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(NEXSTAR) – It’s been a rough week for Trader Joe’s after the popular grocery store chain had to notify customers on Thursday and Friday about products potentially containing foreign matter.
On Friday, Trader Joe’s announced it was recalling frozen falafel balls (SKU# 93935) that may contain rocks.
The recalled falafel was sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Washington D.C.
One day earlier, Trader Joe’s warned customers that its “Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup” may contain insects. Trader Joe’s says there have not been reported cases of illness from the soup.
The recalled soup (SKU# 68470) has the Use By dates of 07/18/23 – 09/15/23.
A third recall, updated Tuesday to include a sell by date, warns that there may be rocks in the company’s Almond Windmill Cookies and the Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies.
Those cookies have the following dates:
- Almond Windmill Cookies: SELL BY 10/02/23 and 10/19/23 through 10/21/23
- Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies: SELL BY 10/17/23 through 10/21/23
In all of the recalls, anyone who bought or received a donation containing one of the potentially tainted items is urged to throw it away or return it to Trader Joe’s for a refund.
Customers with questions may contact Trader Joe’s Customer Relations at (626) 599-3817 [Mondays-Fridays, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT] or send Trader Joe’s an email. | https://www.wowktv.com/national-news/trader-joes-recalls-falafel-and-broccoli-cheddar-soup-for-possible-rocks-insects/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:19 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/national-news/trader-joes-recalls-falafel-and-broccoli-cheddar-soup-for-possible-rocks-insects/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Signs that inflation pressures in the United States are steadily easing emerged Friday in reports that consumer prices rose in June at their slowest pace in more than two years and that wage growth cooled last quarter.
Together, the figures provided the latest signs that the Federal Reserve’s drive to tame inflation may succeed without triggering a recession, an outcome known as a “soft landing.”
A price gauge closely monitored by the Fed rose just 3% in June from a year earlier. That was down from a 3.8% annual increase in May, though still above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2% from May to June, up slightly from 0.1% the previous month.
Last month’s sharp slowdown in year-over-year inflation largely reflected falling gas prices, as well as milder increases in grocery costs. With supply chains having largely healed from post-pandemic disruptions, the costs of new and used cars, furniture and appliances also fell in June.
The cost of some services, though, continued to surge. Average prices of movie tickets rose 0.5% from May to June, and are up 6.2% from a year earlier. Veterinary services, up 0.5% last month, are 10.5% higher than a year ago. And restaurant meal prices increased 0.4% in June; they’re up 7.1% from 12 months earlier.
A measure of “core” prices, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, did remain elevated even though it also eased last month. Economists track core prices because they are considered a better signal of where inflation is headed. Those still-high underlying inflation pressures are a key reason why the Fed raised its short-term interest rate Wednesday to a 22-year high.
Core prices were still 4.1% higher than they were a year ago, well above the Fed’s target, though down from 4.6% in May. From May to June, core inflation was just 0.2%, down from 0.3% the previous month, an encouraging sign.
A separate report Friday from the Labor Department showed that a gauge of wages and salaries grew more slowly in the April-June quarter, suggesting that employers were feeling less pressure to boost pay as the job market cools.
Employee pay, excluding government workers, rose 1%, down from 1.2% in the first three months of 2023. Compared with a year earlier, wages and salaries grew 4.6%, down from 5.1% in the first quarter.
The Fed is closely watching the pay gauge, known as the employment cost index. Smaller wage increases should slow inflation over time, because companies are less likely to need to raise prices to cover their higher labor costs.
Taken together, Friday’s data “will provide further support to the view that the economy is in the midst of a soft landing,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide. The softer wage data, she suggested, “will be welcomed by Fed officials.”
Americans’ average paychecks are still growing briskly, boosting their ability to spend and underscoring the economy’s resiliency. The inflation report that the Commerce Department issued Friday showed that consumer spending jumped in June, despite two years of high inflation and 11 Fed rate hikes over 17 months. From May to June, consumer spending rose 0.5%, up from 0.2% the previous month.
“Better push out those recession forecasts by another quarter,” Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist at investment bank Santander, wrote in a research note.
The inflation gauge that was issued Friday, called the personal consumption expenditures price index, is separate from the better-known consumer price index. Earlier this month, the government reported that the CPI rose 3% in June from 12 months earlier.
The Fed prefers the PCE index because it accounts for changes in how people shop when inflation jumps — when, for example, consumers shift away from pricey national brands in favor of cheaper store brands. And housing costs, which are among the biggest inflation drivers but many economists think aren’t well-measured, carry about half the weight in the PCE than the CPI.
With inflation now steadily cooling, consumers are becoming more optimistic about the economy, a trend that could lead them to keep spending and driving growth.
On Friday, the University of Michigan reported that its consumer sentiment index rose in June to its highest level since October 2021, though it has still recovered only about half of the drop caused by the pandemic. And earlier this week, the Conference Board, a business research group, said its consumer confidence index rose this month to its highest point in two years.
The U.S. economy is in a hopeful but precarious place: A solid job market is bolstering hiring, lifting wages and keeping unemployment near a half-century low. Yet inflation is weakening rather than rising, as it typically does when unemployment is low. That suggests that the Fed may be able to achieve a soft landing.
The Fed’s policymakers, though, are concerned that the steadily growing economy could help perpetuate inflation. This can occur as persistent consumer demand enables more companies to raise prices, thereby keeping inflation above the Fed’s target and potentially causing the central bank to raise rates even higher.
The latest evidence of the economy’s resilience came Thursday, when the government reported that it grew at a 2.4% annual rate in the April-June quarter — faster than analysts had forecast and an acceleration from a 2% growth rate in the first three months of the year.
At a news conference Wednesday, Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the Fed’s benchmark short-term rate, now at about 5.3%, was high enough to restrain the overall economy and likely tame inflation over time. But Powell added that the Fed would need to see more evidence that inflation has been sustainably subdued before it would consider ending its rate hikes.
Powell declined to offer any signal of the central bank’s likely next moves. In June, Fed officials had forecast two more rate hikes this year, including Wednesday’s.
“I would say it is certainly possible that we would raise (rates) again at the September meeting, if the data warranted,” Powell said Wednesday, “and I would also say it’s possible that we would choose to hold steady at that meeting.” | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-an-inflation-gauge-that-is-closely-tracked-by-the-fed-falls-to-its-lowest-level-in-more-than-2-years/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:22 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-an-inflation-gauge-that-is-closely-tracked-by-the-fed-falls-to-its-lowest-level-in-more-than-2-years/ |
(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.wowktv.com/national-news/who-is-carlos-de-oliveira-trumps-mar-a-lago-resort-manager/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:25 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/national-news/who-is-carlos-de-oliveira-trumps-mar-a-lago-resort-manager/ |
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.
At least 16 states have effectively changed their laws to allow Tesla and other direct-to-consumer manufacturers to sell there, said Jeff Aiosa, executive director of the Connecticut dealers association. He doesn’t foresee Connecticut changing its law, noting that 32 “original equipment manufacturers,” a list that includes major car companies like Toyota and Ford, currently abide by it.
“It’s not fair to have an unlevel playing field when all the other manufacturers abide by the state franchise laws and Tesla wants this exception to go around the law,” he said. “I would suggest their pivoting to the sovereign nation is representative of them not wanting to abide by the law.”
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-automaker-tesla-is-opening-more-showrooms-on-tribal-lands-to-avoid-state-laws-barring-direct-sales/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:30 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-automaker-tesla-is-opening-more-showrooms-on-tribal-lands-to-avoid-state-laws-barring-direct-sales/ |
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 870,000 newer F-150 pickup trucks in the U.S. because the electric parking brakes can turn on unexpectedly.
The recall covers certain pickups from the 2021 through 2023 model years with single exhaust systems. Ford’s F-Series pickups are the top-selling vehicles in the U.S.
The company says in documents posted by government safety regulators Friday that a rear wiring bundle can come in contact with the rear axle housing. That can chafe the wiring and cause a short circuit, which can turn on the parking brake without action from the driver, increasing the risk of a crash.
Drivers may see a parking brake warning light and a warning message on the dashboard.
Ford says in documents that it has 918 warranty claims and three field reports of wire chafing in North America. Of these, 299 indicated unexpected parking brake activation, and 19 of these happened while the trucks were being driven.
The company says it doesn’t know of any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.
Dealers will inspect the rear wiring harness. If protective tape is worn through, the harness will be replaced. If the tape isn’t worn, dealers will install a protective tie strap and tape wrap.
Owners will be notified by letter starting Sept. 11.
Owners with questions can call Ford customer service at (866) 436-7332. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/ford-recalls-870k-f-150-pickups-in-us-because-parking-brakes-can-turn-on-unexpectedly/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:31 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/ford-recalls-870k-f-150-pickups-in-us-because-parking-brakes-can-turn-on-unexpectedly/ |
CARLISLE, Ky. (FOX 56) — The Nicholas County Coroner’s Office has identified the deceased individual found after flash floods within the county.
The coroner’s office said the Carlisle Police Department received a distress call from 52-year-old Rosa Rowland on Friday morning. The Nicholas County Sheriff’s Office, Nicholas County Fire Department, and Nicholas County Search and Rescue were dispatched to her residence on West Headquarters Road, but downed power lines and flood waters impeded their rescue.
Once they made it to the scene, first responders said they found Rowland’s residence had been washed off its foundation. Search teams were dispatched, and reportedly found her body approximately 3/4 miles downstream in a field next to the Hooktown Branch of the South Fork Licking River.
Rowland was pronounced deceased by the Nicholas County coroner at around 7:45 a.m. Friday.
Martha Drey, Rowland’s aunt, said the Sheriff’s Office told her Rowland called five times for help. Rowland was handicapped and had no way of helping herself out.
Drey could not get to her because she was flooded in herself. She also said Rowland was renting the house and it was condemned.
Previous story:
Nicholas County police confirmed a body was found in flash flood waters caused by heavy rains overnight.
Information is limited at this time, but authorities did confirm the Nicholas County coroner was on the scene.
A news release is expected to be released today regarding the incident. FOX 56 will update you with any new information when it becomes available.
The Nicholas Co. Coroner’s Office is investigating the death of Rosa Rowland, 52, of Nicholas County, Kentucky on Friday morning, July 28, 2023, following a flash flood. Carlisle Police Dispatch received a distress call from Ms. Rowland at her residence on West Headquarters Road (KY32/36). Nicholas County Sheriff’s Office, Nicholas County Fire Department and Nicholas County Search & Rescue were dispatched to the scene, but were impeded by flood waters and downed power lines. Upon arrival at the scene, Ms. Rowland’s residence at 2605 West Headquarters Road had been washed off of its foundation. Search teams were quickly formed and her body was found approximately 3/4-mile downstream in a field next to the Hooktown Branch of South Fork Licking River. She was pronounced dead by Nicholas Co. Coroner Emily Gaunce at 7:45 A.M. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/kentucky/body-found-in-nicholas-county-flash-flood-waters/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:37 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/kentucky/body-found-in-nicholas-county-flash-flood-waters/ |
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s banking sector could withstand a severe economic downturn without depleting their financial buffers against losses, the European Central Bank said Friday.
A survey of 98 large and medium-sized banks done by the ECB’s supervisory arm in conjunction with the European Banking Authority showed that even in the most adverse scenario — a fall of almost 10% in economic outpoint over three years — banks would still have enough capital to cover losses and then some.
The stress test was not a pass-fail exercise for banks in the 20 countries that use the euro currency. Rather, results for individual banks will be used by banking regulators in determining how much capital they need to hold in reserve.
Banks are crucial to the European economy because companies get most of their financing from them, instead of from financial markets — the opposite of the situation in the U.S.
The ECB took over supervision of the biggest banks after the eurozone debt crisis more than a decade ago, when bank losses led to heavy bailout costs for governments. National supervisors were perceived to have been less than vigilant on developing risks.
Scrutiny of bank finances has grown after the failure of three U.S. banks amid rising interest rates that led to losses on investments and mass withdrawal of deposits. The financial turmoil then hit Credit Suisse, a globally significant bank that had long-running problems, leading the Swiss government to engineer an emergency takeover by rival UBS to prevent further banking chaos.
Switzerland is not part of the European Union, where some of the safeguards instituted after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis were more widely applied. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-europes-banks-could-survive-a-drastic-economic-downturn-stress-test-shows/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:36 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-europes-banks-could-survive-a-drastic-economic-downturn-stress-test-shows/ |
An East Bay company could soon join ranks with Perrigo’s Opill as one of the first over-the-counter birth control pills for women.
Cadence OTC in Oakland has been quietly developing another readily accessible female contraceptive over the past five years.
“Given the changes in the landscape for reproductive health, now is the time to be less stealth,” said Angela Bitting, a spokesperson for the company.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the oral contraceptive Opill for over-the-counter use, making it the first non-prescription birth control pill in the United States.
This milestone — which came just a little more than a year after the Supreme Court overturned Dobbs v. Jackson, effectively ending abortion in 14 states to date — is just the beginning in what could become a highly populated market, and Cadence OTC is at the forefront.
While the Opill is a progestin-only version of the birth control pill, Cadence OTC‘s version, Zena, will have both progestin and estrogen, the more common type of medication currently on the market.
“It’s the pill people think about when you think about the pill,” said Bitting. “It’s taken by about 90% of the market.”
The company has conducted around 35 studies over the past five years with around 4,000 women studying not the pill’s efficacy — that has been well-documented since its introduction in the early 1960s — but the pill’s label.
The Zena pill uses a high-tech label, much like a QR code, on its triangular-shaped packaging,to open a health survey that will help a woman determine potential health risks.
“There are some people who shouldn’t take the pill,” said Bitting. “For example, women who are over 35 and smoke more than three cigarettes a day should not take the pill.”
These factors, coupled with the birth control pill, could lead to health risks like blood clots, Bitting said.
If the woman doesn’t face any health risks, she will be given a code allowing her to buy the pill. “(It’s) similar to showing your ID when you purchase cigarettes or alcohol,” said Bitting.
The company has not yet confirmed a timeline for approval of its birth control pill.
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In the meantime, public health officials are looking ahead to what the Opill’s approval could mean for the market and the state of reproductive health across the country.
“It’s really exciting,” said Dr. Dan Grossman, an obstetrician, gynecologist and the director of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, a research program at UCSF. “It’s pretty heartening to see.”
The advances in this area come when women’s reproductive health has been restricted in various ways in several states.
“Abortion access has been decimated in almost half the country; access to contraception for teens is under attack,” said Grossman. “So, for that reason, I was nervous about this.”
But Grossman is hopeful that this will become a safe option for women, particularly those who are low-income or might have a harder time accessing contraception. While Perrigo hasn’t yet confirmed the price of the Opill, Grossman said he believes it will be accessible to most women.
The company has indicated that it will create a consumer assistance program for low-income women, “a fund to help pay for the product if they couldn’t afford it,” he said.
Cost won’t be as much of a concern for women in California who are covered by insurance starting Jan. 1, 2024. That’s when the Contraceptive Equity Act, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, will go into effect, requiring insurance companies to cover birth control in the state.
And while in San Francisco and the Bay Area in particular, access to reproductive care is better than in other parts of the country, having these over-the-counter pills will still benefit parts of the local population, said Grossman.
But some still worry that the Opill could face challenges in the current climate around reproductive health.
“It’s certainly possible that we may see some state legislatures move to try to restrict this in some way or possibly a lawsuit,” he said.
This debate is unfolding over mifepristone, the first dose of what is known as the abortion pill, in Texas as a conservative Christian legal group filed a lawsuit over the FDA’s approval of the drug last year. The case went to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May, and its status is currently up in the air.
Whether or not the Opill will be challenged remains to be seen. But the pill’s approval still marks a societal change since the last time a drug like this was under discussion, the Plan B or morning-after pill.
“It turned into such a long fight and took over a decade for that to be made available over the counter for people of all ages,” said Grossman, who was also at the front lines during this fight. “I was worried that there was going to be a similar politicized fight around this product, and I’m so happy to see that there wasn’t.” | https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/business/oakland-company-cadence-otc-on-verge-of-birth-control-pill/article_d7ae92cc-2d8e-11ee-8880-1b563bbb4b7e.html | 2023-07-29T01:06:40 | 0 | https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/business/oakland-company-cadence-otc-on-verge-of-birth-control-pill/article_d7ae92cc-2d8e-11ee-8880-1b563bbb4b7e.html |
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – The officer who was injured when an employee opened fire at Old National Bank in Louisville earlier this year returned home today, Friday July 28.
The Louisville Metro Police Department announced on Twitter that Officer Nicolas Wilt is now ready to go home. Officer Wilt was injured while responding to the active shooter on April 10, just 10 days after beginning work at the LMPD.
The community gathered to give him a warm welcome home!
Five people were killed during the shooting. Wilt was one of the first on scene and had just graduated from the academy days before the incident.
Wilt still has a long road to recovery ahead of him. Following the shooting, The police department said on social media that Wilt “ran towards the gunfire today to save lives.” | https://www.wowktv.com/news/kentucky/louisville-police-officer-injured-in-bank-shooting-returning-home/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:43 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/kentucky/louisville-police-officer-injured-in-bank-shooting-returning-home/ |
TOKYO (AP) — An official in charge of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant says the upcoming release of treated radioactive water into the sea more than 12 years after the reactors’ meltdown marks “a milestone,” but is still only an initial step in a daunting decades-long decommissioning process.
Junichi Matsumoto, the corporate officer in charge of treated water management for Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi plant, also pledged to conduct careful sampling and analysis of the water to make sure its release is safely carried out in accordance with International Atomic Energy Agency standards.
The water is being treated with what’s called an Advanced Liquid Processing System, which can reduce the amounts of more than 60 selected radionuclides to government-set releasable levels, except for tritium, which the government and TEPCO say is safe for humans if consumed in small amounts.
“The release of the ALPS-treated water into the sea is a major milestone for us, as well as for the decommissioning of the plant,” Matsumoto said in an interview with The Associated Press at TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo.
“In order to steadily advance decommissioning, the ever-growing amounts of water was a pressing issue that we could not put off, and we had a sense of crisis,” said Matsumoto, a nuclear engineering expert. “We still have to tackle far more challenging and higher-risk operations such as removal of melted debris and spent fuel” from the damaged reactors, he said.
Another task for TEPCO is combatting the damage to the reputation of Fukushima fisheries caused by the water release, he said.
A massive March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and contaminating their cooling water, which has since leaked continuously. The water is collected, filtered and stored in around 1,000 tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.
Large amounts of fatally radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the reactors. Robotic probes have provided some information about its status, but it remains largely unknown.
The government and TEPCO say the water must be removed to make room for the plant’s decommissioning, and to prevent accidental leaks from the tanks because much of the water is still contaminated and needs retreatment.
The release plan has faced strong opposition from Japanese fishing organizations, which worry about further damage to the reputation of their seafood as they struggle to recover from the accident. Groups in South Korea and China have also raised concerns, turning it into a political and diplomatic issue.
Matsumoto said the key to gaining understanding is to patiently explain the situation by providing scientific evidence.
“It is difficult, but we hope to make it as easy to understand as possible,” he said. “If we describe (the water release) in one word, it’s safe.”
“As the operator responsible for the accident, we must admit TEPCO is a company that is not fully trusted. We must keep up the effort and sincerely respond to any concern,” Matsumoto said. “It is our responsibility to demonstrate we can carry out the water release as planned, and that’s how we can regain public trust.”
The government said the release is set to start this summer but hasn’t set the date amid protests. TEPCO has obtained safety permits for all of the equipment needed for the release and is currently carrying out training so the water release team can begin work at any time, Matsumoto said.
“It’s not like just turning a faucet to run tap water,” he said.
Scientists generally agree that the environmental impact of the treated wastewater would be negligible, but some call for more attention to dozens of low-dose radionuclides that remain in it, saying data on their long-term effects on the environment and marine life are insufficient and the water requires close scrutiny.
The treated water will be diluted with massive amounts of seawater and will be released gradually over many years.
Matsumoto acknowledged that treated water that came in contact with the damaged nuclear fuel contains radionuclides such as uranium and plutonium that are not in water that is routinely released from healthy nuclear plants around the world.
He said the total concentration of radionuclides in the water meets government standards after treatment, and after dilution the wastewater will be fully safe and have a minimal environmental impact, according to the IAEA, which has provided assistance in evaluating the release plan.
Matsumoto said he has struggled to manage the massive amounts of contaminated water to keep it from escaping into the environment and safely stored at the plant since the accident.
There were instances in which plant workers had no other choice but to dump some into the sea or temporarily put it inside a basement or in temporary water tanks, Matsumoto recalled.
Now, after taking measures to minimize the seeping of rainwater and groundwater into the reactor buildings and establishing a stable water management system, the amount of contaminated water has come down to less than one-fifth of what it used to be, he said. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-fukushima-plant-official-says-the-coming-release-of-treated-water-a-milestone-for-decommissioning/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:44 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-fukushima-plant-official-says-the-coming-release-of-treated-water-a-milestone-for-decommissioning/ |
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' office on Friday dismissed criminal charges against a man and woman who were arrested in connection with a dramatic car crash at the Sanchez Street Stairs which was caught on video.
Kevin Nelson, 36, and Jennifer Bonham, 31, were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of carjacking, receiving a stolen vehicle and conspiracy. Additionally, Bonham was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving in connection with the Saturday crash and preceding car theft.
However, Jenkins dismissed the charges citing the need for additional information.
"The charges against Ms. Bonham and Mr. Nelson have been discharged at this time pending further investigation and witness unavailability," the district attorney's office said in a prepared statement, urging those with information to contact San Francisco police.
Nelson and Bonham, both of San Francisco, were taken into custody in connection with a reported carjacking and subsequent crash on Saturday afternoon. San Francisco Police Department officers were sent to the Sanchez Street Stairs just before 7:20 p.m. that day after a car drove off a dead end on Cumberland Street and careened down a hillside.
Bills adopted by legislators Tuesday aim to ease the building of new residences
Viral video of the crash showed the car tumbling over the steep staircase and uprooting at least one tree before landing upside down on the sidewalk near the intersection of 19th and Sanchez streets.
Several bystanders and passing motorists stopped to help the people inside the vehicle, though the occupants fled the scene by climbing the stairs before authorities arrived.
While investigating the crash, a man who "identified himself as the owner of the vehicle" approached and told officers he was sitting in a car in the area of 19th and Dolores streets — about a half-mile from the scene of the wreck — on Saturday night when "unknown suspects" approached him and stole his car, the SFPD told The Examiner.
Details were not immediately available on the three other suspects who fled the scene of the crash. Anyone with information on the carjacking or the crash was asked to contact San Francisco police at 415-575-4444. | https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/crime/charges-dismissed-against-pair-arrested-in-viral-car-crash/article_e4155458-2d8c-11ee-ba3d-5f904550f65a.html | 2023-07-29T01:06:46 | 0 | https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/crime/charges-dismissed-against-pair-arrested-in-viral-car-crash/article_e4155458-2d8c-11ee-ba3d-5f904550f65a.html |
MONTGOMERY, WV (WOWK) – Two Montgomery residents received an eviction notice from their landlord yesterday as they wait for their collapsed ceiling to be repaired.
Last Wednesday morning, July 19, Linda Clow and Eric Ferguson said a part of their ceiling collapsed in their living room. When that happened, more than a dozen pigeons came flying out, and piles of the birds’ droppings fell from the ceiling. The ceiling was patched up last week, but has not been completely sealed.
In an effort to speed up the process, Clow and Ferguson filed a complaint with Montgomery City Hall. From there, the Montgomery Fire Chief and a code enforcement official inspected the apartment last week.
The landlord, Barry Blackburn, cites City Hall’s involvement as a reason for evicting the tenants. In his letter, he also cites Clow and Ferguson calling 13 News to investigate the incident last week.
In the report from Montgomery City Hall, it lists the unpatched ceiling as just one of several safety concerns in the apartment that need to be repaired within the next 30 days. Those concerns also include a “spongy” and sagging bathroom floor, a hole in the wall behind the kitchen stove, a loose wire hanging from the ceiling connecting to the stove, and uncovered electrical outlets.
For the people who live there, they say they just want to get their normal life back and get the necessary repairs made.
“How can a landlord not fix stuff and not care about the tenants?” Ferguson asked. “Neglect in his duty, in his own lease, and get away with it.”
“If he was some kind of landlord he would be up here fixing things and not putting our health at risk,” Clow said. “Feces comes down falling to the floor all the time, we’re breathing that in as well as the mold. He hasn’t fixed this one bit like he should.”
Blackburn told 13 News that he expects to have the ceiling repaired by maintenance workers on Sunday morning, and the rest of the repairs cited in the report within the next ten days. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/landlord-delivers-eviction-notice-to-montgomery-tenants-whose-ceiling-collapsed/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:49 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/landlord-delivers-eviction-notice-to-montgomery-tenants-whose-ceiling-collapsed/ |
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The German economy is still failing to grow, figures showed Friday, as the country that should be the industrial powerhouse for all of Europe struggles with high energy prices, rising borrowing costs and a lagging rebound from key trading partner China.
Economic output in Germany stagnated in the April-to-June quarter, the Federal Statistics Office said. That follows a decline of 0.1% in the first three months of the year and a drop of 0.4% in the last three months of 2022 as the energy shock from Russia’s war in Ukraine echoed through Europe’s largest economy.
It comes after the International Monetary Fund forecast this week that Germany would be the globe’s only major economy to shrink this year, even with weak economic growth around the world amid rising interest rates and the threat of growing inflation.
In Germany, the economy has been buffeted by several challenges. Above all, its long-term dependence on Russian natural gas to fuel industry backfired when the invasion of Ukraine led to the loss of most of Moscow’s supply and to higher costs for energy-intensive industries such as metals, glass, cars and fertilizer.
Higher interest rates from the European Central Bank have weighed on construction projects that depend on borrowing. Meanwhile, the rebound in China, Germany’s largest trade partner, after the end of drastic COVID-19 restrictions has been less than many had hoped for.
The second-quarter economic performance was “far from satisfactory,” said Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
He urged action on his proposal to cap energy prices for industry with government help, which has run into skepticism in parts of the governing coalition, and more investment in future-oriented technology such as renewable energy.
“What Germany needs is a targeted impulse for investment and breathing room for our energy-intensive industry,” he said.
Longer-term factors such as an aging population, lagging use of digital technology in business and government, excessive red tape that holds back business launches and public construction projects, and a shortage of skilled labor also have weighed on the economy.
Yet the slowdown does not resemble a classic recession because jobs are abundant, with companies competing for workers and complaining of skills shortages. The unemployment rate was only 2.9% in May, well below the eurozone’s 6.5% — one of the lowest rates on record.
Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist at ING, has described Germany’s situation as a “slowcession,” with the economy “stuck in the twilight zone between stagnation and recession.”
He said Friday that recent data “do not bode well for economic activity in the coming months.”
“In fact, weak purchasing power, thinned-out industrial order books, as well as the impact of the most aggressive monetary policy tightening in decades, and the expected slowdown of the U.S. economy, all argue in favor of weak economic activity,” Brzeski said in a note.
Germany’s woes are calling forth comparisons with the late 1990s, when high labor costs held back the country’s competitiveness. A series of labor market reforms under former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 2003-2004 helped restore economic growth and Germany’s position as an export powerhouse selling industrial machinery and vehicles to the rest of the world.
Germany’s current account surplus of $290 billion, the broadest measure of foreign trade, was the highest in the world in 2019, according to the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. It remained above 7% of GDP for six straight years but fell to 4.2% last year. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-germany-used-to-be-the-worlds-export-powerhouse-now-its-not-growing-what-happened/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:51 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-germany-used-to-be-the-worlds-export-powerhouse-now-its-not-growing-what-happened/ |
It’s getting cheaper to buy a house in San Francisco.
The City saw some of the biggest year-over-year housing price declines in recent years, a new study from the financial technology company SmartAsset found.
According to the company, The City’s typical home value went down from roughly $1.46 million in 2022 to $1.27 million this year, a 13.3% decrease.
Experts cited several factors for the drop, including San Francisco’s shift to telecommuting, the cost of living driving high-income earners out of the area and the Federal Reserve hiking its interest rate to its highest level in 22 years.
“We’ve seen a lot of different migration patterns over the last few years with all the economic turmoil with COVID,” said Jaclyn DeJohn, SmartAsset’s managing editor of economic analysis. “With that really heavy shift to remote work, people have more flexibility now to really disperse and that kind of distributes the demand a little bit more evenly across different cities.”
The study looked at available data for cities with a population of 65,000 or higher. Population data came from the U.S. Census Bureau 1-Year American Community Survey. Home value data came from the Zillow home value index, which is a measure of typical home value and market changes in a given region and housing type.
Oscar Wei, deputy chief economist at the California Association of Realtors, said he believes that San Francisco’s year-over-year decline in typical home value will continue in small increments throughout the year, especially as the traditional home buying season wraps up in the fall.
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That gradual decline in prices could bode well for first-time and established homeowners.
“Housing affordability in San Francisco will probably start climbing back slightly and then you'll probably see some stabilization in terms of the demand,” he said. “You may actually see people going back to the Bay Area, not necessarily just San Francisco, when things actually start stabilizing.”
In addition to affordable pricing, prospective buyers could be lured back to the area as regional industries like tech are seemingly emerging from a slump that led to widespread layoffs.
Even as the housing market cools down, California homeowners still face other obstacles in putting a roof over their heads.
In May, two of the state’s biggest insurance providers, Allstate and State Farm, announced they would no longer provide new insurance policies to California residents. A myriad of reasons were cited for the move including intensifying wildfires, floods and other environmental threats.
Earlier this month, Farmers Insurance said it would pare back service in the state ahead of wildfire season by capping the number of new policies it issues.
“If there's less providers and less choice in the market, homeowners are going to face two different choices — they're going to have to pay cash for houses, which can affect the market in myriad ways, or they're going to be priced out,” said DeJohn. | https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/housing/new-study-says-sf-home-prices-fell-between-may-2022-and-2023/article_2e98ea06-2d94-11ee-a30f-97394fa428f8.html | 2023-07-29T01:06:53 | 1 | https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/housing/new-study-says-sf-home-prices-fell-between-may-2022-and-2023/article_2e98ea06-2d94-11ee-a30f-97394fa428f8.html |
MORE STRONG STORMS TONIGHT... QUIET & LESS HUMID WEEKEND
Your First Alert Weather Forecast:
It’s another FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAY... a batch strong thunderstorms will track into eastern Wisconsin from the west. While widespread severe weather is not expected, storms will produce heavy rain and frequent lightning. Isolated severe warnings are possible in our area for quarter-size hail and wind gusts upwards of 60 mph. We strongly encourage folks heading to AirVenture today to be “weather aware” by knowing where you can seek shelter if more storms arrive. It’s also a good idea to download and use our First Alert Weather app.
The storm threat will end late tonight, likely just after midnight. The rest of the night should be quiet with falling humidity and gradually clearing skies. As temperatures drop into the mid 50s to lower 60s early Saturday, areas of fog could develop. That fog will lift by 8-10 a.m. Saturday and a mostly sunny day can be expected. Highs will climb into the upper 70s and lower 80s. With lower humidity, it should feel much more comfortable than it has lately. Most of us will stay dry on Saturday, but a stray afternoon rain shower cannot be ruled out.
More heat and humidity slowly builds next week, with highs in the upper half of the 80s by Wednesday. That’s also when our next more widespread rain chances will arrive.
You can always keep our forecast handy with our free weather app. Look for the WBAY First Alert Weather App in the Apple app store and Google Play (click here on your mobile device).
WIND & WAVES FORECAST:
SATURDAY: NE 10-15 KTS, WAVES: 1-3′
SUNDAY: N/E 5-10 KTS, WAVES: 0-2′
TONIGHT: Storms ending late. Clearing skies, but areas of fog may develop. Humidity slowly drops. LOW: 62
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny. Seasonable and less humid. Maybe a stray shower. HIGH: 82 LOW: 59
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny. Another nice late July day! HIGH: 80 LOW: 58
MONDAY: Mostly sunny and slightly warmer. HIGH: 83 LOW: 61
TUESDAY: Partly cloudy. Warm and turning a little more humid. HIGH: 84 LOW: 64
WEDNESDAY: Partly cloudy. Hot, humid, and breezy. Spotty thunder late? HIGH: 88 LOW: 66
THURSDAY: Partly sunny. Scattered thunderstorms. Very warm, humid, and breezy. HIGH: 86 LOW: 61
FRIDAY: Mostly sunny. Slightly cooler and less humid. HIGH: 81
Copyright 2023 WBAY. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbay.com/2023/07/29/more-strong-storms-tonight-quiet-less-humid-weekend/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:54 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/2023/07/29/more-strong-storms-tonight-quiet-less-humid-weekend/ |
ATHENS COUNTY, OH (WOWK) – A man has died in a vehicle crash in Athens County.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the single-vehicle crash happened around 7:35 a.m. Friday, July 28, on New England Road just south of Sand Rock Road in Bern Township.
Troopers say the driver was traveling northeast on New England Road when he allegedly “failed to negotiate” a curve. The vehicle slid off the right side of the road where it struck an embankment and then overturned onto its top, according to the OSHP.
The OSHP identified the driver as Aaron Hill, 40, of Columbus, Ohio. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Athens County Coroner’s Office. According to troopers, Hill was allegedly not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/ohio/athens-county-oh/man-killed-in-athens-county-rollover-crash/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:55 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/ohio/athens-county-oh/man-killed-in-athens-county-rollover-crash/ |
NEW DELHI (AP) — India and Japan explored collaborating in critical technologies, including semiconductors and resilient supply chains, as part of plans to reach a target of $35.9 billion Japanese investment in the country by 2027, officials said on Friday.
Foreign Ministers of India and Japan, S. Jaishankar and Yoshimasa Hayashi, met in New Delhi on Thursday and also discussed ways to deepen defense equipment and technology cooperation. Hayashi is on a two-day visit to the Indian capital.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has disrupted the global supply of parts and raw materials needed to complete a variety of products – from cars to computer chips.
Hayashi and Jaishankar also emphasized the crucial role of a strong partnership between India and Japan in ensuring an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region that is inclusive and rules-based, a statement by India’s External Affairs Ministry said.
They discussed cooperation under multilateral and plurilateral frameworks, including the Quad grouping that also includes the United States and Australia, the statement said. The grouping aims at countering the growing challenge posed by an aggressive China in the region.
Japan considers India an indispensable partner in achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific, Hayashi said at a meeting with business leaders from the two countries.
He said he has been encouraging Japanese companies to invest in 15 key sectors identified by India as eligible for subsidies. These include telecommunications equipment, automobiles, and applied chemical batteries.
“All of this has led to the remarkable growth in Japanese investment into crucial technologies such as medical equipment, electronics, and household electric appliances,” Hayashi said.
Jaishankar and Hayashi expressed satisfaction at the strengthening of defense and security cooperation between the two countries, including regular exercises and talks between all three services, the statement said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitions to build a chipmaking industry suffered a potential setback earlier this month as electronics giant Foxconn backed out of a $19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture with Indian mining conglomerate Vedanta Ltd.
In February last year, the two companies announced their joint venture to manufacture chips and display panels in India.
India has made building a chipmaking sector a national priority as part of a self-reliance policy to secure stable supplies. It is offering financial incentives of up to 50% of project costs under a $10 billion plan for semiconductor and display manufacturing projects.
India and Japan share strong economic ties. Trade between the two was worth $20.57 billion in fiscal year 2021-2022. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-india-and-japan-look-to-collaborate-in-building-semiconductors-and-resilient-supply-chains/ | 2023-07-29T01:06:58 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-india-and-japan-look-to-collaborate-in-building-semiconductors-and-resilient-supply-chains/ |
CINCINNATI, Ohio (WKBN) – Cincinnati Bengals’ head coach Zac Taylor told reporters on Friday that starting quarterback Joe Burrow will miss several weeks with a calf strain.
Burrow suffered the injury on Thursday in practice while scrambling away from pressure.
Taylor says the Bengals will add another quarterback to the roster.
Last season, Burrow passed for 4,475 yards and 35 touchdowns. He also rushed for 257 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Cincinnati opens the season in Cleveland on Sept. 10. Taylor did not elaborate on whether Burrow would miss any action in the regular season. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/ohio/bengals-update-injury-status-of-quarterback-joe-burrow/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:01 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/ohio/bengals-update-injury-status-of-quarterback-joe-burrow/ |
‘X’ logo installed atop Twitter building, spurring San Francisco to investigate permit violation
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The city of San Francisco has opened a complaint and launched an investigation into a giant “X” sign that was installed Friday on top of the downtown building formerly known as Twitter headquarters as owner Elon Musk continues his rebrand of the social media platform.
City officials say replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit for design and safety reasons.
The “X” appeared after San Francisco police stopped workers on Monday from removing the brand’s iconic bird and logo from the side of the building, saying they hadn’t taped off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if anything fell.
Any replacement letters or symbols would require a permit to ensure “consistency with the historic nature of the building” and to make sure additions are safely attached to the sign, Patrick Hannan, spokesperson for the Department of Building Inspection said earlier this week.
Erecting a sign on top of a building also requires a permit, Hannan said Friday.
“Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation,” he said in an email.
Musk unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he remakes the platform he bought for $44 billion last year. The “X” started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday, but as of Friday the bird icon still appears in many places on the app.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, has long been fascinated with the letter “X " and had already renamed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp. after he bought it in October. One of his children is called “X.” The child’s actual name is a collection of letters and symbols.
On Friday afternoon, a worker on a lift machine made adjustments to the sign and then left.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbay.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:01 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ |
UPDATE: (7:30 p.m. July 28, 2023) – Scioto County officials say the 911 phone lines for Scioto County and Portsmouth have been restored.
Residents serviced by those two locations can now contact 911 in the event of an emergency.
SCIOTO COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – Officials in Scioto County are reporting the 911 lines are currently down.
According to Scioto County Sheriff David Thoroughman, anyone in need of emergency services should call the following numbers until further notice:
- Scioto County: 740-354-7566
- Portsmouth: 740-353-4101
- New Boston: 740-456-4109
There is no word at this time when the 911 lines will be restored.
For the latest weather updates, visit our StormTracker 13 web page. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/ohio/scioto-county-oh/911-lines-down-in-scioto-county-ohio/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:07 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/ohio/scioto-county-oh/911-lines-down-in-scioto-county-ohio/ |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A merger that would have created one of the largest health service companies in the Upper Midwest has been scrapped.
Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Sanford Health announced Thursday that they would not proceed with the merger they had been discussing since late last year. It would have created a system with more than 50 hospitals and about 78,000 employees.
This is the second time in a decade that the two companies considered a merger but failed to complete it, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
The latest attempt drew fierce opposition at the University of Minnesota, which has a partnership with Fairview. The university sold its teaching hospital to Fairview in 1997 and opposed the idea of an out-of-state entity owning the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. The merged system would have been based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s largest city.
Statements from the two companies’ CEOs stated that without support from stakeholders, it was determined that the merger couldn’t move forward.
The companies first considered merging in 2013 but met with strong political opposition.
Minnesota lawmakers this spring gave the state attorney general additional power to scrutinize health care mergers, including the Sanford-Fairview proposal.
The affiliation between Fairview and the University of Minnesota includes financial support from Fairview for the school’s academic medicine mission. This agreement continues through 2026, but both parties have an option to signal by the end of this year if they want to end the partnership. Fairview has said the current agreements are not financially sustainable. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-merger-talks-end-between-large-health-care-systems-in-minnesota-south-dakota/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:06 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-merger-talks-end-between-large-health-care-systems-in-minnesota-south-dakota/ |
INSTITUTE, WV (WOWK) – Crews are working to clear the roadway after a truck rollover in Institute.
According to Kanawha County dispatchers, the incident happened around 5:03 p.m. Friday, July 28 on 1st Avenue just east of Goff Mountain Road. Dispatchers say one lane of 1st Avenue is currently closed in each direction.
Dispatchers say no one was injured in the incident. There is no word on when the closed lanes will reopen at this time. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/kanawha-county-wv/2-lanes-closed-after-rollover-crash-in-institute-west-virginia/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:13 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/kanawha-county-wv/2-lanes-closed-after-rollover-crash-in-institute-west-virginia/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Procter & Gamble reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profits and revenue, showing that the appetite for established brands like Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper is still strong even as the consumer products company pushes up prices.
P&G increased prices by about 7% across various brands from the same period last year, less than the 10% increase in third quarter. Global volume fell 1% in the quarter, however, still an improvement over a 3% drop in volume during the third quarter, and a 6% drop in the second quarter.
During a call with analysts Friday, Chairman and CEO Jon Moeller said higher prices are tied to company innovations and aren’t going away.
Examples include Cruiser 360 diapers, made for babies that move around a lot. Sales have increased 33% over the past 12 months, according to Andre Schulten, the company’s chief financial officer. And a detox body wash sold in China called Safeguard goes for twice the market average price. Sales have almost doubled in the past year.
“When you have a strong innovation program, it compels consumers to try even better performing products,” Moeller said.
During the fourth quarter prices for fabric care, as well as home and health care, went up 6% and grooming products rose 9%. Beauty items rose 8%.
Pricing has been a boost to sales growth in nearly all of P&G’s past 51 quarters, Moeller said.
The easing of volume declines may be encouraging news for P&G and other producers after recent evidence of a pushback by shoppers to seemingly relentless price hikes coming from a broad spectrum of retailers and companies the make products for them.
Conagra Brands, which makes Slim Jim beef jerky, Duncan Hines cake mix and more, said this month that smaller price increases have not translated to higher sales volume. The company raised prices 15% in the quarter before that and it didn’t dent demand.
Also this month, PepsiCo said higher prices lifted the company’s revenue in the second quarter but snack food volumes fell 3% in the April-June period, while beverage volumes dropped 1%. The company said that price increases could start to moderate in the second half of this year.
Overall inflation continues to slow and on Friday, the U.S. reported that the consumer price index, which is followed closely because it accounts for changes in how people shop when inflation jumps, rose in June at the slowest pace in more than two years.
Procter & Gamble Co., based in Cincinnati, reported net income of $3.39 billion, or $1.37 per share, in the quarter ended June 30. That compares with $3.06 billion, or $1.21 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Sales rose 5% to $20.6 billion from $19.51 billion in the quarter.
Analysts were expecting $1.32 per share on sales of $20.01 billion, according to FactSet.
P&G expects fiscal 2024 sales growth in the range of 3% to 4% versus the prior year. The company expects organic sales growth, which excludes deals and currency moves, to be in the range of 4% to 5%.
P&G expects net earnings per share growth in the range of 6% to 9% for the current year. This outlook equates to a range of $6.25 to $6.43 per share, with a mid-point estimate of $6.34, or an increase of 7.5%. Analysts were expecting $6.37 per share.
Shares rose more than 3% Friday.
_____
Follow Anne D’Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-pgs-better-than-expected-4q-results-show-consumers-appetite-for-iconic-brands-despite-price-hikes/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:14 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-pgs-better-than-expected-4q-results-show-consumers-appetite-for-iconic-brands-despite-price-hikes/ |
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — West Virginia leaders are giving their blessings to a new venture for the embattled Pleasants Power Station. And it could mean a new source of energy. This project has officials again praising a potential new source of green energy.
This week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC, gave its approval for Omnis Fuel Technologies, to buy the Pleasants Power Station. The California-based company plans convert the power plant from coal-fired, to hydrogen. Omnis will also have a plant next store that produces graphite and hydrogen is one of the byproducts of making graphite.
State leaders say they are excited because it keeps the Pleasants facility from shutting down and prevents the loss of more than 150 jobs.
“It’s a big employer in the area. This will hopefully, as time comes along, replace that employment base or keep that employment base, and hopefully grow it,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, (R) West Virginia.
“I know this Omnis Group has worked really, really hard. I give them all the credit in the world and I’m very, very excited about what they are doing,” said Gov. Jim Justice, (R) West Virginia.
Omnis Fuel Technologies is a sister-company of Omnis Building Technologies. The building division broke ground on a $40 million facility in Bluefield last year that builds energy-efficient housing. Omnis also has operations in Wyoming County.
A sale price for the Pleasants Power Station was not disclosed. The new owners have changed the name to Quantum Pleasants and hope to be running the facility on Aug. 1. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/pleasants-power-station-to-convert-from-coal-to-hydrogen-with-new-owner/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:19 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/pleasants-power-station-to-convert-from-coal-to-hydrogen-with-new-owner/ |
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s lawmakers voted Friday to approve an amended but divisive law on Russian influences believed to be targeting the opposition and criticized by the U.S. and the European Union.
The law was proposed in May by Poland’s ruling right-wing Law and Justice party and critics see it as primarily targeting opposition leader and former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, before a parliamentary election scheduled for this fall. Following criticism, President Andrzej Duda proposed urgent amendments to tone it down.
The lower house, or Sejm, voted 235-214 with four abstentions to reject the Senate’s veto to the draft law amended by Duda. It only now requires Duda’s signature to take effect.
The amended bill calls for a commission to check whether between 2007 and 2022 politicians have taken decisions under Russia’s influence that could threaten Poland’s security. Duda has said it is needed for transparency’s sake and to prevent Russia from influencing Poland’s stability in the future.
Poland is supporting neighboring Ukraine to fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion and is supplying weapons, humanitarian aid and political backing for Kyiv. That has drawn harsh comments from Moscow.
The previous, more restrictive law is currently in effect, but the commission members haven’t been chosen yet.
When it takes effect, the law will create a powerful committee by experts but not lawmakers to investigate Russian influence in Poland and name politicians who allegedly allowed them, thus barring them in practice from holding public positions. However, critics say it is primarily targeting Tusk, who also served as a top EU official.
Law and Justice accuses Tusk of having been too friendly toward Russia and President Vladimir Putin as prime minister between 2007 and 2014, and making gas deals favorable to Moscow before he went to Brussels to be the president of the European Council between 2014 and 2019.
Law and Justice party leader Jarosław Kaczyński and Tusk are longtime political rivals.
Critics say the law violates the Polish Constitution and could keep government opponents from holding public office by having a negative effect on their eligibility, especially in a parliamentary election later this year. Amendments by Duda, who holds a law doctorate, allowed for the commission verdict to be appealed to court.
The U.S. State Department and EU authorities have strongly criticized the law in its first version and expressed concerns about Poland’s democracy. The 27-member EU, which Poland joined in 2004, also threatened to take measures, if it became fully clear that such a law would undermine democratic standards.
When Duda proposed the amendments in June, he also bowed partially to critics and sent the bill to the Constitutional Tribunal for a review for conformity with the supreme law. That verdict is still pending. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-polands-lawmakers-approve-a-divisive-law-on-russian-influence/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:21 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-polands-lawmakers-approve-a-divisive-law-on-russian-influence/ |
BMW Tupac Shakur was shot in is selling for $1.75 million
LAS VEGAS (CNN) - The BMW Tupac Shakur was riding in when he was shot is up for sale.
Shakur was gunned down on Sept. 7, 1996, while he was a passenger in the vehicle after leaving a boxing match at the MGM Grand hotel-casino in Las Vegas.
Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight was driving the leased vehicle at the time of the murder.
Now, Celebrity Cars in Las Vegas is selling the 1996 BMW for $1.75 million.
According to Celebrity Cars General Manager Ryan Hamilton, the vehicle has been fixed since the shooting and sold to the public multiple times, likely without those owners knowing its history.
That was until about four years ago, when a collector realized it was the vehicle Shakur was in after finding a hidden compartment on the side of the door.
The compartment was likely used to store a gun, Hamilton said.
Last week, Las Vegas police served a search warrant at an area home belonging to Duane Davis, the uncle of Orlando Anderson – the man police believe killed the rapper.
Police said they are planning to test firearm cartridges that were seized from the home.
Copyright 2023 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/2023/07/28/bmw-tupac-shakur-was-shot-is-selling-175-million/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:22 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/2023/07/28/bmw-tupac-shakur-was-shot-is-selling-175-million/ |
Asinga breaks men’s U20 100m world record
SAO PAULO, Brazil – Texas A&M track & field incoming freshman Issam Asinga broke the men’s U20 100m world record with a time of 9.89 (w/0.8) seconds at the South American Athletics Outdoor Championships Friday.
Asinga claimed the gold medal and world record at the championships following a blistering time of 9.89 seconds, which broke the previous U20 world record of 9.91 set by Letsile Tebogo from Botswana. His record time also ranks him tied for fourth in the world this season among all athletes in the 100m. He improved upon his previous best wind legal time (10.02 seconds) by a staggering 0.13 seconds to ensure the record.
In the morning’s prelim, Asinga cruised through to the final with a time of 10.03 which already downed the championships record. He followed that up with a staggering 9.89 second finish, rebreaking his morning championship record in an event which also saw two other athletes break the 10-second mark.
Asinga will represent Suriname at this year’s World Athletics Championships where he will race alongside the reigning world champion and Texas A&M Aggie, Fred Kerley.
Copyright 2023 KBTX. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/2023/07/29/asinga-breaks-mens-u20-100m-world-record/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:28 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/2023/07/29/asinga-breaks-mens-u20-100m-world-record/ |
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin courted leaders from Africa at a summit on Friday, hailing the continent’s growing role in global affairs and offering to expand political and business ties.
Addressing the Russia-Africa summit for a second day, Putin said Moscow would closely analyze a peace proposal for Ukraine that African leaders have sought to pursue.
“This is an acute issue, and we aren’t evading its consideration,” the Russian leader said, emphasizing that his government was treating the African initiative with respect and “looking at it attentively.”
He encouraged the African leaders to talk to Ukraine, which has refused to engage in talks until Russian troops pull back. “I believe it’s necessary to also talk to the other side, although we are grateful to our African friends for their attention to the issue,” Putin said at the St. Petersburg summit.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said African leaders were looking forward to engaging further with Putin later Friday on their peace proposal.
“It is our hope that constructive engagement and negotiation can bring about an end to the ongoing conflict,” Ramaphosa, who leads sub-Saharan Africa’s most developed country, said, adding in South Africa, “our own history has taught us that this is indeed possible.”
Without specifically mentioning the fighting in Ukraine, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni denounced those who foment ideologically-driven military conflicts as “time and opportunity wasters,” adding that “human history will move on, whether they like it or not.”
“The only justified wars are the just wars, like the anti-colonial wars,” Museveni said. “Wars of hegemony will fail and waste time and opportunity. Dialogue is the correct way.”
In the public portion of a late night meeting Friday about the peace proposal, Putin repeated to the African leaders his explanations for the conflict’s origins and Russia’s actions in it, without giving any specific reaction to their suggestions. The African leaders said they expected to hear Putin’s detailed reactions in a subsequent closed part of the meeting.
In his speech, Putin reaffirmed his pledge that Russia will maintain steady supplies of grain and other agricultural products to the continent after its withdrawal from a deal allowing grain shipments from Ukraine. Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative has fueled concerns of a global food crisis.
“Russia will always be a responsible international supplier of agricultural products and will continue to support the countries and region in need by offering free grain and other supplies,” the Russian leader said.
He declared at the summit’s opening Thursday that Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic each will receive 25,000 to 50,000 tons of Russian grain in the next three to four months.
In comparison, the U.N. World Food Program shipped 725,000 tons of grain to several countries, including Somalia, under the Black Sea deal.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres responded to Putin’s pledge of no-cost grain shipments by noting that such donations of grain can’t compensate for the impact of Moscow cutting off grain exports from Ukraine, which along with Russia is a top supplier to the world market.
Guterres said the U.N. was in contact with Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and other countries to try to reestablish the year-old agreement, under which Ukraine exported more than 32 million tons of grain. The resumption of shipments from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports allowed global food prices to drop significantly from the levels they reached after Putin sent troops into the neighboring country.
The deal brokered a year ago by the U.N. and Turkey reopened Ukrainian Black Sea ports blocked by fighting and provided assurances that ships entering them wouldn’t be attacked. Russia declined to renew the agreement last week, complaining that its own exports were being held up.
Putin used the summit to repeat his accusations against the West of obstructing the export of Russian grain and fertilizers, including proposed no-cost supplies of fertilizers to Africa.
The Russia-Africa summit marks a renewed Kremlin effort to bolster ties with a continent of 1.3 billion people that is increasingly assertive on the global stage. Africa’s 54 nations make up the largest voting bloc at the United Nations and have been more divided than any other region on General Assembly resolutions criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Only 17 heads of state were at the summit, compared to 43 at the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019, a sharp drop in attendance that the Kremlin has attributed to what it described as “outrageous” Western pressure to discourage African countries from showing up.
Putin hailed Africa’s role in the emerging “multipolar world order,” noting that “the era of hegemony of one or several countries is receding into the past, albeit not without resistance on the part of those who got used to their own uniqueness and monopoly in global affairs.”
“Russia and Africa are united by an innate desire to defend true sovereignty and the right to their own distinctive path of development in the political, economic, social, cultural and other spheres,” he said.
He said Russia plans to expand trade and economic ties with Africa and continue efforts to relieve their debt burden by writing off another $90 million of their debts.
Putin noted that Moscow also stands ready to bolster defense ties with African countries by helping train their military and expanding supplies of military equipment, some of them on a no-cost basis.
___
This story corrects the amount that Ukraine exported under the Black Sea deal to 32 million tons.
___
Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Cara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-putin-woos-african-leaders-at-a-summit-in-russia-with-promises-of-expanding-trade-and-other-ties/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:27 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-putin-woos-african-leaders-at-a-summit-in-russia-with-promises-of-expanding-trade-and-other-ties/ |
‘X’ logo installed atop Twitter building, spurring San Francisco to investigate permit violation
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The city of San Francisco has opened a complaint and launched an investigation into a giant “X” sign that was installed Friday on top of the downtown building formerly known as Twitter headquarters as owner Elon Musk continues his rebrand of the social media platform.
City officials say replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit for design and safety reasons.
The “X” appeared after San Francisco police stopped workers on Monday from removing the brand’s iconic bird and logo from the side of the building, saying they hadn’t taped off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if anything fell.
Any replacement letters or symbols would require a permit to ensure “consistency with the historic nature of the building” and to make sure additions are safely attached to the sign, Patrick Hannan, spokesperson for the Department of Building Inspection said earlier this week.
Erecting a sign on top of a building also requires a permit, Hannan said Friday.
“Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation,” he said in an email.
Musk unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he remakes the platform he bought for $44 billion last year. The “X” started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday, but as of Friday the bird icon still appears in many places on the app.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, has long been fascinated with the letter “X " and had already renamed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp. after he bought it in October. One of his children is called “X.” The child’s actual name is a collection of letters and symbols.
On Friday afternoon, a worker on a lift machine made adjustments to the sign and then left.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:34 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s rally got back on track Friday following more encouraging profit reports and the latest signal that inflation is loosening its chokehold on the economy.
The S&P 500 rose 1% to its highest close in more than 15 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 176 points, or 0.5% after breaking a 13-day winning streak the day before. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.9% as Big Tech stocks led the market.
Stocks have been rising recently on hopes high inflation is cooling enough to get the Federal Reserve to stop hiking interest rates. That in turn could allow the economy to continue growing and avoid a long-predicted recession. The S&P 500 closed out its third straight winning week and its ninth in the last 11.
A report on Friday bolstered those hopes, saying the inflation measure the Fed prefers to use slowed last month by a touch more than expected. Perhaps just as importantly, data also showed that total compensation for workers rose less than expected during the spring. While that’s discouraging for workers looking for bigger raises, investors see it adding less upward pressure on inflation.
The hope among traders is that the slowdown in inflation means the Federal Reserve’s hike to interest rates on Wednesday will be the final one of this cycle. The federal funds rate has leaped to a level between 5.25% and 5.50%, up from virtually zero early last year. High interest rates work to lower inflation by slowing the entire economy and hurting prices for stocks and other investments.
Critics, though, say the stock market’s rally may have gone too far, too fast. The full effects of the Fed’s rate hikes have yet to make their way fully through the system. Other parts of the economy could still crack under the pressure, like the three U.S. bank failures this spring that shook confidence. Plus, inflation remains above the Fed’s target level, and the central bank could have to keep the brakes on the economy a while to get it down to target.
“Don’t underestimate central bank commitment to 2% inflation,” Bank of America economists wrote in a BofA Global Research report.
Still, hopes for a halt to rate hikes helped technology stocks and others seen as big beneficiaries from easier rates to rally and lead the market Friday.
Microsoft, Apple and Amazon each rose at least 1.4% and were the three strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500.
Companies also continued to deliver stronger profits for the spring than analysts expected. Roughly halfway through the earnings season, more companies than usual are topping profit forecasts, according to FactSet.
Intel rose 6.6% after reporting a profit for the latest quarter, when analysts were expecting a loss.
Food giant Mondelez International climbed 3.7% after reporting stronger results for the spring than expected. The company behind Oreo and Ritz also raised its forecasts for financial results for the full year.
On the losing end was Exxon Mobil. It fell 1.2% and was the heaviest single weight on the S&P 500. It reported weaker profit for the spring than expected, though its revenue topped forecasts.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 44.82 points to 4,582.23. The Dow added 176.57 to 35,459.29, and the Nasdaq jumped 265.55 to 14,316.66.
In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% after the Bank of Japan made moves that could allow longer-term interest rates to rise. Stocks rose in China and were modestly higher across Europe.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.95% from 4.00% late Thursday. It helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans.
The two-year Treasury, which moves more on expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, fell to 4.87% from 4.92%.
Yields dipped after a survey said sentiment among U.S. consumers wasn’t quite as high in July as thought, though it was still the strongest reading since October 2021.
The report from the University of Michigan also said expectations for inflation inched up in July but remain well below where they were last year. The Fed wants to keep such expectations anchored because it fears a vicious cycle where expectations for high inflation only worsen it.
___
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-stock-market-today-asian-shares-mixed-tokyo-falls-as-bank-of-japan-adjusts-bond-purchase-policy/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:35 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-stock-market-today-asian-shares-mixed-tokyo-falls-as-bank-of-japan-adjusts-bond-purchase-policy/ |
Robbie Grossman Player Prop Bets: Rangers vs. Padres - July 28
Published: Jul. 28, 2023 at 6:35 PM CDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
The Texas Rangers, including Robbie Grossman and his .483 slugging percentage in past 10 games, including five extra-base hits but no homers), take on starting pitcher Joe Musgrove and the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park, Friday at 9:40 PM ET.
In his last game, he collected two extra-base hits (2-for-5 with a double and a triple) against the Astros.
Robbie Grossman Game Info & Props vs. the Padres
- Game Day: Friday, July 28, 2023
- Game Time: 9:40 PM ET
- Stadium: PETCO Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Padres Starter: Joe Musgrove
- TV Channel: SDPA
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -128)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +700)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +260)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +175)
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Read More About This Game
Robbie Grossman At The Plate
- Grossman is batting .225 with 13 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 26 walks.
- Grossman has reached base via a hit in 41 games this season (of 72 played), and had multiple hits in 11 of those games.
- He has hit a long ball in 9.7% of his games in 2023 (seven of 72), and 2.5% of his trips to the plate.
- Grossman has had at least one RBI in 29.2% of his games this season (21 of 72), with two or more RBI nine times (12.5%). He has also been responsible for three or more of his team's runs in four contests.
- He has scored at least once 30 times this year (41.7%), including eight games with multiple runs (11.1%).
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Robbie Grossman Home/Away Batting Splits
Padres Pitching Rankings
- The 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings put together by the Padres pitching staff ranks 13th in the league.
- The Padres' 3.81 team ERA ranks third across all MLB pitching staffs.
- The Padres rank 13th in baseball in home runs surrendered (117 total, 1.1 per game).
- The Padres will send Musgrove (9-3) to the mound to make his 17th start of the season as he tries for his 10th win. He is 9-3 with a 3.25 ERA and 92 strikeouts through 91 1/3 innings pitched.
- The righty's last time out came on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers, when he threw six innings, surrendering three earned runs while allowing seven hits.
- The 30-year-old has an ERA of 3.25, with 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings, in 16 games this season. Opponents are hitting .251 against him.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/robbie-grossman-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:40 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/robbie-grossman-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — The fate of U.S. trucking company Yellow Corp. isn’t looking good.
After years of financial struggles, Yellow is reportedly preparing for bankruptcy and seeing customers leave in large numbers — heightening risk for future liquidation. While no official decision has been announced by the company, the prospect of bankruptcy has renewed attention around Yellow’s ongoing negotiations with unionized workers, a $700 million pandemic-era loan from the government and other bills the trucker has racked up over time.
Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The Nashville, Tennessee-based company has some 30,000 employees across the country.
Here’s what you need to know.
Not yet. But industry experts suspect that a bankruptcy filing could come any day now.
People familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that the company could seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week — with some noting that a significant amount of customers have already started to leave the carrier.
Meanwhile, according to FreightWaves, employees were told to expect the filing Monday. Yellow laid off an unknown number of employees Friday, the outlet later reported, citing a memo that stated the company was “shutting down its regular operations.”
According to Satish Jindel, president of transportation and logistics firm SJ Consulting, Yellow handled an average of 49,000 shipments per day in 2022. As of this week, he estimates that number is down to between 10,000 and 15,000 daily shipments.
With customers leaving — as well reports of Yellow stopping freight pickups earlier this week — bankruptcy would “be the end of Yellow,” Jindel told The Associated Press, noting increased risk for liquidation.
“The likelihood of them surviving and remaining solvent diminishes really by the day,” added Bruce Chan, a research director at investment banking firm Stifel.
Yellow media contacts did not immediately respond to the Associated Press’ requests for comment on Friday. In a Wednesday statement to The Journal, the company said it was continuing “to prepare for a range of contingencies.” On Thursday, Yellow said it was in talks with multiple parties about selling its third-party logistics organization.
Even if Yellow was able to sell its logistics firm, it would “not generate a sufficient amount of cash to keep them operational on any sort of permanent basis,” Chan said. “Without a major equity injection, it would be very difficult for them to survive.”
As of late March, Yellow had an outstanding debt of about $1.5 billion. Of that, $729.2 million was owed to the federal government.
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the Treasury Department granted the company a $700 million pandemic-era loan on national security grounds. Last month, a congressional probe concluded that the Treasury and Defense Departments “made missteps” in this decision — and noted that Yellow’s “precarious financial position at the time of the loan, and continued struggles, expose taxpayers to a significant risk of loss.”
The government loan is due in September 2024. As of March, Yellow had made $54.8 million in interest payments and repaid just $230 million of the principal owed, according to government documents.
Yellow’s current finances and prospect of bankruptcy “is probably two decades in the making,” Chan said, pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back to the early 2000s. “At this point, after each party has bailed them out so many times, there is a limited appetite to do that anymore.”
In May, Yellow reported a loss of $54.6 million, a decline of $1.06 per share, for its first quarter of 2023. Operating revenue was about $1.16 billion in the period.
A Wednesday investors note from financial service firm Stephens estimated that Yellow could be burning between $9 million and $10 million each day. Using a liquidity disclosure from earlier this month, Yellow had roughly $100 million in cash at the end of June, the note added — estimating that the company has been burning through increasing amounts of money through July.
“It is reasonable to believe that the Company could breach its $35 mil. liquidity requirement at any moment,” Stephens analyst Jack Atkins and associate Grant Smith wrote.
The reports of bankruptcy preparations arrive just days after a strike from the Teamsters, which represents Yellow’s 22,000 unionized workers, was averted.
A series of heated exchanges have built up between the Teamsters and Yellow, who sued the union in June after alleging it was “unjustifiably blocking” restructuring plans needed for the company’s survival. The Teamsters called the litigation “baseless” — with general president Sean O’Brien pointing to Yellow’s “decades of gross mismanagement,” which included exhausting the $700 million federal loan.
On Sunday, a pension fund agreed to extend health benefits for workers at two Yellow Corp. operating companies, averting a strike — and giving Yellow “30 days to pay its bills,” notably $50 million that Yellow failed to pay the Central States Health and Welfare Fund on July 15, the union said. While the strike didn’t occur, talks of a walkout may have caused some Yellow customers to pull back, Chan said.
Talks between Yellow and the Teamsters, which also represents UPS’s unionized workers, are ongoing. The current contract expires in March 2024.
“The financial struggles of Yellow are not related to the union and the contracts,” Jindel said, pointing to management’s responsibility around its services and prices. He added the union wages from Yellow are “lower than any competitor.”
If Yellow files for bankruptcy and customers continue to take their shipments to other carriers, like FedEx or ABF Freight, prices will go up.
Yellow’s prices have historically been the cheapest compared to other carriers, Jindel said. “That’s why they obviously were not making money,” he added. “And while there is capacity with the other LTL carriers to handle the diversions from Yellow, it will come at a high price for (current shippers and customers) of Yellow.”
Chan adds that we’re in an interesting time for the LTL marketplace — noting that, if Yellow declares bankruptcy and liquidates, “the freight would find a home” with other carriers, which may not have been true in recent years.
“It may take time, but there’s room for it to be absorbed,” he said. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-trucking-company-yellow-corp-is-reportedly-preparing-for-bankruptcy-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:41 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-trucking-company-yellow-corp-is-reportedly-preparing-for-bankruptcy-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ |
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two taxi drivers have been arrested in the Mexican city of Cancun for assaulting a van carrying foreign tourists, prosecutors said Friday.
The events in the Caribbean coast resort on Thursday were the latest in a months-long string of assaults on vehicles that medallion-cab drivers suspect of being operated by ride-hailing apps such as Uber.
Prosecutors in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo said such behavior will not be tolerated.
“Strong action will be taken to ensure that the state is a safe destination for local inhabitants and visitors,” the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Local residents posted video on social media showing at least two uniformed cab drivers bashing a Chevy Suburban with poles and other objects.
The van driver attempts to escape with the vehicle’s tailgate open, according to the footage, and the tourists’ luggage spills into the street. Three women can later be seen retrieving their luggage from the street.
“What are you doing?” cries one woman in English as belligerent cabbies mill around the scene, carrying what looked like improvised cudgels. “That is not okay.”
A local business owner who filmed the incident invited the women to take refuge in her store. The video shows the taxi drivers chasing the driver of the Suburban down the street until he reached a police officer.
The state prosecutors’ office said two taxi drivers were charged with robbery, and causing damage and injuries.
Local media reported the Suburban was not run through a ride-hailing app but by a local, non-medallion limousine service. Past incidents of taxi drivers attacking private vehicles in Cancun were based on the mistaken assumption they were Uber cars.
Cancun residents organized a boycott of medallion taxis in January following a week of blockades and violent incidents by drivers protesting the ride-hailing app Uber.
Road blockades, stone throwing and cabbies physically getting in the way had prevented tourists from boarding Uber vehicles. The U.S. issued a travel advisory warning that “past disputes between these services and local taxi unions have occasionally turned violent, resulting in injuries to U.S. citizens in some instances.”
Ride-hailing app s were blocked in Cancun until January, when a court granted an injunction allowing Uber to operate. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-two-taxi-drivers-arrested-in-mexican-resort-of-cancun-for-assaulting-van-carrying-foreign-tourists/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:48 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-two-taxi-drivers-arrested-in-mexican-resort-of-cancun-for-assaulting-van-carrying-foreign-tourists/ |
DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government wants to raise the fuel economy of new vehicles 18% by the 2032 model year so the fleet would average about 43.5 miles per gallon in real world driving.
The proposed numbers were released Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which eventually will adopt final mileage requirements.
Currently the fleet of new vehicles must average 36.75 mpg by 2026 under corporate average fuel economy standards adopted by the administration of President Joe Biden, who reversed a rollback made by former President Donald Trump.
The highway safety agency says it will try to line up its regulations so they match the Environmental Protection Agency’s reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. But if there are discrepancies, automakers likely will have to follow the most stringent regulation.
In the byzantine world of government regulation, both agencies essentially are responsible for setting fuel economy requirements since the fastest way to reduce greenhouse emissions is to burn less gasoline.
“I want to make clear that EPA and NHTSA will coordinate to optimize the effectiveness of both agency standards while minimizing compliance costs,” NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson said.
A large auto industry trade group which includes General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Stellantis and others said requirements from the agencies should be lined up. “If an automaker complies with EPA’s yet-to-be-finalized greenhouse gas emissions rules, they shouldn’t be at risk of violating CAFE rules (from NHTSA) and subject to civil penalties,” John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said in a statement.
However the alliance has said the EPA’s proposed cut in carbon emissions will require a huge increase in electric vehicle sales that’s not attainable by 2032. The EPA says the industry can reach the greenhouse gas emissions goals if 67% of new vehicles sold in 2032 are electric. Currently, EVs make up about 7% of new vehicle sales.
NHTSA said its proposal includes a 2% annual improvement in fuel mileage for passenger cars, and a 4% increase for light trucks. It’s proposing a 10% improvement per year for commercial pickup trucks and work vans. Automakers can meet the requirements with a mix of electric vehicles, gas-electric hybrids and efficiency improvements in gas and diesel vehicles.
The agency says the new regulations will save more than $50 billion on fuel over the vehicles’ lifetimes and save more than 88 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050 if NHTSA’s preferred alternative is adopted. The standards would cut new-vehicle fuel consumption nearly in half by the 2035 model year, and benefits will exceed costs by $18 billion, the agency said.
NHTSA will take comments from the public for 60 days before drafting a final regulation. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-us-proposes-18-fuel-economy-increase-for-new-vehicle-fleet-from-2027-through-2032/ | 2023-07-29T01:07:56 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-us-proposes-18-fuel-economy-increase-for-new-vehicle-fleet-from-2027-through-2032/ |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesotans can legally possess and grow their own marijuana for recreational purposes starting Tuesday, Aug. 1, subject to limits meant to keep a lid on things while the state sets up a full-blown legal cannabis industry.
The Democratic-controlled Minnesota Legislature approved a massive legalization bill and Democrat Gov. Tim Walz signed it in May.
At least one Minnesota tribe plans to take advantage of its sovereignty and allow sales right away. But the state projects most legal retail sales won’t begin until early 2025, while it creates as licensing and regulatory system for the new industry.
Legalization followed a debate between critics who fear for the impacts on public safety and young people, and supporters who argue that prohibition of the drug had failed. Backers of the law framed legalization noted that people of color were more likely than whites to be arrested for minor offenses, and to suffer lasting consequences in employment and housing.
Minnesota is the 23rd state to legalize recreational marijuana, more than a decade after Colorado and Washington did so.
It comes as New York struggles to end the illicit trade while failing to quickly license legal shops with a focus on “social equity” and New Mexico punishes retailers for illegally selling weed sourced from California — amid wider gluts and plummeting prices for pot farmers.
Farmers, like members of the public, can’t legally move cannabis across state lines amid the ongoing federal ban.
Here’s a look at what will and won’t change in Minnesota as of Aug. 1:
WHAT’S LEGAL
Adults 21 and older can possess and travel in the state with 2 ounces of cannabis flower, 8 grams of concentrate and 800 milligrams worth of THC-containing edible products such as gummies and seltzers. They can have up to 2 pounds of cannabis flower at home.
Low-potency edibles made with THC from industrial hemp were legalized last year. They’ve been subject to a 10% marijuana tax since July 1.
That tax will apply to other marijuana products as they become licensed for sales, but not on sovereign tribal lands.
It remains illegal under federal law to bring marijuana in from out of state.
RETAIL WEED
The Red Lake Nation plans to sell recreational marijuana at its existing medical cannabis dispensary starting Aug. 1. But that’s on its remote reservation in northwestern Minnesota. It’s not clear yet if other tribes will follow.
While states like New Mexico managed to legalize and regulate marijuana within a year of legalization, Minnesota will take a bit longer.
Like New York, the Minnesota law gives priority to social equity considerations for awarding licenses. That can mean applicants from low-income areas that have felt disproportionate effects from marijuana being illegal, people whose convictions have been expunged, and military veterans who lost their honorable status due to a marijuana-related offense, to name a few.
That includes a long list of license categories for cannabis-related businesses, with application fees ranging from $250 for delivery services to $10,000 for growers and product manufacturers.
Local governments can’t ban cannabis sales, but they can limit the number of retailers to one per 12,500 residents.
MINNESOTA GROWN
Adults can grow up to eight plants at home, with no more than four flowering at a time. The plants must be grown in an enclosed, locked space that’s not open to public view, whether that’s indoors or in a garden.
Retailers can start selling marijuana seeds if they comply with labeling and other requirements set by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
WHERE AND WHERE NOT TO TOKE
Cannabis can be legally consumed on private property, including private homes. Eventually it will be allowed at special events where organizers have permits.
But it’s still illegal to smoke or vape cannabis anywhere that tobacco smoking is prohibited, including most businesses, apartment buildings and college campuses. Nothing in the state law prohibits smoking it on a public sidewalk, but local ordinances might.
Cannabis use remains illegal in all forms while driving, in public schools, on school buses, in state prisons, and on federal property. It can’t be smoked or vaped where a minor could inhale it.
GUNS AND GANJA
Federal law still bars cannabis consumers from owning firearms or ammunition.
That’s despite Second Amendment-friendly provisions in the Minnesota law. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has said that regardless of Minnesota’s new law, a “current user” of marijuana is defined as an “unlawful user” for federal purposes. That means people following state law are still prohibited from having guns and ganja.
Gun purchasers must fill out an ATF form saying whether or not they use marijuana. Lying on the form is a felony under federal law.
CLEANING SLATES
Minor marijuana convictions, like possession of small amounts, will began to be automatically expunged starting in August. More than 60,000 Minnesotans could benefit, but the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says the process could take up to a year to clear everyone’s record.
A special Cannabis Expungement Board will be formed to review felony convictions to determine eligibility case by case.
REGULATING IT
The Office of Cannabis Management will oversee the cannabis industry in Minnesota. It’s starting to list job positions, with applications for the office’s first executive director open through July 31.
The office will also take over the running of Minnesota’s medical marijuana program, which won’t be taxed.
Tribal governments will set their own rules. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-what-to-know-as-recreational-marijuana-becomes-legal-in-minnesota-on-aug-1/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:03 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/business/ap-what-to-know-as-recreational-marijuana-becomes-legal-in-minnesota-on-aug-1/ |
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
View original content:
SOURCE Icahn Enterprises L.P. | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/icahn-enterprises-lp-announces-q2-2023-earnings-conference-call/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:07 | 0 | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/icahn-enterprises-lp-announces-q2-2023-earnings-conference-call/ |
A truly bizarre and unique piece of Southern California real estate is turning heads online for its luxury amenities and animal-inspired design.
The home, located at 999 Andante Rd. along Santa Barbara’s Mission Creek, is currently listed by Daniel Carpenter of Sotheby’s International Realty with an asking price of $3.25 million.
But its price tag isn’t what the internet is buzzing about, rather it’s the fairytale-esque design that has both charmed and confused the world.
The three-bedroom, four-bathroom house, surrounded by mature oak and sycamore trees, is modeled after a whale. Yes, a whale.
You enter the home through the mouth of a whale, its cedar shingles aligning the exterior, giving it the appearance of the marine mammal’s skin.
“Three floors of creative genius encompass the head of the whale,” the property’s listing reads. The head of the whale features a spiraling stairwell which opens to the outdoors, massive wood columns and beams and 360-degree views through more than 250 “Belgian leaded and stained glass windows.”
The belly of the whale is the home’s spacious interior courtyard, which boasts plenty of room to entertain. But the focal point is a massive 75-foot lap pool that flows in the grotto — the whale’s tail.
The home was built in 1978 and was designed by Michael Carmichael, an adventurous and eccentric architect who is known for taking big swings with his unique home designs. Previous listings identify him as the man behind the “Wave House,” another unique property along the Santa Barbara coast, that features “long, sweeping laminated wood beams, custom crafted to form the underside of a huge wave which curls up and over the living space.”
Images of the Whale House were shared by the popular real estate oddity blog Zillow Gone Wild. Comments on social media were a mixture of curiosity and genuine marvel, with the occasional question about how on earth you keep up with the cleaning with all those many unique surfaces.
In Santa Barbara, one of the most expensive cities in all of California, $3.25 million for a house this size actually isn’t that outrageous — all things considered.
So if you’ve wanted to live out your Pinocchio fantasies, and if you have the roughly $650,000 required for a 20% down payment, the home can be yours.
For the rest of us, we’ll just have to keep wishing upon a star. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/california-wire/now-you-can-live-inside-a-whale-with-this-unique-southern-california-home/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:10 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/california-wire/now-you-can-live-inside-a-whale-with-this-unique-southern-california-home/ |
VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A woman is wanted after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise at a beauty retail store, says the Visalia Police Department Friday.
Officers identified the woman as 30-year-old Tracie Marie Wooster.
Friday, police say Wooster entered the Ulta Beauty store on Mooney Boulevard and stole over $2600 worth of products.
The Visalia Police Department encourages anyone that might know or knows about Wooster’s whereabouts to contact Detective Brian Young at (559) 712-4574. To remain anonymous, they say the public can call the anonymous tip line at (559) 713-4738. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/crime/woman-wanted-for-theft-at-a-beauty-store-visalia-pd-says/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:16 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/crime/woman-wanted-for-theft-at-a-beauty-store-visalia-pd-says/ |
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – One Fresno Foundation has joined the Fresno Chaffee Zoo’s Access for All Program as a founding partner, and it will give more access to families to have fun at the zoo, announced Mayor Jerry Dyer Friday.
The program gives access to thousands of youngsters and their families to have a fun, interactive, eye-opening time at the zoo.
This year, officials say 10,000 tickers will be distributed through various community benefit organizations that serve local families.
Officials say the zoo was able to launch this program due to a generous donation from One Fresno Foundation, Fresno Housing, United Security Bank, and Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/fresno-chaffee-zoo-to-bring-free-days-back-officials-say/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:22 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/fresno-chaffee-zoo-to-bring-free-days-back-officials-say/ |
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The recovery of the body of a kayaker who drowned in the Kern River last month is over.
Tulare County Sheriff Deputies say they were able to pull the man’s body out of the water Thursday night after several failed attempts over the last month.
The man who drowned on June 14 has been identified as 26-year-old William Hoxie.
Deputies say he was an avid kayaker.
Rescuers say river conditions were too dangerous at the time to retrieve his body, so they were forced to leave it there for more than a month.
“The river was just it was just flowing way too fast it was well over five thousand cubic feet per second at the time it just wasn’t safe to send rescuers in the river,” said John Nicholson with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say Hoxie was kayaking with four friends when the river’s rushing water flipped over his kayak with him still strapped in.
His body was pinned against a tree, where it stayed for over a month until water levels dropped enough to allow Tulare County’s swift water rescue team to retrieve him.
“We also had help from Kern County Sheriff’s Department and Tulare County Fire Departments on this rescue. They used a tech Highline and a swift water rescue boat to make this recovery, “said Nicholson.
Even though water levels may be lower than before the sheriff’s office is reminding people that all rivers in the county are closed to those who are not experienced kayakers.
“It’s hot and the sheriff understands it’s hot and people wanna hit the waterways and cool off our recommendation use water safety that at the lakes or community pools or something like that but the rivers are far too dangerous to go into,” Nicholson explained.
The sheriff’s office says they’re happy to answer any questions the public might have on what defines an experienced Kayaker. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/kern-river-drowned-kayakers-body-recovered-and-identified/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:28 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/kern-river-drowned-kayakers-body-recovered-and-identified/ |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-australian-prime-minister-is-confident-the-us-will-deliver-nuclear-powered-submarines/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:34 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-australian-prime-minister-is-confident-the-us-will-deliver-nuclear-powered-submarines/ |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-biden-will-sign-an-executive-order-in-maine-encouraging-new-inventions-to-be-made-in-the-us/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:40 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-biden-will-sign-an-executive-order-in-maine-encouraging-new-inventions-to-be-made-in-the-us/ |
New Mexicans who call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a program to help people kick nicotine products, are being turned away. The state has also instructed local organizations doing smoking prevention work to stop their projects.
When New Mexicans call the Quitline, they’re told that, due to a budget shortfall, the service is unavailable in the state and to check back in September. The resource has been suspended since June 29, according to a notice sent out by the New Mexico Health Department’s Nicotine Use Prevention and Control Program (NUPAC), which funds it.
Additionally, community organizations that contract with NUPAC to do prevention work say the program notified them in early May to suspend those efforts — about two months before their contracts were set to end.
Spokesperson for the Department of Health David Morgan said the agency was “forced to make tough decisions” in the face of an “unexpected budget shortfall” in the tobacco settlement funds that finance NUPAC. Those included prioritizing the Quitline through the end of the fiscal year, while cutting off contractors earlier.
The Department of Finance and Administration credits a decline in tobacco product sales last year with the decrease in funds.
Alex Ross-Reed, director of the Health Equity Alliance for LGBTQ+ New Mexicans, said her organization lost the remaining money in its nicotine prevention budget and was told that funding for this fiscal year wasn’t guaranteed either. The Department of Health is currently approving contracts for the next four-year funding cycle, according to Morgan, at which time prevention services will be reinstated.
Kenneth Winfrey is co-chair of the New Mexico African American Tobacco Prevention Network. He told an interim legislative committee last week that May’s notice came without warning and that NUPAC asked his organization to give back $6,000. He said this wasn’t the first time the funding, which he described as “inconsistent and unreliable,” has dried up.
“We’ve counted almost a whole year of lost time over the past several years that we couldn’t work because there was no funding for it,” he told the panel of lawmakers.
Legislators on the Tobacco Settlement Revenue Oversight Committee expressed concern over the latest stoppage. Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Bernalillo, questioned why the health department hadn’t requested a budget adjustment or sought out supplementary funding amid a record state surplus. She called the amount NUPAC would need to continue funding the efforts “pocket change” in the scheme of the state’s budget.
“For them to just say, ‘Oh, we’re out of money. So, people who are doing good things in the community, you’re out of luck.’ And smokers who finally come to the [decision] ‘I’m ready to quit,’ and they call — how many more years until they decide [to call] again?,” she asked. “It seems totally backward.”
The committee plans to question the department at their next meeting on Sept. 6.
Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Bernalillo, requested that the Department of Health notify the committee of any immediate plans to resume funding for the Quitline. Spokesperson David Morgan told KUNM that the Quitline is also being held up by the vendor selection process for the new funding cycle that’s underway. He said the resource will be reinstated once a contract is approved.
We will continue reporting on NUPAC’s budgetary issues and the state of nicotine prevention and cessation services as we learn more. | https://www.kunm.org/local-news/2023-07-28/new-mexicans-who-call-the-nicotine-quitline-are-out-of-luck | 2023-07-29T01:08:47 | 1 | https://www.kunm.org/local-news/2023-07-28/new-mexicans-who-call-the-nicotine-quitline-are-out-of-luck |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-democrats-claim-the-gop-is-withholding-evidence-contradicting-claims-in-hunter-biden-probe/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:48 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-democrats-claim-the-gop-is-withholding-evidence-contradicting-claims-in-hunter-biden-probe/ |
Scientists estimate that 800 great white sharks could be swimming in the waters off the Cape Cod, Mass., coastline, according to a study published Thursday.
From 2015 to 2018, researchers took 137 trips to Cape Cod and saw 393 sharks by using commercial spotter pilots and video cameras. Some sharks were left out of the count because videos of them were not crisp enough, they did not have distinct enough features to rule them out as duplicates or they did not return to the area year after year.
Researchers used the actual population counted and applied a model to reach the estimate.
Sharks go to that area to hunt seals, and they usually appear the most infrequently in June and July and peak in August and September, the study says.
Researchers encountered slightly more males, which could be because they are more easily identifiable by their reproductive organs. Most of the sharks were also juveniles and "subadults," the study said.
While great whites are known to hang around Cape Cod's waters, they have been difficult to track because of their elusiveness and smaller populations.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-28/a-study-estimates-800-great-white-sharks-are-swimming-off-the-cape-cod-coast | 2023-07-29T01:08:54 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-28/a-study-estimates-800-great-white-sharks-are-swimming-off-the-cape-cod-coast |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-donald-trump-appeals-judges-decision-to-keep-hush-money-case-in-new-york-state-court/ | 2023-07-29T01:08:55 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-donald-trump-appeals-judges-decision-to-keep-hush-money-case-in-new-york-state-court/ |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"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," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T01:09:00 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-president-biden-to-host-the-leaders-of-japan-and-korean-for-an-august-summit-at-camp-david/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:01 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-president-biden-to-host-the-leaders-of-japan-and-korean-for-an-august-summit-at-camp-david/ |
(NEXSTAR) – It’s been a rough week for Trader Joe’s after the popular grocery store chain had to notify customers on Thursday and Friday about products potentially containing foreign matter.
On Friday, Trader Joe’s announced it was recalling frozen falafel balls (SKU# 93935) that may contain rocks.
The recalled falafel was sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Washington D.C.
One day earlier, Trader Joe’s warned customers that its “Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup” may contain insects. Trader Joe’s says there have not been reported cases of illness from the soup.
The recalled soup (SKU# 68470) has the Use By dates of 07/18/23 – 09/15/23.
A third recall, updated Tuesday to include a sell by date, warns that there may be rocks in the company’s Almond Windmill Cookies and the Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies.
Those cookies have the following dates:
- Almond Windmill Cookies: SELL BY 10/02/23 and 10/19/23 through 10/21/23
- Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies: SELL BY 10/17/23 through 10/21/23
In all of the recalls, anyone who bought or received a donation containing one of the potentially tainted items is urged to throw it away or return it to Trader Joe’s for a refund.
Customers with questions may contact Trader Joe’s Customer Relations at (626) 599-3817 [Mondays-Fridays, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT] or send Trader Joe’s an email. | https://www.wivb.com/news/national/trader-joes-recalls-falafel-and-broccoli-cheddar-soup-for-possible-rocks-insects/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:06 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/national/trader-joes-recalls-falafel-and-broccoli-cheddar-soup-for-possible-rocks-insects/ |
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Kenneth Winfrey
Local News
New Mexicans who call the nicotine Quitline are out of luck
Nash Jones
New Mexicans who call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a program to help people kick nicotine products, are being turned away. Local organizations doing smoking prevention work say the state has also told them to stop their projects.
Listen
•
2:07 | https://www.kunm.org/tags/kenneth-winfrey | 2023-07-29T01:09:06 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/tags/kenneth-winfrey |
LIVE: Republicans gather in Iowa for this year’s Lincoln Dinner
Crowd boos Texas Congressman Will Hurd for remarks about Trump
DES MOINES (Gray) - The GOP’s biggest names gathered Friday evening at the Iowa Events Center.
Speakers at the 2023 Lincoln Dinner were allowed 10 minutes to address the supporters in the ballroom.
When it was Texas Congressman Will Hurd’s turn to speak, he was booed after saying that electing former President Trump in the primary was equal to re-electing President Biden.
BREAKING ⚠️ Congressman @WillHurd gets booed as he says Trump isn't running to make America great, he's running to stay out of prison pic.twitter.com/pBsi0rPu5L
— Conner Hendricks TV (@ConnerReports) July 29, 2023
Others in attendance Friday night included former President Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence; governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota; as well as Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, Larry Elder, and others.
There was only one Republican presidential candidate absent from Friday’s event: Chris Christie did not attend.
The event got underway at 6 p.m. in the main ballroom; doors opened two hours earlier. The program was expected to conclude at 9 p.m., with several candidates and organizations hosting receptions in suites after the event.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
@RonDeSantis “Hello Iowa, are you ready to send @JoeBiden back to his basement in Delaware?” pic.twitter.com/2zyY4l18mz
— Conner Hendricks TV (@ConnerReports) July 28, 2023
@RonDeSantis says he’d send the military to the border pic.twitter.com/AmETNoXfXV
— Conner Hendricks TV (@ConnerReports) July 28, 2023
Watch Friday night’s event
—
6 News WOWT Digital Director Gina Dvorak contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 WOWT. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/live-republicans-gather-iowa-this-years-lincoln-dinner/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:06 | 1 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/live-republicans-gather-iowa-this-years-lincoln-dinner/ |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-sen-mcconnell-says-he-plans-to-serve-his-full-term-as-leader-despite-questions-about-his-health/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:07 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-sen-mcconnell-says-he-plans-to-serve-his-full-term-as-leader-despite-questions-about-his-health/ |
BOISE, Idaho — A fire along Interstate 84 south of Boise Friday evening has burned at least 100 acres, the Boise District Bureau of Land Management said.
The fire is located near the weigh station outside of Boise. Officials said drivers traveling on I-84 in the area should expect delays and use caution.
No structures are threatened by the fire, according to the BLM. Four engines, four single engine airtankers (SEATs), two dozers and a water tender are on scene Friday evening.
The cause of the fire has not been determined and is under investigation.
This is a developing story. KTVB will provide updates on the fire as they become available.
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Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/fire-burning-near-i-84-south-of-boise/277-89aca8c1-6cda-48a9-a36b-6cda0d5dbd7b | 2023-07-29T01:09:10 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/fire-burning-near-i-84-south-of-boise/277-89aca8c1-6cda-48a9-a36b-6cda0d5dbd7b |
HURON, Ohio (WJW) – A suspected bank burglar was busted when he gave new meaning to the term “direct deposit.”
Police in Huron, Ohio watched as the suspected bank thief dropped from the ceiling over the drive-thru, right in front of their eyes.
Police body camera video obtained by the WJW shows the incident. Officers can be heard ordering the suspect on the ground, and then helping get him out of the recycling can. The suspect was not injured.
“In my 35-plus years in law enforcement, this is the first time I ever saw a suspect fall into a garbage can,” said Huron Police Chief Terry Graham.
Graham said around 2:12 a.m. Wednesday, police received an alarm from the VacationLand Federal Credit Union located on University Drive East.
While checking the building, officers could hear noises coming from inside the roof area over the drive-thru.
They also noticed the recycling can positioned in the middle of the drive-thru lane, directly under a roof access door. The officers heard noises coming from inside the bank and patiently waited.
“I am most impressed with our officers’ patience in a very difficult situation,” the chief said. “The tactics they used, I think, substantially contributed to no one being injured and the suspect being taken into custody.”
Tristan Heidl, 27, was arrested and charged with breaking and entering, possession of criminal tools and safecracking.
Police say Heidl had a backpack full of construction tools.
“He did get inside the bank and attempt to open numerous areas in the bank that contain money,” the chief said.
Police say Heidl was unable to get inside the safe and crash-landed with empty pockets.
“He didn’t get a dime,” Graham said.
Heidl is being held in the Erie County Jail on a $50,000 bond. He is due back in court soon. | https://www.wivb.com/news/national/watch-ohio-bank-burglary-suspect-falls-from-ceiling-lands-in-recycling-can-near-officers/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:12 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/national/watch-ohio-bank-burglary-suspect-falls-from-ceiling-lands-in-recycling-can-near-officers/ |
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New Mexico African American Tobacco Prevention Network
Local News
New Mexicans who call the nicotine Quitline are out of luck
Nash Jones
New Mexicans who call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a program to help people kick nicotine products, are being turned away. Local organizations doing smoking prevention work say the state has also told them to stop their projects.
Listen
•
2:07 | https://www.kunm.org/tags/new-mexico-african-american-tobacco-prevention-network | 2023-07-29T01:09:12 | 1 | https://www.kunm.org/tags/new-mexico-african-american-tobacco-prevention-network |
ND, MT Senators react to passage of NDAA
BISMARCK, N.D. (KUMV) - The United States Senate passed the annual national defense policy bill Thursday night following a week of debate.
The National Defense Authorization Act, known as the NDAA, has a lot of benefits for North Dakotans and Montanans, the states’ senators say. Besides a 5.2 percent pay increase for all troops, Sen. Steve Daines, R-MT, pointed out a provision allowing National Guard members to get reimbursed for travel expenses. Currently, Daines said they were only reimbursed for lodging.
“The men and women who have volunteered to serve our nation should not have to spend all of their drill pay on gas to get to and from their duty station,” said Daines.
For North Dakota, Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, said the bill provides upgrades to the nuclear triad for the Minot Air Force Base, missions at the Grand Forks Air Force Base, and a radar system for the Cavalier Space Force Base.
“[It] also advances technologies that will enable us to stay ahead of adversaries like China. Both the Grand Forks Air Force Base and the mission of the North Dakota National Guard are vital in that effort,” said Hoeven.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-MT, said amendments prohibiting foreign adversaries from purchasing farmland are vital for national security. He said he was also able to secure amendments requiring an investigation into how China is using American technology for espionage and declaring international trafficking of fentanyl as a national emergency.
“China doesn’t do this stuff by mistake. If you take a look at what happened in North Dakota, where they were putting up a processing plant next to a military base, that’s just crazy. We shouldn’t be allowing that,” said Tester.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, said the NDAA secures funding authorization for many missions that benefit North Dakota’s military community.
“This year’s bill fully funds nuclear modernization efforts, supports our efforts to help increase our intelligence capabilities, and grow the Space Force, which is part of the same mission,” said Cramer.
With two different versions of the NDAA passed in the House and Senate, a conference committee will now have to agree on a version. The biggest differences will be on social amendments including prohibiting the Department of Defense from using taxpayer dollars for gender reassignment surgery and abortion services that passed in the House.
“I think a lot of this stuff will fall out because hopefully, people will understand the NDAA is about protecting this nation. Have the fights on social issues somewhere else, don’t have it on the defense bill,” said Tester.
Lawmakers have left Washington for the August recess and are not expected to return until after Labor Day.
The Senate NDAA passed in an 86-11 vote.
Copyright 2023 KFYR. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/nd-mt-senators-react-passage-ndaa/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:12 | 0 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/nd-mt-senators-react-passage-ndaa/ |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-senate-rebukes-wisconsin-congressman-who-yelled-vulgarities-at-high-school-age-pages/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:14 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-senate-rebukes-wisconsin-congressman-who-yelled-vulgarities-at-high-school-age-pages/ |
CALDWELL, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
A project featuring a 5,000-seat outdoor amphitheater, cidery, U-pick orchards and other amenities will not be coming to Caldwell’s Sunnyslope region.
The proposed project would have been located on land owned by the Symms Fruit Ranch, southeast of the intersection of Lowell Road and Sunnyslope Road. The applicant, E.W. Real Estate — which also operates Mountain Winery in the San Francisco Bay area — sought approval for a conditional use permit that would have allowed it to operate an “Agritourism Oriented Special Events Facility” in an area zoned for agriculture.
Canyon County Board of Commissioners Chairman Brad Holton and Commissioner Zach Brooks voted against approving the proposed project on Wednesday morning, following hours of public hearing testimony Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. Commissioner Leslie Van Beek recused herself from the proceedings, citing a meeting she had attended in the summer of 2022 that discussed the proposed project.
The case was first brought before the county’s planning and zoning commission on Dec. 1, 2022, as previously reported. County staff at the time recommended approval of the project, but the planning and zoning commission unanimously denied it, citing concerns such as how the project could affect the character of the area and traffic.
Similarly, people testifying Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning expressed concern about concert noise, congestion and how well the venue would fit in with the area’s agriculture.
The board’s decision to deny the applicant’s appeal and uphold the planning and zoning commission’s denial still leaves an option to move forward for the applicant. It can file a request for reconsideration with the board of commissioners, citing one or more things that it found deficient in the commissioners’ consideration of the case. The commissioners could choose to reconsider the case, but if they do not respond, the applicant can take the case to Idaho’s courts.
TESTIMONY
Testimony ahead of the decision was overwhelmingly in opposition to the project, though some commented on how the project would change the area for the better.
Some people said that the greater threat to the Sunnyslope region is the construction of houses instead of an event space.
“Quite frankly, from my growing up on a farm, we don’t want to see any more houses there, but maybe a beautiful performing arts venue,” said Rheanna Allen, an adjunct professor of marketing at Boise State University, who said the applicant approached her about learning more about the proposal.
Some people who gave testimony in the neutral and against category said that the project would be better suited to areas where emergency services were more readily accessible.
“Concept of this is absolutely beautiful,” said Gregg Alger, owner of Huston Vineyards. “The concept of what it can do for our communities is right on page to tie into our agriculture and strengthen our agriculture. The unfortunate thing is it needs to be placed … within city limits to support this kind of a project.”
Those who testified in the “against” category included many residents near to the project area, who felt that the venue would exacerbate traffic congestion along Highway 55, as well as arterials. Some said they were concerned that their animals, including horses and ducks, would not adjust to noise levels from the proposed 60 or more concerts that would occur during the venue’s proposed April-October busy season. Others questioned the ability of emergency services to respond in a timely fashion, both to needs at the venue or in surrounding areas during peak traffic times.
Deborah Nelson, an attorney for the applicant, provided the applicant’s rebuttal on Wednesday morning. She said that the venue would plan to have EMT services on site, and it would be rare that someone would actually need transport to a hospital.
Sound would be limited to 85 decibels as measured at the property line and volume would be regulated by governors from the sound board, she said. And a traffic study from the Idaho Transportation Department found that Highway 55 has capacity to accommodate venue traffic, even before planned improvements. Still, she said the applicant would agree to creating a traffic management plan that would direct traffic leaving the venue and could include setting up temporary barricades to dissuade cars from taking local roads when exiting, she said.
Nelson said the Symms family’s aim is to protect agricultural land.
“They’re trying to find a way to support theirs and other agricultural operations through direct retail sales, and by attracting a customer base for their other operations.”
COMMISSIONERS UPHOLD PLANNING AND ZONING’S DECISION
In December, the county’s planning and zoning commission had found that the project did not comply with three main criteria for approving the conditional use permit: whether the project would be “injurious” to other property in the immediate vicinity, if there would be undue interference with existing or future traffic patterns, and whether essential services would be provided to accommodate the site’s use.
Similarly, Holton and Brooks saw sticking points for all three.
Brooks said, “I have not been persuaded that this would not be injurious.”
The two commissioners agreed that the highway conditions do not seem adequate for the use, citing testimony from a member of the Caldwell Rural Fire Department and a statement from the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office saying that it could be difficult to respond to accidents and adequately staff the area during events.
The sound produced by the venue also gave the commissioners pause.
Holton also said he was reluctant to approve the application in light of other conditional use permit requests for the area that had received far greater restrictions on their use of amplified sound.
He also said his experience in contracting made him concerned that the sound measurements in the sound study conducted by the applicant “do not rise to the level that would allow this commissioner to be persuaded.”
Further, Holton said the acoustics of the area would be different after dark, and he would want an audio test that would better reflect the conditions during a concert — sound levels at 85 decibels with peaks that don’t exist longer than 60 seconds.
“I have enough engineering in my being to understand how that is a lot of wiggle room, and that this commissioner would not want to be a neighbor to that venue,” he said.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-press/canyon-county-commissioners-uphold-decision-against-caldwell-ampitheater/277-32865dcb-0dab-4612-b8e8-9ee192fdb692 | 2023-07-29T01:09:16 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-press/canyon-county-commissioners-uphold-decision-against-caldwell-ampitheater/277-32865dcb-0dab-4612-b8e8-9ee192fdb692 |
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nicotine
Local News
New Mexicans who call the nicotine Quitline are out of luck
Nash Jones
New Mexicans who call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a program to help people kick nicotine products, are being turned away. Local organizations doing smoking prevention work say the state has also told them to stop their projects.
Listen
•
2:07 | https://www.kunm.org/tags/nicotine | 2023-07-29T01:09:18 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/tags/nicotine |
North Dakota Stockmen’s Association names new Deputy Brand Inspector
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - North Dakota heavily revolves around agriculture. Making sure livestock around the state is in order is a big part of things running smoothly. That’s why the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association has brand inspectors.
This horse (pictured above) has a brand on it. It’s similar to a car having a title, and it’s necessary if the horse were to get lost or stolen.
That’s where a person like Dawson Brost comes in. He is a new hire of NDSA, and he is excited to take on the new role as a deputy brand inspector.
“I’ve been in livestock my entire life. I was a deputy with Burleigh County. To me, it was kind of just a mix of the two. It was kind of perfect. I like being around ranchers, I like being around farmers. I like being around cattle and horses,” said Brost.
He will be investigating livestock crimes, inspecting livestock and registered feedlots, training local brand inspectors, visiting local livestock markets, and being a link between law enforcement agencies and the NDSA.
“A lot to do with the brand inspecting, a portion of it is cattle theft. You see something at the sales barn, this one is not branded, and it’s got someone else’s brand on it, and then they don’t have paperwork on it showing that they bought that cow. We will put a hold on them, and try to figure out who it is,” said Brost.
There are around 165 brand inspectors in the state making sure livestock regulations with brandings are up to par.
“Local guys and full-time guys. There are 15 full-time inspectors mostly at the sale barns, there are three deputies, and then the rest of them are local guys. They go to where someone calls and needs an inspection and they travel around and do them,” said Corby Ward, NDSA chief brand inspector.
He oversees all the deputy brand inspections and new brand approvals.
“Kind of my philosophy is if people see you out there, there’s going to be less crime,” said Brost.
He says if people see the Stockmen’s Association vehicles and deputies, it helps people stay in line.
The NDSA says there are more than 3,100 cattle-ranching members, and it administers part of the state’s brand inspection and brand recording programs.
Copyright 2023 KFYR. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/north-dakota-stockmens-association-names-new-deputy-brand-inspector/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:19 | 1 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/north-dakota-stockmens-association-names-new-deputy-brand-inspector/ |
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.
While Chinese diplomats protested the move, Taiwan’s trade office in Washington said the U.S. decision to pull arms and other materiel from its stores provided “an important tool to support Taiwan’s self-defense.” In a statement, it pledged to work with the United States to maintain “peace, stability and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-us-to-announce-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:21 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-us-to-announce-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ |
WASHINGTON — Morocco made its debut for the Women's World Cup on Monday with a match against Germany. It is one of eight teams making their first appearance at the tournament.
Viewers tuning into the match broadcasts may wonder why the country's abbreviation is listed as "MAR." The reason is actually pretty simple. While most of the scoreboard acronyms, also referred to as FIFA codes, come from the first three letters of a country's name in English, there are exceptions. Morocco is one of those exceptions.
The Arab team will face South Korea on Sunday, July 30 at 12:30 ET.
Why is Morocco 'MAR'?
While the country's English name is Morocco, it's known as Maroc in French.
According to a 2018 report from Slate, even though the official languages of the country are Arabic and Tamazight, French continues to have a powerful position there as a holdover from the colonial era.
Morocco isn't the only team in the Women's World Cup with a country code that differs from that English standard.
Other abbreviations that stand out in the tournament include Spain going by "ESP and South Korea referred to as "KOR."
Morocco’s debut game at the Women’s World Cup ended in a 6-0 loss to two-time champion Germany. The margin of defeat on Monday was the biggest so far at the tournament.
The national team’s Women's World Cup appearance comes less than a year after their male counterpart’s history making feat as the first African or Arab team to reach the World Cup semifinals. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/sports/soccer/world-cup/why-morocco-womens-world-cup-abbrieviation-is-mar/507-58d4c84b-a651-4256-b453-ca47280cf615 | 2023-07-29T01:09:22 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/sports/soccer/world-cup/why-morocco-womens-world-cup-abbrieviation-is-mar/507-58d4c84b-a651-4256-b453-ca47280cf615 |
Senators Thune, Klobuchar introduce crop insurance legislation to assist young farmers and veterans
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dakota News Now) - On Friday, US Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the “Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act,” which would assist young farmers and veterans by making crop insurance more affordable.
The bipartisan legislation would extend the “Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development” program eligibility from five years to ten years.
“New farmers are essential to ensuring the future of farming and the success of our food production system, but even under the best of circumstances, starting a farm means taking on a great deal of risk. Our legislation will help support these new farmers by ensuring that they have access to affordable crop insurance, " Klobuchar said. “Extending the already successful Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development program will provide needed certainty to farmers as they continue to build their farms and grow their businesses.”
“Investing in future generations of farmers and ranchers is critical to growing South Dakota’s agriculture economy and supporting rural communities,” said Thune. “Crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm safety net, and I’m proud to lead this legislation that would improve its effectiveness for beginning farmers and ranchers by providing more affordable options during their first 10 years of operation.”
Copyright 2023 KSFY. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/senators-thune-klobuchar-introduce-crop-insurance-legislation-assist-young-farmers-veterans/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:25 | 0 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/senators-thune-klobuchar-introduce-crop-insurance-legislation-assist-young-farmers-veterans/ |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-with-trump-newly-indicted-heres-what-to-know-about-the-documents-case-and-whats-next/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:27 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/politics/ap-with-trump-newly-indicted-heres-what-to-know-about-the-documents-case-and-whats-next/ |
What’s next for Sanford, Fairview after merger falls apart?
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - There had been speculation for some time on whether the planned merger between Sanford Health and Minnesota-based Fairview would make it to completion and Thursday’s announcement from Sanford’s CEO confirmed the deal is off.
The plans for both Sanford and Fairview to become one began ten years ago with a failed attempt. The second try officially came to an end on Thursday. Consultant for Sumption & Wyland, Michael Wyland, described talking to a Sanford executive just days ago.
“But there were people inside the house that were still expecting it to happen as recently as this week,” Wyland explained.
The strong stand from the University of Minnesota was part of the resistance. Sanford President and CEO Bill Gassen said the university was not the only entity intervening, saying other Minnesota stakeholders were not supportive.
“It was just too high a hill to climb, particularly after the legislature had passed the bill requiring additional due diligence on the part of the Commissioner of Health and the Attorney General on anything having to do with a merger,” Wyland said.
How will this affect Sanford?
“They will be okay financially,” Wyland explained. “They are not making as much money now as they have traditionally, they’re not reaching their own desired targets.”
Things are not looking as well in Minnesota.
“Fairview, on the other hand, is losing more than a million dollars a day,” Wyland said.
There are more options for Sanford’s Future.
“Bill Gassen, who’s the CEO of Sanford Health, was interviewed a couple of years ago, talking about how he did not see Sanford expanding or merging elsewhere, with the possible exception of western South Dakota,” Wyland said.
Monument Health could benefit from a merger.
“They have the worst rating right now from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” explained Wyland. “Out of a five-star rating, they are a one-star rated hospital in rapid city. (Sanford) have an opportunity, to put it bluntly, to stay home and do a good job.”
Copyright 2023 KSFY. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/whats-next-sanford-fairview-after-merger-falls-apart/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:31 | 1 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/28/whats-next-sanford-fairview-after-merger-falls-apart/ |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The city of San Francisco has opened a complaint and launched an investigation into a giant “X” sign that was installed Friday on top of the downtown building formerly known as Twitter headquarters as owner Elon Musk continues his rebrand of the social media platform.
City officials say replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit for design and safety reasons.
The X appeared after San Francisco police stopped workers on Monday from removing the brand’s iconic bird and logo from the side of the building, saying they hadn’t taped off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if anything fell.
Any replacement letters or symbols would require a permit to ensure “consistency with the historic nature of the building” and to make sure additions are safely attached to the sign, Patrick Hannan, spokesperson for the Department of Building Inspection said earlier this week.
Erecting a sign on top of a building also requires a permit, Hannan said Friday.
“Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation,” he said in an email.
Musk unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he remakes the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year. The X started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, has long been fascinated with the letter X and had already renamed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp. after he bought it in October. One of his children is called “X.” The child’s actual name is a collection of letters and symbols.
On Friday afternoon, a worker on a lift machine made adjustments to the sign and then left. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/tech-news/ap-x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-to-investigate-permit-violation/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:34 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/tech-news/ap-x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-to-investigate-permit-violation/ |
A University of Notre Dame professor has filed a defamation lawsuit against a student-run publication over news coverage of her abortion-rights work. The case is raising questions about press freedom and academic freedom at one of the nation’s preeminent Catholic universities.
Tamara Kay’s suit, filed in May, alleges falsehoods in two articles published by The Irish Rover in the past academic year. The Rover defended its reporting as true in a motion filed earlier this month to dismiss the case, under a law meant to protect people from frivolous lawsuits over matters of public concern.
Kay, a professor of global affairs and sociology, asks for unspecified punitive damages after she “has been harassed, threatened, and experienced damage to her residential property” and “continues to experience mental anguish” because of the two articles.
Published in October and March after public events in which Kay participated, the articles cover her remarks about her support for abortion rights. The lawsuit alleges that the articles contained “false and defamatory” information, arguing that they misinterpreted a sign on her door about helping students access healthcare and denying two quotes about academic freedom and her work at a Catholic institution.
“The note on my door referenced sexual assault, and the inadequate resources and support for student survivors at Notre Dame,” Kay told The Associated Press via email.
She added that she had asked the Rover’s faculty advisors to retract or correct the story, and that Notre Dame officials refused to intervene on her behalf.
“All of this is utterly devastating,” Kay said. She said her public writing and public speech “are all fair game for reporting and critique, as long as that reporting is accurate. It has not been.”
Notre Dame’s Office of Media Relations didn’t answer repeated requests for comment from the AP. Neither did Kay’s attorney in the lawsuit.
In the motion filed under Indiana’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law, the Irish Rover argued that – as an “independent, non-profit, student publication ‘devoted to preserving the Catholic identity of Notre Dame’” – its coverage of a Notre Dame professor’s public statements and actions about abortion qualify under the law’s public interest and free speech criteria.
The motion added that the stories were “at least substantially true” and “did not contain defamatory imputation.” Exhibits include a transcript of the March event and since-deleted tweets by Kay last fall referring Notre Dame colleagues to websites with information on where to find abortion providers and how to procure abortion pills.
That “targeted advocacy” — just as Indiana’s abortion ban first went briefly into effect — motivated Notre Dame student W. Joseph DeReuil, 21, to seek comments from Kay and write a news story, he told the AP.
DeReuil, the Rover’s editor-in-chief during the last academic year, said he is a practicing Catholic and believes the Church’s teaching that life starts at conception and thus abortion is intentional killing.
“I do wish at times that, I guess, Notre Dame would take, as an institution, a stronger stance in favor of the Catholic position on some of these issues,” he said.
He added that he condemned harassment of abortion rights advocates and specifically the threats mentioned in the lawsuit by Kay.
DeReuil said he was confident his reporting was factually correct and hoped the suit would be dismissed, instead of consuming his senior year.
“You’ll face pushback, but you can still be a normal, cheerful, happy student,” he said. “It’s not going to affect you negatively in the long term if you’re standing up for what you believe is true.”
The Rover’s attorney, James Bopp, Jr., said lawsuits like this can create a chilling effect.
“If we fail, it will send the message that if you speak out about the abortion issue, then you risk punishment through the legal system, and particularly if you speak out on the pro-life side,” said Bopp, who has worked on major national cases on behalf of anti-abortion and free speech causes.
While the Church’s position on abortion is unwavering, not all Catholics agree with it. Some oppose it based on their sense of Catholic teachings about individual conscience or social justice, said professor Samira Mehta, an expert on gender and religion at the University of Colorado.
It’s rare to have faculty sue students for libel over an issue broaching “diametrically opposed worldviews,” said Jonathan Gaston-Falk, an attorney with the Student Press Law Center. The organization defends press freedom rights for high school and college journalists and their advisors; it is not involved in this litigation.
“Libel can be boiled down to a false statement of fact that harms somebody’s reputation” – and is published with knowledge of that falsity and malice if the person is a public figure, Gaston-Falk added.
According to Indiana law, courts have six months to rule on an anti-SLAPP motion.
Indiana was the first state to enact sweeping abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-a-notre-dame-professor-sues-a-student-publication-over-its-coverage-of-her-abortion-rights-work/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:40 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-a-notre-dame-professor-sues-a-student-publication-over-its-coverage-of-her-abortion-rights-work/ |
A British court ruled Friday against London suburbs that tried to block a pollution tax on older cars as green policies become a hot political issue in the U.K. amid increasingly dramatic impacts of global climate change.
The High Court ruled that Mayor Sadiq Khan had the authority to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone, or ULEZ, which charges drivers of older gas and diesel vehicles 12.50 pounds ($16) a day they operate, to the city’s outskirts next month.
Five conservative councils challenged Khan’s right to impose the measure. They criticized the expansion to an area where there are fewer public transport options and people are more reliant on cars, and because of a disproportionate impact on lower-income drivers who can’t afford newer, cleaner cars.
Khan said the ruling would allow the expanded zone to take effect Aug. 29 and help reduce air pollution. He said he would also expand a program that provides financial assistance to some families and small businesses to scrap older cars.
“The ULEZ has already reduced toxic nitrogen dioxide air pollution by nearly half in central London and a fifth in inner London,” said Khan, a member of the Labour Party. “The coming expansion will see 5 million more Londoners being able to breathe cleaner air.”
The five councils that challenged the zone issued a joint statement saying they were “hugely disappointed”. While they accepted that Khan may have the legal right to implement the measure, they questioned whether it was morally right.
“It is evident that the mayor of London and (Transport for London) do not realize the damage the extension will have to the lives of residents and businesses in outer London as well as those outside of its borders,” the group said.
The city’s transportation agency said most gas vehicles under 16 years old and diesel vehicles less than 6 years old comply with the standard.
In April, a study from London City Hall found levels of nitrogen dioxide exceeded the legal limit in 14 of the city’s 32 boroughs. Khan argued he had a statutory responsibility to take measures to improve air quality.
Nine out of 10 cars on the road in outer London on an average day comply with standards, Transport for London said. The Royal Automobile Club said nearly 700,000 licensed cars in London are unlikely to comply.
Fury over the the ULEZ expansion was credited last week with helping Tories hold one of three seats in Parliament in a special election. Conservatives had been expected to lose all three but they retained their seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Interestingly, the emissions charge was first imposed in 2015 by then-Mayor Boris Johnson, the Conservative who went on to become prime minister before resigning last year amid several scandals and quitting Parliament last month. It was his House of Commons seat Tories retained in the by-election.
The issue has now caused a crisis for the Labour Party, which is seen as likely to return to power next year after being ousted by Conservatives in 2010.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said there was no doubt ULEZ cost them the Uxbridge election and said Khan should “reflect” on the policy.
Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair was widely quoted this week in a New Statesman magazine interview in which he cautioned: “Don’t ask us to do a huge amount when frankly whatever we do in Britain is not really going to impact climate change.” The interview was conducted before the special elections.
The dust-up over how to control emissions comes as July is on target to be the hottest month in recorded human history and the effects of a warming planet can be seen in catastrophic wildfires, flooding and alarming ocean temperatures. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres this week declared: “The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.”
While the by-election has caused consternation for Labour over how best to stick to a green agenda, it is also sparking a rethink for Conservatives who have been accused recently of backing away from pledges to combat climate change.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signaled this week he was open to revisiting net-zero policies, saying he’d take a pragmatic approach that didn’t add more hassles or costs to people’s lives. He caused confusion by not recommitting to a ban on gas and diesel cars by 2030, though cabinet minister Michael Gove later insisted that deadline was firm. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-a-pollution-tax-on-older-cars-can-be-extended-to-londons-suburbs-after-a-british-court-ruling/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:48 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-a-pollution-tax-on-older-cars-can-be-extended-to-londons-suburbs-after-a-british-court-ruling/ |
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.
___
Yamat reported from Las Vegas. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-arizona-mom-never-stopped-looking-for-her-missing-daughter-she-showed-up-4-years-later-in-montana/ | 2023-07-29T01:09:55 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-arizona-mom-never-stopped-looking-for-her-missing-daughter-she-showed-up-4-years-later-in-montana/ |
WASHINGTON — Morocco made its debut for the Women's World Cup on Monday with a match against Germany. It is one of eight teams making their first appearance at the tournament.
Viewers tuning into the match broadcasts may wonder why the country's abbreviation is listed as "MAR." The reason is actually pretty simple. While most of the scoreboard acronyms, also referred to as FIFA codes, come from the first three letters of a country's name in English, there are exceptions. Morocco is one of those exceptions.
The Arab team will face South Korea on Sunday, July 30 at 12:30 ET.
Why is Morocco 'MAR'?
While the country's English name is Morocco, it's known as Maroc in French.
According to a 2018 report from Slate, even though the official languages of the country are Arabic and Tamazight, French continues to have a powerful position there as a holdover from the colonial era.
Morocco isn't the only team in the Women's World Cup with a country code that differs from that English standard.
Other abbreviations that stand out in the tournament include Spain going by "ESP and South Korea referred to as "KOR."
Morocco’s debut game at the Women’s World Cup ended in a 6-0 loss to two-time champion Germany. The margin of defeat on Monday was the biggest so far at the tournament.
The national team’s Women's World Cup appearance comes less than a year after their male counterpart’s history making feat as the first African or Arab team to reach the World Cup semifinals. | https://www.myfoxzone.com/article/sports/soccer/world-cup/why-morocco-womens-world-cup-abbrieviation-is-mar/507-58d4c84b-a651-4256-b453-ca47280cf615 | 2023-07-29T01:10:03 | 0 | https://www.myfoxzone.com/article/sports/soccer/world-cup/why-morocco-womens-world-cup-abbrieviation-is-mar/507-58d4c84b-a651-4256-b453-ca47280cf615 |
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenia’s authorities on Friday called on the country’s international allies to put pressure on Azerbaijan after accusing it of carrying out a three-day blockade of humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The accusations mark another flashpoint in the tense relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan which have fought over the breakaway region for decades.
The Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vahan Kostanyan, accused Azerbaijan of blocking the so-called Lachin Corridor and demanded international allies step in to allow 19 trucks with 400 tons of humanitarian aid to pass. According to Armenian authorities, the trucks have been stuck there since the evening of July 26.
“The additional pressure of our international partners on Baku is very important. We have heard statements from our various colleagues, but we don’t think this is enough,” he said.
Kostanyan previously also accused Azerbaijan of ignoring a ruling by the International Court of Justice ordering Azerbaijan authorities to ensure unimpeded movement in the Lachin Corridor, the only road from Armenia into Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ongoing dispute over the road has impeded food supplies to the region and aggravated tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have fought two wars since the end of Soviet rule.
Nagorno-Karabakh had substantial autonomy under the Soviet Union and came under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in 1994 at the end of years of separatist fighting. Armenian forces also took sizable territory surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh itself.
In 2020, Azerbaijan regained most of that surrounding territory and pieces of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in a war which killed about 6,800 soldiers. Under a Russia-brokered armistice, transit along the Lachin Corridor was to continue under the guarantee of Russian peacekeepers.
According to Armenian media, trucks and foreign diplomats are currently in the village of Kornidzor on Armenia’s border with Nagorno-Karabakh, which is at one end of the Lachin Corridor.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said that it viewed Armenia’s attempt to send a convoy to Nagorno-Karabakh “under the guise of ‘humanitarian aid’” as a violation of Azerbaijan’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.” Azerbaijan also accuses Armenia of smuggling weapons into Nagorno-Karabakh.
The latest flare-up comes weeks following talks in Brussels and Washington aimed at calming tensions between the two countries after Azerbaijan opened a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor in April. At that point, the road had already been blocked for four months by demonstrators who were protesting what they claimed to be illegal mining and other ecological abuses by Armenians in the area. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-armenia-calls-on-allies-to-help-get-aid-to-nagorno-karabakh-during-tensions-with-azerbaijan/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:03 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-armenia-calls-on-allies-to-help-get-aid-to-nagorno-karabakh-during-tensions-with-azerbaijan/ |
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.”
An attorney for Roberts did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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.
Hunter Biden has four other children, including a son, Beau, born by his wife Melissa Cohen in 2020. He was named after the president’s late son who died of cancer in 2015, leaving behind two children.
Biden’s grandchildren have played a distinctive role in his presidency, often accompanying the president or first lady on trips and making regular visits to the White House. The president has also credited his grandchildren with persuading him to challenge then-President Donald Trump for the White House in 2020.
Biden’s statement was first reported by People Magazine. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-the-daughter-of-son-hunter-and-an-arkansas-woman/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:10 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-the-daughter-of-son-hunter-and-an-arkansas-woman/ |
A roller coaster in the United Kingdom broke down with guests on the ride and rescuers were scrambling to evacuate riders. Credit: SWNS
A roller coaster in the United Kingdom broke down in midair with people onboard on Friday, forcing rescuers to evacuate guests off the ride.
The incident happened at Adventure Island amusement park's Rage roller coaster in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on Friday at around 2 p.m. local time, according to the BBC.
Everyone on the ride was safely taken off within 40 minutes, according to a statement from the amusement park.
Park officials said that its "highly trained team immediately initiated our ride evacuation plan," according to the report.
OHIO AMUSEMENT PARK GUEST STRUCK BY FLYING CELL PHONE ON ROLLER COASTER GOING 70 MPH
Eight people stuck on roller coaster Rage ride in Adventure Island, Southend, shortly after 2pm. See SWNS story SWTPride. Horrified onlookers photographed eight revelers stuck "right at the top" of a 22-metre rollercoaster as rescuers scrambled to get them down. (SWNS)
Officials at the park added that "a carriage on Rage stopped on the lift" and said "all passengers were returned to the ground, safe and sound and reunited with their families".
One witness said that the ride was stuck in midair.
ILLINOIS CARNIVAL RIDE SEIZED IN CRIMINAL PROBE AFTER 10-YEAR-OLD BOY THROWN FROM SEAT, SERIOUSLY INJURED
Eight people stuck on roller coster Rage ride in Adventure Island, Southend, shortly after 2pm. See SWNS story SWTPride. Horrified onlookers photographed eight revelers stuck "right at the top" of a 22-metre rollercoaster as rescuers scrambled to get them down. Speed-fans were left hanging on the tracks for "at least half an hour" after the Rage ride in Adventure Island, Southend, stopped this afternoon at just before 2pm (FRI). The mum of one, who had visited the park with her six-year-old daughter and who did not want to be named, said: "They had to be harnessed and rescued down. "It got stuck, it’s the big one there that goes through the loop - it goes up, god knows high, and then straight back down and then loops. (SWNS)
"It got stuck, it’s the big one there that goes through the loop - it goes up, God knows high, and then straight back down and then loops," the witness said.
Another witness to the incident said that the passengers "had to be harnessed and rescued down."
Staff attempting to rescue the eight people stuck on roller coaster Rage ride in Adventure Island, Southend, shortly after 2pm. See SWNS story SWTPride. Horrified onlookers photographed eight revelers stuck "right at the top" of a 22-metre rollercoaster as rescuers scrambled to get them down. Speed-fans were left hanging on the tracks for "at least half an hour" after the Rage ride in Adventure Island, Southend, stopped this afternoon at just before 2pm (FRI). The mum of one, who had visited the park with her six-year-old daughter and who did not want to be named, said: "They had to be harnessed and rescued down. "It got stuck, it’s the big one there that goes through the loop - it goes up, god knows high, and then straight back down and then loops. (SWNS)
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According to the report, Rage is billed as the amusement park's "biggest and best" rollercoaster, which includes "loops, twists, and flat-out speeds".
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10. | https://www.foxnews.com/world/amusement-parks-biggest-roller-coaster-breaks-down-right-top-leaving-riders-stuck-half-hour | 2023-07-29T01:10:15 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/world/amusement-parks-biggest-roller-coaster-breaks-down-right-top-leaving-riders-stuck-half-hour |
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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.
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Associated Press writer Lolita Baldor contributed to this report. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-biden-orders-changes-to-the-military-code-of-justice-for-sexual-assault-victims/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:16 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-biden-orders-changes-to-the-military-code-of-justice-for-sexual-assault-victims/ |
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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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-charges-dropped-against-7-oklahoma-police-officers-in-3-separate-fatal-shootings/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:23 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-charges-dropped-against-7-oklahoma-police-officers-in-3-separate-fatal-shootings/ |
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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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-defense-presses-case-that-mental-illness-spurred-pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:29 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-defense-presses-case-that-mental-illness-spurred-pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre/ |
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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus on Friday jointly appealed for information that could lead to the buried remains of people who vanished amid violence and war decades ago, a task with increasing urgency as eyewitnesses die.
Cyprus’ Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Ersin Tatar, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, made the appeal in a symbolic move aiming to show that the purely humanitarian issue should stay above the complex and often bitter politics of the nearly half-century ethnic split.
It also sought to inject some fresh urgency into efforts to resume deadlocked peace talks. A deal has eluded Cypriot leaders since a 1974 coup aiming at union with Greece triggered a Turkish invasion that entrenched that division.
Both Christodoulides and Tatar toured the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) that has, since 2006, been tasked with locating, unearthing and identifying the remains of individuals who vanished during clashes in the early 1960s and the 1974 invasion.
“This is a humanitarian issue, therefore this is something which is outside politics,” Tatar told reporters. “What ever we can do to improve, as I saw the discovery of missing persons is something that we owe to the families.”
Christodoulides echoed a shared commitment to collect more information, but added that progress on this issue would also send a “clear political message” about building trust between the two sides that haven’t engaged in direct talks in six years.
Information is now at a premium, said Paul-Henri Arni, the U.N. appointed member of the tripartite committee that also includes a Greek and Turkish Cypriot representative.
Arni told The Associated Press that the CMP has found, identified and returned to relatives the remains of 51.5% of all missing persons.
But having the leaders nudge anyone with information to step forward is essential to resolving the most difficult remaining cases, in which individuals were killed at one spot and buried elsewhere without witnesses.
According to CMP figures, of 1,510 Greek Cypriots and 492 Turkish Cypriots who are missing, 769 and 200 respectively have not been found.
“The issue is access to new information at the moment where witnesses are passing away,” Arni said. “And so we’ve discussed with the leaders ways they could help us through the own networks, also with specific former combatants.”
Work is slow as the chances of finding remains at excavated sites currently stands at 10% — far below the 50% when the CMP began work in earnest in 2006.
Arni said another key source of information are archived witness accounts which have been digitized for easer access, as well as sifting through 900,000 pages of U.N., U.K. and International Committee of the Red Cross archives which produced 3,740 documents of actionable data.
Christodoulides told reporters following the visit to the CMP premises that access to Turkey military archives is still restricted.
Some 80% of the CMP’s 3.2 million euro ($3.5 million) annual budget is funded by the EU and Arni said additional funding would enable the committee to augment is current number of seven excavation teams to speed up work on 65 new sites.
Christodoulides said it would be a “shame” for more information becoming available but without additional teams to act on them, adding that he would formally ask the EU for more funding. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-divided-cyprus-rival-leaders-appeal-for-information-on-the-missing-as-eyewitnesses-die/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:36 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-divided-cyprus-rival-leaders-appeal-for-information-on-the-missing-as-eyewitnesses-die/ |
‘X’ logo installed atop Twitter building, spurring San Francisco to investigate permit violation
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The city of San Francisco has opened a complaint and launched an investigation into a giant “X” sign that was installed Friday on top of the downtown building formerly known as Twitter headquarters as owner Elon Musk continues his rebrand of the social media platform.
City officials say replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit for design and safety reasons.
The “X” appeared after San Francisco police stopped workers on Monday from removing the brand’s iconic bird and logo from the side of the building, saying they hadn’t taped off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if anything fell.
Any replacement letters or symbols would require a permit to ensure “consistency with the historic nature of the building” and to make sure additions are safely attached to the sign, Patrick Hannan, spokesperson for the Department of Building Inspection said earlier this week.
Erecting a sign on top of a building also requires a permit, Hannan said Friday.
“Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation,” he said in an email.
Musk unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he remakes the platform he bought for $44 billion last year. The “X” started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday, but as of Friday the bird icon still appears in many places on the app.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, has long been fascinated with the letter “X " and had already renamed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp. after he bought it in October. One of his children is called “X.” The child’s actual name is a collection of letters and symbols.
On Friday afternoon, a worker on a lift machine made adjustments to the sign and then left.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:38 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ |
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Pope Francis urged governments to do more to fight climate change and protect “our common home” as improving weather conditions Friday helped firefighters contain wildfires in Greece, Italy and other countries in southern Europe.
Francis, who has been outspoken on environmental issues, sent a telegram of condolences to Greece, where wildfires killed five people over the past week, including the pilots of a water-dropping aircraft.
The pope noted that successive heat waves have exacerbated the dangers of the summer fire season. He offered his prayers for firefighters and emergency personnel in particular.
“(I hope) that the risks to our common home, exacerbated by the present climate crisis, will spur all people to renew their efforts to care for the gift of creation, for the sake of future generations,” Francis said.
Fueled by the heat waves and strong gusts of wind, wildfires in Europe’s Mediterranean region have kept travelers and residents on alert. In Greece, fires scorched hundreds of square kilometers of land outside Athens, on the island of Rhodes and elsewhere this month.
As the situation improved considerably on Friday, Greece’s minister for the police unexpectedly stepped down, citing “personal grounds.” Greek media said Notis Mitarachi’s resignation was requested after it emerged he had been on a family holiday during the wildfire crisis.
The main opposition Syriza party issued a statement accusing the center-right government of using “personal grounds” as a euphemism for “(Mitarachi’s) holidays while the country was burning from end to end.”
In central Greece, authorities maintained an exclusion zone around one of the country’s largest air force bases after a wildfire triggered powerful explosions at a nearby ammunition depot Thursday. Fighter jets stationed at the 111th Combat Wing base were moved to other facilities.
The depot blasts near the central city of Volos shattered windows in nearby towns and prompted the evacuation of more than 2,000 people. Local news broadcasts showed a ground-shaking fireball erupting.
Residents were rushed onto private boats mobilized by the coast guard and taken to a conference center in Volos, some 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the weapons storage site. A civilian traffic ban and evacuation order remained in effect Friday within a 3-kilometer (2-mile) radius of the depot.
The explosions did not affect flights at Volos international airport, officials told The Associated Press.
A drop in temperatures and calmer winds helped firefighters get a handle on the blazes in Greece and all major fires were contained by midday Friday, Greek Fire Service officials said.
Conditions also improved elsewhere in Europe’s Mediterranean regions thanks to cooler temperatures, allowing firefighters to contain wildfires along the Croatian coast and in Sicily.
Firefighting teams in Turkey also brought a wildfire burning close to the southern Mediterranean resort of Kemer under control, four days after it erupted, Ibrahim Yumakli, the country’s forestry minister, said.
The governments of the countries hit by heat waves and fires have steered public debate away from the potential impact on tourism. Rhodes, where a fire last weekend required about 19,000 people to be evacuated from several locations on the island, was promised state support Friday for its international advertising campaign.
In Germany, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach sought Friday to address Italian irritation over a mid-July social media post in which he described the heat wave he encountered on a visit to Italy as “spectacular” and added that “if it goes on like this, these vacation destinations will have no future in the long term.”
Lauterbach told reporters in Berlin that he wasn’t warning against vacations in southern Europe and plans to visit Italy again himself.
“Of course, it is more difficult now for the southern countries to organize heat protection in such a way that it is also accessible for every tourist, but I think those countries will know exactly what they have to do,” he said.
Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek minister for climate change and civil protection, said fires had burned 400 square kilometers (155 square miles) of land in the country in July alone, while the recent average is 500 square kilometers (nearly 200 square miles) in a year.
“Is the situation any better in other countries bordering the Mediterranean? It’s a fair question … but the answer is no,” Kikilias said.
“The climate crisis that brought us this unprecedented heat wave is here. It’s not a theory. It is our actual experience,” he said. “This is not something that will just occur this year. It will last and we have to face the consequences of what that means.”
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Winfield reported from Rome. Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey contributed.
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Follow AP’s coverage of climate issues at https://apnews.com/climate-and-environment | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-exclusion-zone-set-up-around-greek-military-base-after-wildfires-trigger-powerful-explosions/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:43 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-exclusion-zone-set-up-around-greek-military-base-after-wildfires-trigger-powerful-explosions/ |
Husker Football Assistant Coach Resigns
LINCOLN—(KFOR July 28)—Nebraska assistant football coach Bob Wager has resigned. The following statement from Wager was provided from NU Athletics late Friday afternoon.
“To Coach Rhule and Athletic Director Trev Alberts:
It is with great remorse that I resign from my position as assistant football coach at the University of Nebraska. Earlier this week I received a citation for a driving offense that I regret immensely. I am grateful for the opportunity extended to me, and sincerely sorry for any negativity my poor decision has brought to my family, our team, our staff, and all those that I have disappointed.”
Respectfully,
Bob Wager
Meanwhile, Josh Martin will be immediately elevated to a full-time assistant role on the Nebraska staff, with the responsibility of coaching the Huskers’ tight ends.
Martin has seven years of coaching experience at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, coaching tight ends at both SMU and Arizona State.
Martin joined Head Coach Matt Rhule’s staff earlier this year as a special teams analyst. | https://www.kfornow.com/husker-football-assistant-coach-resigns/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:48 | 0 | https://www.kfornow.com/husker-football-assistant-coach-resigns/ |
BENGALURU, India (AP) — The final meeting of climate and environment ministers from the world’s largest economies ended without an agreement or joint statement Friday despite pleas from leading figures for nations to show a united front on climate change as weather records shatter across the globe.
In a gathering in Chennai in India, ministers from the Group of 20 countries — who emit around 80% of the world’s planet-warming gases — failed to agree on four of 68 points of discussion.
A document published by the group shows countries did not agree on aiming to peak emissions by 2025, moving to clean energy and a tax on carbon as a way to reduce emissions.
“We couldn’t get a consensus but we agreed on a lot,” said Canada’s climate minister Steven Guilbeault at a virtual press conference after the meeting.
The ministers’ decisions will now be passed on to country leaders ahead of a summit in New Delhi in September this year. It will be the group’s last chance to issue a joint statement on climate this year.
On Thursday, the president of the upcoming United Nations climate talks Sultan al-Jaber and the U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell attended the Chennai meeting to urge countries to issue an ambitious statement that will make sure the world is on track to keep global warming within the agreed temperature limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
The world has currently warmed around 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times and effects are already being felt all over the world, with hosts India especially vulnerable. Earlier this year, more than 100 people died during a heat wave in the center of the country and last week at least 27 people died in western India due to landslides triggered by heavy rains.
Since India took over the G-20 presidency last December, none of the meetings that deal with various policy areas like foreign affairs, finance, energy and climate change have come out with a joint communique but their announcements may form part of a final document released at the leaders’ summit in September.
Earlier this month, a meeting of finance chiefs and central bank governors of the G-20 leading economies ended in Gandhinagar in the western state of Gujarat without a consensus because of differences between countries over the war in Ukraine.
Similarly, a meeting of energy ministers in Goa last week ended unsuccessfully with the final summary failing to mention a phase down of fossil fuels and ministers did not agree to raise ambition to treble renewable energy targets.
The meeting in Chennai was the last of four meetings of G-20 climate ministers. They had earlier met in Bengaluru, Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Mumbai.
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Follow Sibi Arasu on Twitter at @sibi123
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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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-g20-ministers-reach-agreement-on-most-but-not-all-climate-issues/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:51 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-g20-ministers-reach-agreement-on-most-but-not-all-climate-issues/ |
BERLIN (AP) — A leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany on Friday urged members of the country’s main opposition conservative bloc to break down a “firewall” meant to isolate his party, which is at record levels in polls.
The 10-year-old Alternative for Germany, or AfD, gathered in the eastern city of Magdeburg for a convention stretching over the next two weekends at which it plans to choose candidates and set its policy platform for next June’s European Parliament election.
Recent polls put support for AfD at 19-22%, behind only the main conservative opposition bloc. Earlier this week, the latter’s main leader, Friedrich Merz, insisted that there would be no cooperation even at the local level between his Christian Democratic Union and AfD, after his apparent suggestion that they might work together prompted criticism from fellow conservatives.
AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla told delegates that “polls aren’t results” and they should view recent surveys with “humility.” But he pointed to his party’s prospects of winning three state elections in eastern regions next year, and said that “we could take on government responsibility.”
The first AfD candidates recently won elections in eastern Germany to lead a county administration and become the full-time mayor of a municipality.
Chrupalla mocked Merz, who recently described his conservative bloc as an “alternative for Germany with substance.” He said that “we are the original,” and argued that Merz has recognized “it was wrong to put up a firewall against our party.”
“I call on all patriots in the CDU: tear down this … wall,” he said.
Chrupalla spent large parts of his speech assailing the environmentalist Green party, part of the center-left coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and also underlined his party’s opposition to weapons deliveries to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. He asserted that today’s European Union is “responsible for a disastrous migration policy, with sanctions policies that are harmful to the economy.”
The AfD convention will, probably several days in, address the party’s position on the EU and whether Germany should leave. The party’s other co-leader, Alice Weidel, told ZDF television Friday that it favors a dismantling of EU areas of responsibility, but didn’t specify whether the bloc should be dissolved. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-german-far-right-leader-urges-conservatives-to-break-down-firewall-against-his-party/ | 2023-07-29T01:10:59 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-german-far-right-leader-urges-conservatives-to-break-down-firewall-against-his-party/ |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-homeless-struggle-to-stay-safe-from-record-high-temperatures-in-blistering-phoenix/ | 2023-07-29T01:11:06 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-homes-that-become-deadly-tornadoes-kill-disproportionately-more-in-mobile-homes-ap-analysis-finds/ | 2023-07-29T01:11:14 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-homes-that-become-deadly-tornadoes-kill-disproportionately-more-in-mobile-homes-ap-analysis-finds/ |
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong judge on Friday denied a government request to ban a popular protest song in a landmark decision after Google had resisted official pressure to alter internet search results for the city’s anthem.
The development was a setback for Hong Kong leaders who are trying to crush a pro-democracy movement. They have been embarrassed when “Glory to Hong Kong” — written during mass protests against the government in 2019 — was mistakenly played at international sporting events instead of China’s national anthem, “March of the Volunteers.”
Critics have warned that granting the request to prohibit broadcast or distribution of the song would add to a decline in civil liberties since Beijing launched a crackdown following the 2019 protests. They said that might disrupt internet companies and hurt the city’s appeal as a business center.
But some analysts cautioned the court’s decision on Friday does not mean that foreign tech giants can from now on let down their guard in Hong Kong, and said that political challenges surrounding their operations in the financial hub still linger.
Judge Anthony Chan said he considered whether a ban of the song would act as a wider deterrence than the city’s criminal law already in place. That includes a National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020 under which many of the city’s leading activists have been arrested.
“I cannot be satisfied that it is just and convenient to grant the injunction,” he wrote in a ruling.
The government went to the court after Google resisted pressure to display China’s national anthem as the top result in searches for the city’s anthem instead of “Glory to Hong Kong.”
Google had asked that a ruling prove the song violated the law before it could be removed, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong told a local broadcaster earlier. Google did not reply to a request for comment on its earlier exchanges with officials.
The city’s leader, Chief Executive John Lee, told reporters he had asked government lawyers to study the judgment and decide how to respond.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and was promised that it could keep its Western-style civil liberties intact for 50 years after the handover. But the security law and other changes since the 2019 protests have shrunk the openness and freedoms that were once hallmarks of the city.
The city’s secretary for justice sought the injunction last month after the song was mistakenly played as the city’s anthem at international events. And a mix-up in an ice hockey competition in February resulted in the city’s top sports body reprimanding the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association, which appealed for forgiveness for what it called an “independent and unfortunate” event.
In seeking the court order, the government wanted to target anyone who uses the song to advocate for the separation of Hong Kong from China. It also sought to ban actions that use the song to incite others to commit secession and to insult the national anthem, including online.
However, Friday’s ruling will not mean the end of the controversy for tech giants, said George Chen, former head of public policy for Greater China at Meta.
He said it was a new beginning for the platforms and the government to work together on content-related issues, given there was “zero chance” that the government would just leave all versions of the protest song online.
“Now the ball is back to the government but it doesn’t mean platforms can relax,” said Chen, who now works as a managing director for business advisory firm The Asia Group.
He said the city is now a “highly political place” and many lawmakers were surprised by the ruling, predicting that the political pressure on content removal on tech platforms will remain.
“It may feel more like Season 1 of a long series,” he said.
Eric Lai, visiting researcher of King’s College London’s School of Law, said that the government was trying to abuse the legal system by using an injunction to tackle a political matter when it sought the court order. The ruling reflects that the court still wants to defend the integrity of the city’s legal system, Lai said.
“Had this injunction been granted by the court, it would further create a more restrictive environment for both the internet and the public,” he said.
Lai cautioned that it’s a worrying trend to see that the secretary for justice “is so eager to politicize the court and the legal proceedings” to suppress the opposition camp and dissenting opinions, adding that he would monitor how the government would respond to the decision.
The government earlier said the lyrics contain a slogan that could constitute a call for secession. The song was already banned at schools. It said that it respected freedoms protected by the city’s constitution, “but freedom of speech is not absolute.”
The 2019 protests were sparked by a proposed extradition law that would have allowed Hong Kong criminal suspects to be sent to the mainland for trial. The government withdrew the bill, but the protesters widened their demands to include direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-hong-kong-court-rejects-government-requested-ban-on-protest-song-glory-to-hong-kong/ | 2023-07-29T01:11:21 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-hong-kong-court-rejects-government-requested-ban-on-protest-song-glory-to-hong-kong/ |
HONG KONG (AP) — The Chinese government on Friday demanded the United States invite Hong Kong’s leader to an economic conference following a news report that Chief Executive John Lee would be barred due to his role in crushing the city’s pro-democracy movement.
The conflict threatens to complicate Washington’s efforts to revive relations that are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes about security, technology, human rights and other irritants.
The Washington Post, citing unidentified U.S. officials, said Lee would be barred from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in San Francisco in November due to sanctions imposed on him in 2020. Lee oversaw the crackdown as Hong Kong’s top police official before he was named chief executive last year.
The United States and other governments have accused Beijing of violating promises of autonomy and Western-style civil liberties after the former British colony returned to China in 1997.
The foreign ministry demanded Washington lift the “illegal and unreasonable” sanctions on Lee, which it called “bullying that seriously violates the basic norms of international relations.” It accused Washington of “undermining the solidarity and cooperation” of the regional forum.
“We demand that the U.S. side immediately correct its wrong move, lift the sanctions against the chief executive and other officials of the SAR, fulfil the due responsibility as APEC host, invite Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to the meeting,” said a ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning.
Lee’s office in Hong Kong said the United States is “obliged to fulfil its basic responsibilities as a host” and should follow the usual APEC practice by inviting him.
“APEC meetings do not belong to any country or economy,” the office said in a statement.
Lee later said in a press briefing that the city would attend the meeting according to APEC rules and guidelines, saying he hoped that the host of the meeting could handle it in accordance with such norms.
The Washington Post cited U.S. officials as saying Hong Kong could send another representative to APEC.
Washington has launched a flurry of diplomatic missions to restore dialogue suspended by Beijing, mainly over U.S. support for the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which the mainland’s ruling Communist Party claims as part of its territory.
Officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry have traveled to China for meetings.
Chinese officials have demanded concessions, including changes in U.S. dealings with Taiwan, but have given given no indication Beijing might change trade, strategic or other policies that irk Washington and China’s Asian neighbors and other trading partners.
In a July 20 meeting with Henry Kissinger, a former U.S. secretary of state who has been used by Beijing to convey messages to Washington, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said both sides need to make decisions that could result in stable ties and joint success and prosperity.
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Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-hong-kongs-leader-may-be-barred-from-a-key-economic-summit-the-city-says-that-breaks-conventions/ | 2023-07-29T01:11:28 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-hong-kongs-leader-may-be-barred-from-a-key-economic-summit-the-city-says-that-breaks-conventions/ |
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami on Friday blasted prosecutors for an apparent attempt to disavow a court order and take control of a oceanside condo belonging to a former Republican Congressman ahead of a high-profile trial connected to a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government.
When David Rivera and an associate were charged last November with money laundering and acting as unregistered foreign agents for President Nicolás Maduro’s government, prosecutors obtained a judge’s order freezing around $24 million from banking and brokerage accounts as well as Florida properties that they said were the product of ill-gotten gains.
Prosecutors also blocked eight more properties belonging to Rivera and his associate in Florida and Georgia that, while unrelated to criminal activity, would likely be seized if the two are found guilty.
This month, in a harshly worded ruling, Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres said that the government had no right to take the “innocent” Florida assets without a conviction. Rather than lift the restraining order, the government then asked the court to reconsider and said that it had since determined that three of the properties — including a condo that Rivera and his wife purchased in 2019 for $301,000 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida — could also be traced to the defendants’ alleged lobbying on behalf of Maduro’s government.
Judge Darrin Gayles on Friday expressed frustration with the government’s change in strategy.
“This reeks of gamesmanship,” said Gayles, who reversed his own sealed order of a week ago granting prosecutors’ request that the real estate properties once again be frozen. “It seems like the government simply filed this because it lost.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nalina Sombuntham said prosecutors first learned from investigators that the property could be directly “tainted” by Rivera’s consulting work with Venezuela in May or June but didn’t alert the court until July 14 — a week after Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres issued his 23-page order freeing up the properties.
Gayles, who is overseeing the criminal case, was unimpressed. “It seems like you’re wasting the court’s time,” he said.
Rivera has been marred by scandals stretching back to his days in Congress from 2011 to 2013. He was arrested late last year on an eight-count criminal indictment alleging that at the start of the Trump administration he was part of a conspiracy to lobby on behalf of Venezuela to lower tensions with the U.S., resolve a legal dispute with a U.S. oil company and end U.S. sanctions against the South American nation — all without registering as a foreign agent.
As part of that effort, he arranged meetings in Washington, New York and Dallas for allies of Maduro with U.S. lawmakers and a top aide to former President Donald Trump, according to the indictment. To hide the sensitive nature of his work, prosecutors allege Rivera referred to Maduro in chat messages as the “bus driver,” a congressman as “Sombrero” and millions of dollars as “melons.”
Court records show Rivera’s consulting work was closely coordinated with Raúl Gorrín, a Venezuelan insider and media tycoon who has himself been sanctioned and indicted in the U.S. on money laundering charges. Part of the more than $20 million that Rivera was alleged to have received from Venezuela was used to pay maintenance on one of Gorrin’s yachts, according to prosecutors.
Rivera maintains that Gorrín was his attorney in Venezuela and that all of his work was conducted on behalf of PDV USA — a Delaware-based affiliate of Venezuelan-owned Citgo — and didn’t require he register as a foreign agent.
The dispute over Rivera’s assets has slowed the government’s prosecution of the high-profile case. Eight months after being charged, Rivera has yet to be formally arraigned — normally a routine procedural step — because he said he needs access to the disputed assets to pay his attorneys.
Rivera’s attorneys in filings have accused prosecutors of waging a “scorched earth attack” against the south Florida GOP stalwart who once shared an apartment in Tallahassee with now Sen. Marco Rubio when both were state lawmakers.
“They lost, they got caught and they came to this court and it is wrong,” David Oscar Markus, an attorney for Rivera’s co-defendant Esther Nuhfer said.
Rivera was triumphant following Friday’s hearing, accusing the prosecutors of “misconduct.” Judge Gayles was more restrained, making no such finding of wrongdoing even as he questioned prosecutors’ actions.
“Today’s decision shows that there are still honorable judges in America who will not tolerate misconduct from dishonest government prosecutors,” Rivera wrote The Associated Press in a text message. “Another victory for truth and justice.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida didn’t immediately comment.
—
Follow Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-judge-blasts-prosecutors-handling-of-venezuela-case-against-ex-miami-congressman/ | 2023-07-29T01:11:35 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-judge-blasts-prosecutors-handling-of-venezuela-case-against-ex-miami-congressman/ |
A long battle between American Airlines and its pilots seems to finally be nearing its end.
On Thursday, the Allied Pilots Association, the union representing American Airlines pilots, said it reached an agreement on an enhanced version of its previous tentative agreement, now referred to as TA 2.0.
TA 2.0 matches terms of agreements reached by Delta Air Lines and United Airlines pilots — a parity request American Airlines pilots asked for when they postponed the vote to ratify the original TA.
The original TA had been increased to more than $9 billion over four years when the 15,000 pilots in APA indefinitely postponed voting to ratify it until further improvements were made to "bring [them] in line with [their] peers."
Though the first TA had finally brought the airline's pay standards to the same level as United, the APA said other benefits, like "quality-of-life" provisions, didn't match up, pushing the union's board to postpone the vote late Sunday evening.
SEE MORE: Solving the airline pilot shortage may require multiple solutions
The union's board of directors then said it would take days, not weeks, to reach a new agreement, and they stuck to their word.
TA 2.0, APA said, now includes all improvements to the original TA that it was asking for, "along with additional improvements." Those include changes in medical reimbursements, per diem, extended sick leave, and more, along with the obvious pay rate increases.
Now TA 2.0 is contingent again on a ratification vote by the union, which is set for August, and on United pilots ratifying their agreement, which gives employees up to a 40% raise.
American Airlines' pay rate matching with United and Delta leaves Southwest Airlines as the only one of the nation's four biggest carriers to not reach a tentative deal with its pilots. The airline has been in unsuccessful contract negotiations with its pilots for years, and its CEO Robert Jordan said there was "nothing new to report."
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.wmar2news.com/american-airlines-again-reaches-tentative-contract-with-pilots | 2023-07-29T01:11:43 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/american-airlines-again-reaches-tentative-contract-with-pilots |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-justice-alito-says-congress-lacks-the-power-to-impose-an-ethics-code-on-the-supreme-court/ | 2023-07-29T01:11:42 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-justice-alito-says-congress-lacks-the-power-to-impose-an-ethics-code-on-the-supreme-court/ |
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved another over-the-counter naloxone nasal spray used to reverse opioid overdose on Friday.
RiVive, made by Harm Reduction Therapeutics, is the second nonprescription naloxone product the FDA has approved. But unlike other opioid overdose products, the 3 milligram treatment will be available for free or low cost, and its sales will bring no profit to its manufacturer.
"We are grateful that FDA granted RiVive approval so we can now achieve what most thought impossible and no other company has: broad delivery of a lower-cost nasal naloxone product without a prescription to save lives that could otherwise be lost to opioid overdose," said Dr. Michael Hufford, co-founder and chief executive officer of Harm Reduction Therapeutics, Inc.
Naloxone products are the standard treatment for rapidly reversing effects of an opioid overdose — a persistent public health issue in the U.S.
In 2020, nearly 75% of drug overdose deaths involved an opioid, according to CDC data. These types of overdose deaths have increased by more than eight times since 1999, and in the past decade, increases have been significantly linked to synthetic opioids mixed with illicitly manufactured fentanyl.
Because of these increased numbers and risks, the FDA has taken multiple steps to support harm reduction practices, like its work in advancing overdose reversal drugs.
In March, the FDA approved the first over-the-counter naloxone nasal spray, Narcan, and in May, it approved the first nalmefene hydrochloride nasal spray, Opvee. Nalmefene is an opioid receptor antagonist that possesses a longer duration of action than naloxone at the same dose, according to the National Institutes of Health. It requires a prescription, however, and is intended for use in health care and community settings.
The newly approved RiVive, according to Harm Reduction Therapeutics, will be available by early 2024, primarily to harm reduction organizations and state governments. But the nonprofit pharmaceutical company said it's looking for additional funding partners to make RiVive even more accessible.
The nonprofit said it's focused on supplying the cheaper option to communities who need it most, and to start, at least 200,000 doses — which is 10% of its projected first year of product production — will be available for free.
SEE MORE: White House announces plan to fight fentanyl laced with xylazine
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.wmar2news.com/fda-approves-nonprofit-s-over-the-counter-opioid-overdose-nasal-spray | 2023-07-29T01:11:49 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/fda-approves-nonprofit-s-over-the-counter-opioid-overdose-nasal-spray |
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s navy located the boat of a missing American sailor off the country’s southern coast, but the Maryland man who had been piloting it solo wasn’t found, authorities said Friday.
Donald Lawson’s capsized trimaran was found Thursday night by a patrol boat involved in the search 356 nautical miles (about 410 miles or 660 kilometers) southwest of the resort city of Acapulco, according to the navy’s press office.
The navy said that it would continue its search for Lawson, 41, an experienced sailor.
A plane had reported spotting a boat similar to the description of Lawson’s on July 23 about 320 nautical miles (370 miles or 595 kilometers) south of Acapulco. The navy sent boats to the area, but it wasn’t until Thursday night that they found it.
Port authorities in Acapulco said that Lawson had arrived on Jan. 26 for repairs to a motor and hull of the boat. After the repairs were completed, Lawson left Acapulco on July 5, headed for the Panama Canal, where he planned to cross to the Caribbean Sea and continue north to Baltimore, Maryland.
His wife, Jacqueline Lawson, told local media outlets that on July 9, he had sent her a message saying he was having mechanical problems and the motor was losing power. Three days later, he told her a storm had knocked out his wind generator and he would try to return to Acapulco. The last satellite positioning message received for the Defiant was July 13.
Lawson, who is Black, grew up in Baltimore and from his first sailing opportunity at age 9, set his sights on making it his career.
“From that day forward, that was my goal – become a professional sailor,” Lawson said in a profile published by U.S. Sailing last year.
He started out cleaning boats, folding sails and stowing gear in Annapolis. Later, he and his wife founded the Dark Seas Project, an effort to increase diversity in the sport of sailing. He is the chairman of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for U.S. Sailing.
Lawson was working toward challenging records for circumnavigating the globe solo. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-mexicos-navy-finds-boat-but-not-missing-us-sailor/ | 2023-07-29T01:11:49 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-mexicos-navy-finds-boat-but-not-missing-us-sailor/ |
The U.S. Labor Department has released new data showing that wage and salary increases for workers in the United States have slowed in recent months.
A report from the DOL on Fridayshowed that wage and salary growth slowed during the quarter from April to June. This is an indication that employers were feeling less pressure to increase pay for workers.
SEE MORE: US economy grew in 2nd quarter even as interest rates rose
As the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates to try to curb inflation, the central bank said it has also been looking at the employment cost index, which is a gauge of pay.
This spring both pay and benefits rose about 1% in the second quarter, according to government data. That was down from about 1.2%, the rate of growth for the first three months of this year.
Policymakers have actually said they worry that rapidly rising wages could have a negative impact on their work to reduce inflation.
The hope from economists is that in trying to cool the economy down, gains in salaries and wages — along with price hikes — will slow, but not cause a jump in the unemployment rate.
The Labor Department said compensation cost increases for the 12-month window that ended in June of this year was at around 4.1% for construction and natural resources, along with maintenance jobs.
That same figure went up by about 5.3% for service jobs.
Lester Jones of the National Beer Wholesalers Association told the New York Times, "Labor's still a problem, the labor market's still tight out there, but firms are starting to figure out how to make do with what they have."
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.wmar2news.com/wage-and-salary-increases-in-the-us-slowed-down | 2023-07-29T01:11:55 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/wage-and-salary-increases-in-the-us-slowed-down |
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Millions of Shiite Muslims in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world on Friday commemorated Ashoura, a remembrance of the 7th-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, that gave birth to their faith.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban cut mobile phone services in key cities holding commemorations for fear of militants targeting Shiites, whom Sunni extremists consider heretics. Security forces in neighboring Pakistan as well stood on high alert as the commemorations there have seen attacks in the past.
Not all Shiites, however, were to mark the day Friday. Iraq, Lebanon and Syria planned their remembrances for Saturday, which will see a major suburb of Beirut shut down and the faithful descend on the Iraqi city of Karbala, where Hussein is entombed in a gold-domed shrine.
Shiites represent over 10% of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims and view Hussein as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein’s death in battle at the hands of Sunnis at Karbala, south of Baghdad, ingrained a deep rift in Islam and continues to this day to play a key role in shaping Shiite identity.
Over 1,340 years after Hussein’s martyrdom, Baghdad, Tehran, Islamabad and other major capitals in the Middle East were adorned with symbols of Shiite piety and repentance: red flags for Hussein’s blood, symbolic black funeral tents and black dress for mourning, processions of men and boys expressing fervor in the ritual of chest-beating and self-flagellation with chains.
In Iran, where the theocratic government views itself as the protector of Shiites worldwide, the story of Hussein’s martyrdom takes on political connotations amid its tensions with the West over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian state television aired images of commemorations across the Islamic Republic, tying the event to criticizing the West, Israel and the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Anchor Wesam Bahrani on Iran’s state-run English-language broadcaster Press TV referred to America as the “biggest opponent of Islam” and criticized Muslim countries allied with the U.S.
Men wore black, rhythmically beating their chests in mourning or using flails to strike their backs. Some wore red headbands, as black and red banners bore Hussein’s name. Some sprayed water over the mourners in the intense heat.
“Every year everyone joins hands in solidarity,” said 23-year-old Mohammad Hajatmand, who took part in a processional in Tehran. Hussein “was martyred very brutally and when anyone hears the story of Ashoura, regardless of their religion, their hearts will be broken and they will sympathize with him.”
The commemoration in Iran also comes as Tehran prepares for the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini. Her death launched protests nationwide in Iran that reportedly saw more than 500 protesters killed and some 20,000 others detained. Authorities have begun stepping up their enforcement of mandatory hijab, or headscarf, laws for women in recent weeks.
In the suburb of Sayida Zeinab near Syria’s capital, Damascus, security forces guarded checkpoints after a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more. On Tuesday, another bomb in a motorcycle wounded two people. The suburb is home to a shrine to Zeinab, the daughter of the first Shiite imam, Ali, and granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
Local resident Mustafa Semaan, 41, said the area had seen a resurgence of religious tourism after security stabilized amid Syria’s ongoing war and the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t believe the religious observances will be affected (by the recent bombings), but the economic situation as a result of visitors coming from outside Syria may be affected,” Semaan said. “If this continues, if there were a third attack, there might be a very negative impact.”
Iraq will see the main observance of the Ashoura on Saturday in Karbala, where hundreds of thousands are expected and many will rush toward the shrine to symbolize their desire to answer Hussein’s last cries for help in battle. Convoys of the faithful already had begun to arrive there.
Those marking the commemoration in Kabul, Afghanistan, beat their backs bloody with chains and knives in ritual bloodletting known as “tatbir,” meant to recreate the blood flowing from the slain Hussein. The practice has become debated among Shiite clerics in recent decades.
“We have only one problem that (the Taliban) are preventing us to raise our flags and enter (the city) with the flags,” said Karbalayee Rashid, an organizer of the Kabul commemoration. “Thank God the security has been taken care. It is OK, but there are more limits in this country this year than last year.”
In Pakistan, authorities stepped up security as an Interior Ministry alert warned that “terrorists” could target Ashoura processions in major cities. Security was tight in the capital, Islamabad, where police were deployed at a key Shiite place of worship.
The main Ashoura processions also got underway in the eastern city of Lahore in the Punjab province, where thousands of police officers have been deployed. Processions in Karachi and elsewhere were also starting. There was no immediate report of any violence.
“The Imam’s lesson is … hold on to patience,” said Anam Batool, a mourner who took part in a commemoration in Islamabad. “After that, resist falsehood, stand with the truth. Where you must raise your voice against oppression, raise your voice there.”
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Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Baghdad; Anmar Khalil in Karbala, Iraq; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-millions-of-shiite-muslims-across-the-world-commemorate-the-mourning-day-of-ashoura/ | 2023-07-29T01:11:57 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-millions-of-shiite-muslims-across-the-world-commemorate-the-mourning-day-of-ashoura/ |
More patients are skipping the brick-and-mortar hospital to heal at home instead with hospital-at-home programs. And more health care systems are adopting the programs and offering them to patients, especially those 65 and older. The age group makes up a sixth of the U.S. population, and can be at increased risk for secondary infections or falls.
The model is part of health care in other countries too. But critics warn more regulation needs to happen before it is widely adopted in the U.S.
On a recent morning in California, Scripps News met with Pippa Shulman, chief medical officer of Medically Home. The company has partnered with hospital systems like the Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente. The decentralized health care company invited the media to see how their hospital-at-home service works.
"It could be anywhere electricity, running water, an access to a bathroom, everything else. We can help mitigate and support the patient," said Schulman.
Hospital-at-home, or acute at-home hospital care is for stable, acute-care patients. It would not be used for someone who could be admitted to a hospital with a bad infection, COPD, or heart failure, for example. The patients are discharged more quickly or stay at home completely to heal in their own dwelling.
The model uses telehealth and technology. Think calls with doctors and nurses, and devices like a watch that reads vitals or a medication dispenser, for example, supplemented by visits from health care workers for therapies or tests.
"We can do in-home ultrasound, we can do in-home blood testing, we can do in-home x-ray," Schulman explained.
SEE MORE: White House to force insurers to increase mental health coverage
On the other end, medical professionals — doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses — are either working from home or in their own command center, having appointments, looking at a patient's vitals, livestreaming, video chatting, and giving them medical advice in real time.
"People think of the tech as sensors and remote this and monitoring," said geriatrician Dr. Bruce Leff."All-important, all true. But I think what they forget, on the other side, is that the tech and the software platforms allow programs to build high-quality, highly safe care, and the ability to coordinate services."
Leff is an early pioneer of hospital-at-home. He started a program at Johns Hopkins in 1994, conducting some of the first clinical research looking into health outcomes for patient care in and out of hospital. The first participants were patients who needed hospital care, but when offered, refused. Hopkins' institutional review board also required the patients to be monitored 24/7 in person.
"Interestingly, more than half the patients refused that because they thought it would be weird to have someone sitting in their home and watching them sleep."
The trend really boomed out of the COVID pandemic, when hospitals were overrun, and some were working with makeshift wards. In November 2020, Medicare rules changed due to the public health emergency. Hospitals were paid the same amount if an acute patient was in the actual hospital room or in their home. Hospitals were also no longer required to provide 24/7 in-person nursing care.
SEE MORE: 1 million dropped from Medicaid as states start post-pandemic purge
Those Medicare rules were extended that same year. They're now set to expire December 2024, and while law requires the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services to evaluate the program by then, what happens after is uncertain.
Nearly 300 hospital at-home programs exist in 37 states. And the market is expected to grow to $254 billion over the next seven years.
"My view ... is that in the future, hospitals will become big ERs, ORs and ICU beds. Everything else could and should be moved out to the community," said Leff. "As the tech gets better, we'll see more acuity taken care of in the home. I think ... we'll have improved approaches for engaging with family members in terms of maybe more standardization across programs ... Better training for caregivers, which I think is something we need to be working towards."
But acute health care at home has been met with criticism. The largest nurses' union calls it "home all alone."
"Acute care means that your condition is likely to change and you are likely to experience, or at high risk to experience, complications. So even if you're feeling well, that could change quickly," explains Michelle Mahon, RN. She's the assistant director of nursing practice for National Nurses United.
SEE MORE: 43 prescription drugs may soon cost less for some Medicare recipients
National Nurses United also worries the cost will fall onto patients and taxpayers, and warns about the impact on caregivers.
A recent report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research argues that private equity, hedge funds and venture capital getting in the hospital-at-home game without more regulation and enforcement systems means there would be "incentives for financial interests to take advantage of taxpayer subsidies for private gain and at the risk of lower quality care or heightened inequality across diverse populations."
Dr. Leff is a clinical advisor to Medically Home, and Dispatch Health (another at-home health care provider), among others. He says he thinks "it's always good to be suspicious of how money is moving through the health system."
He also added, "There's absolutely some private equity money in this, but a lot of the money is actually coming in the form of investor partners as opposed to private equity. So take Dispatch Health and Humana, take Medically Home with the Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente. Those investments are being provided by investor partners who have a strong interest in creating a credible, safe, high-quality model."
The big question is: Does hospital-at-home work? Johns Hopkins' research in their hospital-at-home program showed the cost of hospital-at-home is a couple thousand dollars less, and length of stays were shorter. Cases of delirium — a complication — were dramatically lower.
A 2021 analysis in the Journal of American Medical Association of several studies of hospital-at-home patients found treatment lasted an average of five days longer and had a similar mortality risk. Hospital readmission risk went down 26%.
Limited research shows at-home acute care patients sleep better and have more physical activity. But the latest studies show many patients eligible for at-home acute care are still skeptical. One found more than 60% of patients offered the program turned it down, opting to stay in a hospital.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.wmar2news.com/what-is-hospital-at-home-and-what-s-the-debate-about-it | 2023-07-29T01:12:01 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/what-is-hospital-at-home-and-what-s-the-debate-about-it |
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, but spokeswoman Lena Kent said the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad will review the report for any additional lessons and ways to improve safety.
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.
Kent said BNSF’s use of both kinds of sensors allows the railroad to check its track network multiple times — more than 450,000 miles (720,000 kilometers) of track each year — and that the technology has helped the railroad reduce the rate of defects that it finds by 82% over the past five years.
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-montana-train-derailment-report-renews-calls-for-automated-systems-to-detect-track-problems/ | 2023-07-29T01:12:04 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-montana-train-derailment-report-renews-calls-for-automated-systems-to-detect-track-problems/ |
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.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-mounting-job-vacancies-push-state-and-local-governments-into-a-wage-war-for-workers/ | 2023-07-29T01:12:11 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-mounting-job-vacancies-push-state-and-local-governments-into-a-wage-war-for-workers/ |