Pascuzzo explained. “[Stone] had a rough idea, but he really left it to me to get creative with. He’s got a great sense of humor so he had all these ideas for little things he wanted the bird to be doing.”
Pascuzzo said that first bird design took about 30 minutes and a chat between friends, landing him $500 for the work. “I was in an apartment in Arbor Hill at the time and thought, $500 will make rent so yeah let’s do it,” he said. “Twitter wasn’t some huge thing like it is now that everybody is on.”
For years, he continued creating many marketing items that helped Twitter take flight. Shifting the bird’s design to a silhouette, Pascuzzo then sold the design to the studio outright in 2010, when it took shape in the most recent version used from 2012 to 2023. He added that he did reapproach his friend and the company to renegotiate pay for the logo design when Twitter truly took off.
“When I realized the weight of what this icon had become, I went back with an intellectual property lawyer, and it was extremely cordial,” Pascuzzo said. “It didn’t give me anything close to Elon Musk money, but it was a down payment on a house.”
On the topic of Musk and the many changes since his takeover of the social media giant in October, Pascuzzo said the news to clip the bird’s wings for a simple “X” symbol came as a surprise. “I was like, ‘What?’ What is this white — because it’s just a Unicode symbol,” he said. “It’s not even a logo. Nobody even designed it.”
After 20 years in the business, he said that he’s learned not to get too attached to any creation, so he’s not sad to see the bird go. But he worries that Musk’s future for Twitter leaves behind much of what made the platform unique.
“He seems obsessed with the ‘X.’ I mean you look at his child with Grimes — X Æ A-Xii — he loves X. It’s everywhere. So in his world, it may make sense, but I think, in the Twitter world, it doesn’t really make much sense,” Pascuzzo concluded. “I feel he threw away a lot of brand equity. The name, the color, the language — it’s so ubiquitous. It’s part of our lexicon.” | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/original-designer-behind-twitter-bird-icon-talks-the-x-rebrand/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:20 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/original-designer-behind-twitter-bird-icon-talks-the-x-rebrand/ |
Arthur Rinderknech vs. Jurij Rodionov: Prediction and Match Betting Odds | ATP Challenger Zug, Switzerland Men Singles 2023
Arthur Rinderknech will meet Jurij Rodionov in the ATP Challenger Zug, Switzerland Men Singles 2023 semifinals on Saturday, July 29.
Compared to the underdog Rodionov (+110), Rinderknech is the favorite (-155) to advance to the final.
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Arthur Rinderknech vs. Jurij Rodionov Match Information
- Tournament: The ATP Challenger Zug, Switzerland Men Singles 2023
- Round: Semifinals
- Date: Saturday, July 29
- Venue: Tennisclub Zug
- Location: Zug, Switzerland
- Court Surface: Clay
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Arthur Rinderknech vs. Jurij Rodionov Prediction and Odds
Based on the moneyline in this match, Arthur Rinderknech has a 60.8% chance to win.
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Arthur Rinderknech vs. Jurij Rodionov Trends and Insights
- In the quarterfinals on Friday, Rinderknech took down Adrian Andreev 6-2, 6-2.
- Rodionov will look to stay on track after a 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 158-ranked Zizou Bergs in the quarterfinals on Friday.
- Rinderknech has played 25.1 games per match (23.6 in best-of-three matches) in his 46 matches over the past 12 months (across all court surfaces).
- Rinderknech has played seven matches on clay over the past year, and 26.6 games per match (22.0 in best-of-three matches).
- Rodionov has played 24 matches in the past year across all court surfaces, averaging 23.0 games per match (22.9 in best-of-three matches) and winning 48.8% of those games.
- Rodionov has averaged 23.8 games per match (23.6 in best-of-three matches) and 9.5 games per set in 16 matches on clay courts in the past 12 months.
- In two head-to-head meetings, Rinderknech and Rodionov have split 1-1. Rodionov came out on top in their most recent clash on February 11, 2023, winning 7-6, 6-1.
- In terms of sets, Rodionov has taken three versus Rinderknech (60.0%), while Rinderknech has captured two.
- Rodionov has bettered Rinderknech in 24 of 44 total games between them, good for a 54.5% winning percentage.
- In their two matches against each other, Rinderknech and Rodionov are averaging 22.0 games and 2.5 sets.
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/arthur-rinderknech-vs-jurij-rodionov-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-atp-challenger-zug-switzerland-men-singles-2023/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:23 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/arthur-rinderknech-vs-jurij-rodionov-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-atp-challenger-zug-switzerland-men-singles-2023/ |
Healthy snacking company That's it. aims to simplify back-to-school nutrition with curated shopping lists
LOS ANGELES, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The new school year is approaching, and with it, parents are preparing for the accompanying stress of the back-to-school season. Amongst the biggest stressors for parents of school-aged children? Managing after school activities (24%), followed by finding healthy snack options (23%) and packing lunches / food prep (20%)1.
With 43% of parents' top stressors coming in as nutrition-related, That's it. has partnered with childhood nutrition expert Rachel Rothman, MS, RD, CLEC to take the guesswork out of shopping for healthy back-to-school snacks by creating two curated snack shopping lists for Target and Walmart. (Seventy percent of parents indicated that they will do the majority of their back-to-school shopping at one of these two retail giants2.)
"The best part about these snacks is the variety of ingredients and nutrients," said Rothman. "They all contain key nutrients, and are made from whole foods, without the use of flavors or additives. These snacks are all shelf-stable and can be eaten as a quick, nutritious snack, or as part of a more diverse meal to keep your kids fed as the weather cools off and fall schedules heat back up."
Keep reading for Rothman's hand-selected healthy picks:
Target:
- That's it. Mango & Blueberry Mini Fruit Bars
- Whisps Cheese Crisps
- Chomps Snack Sticks
- Simple Mills Crackers
- Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame
Walmart:
- That's it. Apple + Strawberry Mini Fruit Bars
- Terra Sweet Potato Chips
- Kars Nuts Second Nature Wholesome Medley Trail Mix
- BOOMCHICKAPOP Sea Salt Popcorn
- Wild Planet Wild Albacore Tuna pouches
That's it. Mini Fruit Bars are made from two ingredients: Fruit + fruit. These shelf-stable Mini Fruit Bars contain no juices, purees, concentrates or added sugars, and are all-natural, gluten-free, non-GMO, and free from all top food allergens – making them the perfect back-to-school snack for the whole family.
About That's it.
That's it. makes delicious, convenient, plant-based super snacks from only the purest ingredients, and completely free from the top 12 allergens. Since 2012, it has been innovating the natural foods category in the United States with its portfolio of simple and nutritious snacks made from real, whole foods. All That's it. products transparently contain six real ingredients or less, and absolutely no natural or artificial flavors, sugar alcohols, or artificial colors. Its flagship Fruit Bars, now the #1 fruit bar in America, contain only two ingredients: fruit + fruit. You can find That's it. nationwide at your local Starbucks, at major retailers such as: Target, Whole Foods, Costco, Sam's Club, 7-Eleven, Walmart, VONS, CVS and Kroger, and online at Amazon and www.thatsitfruit.com. Learn more on Instagram and TikTok.
Media Contact:
Chief Marketing Officer
That's it.
1 About Suzy Survey:
The "Parents' Plates" study surveyed 1,000 parents of school-aged children in the U.S. in July 2023. Survey was conducted via real-time consumer insights platform Suzy.
2 About Suzy Survey:
The "Back-to-School" study surveyed 2,706 parents of school-aged children in the U.S. in June 2023. Survey was conducted via real-time consumer insights platform Suzy.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE That’s it Nutrition | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/dietitians-top-walmart-target-picks-back-to-school-snacking/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:25 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/dietitians-top-walmart-target-picks-back-to-school-snacking/ |
(The Hill) – Carlos De Oliveira was indicted on three criminal charges alongside former President Trump and his longtime aide Walt Nauda in a superseding indictment Thursday, part of the classified document investigation at Trump’s Florida club.
De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago Club’s property manager, allegedly assisted Trump and Nauta in attempting to delete security footage that showed the men moving boxes of classified documents around the property to hide them from federal authorities.
He was charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, destroying evidence and lying to the FBI.
De Oliveira, 56, was hired as the Mar-a-Lago manager in January 2022, previously working there as a valet, according to the indictment.
Federal investigators claim De Oliveira helped Nauta move about 30 boxes of classified documents around Mar-a-Lago, and at one point told the club’s head of IT that “the boss” wants security camera footage deleted.
In October of last year, after federal investigators searched the club and found additional classified documents, De Oliveira allegedly drained one of the club’s pools causing flooding in the server room that contained the security camera footage. This happened not long after Trump told De Oliveira he would get him an attorney, the indictment says.
According to investigators, Nauta attempted to judge De Oliveira’s loyalty before that promise came, with De Oliveira telling him that nothing would get in the way of his relationship with Trump.
Trump now faces a total of 40 charges related to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, with three of those added this week in the superseding indictment. Nauta faces eight charges.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the classified documents probe, is also investigating Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on the Capitol.
Smith met with Trump’s defense on Thursday and sent him a target letter earlier this month, raising speculation that he could be indicted again for that separate investigation soon. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/who-is-carlos-de-oliveira-trumps-mar-a-lago-resort-manager/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:26 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/national/who-is-carlos-de-oliveira-trumps-mar-a-lago-resort-manager/ |
Diane Parry vs. Clara Burel: Prediction and Match Betting Odds | Ladies Open Lausanne
Diane Parry will meet Clara Burel in the Ladies Open Lausanne semifinals on Saturday, July 29.
In this Semifinal matchup, Burel is favored (-125) against Parry (+100) .
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Diane Parry vs. Clara Burel Match Information
- Tournament: The Ladies Open Lausanne
- Round: Semifinals
- Date: Saturday, July 29
- Venue: Tennis Club du Stade-Lausanne
- Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
- Court Surface: Clay
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Diane Parry vs. Clara Burel Prediction and Odds
Based on the moneyline in this match, Clara Burel has a 55.6% chance to win.
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Diane Parry vs. Clara Burel Trends and Insights
- Parry is coming off a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 70-ranked Alize Cornet in Friday's quarterfinals.
- In her most recent scheduled match, Burel was handed a walkover win over Ana Bogdan at the Ladies Open Lausanne.
- Parry has played 28 matches over the past year (across all court surfaces), and 21.9 games per match.
- On clay, Parry has played five matches over the past 12 months, totaling 22.8 games per match while winning 49.1% of games.
- Burel is averaging 23.2 games per match in her 28 matches played in the past year across all court types, winning 50.9% of those games.
- Burel has averaged 22.7 games per match and 10.0 games per set in 11 matches on clay courts in the past year.
- Parry and Burel have matched up once dating back to 2015, in the Mutua Madrid Open qualifying round. Burel was victorious in that matchup 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.
- Burel and Parry have faced off in three sets against each other, with Burel taking two of them.
- Burel and Parry have matched up in 33 total games, with Burel taking 18 and Parry claiming 15.
- Burel and Parry have squared off one time, and they have averaged 33.0 games and 3.0 sets per match.
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/diane-parry-vs-clara-burel-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-ladies-open-lausanne/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:29 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/diane-parry-vs-clara-burel-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-ladies-open-lausanne/ |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday the United States stands with countries fighting Chinese “bullying behavior” as he launched bilateral talks in Australia aimed at countering Beijing’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Australian city of Brisbane late Thursday ahead of annual bilateral meetings on Friday and Saturday that will focus on a deal to provide Australia, a defense treaty partner, with a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.
Ahead of a meeting with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, Austin said both countries share concerns about China’s break from international laws and norms that resolve disputes peacefully and without coercion.
“We’ve seen troubling P.R.C. coercion from the East China Sea, to the South China Sea, to right here in the Southwest Pacific,” Austin told reporters, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“We’ll continue to support our allies and partners as they defend themselves from bullying behavior,” he added.
China has imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers in recent years against Australian exports including coal, wine, barley, beef, seafood and wood. The barriers are widely seen as a punitive reaction to Australian government policy that has cost Australian exporters as much as $15 billion a year.
Australia’s icy relationship with Beijing was thawing since a change of Australian government at elections last year. Meanwhile, the sharing of U.S. nuclear secrets with Australia takes that bilateral relationship to a new level.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is planning state visits to both the United States and China before the end of the year.
Under the AUKUS partnership — an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States — Australia will buy three Virginia-class submarines from the United States and build five of a new AUKUS-class submarine in cooperation with Britain.
Australian media have focused on a letter signed by more than 20 Republican lawmakers to President Joe Biden that warned the deal would “unacceptably weaken the U.S. fleet” without a plan to boost U.S. submarine production.
Albanese said he remained “very confident” that the United States would deliver the three submarines.
The prime minister said he’d been reassured by discussions he had with Republicans and Democrats earlier in July at a NATO summit in Lithuania.
“What struck me was their unanimous support for AUKUS, their unanimous support for the relationship between the Australia and United States,” Albanese said.
Marles agreed the AUKUS program was on track.
“Congress can be a complicated place as legislation makes its way through it, but actually we’re encouraged by how quickly it is going through it and we are expecting that there will be lots of discussions on the way through,” Marles said.
“Fundamentally, we have reached an agreement with the Biden administration about how Australia acquires the nuclear-powered submarine capability and we’re proceeding along that path with pace,” he added.
Australia understood there was “pressure on the American industrial base” and would contribute to submarine production, Marles said. The AUKUS deal is forecast to cost Australia up to 368 billion Australian dollars ($246 billion) over 30 years.
Albanese publicly welcomed Austin and Blinken at a media event before the three began a meeting with Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy and Australian Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd, a former prime minister.
“The relationship between Australia and the United States has never been stronger,” Albanese told the two visitors. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-australian-prime-minister-is-confident-the-us-will-deliver-nuclear-powered-submarines/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:29 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-australian-prime-minister-is-confident-the-us-will-deliver-nuclear-powered-submarines/ |
Provides military services, DOD agencies with access to zero-trust technology
FORT MEADE, Md., July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Defense Information Systems Agency awarded a follow-on production other transaction authority (OTA) agreement for Thunderdome, DISA's zero trust network access and application security architecture.
Thunderdome will harden the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) networks and help warfighters defend against adversarial activity by employing network and resource access tools along with segmentation technologies. DISA's Thunderdome capabilities work in concert with identity and endpoint cybersecurity capabilities, and align to the president's Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity and the DoD's Zero Trust Strategy.
"Awarding this Thunderdome production agreement is an important step on our zero-trust journey and furthers DISA's mission to provide warfighters with a more secure operating environment," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert J. Skinner, DISA director and Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network Commander. "While DISA leverages these capabilities on our cyber terrain, this full-scale production agreement can be used to assist the military services and other DoD components in implementing key zero-trust activities."
This follow-on agreement to Booz Allen Hamilton is to broadly implement and operate Thunderdome's zero trust network access and application security architecture and comes after successful completion of an 18-month prototype. The period of performance for this follow-on OTA is for a one-year base period, with four one-year option periods for a total agreement lifecycle of five years (August 2023 through August 2028).
"The experience gained in partnership with industry as we implemented the prototype solution over the last 18 months has been invaluable, and we believe this award positions the department to meet critical zero trust adoption timelines in support of our warfighters" said Christopher Barnhurst, DISA deputy director. "We look forward to accelerating implementation activities and partnering across the department to expand access to the zero-trust capabilities Thunderdome provides."
For more information and pricing details, please contact DISA's Mission Partner Engagement Office.
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SOURCE Defense Information Systems Agency | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/disa-awards-thunderdome-production-agreement/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:31 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/disa-awards-thunderdome-production-agreement/ |
Laslo Djere vs. Zhizhen Zhang: Prediction and Match Betting Odds | Hamburg European Open
Laslo Djere will take on Zhizhen Zhang in the Hamburg European Open semifinals on Saturday, July 29.
Djere is getting -175 odds to earn a spot in the final over Zhang (+135).
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Laslo Djere vs. Zhizhen Zhang Match Information
- Tournament: The Hamburg European Open
- Round: Semifinals
- Date: Saturday, July 29
- Venue: MatchMaker Sports Gmbh
- Location: Hamburg, Germany
- Court Surface: Clay
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Laslo Djere vs. Zhizhen Zhang Prediction and Odds
Based on the moneyline in this match, Laslo Djere has a 63.6% chance to win.
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Laslo Djere vs. Zhizhen Zhang Trends and Insights
- In the quarterfinals on Friday, Djere advanced past No. 18-ranked Lorenzo Musetti, 7-5, 6-3.
- Zhang will look to stay on track after a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 61-ranked Daniel Altmaier in the quarterfinals on Friday.
- Through 57 matches over the past 12 months (across all court types), Djere has played 25.4 games per match (23.6 in best-of-three matches) and won 50.1% of them.
- Djere has played 21 matches on clay over the past 12 months, and 22.3 games per match (21.7 in best-of-three matches).
- In the past 12 months, Zhang has played 46 total matches (across all court surfaces), winning 50.0% of the games. He averages 25.7 games per match (23.7 in best-of-three matches) and 10.1 games per set.
- In 14 matches on clay courts in the past year, Zhang has averaged 26.7 games per match (26.6 in best-of-three matches) and 10.7 games per set, winning 50.0% of the games.
- Dating back to 2015, Djere and Zhang have not competed against each other.
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/laslo-djere-vs-zhizhen-zhang-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-hamburg-european-open/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:35 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/laslo-djere-vs-zhizhen-zhang-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-hamburg-european-open/ |
AUBURN, Maine (AP) — President Joe 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 U.S. 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.
“We’re not going to get into what House Republicans want to do, may not do, hypotheticals, that’s on them,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One en route to Maine earlier Friday. “What I can speak to is exactly what we’re doing today, right? We’re going to Maine. We’re going to be able to talk about an issue that matters to Americans: investing in America, manufacturing, bringing good union-paying jobs back to America.”
Indeed, that was the focus of the White House on Friday, as 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.
“I’m not here to declare victory on the economy. We have more work to do,” Biden said. But “we have a plan for turning things around. ‘Bidenomics’ is just another way of saying restoring the American dream.”
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. Maine allocates its electoral votes by congressional district, and Biden lost the vote in the state’s 2nd District, which provided the only electoral vote in New England for then-President Donald Trump, a Republican.
By going to that district on Friday, Biden sought to show its blue-collar voters that he’s committed to them, as a single electoral vote could be critical in a narrow 2024 presidential election.
Democrats can compete in Maine’s 2nd District as Rep. Jared Golden has been its congressman since 2019. But Golden has also been one of the Democratic lawmakers who has openly criticized Biden over his handling of debt limit talks this year and the administration’s forgiveness of student debt that has since been overturned by the Supreme Court. Despite distancing himself from the White House on some policies, Golden traveled with Biden on Air Force One on Friday.
And shortly before Biden spoke at Auburn Manufacturing Inc., Golden noted to the audience that “it’s no secret” he doesn’t always agree with the president’s agenda but that he “proudly” supports Bidenomics.
Republicans have said that Biden’s policies have led to higher inflation. Consumer prices climbed to a four-decade high last summer, but inflation has eased over the past 12 months to a rate of 3% annually.
“ Bidenomics is hurting working people in my district,” said Maine state Rep. Joshua Morris, a Republican. “The cost of groceries, heating oil, gas, health care and electricity have gone up as a result of Joe Biden’s policies. He should be apologizing to us while he’s here, not bragging.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee went on the attack against Golden, calling him “Joe Biden’s loyal foot soldier” who had backed inflation-boosting policies earlier in his presidency.
The White House outlined the executive order being signed by Biden, which would improve the transparency of federal research and development programs to meet the administration’s goals for domestic manufacturing. The order asks agencies to weigh U.S. national security and economic interests when determining if domestic manufacturing requirements should be broadened.
The order also urges federal agencies to consider domestic production when investing in research and development and to use their own legal authorities to encourage manufacturing new technologies in the U.S. But when goods cannot be made in the U.S., the order instructs the Commerce Department to create a clearer and timelier process for receiving a waiver.
Auburn Manufacturing Inc., where Biden spoke Friday, is a maker of heat- and fire-resistant fabrics for industries that include shipbuilding, oil refining and electricity generation. The company challenged China for its unfair trade practices regarding amorphous silica fabric, or ASF, which is a heat-resistant material.
Biden was also scheduled to appear at a fundraiser in Freeport, Maine, later Friday.
___
Kim reported from Washington. AP writer David Sharp contributed to this report from Portland, Maine. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-biden-will-sign-an-executive-order-in-maine-encouraging-new-inventions-to-be-made-in-the-us/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:36 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-biden-will-sign-an-executive-order-in-maine-encouraging-new-inventions-to-be-made-in-the-us/ |
SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla., July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Icahn Enterprises L.P. (Nasdaq:IEP) announced today that it will discuss its second quarter 2023 results on a webcast on Friday, August 4, 2023 - 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. To access the webcast, viewers should go to this link (webcast). We encourage viewers to access the webcast 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time. A replay of the webcast will also be available for at least twelve months at Icahn events and presentations.
Icahn Enterprises L.P., a master limited partnership, is a diversified holding company engaged in seven primary business segments: Investment, Energy, Automotive, Food Packaging, Real Estate, Home Fashion and Pharma.
Investor Contact:
Ted Papapostolou, Chief Financial Officer
IR@ielp.com
(800) 255-2737
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SOURCE Icahn Enterprises L.P. | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/icahn-enterprises-lp-announces-q2-2023-earnings-conference-call/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:38 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/icahn-enterprises-lp-announces-q2-2023-earnings-conference-call/ |
Noma Noha Akugue vs. Arantxa Rus: Prediction and Match Betting Odds | Hamburg
In the final of the Hamburg on Saturday, Noma Noha Akugue (ranked No. 207) takes on Arantxa Rus (No. 60).
Rus is the favorite (-300) to win the title against Noha Akugue (+240).
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Noma Noha Akugue vs. Arantxa Rus Match Information
- Tournament: The Hamburg
- Round: Finals
- Date: Saturday, July 29
- Venue: MatchMaker Sports Gmbh
- Location: Hamburg, Germany
- Court Surface: Clay
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Noma Noha Akugue vs. Arantxa Rus Prediction and Odds
Based on the moneyline in this match, Arantxa Rus has a 75.0% chance to win.
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Noma Noha Akugue vs. Arantxa Rus Trends and Insights
- By taking down No. 101-ranked Diana Shnaider 6-3, 6-3 on Friday, Noha Akugue reached the finals.
- In the semifinals on Friday, Rus clinched a victory against No. 225-ranked Daria Saville, winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
- Noha Akugue has played 12 matches over the past 12 months (across all court types), and 22.5 games per match.
- On clay, Noha Akugue has played seven matches over the past 12 months, totaling 25.3 games per match while winning 50.8% of games.
- Rus has played 21 matches in the past 12 months across all court types, averaging 21.6 games per match and winning 53.2% of those games.
- Rus has averaged 20.6 games per match and 9.5 games per set through 12 matches on clay courts in the past 12 months.
- Dating back to 2015, Noha Akugue and Rus have not competed against each other.
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/noma-noha-akugue-vs-arantxa-rus-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-hamburg/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:42 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/noma-noha-akugue-vs-arantxa-rus-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-hamburg/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are demanding the release of a transcript from a new FBI witness that they say contradicts Republicans’ claims in the expanding congressional inquiry into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, sent a letter Friday to Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the committee, asking him to produce the transcribed interview this month with an FBI agent who worked on the investigation into the younger Biden’s taxes and foreign business dealings. The witness was interviewed on July 17.
“This failure to release a transcript is the latest in your troubling pattern of concealing key evidence in order to advance a false and distorted narrative about your ‘investigation of Joe Biden’ that has not only failed to develop any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden but has, in fact, uncovered substantial evidence to the contrary,” Raskin wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The Maryland lawmaker claimed the closed-door interview with the unidentified agent conducted by committee staff “directly undermined” testimony released by Republicans last month from two IRS whistleblowers who allege that the Justice Department interfered with their yearslong investigation into Hunter Biden.
Republicans said the transcript will be released but is not yet ready. “The transcript is going through the normal review process where the witness reviews it and makes any corrections needed,” the GOP majority tweeted Thursday night. “Once that process has been completed, we will release it.”
House rules allow only the majority party to release transcribed interviews from a committee investigation, meaning minority Democrats have no direct power over the matter.
Raskin says in the letter that it is unusual for the release of a transcript to take this long. However, it is not unusual for committee staff to handle whistleblowers cautiously and keep sensitive information tightly held.
The letter from Raskin comes days after Hunter Biden’s plea deal in a criminal case unraveled during a court hearing. A federal judge in the case raised concerns about the terms of the agreement. Republicans like Comer claimed vindication, having slammed the agreement as a “sweetheart deal.”
“The judge did the obvious thing, they put a pause on the plea deal, so I think that was progress,” Comer said Wednesday. “I think it adds credibility to what we’re doing.”
The president’s youngest son was charged last month with two misdemeanor crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018. He had been expected to plead guilty Wednesday after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who wanted two years of probation.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Hunter Biden remains under active investigation, but would not reveal details. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-democrats-claim-the-gop-is-withholding-evidence-contradicting-claims-in-hunter-biden-probe/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:43 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-democrats-claim-the-gop-is-withholding-evidence-contradicting-claims-in-hunter-biden-probe/ |
LIMERICK, Ireland, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NAC Aviation 29 Designated Activity Company (the "Company") today announced amendments to (i) its previously announced offer to purchase an amount up to the Tender Cap (as defined below) of its 4.75% Senior Secured Notes due June 30, 2026 (the "Notes") at a purchase price per $1,000 principal amount of Notes for cash (the "Notes Offer") as set forth in the Company's amended Offer to Purchase and dated July 28, 2023 (as amended hereby, the "Amended Offer to Purchase") and (ii) the concurrent purchase by way of assignment from lenders (the "TLB Lenders"), of loans (the "TLB Loans") under its term loan B credit agreement dated as of June 1, 2022 between, among others, the Company as a borrower, the financial institutions named therein as original lenders and Wilmington Trust (London) Limited as agent for the lenders (as amended from time to time, the "Term Loan B Credit Agreement" and, together with the Notes, the "NAC 29 Debt"), on substantially the same economic terms as the Notes Offer (the "TLB Offer" and, together with the Notes Offer, the "Debt Purchase Transactions"). The maximum aggregate amount (at face value) of NAC 29 Debt to be purchased by the Company pursuant to the Debt Purchase Transactions is $80,000,000 (the "Tender Cap").
The Company is hereby amending the Amended Offer to Purchase to (1) amend the Early Tender Premium component of the Total Consideration (both as defined in the Amended Offer to Purchase) from $30.00 to $10.00 per $1,000 principal amount for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase by the Company, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding the settlement date; (2) extend the Early Tender Time and the Withdrawal Deadline (both as defined in the Amended Offer to Purchase) from 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 7, 2023 to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 10, 2023; and (3) a clarificatory change to the table on the second page of the Amended Offer to Purchase. These amendments apply to both the Notes Offer and the TLB Offer.
The change in the Early Tender Premium has been made to ensure compliance with the requirements as set out in Clause 4.3 of side letter no. 2 to the intercreditor agreement that was entered into by, among others, the Company on 18 July 2023.
No further action is required to be taken by holders who have already validly tendered and not validly withdrawn their NAC 29 Debt in order to receive the Total Consideration, including the amended Early Tender Premium. Except as described herein, other terms of the previously announced Debt Purchase Transactions remain unchanged.
The complete terms and conditions of the Notes Offer are described in the Amended Offer to Purchase, dated July 28, 2023, a copy of which may be obtained from Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the tender agent and information agent (the "Tender and Information Agent") for the Notes Offer, by telephone at +1 (855) 654-2014 (U.S. toll free) and +1 (212) 430-3774 (collect), in writing at 65 Broadway – Suite 404, New York, New York 10006, Attention: Corporate Actions.
The complete terms of the TLB Offer are described in the Amended Auction Notice dated July 28, 2023, a copy of which may be obtained from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. as purchase agent (the "Purchase Agent") for the TLB Offer by telephone at +1 (855) 287-1922 (toll-free) or +1 (212) 250-7527 (collect), or in writing at One Columbus Circle, New York, New York 10019, Attention: Liability Management Group.
The Company has engaged Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. to act as the dealer manager (the "Dealer Manager") in connection with the Notes Offer and as Purchase Agent in connection with the TLB Offer. Questions regarding the terms of the Debt Purchase Transactions may be directed to the Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. by telephone at +1 (855) 287-1922 (toll-free) and +1 (212) 250-7527 (collect).
Cautionary Statement
None of the Company, the Dealer Manager, the Purchase Agent, the Tender and Information Agent or the trustee for the Notes, or any of their respective affiliates, is making any recommendation as to whether holders and/or lenders should or should not tender any NAC 29 Debt in response to the Debt Purchase Transactions or expressing any opinion as to whether the terms of the Debt Purchase Transactions are fair to any holder or lender. Holders and/or lenders must make their own decision as to whether to tender any of their NAC 29 Debt and, if so, the principal amount of NAC 29 Debt to tender and the bid price at which to tender. Holders of Notes should refer to the Amended Offer to Purchase for a description of the offer terms, conditions, disclaimers and other information applicable to the Notes Offer, and TLB Lenders should refer to the TLB Auction Notice for a description of the offer terms, conditions, disclaimers and other information applicable to the TLB Offer.
This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. The Notes Offer is being made solely by means of the Amended Offer to Purchase. The Debt Purchase Transactions are not being made to holders of securities in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction. In those jurisdictions where the securities, blue sky or other laws require any Debt Purchase Transactions to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the Debt Purchase Transactions will be deemed to be made on behalf of the Company by the Dealer Manager or Purchase Agent (as applicable) or one or more registered brokers or dealers licensed under the laws of such jurisdiction.
About Nordic Aviation Capital
NAC is a global leader in regional aircraft leasing and is expanding into larger narrowbody aircraft leveraging its world-class asset management platform. The firm is based in Ireland and currently has offices also in Singapore, Denmark, Toronto and Beijing.
Forward Looking Information Disclaimer
Some of the statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include statements regarding the Company's intent and belief or current expectations and may be identified by the use of words like "anticipate", "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "will," "should," "seek," the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, without limitation, the Company's ability to consummate the Debt Purchase Transactions, as well as matters beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, results or events.
Contacts:
Nordic Aviation Capital:
Media contact: marketing@nac.dk
Global Bondholder Services Corporation:
65 Broadway – Suite 404
New York, NY 10006
United States
Attn: Corporate Actions
Banks and Brokers call: +1 (212) 430-3774
Toll free +1 (855) 654-2014
Email: contact@gbsc-usa.com
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SOURCE NAC Aviation 29 Designated Activity Company | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/nac-aviation-29-designated-activity-company-announces-amendment-partial-notes-tender-offer-term-loan-b-offer/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:44 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/nac-aviation-29-designated-activity-company-announces-amendment-partial-notes-tender-offer-term-loan-b-offer/ |
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. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-donald-trump-appeals-judges-decision-to-keep-hush-money-case-in-new-york-state-court/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:51 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-donald-trump-appeals-judges-decision-to-keep-hush-money-case-in-new-york-state-court/ |
NEW YORK, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Official Committee of Talc Claimants (the "Committee"), which has been tirelessly pursuing justice for its constituency of talc victims' injury by Johnson & Johnson's ("J&J's") talc products, is pleased with the court's decision to dismiss the second bankruptcy attempt. We believe the decision of the Honorable Chief Judge Kaplan was thoughtful, well-reasoned, and well-supported by the facts and law. This outcome now frees tens of thousands of victims to seek their justice through the tort system either before juries of their peers or by settlement on terms acceptable to them. The Committee has consistently contended the tort system is the rightful place for these claims to be resolved. Today's ruling validates the Committee's belief that J&J manipulated the bankruptcy system by using the "Texas Two-Step" legal maneuver and wrongfully sought to manufacture financial distress in its "Legacy Talc Liabilities" (LTL) Management subsidiary, solely to carry out a bad faith bankruptcy case. The company will now face the full weight of its conduct in the appropriate judicial forums.
"This ruling sends a clear message: multibillion-dollar, wholly solvent companies like J&J should not be allowed to use and in fact abuse bankruptcy laws to avoid accountability," said Brown Rudnick's David Molton, one of the co-counsels representing the Committee. "We are reassured by the Bankruptcy Court's reaffirmation that it will not allow solvent corporations to abuse the system and impose coercive, low-value and cram-down solutions on nonconsenting claimants. Justice should and now will triumph over corporate greed and legal chicanery."
"The claimants have waited long enough. Untold numbers of cancer victims have died while Johnson & Johnson attempted to manipulate the bankruptcy system to limit its liabilities," added Molton. "Now victims and their families can seek justice through the tort system – by presenting their case before a jury of their peers in courts of their own choosing."
The TCC filed its motion to dismiss on April 24, 2023, alongside several other movants, including the Office of the United States Trustee, numerous State Attorneys General, and other plaintiff groups, who shared a vision for this outcome. Chief Judge Kaplan's Opinion can be viewed on the case docket, available at: https://document.epiq11.com/document/getdocumentbycode?docId=4202926&projectCode=LCN&source=DM
About The Official Committee of Talc Claimants
The Official Committee of Talc Claimants (TCC), appointed by the Office of the United States Trustee (UST), an arm of the US Department of Justice, represents and acts as a fiduciary for all mesothelioma and ovarian cancer victims, as well as all subrogation claimants who have claims based on or derivative to the victims' talcum powder claims. For more information about the TCC, please view our website at https://www.ltltalccommittee.org/
The TCC is advised by counsel, an investment banker, a financial advisor, and claims estimation experts well-versed in mass tort, asbestos, talc, bankruptcy, and victim advocacy. These entities include Genova Burns L.L.C., Brown Rudnick L.L.P., Otterbourg PC, Massey & Gail L.L.P., Miller Thomson L.L.P., MoloLamken L.L.P., Compass Lexecon, FTI Consulting, and Houlihan Lokey.
Media Contact
questions@ltltalccommittee.org
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SOURCE Official Committee of Talc Claimants | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/official-committee-talc-claimants-applauds-decision-dismiss-ltl-management-second-bankruptcy-attempt/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:51 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/official-committee-talc-claimants-applauds-decision-dismiss-ltl-management-second-bankruptcy-attempt/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A California college where President Barack Obama started his undergraduate studies will no longer give special treatment to the children of alumni.
Occidental College, a private liberal arts school in Los Angeles, is the latest school to end legacy admissions in the wake of a Supreme Court decision removing race from college admissions decisions.
A campus letter from the school’s president said an applicant’s family ties to Occidental alumni “could be considered” in the past but had only “minimal impact” on decisions.
“Still, to ensure we are removing any potential barriers to access and opportunity, Occidental will no longer ask applicants about alumni relationships as part of the application,” President Harry J. Elam Jr. said in a campus message on Wednesday. He cited the Supreme Court’s decision.
The school of about 2,000 students is known for being the campus where Obama began his college career in 1979. Obama spent two years at Occidental before transferring to Columbia University. Obama gave his first political speech at the college in 1981, urging its leaders to divest from South Africa.
An Occidental spokesman said Obama was not a legacy student and his parents did not attend the school.
Colleges across the nation have faced mounting pressure to end legacy admissions following the Supreme Court’s decision. Seen as an extra perk for the white and wealthy, opponents say it’s no longer defensible without a counterbalance in affirmative action.
Occidental announced the change a week after Wesleyan University in Connecticut ended legacy admissions. An applicant’s family connection to Wesleyan graduate “indicates little about that applicant’s ability to succeed at the university,” the school’s president wrote.
The U.S. Education Department is now investigating Harvard’s use of the practice after a civil rights group filed a complaint alleging that legacy admissions are discriminatory and given an unfair boost to white students. The complaint from Lawyers for Civil Rights argues that students with legacy ties are up to seven times more likely to be admitted to Harvard, can make up nearly a third of a class and that about 70% are white.
Opponents have redoubled their efforts after the end of affirmative action. The NAACP has asked more than 1,500 colleges to end legacy admissions this month, and the group Ed Mobilizer revived a campaign urging alumni of 30 prestigious colleges to withhold donations until their schools end the practice.
Democrats in Congress reintroduced legislation Wednesday that would cut federal money from colleges that favor students based on their ties to alumni or donors. State legislators in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York have proposed similar bills after Colorado banned the practice at public universities in 2021.
Some colleges defend the practice, saying it builds an alumni community and encourages donations. It’s unclear how many schools use the practice, but it’s most common at the nation’s wealthiest and most selective colleges.
Some colleges abandoned the policy long before the Supreme Court opinion, including Amherst College and Johns Hopkins University. Some other prestigious schools say they have never used it, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Occidental’s shift was announced among other efforts to promote campus diversity. The school will also expand outreach to schools with higher concentrations of low-income students and will work to increase the number of students transferring from community colleges, the president said in his letter.
___
The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-obamas-first-college-is-latest-to-end-legacy-admissions/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:57 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-obamas-first-college-is-latest-to-end-legacy-admissions/ |
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In an unprecedented collaborative endeavor, Slovenia's Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy, in partnership with Global Footprint Network, announces a critical date for the planet: this year's Earth Overshoot Day lands on August 2nd.
The date, calculated by Global Footprint Network each year using National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, marks when humanity's demand for biological resources exceeds the Earth's capacity to regenerate them within that year. To spotlight this issue, the Ministry and Global Footprint Network are organizing a high-level event on August 1st, held in Ljubljana and online, to discuss the implications of overshoot. The high-level event enjoys support from key figures including President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28 and IUCN President Razan Al Mubarak, and Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel at UNEP Dr. Janez Potočnik.
"Slovenia, as the first EU country, joins the ranks of countries such as Ecuador, Japan, the Philippines, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates, leveraging Ecological Footprint data and officially endorsing the metric as a useful tool to steer environmental policy," affirms Bojan Kumer, Slovenia's Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy. He further elucidates that efforts to reduce Slovenia's Ecological Footprint by 20% by 2030 will spur greater opportunities for the country amid a future marked by climate change and resource constraints.
Razan Al Mubarak notes the Ecological Footprint's utility, "With this metric in hand, any country, region, city, or company can assess its current standing and determine how it can contribute to postponing this date (Earth Overshoot Day)." It provides valuable insights for forward-thinking strategies that address resource security and enable the transition towards a sustainable economy.
Earth Overshoot Day coincides with the European Parliament's recent vote on the Nature Restoration Law. The persistence of overshoot has led to land and soil degradation, fish stock depletion, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas accumulation. These symptoms are becoming more prominent every day across the planet, with unusual heat waves, wildfires, droughts, and floods, exacerbating the competition for food and energy.
"The biggest risk, apart from ecological overshoot itself, lies in complacency towards this crisis. Entities that act now are not just safeguarding the environment but future-proofing their economy and the wellbeing of their residents," underlines Steven Tebbe, CEO of Global Footprint Network.
Contacts
Watch event https://video.sta.si/
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SOURCE Republic of Slovenia Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/slovenias-ministry-environment-climate-energy-global-footprint-network-host-high-level-event-mark-earth-overshoot-day-2023/ | 2023-07-28T23:40:57 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/slovenias-ministry-environment-climate-energy-global-footprint-network-host-high-level-event-mark-earth-overshoot-day-2023/ |
Don't call it a heat 'wave': Expert weighs in after a month of record-breaking heat By Megan Lim, Mallory Yu, Mary Louise Kelly Published July 28, 2023 at 3:56 PM MDT Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 4:34 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.kanw.com/2023-07-28/dont-call-it-a-heat-wave-expert-weighs-in-after-a-month-of-record-breaking-heat | 2023-07-28T23:41:03 | 0 | https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-28/dont-call-it-a-heat-wave-expert-weighs-in-after-a-month-of-record-breaking-heat |
Comedian and actor Frankie Quiñones talks about the second season of the show This Fool, now streaming on Hulu.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Comedian and actor Frankie Quiñones talks about the second season of the show This Fool, now streaming on Hulu.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.mainepublic.org/2023-07-28/hulus-this-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles | 2023-07-28T23:41:03 | 1 | https://www.mainepublic.org/2023-07-28/hulus-this-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles |
Junior's Rolls Out a Dessert Fit for The King: Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana is Winner of National Cheesecake Day Flavor Contest
BROOKLYN, N.Y., July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Elvis Presley is the original rock 'n' roll legend, and Junior's is the original cheesecake legend. So, it is more than appropriate that peanut butter chocolate and banana – inspired by Elvis' favorite sandwich -- is now the newest limited edition Junior's cheesecake flavor, the result of a national flavor contest held in the lead-up to National Cheesecake Day, this coming Sunday, July 30.
Out of more than 5,000 entries across the country, Thomas Zahorec, from Greenville, South Carolina, channeled his inner King when submitting the winning flavor.
"Elvis had his numerous number one hits, and we have ours," said Alan Rosen, owner of Junior's. "So, I can't think of a better way to celebrate National Cheesecake Day than by creating this new flavor to honor the King, himself. Because just as you 'can't help falling in love' with Elvis, I know you won't be able to resist this peanut butter chocolate banana cheesecake. My deepest congratulations goes to Mr. Zahorec for inspiring our 25th flavor."
Rosen said that in addition to a $2500 cash prize, Zahorec will win a cheesecake a month for a year, including one of the new flavor, of course. And Junior's lovers around the country are also winners because the peanut butter chocolate banana cheesecake will be available for a limited time in Junior's restaurants and by mail order. This limited edition flavor will be available in various sizes through Labor Day.
About Junior's
Since the 1950s, Junior's Restaurant and Bakery in Brooklyn, New York has been famous for great food, great fun, great service, and, of course, the World's Most Famous Cheesecake. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, Junior's Restaurant and Bakery's menu features New York and Brooklyn comfort food dishes ranging from classic New York deli sandwiches piled high, famous 10 oz. steak burgers, salads, jumbo half pound hot dogs, fresh seafood and a full-service bar. For more information, visit juniorscheesecake.com.
Instagram: @JuniorsCheesecake, Facebook: @JuniorsCheesecake
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SOURCE Junior's | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/viva-las-cheesecake/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:04 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/viva-las-cheesecake/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host the leaders of Japan and South Korea next month for a summit at Camp David, the White House announced Friday.
The Aug. 18 meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is the latest sign of warming relations between Japan and South Korea as they move to set aside generations of tensions and mistrust while the United States deepens its commitment to Asia.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the leaders “will discuss expanding trilateral cooperation across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.” Expected topics include the threat posed by North Korea and ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and with the Pacific Islands.
The invitation spun out of a brief photo-op that the three leaders had at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May. The Biden administration has been urging stronger economic and defense ties between South Korea and Japan as it looks to bolster the region against China’s assertive territorial moves, as well as to secure their cooperation to support Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-president-biden-to-host-the-leaders-of-japan-and-korean-for-an-august-summit-at-camp-david/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:04 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-president-biden-to-host-the-leaders-of-japan-and-korean-for-an-august-summit-at-camp-david/ |
Comedian and actor Frankie Quiñones talks about the second season of the show This Fool, now streaming on Hulu.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Comedian and actor Frankie Quiñones talks about the second season of the show This Fool, now streaming on Hulu.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-28/hulus-this-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles | 2023-07-28T23:41:10 | 0 | https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-28/hulus-this-fool-gives-a-working-class-perspective-of-life-in-los-angeles |
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.
—-
Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro and AP videojournalist Mike Pesoli contributed to this report. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-sen-mcconnell-says-he-plans-to-serve-his-full-term-as-leader-despite-questions-about-his-health/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:11 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-sen-mcconnell-says-he-plans-to-serve-his-full-term-as-leader-despite-questions-about-his-health/ |
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.kanw.com/2023-07-28/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid | 2023-07-28T23:41:16 | 0 | https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-28/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A freshman Republican congressman from Wisconsin is refusing to apologize after he yelled and cursed at high school-aged Senate pages during a late night tour of the Capitol this week, eliciting a bipartisan rebuke from Senate leaders.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, speaking in a round of interviews Friday on Wisconsin conservative talk radio, did not refute reports of his actions or back down from what he did.
Van Orden used a profanity to describe the pages as lazy and and another to order them off the floor of the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday night, according to a report in the online political newsletter PunchBowl News. The pages were laying down to take photos in the Rotunda, according to the publication.
“I’m not going to apologize for making sure that anybody — I don’t care who you are and who you’re related to — defiles this House,” Van Orden said on “The Dan O’Donnell Show.” “It’s not going to happen on my watch, man.”
Van Orden said he was protecting the integrity of the Capitol Rotunda because it served as a field hospital during the Civil War and it’s where presidents have lain in state upon their deaths. He said the young people he confronted were “goofing off” and that Democrats were making it an issue.
“Would this be an issue if those young people did not have political connections?” Van Orden said on “The Jay Weber Show.” “Why do you think this is an issue, pal?”
A former Navy SEAL who was outside of the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, Van Orden also appeared to embrace the presence of alcohol in his office the same evening he encountered the pages. Images were posted on social media showing bottles of liquor and beer cans on a desk in his office. Van Orden said on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, that the alcohol was from constituents.
And his spokeswoman Anna Kelly posted: “As the Congressman says, once you cross the threshold to our office, you are in Wisconsin!” She followed that with a beer mug emoji.
Van Orden represents Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, a GOP-leaning jurisdiction that comprises parts of central, southwestern and western Wisconsin, including moderate exurbs of Minnesota’s Twin Cities.
On Thursday evening, just before the Senate left for its August recess, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., rebuked Van Orden’s behavior and thanked the pages, high school-age students who serve as helpers and messengers around the Senate. Several of the pages were sitting on the Senate floor at the time, smiling and nodding as dozens of senators stood and gave them a standing ovation.
Without mentioning Van Orden by name, Schumer said he was “shocked” to hear about the behavior of a member of the House Republican majority and “further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people.” He noted that Thursday was the final day for this class of pages.
“They’re here when we need them,” Schumer said. “And they have served this institution with grace.”
McConnell said he associated himself with Schumer’s words. “Everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way,” he said.
When asked about McConnell’s rebuke, Van Orden said Friday “I don’t know what it was because I honestly have not tracked any of this stuff.”
Van Orden was elected to Congress in 2022 after a losing bid in 2020. He has insisted that he did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and on Friday again condemned those who did, calling them “buffoons.” That didn’t stop fellow Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat, from invoking the Jan. 6 attack in criticizing Van Orden.
“Wonder if he told that to his fellow insurrectionists, who were beating police officers on the same ground?” Pocan said on X.
Rebecca Cooke, a Democrat who is running to challenge Van Orden in 2024, called him an embarrassment and a hypocrite. She called Van Orden a “serial harasser” and referenced an incident in June 2021 when Van Orden was upset about a display of LGBTQ+ books at a southwestern Wisconsin library and yelled at a teenager who was working there.
“For someone to perhaps drunkenly, and definitely belligerently, yell at these kids for enjoying our nation’s Capitol is just stupid,” Pocan said Friday. “He would be best to say it was stupid and just move on.”
___
EDITORS’ NOTE: An earlier version of this story misidentified the name of “The Dan O’Donnell Show.”
___
Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-senate-rebukes-wisconsin-congressman-who-yelled-vulgarities-at-high-school-age-pages/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:19 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-senate-rebukes-wisconsin-congressman-who-yelled-vulgarities-at-high-school-age-pages/ |
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.kanw.com/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force | 2023-07-28T23:41:22 | 1 | https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-28/what-barbies-professional-history-says-about-women-in-the-labor-force |
Volunteer is killed at Wilmington community event meant to prevent violence
A volunteer was shot and killed Thursday night at a Summer Night Lights event in Wilmington, a community program meant to curb gang violence, police said.
Jose Refugio Quezada was volunteering at the event at the Wilmington Recreation Center in the 300 block of North Neptune Avenue when at least one armed person walked toward the park, firing several gunshots, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Quezada, 46, was struck by the gunfire. Paramedics with the Los Angeles Fire Department tried unsuccessfully to revive him.
“This community leader lost his life to the very type of violence he was working so hard to prevent,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. The shooting “is a tragic reminder that we must fight even harder to ensure that our communities have the tools that they need to stop this senseless violence.”
No arrests have been made.
The attacker, or attackers, arrived and left the center in an unknown vehicle, police said. There are currently no leads on the identity of the shooter or the motive for the shooting.
In her statement, Bass described Quezada as a father, coach and husband who “worked to ensure his community was safe.”
Launched in 2008, Summer Night Lights is a city program that provides community events, including free food, sports and activities, in neighborhoods harmed by violence.
This year, events are being hosted in 44 locations throughout the city of Los Angeles from 7 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.
Los Angeles Councilman Tim McOsker said in a statement that Quezada was barbecuing for families at the event at the time of the shooting.
“Horrific acts like this attempt to break the ... community apart,” McOsker said, “but we won’t let it.”
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-28/a-volunteer-was-killed-in-a-horrific-act-of-violence-at-a-park-event-meant-to-prevent-violence | 2023-07-28T23:41:26 | 1 | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-28/a-volunteer-was-killed-in-a-horrific-act-of-violence-at-a-park-event-meant-to-prevent-violence |
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. | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-us-to-announce-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:26 | 1 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-us-to-announce-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ |
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.kanw.com/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail | 2023-07-28T23:41:28 | 0 | https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-28/with-a-rise-in-robberies-of-postal-carriers-its-a-dangerous-time-to-work-in-mail |
Federal interest rate increases again, what you need to know
SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) - The cost of borrowing money keeps going up.
“What local consumers and businesses will see is an increase in new money, particularly car loans, mortgages, credit cards. Those prices will go up,” First United Bank CFO George Clark said.
If you’re planning to buy something big like a car or a house, Clark says you may want to hold off with interest rates going up.
“Much of what drives spending is how much of payment you can afford if you’re borrowing money,” he continued.
And it’s not just purchases, some businesses might see existing loan rates go up as well. the reason?
“You have to remember that the federal reserve uses rate increases in an effort to stem inflation,” Clark stated.
and to do that, the fed wants consumers to borrow less.
“Whenever they raise interest rates, people’s borrowing gets more expensive. therefore, they purchase less things. Therefore, supply goes up because there’s less things being bought. demand goes down because your payments are more, and then prices should stabilize,” Clark said.
Clark says that rates are likely to go down soon because they are so high, but it’s difficult to gauge exactly when.
“They’ll be looking for economic data that suggests that the economy is cooling, and prices are going to go down before they start to do that,” he shared.
So, instead of making those big purchases, you may want to stay with that cracked phone, the older car, or rental home...for now.
“Ultimately, though, what happens is prices are going to tend to come down because there’s less economic activity,” he concluded.
So, keep a watchful before major purchases. timing is everything.
Copyright 2023 KXII. All rights reserved. | https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/28/federal-interest-rate-increases-again-what-you-need-know/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:28 | 0 | https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/28/federal-interest-rate-increases-again-what-you-need-know/ |
Bass wants to use the Mayfair Hotel to fight homelessness. The cost? $83 million
Mayor Karen Bass’ plan to purchase a 15-story hotel in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood and use it to house homeless Angelenos will likely cost the city more than $83 million, once renovations are included, according to a report issued this week.
Under the proposal, the city would buy the hotel from Mayfair Lofts for $60 million, then carry out an estimated $19 million in renovations. An additional $4 million would go toward project oversight, consulting fees, closing costs and other upgrades, according to the report, which was issued Thursday by the city’s General Services Department, which leases and maintains many city properties.
Bass and her homelessness team have spent months working on the acquisition of the Mayfair, a 294-room facility just west of downtown, so that it can be used for her Inside Safe initiative as city-owned interim housing. Since December, Inside Safe has been moving unhoused Angelenos off the street and into hotels, motels and other facilities — with permanent housing being the ultimate goal.
Once the renovation of the Mayfair is finished, city agencies would probably move in some residents from the L.A. Grand, a downtown hotel being used for Inside Safe, as well as unhoused residents of Skid Row, according to the proposal. City officials are hoping to have the Mayfair open by Feb. 1, when the lease with the L.A. Grand expires.
The Mayfair Hotel, which housed homeless Angelenos for much of the pandemic, is now listed for $70 million. Mayor Karen Bass wants the city to buy it.
In recent months, Bass’ team has struggled to find enough rooms to continue expanding the program. Tony Royster, who heads the general services department, said in his report that acquiring the Mayfair would help the city create “a permanent infrastructure of available beds that can transition individuals from encampments to safe interim housing with wrap-around services.”
The mayor’s team is also hoping that the Mayfair can be used to scale back some of the day-to-day leasing costs of Inside Safe. The L.A. Grand, for example, has been charging the city $154 per night per room, including meals. That translates into more than $56,000 per room per year in cases where a room has a single occupant.
“We have ... known since the beginning that the per night costs of renting hotel rooms would be unsustainable, and that the city would need to build out its own reliable interim housing infrastructure to bring down costs,” Bass said in a statement.
The proposed Mayfair purchase is up for review Monday by the city’s Municipal Facilities Committee — a three-member panel made up of the mayor, City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo and Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso. A portion of that meeting will be held in closed session because it involves purchase negotiations.
An aide to Bass said the hotel does not “require any seismic updates.” The city’s research on the building’s condition will remain confidential until the sale is finalized, the aide said.
Any purchase of the Mayfair would require a vote of the City Council.
Since Inside Safe began seven months ago, the city has entered into rental agreements with 38 hotels and motels, generating invoices for more than 57,533 room nights, according to a report examining expenditures through July 14. The program’s interim housing stock is just over 1,100 rooms, the report said.
Under the proposal, Mayfair residents would have access to on-site services focusing on mental health, addiction, life skills, job applications and the search for permanent housing. Participants would receive laundry services and three daily meals, the report said.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the neighborhood where the Mayfair is located, has not yet taken a position on whether she supports or opposes the purchase. Although she and her team have reviewed the report, Hernandez wants more information, an aide said.
“At this time, we are awaiting additional details regarding the project and its potential outcomes, particularly as they relate to our unhoused [district] residents,” said Hernandez spokesperson Chelsea Lucktenberg. “The council member’s core priority is bringing units online that will offer long-term, dignified solutions to our homelessness crisis.”
If the council signs off on the Mayfair deal, the cost of Bass’ Inside Safe program would probably jump from $250 million to well over $300 million for the current budget year, which began July 1.
The Inside Safe budget already includes $110 million for hotel and motel rental costs and $47 million for the acquisition of several smaller motels.
The Mayfair received a major renovation in 2018, reopening as an upscale venue. Two years later, the hotel was shut down because of COVID-19.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is seeking to ramp up her Inside Safe initiative, part of $1.3 billion in spending on homelessness and housing.
Then-Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office reached an agreement with the Mayfair to participate in Project Roomkey, a federally funded program that converted hotels into temporary housing for the city’s homeless population. The Mayfair ended its participation in the program in July 2022, after two years as a Project Roomkey site.
In the months after it closed, the property’s owner, Mayfair Lofts, sought reimbursement for what it said was damage to the building and its furnishings. A representative for that company did not respond to a call seeking comment.
The Mayfair renovation could include repair or replacement of damaged furniture, repairs to damaged bathroom fixtures, replacement of light fixtures, patching of drywall, painting of walls and possibly installation of a new room entry system.
Because the city is the buyer, the purchase of the Mayfair will not be subject to transfer taxes, including those required under ULA, a voter-approved tax on transactions of more than $5 million, according to the report.
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-28/bass-plan-to-buy-mayfair-hotel-comes-with-a-big-price-tag | 2023-07-28T23:41:32 | 0 | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-28/bass-plan-to-buy-mayfair-hotel-comes-with-a-big-price-tag |
Tesla is ramping up efforts to open showrooms on sovereign tribal lands to sell directly to consumers. By doing so, it circumvents laws in states that bar vehicle manufacturers from also being retailers in favor of the dealership model. Mohegan Sun, a casino and entertainment complex in Connecticut owned by the Mohegan Tribe, announced this week that the California-based electric automaker will open a showroom on its property this fall. And last month the Oneida Indian Nation announced a similar showroom that's scheduled to open in 2025.
Tesla is ramping up efforts to open showrooms on tribal lands where it can sell directly to consumers, circumventing laws in states that bar vehicle manufacturers from also being retailers in favor of the dealership model.
Mohegan Sun, a casino and entertainment complex in Connecticut owned by the federally recognized Mohegan Tribe, announced this week that the California-based electric automaker will open a showroom with a sales and delivery center this fall on its sovereign property where the state's law doesn't apply.
The news comes after another new Tesla showroom was announced in June, set to open in 2025 on lands of the Oneida Indian Nation in upstate New York.
"I think it was a move that made complete sense," said Lori Brown, executive director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, which has lobbied for years to change Connecticut's law.
"It is just surprising that it took this long, because Tesla had really tried, along with Lucid and Rivian," she said, referring to two other electric carmakers. "Anything that puts more electric vehicles on the road is a good thing for the public."
Brown noted that lawmakers with car dealerships that are active in their districts, no matter their political affiliation, have traditionally opposed bills allowing direct-to-consumer sales.
The Connecticut Automotive Retail Association, which has opposed such bills for years, says there needs to be a balance between respecting tribal sovereignty and "maintaining a level playing field" for all car dealerships in the state.
"We respect the Mohegan Tribe's sovereignty and the unique circumstance in which they operate their businesses on Tribal land but we strongly believe that this does not change the discussion about Tesla and other EV manufacturers with direct-to-consumer sales, and we continue to oppose that model," Hayden Reynolds, the association's chairperson, said in a statement. "Connecticut's dealer franchise laws benefit consumers and provide a competitive marketplace."
Over the years in numerous states, Tesla has sought and been denied dealership licenses, pushed for law changes and challenged decisions in courts. The company scored a victory earlier this year when Delaware's Supreme Court overturned a ruling upholding a decision by state officials to prohibit Tesla from selling its cars to directly customers.
Tesla opened its first store as well as a repair shop on Native American land in 2021 in New Mexico. The facility, built in Nambé Pueblo, north of Santa Fe, marked the first time the company partnered with a tribe to get around state laws, though the idea had been in the works for years.
Brian Dear, president of the Tesla Owners Club of New Mexico, predicted at the time that states that are home to tribal nations and also have laws banning direct car sales by manufacturers would likely follow New Mexico's lead.
"I don't believe at all that this will be the last," he said.
Tesla's facility at Mohegan Sun, dubbed the Tesla Sales & Delivery Center, will be located at a shopping and dining pavilion within the sprawling casino complex. Customers will be able to test drive models around the resort. and gamblers will be able to use their loyalty rewards toward Tesla purchases.
Tesla also plans to exhibit its solar and storage products at the location. | https://www.kanw.com/new-mexico-news/2023-07-28/automaker-tesla-is-opening-more-showrooms-on-tribal-lands-to-avoid-state-laws-barring-direct-sales | 2023-07-28T23:41:34 | 1 | https://www.kanw.com/new-mexico-news/2023-07-28/automaker-tesla-is-opening-more-showrooms-on-tribal-lands-to-avoid-state-laws-barring-direct-sales |
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on three additional charges in a case that accuses him of illegally possessing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, allegations that add fresh detail to the criminal case initially issued last month.
Here’s a look at the charges, the special counsel’s investigation and how Trump’s case differs from those of other politicians known to be in possession of classified documents:
WHAT ARE THE NEW CHARGES?
There are three new charges against Trump, as well as a new defendant in the case.
Prosecutors accuse the former president of trying to “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence,” and of inducing another person to do so. They say Trump asked a staffer — Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — to delete camera footage at his Florida estate in an effort to obstruct the federal investigation into his possession of classified documents.
Prosecutors allege that De Oliveira schemed with Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta, to conceal the footage from investigators.
A third count also accuses Trump of willfully retaining national defense information related to a presentation about military activity in another country.
Investigators say Trump showed a classified document during July 2021 meeting at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort to the writer and publisher of the memoir of his former chief of staff Mark Meadows. Details about that document and the meeting were included in the original indictment, but none of the charges had related to it until now.
Trump had returned that document to the government on Jan. 17, 2022 — nearly a year after he left office, according to the indictment.
Trump was indicted last month on 37 counts related to the mishandling of classified documents. The charges include counts of retaining classified information, obstructing justice and making false statements, among other crimes.
Trump is accused of keeping documents related to “nuclear weaponry in the United States” and the “nuclear capabilities of a foreign country,” along with documents from White House intelligence briefings, including some that detail the military capabilities of the U.S. and other countries, according to the indictment. Prosecutors alleged Trump showed off the documents to people who did not have security clearances to review them and later tried to conceal documents from his own lawyers as they sought to comply with federal demands to find and return documents.
The top charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
After leaving office in 2021, the former president showed someone working for his political action committee a map that detailed a military operation in a foreign country, prosecutors allege in the document. On another occasion that year, Trump showed a writer, a publisher and two of his staffers — none of whom had security clearances — a military plan of attack.
HOW IS TRUMP REACTING?
A Trump campaign statement dismissed the new charges as “nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt” by the Biden administration “to harass President Trump and those around him” and to influence the 2024 presidential race.
In an interview Thursday night with Breitbart News, Trump called the superseding indictment “harassment,” repeating his insistence that his activities were “protected by the Presidential Records Act.”
On Friday, Trump and a dozen other Republicans seeking the 2024 presidential nomination were expected at an Iowa GOP event.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
De Oliveira is due in court in Florida on Monday.
Both Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to the original 38-count indictment.
Their trial is currently scheduled for May 20, 2024 — deep into the presidential nominating calendar, and probably well after the Republican nominee is known — and it was unclear if the addition of a new defendant could result in a postponement.
Prosecutors, who had wanted the case to go to trial in December, wrote in a separate court filing Thursday that the new charges “should not disturb” the May trial date, “and the Special Counsel’s Office is taking steps related to discovery and security clearances to ensure that it does not do so.”
Trump’s lawyers have claimed that he can’t get a fair trial before the 2024 election.
HOW DID THIS CASE COME ABOUT?
Officials with the National Archives and Records Administration contacted representatives for Trump in spring 2021 when they realized that important material from his time in office was missing.
According to the Presidential Records Act, White House documents are considered property of the U.S. government and must be preserved.
A Trump representative told the National Archives in December 2021 that presidential records had been found at Mar-a-Lago. In January 2022, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Trump’s Florida home, later telling Justice Department officials that they contained “a lot” of classified material.
That May, the FBI and Justice Department issued a subpoena for remaining classified documents in Trump’s possession. Investigators who went to visit the property weeks later to collect the records were given roughly three dozen documents and a sworn statement from Trump’s lawyers attesting that the requested information had been returned.
But that assertion turned out to be false. With a search warrant, federal officials returned to Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 and seized more than 33 boxes and containers totaling 11,000 documents from a storage room and an office, including 100 classified documents.
In all, roughly 300 documents with classification markings — including some at the top secret level — have been recovered from Trump since he left office in January 2021.
HOW DID A SPECIAL COUNSEL GET INVOLVED?
Last year, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland picked Jack Smith, a veteran war crimes prosecutor with a background in public corruption probes, to lead investigations into the presence of classified documents at Trump’s Florida estate, as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election.
Smith’s appointment was a recognition by Garland of the politics involved in an investigation into a former president and current White House candidate. Garland himself was selected by Democratic President Joe Biden, whom Trump is seeking to challenge for the White House in 2024.
Special counsels are appointed in cases in which the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where it’s deemed to be in the public interest to have someone outside the government come in and take responsibility for a matter.
According to the Code of Federal Regulations, a special counsel must have “a reputation for integrity and impartial decision making,” as well as “an informed understanding of the criminal law and Department of Justice policies.”
DIDN’T BIDEN AND FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE HAVE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS, TOO?
Yes, but the circumstances of their cases are vastly different from those involving Trump.
After classified documents were found at Biden’s think tank and Pence’s Indiana home, their lawyers notified authorities and quickly arranged for them to be handed over. They also authorized other searches by federal authorities to search for additional documents.
There is no indication either was aware of the existence of the records before they were found, and no evidence has so far emerged that Biden or Pence sought to conceal the discoveries. That’s important because the Justice Department historically looks for willfulness in deciding whether to bring criminal charges.
A special counsel was appointed earlier this year to probe how classified materials ended up at Biden’s Delaware home and former office. But even if the Justice Department were to find Biden’s case prosecutable on the evidence, its Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that a president is immune from prosecution during his time in office.
As for Pence, the Justice Department informed his legal team this month that it would not be pursuing criminal charges against him over his handling of the documents.
DOES A FEDERAL INDICTMENT PREVENT TRUMP FROM RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?
No. Neither the indictment itself nor a conviction would prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024.
And, as his indictment earlier this year in a New York hush-money case showed, criminal charges have historically been a boon to his fundraising. The campaign announced that it had raised over $4 million in the 24 hours after that indictment became public, smashing its previous record after the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-with-trump-newly-indicted-heres-what-to-know-about-the-documents-case-and-whats-next/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:33 | 0 | https://www.wearegreenbay.com/politics/ap-politics/ap-with-trump-newly-indicted-heres-what-to-know-about-the-documents-case-and-whats-next/ |
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. | https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/28/biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-daughter-son-hunter-an-arkansas-woman/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:34 | 1 | https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/28/biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-daughter-son-hunter-an-arkansas-woman/ |
In his first spring at Colorado, quarterback Shedeur Sanders had to get used to a new set of receivers.
Then, most of those receivers left the Buffaloes. This summer, Sanders is getting used to another new set of receivers, but it’s a process he has enjoyed.
“It’s been really fun because it’s just amazing what they’re able to do and what we’re trying to bring to the table,” Sanders said.
Leading up to preseason camp, BuffZone.com will preview each position group for CU and in this installment, we look at the receivers and tight ends.
CU has 13 scholarship receivers on the roster, but only four of them were in Boulder this spring. Four new transfers and five true freshmen have joined the Buffs this summer and Sanders has put in work to get acquainted with his new weapons.
“I’m just real excited,” he said. “Those are the guys that I spend the most time with because that’s the hardest position to really get, like, a cool, genuine connection with.”
Sanders already has a strong connection with a few of the receivers, though, including Travis Hunter. A sophomore cornerback/receiver, Hunter will play on both sides of the ball and he flashed his exceptional skill in CU’s spring game in April.
Although limited last year due to injuries, Hunter caught 18 passes for 188 yards and four touchdowns while playing with Sanders at Jackson State.
Playing with Hunter and Sanders last year was Willie Gaines, a speedy slot receiver who joined the Buffs this summer. He caught 27 passes for 446 yards and five touchdowns at JSU last season.
Jimmy Horn Jr. (37 catches for 551 yards, three TDs last year at South Florida) quickly became a favorite target of Sanders in the spring. And, Horn’s former USF teammate Xavier Weaver (53 catches for 718 yards, six TD in 2022) didn’t take long to fit in when he arrived this summer.
Sanders also said he loves the potential in senior Javon Antonio and true freshmen Adam Hopkins and Omarion Miller, as well as freshman walk-on Kaleb Mathis.
“It’s a lot,” he said of the receivers he’s excited about. “It’s just hard to name everybody. … So many options.”
With Sanders throwing the ball and offensive coordinator Sean Lewis calling plays, the Buffs are likely to throw the ball to a lot of them. Last year at Jackson State, Sanders threw for 3,752 yards and 12 different players caught at least 10 passes.
Lewis’ offense typically hasn’t used the tight end much in the passing game, but the Buffs have some options there, too.
Louis Passarello impressed coaches enough to earn his jersey number in the spring, and Caleb Fauria has intriguing talent when healthy. They are the only two scholarship tight ends, but the Buffs have been impressed by walks-ons Michael Harrison and Elijah Yelverton.
“(Tight ends coach Tim Brewster) has always done a good job of finding the guy or finding guys and taking what they can do the best and making them a really good player,” CU defensive coordinator Charles Kelly said. “He did it when we were together at Florida State. He did it when I coached against him at Florida. I have no doubt that he will take those guys, he will mold them into what we need them to do. I feel like that position, we’ve get some growth to do, but we’ll get to where we need to get to.”
Position: Wide receivers
Returners: None.
Transfers: Javon Antonio, Sr. (Northwestern State); Xavier Weaver, Sr. (South Florida); Jaylen Ellis, Jr. (Baylor); Willie Gaines, Jr. (Jackson State); Jimmy Horn, Jr. (South Florida); Tar’Varish Dawson Jr., So. (Auburn); Travis Hunter, So. (Jackson State).
True freshmen: Isaiah Hardge, Adam Hopkins, Omarion Miller, Jordan Onovughe, Jacob Page, Asaad Waseem
Walk-ons: Jack Rilling, So.; Cole Boscia, R-Fr.; Dante Capolungo, R-Fr.; Chernet Estes, R-Fr.; Gavin Marsh, T-Fr.; Kaleb Mathis, T-Fr.; Kendal Stewart, T-Fr.
Key losses: Montana Lemonious-Craig (transferred to Arizona), Jordyn Tyson (transferred to Arizona State), RJ Sneed (graduated), Daniel Arias (graduated).
Position: Tight ends
Returners: Caleb Fauria, So.; Louis Passarello, So.
Transfers: None
True freshmen: None
Walk-ons: Michael Harrison, Jr.; Antonio Posadas, So.; Elijah Yelverton, So.; Brady Kopetz, R-Fr.; Owen Westemeyer, T-Fr.
Key losses: Brady Russell (graduated) | https://www.dailycamera.com/2023/07/28/cu-buffs-position-preview-plenty-of-talented-options-at-receiver/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:37 | 0 | https://www.dailycamera.com/2023/07/28/cu-buffs-position-preview-plenty-of-talented-options-at-receiver/ |
Arkansas has added former Southern Miss transfer forward Denijay Harris to the program. He announced his commitment on social media.
Harris, 6-7 and 196 pounds, entered the transfer portal on April 25 and committed to New Mexico State, but reopened his recruitment June 12 and later enrolled at Arkansas.
He averaged 8.9 points and 5.7 rebounds while playing 24.1 minutes per game last season. He shot 56.2% from the field and 67.8% from the free-throw line, and missed his only three-point attempt as a redshirt junior.
He appeared in 32 games and started 13 contests while averaging 2.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and averaging 14.3 minutes as a sophomore. He has a season-high 12 points and had a season-high 7 rebounds against Alabama-Birmingham on March 2.
During the 2020-21 season, he played in 22 of 25 games, had 8 starts and averaged 3.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game.
He redshirted in 2019-20 after previously playing two games at Southwest Mississippi Community College before suffering a season-ending injury. He averaged 13 points and 11.5 rebounds in the two games.
He led Columbus (Miss.) High School to the 6A state titles as a sophomore and senior, and earned game MVP honors in his final season after scoring 20 of his 26 points in the second half. As a senior he averaged 12.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals.
He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Harris is the seventh transfer to join the Arkansas roster since the end of the 2022-23 season. The Razorbacks have a full allotment of 13 scholarship players after the announcement that guard Keyon Menifield, a transfer from Washington, would be a non-scholarship redshirt for the upcoming season. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/28/former-southern-miss-forward-joins-arkansas-program/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:37 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/28/former-southern-miss-forward-joins-arkansas-program/ |
Are you an L.A. landlord with a rent-stabilized apartment? We want to hear from you
During the pandemic, the city of L.A. launched a number of tenant protections. Landlords have not been able to raise rents on rent-stabilized units for more than three years, and they won’t be able to do so until 2024.
If you are a landlord struggling to keep up with costs due to the rent freeze, or if you left the rental market, we want to hear from you.
Please fill out the form below, and you may hear from a Los Angeles Times reporter. If you would prefer to share an anonymous tip, you can do so here. | https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2023-07-28/la-landlord-rent-stabilized-apartment-freeze-callout | 2023-07-28T23:41:38 | 1 | https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2023-07-28/la-landlord-rent-stabilized-apartment-freeze-callout |
The 2023 Formula 1 World Championship continues this weekend with round 13, the Belgian Grand Prix, which takes place at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit and will see the Saturday Sprint race return.
The Spa circuit is nestled within the beautiful Ardennes hills and features a long, unrelenting track that serves as a stern test for car and driver. The average speed approaches 145 mph, making it one of the fastest laps of the season, and drivers experience over 5 g in some of the turns, such as Turn 10, known as Pouhon. The cars also run at full throttle for almost 80% of the lap.
Stretching 4.35 miles, Spa has the longest track on the calendar, resulting in the race lasting only 44 laps—the lowest on the calendar. The track is so big that it’s not unusual to have varying weather conditions at different parts. For example, rain at one end and sunshine at the other. The current forecast calls for heavy rain throughout the weekend, which has already resulted in some calls for the race to possibly be canceled.
The first and third sectors at Spa feature long straights and flat-out sections, but the second sector is twisty. This makes it challenging to find the right balance and set-up compromise, particularly with the wing level.
The track surface is on the abrasive side, meaning tires get quite the workout. Pirelli has nominated its mid-range compounds: the C2 as the White hard, C3 as the Yellow medium, and C4 as the Red soft.
The Belgian round will mark 2023’s third running of the Saturday Sprint race, after the Azerbaijan and Austrian Grands Prix. This season, the Sprint race has been made a standalone event rather than the qualifier for the main race, as was previously the case. It still has championship points on the table for both drivers and teams, however.
The round is the last stop before the summer break and will see some teams run upgrades, including Mercedes-Benz AMG whose cars will feature a new design for the side pods.
Going into the weekend, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen leads the 2023 Drivers’ Championship with 281 points. Fellow Red Bull driver Perez is second with 171 points and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso is third with 139 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull leads with 452 points, versus the 223 of Mercedes and 184 of Aston Martin in second and third places. Last year’s winner in Belgium was Verstappen, driving for Red Bull.
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Healthy snacking company That's it. aims to simplify back-to-school nutrition with curated shopping lists
LOS ANGELES, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The new school year is approaching, and with it, parents are preparing for the accompanying stress of the back-to-school season. Amongst the biggest stressors for parents of school-aged children? Managing after school activities (24%), followed by finding healthy snack options (23%) and packing lunches / food prep (20%)1.
With 43% of parents' top stressors coming in as nutrition-related, That's it. has partnered with childhood nutrition expert Rachel Rothman, MS, RD, CLEC to take the guesswork out of shopping for healthy back-to-school snacks by creating two curated snack shopping lists for Target and Walmart. (Seventy percent of parents indicated that they will do the majority of their back-to-school shopping at one of these two retail giants2.)
"The best part about these snacks is the variety of ingredients and nutrients," said Rothman. "They all contain key nutrients, and are made from whole foods, without the use of flavors or additives. These snacks are all shelf-stable and can be eaten as a quick, nutritious snack, or as part of a more diverse meal to keep your kids fed as the weather cools off and fall schedules heat back up."
Keep reading for Rothman's hand-selected healthy picks:
Target:
- That's it. Mango & Blueberry Mini Fruit Bars
- Whisps Cheese Crisps
- Chomps Snack Sticks
- Simple Mills Crackers
- Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame
Walmart:
- That's it. Apple + Strawberry Mini Fruit Bars
- Terra Sweet Potato Chips
- Kars Nuts Second Nature Wholesome Medley Trail Mix
- BOOMCHICKAPOP Sea Salt Popcorn
- Wild Planet Wild Albacore Tuna pouches
That's it. Mini Fruit Bars are made from two ingredients: Fruit + fruit. These shelf-stable Mini Fruit Bars contain no juices, purees, concentrates or added sugars, and are all-natural, gluten-free, non-GMO, and free from all top food allergens – making them the perfect back-to-school snack for the whole family.
About That's it.
That's it. makes delicious, convenient, plant-based super snacks from only the purest ingredients, and completely free from the top 12 allergens. Since 2012, it has been innovating the natural foods category in the United States with its portfolio of simple and nutritious snacks made from real, whole foods. All That's it. products transparently contain six real ingredients or less, and absolutely no natural or artificial flavors, sugar alcohols, or artificial colors. Its flagship Fruit Bars, now the #1 fruit bar in America, contain only two ingredients: fruit + fruit. You can find That's it. nationwide at your local Starbucks, at major retailers such as: Target, Whole Foods, Costco, Sam's Club, 7-Eleven, Walmart, VONS, CVS and Kroger, and online at Amazon and www.thatsitfruit.com. Learn more on Instagram and TikTok.
Media Contact:
Chief Marketing Officer
That's it.
1 About Suzy Survey:
The "Parents' Plates" study surveyed 1,000 parents of school-aged children in the U.S. in July 2023. Survey was conducted via real-time consumer insights platform Suzy.
2 About Suzy Survey:
The "Back-to-School" study surveyed 2,706 parents of school-aged children in the U.S. in June 2023. Survey was conducted via real-time consumer insights platform Suzy.
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SOURCE That’s it Nutrition | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/dietitians-top-walmart-target-picks-back-to-school-snacking/ | 2023-07-28T23:41:40 | 0 | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/dietitians-top-walmart-target-picks-back-to-school-snacking/ |