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BUTTE — The first of many Indian Taco sales took place on July 28, and all day people trickled into The Native Wellness Center in Butte to pick up a taste of a family recipe that is raising funds for the annual Southwest Native Community PowWow.
Powwow president Peggy Falcon shares with me how she makes this delicious recipe.
"It’s an old tradition from way back. My mother would always have us girls go up to her house, she’d say, ‘You’re gonna learn how to make fry bread.' Her mother made them too; it’s just an old tradition,” says Falcon.
And it’s a tradition that Falcon embraced later in life after getting sober 25 years ago.
“I’m a recovering alcoholic, 25 years. Before that, a powwow to me was just going to snag, just to go look for men, you know, have fun. But when I sobered up, I told myself that in honor of my mother I would dance, so I started dancing,” says Falcon.
Falcon says she also started making fry bread when she entered sobriety and now her Indian Tacos help raise funds to bring dancers to the annual Southwest Native Community PowWow.
“Of course, I make the best fry bread in town. I gotta put that in there,” says Falcon.
The fry bread is made with simple ingredients like flour, oil, eggs, and sugar—but there’s another ingredient that can’t be measured: love.
“Made with a lot of love. A little bit of this and a little bit of that and a whole bunch of love,” says Falcon.
The powwow is in its 47th year of operation in Butte, and Peggy welcomes everyone to join in the dancing and merrymaking and of course, she’ll have Indian Tacos for the hungry participants.
The Southwest Native Community PowWow will take place on Sept. 8 and 9 at the Butte Plaza Mall. The event is free and features a drum circle and dance contests on both days.
On Sept. 9, the day begins with a 1k and 5k run/ walk for suicide awareness and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, followed by a pancake breakfast on Saturday.
The event also features a 50/50 drawing and raffle and Indian Tacos will be sold from Asia Gardens. For more information, call Brenda Jarvis at 406-498-0632. | https://www.kxlf.com/news/local-news/butte-woman-raises-funds-for-powwow-with-fry-bread-sale | 2023-07-29T01:17:00 | 0 | https://www.kxlf.com/news/local-news/butte-woman-raises-funds-for-powwow-with-fry-bread-sale |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-automaker-tesla-is-opening-more-showrooms-on-tribal-lands-to-avoid-state-laws-barring-direct-sales/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:01 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-automaker-tesla-is-opening-more-showrooms-on-tribal-lands-to-avoid-state-laws-barring-direct-sales/ |
HELENA — In recent years, Montanans have been inundated with political ads – and that could be on track to continue into 2024.
With almost a year still to go before the first votes are cast in the race for Montana’s U.S. Senate seat, the first candidate ads are already going onto the airwaves. On Friday, Gallatin County businessman Tim Sheehy – a prominent Republican candidate challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester – announced his first statewide advertising campaign.
The ad is largely biographical, describing Sheehy and his wife’s military service in Afghanistan, as well as his businesses Bridger Aerospace and Little Belt Cattle Company. In it, Sheehy describes himself as a “conservative leader.”
A source familiar with Sheehy’s ad buy told MTN it totaled about $200,000, and covers broadcast television, cable and satellite and digital advertising.
Montana’s U.S. Senate races have been some of the most hotly contested and closely watched in the country in recent election cycles. In 2018, more than $63 million were spent by candidates and outside groups in the race between Tester and Republican nominee and future U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale. Two years later, more than $150 million was spent in the 2020 campaign, when incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines defeated Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock.
In 2024, the campaign for Tester’s seat is again expected to be a key race for determining control of the U.S. Senate.
More details about early campaign spending will be available in October, when federal candidates file their financial reports for the third quarter of the year – July, August and September.
These may not be the last candidates to get into the Senate race – and there’s still plenty of time for candidates to get their message out to Montana voters. We are still more than ten months away from the 2024 primary next June, and the November general election is 15 months away. | https://www.kxlf.com/news/political-ad-season-returns-to-montana | 2023-07-29T01:17:02 | 1 | https://www.kxlf.com/news/political-ad-season-returns-to-montana |
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.kxlf.com/wage-and-salary-increases-in-the-us-slowed-down | 2023-07-29T01:17:02 | 0 | https://www.kxlf.com/wage-and-salary-increases-in-the-us-slowed-down |
Mike the Tiger bobblehead unveiled to celebrate LSU Tigers 2023 baseball national championship win
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - LSU baseball fans, get ready! The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled an officially licensed, limited-edition bobblehead commemorating the LSU Tigers’ 2023 Baseball National Championship Friday, July 28.
The bobblehead, which features LSU’s mascot, Mike the Tiger, celebrates the baseball team’s 2023 season which culminated with the Men’s College World Series title in Omaha, Nebraska on June 26th. The special edition bobblehead is being produced exclusively by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.
Wearing a gold No. 1 baseball jersey with Tigers across the front and Mike across the back, the Mike the Tiger bobblehead is holding a bat on his right shoulder while standing on a baseball field base featuring the LSU and championship logos. Each bobblehead will be individually numbered to only 2,023 and they are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. The bobbleheads, which are expected to ship in November, are $35 each plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order.
The LSU baseball team captured the seventh national title in program history, and the first since 2009, with a convincing 18-4 victory over Florida in Game 3 of the College World Series championship series on Monday, June 26th, before a crowd of 24,878 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
The second-seeded Gators took a 2-0 lead after one inning in the winner-take-all finale, but the fifth-seeded Tigers scored six runs in the second inning, four more in the fourth and continued to pour it on. Dylan Crews, Brayden Jobert and Tommy White collected four hits apiece to lead a record-setting 24-hit attack. Crews, who made two dazzling catches in the outfield, became the first player since 1995 to win a national title and the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the top amateur player in the country, in the same season. Crews was selected second in the 2023 MLB Draft, while teammate Paul Skenes, a right-handed pitcher who was named the CWS Most Outstanding Player and won the National Pitcher of the Year Award, was selected first.
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Copyright 2023 WAFB. All rights reserved. | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/28/mike-tiger-bobblehead-unveiled-celebrate-lsu-tigers-2023-baseball-national-championship-win/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:03 | 1 | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/28/mike-tiger-bobblehead-unveiled-celebrate-lsu-tigers-2023-baseball-national-championship-win/ |
‘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.kmvt.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:02 | 1 | https://www.kmvt.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ |
The Birmingham Times
Google recently awarded a Black-owned Birmingham-based company $150,000 in developmental funds to advance and distribute their tax accounting software to millions of Americans through the 2023 Google for Startups Black Founders Fund and Latino Founders Fund.
SmartWiz developed the first-ever all-in-one tax software for tax professionals, and their efforts caught the attention of technology behemoth Google.
“We were tired of seeing people struggle to obtain and manage their documents, and we feel our software will help increase efficiency and expand access for those who may have not had anyone at their side throughout the tax prep process before,” said co-founder Bre Johnson. “SmartWiz wants to impact lives and improve the experience for everyone involved, and we believe our revolutionary software does exactly that.”
Johnson, Olumuyiwa Aladebumoye, Tevin Harrel, Jordan Ward, and Justin Robinson, all Auburn University grads, have grown SmartWiz into a tax professional software and digital accounting firm that optimizes accounting, tax management, legal and consulting services.
They teamed up together in 2016 to create the software, TaxxWiz, a platform to improve access and efficiency through tax preparation and recently rebranded as SmartWiz to expand their business to tax professionals.
SmartWiz has used artificial intelligence (AI) and modern integrations to create software for tax professionals serving underserved communities. SmartWiz is one of 46 U.S. recipients of funding, and the company is riding a wave of momentum. Its software was approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) last year, and the company also recently spent three months in Los Angeles as part of a TechStars cohort.
“Our team is very big on strategic partnerships,” said Johnson. “We are big on working with partners who understand our vision to change the world with the way taxes are done forever, and Google has offered such amazing resources and opportunities to us. This funding means to us the ability to build our product faster, scale our organization and really take over the digital space with improved support on how we market our software using Google SEO.”
The six-figure Google for Startups investment will allow SmartWiz to impact the way millions of Americans file their taxes. The funds are equity-free, and SmartWiz also will receive sales and fundraising training, technical support from Google mentors, up to $100,000 in Google Cloud credits, mental health coaching from a team of Black and Latino therapists and participation in the fund’s interactive community.
“As we build out our engineering team, we now have the ability to really focus on improving the technology and AI capabilities to bring tech to the tax industry,” said Johnson. “We will be giving our users a more innovative, fun and revolutionary approach to tax preparation while ensuring every single person who gets their taxes done by someone using our software will have an improved experience every single year. Being Black founders, and even me being a woman, we don’t take this opportunity for granted because we know it is a blessing from God to be chosen by Google for Startups to be a part of this journey.”
Since 2020, the Google for Startups Founders Fund has provided more than $45 million in funding to more than 500 Black and Latino founders, and past recipients have raised more than $400 million in investments after their selections in the fund. | http://www.birminghamtimes.com/2023/07/google-awards-black-owned-birmingham-firm-150000-to-advance-tax-software/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:03 | 0 | http://www.birminghamtimes.com/2023/07/google-awards-black-owned-birmingham-firm-150000-to-advance-tax-software/ |
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Colorado’s return to the Big 12 in 2024 fits right into Deion Sanders’ recruiting blueprint, allowing him to get an even better foothold in the teeming Texas and Florida markets.
“I think Colorado is already an exciting team on the recruiting trail with Coach Prime and his experienced staff full of college coaches who have been around for a while and a lot of guys with NFL pedigree,” said Steve Wiltfong, national recruiting director for 247Sports. “So I think more than anything it adds to the excitement because it’s moving to what is certainly a more stable conference and one that just had a football team (TCU) in the playoff.”
Athletic director Rick George said he kept basketball coaches Tad Boyle and JR Payne in the loop along with Sanders, who’s entering his first season in Boulder, before the CU board of regents rubber-stamped Colorado’s return to the Big 12 on Thursday.
“I think all of them felt like: Whatever you think’s best for us, we’re going to play whomever you ask us to play,” George said. “I will tell you, there are tremendous benefits for being in the Big 12 for the direction that Coach Prime’s going as it relates to recruiting, being able to play in Orlando against UCF, where he’s recruiting very heavily (and) the state of Texas has always been a priority for us.”
The newfangled Big 12 isn’t the same league the Buffs left in 2011 during the initial rounds of conference realigment when Texas A&M, Missouri and Nebraska also left. Texas and Oklahoma are leaving next year for the Big Ten. TCU and West Virginia came on board a decade ago and Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and Central Florida were added this year.
Sanders, who’s overseen the biggest roster overhaul in the nation since his hiring this spring, already has strong roots in Florida and Texas.
He was born in Fort Myers and starred at Florida State before embarking on a dual sports career as an NFL defensive back and a Major League outfielder. Some of his best years came during his half decade with the Cowboys from 1995-99 and he still has a home in the Dallas area.
When the Buffaloes return to the Big 12 next year, they will have four conference opponents in the Lone Star State in TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor and Houston, which features one of the nation’s largest television markets.
“Houston has always been a favorable market for us in recruiting,” said George, who then mentioned a few players from CU’s heyday in the late 1980s and early ’90s. “You think back to Alfred Williams, Kanavis McGhee and Chris Hudson. That area — the fifth-largest market in the country — also was a factor” in Colorado’s decision to return to the Big 12.
“Colorado recruits Texas hard because it’s an obvious state to go recruit,” Wiltfong said, “and now being in the Big 12, with all those Texas teams, it gives them one more inch to say, ’Hey, we’re going to be coming to the Lone Star State a lot throughout your career to play some big games.’”
Wiltfong expects Sanders to compete with the big boys when it comes to the recruiting trails of Texas.
“Deion’s lived in Texas, right? Deion is going to go where the players are. He’s going to recruit nationally because his name is electric,” Wiltfong said.
Colorado is the third school to leave the Pac-12 in the last year, joining UCLA and USC, which are going to the Big Ten next year. The moves coincide with the expiration of current media rights deals with ESPN and Fox.
Colorado is expected to get $31.7 million in annual TV revenue in the Big 12, which last year came to an agreement with ESPN and Fox on a six-year extension worth more than $2 billion that runs through 2030-31.
After Colorado’s vote to leave, the Pac-12 issued a statement that read, “We are focused on concluding our media rights deal and securing our continued success and growth. Immediately following the conclusion of our media rights deal, we will embrace expansion opportunities and bring new fans, markets, excitement and value to the Pac-12.”
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AP College Football Writer Eric Olson contributed to this report.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25 Sign up for the AP Top 25 newsletter here: https://link.apnews.com/join/6nr/morning-wire-newsletter-footer-internal-ads | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-prime-real-estate-colorados-return-to-big-12-fits-deion-sanders-football-recruiting-blueprint/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:03 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-prime-real-estate-colorados-return-to-big-12-fits-deion-sanders-football-recruiting-blueprint/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-europes-banks-could-survive-a-drastic-economic-downturn-stress-test-shows/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:07 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-europes-banks-could-survive-a-drastic-economic-downturn-stress-test-shows/ |
Churchill Downs to resume racing at fall meet with no changes after horse deaths
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Racing will resume at Churchill Downs in September, with no changes being made after a review of surfaces and safety protocols in the wake of 12 horse deaths, including seven in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby in May.
The Louisville track suspended racing operations on June 7 and moved the rest of its spring meet to Ellis Park in western Kentucky at the recommendation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the sport’s national overseer.
Training continued at Churchill Downs during the track’s investigation.
Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen called the deaths “a series of unfortunate circumstances” and said the review “didn’t find anything fundamentally wrong or different about our track from previous years.”
“That, in a sense, can sometimes be unsatisfying,” he said. “But that’s business, and that’s sports.”
Two of the horse deaths occurred in undercard races on Derby day. Another five died later.
“The takeaway is, the track is very safe,” Carstanjen said Thursday on an earnings call with CDI investors.
“What we needed to do was spend some of this time in the interim, while we ran the rest of the (spring) meet at Ellis to just go soup to nuts through every single thing we do at the racetrack. There was nothing that jumped out as an apparent cause of the injuries, of the breakdowns; and, as we went through and rebuilt our processes from the ground up to check everything that we do to make extra sure, we didn’t find anything material.”
The track’s fall meet begins Sept. 14 and runs through Oct. 1.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/29/churchill-downs-resume-racing-fall-meet-with-no-changes-after-horse-deaths/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:09 | 1 | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/29/churchill-downs-resume-racing-fall-meet-with-no-changes-after-horse-deaths/ |
Cal Raleigh Player Prop Bets: Mariners vs. Diamondbacks - July 28
Published: Jul. 28, 2023 at 6:23 PM MDT|Updated: 53 minutes ago
Cal Raleigh -- with a slugging percentage of .621 in his past 10 games, including three home runs -- will be in action for the Seattle Mariners against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Tommy Henry on the hill, on July 28 at 9:40 PM ET.
He strung together two hits (going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI) in his last game against the Twins.
Cal Raleigh Game Info & Props vs. the Diamondbacks
- Game Day: Friday, July 28, 2023
- Game Time: 9:40 PM ET
- Stadium: Chase Field
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Diamondbacks Starter: Tommy Henry
- TV Channel: ARID
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -182)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +400)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +165)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +120)
Looking to place a prop bet on Cal Raleigh? Check out what's available at BetMGM and use bonus code "GNPLAY" when you sign up with this link!
Read More About This Game
Cal Raleigh At The Plate
- Raleigh is hitting .228 with 14 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and 33 walks.
- Raleigh is batting .375 with two homers during his last outings and is riding a four-game hitting streak.
- Raleigh has gotten at least one hit in 55.2% of his games this season (48 of 87), with multiple hits 18 times (20.7%).
- He has hit a home run in 11 games this season (12.6%), leaving the park in 4.3% of his plate appearances.
- Raleigh has an RBI in 24 of 87 games this year, with multiple RBI in 10 of them. He has also driven in three or more of his team's runs in three contests.
- He has scored in 35 games this season, with multiple runs eight times.
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Cal Raleigh Home/Away Batting Splits
Diamondbacks Pitching Rankings
- The pitching staff for the Diamondbacks has a collective 8.2 K/9, which ranks 23rd in the league.
- The Diamondbacks have a 4.69 team ERA that ranks 25th across all league pitching staffs.
- The Diamondbacks rank 22nd in baseball in home runs given up (128 total, 1.2 per game).
- Henry (5-3 with a 4.01 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings pitched) gets the start for the Diamondbacks, his 16th of the season.
- In his most recent outing on Friday, July 21 against the Cincinnati Reds, the left-hander tossed 4 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs while surrendering four hits.
- In 16 games this season, the 26-year-old has put up an ERA of 4.01, with 6.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents are batting .252 against him.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kmvt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/cal-raleigh-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:09 | 1 | https://www.kmvt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/cal-raleigh-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Broncos coach Sean Payton said Friday he regrets disparaging his predecessor in an interview in which he called the work Nathaniel Hackett and his staff did in Denver last season “one of the worst coaching jobs in the NFL” and said there were “20 dirty hands” around Russell Wilson’s career-worst season.
“Listen, I had one of those moments where I still had my Fox hat on and not my coaching hat,” said Payton, who’s returning to the sideline this season after a year’s sabbatical during which he worked as a studio football analyst for Fox Sports following a 15-year stint with the New Orleans Saints.
Payton’s comments in an interview with USA Today’s Jarrett Bell rocked the NFL because he broke the coaches code in which they refrain from publicly lambasting one another and because he spent his first six months on the job admonishing his players not to look back at last year’s dismal season and to ignore “outside noise.”
“I said this to the team in the meeting yesterday: we’ve had a great offseason relative to that, you know, and I’ve been preaching that message and here I am the veteran” doing just that, Payton said during a lengthy mea culpa in his first comments since he ignited the firestorm.
“It was a learning experience for me. It was a mistake. Obviously, I needed a little bit more filter … I needed a little bit more restraint. And I regret that,” Payton continued.
Payton said he’s usually pretty media savvy “and I just had one of those moments. Jarrett’s a good friend, real good at his job. And two lattes in the morning, first one I see and 40 minutes later, I’m regretting it.”
In the interview, Payton also took potshots at the Jets, who hired Hackett as their offensive coordinator this year, and criticized Broncos general manager George Paton and team President Damani Leech for allowing Hackett and his staff to give Wilson so much free rein, including having his personal quarterback coach with him at team headquarters.
That was one of many unconventional allowances — another was having his own office upstairs next to the coaches — that drew heavy scrutiny when Wilson looked nothing like the star he’d been in Seattle or like a QB who deserved the $245 million extension he signed last summer.
Payton’s criticisms were part of a spirited defense of Wilson, whom he expects to have a big comeback this year and help the Broncos end a seven-year playoff drought.
“Listen, I’m not afraid of the expectation,” Payton said Friday. “I’ve talked with several people about, you know, being used to contending for the postseason. You don’t take it for granted. But that mindset needs to be present here. And so yeah, I see this as a team that has that ability.”
Payton didn’t specifically apologize for his critical comments but he did say he’ll reach out to Hackett and Jets head coach Robert Saleh “at the right time” to do so.
The Broncos host the Jets on Oct. 8, and the row he started “certainly will bring more interest to the game when we play them,” Payton said. “But that seems like years from now.”
Closer to home, Payton has some damage control to do with his GM and the team president who came on board late last summer.
“The front office and the ownership are the two reasons I came here,” Paton said. “So, George and I are close. He was one of the big attractions, he and ownership. My point was it was across the board organizationally, it wasn’t just one person” responsible for Wilson’s dismal season.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-sean-payton-says-he-regrets-criticizing-predecessor-nathaniel-hackett-and-his-own-general-manager/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:09 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-sean-payton-says-he-regrets-criticizing-predecessor-nathaniel-hackett-and-his-own-general-manager/ |
Police: Man charged with murder after living with girlfriend’s body in closet for months
LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) - A man accused of killing his girlfriend told investigators that he lived with her body in a closet for months before she was discovered.
KVVU reports that George Bone faces a murder charge in the death of Beverly Ma.
Police said they discovered Ma’s body after the woman’s family located her in a home on July 26.
Bone was reportedly Ma’s boyfriend, and the two were living together.
The family said they went to the house where the two were to check on the air conditioning unit. They had received an expensive bill and the repair man said no one was answering the door.
They arrived at the home, but Ma still did not answer them.
According to an arrest report, they talked to Bone upstairs, and that’s when he told them that Ma was dead.
While a family member was on hold with 911, she asked Bone why he didn’t call the police and why he stayed in the house with her body, the report said.
He reportedly told the family member that he wanted to prolong his arrest. The family described Bone as being casual about the situation and brushing his teeth while speaking to them.
The woman’s family said they were not close but did keep in touch with Ma as she suffered trauma in the past.
They had last seen her in person in April, but she stopped responding to their messages a couple of months ago.
During Bone’s interview with police, he said he had known Ma since high school, and they developed a romantic relationship in 2019 after he left prison.
He started living with Ma in July 2022 and Bone told police they fought often, the arrest report said.
According to authorities, Ma had called 911 on May 4 at about 4:40 a.m. Dispatchers could hear a woman and a man screaming at each other, but Ma never responded to the dispatcher’s questions and the line went dead.
Officers said they did a door knock at the house. However, no one answered.
During his interview with police, Bone reportedly told investigators he found Ma in the closet with a belt around her neck in May. He responded to text messages on her phone so her family would think she was alive.
He also told police that he was keeping the temperature in the home at 60 degrees because of the number of flies in the house.
According to Bone’s arrest report, investigators didn’t find consistent evidence regarding his story about Ma’s suicide attempt. Police pointed out these inconsistencies to Bone and he said he didn’t know how to dispose of a body.
Eventually, Bone requested an attorney and the police interview ended.
Bone was not granted bail in a July 27 hearing. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 1.
Copyright 2023 KVVU via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/29/police-man-charged-with-murder-after-living-with-girlfriends-body-closet-months/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:15 | 1 | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/29/police-man-charged-with-murder-after-living-with-girlfriends-body-closet-months/ |
MILAN (AP) — French luxury conglomerate Kering has reached a cash deal to purchase a 30% stake in Italian fashion house Valentino for 1.7 billion euros from a Qatari investment firm.
With the purchase, Kering is seeking to shore up its revenue stream as it struggles to turn around former powerhouse Gucci. Kering on Thursday reported first-half revenues of 10.1 billion euros, up 2%, as Gucci sales stagnate.
Under the deal announced Thursday, Kering has the option to buy 100% of Valentino no later than 2028. The partnership could lead to the Qatari investment firm, Mayhoola, becoming a shareholder in Kering, as well as other potential “joint opportunities,” the statement said.
Kering Chairman and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault expressed admiration for “the evolution of Valentino under Mayhoola ownership,” which Kering said turned Valentino “into one of the most admired luxury houses in the world.”
“I am very pleased of this first step in our collaboration with Mayhoola to develop Valentino and pursue the very strong strategic journey of brand elevation,’’ citing the role of Valentino CEO Jacopo Venturini, who “will continue to lead.”
Gucci, which accounts for nearly half of Kering revenues, is in the throes of a relaunch, with a new management team and a new creative director, Sabato De Sarn o, who will unveil his first collection during Milan Fashion Week in September.
Valentino, founded by Valentino Garavani in 1960, recorded revenues of 1.4 billion euros in 2022. Pierpaolo Piccoli has been creative director at Valentino since 2008, working alongside Maria Grazia Chiuri from 2008-16. With its corporate base in Milan and design studio in Rome, the fashion house is a mainstay of Paris fashion week with its womenswear and couture collections while recently returning menswear to Milan. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-french-luxury-group-kering-to-buy-30-stake-in-valentino-for-1-7-billion-euros-cash/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:15 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-french-luxury-group-kering-to-buy-30-stake-in-valentino-for-1-7-billion-euros-cash/ |
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.kxlf.com/what-is-hospital-at-home-and-what-s-the-debate-about-it | 2023-07-29T01:17:16 | 1 | https://www.kxlf.com/what-is-hospital-at-home-and-what-s-the-debate-about-it |
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Christine Sinclair. Megan Rapinoe. Sarina Bolden.
Like many players in the Women’s World Cup, all three stars built their skills at the U.S. collegiate level.
Of the 736 players competing at this year’s Women’s World Cup, 137 have roots in American college-level soccer, according to the NCAA. The total includes 16 players who currently compete for Division I schools or lower divisions.
Across the 32 teams that qualified for the group stage, more than one in every six players has had a career stop at an American school.
Not all the NCAA athletes in the tournament are tied to the United States.
Canada has 22 of 23 athletes who played or still play on U.S. college teams, most of any team in the tournament. That includes Sinclair, the the all-time leader in international goals for men and women, who played at the University of Portland.
The United States ranks second with 20 players. Rapinoe also played at Portland, but Alyssa Thompson, Trinity Rodman, and Lindsey Horan all turned professional without playing a college match. Horan also did not play for a high school team.
More than 70 U.S. schools are represented in the 2023 tournament, with Florida State the leader with eight current or former players competing. Stanford and North Carolina each have six, Penn State has five and four universities have four former players.
Even schools with lesser-known soccer programs have players competing in New Zealand and Australia. Hilary Jaen of Panama plays for Jones County Community College in Mississippi, Carleigh Frilles of the Philippines plays for Coastal Carolina and Chiara Singarella of Argentina plays for South Alabama. Erin Nayler of New Zealand previously played at Purdue Fort Wayne in Indiana.
TITLE IX
The success of American college soccer can trace its roots back just over 50 years, with the introduction of Title IX. As the U.S. government required universities to establish equal opportunities for men and women in education, those protections – and funding – spread to college athletics.
“The U.S. was providing one of the only games in town so to speak, in terms of opportunities for women to get some kind of compensation,” said Ellen Staurowsky, a professor in sports media at Ithaca College.
Title IX drew female athletes from outside the United States to American schools. Since the passage of Title IX, the number of female athletes competing in NCAA athletics has increased seven-fold and currently represents 44% of all university athletes, according to the National Women’s Law Center.
NCAA TRENDS
In 2021, there were 1,464 international student-athletes playing in NCAA Division I and Division II women’s soccer.
Traditional soccer powerhouses such as Germany and Sweden are sending significant numbers of players to college soccer, even though they have developmental programs of their own. There were 114 from Sweden and 128 from Germany in 2021.
In that same year, NCAA teams had 38 players from New Zealand, 35 players from the Netherlands, 16 players from Japan, and 5 players from South Africa.
“Then you would see those women going back to their own countries, taking what they learned with them,” Staurowsky said. “And you can begin to see how the sport begins to expand out.”
Penn State women’s soccer coach Erica Dambach has seen the collegiate process up close for some time. She’s coached at the Division I level since 1997, won the national title in 2015, and worked as an assistant coach for the U.S. women’s national teams at both the youth and senior levels.
“Until these players are making millions, I think an education is going to be the most important thing for these young women,” Dambach said. “I don’t think it’s for everyone, you have to be invested in getting your education.”
THE AMERICAN SYSTEM
That can be easier than it sounds.
“Educational systems around the globe are so different that our international students really don’t know how to navigate the (U.S.) system,” said Nicole LaVoi, a former collegiate tennis coach and the director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota.
Coumba Sow, a Swiss midfielder, attended Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, for two years before transferring to play Division I soccer at Oklahoma State.
“I didn’t understand the system. I was in a rush to just go to the States,” Sow said. “I wanted to keep on learning a language and studying and also play soccer. It’s a lot of paperwork, so I just looked at the facility. I was like, ‘Oh, New York,’ and I went. Then I got there I was like, ‘OK, maybe I should have checked it out better.’”
For New Zealand forward Gabi Rennie, taking the pathway to Division I soccer was an easy decision after watching others succeed. Rennie is entering her final year of NCAA eligibility at Arizona State after spending two seasons at Indiana.
“I wasn’t too sure what to do. But obviously, the college circuit was a really good option,” Rennie said. “Being able to kind of look to the likes of Ali Riley and Katie Bowen and the likes of those girls that had done the college circuit was cool, and just opened those doors for me.”
A PROVING GROUND
Katrina Guillou, a starting forward for the Philippines, spent four years at North Carolina–Wilmington. Her time playing soccer in Wilmington was pivotal to her career.
“The way the season is, with everything so condensed into the three-month span, playing two games every week, I think it really helps build the stamina that’s needed,” Guillou said. “And coming to this level, I think I’ve been able to build on top of that.”
Like many others, Sow saw her experience with American teams impact her style of play.
“Before I went to the U.S., I wasn’t really a physical player,” said Sow. “I learned how to fight in the U.S. because it’s a lot, a lot of long balls. You have to fight for the second ball. And before, I was just a technical player.”
Jody Brown of Jamaica was named the best young players in CONCACAF at the age of 16 and now plays for Florida State.
“The coaches helped us,” said Brown of Florida State. “I feel like college also prepared me for this moment and I’m just so grateful for that and the work that I’ve put in to get to this point because it’s all paid off right now.”
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Joe Lister is a student in John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
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Contributing reporters included Luke Vargas in Hamilton and Max Ralph in Auckland, students in John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State; and Clay Witt in Sydney, a student at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-several-stars-at-the-womens-world-cup-honed-their-skills-with-us-collegiate-teams/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:17 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-several-stars-at-the-womens-world-cup-honed-their-skills-with-us-collegiate-teams/ |
‘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.kalb.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:21 | 1 | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/29/x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-investigate-permit-violation/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-fukushima-plant-official-says-the-coming-release-of-treated-water-a-milestone-for-decommissioning/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:22 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-fukushima-plant-official-says-the-coming-release-of-treated-water-a-milestone-for-decommissioning/ |
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid watched his team work out in pads for the first time since their Super Bowl triumph last February and saw his players’ energy rise.
“Naturally it does that,” Reid said. “But I like the way they did it, how they got after each other.”
The defending champions ratcheted up the competition for an hour, 40 minutes in sweltering conditions as the heat index soared into the mid-90s.
The air wasn’t all that was hot, like when cornerback Dicaprio Bootle continued hacking at the football in the grasp of tight end Travis Kelce after a play. Cornerback Lamar Jackson raised eyebrows when he delivered a late hit on receiver Kekoa Crawford out of bounds.
Reid doesn’t mind trash-talking and spirited play as long as players keep their wits about them.
“They’re going to jaw,” Reid said. “It’s hot, humid, they’re going to jaw a little bit. As long as there are no punches thrown we’re all right.”
The Chiefs dug in during practice for three separate periods of 11-on-11, along with a nine-on-seven run session.
However, the most anticipated session in Friday’s practice focused on offensive and defensive linemen facing off in pass-rushing scenarios.
“It’s you mano a mano,” guard Trey Smith said. “All the technical details, every little piece matters. Being able to lock in those little seconds and get your job done.”
Linebacker Willie Gay said the hard, hot practice was tailor made for Reid. Although it was grueling, “I told the guys, as long as we continue to get better, it’s going to make the games and preseason even easier, and we’ll start winning,” he continued.
There’s rust to knock off whenever the pads first come on.
“You have some things that you got to clean up, some things you can be a little tighter technique-wise, but it’s always good to put the pads back on,” Smith said. “It’s always good knowing the season’s around the corner.”
Off the field, defensive tackle Chris Jones held out for seventh day and Reid, who hasn’t communicated with Jones recently, didn’t know when the holdout would end.
“We’re moving fast and furious even though he’s not here,” Reid said.
The 29-year-old-Jones is set to earn $19.5 million in base salary this season in the final year of a four-year extension signed in 2020. The All-Pro is seeking an extension that would make him the league’s second-highest-paid defensive tackle behind Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald, whose contract sports an annual average value of $31.67 million.
Jones has been fined $50,000 fine for each missed day of training camp missed, a total that’s grown to $350,000 00 so far. If Jones doesn’t report by Aug. 13, he will be assessed an additional fine of $1.147 for missing the team’s preseason opener against New Orleans.
NOTES: Linebacker Nick Bolton returned to practice Friday following a brief illness, but fellow linebacker Drue Tranquill exited practice early due to a sprained neck. Defensive end Mike Danna left with a strained calf while tight end Jody Fortson is undergoing further examination on a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney expects to miss the remainder of training camp after surgery Tuesday for a torn meniscus.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-super-bowl-champion-chiefs-hold-hot-tough-practice-in-1st-day-of-pads/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:24 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-super-bowl-champion-chiefs-hold-hot-tough-practice-in-1st-day-of-pads/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-germany-used-to-be-the-worlds-export-powerhouse-now-its-not-growing-what-happened/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:29 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-germany-used-to-be-the-worlds-export-powerhouse-now-its-not-growing-what-happened/ |
Churchill Downs to resume racing at fall meet with no changes after horse deaths
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Racing will resume at Churchill Downs in September, with no changes being made after a review of surfaces and safety protocols in the wake of 12 horse deaths, including seven in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby in May.
The Louisville track suspended racing operations on June 7 and moved the rest of its spring meet to Ellis Park in western Kentucky at the recommendation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the sport’s national overseer.
Training continued at Churchill Downs during the track’s investigation.
Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen called the deaths “a series of unfortunate circumstances” and said the review “didn’t find anything fundamentally wrong or different about our track from previous years.”
“That, in a sense, can sometimes be unsatisfying,” he said. “But that’s business, and that’s sports.”
Two of the horse deaths occurred in undercard races on Derby day. Another five died later.
“The takeaway is, the track is very safe,” Carstanjen said Thursday on an earnings call with CDI investors.
“What we needed to do was spend some of this time in the interim, while we ran the rest of the (spring) meet at Ellis to just go soup to nuts through every single thing we do at the racetrack. There was nothing that jumped out as an apparent cause of the injuries, of the breakdowns; and, as we went through and rebuilt our processes from the ground up to check everything that we do to make extra sure, we didn’t find anything material.”
The track’s fall meet begins Sept. 14 and runs through Oct. 1.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2023/07/29/churchill-downs-resume-racing-fall-meet-with-no-changes-after-horse-deaths/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:31 | 0 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2023/07/29/churchill-downs-resume-racing-fall-meet-with-no-changes-after-horse-deaths/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — As Bronny James continues to recover after going into cardiac arrest, his Southern California teammates have been at practice to prepare for a 10-day exhibition tour of Greece and Croatia that begins next week.
The tour will run from from Aug. 5-15 and see the Trojans visit Athens and Mykonos, Greece, and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Teams are allowed to go on a foreign tour once every four years under NCAA rules.
James was discharged from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Thursday and is resting at home, according to a statement from the hospital. His father, Lakers superstar LeBron James, also posted on social media that his family is “safe and healthy.”
Bronny James will continue to undergo tests to determine the cause of his cardiac arrest, which occurred Monday morning during a workout at USC’s Galen Center.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart abruptly stops beating, because of a problem with its electrical activity. While uncommon in young people, sudden cardiac arrest is the leading medical cause of death in young athletes. Some studies have estimated one sudden cardiac death in 50,000 to 80,000 young athletes each year.
No information has been made public about what may have caused Bronny James’ cardiac arrest. But one of the most common causes in young athletes is an underlying problem with the heart’s structure, such as a genetic condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that leads to a thickened heart muscle more prone to irregular electrical activity. A more rare cause is commotio cordis, which occurs when someone receives a sharp blow to the chest during a specific part of the heartbeat’s cycle — what happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin earlier this year.
James was the second high-profile USC basketball recruit to go into cardiac arrest in the last year. Vincent Iwuchuwku also was stricken during a workout last July, but the 7-foot-1 center returned to the court six months later and appeared in 14 games.
It’s too soon to know how James’ playing career could be affected, especially without a lot of information being made public. Various experts point to James’ quick move out of intensive care and being released three days later as encouraging.
The upcoming trip is important for the Trojans as James recovers. USC had the nation’s fourth-ranked recruiting class, including the top-rated player in guard Isaiah Collier.
James committed to the Trojans in May after the 6-foot-3 18-year-old became one of the nation’s top prospects as a two-way point guard for Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California.
He is the sixth McDonald’s All-American to come to USC since Andy Enfield became coach in 2013.
With his family fame and huge social media following, Bronny James also has the top name, image and likeness valuation in sports at $6.3 million, as estimated by On3.com. He is the oldest of LeBron and Savannah James’ three children.
___
AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham and AP Health & Science Writer Lauran Neergard contributed to this report.
___
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/lebron-james | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-usc-still-preparing-for-a-european-tour-as-bronny-james-recovers-at-home-after-cardiac-arrest/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:31 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-usc-still-preparing-for-a-european-tour-as-bronny-james-recovers-at-home-after-cardiac-arrest/ |
Churchill Downs to resume racing at fall meet with no changes after horse deaths
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Racing will resume at Churchill Downs in September, with no changes being made after a review of surfaces and safety protocols in the wake of 12 horse deaths, including seven in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby in May.
The Louisville track suspended racing operations on June 7 and moved the rest of its spring meet to Ellis Park in western Kentucky at the recommendation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the sport’s national overseer.
Training continued at Churchill Downs during the track’s investigation.
Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen called the deaths “a series of unfortunate circumstances” and said the review “didn’t find anything fundamentally wrong or different about our track from previous years.”
“That, in a sense, can sometimes be unsatisfying,” he said. “But that’s business, and that’s sports.”
Two of the horse deaths occurred in undercard races on Derby day. Another five died later.
“The takeaway is, the track is very safe,” Carstanjen said Thursday on an earnings call with CDI investors.
“What we needed to do was spend some of this time in the interim, while we ran the rest of the (spring) meet at Ellis to just go soup to nuts through every single thing we do at the racetrack. There was nothing that jumped out as an apparent cause of the injuries, of the breakdowns; and, as we went through and rebuilt our processes from the ground up to check everything that we do to make extra sure, we didn’t find anything material.”
The track’s fall meet begins Sept. 14 and runs through Oct. 1.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wkyt.com/2023/07/29/churchill-downs-resume-racing-fall-meet-with-no-changes-after-horse-deaths/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:33 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/2023/07/29/churchill-downs-resume-racing-fall-meet-with-no-changes-after-horse-deaths/ |
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.ksby.com/american-airlines-again-reaches-tentative-contract-with-pilots | 2023-07-29T01:17:34 | 0 | https://www.ksby.com/american-airlines-again-reaches-tentative-contract-with-pilots |
Biden implements sweeping changes to how the military handles sexual assault cases
President Biden signed an executive order Friday implementing sweeping changes to the military justice system’s handling of sexual assault cases. The reforms, which won bipartisan approval in Congress, remove serious criminal cases from victims’ chain of command and instead place the cases under the authority of trained prosecutors.
“Sexual assault cases in the military have been plagued with concerns from victims who fear coming forward to see prosecutions led by their own commander,” as NPR reported last December. “Overall, a very low share of such cases go to trial or see convictions.”
The reform effort was led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who has long pushed for changes in how the U.S. military handles sexual assault cases as well as other serious crimes, including domestic violence, child abuse and murder.
It had been up to commanding officers to decide whether to prosecute such cases. But military prosecutors will now make those decisions, rather than commanders.
“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 in a statement sent to NPR.
“The changes represent the most significant transformation of the military justice system since the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] was established in 1950,” the president’s executive order states, calling the reforms “historic.”
The reforms were approved by Congress as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Biden’s executive order is a crucial step in implementing the shifts, as he formally amended the U.S. military’s Manual for Courts-Martial, as called for in the new law.
“I want to thank the survivors, advocates and veterans for their efforts, as well as my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who helped get this done,” Gillibrand said.
For years, the Pentagon resisted the idea of taking sexual assault cases outside of the normal chain of command, but a special military panel recommended that change two years ago, saying independent judge advocates, not commanding officers, should decide whether to pursue legal charges in such cases. | https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/military-code-sexual-assault-biden-gillibrand/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:34 | 1 | https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/military-code-sexual-assault-biden-gillibrand/ |
Police: Man charged with murder after living with girlfriend’s body in closet for months
LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) - A man accused of killing his girlfriend told investigators that he lived with her body in a closet for months before she was discovered.
KVVU reports that George Bone faces a murder charge in the death of Beverly Ma.
Police said they discovered Ma’s body after the woman’s family located her in a home on July 26.
Bone was reportedly Ma’s boyfriend, and the two were living together.
The family said they went to the house where the two were to check on the air conditioning unit. They had received an expensive bill and the repair man said no one was answering the door.
They arrived at the home, but Ma still did not answer them.
According to an arrest report, they talked to Bone upstairs, and that’s when he told them that Ma was dead.
While a family member was on hold with 911, she asked Bone why he didn’t call the police and why he stayed in the house with her body, the report said.
He reportedly told the family member that he wanted to prolong his arrest. The family described Bone as being casual about the situation and brushing his teeth while speaking to them.
The woman’s family said they were not close but did keep in touch with Ma as she suffered trauma in the past.
They had last seen her in person in April, but she stopped responding to their messages a couple of months ago.
During Bone’s interview with police, he said he had known Ma since high school, and they developed a romantic relationship in 2019 after he left prison.
He started living with Ma in July 2022 and Bone told police they fought often, the arrest report said.
According to authorities, Ma had called 911 on May 4 at about 4:40 a.m. Dispatchers could hear a woman and a man screaming at each other, but Ma never responded to the dispatcher’s questions and the line went dead.
Officers said they did a door knock at the house. However, no one answered.
During his interview with police, Bone reportedly told investigators he found Ma in the closet with a belt around her neck in May. He responded to text messages on her phone so her family would think she was alive.
He also told police that he was keeping the temperature in the home at 60 degrees because of the number of flies in the house.
According to Bone’s arrest report, investigators didn’t find consistent evidence regarding his story about Ma’s suicide attempt. Police pointed out these inconsistencies to Bone and he said he didn’t know how to dispose of a body.
Eventually, Bone requested an attorney and the police interview ended.
Bone was not granted bail in a July 27 hearing. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 1.
Copyright 2023 KVVU via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2023/07/29/police-man-charged-with-murder-after-living-with-girlfriends-body-closet-months/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:38 | 0 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2023/07/29/police-man-charged-with-murder-after-living-with-girlfriends-body-closet-months/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-india-and-japan-look-to-collaborate-in-building-semiconductors-and-resilient-supply-chains/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:37 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-india-and-japan-look-to-collaborate-in-building-semiconductors-and-resilient-supply-chains/ |
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by: AJ Fox, KSEE24 Chief Meteorologist Posted: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:33 PM PDT Updated: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:33 PM PDT AJ Fox has your forecast for coastal cities from San Francisco to L.A.
Amazon has ‘Barbie’ fever too — and the fashion deals … Amazon is joining the “Barbie” movie hype with lots of new deals on pink clothing! Find the best pink clothing you can wear when you go to see the movie.
How to pre-order the Spider-Man 2 PS5 and accessories Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is one of the biggest games scheduled to release this year, and so are PS5 accessories. Find all the best Spider-Man PS5 accessories here.
Digital detox tips for kids Want to limit screen time? Try a digital detox for kids. Going electronics-free means it’s essential to have other activities lined up to engage kids. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/california-coast-forecast-1321/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:39 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/california-coast-forecast-1321/ |
Police: Man charged with murder after living with girlfriend’s body in closet for months
LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) - A man accused of killing his girlfriend told investigators that he lived with her body in a closet for months before she was discovered.
KVVU reports that George Bone faces a murder charge in the death of Beverly Ma.
Police said they discovered Ma’s body after the woman’s family located her in a home on July 26.
Bone was reportedly Ma’s boyfriend, and the two were living together.
The family said they went to the house where the two were to check on the air conditioning unit. They had received an expensive bill and the repair man said no one was answering the door.
They arrived at the home, but Ma still did not answer them.
According to an arrest report, they talked to Bone upstairs, and that’s when he told them that Ma was dead.
While a family member was on hold with 911, she asked Bone why he didn’t call the police and why he stayed in the house with her body, the report said.
He reportedly told the family member that he wanted to prolong his arrest. The family described Bone as being casual about the situation and brushing his teeth while speaking to them.
The woman’s family said they were not close but did keep in touch with Ma as she suffered trauma in the past.
They had last seen her in person in April, but she stopped responding to their messages a couple of months ago.
During Bone’s interview with police, he said he had known Ma since high school, and they developed a romantic relationship in 2019 after he left prison.
He started living with Ma in July 2022 and Bone told police they fought often, the arrest report said.
According to authorities, Ma had called 911 on May 4 at about 4:40 a.m. Dispatchers could hear a woman and a man screaming at each other, but Ma never responded to the dispatcher’s questions and the line went dead.
Officers said they did a door knock at the house. However, no one answered.
During his interview with police, Bone reportedly told investigators he found Ma in the closet with a belt around her neck in May. He responded to text messages on her phone so her family would think she was alive.
He also told police that he was keeping the temperature in the home at 60 degrees because of the number of flies in the house.
According to Bone’s arrest report, investigators didn’t find consistent evidence regarding his story about Ma’s suicide attempt. Police pointed out these inconsistencies to Bone and he said he didn’t know how to dispose of a body.
Eventually, Bone requested an attorney and the police interview ended.
Bone was not granted bail in a July 27 hearing. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 1.
Copyright 2023 KVVU via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wkyt.com/2023/07/29/police-man-charged-with-murder-after-living-with-girlfriends-body-closet-months/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:39 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/2023/07/29/police-man-charged-with-murder-after-living-with-girlfriends-body-closet-months/ |
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.ksby.com/fda-approves-nonprofit-s-over-the-counter-opioid-overdose-nasal-spray | 2023-07-29T01:17:40 | 1 | https://www.ksby.com/fda-approves-nonprofit-s-over-the-counter-opioid-overdose-nasal-spray |
Still hot this weekend, but a cool down next week.
This forecast originally aired on KSEE24 News at 5:00 PM on 7/28/2023.
A.J. Fox has the Central Valley's certified most accurate forecast.
Still hot this weekend, but a cool down next week.
This forecast originally aired on KSEE24 News at 5:00 PM on 7/28/2023.
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Subscribe Now | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/ksee24-news-at-500-pm-weather-303/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:45 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/ksee24-news-at-500-pm-weather-303/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-merger-talks-end-between-large-health-care-systems-in-minnesota-south-dakota/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:44 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-merger-talks-end-between-large-health-care-systems-in-minnesota-south-dakota/ |
The future of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant is still uncertain.
“Since that path to extended operations isn't necessarily guaranteed, they [PG&E] wanted to continue both paths,” said Susan Strachan, San Luis Obispo County Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning Manager.
San Luis Obispo County has released a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the decommissioning of the nuclear plant. This comes even as PG&E continues its effort to extend operations at the site.
In a statement, PG&E Communications Representative Carina Corral said, “As directed by Senate Bill 846, PG&E is pursuing extended operations at Diablo Canyon Power Plant to continue meeting the clean energy needs of Californians. At the same time, PG&E is diligently planning for the eventual decommissioning of the plant.”
The draft EIR outlines a 15-year plan to dismantle the plant.
“I think, for a lot of folks, when you think about decommissioning and dismantling a nuclear power plant, obviously you know how things are going to be disposed of, how things are going to be transported, how we're going to manage the remediation of the land afterwards,” said SLO County District 3 Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg.
The draft EIR is broken down into phase 1, potentially from 2024 to 2031, and phase 2 from 2032 to 2039.
“In the first phase, that's the bulk of the dismantlement and demolition of the power plant itself,” Strachan explained. “Then in phase two, it gets into doing testing that has to be done to make sure that any chemical contamination or radiological contamination has been removed and then restoration or revegetation of the site.”
“PG&E will safely and responsibly decommission DCPP in a manner that is respectful of the environment, reflects local community input and is consistent with regulatory requirements,” Corral added.
The EIR has a 60-day review period, so the public has an opportunity to submit comments. The deadline to submit is Sept. 25, 2023, at 5 p.m.
“It's important for the public to take a look at this document and read some of the areas of interest to them, because they can weigh in and provide comment,” Ortiz-Legg said.
The report also takes a look at other properties that could be involved in the decommissioning of the power plant such as the Pismo Beach Railyard and the Santa Maria Railyard Facility at Betteravia Industrial Park.
“PG&E identified a rail transport facility in an industrial area in northern Santa Barbara County where they would transfer decommissioning waste materials from trucks onto railcars and then send it out by rail for disposal,” Strachan added.
There will be a chance to participate in person or virtually as well.
A public meeting will take place on Aug. 9, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the San Luis Obispo County Government Center. A study session is scheduled for Sept. 5, 2023, at 9 a.m. also at the SLO County Government Center.
To view the report, click here. | https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/slo-county-releases-draft-environmental-impact-report-on-diablo-canyon-decommissioning | 2023-07-29T01:17:46 | 0 | https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/slo-county-releases-draft-environmental-impact-report-on-diablo-canyon-decommissioning |
Seahawks WR DK Metcalf likes how people ‘keep disrespecting us’
Jul 28, 2023, 4:23 PM
Offseason NFL rankings have not been super kind to the Seattle Seahawks’ players.
Only one – receiver DK Metcalf – cracked ESPN’s top-10 lists for his respective position. And even Metcalf, along with linebacker Jordyn Brooks and safety Quandre Diggs, did not make it onto NFL Network’s top-100 players list. Metcalf was actually 101st on the list, per NFL Films.
Naturally, the topic of lists and rankings came up during Metcalf’s conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Wednesday.
“It’s none of my business what other people think about me. I think very highly of myself and the type of player that I am,” Metcalf said.
What did @Seahawks WR @dkm14 have to say about heading into Training Camp this season? What's it like to be in a leadership role on this team? Who made that tuxedo he was wearing at @TDLockett12's wedding? He answers that & much more in the exclusive @SeattleSports interview. pic.twitter.com/HWBW2DES0Z
— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) July 26, 2023
What matters to the 25-year-old receiver is what his teammates and coaches think about him.
“The only thing I care about is what (quarterback Geno Smith), my O-line, my receivers and my other peers inside this building think of me,” Metcalf said. “Especially I wouldn’t think (head coach) Pete Carroll would put me at 101st. That’s all I care about.”
Other teammates like Wagner and Diggs not getting more offseason love certainly stands out to Metcalf, too.
“We’re too far away from a lot of the people in the rest of the U.S. for them to really pay attention to us. I just like how they keep doubting us and keep disrespecting us because they’re not going to expect us to be great or do great things, sort of like how we did last year when they didn’t expect us to make the playoffs and we did,” Metcalf said. “The noise is always going to be there. We just have to hush it up.”
Listen to Brock and Salk’s full interview with DK Metcalf at this link or in the player below.
‘I’m just the guy to do it’: Seattle Seahawks’ Dre Jones on stopping the run | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762140/seattle-seahawks-dk-metcalf-keep-disrespecting-us/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:47 | 1 | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762140/seattle-seahawks-dk-metcalf-keep-disrespecting-us/ |
Navajo Nation issues Stage 1 fire restrictions
The Navajo Nation has announced an executive order related to Stage 1 fire restrictions on Friday, according to the BIA Wildland Fire Management-Navajo Region's Facebook Account.
The release states that the President of the Navajo Nation will serve as the Chief Executive Officer for the Executive Branch of the Navajo Nation government. The President may also order any area of the Navajo Nation to be closed for entry by the public due to the dangers of the fire.
The BIA WFM also said that the high fire danger is caused by the convergence of inadequate precipitation, high wind conditions and low relative humidities, according to the release.
The BIA WFM advises people to exercise extreme caution on Navajo lands and surrounding areas in order to protect natural resources and reduce risks of wildland fires, said the news release.
The Stage 1 fire restrictions are in effect immediately and will remain in effect until the order is rescinded, said the release.
The BIA WFM also announced that possessing, manufacturing, sale or use of fireworks, building, maintaining, attending, or using fire, charcoal and coal fires outdoors, and using a firearm or incendiary without a valid license is prohibited throughout this order. They also advised smoking to be undertaken with extreme caution and to be used 6 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable materials, said the release.
However, the use of propane gas, or other petroleum-fueled stoves for livestock branding and in recreational areas, ceremonial fires registered with the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, fire uses by people with written permit/bonding/license that authorizes the prohibited act, and low complexity prescribed fires that meet prescription approved by the BIA Agency Administrator under an approved Burn Plan, is approved, according to the executive order.
Anyone that is found guilty of violating these restrictions could be fined up to $5,000 or provide restitution, the release said.
Anyone observing a wildland fire should report it to the B.I.A Fire Dispatch at 928-729-2307. Any questions related to the order should be directed to the Navajo Forestry Department at 928-729-4007. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/07/28/navajo-nation-issues-stage-1-fire-restrictions/70489868007/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:50 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/07/28/navajo-nation-issues-stage-1-fire-restrictions/70489868007/ |
Cumberland County 8-year-old dies after shooting Tuesday in Eastover
An 8-year-old girl who was shot earlier this week has died, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.
According to a Sheriff's Office news release, Jenesis Dockery died Thursday after being shot about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home in the 3300 block of Mercedes Drive in Eastover.
On Thursday evening, dozens of people, some of whom posted videos and photos to social media, released balloons at a vigil held in Jenesis' honor at a walking trail in Vander. She would have celebrated her ninth birthday Monday, Cumberland County birth records show.
More:Child in critical condition after shooting in Fayetteville, Sheriff's Office says
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective S. Odenwelder with the sheriff's Special Victims Unit at 910-677-5477. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling Crimestoppers at 910-483-TIPS (8477); by visiting the website at http://fay-nccrimestoppers.org; or by downloading the free "P3 Tips" app for mobile devices.
Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com. | https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/crime/2023/07/28/eight-year-old-girl-dies-from-gunshot-wound-in-eastover/70486887007/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:50 | 0 | https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/crime/2023/07/28/eight-year-old-girl-dies-from-gunshot-wound-in-eastover/70486887007/ |
Churchill Downs to resume racing at fall meet with no changes after horse deaths
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Racing will resume at Churchill Downs in September, with no changes being made after a review of surfaces and safety protocols in the wake of 12 horse deaths, including seven in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby in May.
The Louisville track suspended racing operations on June 7 and moved the rest of its spring meet to Ellis Park in western Kentucky at the recommendation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the sport’s national overseer.
Training continued at Churchill Downs during the track’s investigation.
Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen called the deaths “a series of unfortunate circumstances” and said the review “didn’t find anything fundamentally wrong or different about our track from previous years.”
“That, in a sense, can sometimes be unsatisfying,” he said. “But that’s business, and that’s sports.”
Two of the horse deaths occurred in undercard races on Derby day. Another five died later.
“The takeaway is, the track is very safe,” Carstanjen said Thursday on an earnings call with CDI investors.
“What we needed to do was spend some of this time in the interim, while we ran the rest of the (spring) meet at Ellis to just go soup to nuts through every single thing we do at the racetrack. There was nothing that jumped out as an apparent cause of the injuries, of the breakdowns; and, as we went through and rebuilt our processes from the ground up to check everything that we do to make extra sure, we didn’t find anything material.”
The track’s fall meet begins Sept. 14 and runs through Oct. 1.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2023/07/29/churchill-downs-resume-racing-fall-meet-with-no-changes-after-horse-deaths/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:50 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2023/07/29/churchill-downs-resume-racing-fall-meet-with-no-changes-after-horse-deaths/ |
US announces new Taiwan weapons package
The US on Friday unveiled a Taiwan weapons aid package worth up to $345 million (roughly €310 million), in a move likely to anger China.
The Biden administration did not detail what equipment would be included.
A statement from the White House spoke of a package of "defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan."
US officials speaking on condition of anonymity when the deal was being prepared had said that Taiwan was keen to acquire US espionage drones among the new equipment, but said that questions about whether they could be adapted appropriately for export in time meant it wasn't clear if they would be included.
The announcement came on the same week as a major annual military exercise in Taiwan, simulating the defense in case of a Chinese invasion.
How are the weapons being sourced?
The White House secured authorization from Congress for up to $1 billion worth of so-called Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) weapons aid for Taiwan as part of this year's budget, freeing it up for such a step.
The PDA system has also been used to expedite weapons deliveries to Ukraine.
What differentiates it from more standard military aid is that the US can send stocks and material from its own reserves, rather than ordering new equipment from arms manufacturers for production and then delivery.
The top US general, Mark Milley, earlier in July called on Washington and its allies to accelerate weapons deliveries to Taiwan to help the island defend itself.
And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signaled the upcoming step back in May, telling a Senate panel he was "pleased that the United States will soon provide significant additional security assistance to Taiwan."
China has lobbied US to stop military aid
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and says it intends to reclaim the self-ruled island, if necessary by force.
It has increased military pressure on Taipei in recent years, increasing naval and aerial activity close to Taiwanese territory. It held two major drills around Taiwan this year, simulating an invasion and blockade of the island.
Beijing has frequently called on the US to halt weapons deliveries to Taipei.
The US has walked a fine line on the issue for half a century now, ever since it struck up diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China mid way through the Cold War.
Washington recognizes the "One China" principle and has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in deference to Beijing. But the US maintains informal ties with the island and is also Taipei's most important political and military backer.
msh/sri (AFP, Reuters) | https://www.dw.com/en/us-announces-new-taiwan-weapons-package/a-66381216 | 2023-07-29T01:17:50 | 1 | https://www.dw.com/en/us-announces-new-taiwan-weapons-package/a-66381216 |
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by: AJ Fox, KSEE24 Chief Meteorologist Posted: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:33 PM PDT Updated: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:33 PM PDT AJ Fox has your forecast for communities in the mountains and National Parks.
Amazon has ‘Barbie’ fever too — and the fashion deals … Amazon is joining the “Barbie” movie hype with lots of new deals on pink clothing! Find the best pink clothing you can wear when you go to see the movie.
How to pre-order the Spider-Man 2 PS5 and accessories Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is one of the biggest games scheduled to release this year, and so are PS5 accessories. Find all the best Spider-Man PS5 accessories here.
Digital detox tips for kids Want to limit screen time? Try a digital detox for kids. Going electronics-free means it’s essential to have other activities lined up to engage kids. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/mountains-national-parks-forecast-936/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:51 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/mountains-national-parks-forecast-936/ |
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.ksby.com/what-is-hospital-at-home-and-what-s-the-debate-about-it | 2023-07-29T01:17:52 | 0 | https://www.ksby.com/what-is-hospital-at-home-and-what-s-the-debate-about-it |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-pgs-better-than-expected-4q-results-show-consumers-appetite-for-iconic-brands-despite-price-hikes/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:51 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-pgs-better-than-expected-4q-results-show-consumers-appetite-for-iconic-brands-despite-price-hikes/ |
‘I’m just the guy to do it’: Seahawks’ Dre Jones on stopping the run
Jul 28, 2023, 1:11 PM
(RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
It’s no secret that the Seattle Seahawks struggled mightily against the run in 2022.
DK Metcalf: Jaxon Smith-Njigba ‘going to be special’ for Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks allowed the third-most rushing yards in football last year and had a four-game stretch where they allowed over 5 yards per carry and 200 yards per game.
Seattle overhauled its defensive front this offseason, moving on from Poona Ford, L.J. Collier, Al Woods, Quinton Jefferson and Shelby Harris (who is still a free agent). The Seahawks then reunited with Jarran Reed as well as brought in Mario Edwards and Dre Jones.
Jones, 26, was a standout for the Denver Broncos before joining the Seahawks in free agency on a very lucrative three-year deal, and he talked to Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Thursday about helping fix the Seahawks’ run game woes.
“It’s along the same things that I did in college, what they want me to do here – just being penetrating, creating some separation at the line of scrimmage so we can get runs that are 3 yards or less,” the 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive lineman said. “We emphasize that a lot in our meetings that we want to change a lot of the things that they did last year, which is emphasizing mainly on the run game, and I’m just the guy to do it.”
The Seahawks shifted to more of a 3-4 defense in 2022 under first-year defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, which some felt had a negative impact on the team’s ability to stop the run.
Jones said the Seahawks “have some things” where they mix in both 3-4 and 4-3 looks and styles, but the end result is the same.
“The main point of it is penetration and creating that distance and that separation between the line of scrimmage that we need to get those gains, like I said earlier, to 3 yards or less. They’re really emphasizing that a lot,” Jones said. “I know last year there were some struggles when I wasn’t here. Now I’m here to help be that bridge to bring this team to what they need to be.”
Listen to Jones’ full interview with Brock and Salk, which includes his thoughts on playing for Pete Carroll and alongside Bobby Wagner, at this link or in the player above.
More Seattle Seahawks interviews
• Video: Seahawks’ Julian Love on defense’s potential, PNW ties
• Video: Seahawks’ Uchenna Nwosu on contract extension, look inside LB room
• DK Metcalf Interview: What’s changed as Seahawks WR enters Year 5? | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762291/seattle-seahawks-dre-jones-stopping-the-run/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:54 | 1 | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762291/seattle-seahawks-dre-jones-stopping-the-run/ |
Is relief in sight? Phoenix area sees 60% chance of rain, drop in temperatures this weekend
Even with excessive heat warnings in place until Saturday night, the weekend's weather forecast predicts slightly cooler highs and the highest chance for thunderstorms so far this monsoon season.
On Friday morning, a daily low of 93 degrees was reported. If this remains through midnight Friday, this will be a new daily warm low, surpassing the previous mark of 92 degrees set in 2019.
Thursday morning was the first time in 16 days that metro Phoenix lows finally cooled to a temperature under 90 degrees, coming in at 89 degrees. These lows followed a monsoon storm that hit the Valley on Wednesday night.
As for highs, Friday afternoon continued the record-breaking streak of consecutive over-110-degree temperatures with a high of 113 degrees. Friday soared Phoenix into 29 straight days of extreme over 110-degree heat, further breaking the previous record set in 1974 with 18 consecutive days, according to the National Weather Service.
For Friday evening, a 30-50% chance of gusty winds is forecast from 5-9 p.m. for the Phoenix area. A 20% chance of rainstorms is also forecast.
Saturday is predicted to bring the end of the excessive heat warning at 8 p.m., but not without another day of high temperatures. The afternoon is forecast to bring Phoenix into day 30 of consecutive over-110-degree temperatures with a high of 114 degrees and a low of 92 degrees.
But more monsoon rains may be on the way as Saturday brings a 30% chance of precipitation. That number shoots up to 60% that evening. Showers are most likely to occur before 9 a.m., after 4 p.m. and possibly a thunderstorm after 11 p.m.
On Sunday the rainy weekend continues with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms all day into the evening. The temperatures will slightly drop from the harsh heat the last few weeks with a forecast high of 110 degrees and a low of 90 degrees.
Maricopa County officials announced on Thursday an ozone high pollution advisory that is set to begin on Friday and expire on Sunday. Residents are advised to limit their driving and carpool to lessen the amount of emissions in the area; other measures such as avoiding waiting in long-drive thru lines and refueling vehicles when temperatures are cooler were also recommended.
If the forecast rings true, Monday will be the day that finally breaks Phoenix's over-110-degree streak with a forecast high of 107 degrees and a low of 88 degrees. Along with this drop in temperatures comes breezy winds and a 60% chance of showers and a thunderstorm before 11 a.m. and into the later afternoon.
That evening, the chance shoots up to 70% with storms especially likely after 11 p.m., and heavy wind gusts up to 20 mph are predicted.
A lower chance of showers is forecast until midweek when temperatures will begin to rise again. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-weather/2023/07/28/phoenix-area-weather-rain-and-temperature-drop-likely-this-weekend/70489749007/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:56 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-weather/2023/07/28/phoenix-area-weather-rain-and-temperature-drop-likely-this-weekend/70489749007/ |
Former Beatrice Police Officer arrested for putting cameras in woman’s house
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A former Beatrice Police Officer living in Lincoln was taken into custody earlier this week on charges of unlawful intrusion and stalking.
According to a search warrant, he’s accused of hiding cameras inside the car and home of a woman.
Court documents said 41-year-old Anthony Chisano was taken into custody on Monday. The woman first noticed a camera hidden in her car back in March. Later that month, she found three more cameras in different spots around her house.
She reported the incidents to deputies, saying she didn’t know or agree to have the cameras in her house.
The arrest affidavit said they took those cameras and checked the thousands of file, and saw Chisano in some of the oldest recordings, appearing to set them up.
Chisano is currently out on bail and his arrangement is set for Aug. 29 in Gage County.
Copyright 2023 KOLN. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2023/07/29/former-beatrice-police-officer-arrested-putting-cameras-womans-house/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:56 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2023/07/29/former-beatrice-police-officer-arrested-putting-cameras-womans-house/ |
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by: AJ Fox, KSEE24 Chief Meteorologist Posted: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:34 PM PDT Updated: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:34 PM PDT AJ Fox has your forecast for the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
Amazon has ‘Barbie’ fever too — and the fashion deals … Amazon is joining the “Barbie” movie hype with lots of new deals on pink clothing! Find the best pink clothing you can wear when you go to see the movie.
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Digital detox tips for kids Want to limit screen time? Try a digital detox for kids. Going electronics-free means it’s essential to have other activities lined up to engage kids. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/north-valley-forecast-1803/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:57 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/north-valley-forecast-1803/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-polands-lawmakers-approve-a-divisive-law-on-russian-influence/ | 2023-07-29T01:17:59 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-polands-lawmakers-approve-a-divisive-law-on-russian-influence/ |
Morosi on Mariners: Is Arenado a name to watch at deadline?
Jul 28, 2023, 11:30 AM | Updated: 11:54 am
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seattle Mariners have just four games remaining before the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline. What are they going to do?
What Dipoto says Seattle Mariners are looking to do at trade deadline
As you might imagine, MLB Network insider Jon Morosi spoke at length about the Mariners and the deadline during his weekly visit with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Thursday.
“I think that what the trade deadline often tells us is it’s a little bit of an X-ray into the soul of an organization and how they feel about themselves,” Morosi said. “And the Mariners, rightly or wrongly, I think are looking at this as a multi-year segment. The window opened in 2021, they were able to get there in 2022 to the playoffs and the window should be open for a while when you think about how good and how young and how controllable the pitching is.”
“I think the Mariners are playing the long game,” Morosi later added. “I know that’s maybe not the most satisfying answer to give to the fans, but I really believe at the moment that’s the orientation they’re taking.”
Morosi thinks the Mariners aren’t a true buyer or seller, and that they should consider trading reliever Paul Sewald or right fielder Teoscar Hernández if it returns an everyday position player, particularly at second base. He also said the team should consider moving one of their young starting pitchers if it gets an impact bat or two to Seattle.
Morosi has told Wyman and Bob a few times that he thinks the Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals match up well in a trade. He brought that up again on Thursday, but this time with a new wrinkle.
That is that the L.A. Times reported Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado, a 10-time Gold Glover and eight-time All-Star, may be available and that the Los Angeles Dodgers have inquired about the 32-year-old slugger who is signed through 2027. It should also be noted that Arenado has a no-trade clause he would have to waive if the Cardinals agreed to a trade that involved him.
“Nolan is a West Coast guy. And obviously (Mariners starting third baseman Eugenio Suárez) is not necessarily under contract for the super long-term. Could you move some guys around? Could you find a way to bring in Nolan if that’s a possibility and then reconfigure your infield accordingly?” Morosi said. “That would get my attention.”
Arenado owns a career .288/.345/.534 (.879 OPS) slashline with 321 home runs and 1,045 RBIs since entering the league in 2013 and would certainly be a boost to the Mariners or any team that potentially acquires him.
“Nolan changes your clubhouse. He is a winner. And he plays every day, he wins Gold Gloves. He’s special,” Morosi said. “I think he’d be a really great player to have alongside with (young Mariners star Julio Rodríguez) and really kind of take the Mariners to this next generation, these next few years of competitiveness.”
So what would it take to get Arenado to Seattle?
“The package would have to be headlined by at least a young starting pitcher. And if they really like (Bryan) Woo’s fastball, if they really like what Bryce Miller does in terms of his repertoire, one of those two guys because they’ve already been in the big leagues, I think, they would be a good headline piece,” Morosi said. ” … Woo is good enough to be a headline piece. And then you probably have to surround him with a bit more pitching to make sure that it’s exactly what the Cardinals want.”
Morosi thinks the Dodgers are “the natural fit” for Arenado because “they’ve wanted him for a long time” and “he’s wanted to play there for a long time.” But he says the Mariners could be a team to watch.
“I do think with the West Coast advantage if the Dodgers can’t make it work, I do wonder if that could be a fit there for the Mariners here at some point in the next week,” he said.
Listen to Morosi’s full conversation with Wyman and Bob at this link or in the player earlier in this story.
What does MLB trade market look like? Seattle Mariners’ Dipoto shares insight | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762367/morosi-on-seattle-mariners-nolan-arenado-name-to-watch-trade-deadline/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:00 | 1 | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762367/morosi-on-seattle-mariners-nolan-arenado-name-to-watch-trade-deadline/ |
Saudi company at center of water controversy parts ways with Ariz. lobbyist with ties to Gov. Hobbs
A lobbyist with ties to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is no longer representing a Saudi Arabian company at the center of controversy for using the state's groundwater and land to grow and export alfalfa crops.
Chad Guzman said Friday he was "no longer representing Fondomonte, but wish them the best." State-required lobbying records show Guzman was not working for the foreign company on Friday, just two days after registering with the state to represent them.
Guzman had signed a contract with Fondomonte Arizona about two months ago through his lobbying firm Signal Peak Consulting. He has another business, Fillmore Strategy, with Joe Wolf, Hobbs' senior campaign adviser and a confidant of the governor.
The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com highlighted the connection in an article on Wednesday in which Wolf declared the connection between he and his business partner's controversial new client a "nothingburger" because he had done no consulting for Fondomonte.
There was another Friday shakeup for the company's hired help in Arizona: Matthew Benson, a partner at the firm Veridus who worked briefly as a spokesperson for the company, said he no longer represented Fondomonte, "but wish them well."
Benson, speaking on behalf of Fondomonte, previously said Guzman was hired because of his experience working with natural resources companies. Those include Guzman's history as a lobbyist for Arizona Public Service Co. and Epcor, the water provider. A spokesperson for Hobbs declined to comment on the ties between Wolf and Guzman.
Fondomonte's leases in Arizona
Fondomonte leases state lands in Arizona's Butler Valley, near Bouse, to grow feed for dairy cows. The lease rate is $25 an acre, roughly a fifth of market price for farmland in the area, and the leases allow Fondomonte to draw unlimited groundwater that could serve as a future water supply for the Phoenix area.
The leases were first revealed last year by The Arizona Republic and prompted widespread condemnation and pledges from Hobbs and Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes to take action. Hobbs oversees the Arizona State Land Department and Arizona Department of Water Resources, two agencies that do business with Fondomonte related to leases and water wells.
So far, two well permits have been revoked, and the Hobbs administration in May paused lease renewals and applications for state-owned land in basins such as Butler Valley.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669. Follow her on Twitter @sbarchenger. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2023/07/28/fondomonte-drops-arizona-lobbyist-tied-to-hobbs-adviser/70490135007/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:02 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2023/07/28/fondomonte-drops-arizona-lobbyist-tied-to-hobbs-adviser/70490135007/ |
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by: AJ Fox, Jefe De Meteorología Posted: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:34 PM PDT Updated: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:34 PM PDT Todavía tres dígitos este fin de semana. Pero más nubes significa temperaturas más frescas en la próxima semana.
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Digital detox tips for kids Want to limit screen time? Try a digital detox for kids. Going electronics-free means it’s essential to have other activities lined up to engage kids. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/pronostico-del-tiempo-por-aj-fox-748/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:03 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/pronostico-del-tiempo-por-aj-fox-748/ |
As Colorado heads to the Big 12, 3 UW Huskies-Buffaloes games stand out from Pac-12 era
Jul 28, 2023, 1:58 PM
(Robert Reiners/Getty Images)
The UW Huskies have played their final Pac-12 game against the Colorado Buffaloes.
Colorado leaving Pac-12, returning to Big 12 in 2024
With CU deciding to leave the conference after this season — and the Buffs one of two Pac-12 teams not on Washington’s 2023 schedule — the Huskies can put a bow on their series history with Colorado, at least as it pertains to league matchups (barring the schools meeting in this year’s conference championship game, that is).
Washington holds a 13-7-1 all-time record against the Buffaloes, but went 8-2 in the 12 seasons since CU joined the Pac-12. Most of those games were ho-hum affairs with few big-picture implications. But there are a few that are worth reflecting on.
Here are three Pac-12-era UW-CU matchups — two UW Huskies victories and one defeat — that stand out.
Nov. 1, 2014: Washington 38, Colorado 23
It’s not as if this was some remarkable victory for the Huskies, who finished Chris Petersen’s first season with an 8-6 record. Colorado, meanwhile, went winless in conference play and finished 2-10.
But this sunny afternoon in Boulder did provide a venue for Shaq Thompson to show why he was perhaps the most unique player in all of college football. Thompson, a former five-star recruit who became an all-conference linebacker and a first-round NFL Draft pick, won the Paul Hornung Award that year as the nation’s most versatile player.
Thompson was a linebacker, but he also played some tailback for the Huskies as a junior … and turned out to be one of their best offensive players. He broke out against the Buffaloes, carrying 15 times for 174 yards and a touchdown. One of those carries covered 56 yards. He also caught a pass that gained 41 yards.
Another fun bit of trivia from that game: Dante Pettis returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown, ending UW’s 11-year drought without a punt-return score. Pettis went on to set the NCAA record for career punt-return touchdowns with nine.
Dec. 2, 2016: Washington 41, Colorado 10 (Pac-12 Championship)
Pac-12 highlights are few and far between for the Buffaloes, but the 2016 season was the exception: Colorado won the South division and faced Washington in the Pac-12 title game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
This was a fortunate break for the Huskies, because USC — quarterbacked by Sam Darnold — was pretty obviously the best team in the South by season’s end (and handed UW its only regular-season loss). But some early-season struggles cost the Trojans a chance to play for the league title, and Colorado made for a far more manageable opponent.
Washington didn’t put forth its best passing performance (Jake Browning went 9-for-23), but still hung 41 points on the Buffaloes to clinch its first conference championship in 16 years — and a berth in the College Football Playoff. Myles Gaskin rushed for 159 yards, Lavon Coleman rushed for 101, John Ross caught a touchdown pass and freshman safety Taylor Rapp returned an interception for a score.
Despite the Pac-12 champion heading to the CFP, Colorado still had to settle for the Alamo Bowl — where the Buffaloes lost, 38-8, to Oklahoma State — as the Rose Bowl opted to invite USC, instead.
Nov. 23, 2019: Colorado 20, Washington 14
Again, this result won’t immediately jump off the page: it was a bad loss during a mediocre season, one the Huskies finished with an 8-5 record after playing in three consecutive New Year’s Six bowl games from 2016-18. Colorado finished 5-7 in what turned out to be first-year coach Mel Tucker’s only season in Boulder; he left for Michigan State the following February.
This game should stand out, though, as the final one Washington played before Petersen made his shocking decision to resign at the end of the 2019 season. He announced that decision two days after the Apple Cup — which the Huskies won to improve to 7-5 — and said at his press conference the next day that he made up his mind “two or three days” before facing Washington State, and coached that game knowing he was about to step down.
That means UW’s loss to Colorado was the final game Petersen coached without knowing it would be his final season.
The Huskies faced the Buffaloes two more times, one under coach Jimmy Lake (a 20-17 loss at Boulder in 2021) and another under coach Kalen DeBoer (a 54-7 romp in Seattle last season). Former UW coach Steve Sarkisian went 3-0 against Colorado, winning those games by a combined score of 149-34 from 2011-13.
All told, the Huskies outscored the Buffaloes 377-137 as members of the same conference, and scored 40-plus points in four of their 10 meetings. CU did not score more than 24 points against UW as a Pac-12 member.
This column from UW Huskies football insider Christian Caple is exclusive to Seattle Sports. Subscribe to OnMontlake.com for full access to Caple’s in-depth Husky coverage. | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762384/colorado-big-12-3-uw-huskies-buffaloes-games-stand-out-from-pac-12-era/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:06 | 1 | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762384/colorado-big-12-3-uw-huskies-buffaloes-games-stand-out-from-pac-12-era/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-putin-woos-african-leaders-at-a-summit-in-russia-with-promises-of-expanding-trade-and-other-ties/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:06 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-putin-woos-african-leaders-at-a-summit-in-russia-with-promises-of-expanding-trade-and-other-ties/ |
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by: AJ Fox, KSEE24 Chief Meteorologist Posted: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:34 PM PDT Updated: Jul 28, 2023 / 04:34 PM PDT AJ Fox has your forecast for the Southern San Joaquin Valley.
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Digital detox tips for kids Want to limit screen time? Try a digital detox for kids. Going electronics-free means it’s essential to have other activities lined up to engage kids. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/south-valley-forecast-1803/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:09 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/weather/ksee24-weather/south-valley-forecast-1803/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-stock-market-today-asian-shares-mixed-tokyo-falls-as-bank-of-japan-adjusts-bond-purchase-policy/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:13 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-stock-market-today-asian-shares-mixed-tokyo-falls-as-bank-of-japan-adjusts-bond-purchase-policy/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-trucking-company-yellow-corp-is-reportedly-preparing-for-bankruptcy-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:19 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-two-taxi-drivers-arrested-in-mexican-resort-of-cancun-for-assaulting-van-carrying-foreign-tourists/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:27 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-us-proposes-18-fuel-economy-increase-for-new-vehicle-fleet-from-2027-through-2032/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:34 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.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.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-what-to-know-as-recreational-marijuana-becomes-legal-in-minnesota-on-aug-1/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:40 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-what-to-know-as-recreational-marijuana-becomes-legal-in-minnesota-on-aug-1/ |
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.wlrn.org/national-politics/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T01:18:42 | 0 | https://www.wlrn.org/national-politics/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
The 2023 Formula 1 World Championship continues this weekend with round 13, the Belgian Grand Prix, which takes place at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit and will see the Saturday Sprint race return.
The Spa circuit is nestled within the beautiful Ardennes hills and features a long, unrelenting track that serves as a stern test for car and driver. The average speed approaches 145 mph, making it one of the fastest laps of the season, and drivers experience over 5 g in some of the turns, such as Turn 10, known as Pouhon. The cars also run at full throttle for almost 80% of the lap.
Stretching 4.35 miles, Spa has the longest track on the calendar, resulting in the race lasting only 44 laps—the lowest on the calendar. The track is so big that it’s not unusual to have varying weather conditions at different parts. For example, rain at one end and sunshine at the other. The current forecast calls for heavy rain throughout the weekend, which has already resulted in some calls for the race to possibly be canceled.
The first and third sectors at Spa feature long straights and flat-out sections, but the second sector is twisty. This makes it challenging to find the right balance and set-up compromise, particularly with the wing level.
The track surface is on the abrasive side, meaning tires get quite the workout. Pirelli has nominated its mid-range compounds: the C2 as the White hard, C3 as the Yellow medium, and C4 as the Red soft.
The Belgian round will mark 2023’s third running of the Saturday Sprint race, after the Azerbaijan and Austrian Grands Prix. This season, the Sprint race has been made a standalone event rather than the qualifier for the main race, as was previously the case. It still has championship points on the table for both drivers and teams, however.
The round is the last stop before the summer break and will see some teams run upgrades, including Mercedes-Benz AMG whose cars will feature a new design for the side pods.
Going into the weekend, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen leads the 2023 Drivers’ Championship with 281 points. Fellow Red Bull driver Perez is second with 171 points and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso is third with 139 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull leads with 452 points, versus the 223 of Mercedes and 184 of Aston Martin in second and third places. Last year’s winner in Belgium was Verstappen, driving for Red Bull.
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- 2023 F1 standings: Verstappen grows title lead while McLaren shows resurgence | https://www.kron4.com/automotive/internet-brands/2023-f1-belgian-grand-prix-preview/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:42 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/automotive/internet-brands/2023-f1-belgian-grand-prix-preview/ |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — While Nashville International Airport hums to the tune of live music in a terminal filled with tourists and locals alike, this trendy gateway to Tennessee has quietly confronted an identity crisis.
Under a new state law, there is no clear agreement now about who’s in charge of airport operations. The confusion comes at a time when the airport is booming, its annual passengers having more than doubled over the past decade to 21.8 million by the 2023 fiscal year.
The nonprofit Metro Nashville Airport Authority and state officials argue that a new group of state appointees has lawfully taken over the authority’s board. But federal officials and the city contend the old board picked by Nashville’s mayor still has power.
Both boards met at the same time last week across town from each other.
The dispute heads to a hearing Friday in a state court in Nashville.
Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers approved plans for the state to make enough appointments to control the airport’s board starting in July. The change was among several passed by legislators seeking to curtail the power of the heavily Democratic city, whose metro council sunk a bid to bring the 2024 Republican National Convention to Nashville.
The city has filed suit against the state over the changes to the airport authority, which manages, operates, finances and maintains the international airport and a smaller one in Nashville. In the meantime, the authority installed the new board members on July 1, saying it can’t defy state law without a court order.
Citing the Tennessee Constitution, the city’s lawsuit argues the state violated home rule protections by singling out Nashville without requiring either a local referendum or a two-thirds vote of the metro council for the change.
The state responded that Nashville can’t make its claims because the airport authority is independent of the local government.
City leaders, however, reached out and received input from the Federal Aviation Administration, which can veto certain changes to the airport’s governance. The federal agency said it would keep recognizing the pre-July 1 board until a court decides the lawsuit.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper, a Democrat, has cried foul on the Republican change.
“Nashville’s airport has grown very successfully over the years by the direction of this board, and that’s unquestionable,” Cooper said during a recent meeting of the board he selected. “Any state action is purely about politics.”
Tennessee’s situation isn’t unprecedented. Due to FAA and court action, North Carolina’s 2013 law to shift control of Charlotte Douglas International Airport from the city to a separate regional board never came to fruition. Mississippi’s 2016 law to reconfigure Jackson’s airport remains blocked by an ongoing legal challenge. Georgia lawmakers flirted with flipping the Atlanta airport’s governance in 2019 but opposition sank the proposal.
Nashville officials say the state is upending an airport board without complaints about its performance, even during a time of extensive expansion.
In the 2023 budget year, the airport unveiled a new lobby, added more restaurants and live music, opened an additional parking garage and made progress toward an onsite hotel. The airport hosts country, jazz and bluegrass concerts in its terminals and exhibits the work of local artists.
The facility has endured growing pains, too, marked by passenger pickup lines sometimes stretching well past a nearby interstate exit.
Lawmakers passed the change despite predictions in April by former FAA official Kirk Shaffer that it would create competing boards in “a messy and costly stalemate that damages all involved,” possibly jeopardizing federal grant money.
So far, the fight is largely unfolding in court filings. The city says lost grant money could halt projects to accommodate more flights, spurring cancellations and delays. The state and the airport authority argue the grants aren’t in jeopardy. The authority said Nashville officials are making “sky-is-falling” exaggerations.
Republican lawmakers contend the state deserves more say over the growing airport because of its regional impact. House Speaker Cameron Sexton said lawmakers created “the legally sanctioned board.”
As an intervenor in the lawsuit, the airport authority has remained neutral on whether the new law is unconstitutional. Updates to the FAA have never resulted in the federal agency directing the authority to stop following the state law, while even worse disruptions would result from an order to temporarily return to the preexisting board, the authority wrote.
The state-majority board met at the airport on Wednesday, conducting standard-fare business on contracts and reports. At the same time, the members of the mayoral-picked board gathered in city hall, reiterating that the FAA still acknowledges them while criticizing the state law and approving an outside attorney hire.
In a letter to the Nashville community at large, the authority’s CEO has acknowledged the “frustration and confusion” caused by the dispute. But he said the authority is responsible for staying legally compliant.
“As an airport authority, we do not take political positions,” airport authority President and CEO Doug Kruelen wrote in the July 6 letter. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-whos-in-charge-of-nashvilles-airport-us-and-tennessee-officials-disagree-under-a-new-state-law/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:47 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-whos-in-charge-of-nashvilles-airport-us-and-tennessee-officials-disagree-under-a-new-state-law/ |
Anyone looking to take delivery of Lamborghini’s Revuelto supercar better be prepared to wait (or pay hefty markups on the used market) as the car’s production run for the next two years is already allocated, the automaker announced this week.
Despite an upgrade to Lamborghini’s plant in Sant’Agata Bolognese to accommodate more automated processes, production of the Revuelto is still very much a hands-on affair, with plenty of traditional handcrafted skills retained, ensuring production will remain limited. According to Lamborghini, around 500 staff are dedicated to the car’s production.
The Revuelto was revealed in March as the successor to the Aventador. It’s Lamborghini’s first plug-in hybrid and is powered by a sophisticated setup combining a newly developed V-12 and three electric motors for a combined output of 1,000 hp.
The Revuelto isn’t just an Aventador with more power, though. It represents a ground-up redesign that in addition to electrification includes a new carbon-fiber tub, a new 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and that new V-12.
Lamborghini quotes performance numbers of 2.5 seconds in the 0-62 mph run and a top speed of 218 mph.
Lamborghini hasn’t announcing pricing for the Revuelto in the U.S., but in other markets the car is priced from 500,000 euros (approximately $548,700). Deliveries are scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Lamborghini’s Urus will be the automaker’s next plug-in hybrid. The SUV will go the electrified route starting in the first half of 2024. A plug-in hybrid successor to the Huracán will then arrive toward the end of 2024. Further out, Lamborghini plans to launch an electric vehicle in 2028. It was confirmed by the automaker in April as a 2+2 grand tourer.
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- “Wanted: The Escape Of Carlos Ghosn” debuts Aug. 25—watch the trailer | https://www.kron4.com/automotive/internet-brands/lamborghini-revuelto-already-sold-out-for-next-2-years/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:49 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/automotive/internet-brands/lamborghini-revuelto-already-sold-out-for-next-2-years/ |
Kids’ lemonade stand raises $250 for NorCal teen who lost his hand in fireworks accident
A group of Corona del Mar neighborhood kids one night this week transformed the front patio of the Donohoe family on Dahlia Avenue into a lemonade stand to raise money for a teen who lives more than 400 miles away.
The gathering came about after 8-year-old Charlie Donohoe heard about 18-year-old Jamie Groshong of Fair Oaks, Calif., an avid baseball player who lost one of his hands July 4 as a result of an exploding firework. Charlie’s mom, Lauren Donohoe, had relayed the story of Groshong’s accident to all three of her boys after hearing it from a neighbor who is connected to the Groshong family.
Charlie wanted to find a way to help.
“Some of the kids in the neighborhood were talking about fun stuff we could do like maybe a lemonade stand, when my mother told me the story about the teenager [losing his hand],” Charlie said during the fundraiser Wednesday night. “I planned it, made some of the lemonade and bought the cookies. The popcorn was free.”
Charlie explained the money raised could go toward paying medical bills or toward a prosthetic hand for Groshong.
“I told all my friends about it and said, ‘You guys should come to my lemonade stand [because] we’re doing it for charity.’”
Lauren Donohue saw the fundraiser as a good way for the youngsters to learn about reaching out to others facing difficult times.
“It’s good for kids to realize that there are people that unfortunate circumstances happen to and with unexpected bills ... there are ways you can help them through small charities in a neighborhood like a lemonade stand,” said Donohoe.
“We have a lot of kind and generous neighbors who want to support the cause,” she noted.
A sign advertised the “Lemonade Stand For Charity” event. The area, festooned with yellow balloons and surrounded by cute kids dressed in yellow became a site for a neighborhood social gathering. Families enjoyed the summer evening while supporting a teen and his family that they didn’t even know.
There were a dozen or so kids running around along with a handful of parents enjoying a glass of wine as passersby stopped to grab a yellow cupful of homemade lemonade, with most offering more than the 50 cents asked per serving.
Lauren Donohoe reported that they raised $250, which has been transferred to “Team Jamie” GoFundMe account. As of late Friday afternoon, the fundraiser for Groshong had reached $100,606 toward a $120,000 goal.
“Based on the enthusiasm and community interest, we’re going to plan an annual event for a different charity each year” said Donohoe. “We want to keep it going and raise money for those in need.”
Kitty Paul and Dave Paul, who live in the Sacramento area, organized the “Team Jamie” GoFundMe drive soon after visiting the Groshong family. They learned that the cost of a prosthetic hand ranges from $50,000 to $60,000, with bionic hands running closer to $100,000.
“My son and Jamie were best friends going off to play college baseball together, and this accident happened on the Fourth of July,” Kitty Paul said. “I am so overwhelmed by the kindness from the families in Corona del Mar, I didn’t even know they were doing that [charitable drive], and now I have tears running down my face.”
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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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-a-pollution-tax-on-older-cars-can-be-extended-to-londons-suburbs-after-a-british-court-ruling/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:54 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-a-pollution-tax-on-older-cars-can-be-extended-to-londons-suburbs-after-a-british-court-ruling/ |
Mercedes-Benz has introduced an update to its mid-size van family to help keep the vehicles fresh until the arrival of successor models based on a dedicated electric vehicle platform later this decade.
The sole mid-size van Mercedes currently sells in the U.S. is the Metris. In other markets, the Metris is known as the Vito and is sold alongside a luxury version called the V-Class. The Vito and V-Class also come in electric form, known as the eVito and EQV respectively.
While the Vito has been updated, there are no plans to bring it to the U.S. as an updated Metris. The current Metris is still available to U.S. buyers but will be phased out later this year.
The updates to the mid-size van family include tweaks to the exterior styling highlighted by an enlarged grille and new light signatures for the headlights. There’s also a new dash design that adopts a single panel integrating both a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 12.3-inch infotainment screen in the plush V-Class and EQV. In the Vito and eVito commercial models, the dash sticks to analog gauges with a 5.5-inch screen in the center, plus a 10.3-inch infotainment screen. Buyers also have five new colors to choose from, along with various wheel patterns ranging from 17-19 inches in diameter.
Mercedes has also added new digital services and safety features, one of which is an updated Active Brake Assist feature that now functions in intersections. Active Brake Assist is a collision warning system that supports the driver by automatically adding extra braking pressure when necessary, and activating automatic emergency braking if the driver fails to apply the brakes.
No change has been made to the powertrains meaning buyers have a series of diesels to choose from, including 4- and 6-cylinder options, plus an electric powertrain in the eVito and EQV.
While the U.S. will soon lose the Metris, Mercedes in May said it will bring a luxury mid-size van to this market later this decade. It will be based on the new Van.EA platform. The dedicated EV platform will spawn its first model in 2026, though Mercedes hasn’t revealed the model’s identity.
Mercedes said it expects electric vans to account for 50% of its van sales by 2030.
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- 2024 Porsche Panamera spy shots and video | https://www.kron4.com/automotive/internet-brands/mercedes-updates-v-class-ahead-of-dedicated-ev-successors-arrival/ | 2023-07-29T01:18:56 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/automotive/internet-brands/mercedes-updates-v-class-ahead-of-dedicated-ev-successors-arrival/ |
Laguna Beach police join enforcement of online crimes targeting children
Southland enforcement officials recently looked to crack down on those committing internet crimes against children.
The two-week enforcement operation, referred to as “Online Guardian,” took place this month, with authorities from the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura working together.
Authorities identified and arrested 139 individuals suspected of engaging in online predatory activity via the operation. Investigators worked undercover on social media platforms during the enforcement effort, according to a news release. The operation began on July 10.
Laguna Beach police arrested six adult men, none of whom were residents of the coastal city, on suspicion of intent to have sex with a minor under the age of 14. The associated charges included meeting a minor for lewd purposes, sending obscene material to a child and attempting to contact a minor for sex.
“As the internet becomes increasingly embedded in our children’s lives, parents and guardians face new challenges in keeping them safe online,” Laguna Beach Police Chief Jeff Calvert said in a statement. “It is important for parents to be active participants in how their children use the internet and emphasize to never share personal information or meet offline with someone they only know from an online social media platform.”
Laguna Beach authorities also collaborated with Homeland Security Investigations, the Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to carry out the enforcement effort.
The Department of Justice created the Internet Crimes Against Children task force to help law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal level investigate online crimes targeting children. There are 61 coordinated task forces nationwide, with more than 5,400 law enforcement members participating in those efforts.
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BEIRUT (AP) — An impasse at the United Nations over a border crossing with Syria’s last rebel-held enclave is putting 4.1 million Syrian there in danger, the president of the International Rescue Committee warned this week.
David Miliband’s comments came more than two weeks after the U.N. Security Council failed to renew the mandate for the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Syria and Turkey, which secures aid for Syrians in the enclave.
The vast majority of people in northwestern Syria live in poverty and rely on aid to survive — a crisis that was further worsened by a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria in February. The earthquake killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria, according to the United Nations. The quake also displaced hundreds of thousands of others.
“The people of northwest Syria can ill afford a new wave of suffering, having lived through the trauma of the earthquake,” Miliband told The Associated Press in an interview on Tuesday.
He urged the Security Council to “do its job” and resume the humanitarian border crossing.
The council earlier in July failed to adopt one of two rival resolutions on the crossing. Russia, a top ally of the Syrian government in Damascus, vetoed a Swiss-Brazilian compromise resolution backed by Western countries that renewed authorization for the crossing of aid through Bab al-Hawa for six months. Moscow’s draft resolution with additional requirements — including increasing aid delivery to the opposition enclave through Damascus — only received China’s backing.
The paralysis also comes as donor fatigue has led to aid cuts in aid to both northwestern Syria and neighboring countries hosting millions of Syrian refugees who fled the ongoing conflict, now in its 13th year.
Syrian President Bashar Assad opened two additional crossing points from Turkey at Bab al-Salameh and al-Rai to increase the aid flow to the quake victims. The U.N. says that some 85% of its aid to northwestern Syria goes through Bab al-Hawa, a more efficient route.
For the moment, Miliband said the International Rescue Committee is trying to cope by using other crossings and finding other ways of getting aid into the enclave.
“Our point of view is that interference with the humanitarian crossing point poses severe danger to the efficiency and the effectiveness of humanitarian aid,” he explained.
Additionally, the United States said Monday that it has joined major donors in demanding the U.N. be able to deliver aid through Bab al-Hawa independently and to everyone in need — a rejection of conditions set by Syria and backed by its ally Russia that Damascus control all aid and banning U.N. communications with rebels in the region.
The Security Council initially authorized aid deliveries in 2014 from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan through four border crossing points into rebel-held areas in Syria.
However, Russia, backed by China, over the years successfully applied pressure to reduce the authorized crossings to just Bab al-Hawa, and the mandates from a year to six months.
Moscow alleges that militant groups in the northwestern province of Idlib are taking the aid and preventing it from reaching families in need. Russia and China have been calling for all aid to be routed through Damascus instead.
But Syrians in the northwestern enclave, as well as Western countries critical of Assad, say they are skeptical of the push.
“There’s a lot of danger for people in need in northwest Syria,” Miliband said. “And it’s very important that they’re not forgotten.” | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-aid-group-official-warns-that-impasse-at-the-un-on-border-crossing-puts-4-1-million-syrians-at-risk/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:01 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-aid-group-official-warns-that-impasse-at-the-un-on-border-crossing-puts-4-1-million-syrians-at-risk/ |
Porsche earlier this week revealed more than just a first look at its lounge-like road-trip fast-charging stations, to be laid out along some top routes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Within details for these design-savvy charging oases there was a bigger technology reveal: Its EVs in the future, it hinted, may charge above 300 kw and perhaps closer to 400 kw.
That message came within how the automaker explained the charging hardware situated at these Porsche Charging Lounges. They’ll be “perfectly tailored to the requirements of Porsche drivers on long journeys,” the company explained. That means a current max charge power of 300 kw from the Alpitronic hardware at those stations, it explained, but it then stated: “By the start of next year, 400 kw per charging point should be possible.”
Since its launch, the Porsche Taycan has been capable of 800-volt DC fast-charging up to 270 kw—made more reproducible for 2022—offering a 5-80% charge in as little as 22.5 minutes.
The 2024 Porsche Macan Electric, which is due to go on sale in the first half of 2024 and built on the PPE platform jointly developed by Porsche and Audi, will inherit the Taycan’s 800-volt charging. But Porsche has suggested that PPE may be capable of a bit more.
While the Macan may stretch closer to 300 kw, it has to be another future vehicle that fast-charges at an even higher rate, taking advantage of those 400-kw connectors.
But the charger announcement may be teasing a product that’s yet to come and farther in the future. Will that be the Boxster-inspired electric sports car, which might include the 718 badge; a production version of the 900-volt Mission X concept the brand recently revealed; or another new EV from the sports-car brand? Or all of the above?
Porsche has said that by 2030 over 80% of the vehicles it delivers globally will be fully electric—although it’s suggested that the last gasoline model it will make will be the 911.
That said, a model that might take advantage of a 400-kw connector might top out higher than the Lucid Air, which reaches a max just over 300 kw, and the GMC Hummer EV with the largest dual-layer pack, which can at times pull the full power from a 350-kw connector.
Such a model tapping the potential of a 400-kw connector might not be coming until 2025 or 2026, but when it does, then Porsche looks prepared with the infrastructure.
The Taycan is already approaching its intended gas-station refueling times—if the infrastructure’s there. With some carefully planned charging stops, one crossed the U.S. last year at real-world highway speeds with just 2.5 hours of charging.
As for those lounges, Porsche aims to place them close to “busy routes with significant traffic flow,” make them open 24/7, barrier-free, and part of the Ionity network, and provide centralized billing and a very comfortable environment. If the images provided, showing woodgrain finishes, bright interiors, workout areas, and rooftop solar cells are any indication, it looks like a very pleasant environment compared to the edge of the Walmart parking lot or strip-mall access road.
Although Porsche has no plans to build these charging oases in the U.S. as of yet, fellow VW Group entity Electrify America offers 350-kw connectors at many of its 809 U.S. fast-charging locations. And the national fast-charging network set to be bankrolled by seven automakers, announced earlier this week, with 350-kw connectors as a baseline, will help support these even-faster-charging EVs.
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- 2018-2023 Nissan Leaf EV recalled for cruise-control acceleration flaw | https://www.kron4.com/automotive/internet-brands/porsche-hints-a-future-ev-may-utilize-400-kw-fast-charging/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:04 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/automotive/internet-brands/porsche-hints-a-future-ev-may-utilize-400-kw-fast-charging/ |
The Crowd: Former NFLer Jon Dorenbos addresses Orangewood Foundation’s annual scholarship luncheon
Former NFL player Jon Dorenbos literally leaped onto the stage in the ballroom at Balboa Bay Resort, Newport Beach as if he were ready to display his recognizable long snap for his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Dorenbos played 14 seasons in the NFL, appearing in the Pro Bowl twice.
On a recent summer day on the California coast, he came to share shocking life history with an audience of several hundred women and men who joined together for the 19th annual scholarship luncheon themed “The Magic of Giving,” which benefits the Orangewood Foundation and is produced by its auxiliary known as 44 Women of Orangewood.
Dorenbos was the ultimate “graduation against all odds” speaker. His perfect white-picket-fence home life in suburban Seattle was obliterated on an early August morning in 1992. Dorenbos was just 12. He and his sister left the house that morning and waved goodbye. His father, whom he adored, went into the family garage and murdered his mother.
With his father imprisoned and his sister moved into another living situation, he entered foster care. As he shared with his Orangewood audience, which honors and supports the educational future of emancipated foster youth past 18 years of age, his said, “The script you write for yourself dictates the world you will live in.”
Dorenbos proceeded to mesmerize his audience with the most profound highs and lows of what he calls his inspiring journey from tragedy to self-discovery.
Post NFL career, Dorenbos is a celebrated professional magician frequently on television and fronting major performance venues to sell-out crowds. The evolution from a football career to pulling rabbits out of a hat might seem strange to some. But as his performance for Orangewood unfolded, combining magic on stage with life stories of survival and redemption, it all made superb sense. Bottom line in his own words: “Come to terms with your reality. Leave the past behind.”
Appropriately, Dorenbos has penned a biography titled “Life Is Magic.” Chapter titles speak volumes. They include: “Man Plans and God Laughs” and “Don’t Hate, Don’t Blame, Forgive.”
The afternoon of inspiration was co-chaired by Susan Samueli, founder of 44 Women for Orangewood, and Judy Nicholls. The ladies committee deserving praise for a successful event included O.C. activists Nancy Silver, Jessica Ishak, Katie Koster, Barb Maccabe, Shahrzad Bina and Mary Vande Bossche. Also front and center for foster youth were Mrunal Shah, Yvette McCarthy, Mari Kurtz, Linda Calderon, Kim Byrens, Fariba Fidone, Denise Schuler, Cissy Tubbs, Christina Bova, Cecily Burke and Cary Clawson.
The “Magic of Giving” afternoon grossed more than $413,000 thanks in great part to the generosity of three passionate and longstanding Orangewood supporters — Shirley Pepys, Renee Pepys Lowe and Dan Houck — who matched donations up to the $75,000 level.
“Founded in 1999, 44 Women For Orangewood focuses its efforts on providing mentoring and education, increasing community awareness about the youth Orangewood serves, and hosting annual fundraising events. Named for 44 of Samueli’s closest friends, the auxiliary’s membership has more than doubled in size since inception and includes some of Orange County’s most philanthropically minded and dedicated women,” stated Madi Sutherland, representing the organization.
“The overwhelming generosity and passion demonstrated at this event empowers us to find new and innovative ways to support teens and youth in need,” offered Chris Simonsen, chief executive of Orangewood Foundation. “Thank you to the 44 Women of Orangewood for being incredible partners and organizing this wonderful event and to all supporters who wholeheartedly share our belief that every young adult exiting the foster care system deserves to go as far as they can dream.”
The scholarship luncheon was made possible with the support of generous sponsors including the Samueli Foundation, IRA Capital, Donald and Constance Sperling, and Toshiba TABS, Stumpf & Associates APC, the Yvette and Kevin McCarthy Family Trust, F&M Bank and Greg and Julie Dunlap among many more.
To learn more about the work of the Orangewood Foundation visit orangewoodfoundation.org.
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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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-armenia-calls-on-allies-to-help-get-aid-to-nagorno-karabakh-during-tensions-with-azerbaijan/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:07 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-armenia-calls-on-allies-to-help-get-aid-to-nagorno-karabakh-during-tensions-with-azerbaijan/ |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Another break or crack has been found on a North Carolina amusement park ride, weeks after the roller coaster was shut down when a visitor spotted a crack in a steel support pillar, state officials say.
The discovery of the additional "weld indication" was made during an investigation into the structural integrity of the closed Fury 325 roller coaster at Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, according to a statement from the North Carolina Department of Labor.
The agency said the indication "could be either a break or a crack," the statement said.
The Fury 325 will stay closed until inspections and repairs happen, park officials have said. It's one of the tallest and longest rides in a massive park that straddles the North and South Carolina state line. The park says the Fury 325 takes riders to a peak height of 325 feet and reaches 95 mph.
Carowinds said it's not "uncommon to discover slight weld indications in various locations of a steel superstructure" when conducting a maintenance review, in a statement given to CNN. The park added that such indications "do not compromise the structural integrity or safety of the ride."
The amusement park closed the roller coaster on June 30 after visitor Jeremy Wagner took a video of the crack and said he immediately showed it to guest services before following up with the Charlotte Fire Department. The fire department called him back and said the ride had been shut down, CNN previously reported.
"I'm not an engineer, but that's not right," Wagner thought on his visit to Carowinds park, he previously told CNN.
At the park with family, Wagner knew something was wrong when he spotted the crack, he told CNN. He pulled out his phone and hit record, zooming in to show the support pillar moving slightly out of place as passengers flew by.
"My daughter and niece rode it six times," he told CNN.
Carowinds said it "continues to conduct a comprehensive series of detailed tests and inspections" to prepare for the ride's reopening.
The North Carolina Department of Labor said there is no timeline for issuing the certificate of operation and that the investigation continues.
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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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-divided-cyprus-rival-leaders-appeal-for-information-on-the-missing-as-eyewitnesses-die/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:15 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-divided-cyprus-rival-leaders-appeal-for-information-on-the-missing-as-eyewitnesses-die/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two weeks into the the actors strike, Max Greenfield is urging the studios and their CEOs to return to the bargaining table.
“Be the heroes, come to the table, make a deal,” said Greenfield, who co-stars in the CBS sitcom “The Neighborhood.” “My hope is these guys get organized and have a real conversation with both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA so that we can get to a resolution,” he said, referencing the unions for the writers and actors, respectively.
Greenfield spoke at a charity ping pong event at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, joined by his co-star Cedric the Entertainer.
“We struck because our deal was up and it’s time to adjust to what has changed in the business. To make a minor adjustment feels disproportionate to what has obviously changed in a massive, massive way,” Greenfield said. “Until we feel like we’re getting fair compensation and we feel like we’re protected, this is going to continue to go on.”
Bryan Cranston, who had fiery words for Disney CEO Bob Iger at a New York rally on Tuesday, acknowledged things are “going very, very slowly.”
“Until we’re able to get back to the table, which we are more than willing to do and we’ve told them so, we want to keep talking through this strike,” he said. “We want to end this as soon as possible.”
On July 14, actors joined striking screenwriters who walked out in May. The stoppage has shuttered nearly all film and television production.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of America are striking for fair pay and protections involving the use of artificial intelligence, among other issues.
There has reportedly been no negotiating between the unions and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers since shortly after the actors hit the picket lines.
“I think when people realize that the artists are the people that are making this and nothing is going to get made without the actors and the writers, maybe that will force a little more flexibility in the negotiations,” Oscar-winning actor Casey Affleck said.
Actor and entrepreneur Danny Trejo urged the studios to look beyond Hollywood’s highest-paid actors and consider the financial plight of those working behind the scenes.
“One of the problems is people on top are making a lot of money right now and they don’t want to share,” he said. “We’ve got people that are in SAG that can’t even afford to live in LA. It’s like, wait a minute guys, we got to just be fair.
“Figure if one of your kids was trying to get into the movies and was working as an extra or just made it into SAG, they couldn’t live in LA,” Trejo said, imagining the offspring of a Hollywood CEO. “Oh no wait, yes they could. They could live in Beverly (expletive) Hills with you, punk.”
Trejo filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy earlier this year and owes over $2 million in back taxes to the IRS, according to a report by KABC-TV.
“I make good money, but right now I’m buried in taxes, so I have to work that out,” he said. “This strike is killing me. I can’t pay what I’m supposed to be paying for my taxes, so man, imagine the guy that’s making $18 an hour and not working all the time.”
Actor Holly Robinson-Peete, a SAG member since 1977, said it’s important for the actors’ union to communicate the economic issues behind the strike.
“We’re not just a bunch of spoiled people that want more and we’re greedy,” she said. “The majority of our union are people who are not working very often, can’t really make a living at this. It’s going to take an incredible amount of patience and messaging, and we just got to stick to it.” | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-actor-max-greenfield-urges-studio-ceos-to-be-the-heroes-and-make-a-deal-in-hollywood-strikes/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:17 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-actor-max-greenfield-urges-studio-ceos-to-be-the-heroes-and-make-a-deal-in-hollywood-strikes/ |
BRACKENRIDGE, Pa. — Nearly seven months after the death of its chief, the Brackenridge Police Department is no more.
The Brackenridge Council voted to disband the department on Friday night.
Since the death of Chief Justin McInteire in January, the department has been relying on state police to fill holes.
Now, the three remaining police officers will be absorbed into Tarentum’s police force and Tarentum will cover both boroughs.
The plan for the merger was first discussed in April.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Plans moving forward to merge Brackenridge, Tarentum police departments
Community officials say the plan will create more safety in the area.
“We really wanted to get back to 24/7 community policing as quickly as possible and going forward in this way allows us to return to 24/7 while allowing our employees to maintain salaries and pension benefits,” Mayor Lindsay Fraser said.
The merger will go into effect Aug. 1.
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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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-exclusion-zone-set-up-around-greek-military-base-after-wildfires-trigger-powerful-explosions/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:22 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-exclusion-zone-set-up-around-greek-military-base-after-wildfires-trigger-powerful-explosions/ |
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Adidas said Friday that it is releasing a second batch of high-end Yeezy sneakers after cutting ties with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, as the German sportswear brand seeks to unload the unsold shoes while donating to groups fighting antisemitism.
The online sale, to start Wednesday through Adidas smartphone apps and its website, follows an earlier set of sales in May. Models that will be available include the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, 500, and 700 as well as the Yeezy Slide and Foam RNR.
The company cut ties with Ye in October after he made antisemitic and other offensive remarks online and in interviews. That left Adidas holding 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) worth of unsold Yeezys and searching for a responsible way to dispose of them.
Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden said in May that selling the popular sneakers and donating some of the profits was the best solution to deal with the unsold inventory and make a difference. He said the company spoke with nongovernmental organizations and groups that were harmed by Ye’s comments and actions.
Part of the profits from the sales of the Yeezy shoes will go to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, run by social justice advocate Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd.
Shoes sold directly by Adidas in North America will include blue square pins established by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism as a symbol of solidarity in rejecting antisemitism, the company said.
The Anti-Defamation League calls the sale “a thoughtful and caring resolution” for the unsold merchandise and that “any attempt to turn the consequences of (Ye’s) actions into something that ultimately benefits society and the people he has hurt is most welcome.”
Adidas declined to give details on numbers of shoes that would be released for sale and how much of the proceeds would be donated. Asked if Ye would receive royalties from the sales, the company would only say that “we will honor our contractual obligations and enforce our rights but will not share any more details.”
The company said Monday that the first sale of Yeezy shoes helped its preliminary second-quarter financial results and contributed to it raising its outlook for the year — from a high single-digit decline in revenue to a mid-single digit decline.
That would still amount to an operating loss of 450 million euros (more than $494 million) this year, instead of a loss of 700 million euros.
Adidas, which reports its earnings for the first half of the year on Thursday, said it expected future Yeezy sales to further boost its results. | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-adidas-to-release-second-batch-of-yeezy-sneakers-after-breakup-with-ye/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:24 | 1 | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-adidas-to-release-second-batch-of-yeezy-sneakers-after-breakup-with-ye/ |
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens’ offense has been the talk of the offseason amongst fans, analysts and coaches waiting to see how Lamar Jackson and new offensive coordinator Todd Monken work together, but the defense has largely been impenetrable throughout the early portion of training camp.
Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, now entering his second year with the team, appears to have this unit replicating their late-season form where they were one of the best defenses in the league.
According to Ben Baldwin of The Athletic, the Ravens ranked fifth in expected added points per play on defense (-0.078) from Week 9 through the end of the regular season last year. With linebacker Roquan Smith now in town for the entire offseason, the Ravens are locked and loaded for what is one of the most star-studded defenses in the NFL.
“He's obviously an incredible player and great personality,” Macdonald said about Smith. “He's one of our top leaders, and to his credit, he was here just like we talked about in the offseason. Guys gravitate toward him.”
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Smith leads a group that features one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL in Marlon Humphrey, arguably the best safety duo in the league between Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton, and a top-flight secondary linebacker in Patrick Queen. Hamilton and Williams were all over the place during the first few days of non-contact practice, but it’s clear that those two — and Hamilton in particular — are going to be leaned on in a big way for the upcoming season.
“Kyle has had a great three days and really, we're asking our guys back there to have production on the football, and he's been there,” Macdonald said about his second-year safety. “...The game's slowing down for him for sure. He's taking a commanding presence back there making calls, so [I'm] very pleased with where he's at."
As Macdonald noted, it's not always easy to get the best looks in training camp before the pads come on, but these are still valuable reps to learn from. The offense that Monken is installing is being run at an uptempo pace, which is certainly a challenge for players getting back to practice for the first time in a couple months in sweltering heat. The Ravens aren't hitting, nor is any team without full pads on, but Macdonald noted there are ways even the defensive linemen can improve their game.
“It's hard, you know. You look at it right now, we're looking for technique, effort, execution, [and] that sort of thing,” Macdonald said. “In terms of the pass rush — balancing the rush, executing the moves — that sort of thing, but in terms of finishing, you kind of leave that to when the pads come on and get the reps in preseason.”
Baby steps so far, but the Ravens defense is showing off the familiarity with the scheme and each other as they enter their second year in this defense. If the offense can match the performance they’ve shown throughout the first few camp sessions, the AFC North needs to watch out. | https://www.wpxi.com/news/national/ravens-offense/BLDX7BYSYTHNO7ZDZZSZKPLAPA/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:27 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/national/ravens-offense/BLDX7BYSYTHNO7ZDZZSZKPLAPA/ |
DES MOINES, Iowa — (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed "I will get the job done" but shied away from attacking former President Donald Trump as the two top rivals for the Republican presidential nomination were making rare appearances at the same Iowa campaign event on Friday night.
Despite Trump being charged a day earlier with additional counts over his retention of classified documents that could shake up the race, DeSantis stuck to his standard campaign speech, mostly targeting President Joe Biden.
The Florida governor also repeated his frequent promise to halt the "weaponization" of the Justice Department, an allusion to Trump's legal troubles, but offered no specific thoughts on the cases against him. That's despite Trump also bracing to be charged soon in Washington over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“The time for excuses is over. We must get the job done," DeSantis said. "I will get the job done."
Trump frequently avoids attending multicandidate events in person, questioning why he would share a stage with competitors who are badly trailing him in polls. But with Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus less than six months away, the former president joined a dozen other GOP hopefuls in speaking to about 1,200 GOP members and activists at the Lincoln Day Dinner.
He also opened an Iowa campaign office in Urbandale, outside Des Moines, prior to the main event — and wasn't shy about slamming his competitors around the same time DeSantis was taking the stage at the dinner.
“I understand the other candidates are falling very flat ... it’s like death,” Trump said, adding, “There’s no applause, there’s no nothing.”
More than 100 people packed the small office, many wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and shirts. They had waited in 100-degree weather to enter, and the poorly ventilated office quickly became sweltering. Staff handed out water bottles, and people fanned themselves with campaign handouts. Some used paper towels to wipe away sweat.
DeSantis, who like most of Friday's speakers vowed to visit all of Iowa's 99 counties prior to the caucus, is Trump's strongest primary competitor but has been trying to reset his stalled campaign for two weeks. He's increasingly focusing on Iowa in its efforts on trying to derail Trump.
The governor's stumbles have raised questions about whether another candidate might be able to emerge from the field and catch the former president. Some evangelicals, who can be determinative in the state’s caucuses, have pointed to South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s upbeat message and pulpit-style delivery as strengths that could help him rise there.
Scott, who also spoke Friday night and didn't mention Trump or the cases against him, held a town hall the previous day in Ankeny with Iowa's Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. Afterward, Scott took a swipe at DeSantis over the Florida governor's support for new standards that require the state's teachers to instruct middle school students that slaves developed skills that "could be applied for their personal benefit."
The only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, Scott said all Americans should recognize how “devastating” slavery was. “There is no silver lining” to slavery, he added.
DeSantis has also faced criticism from teachers and civil rights leaders, as well as mounting pushback from some of his party's most prominent Black elected officials. Florida Rep. Byron Donalds said he hoped officials might “correct” parts of the curriculum addressing lessons on the developed skills of enslaved people. Texas Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt and Will Hurd, a former Texas congressman now also running in the GOP presidential primary, have also criticized DeSantis.
Still, the governor continued to dig in on the issue, saying at a pre-dinner event in Oskaloosa on Friday, “D.C. Republicans all too often accept false narratives, accept lies that are perpetrated by the left." The governor has defended the new school curriculum, saying, “I think it’s very clear that these guys did a good job on those standards."
John Niemeyer, 52, from Kalona, Iowa, attended DeSantis' event and was impressed. But, as a high school teacher, he’s not a fan of some of the governor's positions on education policy.
“I don’t want to make our classrooms a political battlefield,” he said, adding that it would be a “mistake” to make the issue the forefront of his campaign.
Vice President Kamala Harris made her own Iowa stop on Friday, seeking to draw a contrast with the Republicans as she looked to lift President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. Harris met in Des Moines with activists and discussed abortion rights, after Reynolds recently signed a ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
“I do believe that we are witnessing a national agenda that is about a full-on attack on hard won freedoms and hard won rights,” the vice president said.
Hours later, many Lincoln Day Dinner attendees wore “Trump Country” stickers, including 72-year-old Diane Weaver of Ankeny, Iowa.
“I think he makes America great," said Weaver, a retiree who plans to caucus for Trump. “I think he did it once and I think he can do it again.”
West Des Moines resident Jane Schrader chose to wear her “Trump Country” sticker on her pants instead of at eye level. “I’m not quite dyed-in-the-wool. I’m a supporter, but not that kind,” said the retired physician, explaining her sticker placement.
Trump did face criticism from some rivals, including former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison, who in his speech declared, "As a party, we need a new direction for America and for the GOP.” The crowd offered only a muted reaction — but refrained from booing, which Trump critics at Republican primary events often face.
Loud and sustained boos came, however, for Hurd, a frequent Trump critic who declared, “The reason Donald Trump lost the election in 2020 is he failed to grow the GOP brand.” The former congressman also made one of the night's few references to the criminal cases against Trump, saying: "Donald Trump is not running for president to make America great again. Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison," drawing hoots.
That was very different than DeSantis, who ducked chances Friday to criticize Trump over the additional charges he faces even before his speech.
“We have engaged when appropriate,” DeSantis told reporters in Oskaloosa, mentioning times in the past when he and Trump had criticized each other over policy differences. The governor added that he's not interested in "relitigating the latest superseding indictment.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wpxi.com/news/politics/desantis-shies-away/KY35FPIRKH7G7XJM6JO67FAKPQ/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:28 | 1 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/politics/desantis-shies-away/KY35FPIRKH7G7XJM6JO67FAKPQ/ |
WASHINGTON — (AP) — A top Pentagon official has attacked this week's widely watched congressional hearing on UFOs, calling the claims "insulting" to employees who are investigating sightings and accusing a key witness of not cooperating with the official U.S. government investigation.
Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick's letter, published on his personal LinkedIn page and circulated Friday across social media, criticizes much of the testimony from a retired Air Force intelligence officer that energized believers in extraterrestrial life and produced headlines around the world.
Retired Air Force Maj. David Grusch testified Wednesday that the U.S. has concealed what he called a “multi-decade” program to collect and reverse-engineer “UAPs,” or unidentified aerial phenomena, the official government term for UFOs.
Part of what the U.S. has recovered, Grusch testified, were non-human “biologics," which he said he had not seen but had learned about from “people with direct knowledge of the program."
A career intelligence officer, Kirkpatrick was named a year ago to lead the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, which was intended to centralize investigations into UAPs. The Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies have been pushed by Congress in recent years to better investigate reports of devices flying at unusual speeds or trajectories as a national security concern.
Kirkpatrick wrote the letter Thursday and the Defense Department confirmed Friday that he posted it in a personal capacity. Kirkpatrick did not return messages seeking comment.
He writes in part, “I cannot let yesterday’s hearing pass without sharing how insulting it was to the officers of the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community who chose to join AARO, many with not unreasonable anxieties about the career risks this would entail.”
“They are truth-seekers, as am I,” Kirkpatrick said. “But you certainly would not get that impression from yesterday’s hearing.”
In a separate statement, Pentagon spokeswoman Sue Gough denied other allegations made by Grusch and other witnesses before a House Oversight subcommittee.
The Pentagon “has no information that any individual has been harmed or killed as a result of providing information” about UFO objects, Gough said. Nor has the Pentagon discovered “any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.”
Kirkpatrick wrote, “AARO has yet to find any credible evidence to support the allegations of any reverse engineering program for non-human technology.”
He had briefed reporters in December that the Pentagon was investigating "several hundreds" of new reports following a push to have pilots and others come forward with any sightings.
Kirkpatrick wrote in his letter that allegations of “retaliation, to include physical assault and hints of murder, are extraordinarily serious, which is why law enforcement is a critical member of the AARO team, specifically to address and take swift action should anyone come forward with such claims."
“Yet, contrary to assertions made in the hearing, the central source of those allegations has refused to speak with AARO,” Kirkpatrick said. He did not explicitly name Grusch, who alleged he faced retaliation and declined to answer when a congressman asked him if anyone had been murdered to hide information about UFOs.
Messages left at a phone number and email address for Grusch were not returned Friday.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wpxi.com/news/politics/ufo-congressional/FDZON3WYO6WCBK3YL26BM4Z6C4/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:29 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/politics/ufo-congressional/FDZON3WYO6WCBK3YL26BM4Z6C4/ |
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.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wpxi.com/news/technology/automaker-tesla-is/S6RRXNRZJ7PXY2QCU4P676LZE4/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:30 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/technology/automaker-tesla-is/S6RRXNRZJ7PXY2QCU4P676LZE4/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-g20-ministers-reach-agreement-on-most-but-not-all-climate-issues/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:30 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-g20-ministers-reach-agreement-on-most-but-not-all-climate-issues/ |
DALLAS (AP) — The combat boots and dog tags Alan Alda wore while playing the wisecracking surgeon Hawkeye on the beloved television series “M-A-S-H” sold at auction Friday for $125,000.
Alda held onto the boots and dog tags for more than 40 years after the show ended but decided to sell them through Heritage Auctions in Dallas to raise money for his center dedicated to helping scientists and doctors communicate better.
The buyer’s name wasn’t released.
Alda, 87, said he wore the boots and dog tags for the 11-season run of the show about a Korean War medical unit. His character, Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, was a talented surgeon who helped ease the stress of working in a war zone with quips and practical jokes. The show’s final episode, which aired in 1983 and was written and directed by Alda, was the most watched TV show in U.S. history.
The boots and dog tags, given to him by the costume department, “made an impression on me every day that we shot the show,” said Alda, who won five Emmys for his work on the sitcom.
Alda said auctioning off the dog tags and boots now made sense. “I saw this as a chance to put them to work again,” he said.
The money raised from the auction will go to the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in New York, which aims to help scientists and doctors communicate better through the use of improvisational exercises and other strategies.
_____
Associated Press writer Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report. | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-boots-and-dog-tags-alan-alda-wore-on-m-a-s-h-sell-at-auction-for-125000-that-will-go-to-charity/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:31 | 1 | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-boots-and-dog-tags-alan-alda-wore-on-m-a-s-h-sell-at-auction-for-125000-that-will-go-to-charity/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-german-far-right-leader-urges-conservatives-to-break-down-firewall-against-his-party/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:37 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-german-far-right-leader-urges-conservatives-to-break-down-firewall-against-his-party/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A judge in Florida on Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees against Disney’s efforts to neutralize the governor’s takeover of Disney World’s governing district.
The judge in state court in Orlando denied Disney’s motion in the lawsuit that says the company wrongly stripped appointees of powers over design and construction at Disney World when it made agreements with predecessors, who were supporters.
The case is one of two lawsuits stemming from the takeover, which was retaliation for the company’s public opposition to the so-called Don’t Say Gay legislation championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. In the other lawsuit, in federal court in Tallahassee, Disney says DeSantis violated the company’s free speech rights.
The governor has touted his yearlong feud with Disney in his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, often accusing the entertainment giant of being too “woke.” Disney has accused the governor of violating its First Amendment rights.
Attorneys for Disney had argued that any decision in state court would be moot since the Republican-controlled Legislature already has passed a law voiding agreements that the company made with a prior governing board made up of Disney supporters that gave design and construction powers to the company.
The entertainment giant had asked that the state court case be put on hold if it’s not dismissed until the federal lawsuit in Tallahassee was resolved since they covered the same ground and that lawsuit was filed first.
In that case, Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in an effort to stop the takeover, saying the governor was violating the company’s free speech and “weaponizing the power of government to punish private business.”
DeSantis wasn’t a party in the state court lawsuit.
The fight between DeSantis and Disney began last year after the company, facing significant pressure internally and externally, publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, a policy critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”
As punishment, DeSantis took over the district through legislation passed by Florida lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services for the sprawling theme parks and hotels. But before the new board came in, the company made agreements with previous oversight board members who were Disney supporters that stripped the new supervisors of their authority over design and construction.
In response, DeSantis and Florida lawmakers passed the legislation that repealed those agreements.
Disney announced in May that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development. Disney had planned to build the campus about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the giant Walt Disney World theme park resort.
___
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-lawsuit-against-disneys-efforts-to-neutralize-governing-district-takeover/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:38 | 1 | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-judge-refuses-to-dismiss-lawsuit-against-disneys-efforts-to-neutralize-governing-district-takeover/ |
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.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wpxi.com/news/technology/x-logo-installed/F23DOYWLZY7XWSIZULZDRU67PQ/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:41 | 1 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/technology/x-logo-installed/F23DOYWLZY7XWSIZULZDRU67PQ/ |
Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown's office released details Friday on a free concert headlined by legendary Canadian band The Guess Who on Saturday, Aug. 19, on Public Square.
Local, blues-injected, rock n' roll trio Dustin Douglas and the Electric Gentlemen, will be the opening performance at 6 p.m. The Guess Who will begin their set at approximately 7:30 p.m.
The rain-or-shine event will include local food vendors. Alcohol is not permitted on Public Square during the event. Attendees are welcome to bring their own chairs and blankets to the concert. For safety, Public Square will be closed to traffic beginning at 5 p.m. and reopening soon after the end of the concert.
Brown teased the event on his Facebook page last week.
According to the band's website, The Guess Who enjoyed chart-topping hits in the late '60s and early '70s with an impressive catalogue of songs including "American Woman," "These Eyes" and "No Time." The band released 11 studio albums and charted 14 Top-40 hit singles, two of which went to number one in the United States. The band is best known internationally for its 1970 album, "American Woman."
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The band's fan base spans multiple generations. The Guess Who's modern musical offering is "stunningly sophisticated, searingly emotional and musically eclectic, while remaining eminently singalongable," according to the band's website.
The band is on tour to support its latest album, "Plein D'Amour," released June 30. Band members are Garry Peterson, Derek Sharp, Michael Devin, Leonard Shaw and Michael Staertow.
Brown expressed thanks to the sponsors who are making the free concert accessible to the community, including presenting sponsors Diamond City Partnership and Visit Luzerne County; platinum sponsors, BHW Construction Consultation Services, Franchelli Enterprises and M&T Bank; gold sponsors, Pennsylvania American Water and Service Electric Cable TV & Communications; silver sponsors, Allied Services, Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies, Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce, The Luzerne Foundation, PennEastern Engineering, Stell Enterprises and UGI; and additional sponsor, Roscoe Advertising.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available, and commitments will be taken until Aug. 11. All sponsorship levels include inclusion of the organization’s logo on the banner to be displayed on the sides of the stage, along with all social media and traditional media advertisements. Size and prominence of logo will be according to sponsorship level. Sponsorship levels include presenting sponsorship at $5,000, platinum at $2,500, gold at $1,500, and silver at $1,000.
Email Mike Slusser, the city's special events coordinator at mslusser@wilkes-barre.pa.us or call 570-208-4149 with questions. | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/entertainment/wilkes-barre-releases-details-on-free-concert-by-the-guess-who/article_e0463ef1-d12c-522c-82ee-7e9d8c5e49c0.html | 2023-07-29T01:19:44 | 0 | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/entertainment/wilkes-barre-releases-details-on-free-concert-by-the-guess-who/article_e0463ef1-d12c-522c-82ee-7e9d8c5e49c0.html |
Allan Glasson, 59, of Beech Mountain Lakes, Drums, and formally of Parsons, passed into the arms of the Lord on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at Hospice of the Sacred Heart after a courageous battle with cancer.
Allan was a 1982 graduate of Coughlin High School. He spent many years in the printing industry, working at Suburban Publishers and Quad Graphics and was proud of his printing heritage. He was the supervisor of maintenance at Beech Mountain Lakes, prior to his illness.
Allan was an avid New York Mets and Minnesota Vikings fan. He recently was able to attend a Mets game at Citi Field. Allan also loved to read and draw. He had an appreciation for nature and enjoyed hiking and exploring. He loved music and went to many concerts during his lifetime. Fondly known as Big Al, he had a big heart and a big smile. He was so kind and he would help anyone he could. We can’t imagine our life without him. Allan loved the Lord and his faith was of comfort to him through his illness.
Allan is survived by his mother, Delilah Glasson, Parsons; daughter, Karisa (Jason) Payor; Jason was like a son to Allan; grandchild, Julianna (Jagger), Bear Creek; siblings, Cindy (Greg) Milton, Texas; Sandy (Phil) Allabaugh, Mountain Top; Scott (Tammy) Glasson, Hanover; Steven (Jennifer) Glasson, Parsons; and former spouse, Ann Glasson, Bear Creek. He has numerous nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews who will greatly miss their Uncle Al.
He was preceded in death by his father, George Glasson; and godson, Ryan Allabaugh.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday from E. Blake Collins Funeral Home, 159 George Ave., Wilkes-Barre. Services will be conducted by the Rev. Sal Reyes. Interment will be in Maple Hill Cemetery, Hanover Twp. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday and from 10 a.m. until the time of service Tuesday.
In lieu of monetary gifts, please donate to a charity in Allan’s name. Allan frequently donated to many charities, with St. Jude’s being one of his favorites. | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/allan-glasson/article_759d64b6-2376-5259-aceb-d67dbe99fa88.html | 2023-07-29T01:19:45 | 1 | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/allan-glasson/article_759d64b6-2376-5259-aceb-d67dbe99fa88.html |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-hong-kong-court-rejects-government-requested-ban-on-protest-song-glory-to-hong-kong/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:44 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-hong-kong-court-rejects-government-requested-ban-on-protest-song-glory-to-hong-kong/ |
James J. Leary, 79, of Larksville, passed away peacefully Tuesday, July 25, 2023, in Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.
Jim was born May 1, 1944, in Luzerne, son of John J. Leary and Mary C. Graham Leary.
Jim was a graduate of Luzerne High, Class of 1962, received a bachelor’s degree from Wilkes University and a master’s degree in psychology from Marywood University. Jim was a counselor in the state prison system and an adjunct professor at Luzerne County Community College.
Jim had several passionate pursuits in his life. He was dedicated to physical fitness and had earned a black belt in martial arts. Jim’s many friends will remember his willingness to teach the art of karate to children of all ages. He enjoyed ballroom dancing with his friends and always had a warm smile for everyone.
Jim was also a poet and had a book of poems published several years ago. He would frequently recite a poem at family holiday gatherings.
Jim resided with his fiancée, Tina, in Larksville.
Surviving are his son, James and his wife, Kimberly, Luzerne; brothers and sisters, Jack, Wyoming, Maureen, Exeter, Thomas, Kingston, and Joseph, Forty Fort; four grandchildren, Nicole, Hannah, Ava and Jameson; 12 nieces and nephews; and 16 great-nieces and great-nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and his brother, Richard and wife, Bonnie Leary.
Tina would especially like to thank his friend, Eddy and his private nurses who helped Tina with his care and Dr. Gunnar Kosek and staff.
The funeral service will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Kniffen O’Malley Leffler Funeral & Cremation Services, 465 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre. Family and friends may pay their respects from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
Interment will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Oak Lawn Cemetery. Please go directly to the graveside if attending.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil. If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted. | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/james-j-leary/article_9a94d744-f29f-5157-9643-6d9eb7c4f611.html | 2023-07-29T01:19:47 | 0 | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/james-j-leary/article_9a94d744-f29f-5157-9643-6d9eb7c4f611.html |
The 75th Emmy Awards are the latest production to be put on pause due to the Hollywood strikes and will not air as planned in September.
A person familiar with the postponement plans but not authorized to speak publicly pending an official announcement confirmed the delay Friday. No information about a new date was immediately available.
The Emmy Awards were scheduled to be broadcast on Fox on Sept. 18. Rules laid out by the actors’ union, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, say stars cannot campaign for the Emmys or attend awards shows while on strike.
Writers are also not permitted to work on awards shows until the strike ends.
Whenever the next Emmy Awards are held, HBO will walk in as the leading contender. The network is up for 74 awards for three of its top shows: “ Succession,” “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us.”
“Ted Lasso” has the most comedy category nominations with 21, including best comedy series and best actor for Jason Sudeikis.
Roughly 65,000 SAG-AFTRA actors and 11,500 Writers Guild of America screenwriters are on strike, calling for better pay, structure with residual payments and protection from the use of artificial intelligence. | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-the-emmy-awards-are-postponed-due-to-the-hollywood-actors-and-writers-strike-source-says/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:46 | 1 | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-the-emmy-awards-are-postponed-due-to-the-hollywood-actors-and-writers-strike-source-says/ |
BRISBANE, Australia — (AP) — Four air crew members were missing after an Australian army helicopter ditched into waters off the Queensland state coast during joint military exercises with the United States, officials said Saturday.
The MRH-90 Taipan helicopter went down near Hamilton Island, a Great Barrier Reef tourist resort, at about 10:30 p.m. Friday, Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
A search was underway to find the crew, and their families had been notified, officials said.
A rescue helicopter reported spotting debris Saturday morning near Dent Island in the Whitsunday Islands group.
The Taipan was taking part in Talisman Sabre, a biennial joint U.S.-Australian military exercise that is largely based in Queensland. This year's exercise involves 13 nations and more than 30,000 military personnel.
Marles said the helicopter had ditched, which refers to an emergency landing on water. He said it was taking part in a mission that involved a second helicopter, which immediately started a search and rescue operation.
“Defense exercises, which are so necessary for the readiness of our defense force, are serious. They carry risk,” Marles told reporters in Brisbane. “As we desperately hope for better news during the course of this day we are reminded about the gravity of the act which comes with wearing our nation’s uniform."
Defense Force Chief Gen. Angus Campbell said Queensland state authorities, members of the public and U.S. military personnel were taking part in the search.
“Our focus at the moment is finding our people and supporting their families and the rest of our team, “ Campbell said. "This is indeed a terrible moment.”
It is the second emergency involving an Australian Taipan this year, after one ditched into the sea off the New South Wales state coast in March. That helicopter was taking part in a nighttime counterterrorism training exercise when it ran into trouble. All 10 passengers and crew members were rescued.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Brisbane for a meeting on Saturday and is due to travel with Marles to north Queensland on Sunday to see the exercise.
The exercise has been paused by the search.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wpxi.com/news/world/4-air-crew-members/4UM3BDQSYKEBRTSXGW4PJAKDNA/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:47 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/world/4-air-crew-members/4UM3BDQSYKEBRTSXGW4PJAKDNA/ |
Joseph Gerard Gaydos, 70, of Wilkes-Barre, passed away Tuesday, July 25, 2023, in Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.
He was born Jan. 30, 1953, in Wilkes-Barre, to the late Joseph and Valeria Sapp Gaydos.
Joseph graduated from Coughlin High School, Class of 1970, and Wilkes College in 1974. Before his retirement, he was employed as a budget analyst by State Correctional Institutions at Retreat and Dallas.
Joseph was a fantastic father and a devoted husband. He absolutely adored his wife of 43 years, Diane Dydynski Gaydos, whom he married on Sept. 8, 1979.
Their love was inspiring and beautiful to behold. They shared many years of laughter and love. Joseph would do anything for his wife, and he was the best husband in the world. He was also quite a handyman who made many improvements to their home to make it a true refuge from the world. Joe and Diane enjoyed cultivating an impressive garden and having coffee while playing cards on the deck that Joe built.
Diane and Joe were always on the move, frequently taking day trips to Philadelphia, Atlantic City and many other places. They also traveled the world, visiting Italy (where they helped hold up the Tower of Pisa), France, Germany and Hungary, as well as many parts of Canada and places in the Caribbean. While Joe had hoped to visit all 50 states, he and Diane did make it to 40 of them, which is pretty good.
Joseph was always there for his children, from dancing with his infant daughter to “Song Sung Blue” by Neil Diamond, to coaching his son’s soccer team for many years, to helping with his kids’ science projects. He was always ready with a witty comment or joke — for example, he put a Fred Flintstone eraser in his daughter’s dinosaur diorama for the science fair, even though she grumbled about it. He was right — it was funny and won an award.
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In his later years, Joe volunteered with Diane at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in Wilkes-Barre, where they made many friends and got to see a variety of great shows. Everyone who knew him, loved him.
Joseph was a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Phillies fan who got to see one last Phillies game at the Bank just five days before he passed away. (They lost that day, but we won’t hold that against them. They did win the day after he died, so he clearly had a word with God when he got there.)
Surviving are his wife of 43 years, Diane Dydynski Gaydos; daughter, Kristen Gaydos and her husband, Kevin Donlin; son, Matthew Gaydos; sister, Valerie Gaydos Nelson; and many nieces and nephews and extended family.
His family will feel his absence deeply but are comforted by the countless amazing memories of Joe that they share. He will forever be in our hearts.
A memorial visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, with a service at 7 p.m., from Corcoran Funeral Home Inc., 20 S. Main St., Plains Twp.
Memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692, www.heart.org, in his name.
For information or to leave Joseph’s family a message of condolence, visit www.corcoranfuneralhome.com. | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/joseph-gerard-gaydos/article_490cf12f-db83-5a87-a1a4-87d7ef7bc503.html | 2023-07-29T01:19:48 | 1 | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/joseph-gerard-gaydos/article_490cf12f-db83-5a87-a1a4-87d7ef7bc503.html |
Roman A. “Rom” Ziegler Jr., 70, a resident of Swoyersville, passed into eternal life unexpectedly surrounded by his loving family Thursday afternoon, July 27, 2023, in Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. After dealing with a lifetime of health issues, he is finally free of his pain and suffering.
His loving wife is Dorothy Stuka Ziegler. Roman and Dorothy would have celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary on Aug. 6.
Born Oct. 10, 1952, in Kingston, Roman was one of four children born to the late Roman A. Ziegler Sr. and Elizabeth Brown Ziegler.
Raised in Plymouth, Rom was a member of the last graduating class of St. Vincent de Paul High School, Plymouth. Following high school, he went on to further his education at Wilkes College, now Wilkes University, where, in 1974, he acquired his Bachelor of Science degree in music education.
Rom began a career in banking shortly after college starting with the former Plymouth National Bank, eventually transitioning to PNC Bank where he worked as a lead teller until his retirement due to his health.
Alongside his career in banking, Rom also served for many years as an accompanying organist at the former St. Vincent de Paul Church, Plymouth, and St. Mary Nativity Church, Plymouth, now All Saints Parish, playing at countless weddings at both those churches and other area churches.
A man of unbreakable faith, Rom was a devout member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Swoyersville, where he was an active volunteer with the parish’s annual bazaar when his health allowed him to do so. He was also a 3rd Degree honorary life member of the Knights of Columbus, Assumpta Council 3987, Kingston.
Never allowing his multiple sclerosis to stop him, Rom became an active volunteer at John Heinz Rehabilitation Center, Wilkes-Barre, where he devoted over 5,500 hours of service, and was honored several times as “Volunteer of the Month.”
Although Rom had many health issues, he faced them head on! He accepted his cancer diagnosis with courage, strength and determination. As his body weakened, every time it reoccurred, he remained optimistic — always accepting — never complaining. Throughout this long and hard battle, he never lost his sense of humor. Loved and admired by everyone whose life he touched, he will be missed by each and every one of them.
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Ramen restaurant, Boot Barn coming to Wilkes-Barre Twp.
Rom had many enjoyments in life, most especially reading and cheering on his favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees, of whom he was a lifelong fan. Above all, family was the most important part of his life and he treasured every moment he shared with his loved ones. A proud “Grampy,” he always held a special place in his heart for his granddaughters, Emily and Madelyn.
In addition to his parents, Roman and Elizabeth Ziegler, Rom was preceded in death by his brothers-in-law, Robert Yashinski and Edward Krupinski.
Left to carry on his memory are his loving wife, Dorothy, and their children, David Ziegler, Plymouth; and Kimberly D’Aiello and her husband, John, Swoyersville; granddaughters, Emily and Madelyn D’Aiello, both of Swoyersville; brother, Deacon John “Jack” Ziegler and his wife, Karen, Swoyersville; sisters, Margaret Yashinski, Maryland; and Betsy Thomas and her husband, George, South Carolina; sisters-in-law, Diane Halliday and her husband, Donald, Dallas; and Andrea Krupinski, Swoyersville; and nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
The family wishes to extend their sincere thanks to all of their friends and family members who offered their love and support throughout Rom’s illness. They wish to also thank Dr. David Greenwald and his nurses and staff at Medical Oncology Associates, Kingston; his family doctor, Dr. Gerald Gibbons; and the doctors from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for their outstanding care, compassion and support over the years.
Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend the funeral which will be conducted at 9:30 a.m. Monday from Wroblewski Funeral Home, Inc., 1442 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 10 a.m. in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, 116 Hughes St., Swoyersville, with the Rev. Joseph J. Pisaneschi, his pastor, officiating.
Interment with the Rite of Committal will follow in St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, Swoyersville.
Family and friends are invited to attend Roman’s viewing which will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
To share a message of condolence with Rom’s family, you may visit the funeral home’s website, www.wroblewskifuneralhome.com, or Facebook page.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Rom’s memory to the Medical Oncology Associates Prescription Assistance Fund, 382 Pierce St., Kingston, PA 18704; or to Saint Jude’s Childrens Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/roman-a-ziegler/article_971c1391-25fb-53b3-92e7-45fbbcf44dc4.html | 2023-07-29T01:19:48 | 0 | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/roman-a-ziegler/article_971c1391-25fb-53b3-92e7-45fbbcf44dc4.html |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-hong-kongs-leader-may-be-barred-from-a-key-economic-summit-the-city-says-that-breaks-conventions/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:51 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-hong-kongs-leader-may-be-barred-from-a-key-economic-summit-the-city-says-that-breaks-conventions/ |
TORONTO — (AP) — Shohei Ohtani homered on the first pitch he faced in Friday night's game between the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays, going deep in three straight at-bats over two games.
Ohtani’s major league-leading 39th homer came off Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman in the first inning and traveled 397 feet into the right field bullpen at Rogers Centre.
Ohtani streak of homers ended when he struck out swinging on a 2-2 pitch from Gausman in the third inning.
Ohtani homered twice in the second game of a doubleheader at Detroit on Thursday before leaving with cramps. He threw a one-hitter in the opener for his first career MLB shutout.
The two-way superstar became the first player to throw a shutout in one game of a doubleheader and hit one homer — much less two — in the other.
Thursday’s performance against the Tigers came hours after the team confirmed Ohtani will stay with the Angels for the rest of the season before he becomes a free agent.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wpxi.com/sports/ohtani-hits-majors/WPX3HQ73K5FSTCXESVNYCIDTKQ/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:53 | 1 | https://www.wpxi.com/sports/ohtani-hits-majors/WPX3HQ73K5FSTCXESVNYCIDTKQ/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Travis Scott has released “Utopia,” his first album in five years and his first major release since 10 people died at his 2021 Astroworld music festival.
The star-studded 19-track “Utopia” features Beyoncé, SZA, Drake, Sampha, Young Thug, Playboi Carti, Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Future, Bon Iver, James Blake, Kid Cudi, 21 Savage, and many more.
The LP, Scott’s fourth full-length, was originally announced back in 2020 and follows 2018’s “Astroworld.” In November 2019, 10 people died as a result of compression asphyxia during a massive crowd surge during Scott’s Astroworld festival. A grand jury declined to file charges against Scott earlier this year.
Also Friday, Houston police released files that showed that some workers were concerned about the crowd conditions at the show. The 1,300-page report also included a summary of an interview with Scott in which he said he did not hear calls from the crowd to stop the show.
The first track from the album, the popetón -adjacent “K-pop”, was released on July 21 and features the Weeknd and Bad Bunny. The release spans genres — an eclectic mix of autotune ambient ballads (“My Eyes”), ferocious bars (“Looove”), futuristic trap (“Lost Forever,” Telekinesis”), and beyond.
In addition to the album, Scott hosted a one-night-only release of his feature film, “Circus Maximus” at select theaters on Thursday night.
“Utopia” was originally scheduled to be celebrated with a livestreamed concert at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, but was canceled due to “complex production issues,” Live Nation said in a statement. | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-travis-scott-drops-utopia-his-first-album-since-the-astroworld-festival-tragedy/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:53 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-travis-scott-drops-utopia-his-first-album-since-the-astroworld-festival-tragedy/ |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-judge-blasts-prosecutors-handling-of-venezuela-case-against-ex-miami-congressman/ | 2023-07-29T01:19:58 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-judge-blasts-prosecutors-handling-of-venezuela-case-against-ex-miami-congressman/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — The entertainment publication Variety, under fire this week for an article it published about former CNN chief Jeff Zucker’s interest in his old employer, revised the piece on Friday to reflect some of the complaints about it.
None of its changes affected what was written about Zucker, however. He has called for the story to be retracted.
The article by Tatiana Siegel, which initially ran online Tuesday, depicted Zucker as badmouthing his successor at CNN, Chris Licht, while simultaneously trying to buy the news organization that fired him in early 2021. Licht’s unsuccessful run atop the struggling news network ended with his firing in May.
The dispute also points to the dangers inherent in the use of confidential sources by journalists. There are at least a dozen claims made in the story that Variety did not attribute to a named source that were denied on the record, either in the story or after publication, leaving it up to readers to decide who to believe.
“There used to be a time when Variety held its content and its reporters to a high standard of truth and facts in journalism, but those days are clearly over,” said Risa Heller, a spokeswoman for Zucker. “It is stunning to read a piece that is so patently and aggressively false. On numerous occasions, we made it clear to the reporter and her editors that they were planning to publish countless anecdotes and alleged incidents that never happened. They did so anyway. The piece is a total joke.”
Variety’s co-editor-in-chiefs, Cynthia Littleton and Ramin Setoodeh, said in a statement Friday that they have been carefully following the conversation about the story.
“The story was heavily vetted and deeply sourced,” they said. “Everyone included in the story was asked to comment and given the chance to respond. We stand by our reporting and our award-winning reporter.”
The piece is also critical of two reporters who have covered CNN, Tim Alberta of The Atlantic and Dylan Byers of Puck. Both of those news organizations complained of inaccuracies and, in the changes made on Friday, Variety added their specific denials.
Zucker’s team hasn’t sought to hide ill feelings toward Licht, but strongly denied he has tried to buy CNN.
The story begins with an anecdote about Zucker, “with tears in his eyes,” approaching David Zaslav in Miami Beach in March. Zaslav is CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, current owners of CNN, and Variety said Zucker complained that Licht was unfairly maligning him in the press. Zaslav wanted to know if Zucker was trying to assemble investors to buy CNN.
Byers, writing for Puck, said “multiple sources” said no such run-in at the Faena Hotel ever took place and Zucker’s spokeswoman said that anecdote wasn’t checked with them.
The story outlines several specific efforts made by Zucker, or on his behalf, to convince investors to join him in buying CNN. The story includes his denials: “Any allegation or insinuation that Jeff has made any effort to purchase CNN is unequivocally false,” Heller said. Zucker is now head of a private equity firm, RedBird IMI.
At one point, Variety also floated the theory that a secret group of investors was using Zucker’s name without his knowledge to approach Warner Bros. Discovery about buying CNN.
In a June 4 article, The New York Times reported that Zucker was not in talks to buy CNN, although “he has told some associates he would be interested in acquiring the network” if it came up for sale one day, the newspaper said.
The Variety article “struck me as utterly implausible and sophomoric,” Byers wrote for Puck this week.
Variety’s piece called Byers “a former Zucker disciple at CNN who, by his own admission, wrote about Licht incessantly and even took a victory lap after his exit.” The piece described Byers as a writer of “Zucker fan fiction” and criticized him for a conflict of interest in not disclosing in any of his articles that Zucker once had discussions about funding Puck, an online subscription news service.
In its revision on Friday, Variety quoted Puck’s co-founder, Jon Kelly, saying the discussions with RedBird were not disclosed by Byers because “Dylan was intentionally unaware of them.”
For The Atlantic, Alberta wrote a widely-read story that seen by many as being instrumental in Licht’s dismissal by Zaslav. Variety was critical of Alberta, and accused the reporter of using material in his story that he had agreed to keep off the record — a serious charge of malfeasance against a journalist.
As with Byers, Variety didn’t change what it had written about Alberta. But it added a paragraph to its story using some of what Alberta had written on social media, including a denial that he had used off-the-record material, and disputing Variety’s claim of how many times he had met with Licht while reporting the story.
The story was reposted on Variety’s home page. The only indication that it had been changed was a note at its end: “This story was updated on July 28 to reflect new statements from Kelly and Alberta.” | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-variety-revises-article-on-former-cnn-chief-jeff-zucker-that-was-sharply-criticized/ | 2023-07-29T01:20:00 | 1 | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/ap-variety-revises-article-on-former-cnn-chief-jeff-zucker-that-was-sharply-criticized/ |
Sandra L. Gabriele Franks, 74, of Bloomsburg, passed away Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at her home.
Born in Wilkes-Barre, June 18, 1949, she was a daughter of the late Philip and Thelma Blecher Gabriele. Sandra graduated from E.L. Meyers High School in 1967 and was a strutter on the drill team.
Sandra lived her life as a dedicated stay-at-home mom. She found joy in hosting all holiday get-togethers at her home in Mountain Top. She also loved shopping, Home Goods was her favorite, and traveling. She always said her happy place was on her lanai in her Naples, Fla., home, drinking a glass of wine.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her grandparents, Walter and Helen Blecher; Vincenzo and Caterina Gabriele; and aunt, Claire Hill.
Left to cherish her memory are daughter, Alicia Fisher and husband, Andy; sons, Cameron Franks and wife, Kelly Petitjean, and Brian Franks and wife, Beth; grandchildren, Wyatt and Riley Franks; cousins, Brenda and Mark Hill; goddaughter, Casey Burns; godson, Mark Hill Jr.; and former husband, Richard Franks.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at https://www.alz.org.
Family and friends may pay their respects from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday at Kniffen O’Malley Leffler Funeral & Cremation Services, 465 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre. Interment will be private for the cemetery. | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/sandra-l-gabriele-franks/article_892debbb-4926-5eb8-a9ad-f4accfcdd3d5.html | 2023-07-29T01:20:04 | 0 | https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/obituaries/sandra-l-gabriele-franks/article_892debbb-4926-5eb8-a9ad-f4accfcdd3d5.html |
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.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-mexicos-navy-finds-boat-but-not-missing-us-sailor/ | 2023-07-29T01:20:06 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-mexicos-navy-finds-boat-but-not-missing-us-sailor/ |
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.kron4.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-an-inflation-gauge-that-is-closely-tracked-by-the-fed-falls-to-its-lowest-level-in-more-than-2-years/ | 2023-07-29T01:20:07 | 1 | https://www.kron4.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-an-inflation-gauge-that-is-closely-tracked-by-the-fed-falls-to-its-lowest-level-in-more-than-2-years/ |