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Hidden camera found inside porta-potty at Wisconsin beach
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (WISN) - A woman at a Wisconsin beach made a terrible discovery after she found a hidden camera underneath the toilet seat of a port-a-potty.
Police are trying to determine if it was the only camera and who put it there.
“That’s insane. Oh my gosh,” Chrissy Hartwig said.
On a beautiful day at Oconomowoc’s Bender Beach, the talk turns instead to something ugly after Hartwig and other beachgoers learn of a small digital camera hidden inside a porta-potty.
“That’s crazy and now that makes me think of all the other porta-potties that might have had something in it,” Hartwig said. “You don’t think about those things.”
Hartwig said she’s heard of people hiding cameras in dressing rooms and even vacation rentals, but never before in a porta-potty.
“I just, I mean, I’m mind blown. I’ve never considered it. I’ve never thought about it. I wouldn’t have thought about it, probably. People are creeps,” she said.
The camera was reportedly inside the toilet, positioned in a way that showed people entering and using the toilet.
Oconomowoc police, along with the public, have a lot of questions.
“It’s, you know, it’s very concerning because you know the little ones use the bathroom,” Lissa Hagen said. “Yeah, it’s concerning, you know, wondering who did it and why they would do something like that. It’s very gross too.”
Hagen’s daughter is a lifeguard at the beach and learned of the camera the day after it was found.
“I mean, it’s uncomfortable. It’s, you know, concerning. Yeah, so, I’m glad they found it at least before, you know, anything happened,” Hagen said.
Police have not shared how long they believe the camera was there and what if anything was on it.
Copyright 2023 WISN via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/29/hidden-camera-found-inside-porta-potty-wisconsin-beach/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:08 | 1 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/29/hidden-camera-found-inside-porta-potty-wisconsin-beach/ |
How to choose the best bike shorts
Whether you’re a casual cyclist or ride competitively, a pair of bike shorts are an essential part of your attire when out on the open roads or in the backcountry. A good pair of bike shorts offers support, flexibility and ventilation in all the right places to keep you riding for hours. Plus, with options like gel cushioning, you can ride in comfort without losing out on performance.
If you’re in the market for a new pair of bike shorts, here are some of the best options available.
Best bike shorts for men
[ Assos Men’s Cento EVO Bib Short ]
These high-quality cycling bibs are designed with performance in mind. They are moisture-wicking, fast-drying and comfortable with chamois technology that prevents chafing and keeps the material from awkwardly bunching up as you ride. These bib shorts are perfect for endurance or long-distance rides.
Sold by Backcountry
[ Sponeed Men’s Cycling Shorts ]
These form-fitting cycling tights are made with quick-drying material and have four-way stretch for optimal performance and long-term comfort. The material is highly breathable, durable and stretchy enough to keep up with even competitive cyclists. Plus, these shorts are tailored with the right amount of padding for men.
Sold by Amazon
[ Louis Garneau Men’s Gel Cycling Shorts ]
With a supportive fit and active gel chamois, these moisture-wicking cycling shorts offer flexibility and comfort during long rides. They also have anti-chafing seams and silicone leg grippers to keep them in place without causing discomfort. The reflective properties make them great for evening rides as well.
Sold by Amazon
[ Sportneer Men’s Cycling Shorts ]
Affordable and comfortable, these bike shorts offer triple-layer padding at the seat and maximum saddle support to eliminate strain during long rides. The foam padding is absorbent and breathable, which prevents moisture from building up and chafing. On the whole, these shorts are designed for maximum efficiency and comfort. They also have a reflector for visibility in poor lighting.
Sold by Amazon
[ KPSUN Men’s Mountain Bike Shorts ]
With 3D padding and UPF 50+ protection, these bike shorts are lightweight and baggy, which makes them great for casual riders or those who need a little extra ventilation. Made for mountain biking specifically, these shorts offer superior shock absorption. Plus, the material is moisture-wicking and antibacterial.
Sold by Amazon
Best bike shorts for women
[ Baleaf Women’s High-Waist Biker Shorts ]
Versatile enough for biking, running and other types of exercise, these shorts hold up against both light and strenuous workouts. With a gusseted crotch and elastic material, these shorts are non-restricting, breathable and comfortable. They also have a handy pair of side pockets for valuables.
Sold by Amazon
[ Pearl Izumi Women’s Interval Bib Short ]
Made from the elastic material, Lycra, these shorts offer compression support, flexibility and comfort. They also have a near seamless fit to minimize chafing and maximize performance. The seven-panel construction keeps these shorts from restricting movements, while the chamois is supportive and breathable for long bike rides. Plus, these shorts have a drop-tail back design that is open and convenient for quick rest stops.
Sold by Backcountry
Stretchy and with a perfect fit, these bike shorts are made for casual cyclists, yogis and runners. They come with a secure inner pocket and side pockets for small things like a cell phone or keys. These shorts come in several different colors for those who want to add a little variety to their wardrobe. Every pair of shorts also has four-way stretch for optimal flexibility and movement. Plus, they’re non-see-through, moisture-wicking and quick-drying.
Sold by Amazon
[ Louis Garneau Women’s Gel Cycling Shorts ]
With the right level of active gel chamois padding and anti-chafing seams, these shorts provide maximum comfort and support without weighing you down while you ride. They are form-fitting, which makes them convenient for layering as well. The reflective logos increase visibility on dark roads for added safety.
Sold by Amazon
[ Santic Women’s Cycling Shorts ]
These capri-style bike shorts are aerodynamic, anti-skid, form-fitting and highly breathable. They have a padded seat and ventilation at the thighs. Near the calves are two reflective lines for those who prefer evening rides.
Sold by Amazon
Best bike shorts for kids
Made from a stretchy, breathable material, these unisex shorts for kids are simple but effective. The material is UPF 50+ for added protection from the sun, while the reflective logo increases visibility during rides with low lighting. With an inner silicone gripper, these shorts stay in place during everything from casual rides to triathlons.
Sold by Amazon
How to dress for bike riding
Even if you prefer short, casual rides, it’s important to dress appropriately for the activity and the weather conditions. Doing so will make the experience more enjoyable and, for those who cycle competitively, it will maximize performance.
Here are some tips on what to wear when cycling.
- Depending on the weather conditions, you may need to layer up. Layer a pair of tight-fitting bike shorts or cycling underwear underneath a baggier outer layer like bike pants. This will provide support and warmth without causing chafing.
- When wearing layers, choose clothes with built-in ventilation and moisture-wicking, breathable material. This will prevent moisture from getting trapped between the clothes and the skin.
- Don’t wear just any shorts for biking. Bike shorts are specifically designed to allow freedom of movement during rides. What’s more, they usually come with a padded liner at the crotch and other key areas that need extra support.
- During hotter days when you need to keep cool, choose a pair of bib shorts. These don’t come up quite as high as other shorts, so they can help prevent overheating during rides.
- In cold-weather cycling, wear a base layer, middle layer and outer layer. The base layer should be moisture-wicking to keep sweat or other moisture from your skin. The middle and outer layers can be insulated but shouldn’t be too heavy.
- For the top layer, choose something aerodynamic, well-ventilated and breathable. Particularly, materials like polyester and Lycra are generally good options.
Consider getting a pair of bike gloves and socks. Both will prevent blisters from forming and add another layer of protection while riding. Plus, bike gloves add extra grip while cycling.
- Bring a pair of cycling glasses to protect you from the sun and wind. Consider helmet compatibility if you choose goggle-style sunglasses.
- Wear a pair of bike shoes with cleats or a clip that’s compatible with your bike to keep your feet on the pedals.
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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/ride-in-comfort-with-these-great-bike-shorts/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:09 | 0 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/ride-in-comfort-with-these-great-bike-shorts/ |
Enter the unlisted suite, the secret accommodation that can be booked only by those who know it exists. Not only does it shun the customary online booking engine, it practically evades public awareness altogether. These suites are wiped from hotel websites and missing from search results—all but phantoms in the highly visible, over-Instagrammed universe of luxury stays.
Pricing is available only by direct inquiry, and you must really dig extremely to see a photograph, even a description, in any published format. In the past year, they’ve sprouted by the dozens.
Take Villa de France, the new Jacques Grange-designed five-bedroom suite at Cheval Blanc in St. Barts. It’s a palatial retreat so discreetly nestled in the resort’s flora, it’s nearly impossible to spot in real life. It’s also virtually impossible to find online. Snoop and scroll the hotel’s accommodations page deeply enough and you might come across a few details that confirm it exists, including mentions of the villa’s private spa and two infinity pools, but prospective guests get nary a clue about securing it for a night.
Those resourceful enough to call or email the hotel directly (+590-590-27-5666) can try their luck with one of Cheval Blanc’s reservation ambassadors. After a vetting process that has distinct parallels to buying unlisted Birkin bags from Hermès, these representatives will determine whether the €30,000-per-night ($33,600) Villa de France is available.
Christelle Hilpron, general manager of Cheval Blanc in St. Barts, confirms the reason for the secrecy: “Complete privacy,” she says. With a chef’s kitchen, a 10-person dining table, private spa and fitness center, and direct access to Flamands Beach, the villa makes it possible to entirely avoid interaction with the resort’s other guests. “It also allows us to fully understand their needs, preferences and expectation,” Hilpron adds.
Other accommodations are even more elusive.
The Newt in Somerset, in Bruton, England, is home to an exquisite collection of rooms and suites filled with Georgian antiques, crackling fireplaces and oversize bathtubs. None is more private than Gate Lodge, a two-bedroom cottage that was quietly added to the 1,000-acre estate’s grounds last year.
It comes with plenty of extras—an open-plan kitchen, a dedicated golf buggy and bicycles—but its secretive status is what’s most tempting to in-the-know guests. The $2,600-per-night accommodation is absent from the hotel’s website, and bookable only by directly calling the Newt’s reservation line.
According to Jack Ezon, founder of the boutique travel firm Embark Beyond, these rumored accommodations carry a cachet equivalent to the unlisted phone numbers of the 1990s. They’re even more tempting than hard-to-get dinner reservations or clubs you can’t get into, given that these hideaways are virtually unknown.
In a world where everything is photographed, posted and reposted ad nauseum, there’s something downright irresistible about going incognito, even if you’re not a celebrity hiding from paparazzi.
“More and more clients want the unattainable,” Ezon says, adding that many of his monied clients are concerned less with privacy and personal safety than going “somewhere that is not already plastered over Instagram—a place that no one has heard of or has access to.”
The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, keeps a secret accommodation that’s like a resort inside a resort inside a resort. It’s part of the little-known Cloud Camp, a cluster of mountaintop rooms and suites roughly 20 minutes from the Broadmoor’s main building. The secluded, all-inclusive Fire Tower Suite is a two-story, one-bedroom cabin that occupies a former fire tower, with a private hot tub set among the treetops. It starts at $1,167 per night and can be booked only by phone, at (800) 634-7711.
The unlisted trend has even hit the high seas: A door marked “Staff Only” aboard Windstar’s Wind Surf sailing cruise ship leads to a clandestine, one-bedroom Officer’s Suite, the only accommodation on the captain’s bridge deck. Rates vary according to sailing itineraries, and bookings can be made exclusively by calling (855) 706-5766.
For Bushcamp Co., a high-end safari operator in Zambia, going unlisted was less about creating the air of luxury and more about beta testing a new idea, says founder Andy Hogg. Last year, he decided to upcycle a pair of large shipping containers that had previously been used for furniture deliveries, refitting them with large windows, spacious, en suite bathrooms, and expansive living quarters.
Now the former industrial containers are private homes at the entrance of South Luangwa National Park. Each comes with a private kitchen, al fresco dining area and accommodations for up to four guests in a more flexible and private safari stay, compared to the stringent—and often communal—camp experience.
Hogg adds that keeping the accommodations hush-hush allows his team to continuously “finesse the offering, test how guests use the space and continue to innovate.” (E-mail to inquire about booking.)
Going unlisted isn’t always the best strategy, as the Mandarin Oriental, New York proved last year when its 3,000-square-foot Suite 5,000, long shrouded in mystery for its secretive status, suddenly appeared on the hotel’s website. It immediately saw a 31% increase in bookings compared with 2019.
Still, says Danielle Choi, the hotel’s director of marketing and commerce, the majority of reservations for the suite continue to come through direct contact, rather than through the site. “In the rare case that a reservation is made online,” she adds, “our guest relations team immediately connects with guests to customize their stay.”
The personal touch was precisely what inspired Amanda Zaslow, co-owner of the Villa at Saugerties in New York’s Hudson Valley, to take her hotel almost entirely offline. None of the property’s guest rooms can be booked without calling or emailing; indeed, the inn’s website is just a splash page with contact information at the bottom.
“People sometimes call and say, ‘Did you know your website isn’t working?’” Zaslow says with a laugh. “And I say, ‘Actually, it’s working exactly as intended.’”
Zaslow’s motives are less about quiet luxury or exclusivity and more about providing a special experience, whether it’s making sure a guest’s preferred refreshments are on hand or surprising them with a favorite bottle of wine—a gesture that can be made only by forging one-on-one relationships.
“A lot of guests think it’s really cool that they have to work a little bit harder to find us,” she says, “but it also gives us an opportunity to create a more curated stay for every single person who walks through our doors.”
___
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/secret-villas-inside-hotels-are-the-ultimate-in-quiet-luxury/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:11 | 1 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/secret-villas-inside-hotels-are-the-ultimate-in-quiet-luxury/ |
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.
The complaint comes as Twitter 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,” though the child’s actual name is a collection of letters and symbols.
On Friday afternoon, a worker on a lift machine made adjustments to the sign and then left. | https://www.wivb.com/news/national/new-x-logo-atop-twitter-building-in-san-francisco-prompts-complaint-investigation-from-city/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:14 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/national/new-x-logo-atop-twitter-building-in-san-francisco-prompts-complaint-investigation-from-city/ |
The staff and board of Coos History Museum have a mission to create a better understanding of life in Coos County and Oregon’s South Coast.
They do this by collecting and preserving stories, artifacts, photographs, and documents, and by creating opportunities for people to interpret them in thought-provoking and engaging ways.
Heather Christenbury recently stepped into the executive director position at the museum. She began as a curator at the museum in 2021 and took over as interim director when the previous leader retired.
As a former anthropologist and museum curator, Christenbury brings a unique expertise to the position. The museum professional is trained to both showcase and preserve historical items.
The local history museum collections now include more than 50,000 objects and more than 250,000 images that illuminate the cultural history of the Coos region and south coastal Oregon.
“I’m trained to know what is best for materials, from metals all the way up to wood, silk and textiles and how exactly they need to be cared for,” Christenbury said.
She is also familiar with the museum inventory, and how different collections are rotated and displayed. Historical items in the museum are also used for research purposes, she said.
Christenbury’s early career in anthropology took her all around the world and she often found herself in museums. But it wasn’t until she moved with her husband to England that she became a full-time museum curator.
“I went to volunteer in a museum in Cambridge and they ended up offering me a job,” she said.
When Christenbury returned to the states five-years-later, she decided to get her master’s degree because she wanted to continue pursuing a career in museums.
Christenbury said being a military wife – and the moves that come with it – taught her to be adaptable and fit in to new surroundings. This has been helpful in her latest transition to executive director at Coos History Museum.
“As a military spouse, I have had to change jobs many, many times, so I’m very good at getting in there and getting things done,” she said.
When her husband retired from the military, the couple wanted to find a more long-term place to live and work, and they were both attracted to the Oregon Coast.
The executive director said when she first moved to Oregon a few years ago, she was really impressed with the Coos History Museum.
“I did a lot of research before I came here and I just think it's a gorgeous museum. You come inside and this is beautiful. I hope it becomes the premier museum of the Southern Oregon Coast,” she said.
As executive director of the Coos History Museum, fundraising has become a major focus of Christenbury’s current position.
The museum depends on the support of their members, donors, sponsors, volunteers, board of trustees and staff to keep it going.
“We want to look at how we can do things a little differently, and create a solid and stable plan to get through the coming years,” Christenbury said.
“It’s been really great working with the board because we've all had really open, transparent conversations about where we've been and where we want to go – and that's really important,” she added.
The Coos History Museum staff and volunteers offer many ways for the community to get involved, from visiting the museum itself, to holding first-Tuesday talks on a variety of subjects throughout the year, as well as providing education and hands-on fun through their explorers club.
The next Coos History Museum First Tuesday Talk will be on Aug. 1 at 6 p.m.
Author Bonnie Henderson will present “6,000 Years of the Oregon Coast Trail,” delving into the world-class long-distance hiking trail that spans the coast from the Columbia River to the California border.
This program will be hosted in-person and is open to the public with an admission price of $7 for non-members and is free for CHM members.
The Coos History Museum is located at 1210 N Front St in Coos Bay.
Established in 1891, The Coos County Historical Society is an Oregon 501(c)3 not for profit organization and the 2nd oldest historical society in the state.
For more information about the Society and the Coos History Museum, visit cooshistory.org. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/coos-history-museum-gets-new-leader/article_c85b85f6-2ca2-11ee-9d28-fbf8c3646a7c.html | 2023-07-29T17:32:14 | 1 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/coos-history-museum-gets-new-leader/article_c85b85f6-2ca2-11ee-9d28-fbf8c3646a7c.html |
Pet owner says 4-foot-long python has gone missing from his yard
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR/Gray News) - Residents in an Illinois neighborhood are currently on the lookout for a pet snake.
Jonathan Delaney told WIFR that his 15-year-old ball python named Bubba slithered away from his yard last weekend.
Delaney said his exotic 4-foot-long snake is missing, but neighbors shouldn’t be worried.
“He’s completely harmless,” Delaney said. “We’ve had him for 15 years. He’s never been mean and the biggest thing he’d eat is a rat.”
Fellow Edgewater resident Rhonda Hanley said she’d likely be startled if she came across Bubba. But because he’s someone’s pet, she’ll try to help find him.
“I’ll try and put something over the top of it like a blanket or a garbage can if I find him,” Hanley said.
Delaney is thankful that his neighbors are concerned enough to lend a helping hand.
“We are hoping he’s still around here and nobody harms him,” he said. “We are hoping to find him as soon as possible.”
Experts say because ball pythons prefer to be hidden most of the time the snake doesn’t appear to pose a threat to the public.
The snake can strike if it gets agitated, but those bites don’t normally require medical attention.
“The most that could happen is that the snake could take a defensive swipe,” Stephanie Stone, owner of Jurassic Reptile Supply, said. “It’s less impact than a cat scratch or a cat bite.”
Stone added that ball pythons typically don’t travel very far.
“Unless it feels the need to try to find a meal, it’s probably very close to where it was originally,” she said.
Anyone who spots Bubba has been urged to contact Delaney on social media.
Copyright 2023 WIFR via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/29/pet-owner-says-4-foot-long-python-has-gone-missing-his-yard/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:14 | 1 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/29/pet-owner-says-4-foot-long-python-has-gone-missing-his-yard/ |
What are the best ways to travel for cheap?
The world is an incredible place with so much to see and do, but traveling can seem like it’s only for people with ample expendable income. Luckily, it’s possible to see the world on a budget if you’re willing to learn how to travel for cheap and are prepared to be flexible.
While traveling to far-flung reaches of the globe might seem exciting, there’s more closer to home than you may realize. That’s not to say international travel on a budget is impossible, you may just need to get creative with how you save money. Traveling for cheap is easier than you might think if you spend some time planning.
Consider staying local
We’re not suggesting staying in a motel 10 minutes down the road from your house but instead staying in your home country rather than traveling internationally. Depending on where you live and where you want to go, this might mean a few hours’ drive to your nearest beach town or a domestic flight. Either way, it’s cheaper than traveling internationally.
Search for cheap flights
Booking directly from an airline’s website isn’t always the cheapest way to travel. Instead, it’s best to use travel comparison sites that scan the web for the cheapest flights, a bit like a search engine, and display the results so you can easily see the cheapest flights for your route of choice. Popular comparison sites include Google Flights, Skyscanner and Kayak.
Bring a carry-on only
Some cheap airlines keep their costs down by charging extra for checked baggage, so you’ll save money if you can get away with only bringing a carry-on. You should be able to pack enough for a week or two if you buy a roomy carry-on suitcase and take advantage of the personal item allowance to bring an extra bag that will fit under the seat in front of you. The Amazon Basics 21-Inch Hardside Spinner is an excellent yet affordable choice of carry-on luggage.
Fly at less popular times
Overnight flights or flights that arrive at your destination late at night are usually cheaper than flights that take off during the day. You’ll also find that midweek flights are cheaper than those that depart on a Monday or the weekend. If you’re willing to be flexible with the days and times at which you travel, you might just find yourself a bargain.
Travel off-season
Traveling at less popular times of the year not only beats the bulk of the tourists but also makes both travel and accommodation cheaper. It’s often more pleasant visiting cities in the late fall or early winter when you won’t spend your whole time roasting in the sun. Doing your research on your destination will help you find the best off-season travel time. For example, it’s best to avoid visiting the Caribbean between June 1 and Nov. 30 due to hurricane season, but some islands, such as Grenada, are out of the hurricane belt and rarely hit, making them relatively safe to visit during this period and much quieter and cheaper than at peak times.
Keep accommodation costs down
Resourceful travelers can find plenty of ways to keep accommodation costs down or even to get completely free accommodation. Before you pack your luggage and head to the airport without a second thought, here are some ideas for cheap travel deals.
Use comparison sites
Much like their flight comparison counterparts, accommodation comparison sites — such as Trivago and Tripadvisor — search through different accommodation providers and booking sites to bring you the best deals. You can often find cheap travel deals this way and might find some hotels or other types of accommodation that you would never have discovered otherwise.
Stay in hostels
They aren’t for everyone, but hostels are great for saving money. If you don’t mind sharing a room with strangers, you’ll get the cheapest deals, but some hostels also have private rooms. Hostels can vary in quality, so you may want to travel with a sleeping bag or sleeping bag liner in case the bedding isn’t up to scratch.
Work for accommodation
You can often bag free accommodation if you’re willing to work for it. Some hostels offer free beds in return for a couple of hours a day working at the reception desk or behind the bar. Fans of the outdoors can check out Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), which is a platform that connects people willing to work on organic farms with farm owners who will provide free accommodation. If you have experience or qualifications, there are other options for you, some of which might pay in addition to providing accommodation, including teaching surfing or yoga. However, you’ll need a work permit to take on paid work outside of the U.S.
House sit or pet sit
You can find people willing to let you stay in their homes for free in return for watching the house or taking care of their pets. You’ll need to be flexible with dates, but it’s an excellent way to get a place to stay for free. TrustedHousesitters is the biggest website that connects house sitters or pet sitters with people who need their services.
Stay in a self-catering accommodation
If you eat out for every meal while you’re traveling, it soon adds up. Staying in self-catering accommodation lets you cook your own meals and save a bunch of cash. Of course, you don’t want to cook the whole time you’re on vacation, so consider supplementing with cheaper street food and casual dining options. When self-catering isn’t an option, packing CLIF Bars or granola bars can at least take care of breakfast.
Visit cheaper cities
You’ll find plenty of cheap places to travel in the U.S. and they can be cheaper for a range of reasons. For example, Washington, D.C., isn’t the cheapest place to stay, but it contains loads of free museums and other attractions so you won’t spend much on entertainment.
Atlanta is a huge hub for flights from all over the country, so it’s often possible to travel there for cheap. Knoxville is smaller than other more popular Tennessee cities, such as Memphis and Nashville, but accommodations and food are significantly cheaper.
Think about flights, accommodation and expenses when looking for cheap places to travel outside of the States. If you want to go to Europe, for instance, tickets to Paris and Prague might be similar in price, but food, drink and accommodations are significantly cheaper in Prague.
Bring reusable cups and bottles
Instead of buying bottles of water while out and about, bring your own reusable water bottle — such as a Chilly’s Reusable Water Bottle — and fill it up wherever you find water for free. You can also bring a reusable coffee cup as many coffee shops offer a discount when you bring your own. It might not seem like a huge money saver, but every little adds up, especially when traveling for an extended period of time.
Walk when possible
You can save money and see more of the place that you’re staying by walking whenever possible, rather than paying for public transport or cab fares. Just make sure you pack a good pair of comfortable shoes so your feet don’t hurt from all that walking.
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Lauren Corona writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/see-the-world-on-a-budget-how-to-travel-for-cheap/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:18 | 1 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/see-the-world-on-a-budget-how-to-travel-for-cheap/ |
Former President Trump’s outsized influence is already being felt in GOP Senate primaries, underscoring his grip on the party even as he faces numerous primary challengers in the 2024 White House race.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who’s running to replace Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), endorsed Trump’s presidential bid earlier this week. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R), who’s running to unseat Sen. Joe Manchin (D), did the same — prompting his GOP primary rival Alex Mooney to point out that he had come out in support of Trump last year.
And prior to officially jumping into Montana’s contested Senate race last month, former Navy SEAL and businessman Tim Sheehy said he supports Trump “100 percent.”
The public show of support for the former president is just the latest example of the political sway he continues to hold over Republicans, and could serve as a headache for party leaders who want the GOP to move on from him.
“Donald Trump continues to be the biggest elephant in the Republican tent,” said Mark Weaver, an Ohio-based Republican strategist. “Republican voters still want to see him as our party’s leader.”
One Republican strategist described the strategy of endorsing Trump as “the path of least resistance.”
“In order to take back the Senate, you’ve got to win a couple of these key seats, and the only way to win back these key seats is to make it through the primary unscathed,” the strategist said.
Some strategists see the endorsements as a sign of how the presidential primary is likely to shake out.
“This is a greater sign than ever before that Trump is most likely going to win the Republican nomination despite the noise in the media,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell.
“Endorsing Trump at this stage is one of the safest things a candidate could do,” he added. “This is more about the candidates trying to cozy up to him.”
The eagerness from some Senate Republican hopefuls to embrace the former president comes after many of Trump’s endorsed candidates performed poorly in their general elections last cycle.
“Former President Trump’s endorsement continues to be a boon in a primary and a bane in a general election,” Weaver said.
The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (NRSC) is also taking a different approach in the 2024 cycle by playing a more hands-on role in some primaries. Like Trump, the committee’s Chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has thrown his support behind Justice in West Virginia’s Republican Senate primary.
While there has been tension and disagreement between Trump and Senate leadership, particularly on Trump’s unfounded claims that he won the 2020 presidential election, Daines has said he is working with the former president ahead of 2024.
“We chat frequently. And he’s very thoughtful right now looking at these races. He understands it’s important we have candidates that can win,” Daines told CBS News in an interview earlier this month. “If you notice, there hasn’t been a wave of endorsements coming out so far, because I think we’re having these thoughtful conversations and getting on the same page.”
Trump has endorsed in less competitive GOP Senate primaries, like in Indiana, where he threw his support behind Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) a day after former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) announced that he would not run for the seat and after the NRSC endorsed Banks.
And earlier this month, CNN reported that Trump told Mooney in West Virginia and potential Senate candidate Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) that he would not endorse them. Daines has endorsed Sheehy in Montana.
Democrats, meanwhile, are seeking to use Trump’s endorsement against him in the general election, harkening back to Republican losses in 2022.
“Trump is looming over Senate Republicans’ primaries and making the GOP’s nasty infighting even worse,” said Tommy Garcia, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “As Republican candidates fight for Trump’s favor, they’re showing the voters who will decide the general election in their states why they should be rejected in 2024.”
And not every Republican running for Senate is immediately tying themselves to the former president. In Nevada, Sam Brown, who has been endorsed by Daines, has yet to endorse Trump despite volunteering for his campaign in 2020. His primary opponent Jim Marchant, on the other hand, has endorsed Trump. Marchant has also said Brown is the GOP establishment’s choice, pointing to his endorsement from the NRSC.
“Mitch McConnell & the establishment needed a candidate & found him in Sam Brown,” Marchant said in a tweet earlier this month. “We see Reagan’s ‘bold-colored differences’ between DC & the real America.”
Weaver noted that while more anti-establishment candidates may try to use this attack line, there’s still much to be gained from an endorsement from the Senate GOP campaign arm.
“Being endorsed by the Washington establishment can bring valuable contributions from interest groups around the country, but it can also bring some criticism for being too close to the Beltway,” he said.
Others caution that endorsements should not be seen as integral to the success of a campaign.
“Ultimately these candidates have got to focus on their message and they’ve got to focus on having the resources to disseminate their message,” the GOP strategist said. “They need to be able to actually run a functional campaign and no endorsement is going to matter if those things aren’t done,” the strategist added. | https://www.wivb.com/news/political-news/hill-politics/trumps-role-in-gop-senate-primaries-underscores-his-strength/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:20 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/political-news/hill-politics/trumps-role-in-gop-senate-primaries-underscores-his-strength/ |
Fire season is officially here — and so is a new fire danger sign to alert residents of the increasingly dry conditions. North Bend Fire & Rescue installed a fire danger sign at Station No. 2 on Newmark Avenue.
The fire danger sign, visible to drivers as they head west on Newmark Avenue towards Coos Bay, is North Bend’s first.
The sign was purchased thanks to the Office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal. Public Works has agreed to install a second sign in Gorst Park at U.S. Highway 101 South and Sherman Avenue.
Coos Forest Protective Association determines the local fire danger. If fire danger reaches high, all outdoor burning is banned by the City of North Bend. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/north-bend-installs-new-fire-danger-sign/article_c38e68be-2d55-11ee-be41-e3c1b8831b21.html | 2023-07-29T17:32:20 | 0 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/north-bend-installs-new-fire-danger-sign/article_c38e68be-2d55-11ee-be41-e3c1b8831b21.html |
NEW YORK, July 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --
WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) between May 12, 2022 and February 8, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important September 11, 2023 lead plaintiff deadline.
SO WHAT: If you purchased Baxter securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.
WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Baxter class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=17664 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than September 11, 2023. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.
WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.
DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Baxter concealed the true extent of the supply chain problems it was experiencing while simultaneously exaggerating its ability to maintain a healthy supply chain in the face of global pressures; (2) as a result, Baxter's projected earnings were materially misleading during the Class Period; (3) the foregoing, once revealed, was reasonably likely to have a material negative impact on Baxter's financial condition; and (4) as a result, Baxter's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
To join the Baxter class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=17664 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.
No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.
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SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/prnewswire/2023/07/29/rosen-leading-trial-attorneys-encourages-baxter-international-inc-investors-secure-counsel-before-important-deadline-securities-class-action-bax/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:21 | 1 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/prnewswire/2023/07/29/rosen-leading-trial-attorneys-encourages-baxter-international-inc-investors-secure-counsel-before-important-deadline-securities-class-action-bax/ |
By MARY CLARE JALONICK and SCOTT BAUER (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A freshman Republican congressman from Wisconsin is refusing to apologize after he yelled and cursed at high school-aged Senate pages during a late night tour of the Capitol this week, eliciting a bipartisan rebuke from Senate leaders.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, speaking in a round of interviews Friday on Wisconsin conservative talk radio, did not refute reports of his actions or back down from what he did.
Van Orden used a profanity to describe the pages as lazy and and another to order them off the floor of the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday night, according to a report in the online political newsletter PunchBowl News. The pages were laying down to take photos in the Rotunda, according to the publication.
“I’m not going to apologize for making sure that anybody — I don’t care who you are and who you’re related to — defiles this House,” Van Orden said on “The Dan O’Donnell Show.” “It’s not going to happen on my watch, man.”
Van Orden said he was protecting the integrity of the Capitol Rotunda because it served as a field hospital during the Civil War and it’s where presidents have lain in state upon their deaths. He said the young people he confronted were “goofing off” and that Democrats were making it an issue.
“Would this be an issue if those young people did not have political connections?” Van Orden said on “The Jay Weber Show.” “Why do you think this is an issue, pal?”
A former Navy SEAL who was outside of the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, Van Orden also appeared to embrace the presence of alcohol in his office the same evening he encountered the pages. Images were posted on social media showing bottles of liquor and beer cans on a desk in his office. Van Orden said on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, that the alcohol was from constituents.
And his spokeswoman Anna Kelly posted: “As the Congressman says, once you cross the threshold to our office, you are in Wisconsin!” She followed that with a beer mug emoji.
Van Orden represents Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, a GOP-leaning jurisdiction that comprises parts of central, southwestern and western Wisconsin, including moderate exurbs of Minnesota’s Twin Cities.
On Thursday evening, just before the Senate left for its August recess, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., rebuked Van Orden’s behavior and thanked the pages, high school-age students who serve as helpers and messengers around the Senate. Several of the pages were sitting on the Senate floor at the time, smiling and nodding as dozens of senators stood and gave them a standing ovation.
Without mentioning Van Orden by name, Schumer said he was “shocked” to hear about the behavior of a member of the House Republican majority and “further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people.” He noted that Thursday was the final day for this class of pages.
“They’re here when we need them,” Schumer said. “And they have served this institution with grace.”
McConnell said he associated himself with Schumer’s words. “Everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way,” he said.
When asked about McConnell’s rebuke, Van Orden said Friday “I don’t know what it was because I honestly have not tracked any of this stuff.”
Van Orden was elected to Congress in 2022 after a losing bid in 2020. He has insisted that he did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and on Friday again condemned those who did, calling them “buffoons.” That didn’t stop fellow Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat, from invoking the Jan. 6 attack in criticizing Van Orden.
“Wonder if he told that to his fellow insurrectionists, who were beating police officers on the same ground?” Pocan said on X.
Rebecca Cooke, a Democrat who is running to challenge Van Orden in 2024, called him an embarrassment and a hypocrite. She called Van Orden a “serial harasser” and referenced an incident in June 2021 when Van Orden was upset about a display of LGBTQ+ books at a southwestern Wisconsin library and yelled at a teenager who was working there.
“For someone to perhaps drunkenly, and definitely belligerently, yell at these kids for enjoying our nation’s Capitol is just stupid,” Pocan said Friday. “He would be best to say it was stupid and just move on.”
___
EDITORS’ NOTE: An earlier version of this story misidentified the name of “The Dan O’Donnell Show.”
___
Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/senators-rebuke-wisconsin-congressman-who-yelled-vulgarities-at-high-school-age-pages/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:24 | 0 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/senators-rebuke-wisconsin-congressman-who-yelled-vulgarities-at-high-school-age-pages/ |
The city of North Bend will not take stronger actions to limit smoking in city parks after the council discussed the issue last week.
During a work session, the council discussed amending its park ordinance to further restrict smoking, but without police and other staff to actively enforce such rules, the council decided to make no changes.
City Administrator David Milliron explained the city already has regulations against smoking near playgrounds in city parks.
“Right now, we already have signange on all of our playgrouns at all of our parks regarding smoking,” Milliron said.
He explained in researching the issue, city staff discussed it with Coos Bay. The city of Coos Bay does have an ordinance banning smoking in all its parks, but it is rarely enforced.
“They’ve given out one ticket, because they deem it unenforceable,” Milliron said. “It’s on the honor system. If a law enforcement officer does not see it, it’s unenforceable. They cannot write a ticket. Staff is not going to go in and enforce it. That is not their job.”
Milliron said Police Chief Cal Mitts said his department simply doesn’t have enough officers to enforce smoking regulations unless the cuuncil decided it was a priortiy.
“When you have a city that has two or three officers on duty at any time, and they are prioritizing calls, the likelihood they are going to divert due to a call of someone smoking at a city park, is very unlikely,” Milliron said.
Milliron said city staff looked at the issue after a guest from Coos Health & Wellness brought it up to the council. After hearing from Milliron, the council members agreed making any significant changes was probably not the right move.
“I don’t see the point of spending money to make new signs,” Councilor Barbara Schultz said.
“I know the cops won’t respond to someone smoking, but maybe another citizen might say, hey there’s no smoking here,” Councilor Pat Goll said.
Signage alone won’t change much, Milliron said while pointing to other city regulatios.
“We also have signs that say no dogs off leash, but if you go by Boynton Park on the weekend, it might as well be the dog park,” he said. “It comes back to resources. We are at a critical resource issue. It’s not just us. In the words of a county commissioner, we are in a dire position considering our budget.”
Milliron said if the council made smoking on city property a priority, the police and others would do the same. But in the end, the council agreed there were more pressing issues for the police to look into right now. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/north-bend-to-leave-smoking-rules-unchanged/article_5e417a78-2d55-11ee-b303-bf50d44b5369.html | 2023-07-29T17:32:26 | 0 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/north-bend-to-leave-smoking-rules-unchanged/article_5e417a78-2d55-11ee-b303-bf50d44b5369.html |
Which vegan snacks are best?
Whether you’ve been fully vegan for years or you’re just trying to cut back on dairy, eggs and meat, finding delicious plant-based snacks is a great place to start. And the good news is that with the rising trend of vegan eating, there are plenty of crunchy, crispy, sweet and savory vegan snacks to try.
Top vegan snacks
Best cheese puffs
[ Outstanding Foods Outstanding Cheese Balls – Chedda ]
These crunchy, airy cheese balls are the stuff of childhood nostalgia, without any dairy. They’ll even turn your fingers orange, but you won’t mind as you dive back into the bag for more.
Sold by Amazon
Best veggie crisps
[ Rhythm Organic Cauliflower Bites ]
You’ll look forward to eating your veggies when they’re as crisp and addicting as these air-dried cauliflower florets. These are lightly seasoned with sea salt, but if you prefer a bolder flavor, opt for the Buffalo Ranch version.
Sold by Amazon
Best snack clusters
[ Clusterbucks Grain-Free Superfood Clusters ]
The Snickerdoodle flavor of these crunchy buckwheat clusters is subtly sweet and nicely spiced. This is a great healthy snack that will satisfy your sweet tooth without sending you headed for a sugar crash. The clusters are big, but there are always plenty of smaller pieces in the bottom of the bag that make a great yogurt topping.
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Best lupini beans snack
[ Brami Lupini Beans Variety Pack ]
If you haven’t tried lupini beans, prepare to fall in love. These soft, nutty beans are marinated in mild spices and come packed with plant-based protein. Each little pouch from Brami has just 60 calories and 7 grams of protein. They’re great on their own or as a salad topper.
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Best vegan superfood popcorn
[ Azzizah’s Herbal Green Popcorn – Original Savory Cheddar ]
Don’t let the green color throw you off: all of that seasoning means tons of flavor. This crunchy corn is covered in a spicy blend of nutritional yeast, curry powder, herbs, cayenne, garlic, and of course, spirulina. Spirulina is derived from algae and not only tastes great, but it’s also full of B vitamins, which can be difficult to incorporate into a vegan diet.
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Best crackers
[ Simple Mills Organic Seed Crackers – Everything ]
These buttery crackers get their rich flavor and crumbly texture from a blend of gluten-free flours, including sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds, cassava and tapioca. They’re flavored with a classic everything bagel seasoning for a nice garlicky taste that’s great with anything from a slice of vegan cheese to guacamole.
Sold by Amazon
Best spicy vegan jerky
[ Beyond Meat Plant-Based Jerky – Original and Teriyaki Variety Pack ]
You’ll love all of the flavors of this meaty, savory plant-based jerky from meat alternative giant Beyond Meat. The protein is made from peas and mung beans and is free of soy, gluten and GMO ingredients. Plus, there are a whopping 10 grams of protein per serving.
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Best crunchy chickpeas
[ Saffron Road Organic Crunchy Chickpeas – Korean BBQ ]
These crispy seasoned chickpeas are great on their own or tossed into a salad. For added protein. They come in a range of flavors, including Buffalo, Chipotle, Sea Salt and Korean BBQ, to suit any taste buds.
Sold by Amazon
Best potato chips
[ Popchips Sea Salt Potato Chips ]
Get your fill of crispy potatoes without a grease overload. These light, airy chips are just as tasty straight from the bag as they are stuffed into a sandwich. Try the barbecue flavor if you like some heat.
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Best sweet-savory popcorn
[ LesserEvil Organic Popcorn, Himalayan Sweetness ]
This light, healthy popcorn is certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has less fat and more fiber than traditional kettle corn, but all of the sweet-and-savory flavor you crave.
Sold by Walmart
Best vegan queso
[ Siete Dairy-Free Cashew Queso ]
This fluffy, smooth cheese-free queso dip is the perfect topping for nachos, tacos and pretty much anything that dips. It has a melty texture that’s great warm or cold and is flavored with tomatoes, carrots, pepper, and nutritional yeast for a bold, slightly smoky flavor.
Sold by Walmart
Best vegan cookie dough
[ Whoa Dough Edible Cookie Dough Bars Variety Pack ]
Soft, gooey and with flavors include Brownie Batter, Sugar Sprinkle and Chocolate Chip, it’s hard to beat these cookie dough bars. They’re shelf-stable but hold their soft, chewy texture like homemade dough.
Sold by Amazon
Best chocolatey vegan snack
[ Undercover Quinoa Crisps, Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt ]
These snacks are made of crispy puffed quinoa cakes coated in rich dark chocolate with a touch of sea salt. Other vegan flavors include dark chocolate and pumpkin spice and dark chocolate with blueberries for extra antioxidants.
Sold by Amazon
Best vegan graham crackers
[ Healing Home Foods Lemon Chia Graham Bites ]
These cute graham cracker-like bites taste homemade, with a buttery flavor and thick, crunchy texture that’s made for dunking in your favorite plant-based milk. They have a hint of brightness from lemon.
Sold by Amazon
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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/the-14-best-vegan-snacks/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:30 | 0 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/the-14-best-vegan-snacks/ |
If only because it is the feature debut of co-directors Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash Jr. (singer and director of the band OK Go), it’s surprising how consistently engaging and entertaining “The Beanie Bubble” proves to be.
Already given a limited theatrical release, the comedy-drama built around the wild Beanie Baby craze of the 1990s from Imagine Entertainment debuts this week on Apple TV+.
Penned by Gore (“Saturday Night Live,” “Futurama”), it is based loosely on Zac Bissonnette’s book “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute,” with significant liberties taken for narrative purposes.
“There are parts of the truth you just can’t make up,” reads text that greets the viewer in the film’s opening seconds. “The rest, we did.”
Of all the fine choices made by Gore and Kulash — high school sweethearts who’ve been married since 2016 — none is finer than the casting of Zach Galifianakis as Ty Warren, the toy salesman largely responsible for creating the little understuffed animals that would become speculative investments for many.
According to the movie’s production notes, the couple saw the film as a vehicle for the hilarious “Hangover” star even before developing it. However, Galifianakis’ Ty is nothing like some over-the-top characters the actor has played in that 2009 hit and other movie and TV projects; he is complex — at times funny and charming and at others greedy and duplicitous and still at others weak and immature.
This portrait of the eventual billionaire is told over two timelines — one beginning in 1983 and another starting 10 years later — and primarily from the points of view of three women. Although based partially on women from Warren’s past, Elizabeth Banks’ Robbie Jones, Sarah Snook’s Sheila Harper and Geraldine Viswanathan’s Maya Kumar have been invented for “The Beanie Bubble.”
Ty first befriends Robbie, who’s frustrated with both her job and marriage, and convinces her to start a business with him. The son of a toy salesman, Ty wants them to sell stuffed Himalayan cats — his innovation being that they stuff them only so much, causing them to feel softer and making them easy to pose.
Eventually, as success comes, a romance blossoms.
In the later timeline, Ty Inc. is doing well, and the company hires college student Maya as a receptionist.
Meanwhile, Ty is hours late for an appointment at his house with Sheila, a lighting designer. When she reads him the riot act, he is immediately smitten and puts the full-court press to convince the mother of two young girls to go out with him.
Ty really takes to the girls, and he values their opinions on his products. In fact, the idea for Beanie Babies comes when one is disappointed one of his stuffed animals is too large to fit in her backpack, making it impractical for show and tell at school.
“Before we knew it,” Sheila says in narration, “we were a family — a funny, weird, happy family.”
Ty never enters into a romantic relationship with Maya, but she becomes indispensable to him at the company — or so it would seem, at least. Among her ideas are creating scarcity to make certain Beanie Babies objects of incredible desire and to create a company website at a time most businesses had yet to do so.
As the popularity of Beanie Babies grows and grows, Maya closely monitors trends, using eBay and other new online resources, and she grasps what is happening with the craze and where it’s all heading far better than Ty. (That he detests Beanie collectors — because they’re making money off his creations, not appreciating that they’re fueling his overall business — is both hilarious and, in its way, tragic.)
“The Beanie Bubble” keeps you invested as it runs along its parallel tracks, even as they draw closer to their inevitable conclusions. Perhaps it’s all a little predictable, but that’s understandable given what we remember about the time when Beanie Babies were all the rage — and then weren’t.
In the hands of Galifianakis (“Due Date,” “Between Two Ferns”), Ty is a compelling figure even when we are meant to loathe him. The strange businessman radiates a unique energy that powers “The Beanie Bubble.”
That said, Banks (“The Hunger Games,” “Love & Mercy”), Snook (“Succession,” “Predestination”) and Viswanathan (“Blockers,” “The Broken Hearts Gallery”) each brings qualities to her character that help make the firm work. You root for all three of them but especially Maya — increasingly underappreciated by Ty — thanks largely to the earnestness Viswanathan infuses in her.
“The Beanie Bubble” feels oddly relevant in the time of cryptocurrencies and NFT, which, admittedly, is an idea the film explicitly offers the viewer. At the end of the day, though, it’s simply a rather sound investment of about two hours.
‘The Beanie Bubble’
Where: Apple TV+.
When: July 28.
Rated: R for language.
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes.
Stars (of four): 3. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/the-beanie-bubble-review-zach-galifianakis-shines-in-engaging-toy-story/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:31 | 0 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/the-beanie-bubble-review-zach-galifianakis-shines-in-engaging-toy-story/ |
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The Coos Art Museum is once again holding their annual Maritime Art Exhibition. This year marks its 29th occurrence. The museum will be displaying a vast array of works from artists all over the country. However, this juried show is not the only exhibit on display at the museum.
Also up for viewing are the “Of the Sea” exhibit, featuring maritime artist Debbie Daniels, the “Reserve Inspiration” exhibit and the “Changing Tides: The Art of Environmental Stewardship” exhibit.
The Maritime Exhibition is an annual juried art exhibit, funded by a generous grant from the oquille Tribal Community Fund. The event is also sponsored in part by the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay and is sanctioned by the American Society of Marine Artists.
This maritime themed exhibit allowed for artists to submit their works of art using a variety of mediums ranging from oil and watercolor to basswood and metal. The walls of the Maggie Karl and Vaughan Galleries are lined with art that is sure to spark one’s imagination and delight each who visit.
Ribbons were awarded by either board members or the Port Authority. Honorable mentions were also awarded, as well as the Director’s Choice and Best of Show ribbons. Both the Director’s Choice and Best of Show went to a pastel work titled “Offshore Wind” by Brookings artist, Les Cornish.
According to the museum’s Marketing Coordinator, Natalie Laswell, the show’s featured artist, Debbie Daniels, was asked to award the Best of Show ribbon. Daniels picked Cornish’s work because she felt that, “It looked good both up close and from far away,” recalled Laswell.
Dutch Mostert of North Bend was awarded the Port of Coos Bay ribbon and an honorable mentions ribbon for his oil painting, “Oregon Escort Passing Coos Head.” The large painting does an amazing job capturing every detail on both water and land. According to Laswell, Mostert and Don McMichael started the maritime show back in 1994.
Just outside the juried exhibit is the Perkins Gallery where featured maritime artist Debbie Daniels has her own breathtaking works on display. Daniels, who is a self-taught oil painter has been painting for four decades. Her works can be found all over the U.S. among permanent collections at hospitals and corporations, such as Google in Seattle.
Daniels explains her work stating, “My paintings rarely have a horizon line so that the viewer is immersed in the up-close details of our surroundings.” It takes her approximately four to six weeks to finish each of her beautiful pieces.
Head upstairs at the museum where the maritime show continues. The Mable Hansen Gallery is hosting the “Reserve Inspiration” exhibit, which features five coastal artists sharing their works. Theses artists looked to the Oregon Marine Reserve for creative inspiration. A mixture of media was used ranging from scientific illustrations, pyrography and ceramics.
The Atrium Gallery houses the final exhibit in this showcase, “Changing Tides: The Art of Environmental Stewardship.” This is a collection of works from The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Northwest Chapter and Oregon Chapters, Oregon Botanical Artists and the Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists. These groups put forth work from a number of their members.
Pieces include works done in ink, colored pencil, acrylic and mixed media, among other mediums.
The Maritime Art Exhibit is running throughout the summer, until Sept. 22. The captivating show may be viewed during the Museum’s normal business hours. Admission to the exhibition is $5 general and $2 for students, veterans and seniors. Entry is free to those who are members of the museum.
For business hours and additional information please visit the Coos Art Museum’s website: CoosArt.org. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/photos-spectacular-marine-inspired-art-from-across-the-country-now-on-display/article_20041d8c-2d56-11ee-af0b-7f751dc3771f.html | 2023-07-29T17:32:32 | 1 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/photos-spectacular-marine-inspired-art-from-across-the-country-now-on-display/article_20041d8c-2d56-11ee-af0b-7f751dc3771f.html |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In states across the country this year, Republicans have talked a lot about restricting drag performances in front of children.
But that talk, and even their efforts, haven't amounted to much.
Bills restricting drag have failed to pass, passed as watered-down laws, have been vetoed or, in the case of three states that did manage to pass meaningful restrictions, laws have been temporarily halted by federal judges.
Friday, in fact, a judge temporarily blocked drag restrictions in the last remaining state with enforceable restrictions – Montana – just days before the start of Pride festivities.
A few states' lawmakers are still in session, though, so more efforts could be afoot.
In Arkansas, where Republican state Sen. Gary Stubblefield championed and sponsored a bill earlier this year, he said drag shows harm kids and "take away their innocence."
"I can't think of any redeeming quality, anything good that can come from taking children and putting them in front of a bunch of grown men that are dressed like women," Stubblefield said back in January as he introduced his bill on the floor of the Arkansas Senate.
'Prurient interest' and the First Amendment
Stubblefield's bill contained key language that showed up in a lot of states' attempted drag restrictions – an appeal to the "prurient interest." (Texas, Tennessee, Montana, Arizona, South Dakota, for example.)
"That word – prurient interest – means excessive interest in sexual matters," Stubblefield explained to lawmakers in committee.
"Most drag shows do not appeal to the prurient interest," says JT Morris, an attorney for the free-speech group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
"Even if they did, saying something appeals to the 'prurient interest' under the First Amendment is not enough to regulate it," he says, noting that this kind of language makes it harder for a bill to hold up to basic legal scrutiny.
"You can't pass a state law based on disagreement with somebody's viewpoint. It's a textbook First Amendment violation."
And that disagreement has been palpable across the country. In Arkansas, Stubblefield's bill was met with large public backlash from those who say drag is about showmanship, not sex.
"I do drag as an art form," says Jeremy Stuthard, an Arkansas drag performer.
"I take a decent-looking guy and turn him into a statue-esk Barbie doll, and have a great time and put smiles on people's faces and that's all I really try to do."
Stuthard says most of the children he meets at drag brunches and story hours aren't there to indulge a 'prurient interest', but to have fun listening to a story read by a costumed actor.
Drag restrictions put on hold and watered down
In Tennessee, the day before that state's drag restrictions were due to go into effect, a Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge temporarily struck down the law due to its constitutional vagueness.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker wrote, "Whether some of us may like it or not," the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment "as protecting speech that is indecent but not obscene."
A similar law in Florida has been temporarily blocked. For a while, that left Montana as the only state in the country with an enforceable drag law, until the courts temporarily blocked that one, too.
In Arkansas, Sen. Stubblefield's drag ban bill was amended until it hardly resembled a drag ban. The final version of the law, which passed by large margins, now regulates stripping, not drag shows.
"[The]Amended House Bill is the only way to really protect minors. For another reason, it's the only draft that will stand up in court," Stubblefield said of the amendment, which he didn't write but ultimately agreed to.
"None of us like to pass a bill that's going to get struck down by a judge and not help any children at all."
Josie Lenora is the politics/government reporter at KUAR in Little Rock, Ark.
Copyright 2023 KUAR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-29/almost-nothing-has-come-from-all-the-talk-about-states-banning-drag-in-front-of-kids | 2023-07-29T17:32:35 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-29/almost-nothing-has-come-from-all-the-talk-about-states-banning-drag-in-front-of-kids |
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a freshman Republican from Wisconsin, said he was enraged after witnessing a group of high school-age Senate pages "defiling" the Capitol and treating the building like a "frat house common room."
What were the teenagers exactly doing? Briefly lying on the floor to snap photos of the historic Rotunda dome.
On Wednesday night, Senate pages, who help assist day-to-day operations at the Capitol, were touring the Capitol as part of their last week of service, Punchbowl News first reported. To capture a photo of the ceiling, some pages positioned themselves and their camera on the floor. That's when Van Orden walked in.
According to a transcript written by one of the pages and obtained by The Hill, Van Orden said, "Wake the f‑‑‑ up you little s‑‑‑‑" and "Get the f‑‑‑ out of here. You are defiling the space." He reportedly also called the teenagers "jackasses" and "lazy s----."
Since the incident, the congressman has refused to apologize for his outburst — insisting that he was protecting the integrity of the Capitol Rotunda.
"I have long said our nation's Capitol is a symbol of the sacrifice our servicemen and women have made for this country and should never be treated like a frat house common room," Van Orden said in a statement.
Maddy Pritzl, a former Senate page, defended the teenagers and clarified that it was a years-long tradition.
Every single Senate Page has taken midnight photos on the Rotunda floor at some point. I did it in 2016—it's tradition!
— Maddy Pritzl (@pritzlmaddy) July 27, 2023
Leave it to @derrickvanorden to ruin both the fun and experience for some of the hardest working 16-17-year-olds. https://t.co/3MQ05hoPJR
Senior members of Congress say the freshman needs a lesson on manners
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was disturbed by Van Orden's behavior and his lack of remorse.
"I understand that late last night a member of the House majority thought it appropriate to curse at some of these young people," Schumer said Thursday on the Senate floor. "I was shocked when I heard about it. I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., agreed with Schumer, adding "everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way." Both Schumer and McConnell also took time to thank the Senate pages.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Friday that the incident was possibly a "misunderstanding" — adding that he planned to call Van Orden later that day. McCarthy's team did not immediately respond to NPR's request for an update on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, poked fun at Van Orden's outburst by imitating the position that the Senate pages reportedly were rebuked for.
TGIF after a rough week, Senate Pages? I got a great photo, how about you? @SenateCloakroom pic.twitter.com/xaPVVVrFDa
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) July 28, 2023
Van Orden is known for having a short fuse. In 2021, while running for office, he was accused of threatening a 17-year-old Wisconsin library staffer over a display of children's books in honor of Pride Month, the Associated Press reported.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-29/rep-van-orden-gets-bipartisan-scolding-after-he-cursed-at-teen-senate-pages | 2023-07-29T17:32:41 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-29/rep-van-orden-gets-bipartisan-scolding-after-he-cursed-at-teen-senate-pages |
By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)
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.mcall.com/2023/07/28/us-proposes-18-fuel-economy-increase-for-new-vehicle-fleet-from-2027-through-2032/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:44 | 0 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/us-proposes-18-fuel-economy-increase-for-new-vehicle-fleet-from-2027-through-2032/ |
FUKUOKA, Japan — It was just 14 months ago that Jovana Sekulic boarded a plan for California for an opportunity that would accelerate her water polo career. When she embarked on that trip, to a USA Water Polo talent identification camp, the Media resident didn’t dream she’d be representing her country internationally the next year at a major competition.
So Sekulic’s hesitance on Tuesday understandably stemmed from a confluence of factors – the shock of the United States, the four-time reigning World Champion, losing its first game at the World Aquatics Championships in nearly a decade, but also from the center of her year-long, personal water polo whirlwind. Exciting as it has been, the journey hasn’t been all roses.
“It’s been scary and daunting, especially after today’s game,” Sekulic said at the Marine Messe Hall B in Fukuoka, after an 8-7 loss to Italy ended a 26-game winning streak for the Americans at Worlds.
“It feels like it’s a mountain in front of me, but I hope that I can start climbing and help out this team to the best of my abilities.”
Sekulic has zoomed up the lower slopes. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, she emigrated to the United States in elementary school. She and her brothers – Matej, who like Jovana plays at Princeton, and Luka, who starts at the United States Naval Academy in the fall – stayed connected to the sport they enjoyed back home. Jovana played at Episcopal Academy and the brothers at Haverford School.
Jovana earned her way to Princeton, where she’s put up 150 goals and 21 assists in two seasons, landing on the third-team All-American as a freshman and second team as a sophomore. She led Princeton to its first NCAA semifinal last year, earning a spot on the all-tournament team.
Internationally, Sekulic has made the most of her chances. After the camp in Long Beach, she traveled with the team to Greece, then took part in a fall staging camp before the U.S. went to Spain for the FINA World Super League Finals, which it won, while she returned to Princeton. She reintegrated with the team last December in an exhibition series with Spain and, fittingly, Italy, then went on a training trip through Australia in January before the start of the spring college season.
Sekulic played in three of the U.S.’s first five games in Fukuoka. The center scored in a 16-4 win over China and added an assist (but six turnovers) in a 9-5 win over Australia in the group stage. She got a limited run in the quarterfinal, not registering a shot and committing a personal foul. She didn’t play in Thursday’s 16-4 demolition of Canada in the fifth-place semifinals.
The Italy loss came as a shock to the U.S., long the global gold standard in water polo. Seven times world champions, including the last four in a row dating to 2015, the U.S. is also the three-time reigning Olympic champ. Sekulic is learning from the experience for herself, but the rare loss is an uncommon opportunity for the entire group to reassess with one year to go before the Paris Olympics.
“Just never stop working,” Sekulic said. “If you fall, maybe like we just did today, we’re going to come back stronger from it.”
Her response to the adversity tracks with her mental approach to the sport. Her family searched high and low for water polo, a wildly popular sport in Serbia and the Balkans broadly, when they moved to the U.S., finally landing with Maverick Water Polo. It has been a grounding entity, a place where all three kids found a sense of home in a new country.
“You could see they were talented, just natural ability, great skills, great fundamentals,” said Kevin Van Such, who founded Maverick and coached the brothers at Haverford School. “I continued to coach them through the years, and it’s been awesome to watch her development. She’s a very self-motivated person.”
Jovana’s first forays into water polo in the States were, because of her advanced skill, against boys. Even then she dominated. When Van Such took a 16-and-under girls team to Junior Olympics in 2016, he brought Jovana, then 13. She would go on to be one of the tournament’s standouts.
It’s been a two-way street between Van Such and the family. In recognizing their talent, he understood the limitations of East Coast water polo to a degree, brokering connections for Jovana to gain more exposure and expertise. He says that he’s learned as much from them about water polo tactics as he’s in turn taught, a nod to their sophistication in reading the game.
Jovana’s willingness to coach younger players and introduce them to the sport stood out from a young age, even as a teen staying late after practice or coming in early to offer pointers.
“Her knowledge of the game is so incredible, in the pool and teaching fundamentals and mechanics,” Van Such said. “She’s been so valuable and always was such a huge help.”
Sekulic keeps her view of polo in the present, and that informs her next steps now. She didn’t think a year ago that she’d be here in Fukuoka. So when asked about how she thinks this achievement portends the next big objective on the calendar – a chance to play in the Olympics next summer in Paris – Sekulic refuses to look too far down the road.
“I think I’m just going to put my head down and work as much as I can and see what happens,” she said. “The decision’s up to the coaches, but I’m not really going to set any goals. I’m going to continue enjoying the game and doing what I love.” | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/world-aquatics-championships-medias-jovana-sekulic-looking-to-make-a-splash-in-water-polo-competition/ | 2023-07-29T17:32:50 | 1 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/28/world-aquatics-championships-medias-jovana-sekulic-looking-to-make-a-splash-in-water-polo-competition/ |
Hidden camera found inside porta-potty at Wisconsin beach
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (WISN) - A woman at a Wisconsin beach made a terrible discovery after she found a hidden camera underneath the toilet seat of a port-a-potty.
Police are trying to determine if it was the only camera and who put it there.
“That’s insane. Oh my gosh,” Chrissy Hartwig said.
On a beautiful day at Oconomowoc’s Bender Beach, the talk turns instead to something ugly after Hartwig and other beachgoers learn of a small digital camera hidden inside a porta-potty.
“That’s crazy and now that makes me think of all the other porta-potties that might have had something in it,” Hartwig said. “You don’t think about those things.”
Hartwig said she’s heard of people hiding cameras in dressing rooms and even vacation rentals, but never before in a porta-potty.
“I just, I mean, I’m mind blown. I’ve never considered it. I’ve never thought about it. I wouldn’t have thought about it, probably. People are creeps,” she said.
The camera was reportedly inside the toilet, positioned in a way that showed people entering and using the toilet.
Oconomowoc police, along with the public, have a lot of questions.
“It’s, you know, it’s very concerning because you know the little ones use the bathroom,” Lissa Hagen said. “Yeah, it’s concerning, you know, wondering who did it and why they would do something like that. It’s very gross too.”
Hagen’s daughter is a lifeguard at the beach and learned of the camera the day after it was found.
“I mean, it’s uncomfortable. It’s, you know, concerning. Yeah, so, I’m glad they found it at least before, you know, anything happened,” Hagen said.
Police have not shared how long they believe the camera was there and what if anything was on it.
Copyright 2023 WISN via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kold.com/2023/07/29/hidden-camera-found-inside-porta-potty-wisconsin-beach/ | 2023-07-29T17:33:35 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/2023/07/29/hidden-camera-found-inside-porta-potty-wisconsin-beach/ |
Pet owner says 4-foot-long python has gone missing from his yard
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR/Gray News) - Residents in an Illinois neighborhood are currently on the lookout for a pet snake.
Jonathan Delaney told WIFR that his 15-year-old ball python named Bubba slithered away from his yard last weekend.
Delaney said his exotic 4-foot-long snake is missing, but neighbors shouldn’t be worried.
“He’s completely harmless,” Delaney said. “We’ve had him for 15 years. He’s never been mean and the biggest thing he’d eat is a rat.”
Fellow Edgewater resident Rhonda Hanley said she’d likely be startled if she came across Bubba. But because he’s someone’s pet, she’ll try to help find him.
“I’ll try and put something over the top of it like a blanket or a garbage can if I find him,” Hanley said.
Delaney is thankful that his neighbors are concerned enough to lend a helping hand.
“We are hoping he’s still around here and nobody harms him,” he said. “We are hoping to find him as soon as possible.”
Experts say because ball pythons prefer to be hidden most of the time the snake doesn’t appear to pose a threat to the public.
The snake can strike if it gets agitated, but those bites don’t normally require medical attention.
“The most that could happen is that the snake could take a defensive swipe,” Stephanie Stone, owner of Jurassic Reptile Supply, said. “It’s less impact than a cat scratch or a cat bite.”
Stone added that ball pythons typically don’t travel very far.
“Unless it feels the need to try to find a meal, it’s probably very close to where it was originally,” she said.
Anyone who spots Bubba has been urged to contact Delaney on social media.
Copyright 2023 WIFR via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kold.com/2023/07/29/pet-owner-says-4-foot-long-python-has-gone-missing-his-yard/ | 2023-07-29T17:33:41 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/2023/07/29/pet-owner-says-4-foot-long-python-has-gone-missing-his-yard/ |
Top Player Prop Bets for Diamondbacks vs. Mariners on July 29, 2023
Published: Jul. 29, 2023 at 9:50 AM MST|Updated: 41 minutes ago
Player prop bet options for Julio Rodriguez, Corbin Carroll and others are available when the Seattle Mariners visit the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Saturday (at 8:10 PM ET).
Bet on this matchup or its props with BetMGM!
Diamondbacks vs. Mariners Game Info
- When: Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 8:10 PM ET
- Where: Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona
- How to Watch on TV: ARID
- Live Stream: Watch the MLB on Fubo!
Read More About This Game
MLB Props Today: Arizona Diamondbacks
Corbin Carroll Props
- Hits Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: -233)
- Runs Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: -115)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +400)
- RBI Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +135)
Carroll Stats
- Carroll has recorded 103 hits with 21 doubles, five triples, 21 home runs and 38 walks. He has driven in 57 runs with 30 stolen bases.
- He's slashed .290/.368/.555 so far this year.
- Carroll will look for his fourth straight game with a hit in this contest. During his last five outings he is hitting .412 with a double, a triple, a home run, three walks and five RBI.
Carroll Recent Games
Ketel Marte Props
- Hits Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: -263)
- Runs Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: -125)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +400)
- RBI Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +150)
Marte Stats
- Ketel Marte has 111 hits with 18 doubles, seven triples, 17 home runs and 44 walks. He has driven in 55 runs with six stolen bases.
- He's slashed .296/.375/.517 so far this year.
Marte Recent Games
Bet on player props for Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte or other Diamondbacks players with BetMGM.
Buy officially licensed gear for your favorite teams and players at Fanatics!
MLB Props Today: Seattle Mariners
Julio Rodríguez Props
- Hits Prop: Over/Under 1.5 (Over Odds: +185)
- Runs Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: -130)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +350)
- RBI Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +135)
Rodríguez Stats
- Rodriguez has 21 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs, 33 walks and 55 RBI (105 total hits). He's also swiped 24 bases.
- He's slashed .252/.318/.430 on the year.
- Rodriguez will look for his seventh straight game with a hit in this contest. In his last 10 outings he is batting .275 with three doubles, four home runs, three walks and six RBI.
Rodríguez Recent Games
J.P. Crawford Props
- Hits Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: -204)
- Runs Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +100)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +650)
- RBI Prop: Over/Under 0.5 (Over Odds: +220)
Crawford Stats
- J.P. Crawford has 24 doubles, eight home runs, 57 walks and 35 RBI (90 total hits). He has swiped one base.
- He's slashed .261/.368/.400 on the year.
- Crawford brings a three-game streak with at least one hit into this one. In his last five games he is hitting .300 with four doubles, two walks and two RBI.
Crawford Recent Games
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/diamondbacks-vs-mariners-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-29T17:33:47 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/diamondbacks-vs-mariners-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
(iSeeCars) — When it comes to car buying, you may be torn between buying and leasing.
While leasing a car might be an attractive option if you want a different car every few years, you might be turned off by the high monthly payments for the cars you’re interested in. What you might not realize is that you can also lease a used car.
Although used cars make up only a small percentage of the leased car market, it’s still possible to lease a used car. And with used car prices still higher than pre-pandemic levels, leasing a used car could be a smart financial decision.
So how can you lease a used car, and is it a good idea? We have the answers.
Which Used Cars Can be Leased?
Used cars that are available to lease are typically Certified Pre Owned cars (also known as CPO) from car dealerships. A certified pre-owned vehicle is a late-model used car that is sold by a franchised dealer after it has been thoroughly inspected, and comes with a factory-backed extended-powertrain warranty and bumper-to-bumper warranty. Each manufacturer has different criteria for their CPO vehicles, but they generally will be less than 6 years old and will not have more than 48,000 miles on the odometer.
You can also take over a lease from someone who wants to get out of their lease. It could be because they are facing a hardship or because they no longer require a vehicle. Whatever the reason, they will post their car on a leasing company website like SwapALease.com or LeaseTrader in hopes that someone can take over their lease so they won’t have to incur the penalties associated with breaking their lease contract. In this case you won’t be required to make a down payment, and you can likely negotiate with the seller to have them pay the transfer fees. However, when taking over someone’s lease, you should estimate how much you plan on driving the vehicle to make sure that you don’t exceed the mileage limit. If you do go over the mileage limit, you will have to pay a penalty when you turn the car in.
How To Find a Used Car to Lease
Used-car leases from dealerships are rare and aren’t widely advertised. The best way to find a leased used car is to do the legwork yourself. All major manufacturers, both mainstream and luxury, offer CPO vehicle leases. However, some automakers, including Stellantis, Ford, and Nissan, require outside financing, while Toyota’s finance department does provide financing for used vehicle leases.
The best way to find a used lease is to decide what vehicle you are interested in, and call around to franchised dealerships to see if they offer used car leases on their CPO inventory.
How to Shop For a Used Car Lease
When deciding if leasing a used car is right for you, you should always shop around. Just as you should compare prices when shopping for used vehicles, you should contact multiple dealerships to see which offer the best pricing.
You should also compare the cost of leasing a used car with the cost of a new car. New car leases often come with better finance rates and may also have incentives and special offers. This cost difference between a new-car lease and used-car lease will be smaller with used Honda and Toyota cars, while the savings will be more significant on luxury vehicles from Acura or Lexus.
The smartest used car lease purchases are for later model year cars, two-to-three-years old and still under warranty, or that offer extended warranties. Otherwise, you are responsible for costly repairs on a car you don’t own. Keep in mind auto insurance is often more expensive for leased cars, so make sure to get a quote from your insurer and factor it into your budget.
As with any used car purchase, you should make sure you get the car fully inspected by an independent mechanic before leasing. You should also use helpful online research tools like the iSeeCars free VIN check that provides a free CARFAX or Autocheck vehicle history report as part of its comprehensive VIN check tool. A comprehensive VIN check will complement the vehicle history report to provide all the important information an interested buyer should know before making a used car purchase.
How Does Used Car Leasing Work?
Used-car leases are similar in structure to new car leases. Just as with a new car lease, the lender will base payments off of a car’s residual value compared to its sales price. The lender will also determine a money factor, which is the vehicle’s interest rate. Just as used cars usually have higher interest rates than new cars, a used car lease will likely have a higher interest rate than a new car lease when it comes to a car loan. However, because a used car has already taken its depreciation hit, the used vehicle will have a lower sales price and lower depreciation rate, which will result in a lower monthly payment than a new car lease. Savings between new and used car leases tend to be more significant when leasing luxury cars.
Used Car Leases: Benefits
The main draw to leasing a used car is the lower monthly payments. It may also allow you to afford a more expensive car than what you would be able to afford with a new car lease. If you don’t care about having the latest new car technology, but want to get rid of a car before it’s too dated, a used car lease might be an appealing option. Additionally, you may have lower car insurance costs than what you would pay on a new car since rates are based on a car’s value.
Used Car Leases: Drawbacks
By leasing a used car, you are responsible for repairs after the vehicle runs past its warranty. You also won’t be able to enjoy the main benefit of new car leasing, which is driving a brand new car with the latest technology. By leasing a used car, although the payments are likely lower, you are still making monthly payments and maintenance costs for a vehicle you don’t own. You may also be charged at the end of the lease if the vehicle is not in good shape or you drive it past the mileage limit as stated in your lease agreement. In many instances, buying a practical used car and keeping it for several years will save you money in the long run compared to leasing.
Bottom Line
If you’re interested in leasing a car and want to lower your monthly lease payments or upgrade to a more expensive vehicle while keeping costs down, a used car lease might be a smart decision. However, used car leases are hard to find, so you should be prepared to do some extra legwork to find the best used car lease deals. Also, be sure to compare prices and lease rates to other used CPO leases as well as new vehicle leases. Avoid leased vehicles that extend beyond a car’s warranty so you won’t be responsible for expensive repairs.
Lastly, once your lease term ends, you’ll have the option for a lease buyout with a purchase price based on the residual value of the car. If you don’t buy the car, you’ll need to find another car to lease. That’s why purchasing a used car outright, that you can keep as long as you want, is often the smartest long-term financial decision.
More from iSeeCars.com:
If you’re interested in a new car or a used car, be sure to check out iSeeCars’ award-winning car search engine. It uses advanced algorithms to help shoppers find the best car deals across all used cars and provides key insights and valuable resources, like the iSeeCars free VIN check report and Best Cars rankings. Filter by make, model, price, CPO vehicles, and special features to find the best deal on your next vehicle.
This article, Can You Lease a Used Car? originally appeared on iSeeCars.com. | https://www.wdtn.com/automotive/can-you-lease-a-used-car-2/ | 2023-07-29T17:34:12 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/automotive/can-you-lease-a-used-car-2/ |
By NOMAAN MERCHANT, ELLEN KNICKMEYER, ZEKE MILLER and TARA COPP (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, in what is the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China.
The White House said Friday the package would include defense, education and training for the Taiwanese. Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
U.S. lawmakers have been pressuring the Pentagon and White House to speed weapons to Taiwan. The goals are to help it counter China and to deter China from considering attacking, by providing Taipei enough weaponry that it would make the price of invasion too high.
While Chinese diplomats protested the move, Taiwan’s representative office in the U.S. said the administration’s decision to pull arms and other materiel from its stores provided “an important tool to support Taiwan’s self-defense.” In a statement, it pledged to work with the United States to maintain “peace, stability and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense also expressed its appreciation in a statement that thanked “the U.S. for its firm commitment to Taiwan’s security.”
The package is in addition to nearly $19 billion in military sales of F-16s and other major weapons systems that the U.S. has approved for Taiwan. Delivery of those weapons has been hampered by supply chain issues that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been exacerbated by the global defense industrial base pressures created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The difference is that this aid is part of a presidential authority approved by Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles — so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales. This gets weapons delivered faster than providing funding for new weapons.
The Pentagon has used a similar authority to get billions of dollars worth of munitions to Ukraine.
Taiwan split from China in 1949 amid civil war. Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains China’s right to take over the now self-ruled island, by force if necessary. China has accused the U.S. of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” through the billions of dollars in weapons sales it has pledged.
The U.S. maintains a “One China” policy under which it does not recognize Taiwan’s as an independent country and has no formal diplomatic relations with the island in deference to Beijing. However, U.S. law requires a credible defense for Taiwan and for the U.S. to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”
Getting stockpiles of weapons to Taiwan now, before an attack begins, is one of the lessons the U.S. has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pentagon deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks told The Associated Press earlier this year.
Ukraine “was more of a cold-start approach than the planned approach we have been working on for Taiwan, and we will apply those lessons,” Hicks said. Efforts to resupply Taiwan after a conflict erupted would be complicated because it is an island, she said.
China regularly sends warships and planes across the center line in the Taiwan Strait that provides a buffer between the sides, as well as into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, in an effort to intimidate the island’s 23 million people and wear down its military capabilities.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in a statement that Beijing was “firmly opposed” to U.S. military ties with Taiwan. The U.S. should “stop selling arms to Taiwan” and “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Liu said. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/29/us-announces-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ | 2023-07-29T17:34:12 | 1 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/29/us-announces-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ |
(iSeeCars) — Most consumers know there are various electric vehicle tax credits available if they buy a new electric vehicle.
The original credit, officially known as the “Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit”, was instituted over a decade ago. It created a tax credit amount between $2,500 and $7,500 based on a specific qualifying vehicle’s battery capacity. There was also a 200,000-unit limit to how many zero-emissions electric cars a single manufacturer could sell before the credit would phase out and eventually be eliminated. Two automakers, General Motors and Tesla, had already hit this limit in recent years, with a few more getting very close in 2022
But the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has altered the existing rules for the federal tax credit, removing the 200,000 limit, extending the up-to-$7,500 credit through 2032…but also adding a new set of eligibility requirements based on the final assembly location of the vehicle and its battery components. New vehicle pricing and adjusted gross income requirements have also been enacted. The new rules are a reaction to China’s dominance in the EV space, a dominance President Biden and the U.S. Department of Energy would like to reverse by encouraging the production of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and battery components in North America.
The Inflation Reduction Act – Pros and Cons
Encouraging the American production of clean vehicles, including plug-in electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), is commendable. However, the change in eligibility requirements could actually limit new vehicle tax credits more than the outgoing legislation. Let’s take a closer look at where this new legislation helps, and hurts, your chances at seeing a rebate.
Pros:
- No 200,000 Vehicle Limit per Manufacturer – which means brands like Cadillac, Chevrolet and Tesla will be back in the running for a $7,500 tax break, along with every other automaker selling EVs, PHEVs (with a battery of 7 kilowatt hours or larger), or FCEVs.
- Income and MSRP Restrictions – the previous legislation had no limit on household income or eligible vehicle pricing, which meant a lot of taxpayer money was spent helping millionaires get a $7,500 price break on their $100,000-plus Tesla. Starting on January 1st, 2023, the new legislation puts an MSRP limit of $80,000 on electric vans, SUVs, and pickup trucks, and a $55,000 MSRP limit on electric sedans, coupes, wagons, and convertibles. The IRS also puts a $150,000 annual income limit on single tax filers, a $225,000 limit on head-of-household filers, and a $300,000 limit on joint filers.
- Used EVs Count Too – For the first time ever, car buyers seeking a lower cost of entry into EV ownership don’t have to choose from pricier current or new model year vehicles. A tax credit on used vehicles, worth either $4,000 or 30% of the used EV’s sales price (whichever is lower) will be available on used models costing less than $25,000. This credit is only available to single filers below $75,000, head-of-household filers below $112,000, and joint filers of $150,000.
- Commercial Tax Credit – If you happen to be a business owner looking to go electric the new bill provides up to $7,500 for electric vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) under 14,000 pounds and up to $40,000 for vehicles with a GVWR above 14,000 pounds. The rebate is based on either 30 percent of the total vehicle cost, or the incremental cost of a commercial EV over the cost of an equivalent non-EV vehicle. For instance, the Ford F-150 Lightning has a starting MSRP of $46,974, but you can buy an equivalent crew-cab F-150 with an internal combustion engine for around $50,000. There’s no incremental cost to buying the Lightning, so a commercial buyer could only benefit from 30 percent of the truck’s $46,974 price (around $15,680).
- Point of Sale Price Reduction: Starting on January 1st, 2024, buyers can transfer their credit to the selling dealer, essentially providing an immediate reduction in the price of an EV during purchase versus waiting to receive the benefit as part of their next tax filing.
Cons:
- Final Assembly Must be in North America – Starting on August 17th, 2022, only plug-in electric vehicles assembled in North America are eligible for tax credits. As of this writing, that includes 26 EVs from model year 2022, but only 8 EVs from model year 2023. A vehicle’s VIN (vehicle identification number) will be used to determine where a potential candidate was built. Popular EVs like the BMW 330e, Chevrolet Bolt, and Nissan Leaf have already been approved for model year 2023, and we’d expect other models assembled in Canada, Mexico, or the U.S. to be approved soon, including the Audi Q5, Ford Mustang Mach E, and every Rivian and Tesla model. However…
- Critical Mineral and Battery Component Requirements – Even if an electric vehicle is assembled in North America it will need to meet increasingly stringent battery requirements over the coming 5 years. Starting in 2023 an EV’s battery will need 40 percent of its critical minerals value to have been extracted or processed in the U.S. or a U.S. free-trade agreement partner to receive up to $3,750 in tax credits. This percentage will increase 10 percent a year, up to 80% of the battery’s critical mineral value in 2027 and beyond. Additionally, starting in 2023, 50 percent of the value of an EV battery’s components must be assembled in the U.S., increasing 10 percent a year until it reaches 100 percent in 2029.
The newest bill’s final assembly and critical mineral battery requirements are meant to shift the production of electric vehicles back toward the U.S. and its allies, and away from foreign entities of concern, including China. Given the supply chain issues we’ve experienced over the past 2 years this is a wise long-term goal. However, the time and resources needed to transplant the electric vehicle alternative fuels industry from the Asia Pacific region to the U.S are substantial.
Foreign automakers like Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota have already committed to high-volume North American vehicle production in recent decades. There’s every reason to believe they can relatively quickly do the same for their electric vehicle fleets to meet the final assembly requirement for successful new models not yet produced here, like the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Several automakers with smaller U.S. production capacity, including BMW, Volkswagen, and Volvo, also continue to expand their U.S. presence.
But battery production is an entirely different process compared to vehicle assembly. It involves significant investments in land assessment/exploration, permit applications, approval, mining, extraction, refining, etc. You can imagine the processes and time frame involved in, for instance, setting up a lithium mine in California. Investing in, and establishing, those capabilities will take several years at least, and could easily prove a limiting factor on how many new EVs can fully qualify for the latest tax credits under the current legislation.
More from iSeeCars:
- How Much Does it Cost to Charge an Electric Car?
- How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?
- Electric Cars with the Longest Range
If you’re in the market for a new or used electric vehicle you can search over 4 million used electric cars, SUVs, and trucks with iSeeCars’ award-winning car search engine that helps shoppers find the best car deals by providing key insights and valuable resources, like the iSeeCars free VIN check report and Best Cars rankings. Filter by vehicle type, front or all-wheel drive, and other parameters in order to narrow down your car search.
This article, The New EV Tax Credits Explained, originally appeared on iSeeCars.com. | https://www.wdtn.com/automotive/ev-tax-credits-explained/ | 2023-07-29T17:34:12 | 1 | https://www.wdtn.com/automotive/ev-tax-credits-explained/ |
Former President Trump’s outsized influence is already being felt in GOP Senate primaries, underscoring his grip on the party even as he faces numerous primary challengers in the 2024 White House race.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who’s running to replace Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), endorsed Trump’s presidential bid earlier this week. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R), who’s running to unseat Sen. Joe Manchin (D), did the same — prompting his GOP primary rival Alex Mooney to point out that he had come out in support of Trump last year.
And prior to officially jumping into Montana’s contested Senate race last month, former Navy SEAL and businessman Tim Sheehy said he supports Trump “100 percent.”
The public show of support for the former president is just the latest example of the political sway he continues to hold over Republicans, and could serve as a headache for party leaders who want the GOP to move on from him.
“Donald Trump continues to be the biggest elephant in the Republican tent,” said Mark Weaver, an Ohio-based Republican strategist. “Republican voters still want to see him as our party’s leader.”
One Republican strategist described the strategy of endorsing Trump as “the path of least resistance.”
“In order to take back the Senate, you’ve got to win a couple of these key seats, and the only way to win back these key seats is to make it through the primary unscathed,” the strategist said.
Some strategists see the endorsements as a sign of how the presidential primary is likely to shake out.
“This is a greater sign than ever before that Trump is most likely going to win the Republican nomination despite the noise in the media,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell.
“Endorsing Trump at this stage is one of the safest things a candidate could do,” he added. “This is more about the candidates trying to cozy up to him.”
The eagerness from some Senate Republican hopefuls to embrace the former president comes after many of Trump’s endorsed candidates performed poorly in their general elections last cycle.
“Former President Trump’s endorsement continues to be a boon in a primary and a bane in a general election,” Weaver said.
The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (NRSC) is also taking a different approach in the 2024 cycle by playing a more hands-on role in some primaries. Like Trump, the committee’s Chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has thrown his support behind Justice in West Virginia’s Republican Senate primary.
While there has been tension and disagreement between Trump and Senate leadership, particularly on Trump’s unfounded claims that he won the 2020 presidential election, Daines has said he is working with the former president ahead of 2024.
“We chat frequently. And he’s very thoughtful right now looking at these races. He understands it’s important we have candidates that can win,” Daines told CBS News in an interview earlier this month. “If you notice, there hasn’t been a wave of endorsements coming out so far, because I think we’re having these thoughtful conversations and getting on the same page.”
Trump has endorsed in less competitive GOP Senate primaries, like in Indiana, where he threw his support behind Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) a day after former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) announced that he would not run for the seat and after the NRSC endorsed Banks.
And earlier this month, CNN reported that Trump told Mooney in West Virginia and potential Senate candidate Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) that he would not endorse them. Daines has endorsed Sheehy in Montana.
Democrats, meanwhile, are seeking to use Trump’s endorsement against him in the general election, harkening back to Republican losses in 2022.
“Trump is looming over Senate Republicans’ primaries and making the GOP’s nasty infighting even worse,” said Tommy Garcia, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “As Republican candidates fight for Trump’s favor, they’re showing the voters who will decide the general election in their states why they should be rejected in 2024.”
And not every Republican running for Senate is immediately tying themselves to the former president. In Nevada, Sam Brown, who has been endorsed by Daines, has yet to endorse Trump despite volunteering for his campaign in 2020. His primary opponent Jim Marchant, on the other hand, has endorsed Trump. Marchant has also said Brown is the GOP establishment’s choice, pointing to his endorsement from the NRSC.
“Mitch McConnell & the establishment needed a candidate & found him in Sam Brown,” Marchant said in a tweet earlier this month. “We see Reagan’s ‘bold-colored differences’ between DC & the real America.”
Weaver noted that while more anti-establishment candidates may try to use this attack line, there’s still much to be gained from an endorsement from the Senate GOP campaign arm.
“Being endorsed by the Washington establishment can bring valuable contributions from interest groups around the country, but it can also bring some criticism for being too close to the Beltway,” he said.
Others caution that endorsements should not be seen as integral to the success of a campaign.
“Ultimately these candidates have got to focus on their message and they’ve got to focus on having the resources to disseminate their message,” the GOP strategist said. “They need to be able to actually run a functional campaign and no endorsement is going to matter if those things aren’t done,” the strategist added. | https://www.wdtn.com/hill-politics/trumps-role-in-gop-senate-primaries-underscores-his-strength/ | 2023-07-29T17:34:16 | 1 | https://www.wdtn.com/hill-politics/trumps-role-in-gop-senate-primaries-underscores-his-strength/ |
GREENVILLE, Ohio (WDTN) — The Annie Oakley Festival Parade was held on Saturday in Darke County.
Our partners at the Greenville Daily Advocate were at the parade on Saturday morning, which began shortly after 10:30 a.m. Many people from the community came out to watch the parade, and be a part of Darke County’s celebration of Annie Oakley.
Dozens of horses, the Kroger horse-drawn wagon, a band, performers and many other groups and individuals were a part of the parade. Shrek even made an appearance in the parade driving a vehicle.
Click here to learn more about the Annie Oakley Festival. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/fun-times-at-the-annie-oakley-parade/ | 2023-07-29T17:34:17 | 1 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/fun-times-at-the-annie-oakley-parade/ |
KETTERING, Ohio (WDTN) — SWAT was on scene in a Kettering neighborhood on Saturday.
According to our 2 NEWS crew at the scene, SWAT, Kettering EMS and Miamisburg police were on scene on Bulah Avenue in Kettering.
It is not currently known if anyone is injured. 2 NEWS reached out to Kettering Police to learn why SWAT was called to the scene. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/swat-responds-to-kettering-neighborhood/ | 2023-07-29T17:34:17 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/swat-responds-to-kettering-neighborhood/ |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In states across the country this year, Republicans have talked a lot about restricting drag performances in front of children.
But that talk, and even their efforts, haven't amounted to much.
Bills restricting drag have failed to pass, passed as watered-down laws, have been vetoed or, in the case of three states that did manage to pass meaningful restrictions, laws have been temporarily halted by federal judges.
Friday, in fact, a judge temporarily blocked drag restrictions in the last remaining state with enforceable restrictions – Montana – just days before the start of Pride festivities.
A few states' lawmakers are still in session, though, so more efforts could be afoot.
In Arkansas, where Republican state Sen. Gary Stubblefield championed and sponsored a bill earlier this year, he said drag shows harm kids and "take away their innocence."
"I can't think of any redeeming quality, anything good that can come from taking children and putting them in front of a bunch of grown men that are dressed like women," Stubblefield said back in January as he introduced his bill on the floor of the Arkansas Senate.
'Prurient interest' and the First Amendment
Stubblefield's bill contained key language that showed up in a lot of states' attempted drag restrictions – an appeal to the "prurient interest." (Texas, Tennessee, Montana, Arizona, South Dakota, for example.)
"That word – prurient interest – means excessive interest in sexual matters," Stubblefield explained to lawmakers in committee.
"Most drag shows do not appeal to the prurient interest," says JT Morris, an attorney for the free-speech group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
"Even if they did, saying something appeals to the 'prurient interest' under the First Amendment is not enough to regulate it," he says, noting that this kind of language makes it harder for a bill to hold up to basic legal scrutiny.
"You can't pass a state law based on disagreement with somebody's viewpoint. It's a textbook First Amendment violation."
And that disagreement has been palpable across the country. In Arkansas, Stubblefield's bill was met with large public backlash from those who say drag is about showmanship, not sex.
"I do drag as an art form," says Jeremy Stuthard, an Arkansas drag performer.
"I take a decent-looking guy and turn him into a statue-esk Barbie doll, and have a great time and put smiles on people's faces and that's all I really try to do."
Stuthard says most of the children he meets at drag brunches and story hours aren't there to indulge a 'prurient interest', but to have fun listening to a story read by a costumed actor.
Drag restrictions put on hold and watered down
In Tennessee, the day before that state's drag restrictions were due to go into effect, a Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge temporarily struck down the law due to its constitutional vagueness.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker wrote, "Whether some of us may like it or not," the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment "as protecting speech that is indecent but not obscene."
A similar law in Florida has been temporarily blocked. For a while, that left Montana as the only state in the country with an enforceable drag law, until the courts temporarily blocked that one, too.
In Arkansas, Sen. Stubblefield's drag ban bill was amended until it hardly resembled a drag ban. The final version of the law, which passed by large margins, now regulates stripping, not drag shows.
"[The]Amended House Bill is the only way to really protect minors. For another reason, it's the only draft that will stand up in court," Stubblefield said of the amendment, which he didn't write but ultimately agreed to.
"None of us like to pass a bill that's going to get struck down by a judge and not help any children at all."
Josie Lenora is the politics/government reporter at KUAR in Little Rock, Ark.
Copyright 2023 KUAR | https://www.apr.org/politics-government/2023-07-29/almost-nothing-has-come-from-all-the-talk-about-states-banning-drag-in-front-of-kids | 2023-07-29T17:34:26 | 1 | https://www.apr.org/politics-government/2023-07-29/almost-nothing-has-come-from-all-the-talk-about-states-banning-drag-in-front-of-kids |
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.
The complaint comes as Twitter 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,” though the child’s actual name is a collection of letters and symbols.
On Friday afternoon, a worker on a lift machine made adjustments to the sign and then left. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/new-x-logo-atop-twitter-building-in-san-francisco-prompts-complaint-investigation-from-city/ | 2023-07-29T17:34:32 | 1 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/new-x-logo-atop-twitter-building-in-san-francisco-prompts-complaint-investigation-from-city/ |
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a freshman Republican from Wisconsin, said he was enraged after witnessing a group of high school-age Senate pages "defiling" the Capitol and treating the building like a "frat house common room."
What were the teenagers exactly doing? Briefly lying on the floor to snap photos of the historic Rotunda dome.
On Wednesday night, Senate pages, who help assist day-to-day operations at the Capitol, were touring the Capitol as part of their last week of service, Punchbowl News first reported. To capture a photo of the ceiling, some pages positioned themselves and their camera on the floor. That's when Van Orden walked in.
According to a transcript written by one of the pages and obtained by The Hill, Van Orden said, "Wake the f‑‑‑ up you little s‑‑‑‑" and "Get the f‑‑‑ out of here. You are defiling the space." He reportedly also called the teenagers "jackasses" and "lazy s----."
Since the incident, the congressman has refused to apologize for his outburst — insisting that he was protecting the integrity of the Capitol Rotunda.
"I have long said our nation's Capitol is a symbol of the sacrifice our servicemen and women have made for this country and should never be treated like a frat house common room," Van Orden said in a statement.
Maddy Pritzl, a former Senate page, defended the teenagers and clarified that it was a years-long tradition.
Every single Senate Page has taken midnight photos on the Rotunda floor at some point. I did it in 2016—it's tradition!
— Maddy Pritzl (@pritzlmaddy) July 27, 2023
Leave it to @derrickvanorden to ruin both the fun and experience for some of the hardest working 16-17-year-olds. https://t.co/3MQ05hoPJR
Senior members of Congress say the freshman needs a lesson on manners
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was disturbed by Van Orden's behavior and his lack of remorse.
"I understand that late last night a member of the House majority thought it appropriate to curse at some of these young people," Schumer said Thursday on the Senate floor. "I was shocked when I heard about it. I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., agreed with Schumer, adding "everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way." Both Schumer and McConnell also took time to thank the Senate pages.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Friday that the incident was possibly a "misunderstanding" — adding that he planned to call Van Orden later that day. McCarthy's team did not immediately respond to NPR's request for an update on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, poked fun at Van Orden's outburst by imitating the position that the Senate pages reportedly were rebuked for.
TGIF after a rough week, Senate Pages? I got a great photo, how about you? @SenateCloakroom pic.twitter.com/xaPVVVrFDa
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) July 28, 2023
Van Orden is known for having a short fuse. In 2021, while running for office, he was accused of threatening a 17-year-old Wisconsin library staffer over a display of children's books in honor of Pride Month, the Associated Press reported.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.apr.org/politics-government/2023-07-29/rep-van-orden-gets-bipartisan-scolding-after-he-cursed-at-teen-senate-pages | 2023-07-29T17:34:32 | 0 | https://www.apr.org/politics-government/2023-07-29/rep-van-orden-gets-bipartisan-scolding-after-he-cursed-at-teen-senate-pages |
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WDTN) — All lanes of I-70 are closed in Springfield.
According to the Springfield Post of OSP, troopers received a call to respond near mile marker 57 on I-70 at 12:12 p.m.
Dispatchers tell 2 NEWS the east and westbound lanes of the interstate are closed. OHGO reported delays of over 1 hour Saturday at 12:45 p.m.
If you are traveling through Springfield, you may want to reroute and take side streets to save some time. | https://www.wdtn.com/traffic/all-lanes-of-i-70-closed-in-springfield/ | 2023-07-29T17:34:38 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/traffic/all-lanes-of-i-70-closed-in-springfield/ |
Hidden camera found inside porta-potty at Wisconsin beach
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (WISN) - A woman at a Wisconsin beach made a terrible discovery after she found a hidden camera underneath the toilet seat of a port-a-potty.
Police are trying to determine if it was the only camera and who put it there.
“That’s insane. Oh my gosh,” Chrissy Hartwig said.
On a beautiful day at Oconomowoc’s Bender Beach, the talk turns instead to something ugly after Hartwig and other beachgoers learn of a small digital camera hidden inside a porta-potty.
“That’s crazy and now that makes me think of all the other porta-potties that might have had something in it,” Hartwig said. “You don’t think about those things.”
Hartwig said she’s heard of people hiding cameras in dressing rooms and even vacation rentals, but never before in a porta-potty.
“I just, I mean, I’m mind blown. I’ve never considered it. I’ve never thought about it. I wouldn’t have thought about it, probably. People are creeps,” she said.
The camera was reportedly inside the toilet, positioned in a way that showed people entering and using the toilet.
Oconomowoc police, along with the public, have a lot of questions.
“It’s, you know, it’s very concerning because you know the little ones use the bathroom,” Lissa Hagen said. “Yeah, it’s concerning, you know, wondering who did it and why they would do something like that. It’s very gross too.”
Hagen’s daughter is a lifeguard at the beach and learned of the camera the day after it was found.
“I mean, it’s uncomfortable. It’s, you know, concerning. Yeah, so, I’m glad they found it at least before, you know, anything happened,” Hagen said.
Police have not shared how long they believe the camera was there and what if anything was on it.
Copyright 2023 WISN via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/07/29/hidden-camera-found-inside-porta-potty-wisconsin-beach/ | 2023-07-29T17:35:22 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/07/29/hidden-camera-found-inside-porta-potty-wisconsin-beach/ |
Pet owner says 4-foot-long python has gone missing from his yard
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR/Gray News) - Residents in an Illinois neighborhood are currently on the lookout for a pet snake.
Jonathan Delaney told WIFR that his 15-year-old ball python named Bubba slithered away from his yard last weekend.
Delaney said his exotic 4-foot-long snake is missing, but neighbors shouldn’t be worried.
“He’s completely harmless,” Delaney said. “We’ve had him for 15 years. He’s never been mean and the biggest thing he’d eat is a rat.”
Fellow Edgewater resident Rhonda Hanley said she’d likely be startled if she came across Bubba. But because he’s someone’s pet, she’ll try to help find him.
“I’ll try and put something over the top of it like a blanket or a garbage can if I find him,” Hanley said.
Delaney is thankful that his neighbors are concerned enough to lend a helping hand.
“We are hoping he’s still around here and nobody harms him,” he said. “We are hoping to find him as soon as possible.”
Experts say because ball pythons prefer to be hidden most of the time the snake doesn’t appear to pose a threat to the public.
The snake can strike if it gets agitated, but those bites don’t normally require medical attention.
“The most that could happen is that the snake could take a defensive swipe,” Stephanie Stone, owner of Jurassic Reptile Supply, said. “It’s less impact than a cat scratch or a cat bite.”
Stone added that ball pythons typically don’t travel very far.
“Unless it feels the need to try to find a meal, it’s probably very close to where it was originally,” she said.
Anyone who spots Bubba has been urged to contact Delaney on social media.
Copyright 2023 WIFR via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/07/29/pet-owner-says-4-foot-long-python-has-gone-missing-his-yard/ | 2023-07-29T17:35:28 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/07/29/pet-owner-says-4-foot-long-python-has-gone-missing-his-yard/ |
Historically Black fraternity drops Florida for convention because of DeSantis policies
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The oldest historically Black collegiate fraternity in the U.S. says it is relocating a planned convention in two years from Florida because of what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration’s “harmful, racist and insensitive” policies towards African Americans.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity said this week that it would move its 2025 convention from Orlando to another location that is yet undecided. The convention draws between 4,000 and 6,000 people and has an economic impact of $4.6 million, the fraternity said.
The decision comes after the NAACP and other civil rights organizations this spring issued a travel advisory for Florida, warning that recently passed laws and policies are openly hostile to African Americans, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Willis Lonzer, the fraternity’s general president, said in statement on Wednesday that the decision was motivated in part by Florida’s new education standards that require teachers to instruct middle school students that slaves developed skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”
“Although we are moving our convention from Florida, Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to support the strong advocacy of Alpha Brothers and other advocates fighting against the continued assault on our communities in Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis,” Lonzer said.
An email seeking comment on Saturday about the fraternity’s decision was sent to Jeremy Redfern, the governor’s press secretary and the governor’s office.
DeSantis, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has come under fire this week over Florida’s new education standards. Among those criticizing the Florida governor on Friday was a rival for the Republican nomination, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the sole Black Republican in the Senate.
Responding to the criticism, DeSantis said Friday that he was “defending” Florida “against false accusations and against lies. And we’re going to continue to speak the truth.”
In May, the NAACP joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state’s largest job sectors. The groups cited recent laws that prohibited state colleges from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory, and the Stop WOKE Act that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses.
They also cited laws that they say made life more difficult for immigrants in Florida and limited discussions on LGBTQ topics in schools.
At least nine other organizations or associations have pulled the plug on hosting conventions in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, two of the state’s most population convention cities, because of Florida’s political climate, according to local media reports.
Florida is one of the most popular states in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. More than 137.5 million tourists visited Florida last year, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotion agency. Tourism supports 1.6 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $98.8 billion in Florida in 2019, the last year figures are available.
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Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/business-news/historically-black-fraternity-drops-florida-for-convention-because-of-desantis-policies/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:13 | 0 | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/business-news/historically-black-fraternity-drops-florida-for-convention-because-of-desantis-policies/ |
More Trader Joe’s recalls? This soup may contain bugs and falafel may have rocks, grocer says
NEW YORK (AP) — Trader Joe’s is recalling a broccoli cheddar soup that may contain insects and cooked falafel that may contain rocks, about one week after the grocery chain recalled two cookie products over similar concerns.
The soup recall impacts Trader Joe’s Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup with “Use By” dates ranging from July 18 to Sept. 15, according to a Thursday announcement from the company. On Friday, the grocer announced that Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Falafel sold in 35 states and Washington, D.C., was also under recall.
On July 21, Trader Joe’s announced that it was recalling Trader Joe’s Almond Windmill Cookies and Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies with “sell by” dates ranging from Oct. 17 to Oct. 21. Like the falafel, the cookies may also contain rocks, the company said.
When asked for further information about how the insects and rocks may have gotten into these products, a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said that “there was an issue in the manufacturing processes in the facilities.” Suppliers alerted Trader Joe’s of the possible foreign material for each recall, the company said.
“We pulled the product from our shelves as soon as we were made aware of the issue. Once we understood the issue we notified our customers,” the spokesperson said in a statement sent to The Associated Press Saturday.
All of the recalled cookies, soup and falafel have been removed from sale or destroyed, Trader Joe’s said in its announcements. But the Monrovia, California-based company is still urging consumers to check their kitchens for the products.
Trader Joe’s says customers who have the recalled products should throw them away or return them to any store for a full refund. Lot codes and further details about the products under recall, as well as customer service contact information, can be found on the company’s website.
Trader Joe’s did not specify how many products were impacted with each recall or identify suppliers. But one Food and Drug Administration notice cited by NBC News says that the Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup recall impacts around 10,889 cases sold in seven states. Winter Gardens Quality Foods, Inc. is identified as the recalling firm, per the notice.
No formal releases about the three recalls were published on the FDA’s Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts page as of Saturday. The Associated Press reached out to the FDA and Winter Gardens Quality Foods for information on Saturday.
“We have a close relationship with our vendors and they alerted us of these issues. We don’t hesitate or wait for regulatory agencies to tell us what to do,” the Trader Joe’s spokesperson said. “We will never leave to chance the safety of the products we offer.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/business-news/more-trader-joes-recalls-this-soup-may-contain-bugs-and-falafel-may-have-rocks-grocer-says/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:19 | 1 | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/business-news/more-trader-joes-recalls-this-soup-may-contain-bugs-and-falafel-may-have-rocks-grocer-says/ |
CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here’s what you need to see and know today
The intense heat wave continued its grip on many parts of the country, including in New York City, where temperatures were expected to surge into the lower 90s (around 35 C) on Saturday, but the humid, thick air could make it feel well over the century mark.
The sizzling air has heated up everything from the ocean to pools, making it difficult to cool off. One woman in the Southwest has been throwing blocks of ice in her pool.
Metro Phoenix could see its 30th day of 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) on Saturday before temperatures are expected to start dropping in the city and other areas that saw some of the most extreme temperatures in July. Scientists expect this month will be the hottest globally on record and likely the warmest human civilization has seen.
Here’s what’s happening related to extreme weather and the climate right now:
— Heat advisories continued in New York City, where high humidity has made it uncomfortable and dangerous last few days. Some 500 cooling centers have opened across the city’s five boroughs, and the governor authorized the state’s swimming pools to stay open later. The extreme heat was forecast to ease Sunday.
— Parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut were under a heat advisory through Saturday night. In northern New England, temperatures were down 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit after getting into the 90s (around 35 C) on Friday, but the humidity lingered throughout the region. Afternoon and evening storms were forecast and could bring a chance of flash flooding.
— The weather was equally stifling and muggy in the center of the United States. An excessive heat warning was issued for much of Missouri, Kansas and western Illinois, where the sweaty mix of heat and humidity could make it feel like up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit (about 44 C) in parts. St. Louis health director Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis said the risk of heat stroke was high and warned that interior car temperatures could reach lethal levels in minutes.
— Temperatures are forecast to start to drop in the hottest areas in the southwest of the United States, including Phoenix, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Death Valley, California.
— With the scorching heat, even going for a swim offered little to no relief. Sea surface temperatures rose above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 38 C) at a spot off Florida’s southern tip, while pools in the Southwest gave the sensation of being in soup.
— The high temperatures are reaching across the globe, including in Bolivia, where a drought alert has been declared for Lake Titicaca after water levels of the world’s highest navigable lake receded to a critically low threshold.
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Associated Press writers Bobby Caina Calvan in New York; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire contributed to this report.
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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.
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Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/health-science/climate-glimpse-heres-what-you-need-to-see-and-know-today-5/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:25 | 1 | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/health-science/climate-glimpse-heres-what-you-need-to-see-and-know-today-5/ |
‘The Few, the Proud’ aren’t so few: Marines recruiting surges while other services struggle
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Not long ago, Marine Col. Jennifer Nash, a combat engineer with war deployments under her belt, made a vow to fellow officers as they headed to a dinner in Atlanta: She would get two new recruiting contacts by the end of the evening.
She admits recruiting is not the job that she or other Marines had in mind when they enlisted. But after stints as a recruiter and senior officer at the Eastern recruiting command, she has become emblematic of the Corps’ tradition of putting its best, battle-tested Marines on enlistment duty. They get results.
Marine leaders say they will make their recruiting goal this year, while the active-duty Army, Navy and Air Force all expect to fall short. The services have struggled in the tight job market to compete with higher-paying businesses for the dwindling number of young people who can meet the military’s physical, mental and moral standards.
On that night, Nash achieved her own goal. She had gotten the valet at the hotel and the hostess at the restaurant to provide their phone numbers and to consider a Marine career.
Nash’s boss, Brig. Gen. Walker Field, who head the Eastern recruiting region, says the Corps has historically put an emphasis on selecting top-performing Marines to fill recruiting jobs. He says that has been a key to the Marines’ recruiting success, along with efforts to increase the number of recruiters, extend those who do well and speed their return to high schools, where in-person recruiting stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said his recruiters — who cover the territory between Canada and Puerto Rico and as far west as Mississippi — will meet their mission and expect to have 30% of their 2024 goal when they start the next fiscal year, Oct. 1. More broadly, Marine officials say they expect the Corps to achieve its recruiting target of more than 33,000.
Last year, the Navy, Air Force and Marines had to eat into their pools of delayed entry applicants in order to make their goals. The Marines will avoid that this year.
“That would be a great ending,” said Field, speaking to The Associated Press on a recent steamy day at South Carolina’s Parris Island, along the Atlantic Coast. “I’m bearish for not only concluding FY23 on a strong footing, but also how we set the conditions for FY24.”
The Marine Corps may get some help from its small size. The Army, for example, has a recruiting goal of 65,000 this year, which is nearly double the Corps’, and expects to fall substantially short of that. Air Force and Navy officials say they will also miss their goals, although the Space Force, which is the smallest service and does its recruiting within Air Force stations, is expected to meet its goal of about 500 recruits.
Sitting in the shadow of Parris Island’s replica of the Iwo Jima monument, Field said his biggest challenge is that a number of Marine hopefuls cannot pass the military’s academic test, known as the Armed Services Voluntary Aptitude Battery.
That is a widespread problem, but the Army recently set up a program that targets recruits who score below 30 on the test and provides schooling for several weeks to help them pass. Already more than 8,800 recruits have successfully gone through the classes, raised their scores and moved on to basic training.
The Navy is taking another route with a pilot program that allows up to 20% of their recruits to score below 30 on the test, as long as they meet specific standards for their chosen naval job. Marine leaders, however, do not take those lowest scoring recruits, and so far have no plans for any type of formal improvement program such as the Army’s.
Field said the Marines are repositioning recruiting stations, moving them around based on where population totals have increased in the latest census. More important, he said, the Corps maintains its focus on choosing the right recruiters, encouraging successful ones to stay in the job and increasing the number of Marine reservists tapped for recruit duties from the current 31 to 96 by the end of next year.
Nash, who until last month was assistant chief of staff for the Eastern region, said Marines are hand-selected for recruiting command jobs. Many three- and four-star Marines, including former Defense Secretary James Mattis, will cite their years doing enlistment duty.
“We put our best and brightest in those positions,” said Nash, adding that those chosen for recruiting posts have a proven track record of success in previous assignments and have demonstrated critical leadership skills. “That’s why they got selected, because they were above their peers.”
She acknowledged that the first time she was picked for a recruiting job she was “voluntold.” But now, recounting her sales pitch in Atlanta, her rapid fire pitch comes without taking a breath.
“I say, ‘Hey, ever thought about being Marine? We’re a bunch of Marines. And, you know, I think you potentially could be a good Marine. You ever thought about it?’ And usually you get, ‘Yeah, I thought about it.’ And I’m, like, ‘What’s holding you back? Would you like to learn more about your opportunities?’ ‘Absolutely.’ `OK. Mind giving me your name and phone number? I’ll have one of my recruiters give you a phone call.’”
The Marines have resisted increasing bonuses to attract recruits — something the other services have found helpful.
Gen. Eric Smith, the acting Marine Corps commandant, got some ribbing for his response when he was asked about bonuses during a naval conference in February.
“Your bonus is you get to call yourself a Marine,” he said. “That’s your bonus, right? There’s no dollar amount that goes with that.”
Field, Nash and others also say the Corps prefers to give a lot of recruits a few thousand dollars, rather than increasing the amount and giving money to far fewer people.
Field said that getting Marine recruiters in uniform back into high schools this year, after several years of COVID-19 restrictions, has been a key driver. There, young people line up to compete in pull-up contests, vying for a free T-shirt if they can do 20. And recruiters say many are drawn to the cache of being a Marine.
“If you told me you’ll give me $10 million worth of advertising and I can do something with it, or you’ll give me 10 great-looking Marines in a Marine uniform — what’s going to get the most value? Give me those 10 Marines and give me a day,” Nash said. “We’ll go out and we’ll get more out of that, I think, than $10 million in advertising.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/us-world-news/the-few-the-proud-arent-so-few-marines-recruiting-surges-while-other-services-struggle/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:32 | 1 | https://www.kaaltv.com/news/us-world-news/the-few-the-proud-arent-so-few-marines-recruiting-surges-while-other-services-struggle/ |
(CNN) — 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 the 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. | https://www.channel3000.com/news/national-and-world-news/2nd-break-found-on-north-carolina-roller-coaster/article_9669d003-1158-5f77-8f5e-571584cf436f.html | 2023-07-29T17:36:44 | 0 | https://www.channel3000.com/news/national-and-world-news/2nd-break-found-on-north-carolina-roller-coaster/article_9669d003-1158-5f77-8f5e-571584cf436f.html |
Megan Fox calls followers 'bunch of psychos' after GoFundMe drama
'Transformers' star Megan Fox used her social media platform to help promote a friend's GoFundMe account
Megan Fox called out her followers who accused her of promoting a friend's GoFundMe without contributing herself.
Fox originally shared her friend Brittney Boyce's GoFundMe, created to help out the woman's sick father, to social media Monday.
"megan fox sharing a gofundme for 30k has got to be a joke," a Twitter user wrote while sharing a screenshot of the fundraiser. "as if she isn't rich as f--k and could help their friend immediately lol."
The "Transformers" star went back to her Instagram story Thursday to set the record straight.
MEGAN FOX HITS BACK AT HATERS OVER SEE-THROUGH DRESS
"Hey weirdos," Fox began, according to People magazine. "Do any of you have the emotional intelligence to consider that maybe [Boyce] doesn’t want her celebrity clients donating large sums of money to her because it creates a dynamic in her working relationships that makes her uncomfortable?"
Fox explained that she had posted the GoFundMe, per Boyce's wishes, to encourage people to "donate small amounts of money to help them reach their goal."
"I just obliged her request," Fox continued. "Anything she needs from me personally she will ask and [I] will do it privately. One thing you’re not going to accuse me of is being miserly or lacking generosity. So try again on another day (probably [tomorrow]!) with some different bulls--t you bunch of psychos."
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Fox routinely addresses her critics online, even pre-emptively telling followers she was completely covered while wearing a sheer dress out and about.
"Before you start angrily typing - those are not my nipples, calm down," Fox captioned a photo of herself. "They are safely and completely hidden under nipple covers so no worries, we will all live another day without a rip in the space-time continuum."
In the pictures, the "Jennifer's Body" star wore an abstract, see-through orange dress with her auburn hair tied in a bun. Fox accessorized her look with several silver necklaces and long, white fingernails.
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Fox rocked the outfit to dinner with fiancé Machine Gun Kelly in Malibu Monday.
Fox and MGK have been dating since 2020 and became engaged in 2022. Fox had previously been married to Brian Austin Green, and the couple share three sons together, Noah, Bodhi and Journey.
Earlier this year, Fox sparked rumors that she and MGK had called off their relationship after she made cryptic posts on her Instagram before deleting them.
In the post, she appeared in a mirror selfie standing near a sign that said, "when you can’t walk away."
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She also shared a video of letters burning with the caption, "You can taste the dishonest/ it’s all over your breath," a reference to Beyoncé’s song "Pray You Catch Me" from her "Lemonade" album. The song was known for references to the singer discovering that her husband, Jay-Z, had cheated.
Fox News Digital's Janelle Ash contributed to this report. | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/megan-fox-calls-followers-bunch-psychos-gofundme-drama | 2023-07-29T17:36:44 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/megan-fox-calls-followers-bunch-psychos-gofundme-drama |
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — For a single, unthinkable moment last summer, the Chautauqua Institution was a hostile place for the freedom of expression that has been its hallmark for 150 years: As Salman Rushdie was about to speak, an audience member leapt onto the stage and stabbed the celebrated author more than a dozen times.
By the next day, Chautauqua Institution President Michael Hill recently recounted, the decision had been made not only to resume programming, but to “double down on what Mr. Rushdie stands for, what our speakers and preachers and artists stand for — which is the free exchange of ideas and the belief that society is stronger when we do that.”
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A year later, Rushdie, blinded in one eye by the assault, is recovering from the attack. The Chautauqua Institution is recovering, too.
Programming and revenue for the arts and intellectual retreat in the rural southwest corner of New York was disrupted for two seasons by COVID-19. Then the attack further shattered the return to normal that regular visitors had so craved.
With a new nine-week summer season now under way, well-tended gardens are in bloom and rocking chairs are back out on the porches of Victorian- and cottage-style homes.
Security has been strengthened, though the gated compound remains open to anyone who buys a pass to enter.
"We look at the work that we do under a different lens since" the stabbing, Hill said during an interview in his office, which overlooks Bestor Plaza, a lush expanse of greenery anchoring the 750-acre (303-hectare) grounds. "The attack was an attempt at silencing, which underscores the need for institutions like ours to not stay silent."
As an institution, Chautauqua defies easy explanation.
“NPR camp for grown-ups” is the description preferred by Erica Higbie, who owns a house on the grounds.
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Located on the shore of Chautauqua Lake, the institution is a self-contained community with lecture halls, houses of worship, cafes, shops, a library, post office and bookstore, along with private homes, rentals and the Athenaeum Hotel, which served as former President Bill Clinton's executive mansion for a week in 1996 as he prepared for his debate with Republican challenger Bob Dole.
Aside from boating and golf, the 4,400-seat, open-air amphitheater is a main draw, with a summer entertainment lineup this year offering concerts by Diana Ross and Bonnie Raitt, ballet and theater productions and performances by the house Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
But for Higbie and many others, the primary appeal exists in the institution's 19th Century beginnings as a summer educational experiment in which daily lectures are curated around weekly explorations of anything from politics to infrastructure and faith to friendship.
“I am a lecture junkie,” Higbie said from her porch as people navigated the grounds on foot, bikes and scooters. The speed limit for the rare vehicle traffic is 12 mph. The retired teacher takes in a daily morning lecture and may hear two more in the afternoon at the amphitheater and the Hall of Philosophy.
Through the decades, Susan B. Anthony advocated for women's rights at the institution and President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his 1936 “I Hate War” speech in the amphitheater. Former Vice President Al Gore spoke about the climate crisis and Supreme Court Judges Robert H. Jackson and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are among countless others who have offered insights.
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Rushdie’s appearance came during a week last year exploring home as “a place for human thriving.”
Henry Reese, co-founder of the City of Asylum Pittsburgh, was about to interview "The Satanic Verses” author about violence against writers when Rushdie was attacked as the men sat in armchairs on the amphitheater’s sunken stage.
Rushdie, the target of a decades-old fatwa by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death, was stabbed in the neck, stomach, chest, hand and right eye. Reese suffered bruises and a gash to his forehead.
With alleged assailant Hadi Matar awaiting trial in a nearby courthouse, Reese is scheduled to return to the institution on the anniversary of the attack, Aug. 12. His appearance is expected to kick off a week exploring freedom of expression, imagination and the resilience of democracy. Republican strategist Karl Rove and Democratic strategist David Axelrod are among other invited guests.
It would have been out of character for the institution to do anything but pick up where it left off after the assault, regular guest lecturer Eboo Patel said.
“Not a single artist or speaker canceled," Patel, founder of Interfaith America in Chicago, said by phone.
“Chautauqua recognizes that it has a responsibility to its own community, honestly to American civilization and the human spirit, and it’s back up in 24 to 48 hours. That’s stunning,” he said.
Property owners differed on how far the institution should go to ensure personal safety, said Higbie, the president of the Chautauqua Property Owners Association.
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“Everybody was in shock for a long time,“ Higbie said.
Visitors say they notice more security and protocols at events. Amphitheater patrons can bring only clear bags inside, for example, and may be scanned or asked to walk through a weapons detector.
Even so, “I never hesitated for a minute” to return, said Michael Crawford of Washington, D.C., as he chatted with Mary Pat McFarland of Philadelphia. The two sat on one of the red benches placed around the grounds to invite discussion.
A handful of musicians with violins, guitars and a small harp played an impromptu jam session beneath a tree nearby.
Hill said he sees his role as “teeing up” issues for engagement, so shying away from difficult ones would be a disservice at a time when civic discourse is in short supply.
“It's about bringing divergent viewpoints for people to digest,” Hill said. “For us to have made the decision to stop bringing speakers who may be controversial in any way would have been for us to stop doing our mission."
“It would have been,” he said, “to literally stop the reason this place was created.” | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/nation/after-an-attack-salman-rushdie-chautauqua-institution-says-its-mission-wont-change/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:44 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/nation/after-an-attack-salman-rushdie-chautauqua-institution-says-its-mission-wont-change/ |
PUEBLO DE PALMAS, Texas — On a blistering morning this week, the kitchen sink in Kathy Quilatan’s house was delivering only sputtering water. With temperatures climbing into triple digits most afternoons these days, she knew exactly what she had to do to keep her two young children, ages 2 and 6, from overheating. She gathered several plastic containers and set out on a quest for water.
The neighbors could not help: Problem-plagued delivery systems have meant that entire neighborhoods like Quilatan’s along the Texas border have gone without water for hours or even days during the brutal heat that has gripped much of the Southwest this summer.
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“Not having water under this extreme heat is a dangerous combination,” Quilatan said. “Can you believe that this is life in America?”
For families like the Quilatans who live in colonias, the impoverished settlements outside established cities that have always existed somewhat apart from the rest of Texas, just the ability to cool off has become a painful reminder of the social divide prevalent in border communities.
Even in Texas, where people are accustomed to sweltering weather, the unrelenting triple-digit temperatures of the past few weeks have taken a toll, especially in low-income Latino neighborhoods like this one, where people cannot afford to turn on air conditioners. In some parts of the state, the prolonged heat wave has led to a spike in heat-related fatalities and emergency room visits.
The disparity is more visible in the colonias, mostly unincorporated neighborhoods that often lack such basic services as running water, sewer systems, paved roads and streetlights.
“We take for granted the public light and drainage because we live in the city, while folks in colonias do not have those services. But now with the water, that’s just pushing it,” said Marco Lopez, an activist with La Union del Pueblo Unido, an organization that seeks to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods. “A lot of the times when we think of lack of access to water, we think of third-world countries, not here in South Texas.”
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The excessive heat this summer has been deadly in Texas. The state has recorded at least 36 heat-related deaths so far this year, but officials warned that the figure was likely to rise, as it could take weeks to release a cause of death. In the border city of Laredo, 10 people died from heat-related problems between June 15 and July 3.
Hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley, which has many colonias, have seen a surge of patients seeking relief from the heat. Since June, at least 166 patients have sought help in emergency rooms run by the South Texas Health System, a 70% increase from the same seven-week period a year ago, said Tom Castañeda, a spokesperson for the system.
Doctors have been urging people to limit their time exposed to the heat and stay hydrated.
But Quilatan said she did not always have those options.
The colonias — the word is Spanish for rural neighborhoods — have existed since the 1950s, when developers created unincorporated subdivisions with little to no infrastructure. Low-cost houses and plots of land there were sold to low-income, mostly Latino buyers, many of them recent immigrants. Today, an estimated 840,000 people live in colonias, in housing ranging from modern-looking suburban houses to partially built shacks.
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Three years ago, Quilatan and her family moved to a colonia called Pueblo de Palmas, not far from McAllen. At first, moving from the nearby city of Mission to a colonia seemed like an opportunity to gain a toehold on the real estate ladder. The family of four pays about $500 in monthly rent, with an option to buy the house from the landlord.
Her house, while modest, is a well-maintained two-bedroom decorated with exposed bricks. She knows she is luckier than most. Some of the houses near her lack a roof or walls. Water pressure has always been spotty, she said, but the problems became more acute with the arrival of summer this year.
The water went out in mid-June and did not return until mid-July, she said. She quickly rallied her neighbors to pack meetings with the water district, Agua Special Utility District, to complain about the lack of water, to no avail. They were not given answers, she said. When the water did come back on, residents were advised to boil it before using it. “You could not trust the water when we needed it the most, if we had it at all,” she said.
Representatives with the utility district did not respond to requests for comment, but a notice on the district’s website said a boil advisory was required by the state as a result of “reduced distribution system pressure.”
On the day this week when she noticed her pipes struggling to produce water, Quilatan headed to her parents’ house, which was less than 2 miles away and had running water. She pulled the containers out of her trunk and filled them with water from a garden hose. She said she would use the water to bathe her children before they tried to sleep that night.
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By the time she returned home, the thermometer read 103 degrees. She hauled the heavy water containers back out of the trunk. “I don’t even have to boil it,” she said. “I can just leave it outside, and it’ll be ready by the time I need it.”
Her father, Rafael Quilatan, 48, said it pained him to see his daughter struggle with such a basic necessity.
“You drive around the block, and you see the car washes using all of this water, but there is no water for a mother and her two children?” he said. “How is that possible? It’s like the colonias are part of a different country.”
For all of the hardships, colonias do offer some low-income people an opportunity to buy a plot of land and build a house over time, often moving in before it is completed.
Noemi Hernandez, 56, paid $22,500 in 2001 for a lot in a small colonia called Salida del Sol. Her house has now grown to two stories but remains unfinished, though it has cost her only about $80,000, far below the average price of $260,000 for a home in Hidalgo County. “There is no way I would have been able to buy a house in the city for that price,” Hernandez said.
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She struggles to keep her home cool as the sun heats the thick concrete walls. She has been keeping her doors and windows open except in her bedroom, where she has a small air conditioner.
“We try not to turn it on all the time,” she said. Her monthly electric bill, she said, jumps to $380 from $250 in the summer.
Low water pressure and boil notices are common problems in her colonia, too. “I’m afraid to take a shower or even splash water on my face,” she said. “We were told not to let water get into our eyes.”
Over the years, local, state and federal officials have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in public works projects, but the needs sometimes seem overwhelming.
“I’m trying to do everything that I can do,” said Everardo Villarreal, a county commissioner who represents the colonias where Kathy Quilatan and Hernandez live. “It takes unity. It takes a lot of us together to be able to help.”
Quilatan said neighbors tried to help one another.
After dropping off the water containers that day at her house, she went to check on a neighbor, Brenda Salazar.
Did she have water flowing from the faucets today? Yes, for now, Salazar said. She pointed at two containers full of water she was keeping near her front door, just in case. She had been without water for several weeks this summer.
“It’s too hot not to have water,” she said. “But nobody cares.”
Quilatan nodded, feeling no need to reply. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/nation/border-towns-dangerous-combination-heat-water-cutoffs/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:47 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/nation/border-towns-dangerous-combination-heat-water-cutoffs/ |
Taylor Swift's Seattle fans caused earthquake during Eras Tour stop
'Enchanted' singer Taylor Swift is now on the final leg of her Eras Tour in Santa Clara, California
Taylor Swift and her fans caused a small earthquake during her Seattle concerts of the Eras Tour.
The dancing and jumping at the July 22 and 23 tour stops caused seismic activity similar to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, a seismologist and geology professor at Western Washington University.
The movement at Lumen Field on both nights was likely caused by a combination of the sound from the concert combined with the dancing and jumping by her fans, seismologists told The New York Times.
Swift's concert broke the record for seismic movement at Lumen Field. In 2011, fans at a Seahawks game caused activity equivalent to a 2.0 earthquake during a touchdown celebration. The event became known as the "Beast Quake."
TAYLOR SWIFT LAUGHS WHILE PERFOMING SONG ABOUT ALLEGEDLY FORGIVING KANYE WEST DURING ERAS TOUR
Swift began her final leg of her U.S. tour in California with a stop Friday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. She'll perform at the stadium again Saturday night before heading to Los Angeles for a six-night run at SoFi Stadium from August 3 until August 9.
The "Fearless" singer will then take her tour international, beginning with Mexico on August 24. She'll end in London, England, on August 17, 2024 – over a year after she kicked The Eras Tour off in Arizona on March 23, 2023.
Fans expect Swift to continue to release her re-recorded albums throughout the rest of The Eras Tour, with many speculating "1989 (Taylor's Version)" could even be announced next week. Swift has released three of the albums she recorded with Big Machine but did not own, and has three left to release, "Taylor Swift" (2006), "1989" (2014) and "Reputation" (2017).
"Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" was released on July 7.
"It's here. It's yours, it's mine, it's ours," Swift wrote on Twitter after the re-recorded album came out. "It's an album I wrote alone about the whims, fantasies, heartaches, dramas and tragedies I lived out as a young woman between 18 and 20. I remember making tracklist after tracklist, obsessing over the right way to tell the story."
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Swift's new "Speak Now" album features six songs from the vault.
"I had to be ruthless with my choices, and I left behind some songs I am still unfailingly proud of now," she explained. "Therefore, you have six From The Vault tracks! I recorded this album when I was 32 (and still growing up, now) and the memories it brought back filled me with nostalgia and appreciated. For life, for you for the fact that I get to reclaim my work. Thank you a million times, for the memories that break our fall."
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The tracks from Swift's infamous vault feature other artists, including Fall Out Boy and Hayley Williams from Paramore. | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/taylor-swifts-seattle-fans-caused-earthquake-eras-tour-stop | 2023-07-29T17:36:50 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/taylor-swifts-seattle-fans-caused-earthquake-eras-tour-stop |
Todd Chrisley's celebrity status led to 'nightmare' prison mistreatment, 'no one seems to care': lawyer
Julie and Todd Chrisley reported to prison on January 17 after being convicted of fraud and tax evasion
"Chrisley Knows Best" star Todd Chrisley claimed through his lawyer that he's been "singled out" and that his "celebrity status" has led to prison mistreatment.
Todd and his wife Julie Chrisley are currently serving out their combined 19-year sentence at separate facilities in Kentucky and Florida. Each reported to prison on January 17 after being convicted of federal bank fraud and tax evasion.
"Todd Chrisley was singled out in reference to the non-processing of his Cares Act application," the couple's lawyer, Jay Surgent, told Fox News Digital. "Someone was allowed to take a photo of him while he was sleeping, and this is a result of his celebrity status."
"The living conditions are horrible, and it was reported to me that there was a poisonous snake that was got into Julie's cell area that had to be embolized and taken out," he said. "As of this day she is sitting in 100 degree temperature with no air conditioning, and no one seems to care."
Meanwhile, "Todd has no air conditioning, plumbing conditions are bad, there is mold and fungus everywhere, and again no one seems to care," Surgent explained. "Todd was making an application under the CARES Act ,which was purposely not processed administratively for himself as well as other inmates."
The couple's children first made allegations of their parents' "inhumane treatment" during an episode of Savannah Chrisley's podcast, "Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley." They also claimed that the "Chrisley Knows Best" stars had no air conditioning and had encountered poisonous snakes.
"No s---….I don't care if you killed somebody, if you're in a government facility, you should have air conditioning. Like that's just ridiculous," Chase Chrisley said while speaking about the "nightmare" environment.
"Air conditioning is the least of it. Whenever you've got black mold, asbestos, lead-based paint, snakes," Savannah continued.
"It's not ‘Fear Factor,’" Chase responded before Savannah chimed in, "I mean, Chase, it is prison, so we're not gonna sit here and act like it should be the Four Seasons."
A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons Office told Fox News Digital that safety is one of their "highest priorities" but wouldn't comment on "the conditions of confinement for any specific adult in custody."
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Todd was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and Julie was given seven, after initially being indicted in August 2019 on bank fraud and tax evasion charges. They will each complete 16 months of probation following the end of their prison sentences.
Julie's convictions included conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. She was also hit with wire fraud and obstruction-of-justice charges. She reported to the satellite minimum-security camp at the BOP facility in Lexington, a source confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Todd was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. He checked into a minimum-security facility, Federal Prison Camp Pensacola.
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Prosecutors had claimed that the Chrisleys had submitted fake documents to banks when applying for loans and that Julie specifically had submitted fake credit reports while trying to rent a home in California. | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/todd-chrisleys-celebrity-status-led-nightmare-prison-mistreatment-no-one-seems-care-lawyer | 2023-07-29T17:36:50 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/todd-chrisleys-celebrity-status-led-nightmare-prison-mistreatment-no-one-seems-care-lawyer |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon.
Catch the first show Tuesday evening as the full moon rises in the southeast, appearing slightly brighter and bigger than normal. That’s because it will be closer than usual, just 222,159 miles (357,530 kilometers) away, thus the supermoon label.
The moon will be even closer the night of Aug. 30 — a scant 222,043 miles (357,344 kilometers) distant. Because it’s the second full moon in the same month, it will be what's called a blue moon.
“Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset. And it happens twice in August,” said retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, dubbed Mr. Eclipse for his eclipse-chasing expertise.
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The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.
Masi will provide a live webcast of Tuesday evening's supermoon, as it rises over the Coliseum in Rome.
“My plans are to capture the beauty of this ... hopefully bringing the emotion of the show to our viewers,” Masi said in an email.
“The supermoon offers us a great opportunity to look up and discover the sky,” he added.
This year’s first supermoon was in July. The fourth and last will be in September. The two in August will be closer than either of those.
Provided clear skies, binoculars or backyard telescopes can enhance the experience, Espenak said, revealing such features as lunar maria — the dark plains formed by ancient volcanic lava flows — and rays emanating from lunar craters.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the August full moon is traditionally known as the sturgeon moon. That’s because of the abundance of that fish in the Great Lakes in August, hundreds of years ago.
Advertisement | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/nation/two-supermoons-august-mean-double-stargazing-fun/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:50 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/nation/two-supermoons-august-mean-double-stargazing-fun/ |
Errors in disease diagnosis lead to nearly 800,000 deaths, disabilities in US each year: study
Five conditions made up a majority of all misdiagnosed cases: 'Patients must protect themselves'
Misdiagnoses in the U.S. lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths and major disabilities each year, according to a recent report from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Maryland.
Each year, an estimated 795,000 Americans become permanently disabled or die due to a misdiagnosis, the study found.
It was published in The BMJ, a peer-reviewed medical trade journal.
HEART ATTACK DEATH RISK CAN DOUBLE DURING HEAT WAVES AND HIGH POLLUTION, STUDY FINDS
The top five misdiagnosed conditions were stroke, sepsis, pneumonia, venous thromboembolism (formation of a blood clot in a vein) and lung cancer — which together made up 38.7% of all cases.
More than half of all serious harm cases were made up of only 15 dangerous diseases, which led researchers to believe the issue may be more manageable than expected.
Study co-author Dr. David Newman-Toker, a neurology professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence, told Fox News Digital in an interview how he and his team determined the number of affected people.
The "very simple" math, he said, included tallying up the total number of dangerous disease cases — such as heart attack, stroke, infections, vascular events and cancer — and multiplying that by both the error rate for each disease and the "risk of harm" associated with each error.
The researchers used a "complex set of data sources" for each of these factors, according to Newman-Toker.
These included population-based data such as the National Inpatient Sample and national cancer registries, as well as systematic reviews.
AI HEART SCAN AIMS TO CATCH BLOCKAGES YEARS BEFORE SYMPTOMS: ‘UNBELIEVABLE BREAKTHROUGH’
"For the final totals, we used nine different methods to assess the impact of various assumptions we made along the way," he said, "as well as to externally validate using other data sources and methods that our numbers were reasonable."
Regarding the total number of nearly 800,000 harmful outcomes, Newman-Toker said the results were "sort of unsurprising."
He added, "We've known for quite some time that diagnostic errors are a significant hidden source of harm from medical error."
And so, "to see a number that exceeded all the prior totals from medical error wasn't that surprising to us."
"The most important question to ask your doctor is: 'What's the worst thing this could be?'"
He added, "Most of those totals basically ignore diagnostic errors, and they're sort of the bottom of the iceberg of patient safety and quality."
What was surprising, Newman-Toker noted, was the relatively small number of diseases that accounted for a majority of errors.
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE MAY BE DETECTED BY A FINGERPRINT BLOOD TEST FOR EARLIER DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
"Fifteen diseases accounted for half of all the serious harms and just five diseases accounted for nearly 40%," he said.
"That's an important insight because it makes the problem more tractable, and the diagnostic errors are a problem across all sectors of medicine, with all diseases and in all contexts."
"It's easy for it to start to feel overwhelming from a problem-fixing standpoint," Newman-Toker said.
"But this gives us an opportunity to actually tackle some of the highest harm problems and make a big dent in reducing the harms to patients."
The researcher said he is hopeful that this kind of research could help curb major errors in the future.
"It tells us where the majority of harms are occurring."
"It points us in the direction we need to go," he said. "It tells us where the majority of harms are occurring."
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While these findings offer useful insights toward preventing misdiagnoses, Newman-Toker pointed out that this is the "most underfunded" sector of public health.
For anyone concerned about a potential misdiagnosis, patients should come prepared to doctor's appointments, ask plenty of questions and remain vigilant, said the researcher.
Being prepared, according to Newman-Toker, means showing up with a "simple summary" of symptoms, as well as the patient's medical history.
"The most important question to ask your doctor is, 'What's the worst thing this could be? And why is it not that?'" he said.
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Rather than asking if they need a different medicine, patients should ask, "Are we sure the diagnosis was right?" said Newman-Moker.
"Those are the main things patients must do to protect themselves." | https://www.foxnews.com/health/errors-disease-diagnosis-lead-nearly-800000-deaths-disabilities-us-year-study | 2023-07-29T17:36:51 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/health/errors-disease-diagnosis-lead-nearly-800000-deaths-disabilities-us-year-study |
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is hunting for malicious computer code it believes China has hidden deep inside the networks controlling power grids, communications systems and water supplies that feed military bases in the United States and around the world, according to U.S. military, intelligence and national security officials.
The discovery of the malware has raised fears that Chinese hackers, probably working for the People’s Liberation Army, have inserted code designed to disrupt U.S. military operations in the event of a conflict, including if Beijing moves against Taiwan in coming years.
The malware, one congressional official said, was essentially “a ticking time bomb” that could give China the power to interrupt or slow U.S. military deployments or resupply operations by cutting off power, water and communications to military bases. But its impact could be far broader, because that same infrastructure often supplies the houses and businesses of ordinary Americans, according to U.S. officials.
The first public hints of the malware campaign began to emerge in late May, when Microsoft said it had detected mysterious computer code in telecommunications systems in Guam, the Pacific island with a vast American air base, and elsewhere in the United States.
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More than a dozen U.S. officials and industry experts said in interviews over the past two months that the Chinese effort predated the May report by at least a year, and that the U.S. government’s effort to hunt down the code, and eradicate it, has been underway for some time. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential and in some cases classified assessments.
They say the Chinese effort appears more widespread — in the United States and at American facilities abroad — than they had initially realized. But officials acknowledge that they do not know the full extent of the code’s presence in networks around the world.
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The discovery of the malware has touched off a series of Situation Room meetings in the White House in recent months, as senior officials from the National Security Council, the Pentagon, the Homeland Security Department and the nation’s spy agencies attempt to understand the scope of the problem and plot a response.
Biden administration officials have begun to brief members of Congress, some state governors and utility companies about the findings, and confirmed some conclusions about the operation in interviews with The New York Times.
There is a debate inside the administration over whether the goal of the operation is primarily aimed at disrupting the military, or at civilian life more broadly in the event of a conflict. But officials say that the initial searches for the code have focused first on areas with a high concentration of U.S. military bases.
In response to questions from the Times, the White House issued a statement Friday night that made no reference to China or the military bases.
“The Biden administration is working relentlessly to defend the United States from any disruptions to our critical infrastructure, including by coordinating interagency efforts to protect water systems, pipelines, rail and aviation systems, among others,” said Adam Hodge, acting spokesperson for the National Security Council.
He added: “The president has also mandated rigorous cybersecurity practices for the first time.” Hodge was referring to a series of executive orders, some motivated by concerns over SolarWinds, commercial software used widely by the U.S. government that was breached by a Russian surveillance operation, and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack by a Russian criminal group. That attack resulted in the temporary cutoff of half the gasoline, jet fuel and diesel supplies that run up the East Coast.
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The U.S. government and Microsoft have attributed the recent malware attack to Chinese state-sponsored actors, but the government has not disclosed why it reached that conclusion. There is debate among different arms of the U.S. government about the intent of the intrusions, but not about their source.
The public revelation of the malware operation comes at an especially fraught moment in relations between Washington and Beijing, with clashes that include Chinese threats against Taiwan as well as U.S. efforts to ban the sale of highly sophisticated semiconductors to the Chinese government.
The discovery of the code in American infrastructure, one of President Joe Biden’s most senior advisers said, “raises the question of what, exactly, they are preparing for — or whether this is signaling.”
If gaining advantage in a Taiwan confrontation is at the heart of China’s intent, tabletop exercises conducted by the government, think tanks and other outside experts suggest time is of the essence. Slowing down U.S. military deployments by a few days or weeks might give China a window in which it would have an easier time taking control of the island by force.
Chinese concern about U.S. intervention was most likely fueled by Biden’s several statements over the past 18 months that he would defend Taiwan with U.S. troops if necessary.
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Another theory is that the code is intended to distract. Chinese officials, U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed, may believe that during an attack on Taiwan or other Chinese action, any interruptions in U.S. infrastructure could so fixate the attention of American citizens that they would think little about an overseas conflict.
Chinese officials did not respond to requests for comment concerning the American discovery of the code. But they have repeatedly denied conducting surveillance or other cyberoperations against the United States.
They have never conceded that China was behind the theft of security clearance files of roughly 22 million Americans — including 6 million sets of fingerprints — from the Office of Personnel Management during the Obama administration. That exfiltration resulted in an agreement between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping that resulted in a brief decline in malicious Chinese cyberactivity. The agreement has since collapsed.
Now, Chinese cyberoperations seem to have taken a turn. The latest intrusions are different from those in the past because disruption, not surveillance, appears to be the objective, U.S. officials say. At the Aspen Security Forum last week, Rob Joyce, director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency, said China’s recent hack targeting the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, Nicholas Burns, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was traditional espionage. But he said the intrusions in Guam were “really disturbing” because of their disruptive potential.
The Chinese code, the officials say, appears directed at ordinary utilities that serve both civilian populations and nearby military bases. Only U.S. nuclear sites have self-contained communication systems, electricity and water pipelines. (The code has not been found in classified systems. Officials declined to describe the unclassified military networks in which the code has been found.)
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While the most sensitive planning is carried out on classified networks, the military routinely uses unclassified, but secure, networks for basic communications, personnel matters, logistics and supply issues.
Officials say that if the malware is activated, it is not clear how effective it would be at slowing an American response — and that the Chinese government may not know, either. In interviews, officials said they believe that in many cases the communications, computer networks and power grids could be quickly restored in a matter of days.
But intelligence analysts have concluded that China may believe there is utility in any disruptive attack that could slow down the U.S. response.
The first hints of the new campaign by China came in May, when experts at Microsoft released some details of the malware found in Guam — home to major U.S. Air Force and Marine bases — and elsewhere in the United States. The company attributed the intrusion to a Chinese state-sponsored hacker the experts called Volt Typhoon.
A warning from the Homeland Security Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the NSA and others issued the same day said the state-sponsored hacker was able to avoid detection by blending its attack in with normal computer activity but did not outline other details of the threat.
Officials briefly considered whether to leave the malware in place, quietly monitor the code they had found and prepare plans to try to neutralize it if it was even activated. Monitoring the intrusions would allow them to learn more about it, and possibly lull the Chinese hackers into a false sense that their penetration had not been exposed.
But senior White House officials quickly rejected that option and said that given the potential threat, the prudent path was to excise the offending malware as quickly as it could be found.
Still, there are risks. U.S. cybersecurity experts are able to remove some of the malware, but some officials said there are concerns that the Chinese could use similar techniques to quickly regain access.
Removing the Volt Typhoon malware also runs the risk of tipping off China’s increasingly talented hacking forces about what intrusions the United States is able to find, and what it is missing. If that happens, China could improve its techniques and be able to reinfect military systems with even harder-to-find software.
The recent Chinese penetrations have been enormously difficult to detect. The sophistication of the attacks limits how much the implanted software is communicating with Beijing, making it difficult to discover. Many hacks are discovered when experts track information being extracted out of a network, or unauthorized accesses are made. But this malware can lay dormant for long periods of time.
Speaking earlier this month at an intelligence summit, George Barnes, deputy director of the NSA, said the Volt Typhoon attacks demonstrated how much more sophisticated China had become at penetrating government and private sector networks.
Barnes said that rather than exploit flaws in software to gain access, China had found ways to steal or mimic the credentials of system administrators, the people who run computer networks. Once those are in hand, the Chinese hackers essentially have the freedom to go anywhere in a network and implant their own code.
“China is steadfast and determined to penetrate our governments, our companies, our critical infrastructure,” Barnes said.
“In the earlier days, China’s cyberoperations activities were very noisy and very rudimentary,” he continued. “They have continued to bring resources, sophistication and mass to their game. So the sophistication continues to increase.” | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/nation/us-hunts-chinese-malware-that-could-disrupt-military-operations/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:51 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/nation/us-hunts-chinese-malware-that-could-disrupt-military-operations/ |
The Jamaica national soccer team earned its first-ever Women’s World Cup victory on Saturday, and former Boston College player Allyson Swaby was at the center of the historic triumph.
Swaby tallied the game’s only goal in the 56th minute of a 1-0 win against Panama. As Trudi Carter lofted in a corner kick, Swaby crept up in the box away from the goal. She shifted her motion backward slightly before landing a well-placed header that directed the ball squarely into the bottom right corner of the net.
Jamaica’s have their first ever World Cup win thanks to this goal from Allyson Swaby! #FIFAWWC #ReggaeGirlz | #JAM
— Women’s Sports Exchange (@wsportsxchange) July 29, 2023
pic.twitter.com/FbUCPHegi7
It was the second goal Jamaica has ever scored in the World Cup and its first lead ever, which it did not relinquish.
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“I don’t even have the words to describe it,” Swaby said. “I think it’s something you start to dream about when you play in a World Cup. I’m just happy I could do it and happy I could be a difference-maker today.”
Swaby, whose father is Jamaican, grew up in West Hartford, Conn., before attending BC from 2014-17, becoming captain as a senior. The 26-year-old center back made her national team debut in 2018 and played in the 2019 World Cup for Jamaica. Her sister Chantelle, 24, attended Rutgers and is also on the national team.
Jamaica and France are tied atop the Group F standings, at 1-1-0. Reaching the knockout stage would be a milestone for Jamaica, nicknamed the “Reggae Girlz.”
“I’m really proud of the [CONCACAF] region, and I think this tournament is showing that we’re just rising to the level of the rest of the world, so yeah, it was a good match,” Swaby said. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/sports/former-boston-college-captain-allyson-swaby-lifts-jamaica-historic-first-womens-world-cup-win/ | 2023-07-29T17:36:51 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/sports/former-boston-college-captain-allyson-swaby-lifts-jamaica-historic-first-womens-world-cup-win/ |
‘Office’ star Rainn Wilson: Actors will 'estrange' themselves from Hollywood ‘cool kids’ if they mention God
Wilson said that the Hollywood 'cool kids' all put on an act and pretend they are 'alienated outcasts'
"The Office" actor Rainn Wilson has again criticized Hollywood's aversion to the Christian faith during a recent festival where he claimed discussions of God could hinder the careers of actors and comedians.
"Here's the catch: In comedy circles in Hollywood, the cool kids all pretend they're nerds and losers and alienated outcasts," Wilson said at the Just for Laughs comedy festival.
"But really, that's just an act. And there's no greater way to estrange yourself even further from the apex of the comedy industry as when you discuss God, the soul and spirituality," he added.
Wilson went on to suggest that everyone in the world of comedy is "quite literally manifestations" of Dukkha, a Buddhist term that he translated to mean "anxious discontent."
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"However, it must be said you are also familiar with this idea if you work in insurance, solar panel sales, Uber driving, agriculture, or the manicure and pedicure industry, because Duḥkka is everywhere these days," Wilson said, arguing that nearly everyone in modern society is wired to feel sorry, suffering and unhappiness in their own lives.
However, Wilson refuted the idea that negative energy should be entirely removed from people's lives to live positively and thrive.
"This isn't helpful or true. It's why psychotic comedians and comic actors continue to mine the depths of our pain, so we can create laughter for service, for medicine, to relieve suffering and to counteract pain," he said.
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Last month, Wilson spoke about the need for a spiritual revolution in the modern world and his struggles navigating a Hollywood culture critical of people of faith.
During an appearance on the "No Small Endeavor" podcast, Wilson spoke about comedians' obsession with trying to fit in and how talking about religion and spirituality could remove you from the cool kid's table.
"Comedians will call themselves nerds and say, 'Oh, I'm so uncool, I'm so uncool.' But it's this weird thing. It's like, Hollywood is about who's sitting at the cool kids' lunch table," he said.
Wilson also noted how he has been discussing faith for a "good 12 years," noting, "Frankly, I think it freaks people out. I think that most of Hollywood, especially comedians in Hollywood, talking about God is the uncoolest thing you can ever possibly do."
Wilson admitted that while he doesn't have any "smoking guns" or emails confirming the shunning of religion in Hollywood, he can "sense a collective eye roll about it."
"It certainly doesn't help my career. I'm not doing any, any of this for any self-promotion or, or career," he added.
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In March, the actor made headlines when he called out "anti-Christian bias" in the entertainment industry.
"I do think there is an anti-Christian bias in Hollywood. As soon as the David character in 'The Last of Us' started reading from the Bible I knew that he was going to be a horrific villain," he tweeted. "Could there be a Bible-reading preacher on a show who is actually loving and kind?"
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Fox News' Alexander Hall contributed to this report. | https://www.foxnews.com/media/office-star-rainn-wilson-actors-estrange-themselves-hollywood-cool-kids-mention-god | 2023-07-29T17:36:52 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/media/office-star-rainn-wilson-actors-estrange-themselves-hollywood-cool-kids-mention-god |
Rep. John James slams DeSantis over Florida curriculum: ‘You’ve gone too far. Stop.’
DeSantis has accused fellow GOP members of accepting 'lies perpetrated by the left'
Republican Rep. John James slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Twitter Friday over DeSantis' response to Republican lawmakers who criticized the 2024 presidential candidate on Florida's new Black history education standards.
"@RonDeSantis, #1: slavery was not CTE! Nothing about that 400 years of evil was a "net benefit" to my ancestors," James wrote. "#2: there are only five black Republicans in Congress and you’re attacking two of them."
"My brother in Christ… if you find yourself in a deep hole put the shovel down. You are now so far from the Party of Lincoln that your Ed. board is re-writing history and you’re personally attacking conservatives like @VoteTimScott and @ByronDonalds on the topic of slavery," James continued. "You’ve gone too far. Stop."
DeSantis has recently traded blows with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, who have criticized the state's new school history curriculum and approach to teaching about slavery.
DESANTIS HITS BACK AT 'DC REPUBLICAN' TIM SCOTT OVER FLORIDA SLAVERY CURRICULUM: 'SPEAK THE TRUTH'
"There's no silver lining in slavery. We founded this nation upon the notion of freedom," Scott told the NH Journal Friday. "Slavery is a deprivation of freedom. It is antithetical to who we are. That doesn't need to be explained. That just needs to be digested.
"Truth be told, whether you're Kamala Harris or Ron DeSantis, having an opportunity to restate your position against slavery is always something that should be welcomed by all people: Conservatives, liberals, Black, White, rich, poor, red, blue. It doesn't really matter."
Donalds said Wednesday the "attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted." He called the rest of the standards "good, robust and accurate."
"I'm one of the members up here fighting hard against this radical agenda from the Biden-Harris administration," Donalds told FOX Business previously. "So, my stance, and where I am politically is very, very clear. But if I have an issue with one sentence, I'm allowed to have that. The fact that they made this a story is dumb in my view."
The new curriculum states, "Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."
DeSantis has held his position, accusing the Republicans of falling in line with Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris told a crowd in Jacksonville, Fla., the new Black history curriculum replaces "history with lies" and that students there would be "told that enslaved people benefited from slavery."
"These extremist so-called leaders should model what we know to be the correct and right approach if we really are invested in the well-being of our children. Instead, they dare to push propaganda to our children. This is the United States of America. We’re not supposed to do that," Harris said, according to FOX 35. "It is a reasonable expectation that our children will not be misled, and that’s what’s so outrageous, happening right now."
DeSantis' administration has reportedly fiercely denied accusations claiming Florida's curriculum teaches students that slaves in the U.S. "benefited from slavery."
The Florida Department of Education said in a letter sent to Florida School District superintendents the Biden administration "intentionally misrepresented" its "groundbreaking work" in updating the new standards.
The DeSantis campaign pointed Fox News to a video the candidate posted to Twitter Friday.
"Part of the reason our country has struggled is because D.C. Republicans all too often accept false narratives, accept lies that are perpetrated by the left. And to accept the lie that Kamala Harris has been perpetrating even when that has been debunked, that's not the way you do it. The way you lead is to fight back against the lies, is to speak the truth," DeSantis said. "So, I'm here defending my state of Florida against false accusations and against lies. And, we’re going to continue to speak the truth."
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On Saturday, DeSantis tweeted reacting to a News Nation story that reported Democratic lawmakers are seeking to determine if there are grounds to pursue legal action against the state of Florida for new curriculum standards regarding slavery.
"This is just the latest — and absurd — example of the weaponization of the federal government. Standing up the lies of people like Kamala Harris is the right thing to do. We will defend Florida and stand firm against false, politically-driven narratives," DeSantis replied. "As president, I will end the weaponization of government and hold partisan bureaucrats accountable for abusing their power."
Fox News' Brandon Gillespie, Elizabeth Elkind, Joseph A. Wulfsoh, Chris Pandolfo and Joshua Nelson contributed to this report. | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rep-john-james-slams-desantis-florida-curriculum-youve-gone-too-far-stop | 2023-07-29T17:37:04 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rep-john-james-slams-desantis-florida-curriculum-youve-gone-too-far-stop |
FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Here’s why Katie Ledecky is one of the greatest freestyle swimmers in the history of the sport: She is never quite satisfied.
The 26-year-old American won the 800-meter freestyle on Saturday at the world championships to become the first swimmer to win six golds in the same event at worlds. It was also her 16th individual world title, breaking a tie with Michael Phelps for the most golds at worlds.
She also is a seven-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in both the 800 and 1,500.
But that winning time — 8 minutes, 8.87 seconds, which is the seventh-quickest she'd ever swum — wasn't quite good enough in her favorite event.
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“I'm just always trying to think of new ways to improve. I mean I’ve already got everything turning in my head right now. I kind of wanted to be better than I was tonight,” she said, twirling her right hand beside her right ear, trying to stir up ideas.
“I’m pretty tough on myself," she said. “But I think I have found the balance of being tough on myself but also having that grace.”
The 800 was Ledecky’s second individual gold following her win in the 1,500 free on Tuesday. She also took silver in the 400 free. Li Bingjie of China took silver in 8:13.31, and Ariarne Titmus of Australia got the bronze in 8:13.59.
“It's fun to leave a meet with your favorite event, and I just wanted to leave it all in the pool," Ledecky said.
It was only the fourth gold for the United States in the seventh of eight days in the pool. Meanwhile, Australia has been piling it on with 13 golds, matching its best at the worlds. Australia won three more golds on Saturday.
The Americans lead the overall table with 31 medals (16 silver), Australia has 20 and China 13.
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Kaylee McKeown of Australia made history of her own with gold in the women’s 200 backstroke. McKeown’s victory gave her a sweep of all three backstroke events after earlier wins in the 50 and 100. She became the first swimmer to sweep all three backstrokes at the worlds.
It all made up for her disqualification earlier in the 200 IM.
“You can’t change the rules,” she said. “I got ruled out. It’s just the cards I was dealt with and I couldn’t do much more than that. So I just had to carry myself the best I could and channel all my anger and turn a huge negative into a positive.”
Regan Smith of the United States picked up the silver in 2:04.94, while Peng Xuwei of China got the bronze in 2:06.74.
Sarah Sjöström of Sweden continued her dominance with gold in the 50 butterfly. The 29-year-old won in 24.77 seconds and has now won the event five consecutive times at the worlds. The win brought Sjöström’s individual medals at the worlds to 20, equaling Phelps’ mark.
Sjöström also broke her own record in the 50 free, going 23.61 in a semifinal heat. Her old mark was 23.67 set in 2017.
“There are not too many secrets,” Sjöström said about her longevity. “Just do the work every day, go to practice, and stay humble.”
Zhang Yufei of China, who took gold in the 100 fly, claimed the silver in 25.05, while American Gretchen Walsh got the bronze in 25.46.
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Japanese fan favorite Rikako Ikee finished seventh (25.78) in the 50 fly but was greeted warmly by the home crowd.
The 23-year-old Ikee won six gold medals at the 2018 Asian Games and was expected to be a favorite in the Tokyo Olympics. But she was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2019. Her comeback continues to resonate with both the Japanese public and her fellow competitors.
Cameron McEvoy of Australia led all the way to capture the gold in the 50 free in 21.06. It was his first individual gold in the worlds or Olympics.
American Jack Alexy collected his second silver of the worlds in 21.57 to go with his silver in the 100 free. Benjamin Proud of Britian, last year’s world champion, took the bronze in 21.58.
Caeleb Dressel won the event at the Olympics but did not qualify for the U.S. team. McEvoy's time was quicker than Dressel's winning time in Tokyo — 21.07.
Maxime Grousset of France won gold in the 100 fly in 50.14. The 24-year-old took the early lead and held on. Josh Liendo of Canada earned the silver in 50.34, while American Dare Rose made the podium with the bronze (50.46).
Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania equaled the world record of 29.30 in her semifinal in the 50 breaststroke.
Australia won the 4x100 mixed freestyle relay in a world record of 3:18.83. The Americans took silver in 3:20.82, with Britain getting the bronze in 3:21.68. The relay is not an Olympic event.
Advertisement | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/wires/katie-ledecky-passes-michael-phelps-most-individual-golds-world-championships/ | 2023-07-29T17:37:04 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/wires/katie-ledecky-passes-michael-phelps-most-individual-golds-world-championships/ |
Las Vegas man living with dead girlfriend explains creepy use of cooler: report
George Bone, 31, was arrested Wednesday and charged with the murder of Beverly Ma, whose body police found in his closet with a belt around her neck.
A convicted sex offender suspected of killing his roommate's girlfriend and living with her dead body "believed she might come back to life."
George Bone, 31, was arrested Wednesday and charged with the murder of Beverly Ma, whose body police found in his closet with a belt around her neck.
Ma's body was likely in the closet for about two months because Bone was afraid to go back to jail, so he kept the air conditioning at 60 degrees because of the number of flies in the house, according to Fox 5 Vegas, which obtained the arrest report.
Bone allegedly told investigators he had put a cooler near the closet door, so he’d be alerted if she "rose from the dead like the movie ‘The Grudge,’" Fox 5 Vegas reported.
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One of Ma's family members called 911 after a series of suspicious activities, including 84 missed incoming calls, and was on hold with a dispatcher as Bone brushed his teeth while talking to her family, according to the Fox 5 Vegas report.
They reportedly described his demeanor as "nonchalant" and said he hadn't called 911 because he knew he would be arrested "for being a person of color," Fox 5 Vegas reported.
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He led Ma's family members to the master bedroom of their Las Vegas home, showed them her body in the closet and insinuated that she had died of suicide, according to the report.
Ma's family member hung up on the 911 dispatcher and didn't pick up the return call, which prompted a police response.
Bone allegedly reiterated the suicide story, but investigators pointed out inconsistencies in his alibi.
He allegedly said, "Since my truth is sounding so much like lies, I think I need to get an attorney," and the interview ended, according to the arrest report.
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A judge denied bond during his first court appearance on July 27.
He's scheduled to return to court on August 1. | https://www.foxnews.com/us/las-vegas-man-living-dead-girlfriend-explains-creepy-use-cooler-report | 2023-07-29T17:37:10 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/us/las-vegas-man-living-dead-girlfriend-explains-creepy-use-cooler-report |
NAIROBI, Kenya — Africa’s coup belt spans the continent: a line of six countries crossing 3,500 miles, from coast to coast, that has become the longest corridor of military rule on Earth.
This past week’s military takeover in the West African nation of Niger toppled the final domino in a band across the girth of Africa, from Guinea in the west to Sudan in the east, now controlled by juntas that came to power in a coup — all but one in the past two years.
The last leader to fall was Niger’s Mohamed Bazoum, a democratically elected U.S. ally who disappeared Wednesday when his own guards detained him at the presidential palace in the capital, Niamey. His security chief now claims to be running the country.
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“We have decided to intervene,” Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, Niger’s new self-appointed ruler, said in a televised address Friday.
The coup instantly reverberated far beyond Niger, a sprawling and impoverished country in one of the world’s toughest neighborhoods. African leaders sounded the alarm over the latest blow to democracy on a continent where decades of hard-won advances are slipping away.
“Africa has suffered a serious setback,” Kenya’s president, William Ruto, said Friday.
For the United States and its allies, the coup raised urgent questions about the fight against Islamist militants in the Sahel, the vast semi-arid region where groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State are gaining ground at an alarming pace, moving from the desert toward the sea. Much of the Sahel overlaps with Africa’s newly formed, coast-to-coast coup belt.
“I’m very worried that Sahelian Africa is going to melt down,” said Paul Collier, a professor of economics and public policy at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.
The Sahel has surpassed the Middle East and South Asia to become the global epicenter of jihadi violence, accounting for 43% of 6,701 deaths in 2022, up from 1% in 2007, according to the Global Terrorism Index, an annual study by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
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Until this past week, Niger was the cornerstone of the Pentagon’s regional strategy. At least 1,100 American troops are stationed in the country, where the U.S. military built drone bases in Niamey and the northern city of Agadez, one at a cost of $110 million. Now, all of that is in jeopardy.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Australia, warned on Saturday that the United States could end its financial support and security cooperation for Niger if Bazoum were not reinstated as president. Although officials say the United States would be reluctant to go that far, Blinken was unequivocal.
“The very significant assistance that we have in place — that is making a material difference in the lives of the people of Niger — is clearly in jeopardy,” he said. “And we’ve communicated that as clearly as we possibly can to those responsible for disrupting the constitutional order.”
Any American withdrawal could open a door to Russia.
The sight of Russian flags being waved by coup supporters in Niamey this past week echoed similar scenes after a coup in neighboring Burkina Faso last year. The flags do not mean the Kremlin was behind the coup, analysts say. But they do symbolize how Russia has positioned itself as the torch bearer of anti-Western, and especially anti-French, sentiment in a swath of Africa in recent years.
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President Vladimir Putin of Russia sought to exploit that gap at this past week’s Africa summit in St. Petersburg, where he proposed to liberate African countries from “colonialism and neocolonialism” — even as his country’s own Wagner mercenaries have exploited African gold and diamonds, and committed civilian atrocities.
For Wagner’s mercurial boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, the run of coups is a business opportunity. His forces already operate openly in Mali and Sudan in the coup belt, as well as in the nearby Central African Republic and Libya. Hovering on the margins of the St. Petersburg summit this past week, Prigozhin praised the coup in Niger, then proposed sending his own armed fighters to help.
But if the coup belt has become a theater of geopolitical maneuvering, the coups themselves are rooted in an explosive mix of local factors, experts say.
In Guinea, the coup leaders justified their actions by citing public anger at widespread corruption; in Mali and Burkina Faso, they claimed to have an answer to the tide of Islamist militancy plaguing their countries.
In fact, insurgent violence has spread under the military juntas, accelerating the spiral of instability.
In Burkina Faso, attacks once confined to the north of the country have come closer to the capital in recent months. In Mali, where the military replaced 5,000 French troops with about 1,000 Wagner mercenaries, civilian deaths have soared, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, which tracks casualties.
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Everywhere, weak states are a factor. The Sahel has some of the world’s poorest countries and the highest birthrates: Niger, where an average woman has seven children, tops the list. Their soaring populations of frustrated, jobless young people swell the ranks of the insurgents.
The youth bulge shows up among coup-makers, too. Most of the recent takeovers were led by men in their 30s or early 40s, on a continent where the average leader is in their 60s. Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, who was just 34 when he seized power in Burkina Faso last year, is the world’s youngest head of state.
African countries have experienced 98 successful coups since 1952, a recent U.N. report on coups in Africa found. Jonathan Powell, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida, said the most coups had occurred in Sudan, where the latest takeover, in 2021, seeded an explosive military feud that recently grew into full-scale war.
The takeovers dipped to their lowest level in the decade up to 2017, a period that included the Arab Spring and the ouster of longtime autocrats including Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Then the pendulum swung hard in the opposite direction.
In Chad, seizing power is a family tradition. The country’s ruler, Mahamat Idriss Déby, took over in 2021 after his father, who had come to power in a 1990 coup, was killed in a battle.
Niger seemed different. Despite a long history of coups, the desert-dominated nation of 25 million people seemed to be on a path to stability under Bazoum, who was elected president in 2021.
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He was making progress against the militants, appeared to enjoy the support of the armed forces and was celebrated by influential Westerners. Onstage with Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates at a talk last October, the smiling Bazoum was introduced as a “gender warrior” for promoting the education of girls and a reduction in the birthrate.
But then a personal factor struck: tensions with the head of the presidential guard, Tchiani, that seem to have initiated this past week’s mutiny, said Issaka K. Souaré, the author of a book on coups in West Africa.
Sometimes, Souaré added, coups simply come like swallows.
“There’s a contagion effect,” he said. “You see your colleagues in neighboring countries have toppled the civilians, and now the red carpet is rolled under your feet. You want the same.” | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/world/coast-coast-corridor-coups-creates-chaos-africa/ | 2023-07-29T17:37:11 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/29/world/coast-coast-corridor-coups-creates-chaos-africa/ |
Massive brawl breaks out on popular Spanish tourist 'sin street'
Catalonian police said 30 to 40 people were involved in the fight, but none have been arrested
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE
A massive brawl broke out on a popular tourist street in Spain, with drinkers smashing chairs and bottles against each other as police tried to stop the violence.
The fight broke out in the early hours of July 23 on a street known as Pecat (or "sin") Street that features prominently in the Catalonian city of Sitges' nightlife.
The cause of the fight remains unknown despite an investigation, but the leading explanation is that a disagreement with a bouncer quickly escalated.
Video footage captured by local outlet CEN showed the fight breaking out as men started hitting each other with barstools, glass bottles and metal bars, among other things they could find within arm’s reach.
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The violence lasted for about a minute before those involved tried to flee the scene, The Mirror UK reported. Around 30 to 40 people were allegedly involved in the brawl.
The street, officially known as Primer de Maig Street, is lined with bars and restaurants. It serves as a popular destination for British tourists, but it remains unknown whether any of those involved in starting the fight or escalating it were British.
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Two cops suffered dislocated joints, and another had cuts after a glass bottle hit them. No arrests were made, and no suspect was identified as the instigator, The Sun reported.
Medical professionals who tended to any wounded individuals said all injuries were minor.
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Catalan’s Mossos d’Esquadra, or the region’s main police force, opened an investigation into the incident and similar ones in nearby towns over the weekend.
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A fight at another British tourist hot spot broke out when a group of young people refused to pay the entry fee for a nightclub, and a bouncer tried to turn them away. The club’s staff fought back when the youths tried to throw glass bottles at the bouncer and force their way in.
The suspects fled as soon as police showed up, but authorities arrested one individual, an 18-year-old, who went to the hospital with an injury on his face. | https://www.foxnews.com/world/massive-brawl-breaks-popular-spanish-tourist-sin-street | 2023-07-29T17:37:16 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/world/massive-brawl-breaks-popular-spanish-tourist-sin-street |
Amnesty Program Begins in Mission
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MISSION – The city of Mission began their amnesty program Friday.
Those who have outstanding traffic tickets in Mission have a chance to save money and avoid being arrested.
“If they are able to financially pay off their balances in full, they’re going to save quite of bit of money,” explains Mission Municipal Judge Jonathan Wehrmeister,
He says the city is owed thousands of dollars.
Watch the video above for more information. | https://www.krgv.com/videos/amnesty-program-begins-in-mission | 2023-07-29T17:37:31 | 1 | https://www.krgv.com/videos/amnesty-program-begins-in-mission |
(iSeeCars) — When it comes to car buying, you may be torn between buying and leasing.
While leasing a car might be an attractive option if you want a different car every few years, you might be turned off by the high monthly payments for the cars you’re interested in. What you might not realize is that you can also lease a used car.
Although used cars make up only a small percentage of the leased car market, it’s still possible to lease a used car. And with used car prices still higher than pre-pandemic levels, leasing a used car could be a smart financial decision.
So how can you lease a used car, and is it a good idea? We have the answers.
Which Used Cars Can be Leased?
Used cars that are available to lease are typically Certified Pre Owned cars (also known as CPO) from car dealerships. A certified pre-owned vehicle is a late-model used car that is sold by a franchised dealer after it has been thoroughly inspected, and comes with a factory-backed extended-powertrain warranty and bumper-to-bumper warranty. Each manufacturer has different criteria for their CPO vehicles, but they generally will be less than 6 years old and will not have more than 48,000 miles on the odometer.
You can also take over a lease from someone who wants to get out of their lease. It could be because they are facing a hardship or because they no longer require a vehicle. Whatever the reason, they will post their car on a leasing company website like SwapALease.com or LeaseTrader in hopes that someone can take over their lease so they won’t have to incur the penalties associated with breaking their lease contract. In this case you won’t be required to make a down payment, and you can likely negotiate with the seller to have them pay the transfer fees. However, when taking over someone’s lease, you should estimate how much you plan on driving the vehicle to make sure that you don’t exceed the mileage limit. If you do go over the mileage limit, you will have to pay a penalty when you turn the car in.
How To Find a Used Car to Lease
Used-car leases from dealerships are rare and aren’t widely advertised. The best way to find a leased used car is to do the legwork yourself. All major manufacturers, both mainstream and luxury, offer CPO vehicle leases. However, some automakers, including Stellantis, Ford, and Nissan, require outside financing, while Toyota’s finance department does provide financing for used vehicle leases.
The best way to find a used lease is to decide what vehicle you are interested in, and call around to franchised dealerships to see if they offer used car leases on their CPO inventory.
How to Shop For a Used Car Lease
When deciding if leasing a used car is right for you, you should always shop around. Just as you should compare prices when shopping for used vehicles, you should contact multiple dealerships to see which offer the best pricing.
You should also compare the cost of leasing a used car with the cost of a new car. New car leases often come with better finance rates and may also have incentives and special offers. This cost difference between a new-car lease and used-car lease will be smaller with used Honda and Toyota cars, while the savings will be more significant on luxury vehicles from Acura or Lexus.
The smartest used car lease purchases are for later model year cars, two-to-three-years old and still under warranty, or that offer extended warranties. Otherwise, you are responsible for costly repairs on a car you don’t own. Keep in mind auto insurance is often more expensive for leased cars, so make sure to get a quote from your insurer and factor it into your budget.
As with any used car purchase, you should make sure you get the car fully inspected by an independent mechanic before leasing. You should also use helpful online research tools like the iSeeCars free VIN check that provides a free CARFAX or Autocheck vehicle history report as part of its comprehensive VIN check tool. A comprehensive VIN check will complement the vehicle history report to provide all the important information an interested buyer should know before making a used car purchase.
How Does Used Car Leasing Work?
Used-car leases are similar in structure to new car leases. Just as with a new car lease, the lender will base payments off of a car’s residual value compared to its sales price. The lender will also determine a money factor, which is the vehicle’s interest rate. Just as used cars usually have higher interest rates than new cars, a used car lease will likely have a higher interest rate than a new car lease when it comes to a car loan. However, because a used car has already taken its depreciation hit, the used vehicle will have a lower sales price and lower depreciation rate, which will result in a lower monthly payment than a new car lease. Savings between new and used car leases tend to be more significant when leasing luxury cars.
Used Car Leases: Benefits
The main draw to leasing a used car is the lower monthly payments. It may also allow you to afford a more expensive car than what you would be able to afford with a new car lease. If you don’t care about having the latest new car technology, but want to get rid of a car before it’s too dated, a used car lease might be an appealing option. Additionally, you may have lower car insurance costs than what you would pay on a new car since rates are based on a car’s value.
Used Car Leases: Drawbacks
By leasing a used car, you are responsible for repairs after the vehicle runs past its warranty. You also won’t be able to enjoy the main benefit of new car leasing, which is driving a brand new car with the latest technology. By leasing a used car, although the payments are likely lower, you are still making monthly payments and maintenance costs for a vehicle you don’t own. You may also be charged at the end of the lease if the vehicle is not in good shape or you drive it past the mileage limit as stated in your lease agreement. In many instances, buying a practical used car and keeping it for several years will save you money in the long run compared to leasing.
Bottom Line
If you’re interested in leasing a car and want to lower your monthly lease payments or upgrade to a more expensive vehicle while keeping costs down, a used car lease might be a smart decision. However, used car leases are hard to find, so you should be prepared to do some extra legwork to find the best used car lease deals. Also, be sure to compare prices and lease rates to other used CPO leases as well as new vehicle leases. Avoid leased vehicles that extend beyond a car’s warranty so you won’t be responsible for expensive repairs.
Lastly, once your lease term ends, you’ll have the option for a lease buyout with a purchase price based on the residual value of the car. If you don’t buy the car, you’ll need to find another car to lease. That’s why purchasing a used car outright, that you can keep as long as you want, is often the smartest long-term financial decision.
More from iSeeCars.com:
If you’re interested in a new car or a used car, be sure to check out iSeeCars’ award-winning car search engine. It uses advanced algorithms to help shoppers find the best car deals across all used cars and provides key insights and valuable resources, like the iSeeCars free VIN check report and Best Cars rankings. Filter by make, model, price, CPO vehicles, and special features to find the best deal on your next vehicle.
This article, Can You Lease a Used Car? originally appeared on iSeeCars.com. | https://www.kark.com/automotive/can-you-lease-a-used-car-3/ | 2023-07-29T17:37:56 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/automotive/can-you-lease-a-used-car-3/ |
(iSeeCars) — Most consumers know there are various electric vehicle tax credits available if they buy a new electric vehicle.
The original credit, officially known as the “Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit”, was instituted over a decade ago. It created a tax credit amount between $2,500 and $7,500 based on a specific qualifying vehicle’s battery capacity. There was also a 200,000-unit limit to how many zero-emissions electric cars a single manufacturer could sell before the credit would phase out and eventually be eliminated. Two automakers, General Motors and Tesla, had already hit this limit in recent years, with a few more getting very close in 2022
But the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has altered the existing rules for the federal tax credit, removing the 200,000 limit, extending the up-to-$7,500 credit through 2032…but also adding a new set of eligibility requirements based on the final assembly location of the vehicle and its battery components. New vehicle pricing and adjusted gross income requirements have also been enacted. The new rules are a reaction to China’s dominance in the EV space, a dominance President Biden and the U.S. Department of Energy would like to reverse by encouraging the production of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and battery components in North America.
The Inflation Reduction Act – Pros and Cons
Encouraging the American production of clean vehicles, including plug-in electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), is commendable. However, the change in eligibility requirements could actually limit new vehicle tax credits more than the outgoing legislation. Let’s take a closer look at where this new legislation helps, and hurts, your chances at seeing a rebate.
Pros:
- No 200,000 Vehicle Limit per Manufacturer – which means brands like Cadillac, Chevrolet and Tesla will be back in the running for a $7,500 tax break, along with every other automaker selling EVs, PHEVs (with a battery of 7 kilowatt hours or larger), or FCEVs.
- Income and MSRP Restrictions – the previous legislation had no limit on household income or eligible vehicle pricing, which meant a lot of taxpayer money was spent helping millionaires get a $7,500 price break on their $100,000-plus Tesla. Starting on January 1st, 2023, the new legislation puts an MSRP limit of $80,000 on electric vans, SUVs, and pickup trucks, and a $55,000 MSRP limit on electric sedans, coupes, wagons, and convertibles. The IRS also puts a $150,000 annual income limit on single tax filers, a $225,000 limit on head-of-household filers, and a $300,000 limit on joint filers.
- Used EVs Count Too – For the first time ever, car buyers seeking a lower cost of entry into EV ownership don’t have to choose from pricier current or new model year vehicles. A tax credit on used vehicles, worth either $4,000 or 30% of the used EV’s sales price (whichever is lower) will be available on used models costing less than $25,000. This credit is only available to single filers below $75,000, head-of-household filers below $112,000, and joint filers of $150,000.
- Commercial Tax Credit – If you happen to be a business owner looking to go electric the new bill provides up to $7,500 for electric vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) under 14,000 pounds and up to $40,000 for vehicles with a GVWR above 14,000 pounds. The rebate is based on either 30 percent of the total vehicle cost, or the incremental cost of a commercial EV over the cost of an equivalent non-EV vehicle. For instance, the Ford F-150 Lightning has a starting MSRP of $46,974, but you can buy an equivalent crew-cab F-150 with an internal combustion engine for around $50,000. There’s no incremental cost to buying the Lightning, so a commercial buyer could only benefit from 30 percent of the truck’s $46,974 price (around $15,680).
- Point of Sale Price Reduction: Starting on January 1st, 2024, buyers can transfer their credit to the selling dealer, essentially providing an immediate reduction in the price of an EV during purchase versus waiting to receive the benefit as part of their next tax filing.
Cons:
- Final Assembly Must be in North America – Starting on August 17th, 2022, only plug-in electric vehicles assembled in North America are eligible for tax credits. As of this writing, that includes 26 EVs from model year 2022, but only 8 EVs from model year 2023. A vehicle’s VIN (vehicle identification number) will be used to determine where a potential candidate was built. Popular EVs like the BMW 330e, Chevrolet Bolt, and Nissan Leaf have already been approved for model year 2023, and we’d expect other models assembled in Canada, Mexico, or the U.S. to be approved soon, including the Audi Q5, Ford Mustang Mach E, and every Rivian and Tesla model. However…
- Critical Mineral and Battery Component Requirements – Even if an electric vehicle is assembled in North America it will need to meet increasingly stringent battery requirements over the coming 5 years. Starting in 2023 an EV’s battery will need 40 percent of its critical minerals value to have been extracted or processed in the U.S. or a U.S. free-trade agreement partner to receive up to $3,750 in tax credits. This percentage will increase 10 percent a year, up to 80% of the battery’s critical mineral value in 2027 and beyond. Additionally, starting in 2023, 50 percent of the value of an EV battery’s components must be assembled in the U.S., increasing 10 percent a year until it reaches 100 percent in 2029.
The newest bill’s final assembly and critical mineral battery requirements are meant to shift the production of electric vehicles back toward the U.S. and its allies, and away from foreign entities of concern, including China. Given the supply chain issues we’ve experienced over the past 2 years this is a wise long-term goal. However, the time and resources needed to transplant the electric vehicle alternative fuels industry from the Asia Pacific region to the U.S are substantial.
Foreign automakers like Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota have already committed to high-volume North American vehicle production in recent decades. There’s every reason to believe they can relatively quickly do the same for their electric vehicle fleets to meet the final assembly requirement for successful new models not yet produced here, like the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Several automakers with smaller U.S. production capacity, including BMW, Volkswagen, and Volvo, also continue to expand their U.S. presence.
But battery production is an entirely different process compared to vehicle assembly. It involves significant investments in land assessment/exploration, permit applications, approval, mining, extraction, refining, etc. You can imagine the processes and time frame involved in, for instance, setting up a lithium mine in California. Investing in, and establishing, those capabilities will take several years at least, and could easily prove a limiting factor on how many new EVs can fully qualify for the latest tax credits under the current legislation.
More from iSeeCars:
- How Much Does it Cost to Charge an Electric Car?
- How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?
- Electric Cars with the Longest Range
If you’re in the market for a new or used electric vehicle you can search over 4 million used electric cars, SUVs, and trucks with iSeeCars’ award-winning car search engine that helps shoppers find the best car deals by providing key insights and valuable resources, like the iSeeCars free VIN check report and Best Cars rankings. Filter by vehicle type, front or all-wheel drive, and other parameters in order to narrow down your car search.
This article, The New EV Tax Credits Explained, originally appeared on iSeeCars.com. | https://www.kark.com/automotive/ev-tax-credits-explained/ | 2023-07-29T17:37:58 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/automotive/ev-tax-credits-explained/ |
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP) — For a single, unthinkable moment last summer, the Chautauqua Institution was a hostile place for the freedom of expression that has been its hallmark for 150 years: As Salman Rushdie was about to speak, an audience member leapt onto the stage and stabbed the celebrated author more than a dozen times.
By the next day, Chautauqua Institution President Michael Hill recently recounted, the decision had been made not only to resume programming, but to “double down on what Mr. Rushdie stands for, what our speakers and preachers and artists stand for — which is the free exchange of ideas and the belief that society is stronger when we do that.”
A year later, Rushdie, blinded in one eye by the assault, is recovering from the attack. The Chautauqua Institution is recovering, too.
Programming and revenue for the arts and intellectual retreat in the rural southwest corner of New York was disrupted for two seasons by COVID-19. Then the attack further shattered the return to normal that regular visitors had so craved.
With a new nine-week summer season now under way, well-tended gardens are in bloom and rocking chairs are back out on the porches of Victorian- and cottage-style homes.
Security has been strengthened, though the gated compound remains open to anyone who buys a pass to enter.
“We look at the work that we do under a different lens since” the stabbing, Hill said during an interview in his office, which overlooks Bestor Plaza, a lush expanse of greenery anchoring the 750-acre (303-hectare) grounds. “The attack was an attempt at silencing, which underscores the need for institutions like ours to not stay silent.”
As an institution, Chautauqua defies easy explanation.
“NPR camp for grown-ups” is the description preferred by Erica Higbie, who owns a house on the grounds.
Located on the shore of Chautauqua Lake, the institution is a self-contained community with lecture halls, houses of worship, cafes, shops, a library, post office and bookstore, along with private homes, rentals and the Athenaeum Hotel, which served as former President Bill Clinton’s executive mansion for a week in 1996 as he prepared for his debate with Republican challenger Bob Dole.
Aside from boating and golf, the 4,400-seat, open-air amphitheater is a main draw, with a summer entertainment lineup this year offering concerts by Diana Ross and Bonnie Raitt, ballet and theater productions and performances by the house Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
But for Higbie and many others, the primary appeal exists in the institution’s 19th Century beginnings as a summer educational experiment in which daily lectures are curated around weekly explorations of anything from politics to infrastructure and faith to friendship.
“I am a lecture junkie,” Higbie said from her porch as people navigated the grounds on foot, bikes and scooters. The speed limit for the rare vehicle traffic is 12 mph. The retired teacher takes in a daily morning lecture and may hear two more in the afternoon at the amphitheater and the Hall of Philosophy.
Through the decades, Susan B. Anthony advocated for women’s rights at the institution and President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his 1936 “I Hate War” speech in the amphitheater. Former Vice President Al Gore spoke about the climate crisis and Supreme Court Judges Robert H. Jackson and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are among countless others who have offered insights.
Rushdie’s appearance came during a week last year exploring home as “a place for human thriving.”
Henry Reese, co-founder of the City of Asylum Pittsburgh, was about to interview “The Satanic Verses” author about violence against writers when Rushdie was attacked as the men sat in armchairs on the amphitheater’s sunken stage.
Rushdie, the target of a decades-old fatwa by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death, was stabbed in the neck, stomach, chest, hand and right eye. Reese suffered bruises and a gash to his forehead.
With alleged assailant Hadi Matar awaiting trial in a nearby courthouse, Reese is scheduled to return to the institution on the anniversary of the attack, Aug. 12. His appearance is expected to kick off a week exploring freedom of expression, imagination and the resilience of democracy. Republican strategist Karl Rove and Democratic strategist David Axelrod are among other invited guests.
It would have been out of character for the institution to do anything but pick up where it left off after the assault, regular guest lecturer Eboo Patel said.
“Not a single artist or speaker canceled,” Patel, founder of Interfaith America in Chicago, said by phone.
“Chautauqua recognizes that it has a responsibility to its own community, honestly to American civilization and the human spirit, and it’s back up in 24 to 48 hours. That’s stunning,” he said.
Property owners differed on how far the institution should go to ensure personal safety, said Higbie, the president of the Chautauqua Property Owners Association.
“Everybody was in shock for a long time,“ Higbie said.
Visitors say they notice more security and protocols at events. Amphitheater patrons can bring only clear bags inside, for example, and may be scanned or asked to walk through a weapons detector.
Even so, “I never hesitated for a minute” to return, said Michael Crawford of Washington, D.C., as he chatted with Mary Pat McFarland of Philadelphia. The two sat on one of the red benches placed around the grounds to invite discussion.
A handful of musicians with violins, guitars and a small harp played an impromptu jam session beneath a tree nearby.
Hill said he sees his role as “teeing up” issues for engagement, so shying away from difficult ones would be a disservice at a time when civic discourse is in short supply.
“It’s about bringing divergent viewpoints for people to digest,” Hill said. “For us to have made the decision to stop bringing speakers who may be controversial in any way would have been for us to stop doing our mission.”
“It would have been,” he said, “to literally stop the reason this place was created.” | https://www.kark.com/entertainment-news/ap-after-an-attack-on-salman-rushdie-the-chautauqua-institution-says-its-mission-wont-change/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:00 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/entertainment-news/ap-after-an-attack-on-salman-rushdie-the-chautauqua-institution-says-its-mission-wont-change/ |
CHICAGO (AP) — The beginning of the pandemic was devasting for the leader of the indie rock band Black Belt Eagle Scout, Katherine Paul. All her tours, including one headlining across North America, were canceled and she feared her ascending music career might be over.
She got a day job at a nonprofit and returned to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s homelands in Western Washington. But as Paul, or KP to her friends, spent time in the cedar forests and walked along the Skagit River, she turned to her guitar to deal with the isolation and stress. Those snippets, recorded on her phone, provided the foundation for what would become songs on her powerful, grunge-soaked new record “The Land, The Water, The Sky.”
“I feel like if the pandemic hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have made this record,” said KP, who writes the songs, sings and plays guitar in the band that was the only Native American artist at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this month.
“I spent a lot of time outside. I spent a lot more time than normal going on hikes, being part of the land,” she continued. “It’s not like I never do that stuff but it brought me back to a place where this is who I am.”
The new record, which came out in February, helped launch what has probably been the most successful year so far for Black Belt Eagle Scout. The band toured Europe and will go to Australia later this year. Two of her songs, “Soft Stud” from an earlier record and “Salmon Stinta” from her latest, appear this season on the television series “Reservation Dogs.”
Reservation Dogs Music Supervisor Tiffany Anders said she was introduced to the band’s music by the show’s creator, Sterlin Harjo, when they started working on the second season.
“It’s always been important for us on this show to include Native American artists, but beyond representation, Black Belt Eagle Scout’s music is beautiful and emotional, and fits these characters, their world and landscape — and the vibe of the show,’” she said in a statement.
Then there was Pitchfork, a three-day festival that is a significant milestone for indie musicians. The festival is held every year in Chicago’s Union Park and this year’s headliners included Bon Iver, Big Thief and The Smile, which has members of Radiohead.
She admitted stepping on that stage last weekend was nerve-wracking given her high hopes for the show, a feeling compounded by concerns that storms could scuttle their performance. But as she launched into the blistering set of mostly new songs in front of thousands of eager fans, KP found solace in her guitar. She launched several long jams that were punctuated by her twirling her jet-black hair around to the point it obscured her face.
“It was totally a moment,” she said with a laugh.
“I kind of cried after we played because it felt so meaningful,” she added. “Like, I’ve always wanted to play this music festival. I remember trying to play one of the years before the pandemic when I was touring and it didn’t happen. This year, I was just so stoked to play.”
Reaching Pitchfork has been a long journey for the 34-year-old artist, who is a member of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and left her home on the reservation in LaConner, Washington, when she was 17 to attend Lewis & Clark College in Oregon and play rock music.
Growing up on the reservation off the Washington coast on islands in the Salish Sea, she drummed and sang cultural songs. As a teenager, she discovered local Pacific Northwest bands like Mount Eerie and the sounds of the Riot Grrrl movement and played one of her first gigs at a small bar called Department of Safety. She moved to Portland, Oregon, due to its outsized role in the indie scene that featured bands like Sleater-Kinney and quickly immersed herself in the music scene playing drums and guitar.
She joined an all-female outfit whom she met at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls in Portland. She went on to play a lot of small, basement shows with bands like Genders — whose wolf tattoo she still has on her left arm.
But she wanted to write her own songs and formed Black Belt Eagle Scout in 2013. Her early music was defined by her ethereal singing about love, friendship and healing — often only accompanied by minimal guitar strumming. But she did rock out on songs like “Soft Stud,” which featured searing solos.
“She is a really an authentic musician and she carries a lot of power on stage with her presence and sound,” Claire Glass, who plays guitar in the band and first saw KP seven years ago.
KP has said her Native American identify has always been present on her records. But her latest music paints a more vivid picture of life on the Swinomish reservation. There are references to chinook salmon, which are traditionally fished, and a powwow dance.
“I started thinking of feeling grateful for the life that I have been given; this place that I’m from; how much the land, the water, the sky means to me — being surrounded by it,” KP said of writing the song ”Don’t Give Up.” “It has so much more meaning because the land, that’s where my people are from.”
Her songs aren’t meant to directly confront issues like the crisis of missing and murdered Native American women or tribes’ forced relocation. It’s not the way she writes songs. Instead, she envisions them connecting with people, drawing more Native Americans to indie rock shows in places like Minneapolis, which has a vibrant Native American community, and inspiring young Native Americans to connect with her after shows.
“Isn’t me like being here existing with my music good enough? Can’t I just be who I am?” she asked, adding she doesn’t need to speak out from stage about these issues because being Native often means she is already wrestling with them. A judge, for example, ruled in March that BNSF Railway intentionally violated the terms of an easement agreement with the tribe by running 100-car trains carrying crude oil over the reservation.
“As a Native person, you know someone who is missing. Your tribe is trying to get your land back. Those are topics that are part of your every day life,” she said. ”I care about those things deeply but there are certain ways in which my music is, maybe not as direct, but it can be healing.”
KP also doesn’t want to be seen just as a rock musician or as a Native artist. “I am a musician who happens to be Native, but I am also a Native musician … I think I am always both,” she said.
Her latest record aims to show that.
“I kind of had in the back of mind, just kept thinking what would Built to Spill do,” KP said of the guitar-heavy, indie-rock band from the Pacific Northwest. “I’ve gone on tour with them and seen their three guitars at one point playing together and how they overlap and all these other things.”
It’s also a more collaborative effort with more musicians playing on the record— a departure for KP, who is accustomed to doing everything herself. A cellist who played with Nirvana, Lori Goldston, is featured on several songs, as are two violinists, as well as a saxophone and mellotron player.
Takiaya Reed, a first-time producer who is also in a doom metal band, described the experience of working on the record as “beautiful and amazing” and said the two bonded over their love of punk. Reid also brought her classical training and love of “heavier sounds” to the studio.
“We approached it fearlessly. It was wonderful to be expansive in terms of sonic possibilities,” she said.
KP also wanted to find a place for her parents, whom she had grown especially close to during the pandemic, to play on the record. She chose the song “Spaces,” which she described as having a “healing vibe.” Her dad, who is one of the main singers at the tribe’s cultural events, embraced the idea of lending his powerful powwow chant to the song. Her mom sang harmonies.
KP said: “It meant the world to me to have my parents sing because it felt like it was full circle in who I am.” | https://www.kark.com/entertainment-news/ap-black-belt-eagle-scouts-latest-record-inspired-by-return-home-to-swinomish-tribes-ancestral-lands/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:00 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/entertainment-news/ap-black-belt-eagle-scouts-latest-record-inspired-by-return-home-to-swinomish-tribes-ancestral-lands/ |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In Arkansas, chicken wings have become a deep-fried staple and there are a variety of ways to celebrate them on July 29, which is officially dubbed National Chicken Wing Day.
It all started in Buffalo, New York in 1964 when the owners of Anchor Bar cooked up a midnight snack for their son and his friends using only fried wings, butter and hot sauce.
A star was born on that day, and the first annual National Chicken Wing Day was celebrated 13 years later in 1977.
One of the great things about National Chicken Wing Day is that there are many ways to get your fix between local favorites and big chain restaurants, many of which are offering discounts on Saturday.
When most people think of chicken wings, the first restaurant that comes to mind probably isn’t Pizza Hut. However, in honor of this special day, they are offering up their boneless wings for 75 cents a piece for at least 8 and as many as 48.
Wingstop, one of the most popular chains is also offering up a can’t miss deal. Today only, you can get 5 free wings when ordering online or through the app, enter the code “FREEWINGS.”
Another of the most popular franchises in the country, and a great place to watch sports, Buffalo Wild Wings also has a deal on tap. You can get six free boneless or traditional wings with any $10 dine-in purchase at participating locations.
Though chicken wings are only the 2nd most famous item at Hooters, they also have a deal of the day where if you buy 10 wings, you get 10 free.
If that deal isn’t enticing enough, Hooters in West Little Rock will also be hosting a free live pro wrestling event called Crossface & Chicken Wings at 8 pm. The event will feature athletes from Little Rock’s own Chaotic Kingdom Wrestling.
Whether you are going out with friends to celebrate, or making your own wings at home, make sure you have plenty of dipping sauce. | https://www.kark.com/entertainment-news/where-to-celebrate-national-chicken-wing-day-in-central-arkansas/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:06 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/entertainment-news/where-to-celebrate-national-chicken-wing-day-in-central-arkansas/ |
Former President Trump’s outsized influence is already being felt in GOP Senate primaries, underscoring his grip on the party even as he faces numerous primary challengers in the 2024 White House race.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who’s running to replace Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), endorsed Trump’s presidential bid earlier this week. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R), who’s running to unseat Sen. Joe Manchin (D), did the same — prompting his GOP primary rival Alex Mooney to point out that he had come out in support of Trump last year.
And prior to officially jumping into Montana’s contested Senate race last month, former Navy SEAL and businessman Tim Sheehy said he supports Trump “100 percent.”
The public show of support for the former president is just the latest example of the political sway he continues to hold over Republicans, and could serve as a headache for party leaders who want the GOP to move on from him.
“Donald Trump continues to be the biggest elephant in the Republican tent,” said Mark Weaver, an Ohio-based Republican strategist. “Republican voters still want to see him as our party’s leader.”
One Republican strategist described the strategy of endorsing Trump as “the path of least resistance.”
“In order to take back the Senate, you’ve got to win a couple of these key seats, and the only way to win back these key seats is to make it through the primary unscathed,” the strategist said.
Some strategists see the endorsements as a sign of how the presidential primary is likely to shake out.
“This is a greater sign than ever before that Trump is most likely going to win the Republican nomination despite the noise in the media,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell.
“Endorsing Trump at this stage is one of the safest things a candidate could do,” he added. “This is more about the candidates trying to cozy up to him.”
The eagerness from some Senate Republican hopefuls to embrace the former president comes after many of Trump’s endorsed candidates performed poorly in their general elections last cycle.
“Former President Trump’s endorsement continues to be a boon in a primary and a bane in a general election,” Weaver said.
The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (NRSC) is also taking a different approach in the 2024 cycle by playing a more hands-on role in some primaries. Like Trump, the committee’s Chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has thrown his support behind Justice in West Virginia’s Republican Senate primary.
While there has been tension and disagreement between Trump and Senate leadership, particularly on Trump’s unfounded claims that he won the 2020 presidential election, Daines has said he is working with the former president ahead of 2024.
“We chat frequently. And he’s very thoughtful right now looking at these races. He understands it’s important we have candidates that can win,” Daines told CBS News in an interview earlier this month. “If you notice, there hasn’t been a wave of endorsements coming out so far, because I think we’re having these thoughtful conversations and getting on the same page.”
Trump has endorsed in less competitive GOP Senate primaries, like in Indiana, where he threw his support behind Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) a day after former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) announced that he would not run for the seat and after the NRSC endorsed Banks.
And earlier this month, CNN reported that Trump told Mooney in West Virginia and potential Senate candidate Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) that he would not endorse them. Daines has endorsed Sheehy in Montana.
Democrats, meanwhile, are seeking to use Trump’s endorsement against him in the general election, harkening back to Republican losses in 2022.
“Trump is looming over Senate Republicans’ primaries and making the GOP’s nasty infighting even worse,” said Tommy Garcia, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “As Republican candidates fight for Trump’s favor, they’re showing the voters who will decide the general election in their states why they should be rejected in 2024.”
And not every Republican running for Senate is immediately tying themselves to the former president. In Nevada, Sam Brown, who has been endorsed by Daines, has yet to endorse Trump despite volunteering for his campaign in 2020. His primary opponent Jim Marchant, on the other hand, has endorsed Trump. Marchant has also said Brown is the GOP establishment’s choice, pointing to his endorsement from the NRSC.
“Mitch McConnell & the establishment needed a candidate & found him in Sam Brown,” Marchant said in a tweet earlier this month. “We see Reagan’s ‘bold-colored differences’ between DC & the real America.”
Weaver noted that while more anti-establishment candidates may try to use this attack line, there’s still much to be gained from an endorsement from the Senate GOP campaign arm.
“Being endorsed by the Washington establishment can bring valuable contributions from interest groups around the country, but it can also bring some criticism for being too close to the Beltway,” he said.
Others caution that endorsements should not be seen as integral to the success of a campaign.
“Ultimately these candidates have got to focus on their message and they’ve got to focus on having the resources to disseminate their message,” the GOP strategist said. “They need to be able to actually run a functional campaign and no endorsement is going to matter if those things aren’t done,” the strategist added. | https://www.kark.com/hill-politics/trumps-role-in-gop-senate-primaries-underscores-his-strength/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:16 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/hill-politics/trumps-role-in-gop-senate-primaries-underscores-his-strength/ |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Political instability in Niger resulting from a military takeover that deposed the president this week threatens the economic support provided by Washington to the African nation, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Saturday.
Members of the Niger military announced on Wednesday they had deposed democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and on Friday named Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani as the country’s new leader, adding Niger to a growing list of military regimes in West Africa’s Sahel region.
Blinken, who is in Australia as part of a Pacific tour, said the continued security and economic arrangements that Niger has with the U.S. hinged on the release of Bazoum and “the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger.”
“Our economic and security partnership with Niger — which is significant, hundreds of millions of dollars — depends on the continuation of the democratic governance and constitutional order that has been disrupted by the actions in the last few days,” Blinken said. “So that assistance, that support, is in clear jeopardy as a result of these actions, which is another reason why they need to be immediately reversed.”
Blinken stopped short of calling the military actions in Niger a coup, a designation that could result in the African country losing millions of dollars of military aid and assistance.
Speaking in Brisbane, Blinken said he had spoken with President Bazoum on Saturday but did not provide details. He cited the support of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and other regional entities in trying to bring an end to the unrest.
“The very significant assistance that we have in place that’s making a material difference in the lives of the people of Niger is clearly in jeopardy and we’ve communicated that as clearly as we possibly can to those responsible for disrupting the constitutional order and Niger’s democracy,” Blinken said.
Blinken said the U.S. Embassy in Niger had accounted for the safety of all staff members and their families, while issuing a security alert advising U.S. citizens in the country to limit unnecessary movements and avoid areas impacted by the coup.
The military group that conducted the coup, calling itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, said its members remained committed to engaging with the international and national community.
“This is as a result of the continuing degradation of the security situation, the bad economic and social governance,” air force Col. Major Amadou Abdramane said in the video released by the coup leaders Wednesday. He said aerial and land borders were closed and a curfew was in place until the situation stabilized.
Bazoum was elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France.
Niger is seen as the last reliable partner for the West in efforts to battle jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in Africa’s Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have vied for influence in the fight against extremism.
France has 1,500 soldiers in the country who conduct joint operations with Niger’s military, while the U.S. and other European countries have helped train the nation’s troops.
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Hannon reported from Bangkok. | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-blinken-says-us-economic-support-for-niger-is-at-risk-as-military-takeover-threatens-stability/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:22 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-blinken-says-us-economic-support-for-niger-is-at-risk-as-military-takeover-threatens-stability/ |
TOKYO (AP) — Toshihiro Mutsuda was only 5 years old when he last saw his father, who was drafted by Japan’s Imperial Army in 1943 and killed in action. For him, his father was a bespectacled man in an old family photo standing by a signed good-luck flag that he carried to war.
On Saturday, when the flag was returned to him from a U.S. war museum where it had been on display for 29 years, Mutsuda, now 83, said: “It’s a miracle.”
The flag, known as “Yosegaki Hinomaru,” or Good Luck Flag, carries the soldier’s name, Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, and the signatures of his relatives, friends and neighbors wishing him luck. It was given to him before he was drafted by the Army. His family was later told he died in Saipan, but his remains were never returned.
The flag was donated in 1994 and displayed at the museum aboard the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Its meaning was not known until it was identified by the family earlier this year, said museum director Steve Banta, who brought the flag to Tokyo.
Banta said he learned the story behind the flag earlier this year when he was contacted by the Obon Society, a nonprofit organization that has returned about 500 similar flags as non-biological remains, to the descendants of Japanese servicemembers killed in the war.
The search for the flag’s original owner started in April when a museum visitor took a photo and asked an expert about the description that it had belonged to a “kamikaze” suicide pilot. When Shigeyoshi Mutsuda’s grandson saw the photo, he sought help from the Obon Society, group co-founder Keiko Ziak said.
“When we learned all of this, and that the family would like to have the flag, we knew immediately that the flag did not belong to us,” Banta said at the handover ceremony. “We knew that the right thing to do would be to send the flag home, to be in Japan and to the family.”
The soldier’s eldest son, Toshihiro Mutsuda, was speechless for a few seconds when Banta, wearing white gloves, gently placed the neatly folded flag into his hands. Two of his younger siblings, both in their 80s, stood by and looked on silently. The three children, all wearing cotton gloves so they wouldn’t damage the decades-old flag, carefully unfolded it to show to the audience.
“After receiving the flag today, I earnestly felt that the war like that should never be fought again and that I do not wish anyone else to go through this sadness (of separation),” Toshihiro Mutsuda said.
The soldier’s daughter, Misako Matsukuchi, touched the flag with both hands and prayed. “After nearly 80 years, the spirit of our father returned to us. I hope he can finally rest in peace,” Matsukuchi said later.
Toshihiro Mutsuda said his memory of his father was foggy. However, he clearly remembers his mother, Masae Mutsuda, who died five years ago at age 102, used to make the long-distance bus trip almost every year from the farming town in Gifu, central Japan, to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where the 2.5 million war dead are enshrined, to pay tribute to her husband’s spirit.
The shrine is controversial, as it includes convicted war criminals among those commemorated. Victims of Japanese aggression during the first half of the 20th century, especially China and the Koreas, see Yasukuni as a symbol of Japanese militarism. However, for the Mutsuda family, it’s a place to remember the loss of a father and husband.
“It’s like an old love story across the ages coming together … It doesn’t matter where,” Banta said, referring to the Yasukuni controversy. “The important thing is this flag goes to the family.”
That’s why Toshihiro Mutsuda and his siblings chose to receive the flag at Yasukuni and brought the framed photos of their parents.
“My mother missed him and wanted to see him so much and that’s why she used to pray here,” he said. “Today her wish finally came true, and she was able to be reunited.”
Keeping the flag on his lap, he said, “I feel the weight of the flag.” | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-its-a-miracle-say-family-of-japanese-soldier-killed-in-wwii-as-flag-he-carried-returns-from-us/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:28 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-its-a-miracle-say-family-of-japanese-soldier-killed-in-wwii-as-flag-he-carried-returns-from-us/ |
An Allegiant Air flight attendant was injured on a plane that took "evasive action" to avoid a collision with another jet near a South Florida airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said, according to reports.
On Sunday, an Allegiant Air plane headed for Kentucky had just taken off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when the pilot received a message about a plane flying at the same altitude, according to CNN.
An air traffic controller from the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center instructed the Allegiant Air pilot "to turn eastbound at an altitude of 23,000 feet when it crossed in front of a northbound Gulfstream business jet," the FAA said, according to CNN.
The Gulfstream jet also took evasive action.
Allegiant Air passenger Jerrica Thacker told CNN that the plane abruptly "went straight up."
"It truly felt like a roller coaster," she said. "We went up and down and then leveled out."
When the plane went upward, two flight attendants fell backwards — one of whom stayed on the ground for five minutes until being helped to the rear of the plane, Thacker recounted.
"The flight crew asked if there were any medically trained individuals on the plane," said Thacker.
About 20 minutes later, the pilot explained over the intercom that the sudden ascension was a maneuver to avoid a collision, and that the aircraft would be returning to Fort Lauderdale.
Thacker said people began crying and praying after the announcement.
She said her and her family rented a car and drove 15 hours to Kentucky because they were too shaken to get back on a plane.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.abc15.com/evasive-action-taken-to-avoid-plane-collision-near-florida-airport | 2023-07-29T17:38:33 | 1 | https://www.abc15.com/evasive-action-taken-to-avoid-plane-collision-near-florida-airport |
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand striker Hannah Wilkinson has helped create two milestones at the Women’s World Cup.
With her 48th-minute goal in the tournament opener against Norway, she led the co-host Football Ferns to their first win in six trips to the Women’s World Cup. She’s also one of at least 95 out members of the LGBTQ+ community competing in this year’s tournament, according to a count being kept by Outsports, a website that covers the LGBTQ+ sports.
The Ferns were greeted with a fan-made sign at their next match in Wellington: “Gay for soccer, gay for Wilkie,” it read.
The 95 out participants make up roughly 13% of the 736 total players at the Women’s World Cup, more than doubling the 40 players and coaches Outsports counted in 2019.
The 2023 tournament also is hosting the first openly trans and non-binary player in either a men’s or Women’s World Cup, Quinn of Canada.
“Last World Cup was so big, especially with the visibility of the U.S. women’s national team winning and (Megan Rapinoe) fighting with (Donald) Trump. So I think that was a huge year for LGBTQ+ visibility,” said Lindsey Freeman, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
“It’s just the ad hoc, fun culture of women’s soccer that you’re seeing in this World Cup,” said Freeman, who is in New Zealand conducting research on the topic.
Jim Buzinski, co-founder of Outsports, agreed. “In the Western world, it’s such a non-issue that it really just doesn’t get talked about,” he said. “And I think that’s in a good way.”
VISIBILITY
Prior to the start of the tournament, FIFA designated eight socially conscious armbands team captains could wear throughout the Women’s World Cup. The decision came after “One Love” armbands were denied to men’s teams in Qatar in 2022.
The armbands being used this year include anti-discriminatory sayings and multiple colors, but the rainbow version Germany wanted to use is not allowed. None of the available options explicitly mention LGBTQ+ rights.
The decision has led many players to express their support in more creative ways across Australia and New Zealand.
New Zealand midfielder Ali Riley was interviewed on the official Women’s World Cup broadcast after her team’s upset of Norway. Her painted fingernails, left hand in the colors of the pride flag and right hand as the trans flag, were clearly visible as she held her head and fought back tears.
“She’s such an advocate and she’s definitely someone who uses her platform in such a positive way. We are all so proud of her and the way she represents the LGBTQ+ community,” teammate CJ Bott said. “Good on her. We’re all backing her, and we all back the community as well.”
The Philippines, making its Women’s World Cup debut, took home its own historic win over New Zealand 1-0 thanks to the foot of Sarina Bolden. Bolden’s Instagram bio reads, “i just wanna have fun n b gay.”
Irish star Katie McCabe wowed fans with a goal directly from a corner kick. She’s also made tabloid news for her relationships with other players.
Thembi Kgatlana, who has scored in the tournament for South Africa, has a patch of her hair dyed rainbow colors.
“My personality is very big for me, and my hair has become a part of my personality,” Kgatlana said. “And I did this rainbow because I want to represent all the people that are part of the LGBTQ and cannot talk while in countries where they’re oppressed.”
FAN EXPERIENCE
Kristen Pariseau and her wife started a U.S. women’s national team supporters group on Facebook ahead of traveling to this year’s Women’s World Cup. Aside from some hateful users she blocked, it’s been “super LGBT friendly.”
She and her wife did not go to Qatar for the 2022 men’s World Cup to avoid referencing each other as friends and receiving questions on their sexuality. In New Zealand, she said she’s met many same-sex couples at games and while traveling around the country.
“Everywhere you turn, it’s like, ‘Oh, my wife, my girlfriend.’ It’s been so welcoming and open,” Pariseau said. “In a way, it is kind of cool to be where there’s a lot of other people like you.”
Kelsie Bozart took her own pride flag armband to the United States’ second match in Wellington, along with a pride scarf.
“If you look back a couple years, I feel like it just wasn’t really talked about or there just wasn’t much of a presence,” Bozart said. “But moving forward I feel like, especially for the U.S., they’ve done an amazing job of just incorporating pride and LGBTQ.”
NOT UNIVERSAL
Though this year’s tournament has highlighted vast gains for the LGBTQ+ community in women’s soccer, advocates feel there is still work to be done.
According to Buzinski and Outsports, there were at least 186 LGBTQ+ athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. Women outnumbered men by a 9:1 ratio. There also were no confirmed out players at the 2022 men’s World Cup.
“I think women’s sports have always been open,” Denmark striker Pernille Harder said, adding that there are many role models for women who want to come out.
Freeman said it would be good to see men feel the same level of comfort.
“What can happen in the women’s game, I would love to spill over to the men’s game,” she said. “Because obviously, there’s way more queer players in the men’s game and it’s just not safe for them to come out.
“If you want to say that you’re in an inclusive space, you really have to be an inclusive space,” Freeman added. “And I think that that includes also holding the World Cup in places where it’s fine to be a queer person.”
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Max Ralph is a student in John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
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Contributing reporters included Joe Lister in Wellington and Rafaela Pontes in Auckland, students in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State, and Clay Witt in Sydney, Australia, a student at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-lgbtq-community-proud-and-visible-at-womens-world-cup/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:35 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-lgbtq-community-proud-and-visible-at-womens-world-cup/ |
HAVRE, MT — The Havre Police Department said on Thursday that Alicia Navarro came into the police station at about 11 a.m. on Sunday, July 23, 2023.
She told police that she had been reported missing and wanted to "clear her status." The agency said that Alicia appeared to be fine and in good health.
When interacting with police, Alicia appeared to be in bright spirits, the same happy and healthy girl who mysteriously vanished from Glendale years ago. She was reportedly apologetic for what she put her mother through, and the pair were virtually reunited.
The HPD said in a news release: "We are so glad for Alicia and her family so that they can be reunited and the family can no longer have the anguish of not knowing where their child is or whether or not she is ok."
We talked with some Havre residents, who expressed relief that Alicia was safe - and also curiosity about how the situation came about.
Emily Bouge, a hairdresser in Havre, wondered, “Where she'd been. And how did she get by? This whole time, I can't even imagine it. Especially as a parent, you know. How do you even…you worry that whole time they're gone?”
For MSU-Northern student Jonathan Michaelson, the news makes much more sense given recent events at his apartment building, where armed men stormed a neighbor’s unit.
Michaelson said, “They went in with arms and body armor. Like they went in really aggressively, apparently. So all I knew, (an officer) eventually came up while I was talking to my neighbors. One of the guys that was supposedly undercover told me he was up here from Arizona. All he really wanted to know was how well I knew my neighbor, the interactions I had, whether or not there was a girl that had been living there. He told me late teens, like Latina, or something.”
Whether Alicia had been living just next door to Jonathan remains to be seen, as police will not disclose her current or former location.
Alicia's mother told ABC15 that a person was questioned by authorities and that person has been released.
On Friday afternoon, Glendale police said their detectives went to Havre and served a search warrant after Alicia identified herself at the Havre police station.
RELATED: Alicia Navarro, missing since 2019 out of Glendale, found alive in Montana
Detectives interviewed approximately four individuals. At this time, no one has been detained or is in custody, and no arrests have been made.
At this point, no information about her disappearance has been released, including how long she has been in Montana, and whether she was or is currently accompanied by anyone.
The Glendale Police Department has assumed the lead in the investigation. | https://www.abc15.com/news/region-west-valley/glendale/havre-residents-react-after-missing-glendale-teen-found-safe | 2023-07-29T17:38:39 | 1 | https://www.abc15.com/news/region-west-valley/glendale/havre-residents-react-after-missing-glendale-teen-found-safe |
PHOENIX (AP) — A historic heat wave that turned the U.S. Southwest into a blast furnace throughout July is beginning to abate with the late arrival of monsoon rains.
Forecasters expect that by Monday at the latest, people in metro Phoenix will begin seeing high temperatures under 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) for the first time in a month. As of Friday, the high temperature in the desert city had been at or above that mark for 29 consecutive days.
Already this week, the overnight low at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport fell under 90 (32.2 C) for the first time in 16 days, finally allowing people some respite from the stifling heat once the sun goes down.
Temperatures are also expected to ease in Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Death Valley, California.
The downward trend started Wednesday night, when Phoenix saw its first major monsoon storm since the traditional start of the season on June 15. While more than half of the greater Phoenix area saw no rainfall from that storm, some eastern suburbs were pummeled by high winds, swirling dust and localized downfalls of up to an inch (2.5 centimeters) of precipitation.
Storms gradually increasing in strength are expected over the weekend.
Scientists calculate that July will prove to be the hottest globally on record and perhaps the warmest human civilization has seen. The extreme heat is now hitting the eastern part of the U.S, as soaring temperatures moved from the Midwest into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, where some places are seeing their warmest days so far this year.
The new heat records being set this summer are just some of the extreme weather being seen around the U.S. this month, such as flash floods in Pennsylvania and parts of the Northeast.
And while relief may be on the way for the Southwest, for now it’s still dangerously hot. Phoenix’s high temperature reached 116 (46.7 C) Friday afternoon, which is far above the average temperature of 106 (41.1 C).
“Anyone can be at risk outside in this record heat,” the fire department in Goodyear, a Phoenix suburb, warned residents on social media while offering ideas to stay safe.
For many people such as older adults, those with health issues and those without access to air conditioning, the heat can be dangerous or even deadly.
Maricopa County, the most populous in Arizona and home to Phoenix, reported this week that its public health department had confirmed 25 heat-associated deaths this year as of July 21, with 249 more under investigation.
Results from toxicological tests that can takes weeks or months after an autopsy is conducted could eventually result in many deaths listed as under investigation as heat associated being changed to confirmed.
Maricopa County confirmed 425 heat-associated deaths last year, and more than half of them occurred in July.
Elsewhere in Arizona next week, the agricultural desert community of Yuma is expecting highs ranging from 104 to 112 (40 C to 44.4 C) and Tucson is looking at highs ranging from 99 to 111 (37.2 C to 43.9 C).
The highs in Las Vegas are forecast to slip as low as 94 (34.4 C) next Tuesday after a long spell of highs above 110 (43.3 C). Death Valley, which hit 128 (53.3 C) in mid-July, will cool as well, though only to a still blistering hot 116 (46.7 C).
In New Mexico, the highs in Albuquerque next week are expected to be in the mid to high 90s (around 35 C), with party cloudy skies. | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-the-extreme-heat-wave-that-blasted-the-southwest-is-abating-with-late-arriving-monsoon-rains/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:41 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-the-extreme-heat-wave-that-blasted-the-southwest-is-abating-with-late-arriving-monsoon-rains/ |
PHOENIX — A man is dead after he reportedly crashed into a bus in north Phoenix early Saturday morning.
Phoenix police were called to the crash around 12:30 a.m. near 7th Street and Bell Road.
When officers arrived, they found a city bus involved and a man who had been seriously hurt.
The man, identified as 23-year-old Christian Leal-Coronado, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
He later died at the hospital.
The bus driver and the only passenger on the bus were not hurt in the crash.
Police believe Leal-Coronado was driving southbound on 7th Street approaching Bell Road when, for unknown reasons, he crossed into opposing lanes of traffic and hit the bus that was traveling in the curb lane northbound.
The crash is still under investigation. | https://www.abc15.com/traffic/man-dead-after-crashing-into-city-bus-in-north-phoenix | 2023-07-29T17:38:45 | 0 | https://www.abc15.com/traffic/man-dead-after-crashing-into-city-bus-in-north-phoenix |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon.
Catch the first show Tuesday evening as the full moon rises in the southeast, appearing slightly brighter and bigger than normal. That’s because it will be closer than usual, just 222,159 miles (357,530 kilometers) away, thus the supermoon label.
The moon will be even closer the night of Aug. 30 — a scant 222,043 miles (357,344 kilometers) distant. Because it’s the second full moon in the same month, it will be what’s called a blue moon.
“Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset. And it happens twice in August,” said retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, dubbed Mr. Eclipse for his eclipse-chasing expertise.
The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.
Masi will provide a live webcast of Tuesday evening’s supermoon, as it rises over the Coliseum in Rome.
“My plans are to capture the beauty of this … hopefully bringing the emotion of the show to our viewers,” Masi said in an email.
“The supermoon offers us a great opportunity to look up and discover the sky,” he added.
This year’s first supermoon was in July. The fourth and last will be in September. The two in August will be closer than either of those.
Provided clear skies, binoculars or backyard telescopes can enhance the experience, Espenak said, revealing such features as lunar maria — the dark plains formed by ancient volcanic lava flows — and rays emanating from lunar craters.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the August full moon is traditionally known as the sturgeon moon. That’s because of the abundance of that fish in the Great Lakes in August, hundreds of years ago.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-two-supermoons-in-august-mean-double-the-stargazing-fun/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:49 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-two-supermoons-in-august-mean-double-the-stargazing-fun/ |
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Saturday that Sri Lanka is a key partner in a Tokyo-led initiative aimed at building security and economic cooperation around the Indo-Pacific but also at countering an increasingly assertive China.
Sri Lanka, strategically located in the Indian Ocean, is integral to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, Hayashi said. He was speaking after a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Ali Sabry, in the capital, Colombo.
The initiative, announced by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in March includes Japan’s assistance to emerging economies, support for maritime security, a provision of coast guard patrol boats and equipment and other infrastructure cooperation.
Last year Sri Lanka, which owed $51 billion in foreign debt, became the first Asia-Pacific country since the late 1990s to default, sparking an economic crisis.
While Japan is Sri Lanka’s largest creditor, about 10% of its debt is held by China, which lent Colombo billions to build sea ports, airports and power plants as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. In March, China agreed to offer Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on loan repayments.
Hayashi said that he conveyed expectations for further progress in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process. He welcomed Sri Lanka’s efforts under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which includes anti-corruption measures and transparency in the policy-making process.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Sabry said that he, along with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, invited Japan to resume investment projects already in the pipeline and to consider fresh investments in sectors such as power generation, ports and highways, and dedicated investment zones, as well as in the green and digital economy.
Over many decades, Japan became one of Sri Lanka’s key donors, carrying out key projects under concessionary terms. However, relations between the two countries came under strain after Wickremesinghe’s predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa unilaterally scrapped a Japan-funded light railway project following his election in 2019.
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has already approved a proposal to restart the railway project.
Rajapaksa was forced to resign in July 2022 amid angry public protects over the country’s worst economic crisis. | https://www.kark.com/news/business/ap-with-one-eye-on-china-japan-backs-sri-lanka-as-a-partner-in-the-indo-pacific/ | 2023-07-29T17:38:56 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/business/ap-with-one-eye-on-china-japan-backs-sri-lanka-as-a-partner-in-the-indo-pacific/ |
HUARINA, Bolivia (AP) — A 70-year-old man’s feet sink into the soil as he passes abandoned boats where there used to be the water of Lake Titicaca. The highest navigable lake in the world has receded to what Bolivian authorities say are critically low levels due to a persistent drought.
“It’s completely dry,” Jaime Mamani said in exasperation while walking along the new shoreline in Huarina, a farming town 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of La Paz where he is a community leader.
The National Service of Naval Hydrography declared an alert this week for the iconic lake after its surface fell 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) below the drought warning stage, or 3,807.8 meters (12492.7 feet) above sea level. But the agency says this is just the beginning of a situation that is worrying Indigenous Aymara communities that rely on the lake for their livelihoods and fear the dry spell could permanently impact the region’s flora and fauna.
The hydrology unit of Bolivia’s navy warned that water levels could reach historically low levels in the coming months. By December, there is a “high probability” Lake Titicaca will be 64 centimeters (more than 25 inches) below the drought alert level, breaking a low water record set in 1998 by 33 centimeters (almost 13 inches).
“In three months, the water has decreased by 30 centimeters (11.8 inches), and considering that radiation is much stronger during this time of the year … we expect it to keep decreasing,” Carlos Carrasco, a hydraulic engineer for the hydrography service said.
The drought is the result of a combination of factors, including natural phenomena like La Niña and El Niño, which arrived unusually early this year and have been particularly strong due in part to climate change, according to Lucía Walper, who heads up the Hydrological Forecasting Unit at Bolivia’s National Meteorology and Hydrology Service.
But the vast lake is vital for this region of the Bolivian highlands, where hundreds of Aymara rural communities have relied on the blue body of water for millennia to practice subsistence farming and raise livestock.
Authorities in the Peruvian city of Puno also issued a warning about the declining water levels and expressed concern about the potential impact on tourism.
“We’re reaching a critical point. There will be a significant loss of water,” said Juan José Ocola, president of the Binational Authority of Lake Titicaca. The lake serves as the border between Bolivia and Peru.
Mateo Vargas, 56, a fisherman who has lived off the Lake Titicaca for 28 years, said he used to catch “lots” of fish daily. Now he considers himself lucky if he can catch six.
Vargas’ wife, Justina Condori, shares his concerns.
“The fish have vanished,” Condori, 58, said, predicting there will be famine if the current conditions persist.
Condori makes a living by renting boats to tourists. She worries fewer people will come to visit the lake, which at an elevation of 3,810 meters above sea level, is the largest body of freshwater in the Andes mountain range.
Evidence of the receding lake is seemingly everywhere. Women who sell fried fish and other snacks by the lake face rising costs for ingredients. Those who make a living transporting people from one side of the lake to the other are altering their routes because their rafts and boats no longer reach their usual docks.
Livestock farmers who rely on the plants that grow on the shores of the Titicaca to feed their animals are also seeing their livelihoods threatened.
The economic hardship is causing many residents of Huarina to migrate to other areas of the country, leaving behind mostly older townspeople, Mamani said. The waters of the Titicaca have always been shallow around the town, so the drought is even more visible there.
“There is a detriment to the economy of the inhabitants of the region,” he said.
Vargas, the fisherman, is also concerned about what the declining water levels will mean for the future.
“It looks like it will continue to decrease, day by day,” he said. “We’re worried because if we continue like this, what’s going to happen to our children?”
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Follow AP’s coverage of the climate and environment at https://apnews.com/climate-and-environment | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-a-drought-alert-for-receding-lake-titicaca-has-indigenous-communities-worried-for-their-future/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:02 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-a-drought-alert-for-receding-lake-titicaca-has-indigenous-communities-worried-for-their-future/ |
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — The African Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the country’s democratically elected government just as the coup leaders met with senior civil servants to discuss how they would run the country and as the U.S. and the European Union threatened sanctions against the regime.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on Wednesday, told state television that the junta met with civil servants on Friday and asked them to continue their work as usual following the suspension of the constitution. “The message given was not to stop the processes underway, to keep on with things,” said Brig. Gen. Toumba.
“Everything that must be done will be done,” he said, signaling the intention of the regime led by Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who also goes by Omar, to remain in power.
After its meeting on Friday, the African Union Peace and Security Council said it was concerned by the “alarming resurgence” of coups that undermine democracy and stability on the continent. It asked the soldiers to “return immediately and unconditionally to their barracks and restore constitutional authority, within a maximum of fifteen (15) days.”
Bazoum, whose condition and that of his officials remains unknown since the government was overthrown, should also be released immediately and unconditionally, the AU said. Failure to do so would compel the bloc to take “necessary action, including punitive measures against the perpetrators.”
On the streets of the Nigerien capital Niamey on Saturday, things appeared to be returning to normal, though many in the international community were still on lockdown with hotels full of foreigners, many given instructions not to leave.
Locals say they’re waiting to see what unfolds, with many still in support of Bazoum who has not yet resigned. “I’m with him, he does a good work. (But) what can we do?” said Mohamed Cisse, a street seller. “This is (the new leader’s) time, Bazoum’s time is over,” he said.
Tchiani, the junta leader and commander of Niger’s presidential guard, is close to former Nigerien president Mahamadou Issoufou, who stepped down in 2021 after a decade in office. Tchiani’s takeover of power will reinforce speculation that Issoufou is behind the coup, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German think tank and consultancy.
The U.S. threatened to halt its economic support to Niger while the European Union announced the immediate indefinite suspension of budgetary support and security assistance.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is in Australia as part of a Pacific tour, estimated America’s economic and security partnership with Niger at hundreds of millions of dollars and said its continuity depends on “the continuation of the democratic governance and constitutional order.”
“So that assistance, that support, is in clear jeopardy as a result of these actions, which is another reason why they need to be immediately reversed,” Blinken said.
While there are no signs of the junta backing down amid growing international pressure, analysts called for synergy in the interventions of the international community and continental organizations such as the AU and the regional bloc of ECOWAS, which is scheduled to meet over the coup on Sunday.
A successful coup in Niger and the sanctions in the aftermath could cause more hardship for millions of poor and hungry people in West Africa and could further threaten international relations with the region, which is seeing a resurgence of coups in recent years, according to Idayat Hassan, senior Africa program fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“A non-reversal of the coup also means that we are defining a new world order in West Africa in particular as you are pitching the west and other countries against few military regimes which may be backed by Russia,” said Hassan.
———
Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Baba Ahmed in Bamako, Mali contributed. | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-african-union-gives-15-day-ultimatum-to-niger-junta-to-end-regime-but-soldiers-seek-continuity/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:10 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-african-union-gives-15-day-ultimatum-to-niger-junta-to-end-regime-but-soldiers-seek-continuity/ |
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Salvage crews were preparing Saturday to tow a car-carrying cargo ship that has been burning for days to an anchor point in the North Sea after flames and smoke on board subsided, the Dutch government said.
Fire erupted in the Fremantle Highway late Tuesday night near a chain of islands in the northern Netherlands and has been blazing ever since. The ship is carrying 3,783 new vehicles, including 498 electric vehicles, the company that chartered the vessel said.
One crew member died and others were injured after the fire broke out on the ship that was heading from Bremerhaven in Germany to Singapore. The crew was evacuated in the early hours of Wednesday. The cause of the fire has not been established.
Measurements Friday showed that heat, flames and smoke had subsided enough for salvage experts to board the ship for the first time and establish a strong towing connection with a tugboat, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management said.
It will be towed, likely over the weekend, to a new position 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of the island of Schiermonnikoog , the ministry said in a statement. The timing of the operation that is expected to take 12-14 hours depends on smoke development and weather, the ministry added. The aim is ultimately “once conditions on board allow,” to tow the ship to a port, though the destination has not yet been decided.
The ministry said the ship is stable and intact below the waterline.
The burning vessel is close to the shallow Wadden Sea, a World Heritage-listed area that is considered one of the world’s most significant habitats for migratory birds. It’s also near the Netherlands’ border with Germany, whose environment minister, Steffi Lemke, has warned of “an environmental catastrophe of unknown proportions,” if the ship were to sink. | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-burning-cargo-ship-off-dutch-coast-will-be-towed-to-a-new-location-after-flames-and-smoke-subsided/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:17 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-burning-cargo-ship-off-dutch-coast-will-be-towed-to-a-new-location-after-flames-and-smoke-subsided/ |
BAGHDAD (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s Shiite militant group Hezbollah said Saturday that if governments of Muslim-majority nations do not act against countries that allow the desecration of the Quran, Muslims should “punish” those who facilitate attacks on Islam’s holy book.
The comments by Hassan Nasrallah came in a video address to tens of thousands gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs to mark Ashoura, a Shiite holy day commemorating the 7th century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein.
Nasrallah often uses religious occasions to send political messages to followers, and on Saturday slammed recent incidents in which the Quran was burned or otherwise desecrated at authorized demonstrations in Sweden and Denmark.
He said Muslims should watch for the outcome of an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, scheduled to take place in Baghdad on Monday to discuss the organization’s response to the Quran burnings.
The organization and its member states should “send a firm, decisive and unequivocal message to these governments that any repeat of the attacks will be met with a boycott,” Nasrallah said. If they do not, he said, Muslim youth should “punish the desecrators.”
He did not elaborate what such a boycott and punishment should entail.
Members of the crowd, who carried banners with religious slogans alongside the flags of Hezbollah, Lebanon and Palestine, chanted, “Oh, Quran, we are at your service; Oh, Hussein, we are at your service.”
Shiites represent over 10% of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims and view Hussein as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein’s death in battle at the hands of Sunnis at Karbala, south of Baghdad, ingrained a deep rift in Islam and continues to this day to play a key role in shaping Shiite identity.
Millions of Shiite Muslims in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world on Friday commemorated Ashoura, while Saturday marked the culmination of the observances in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered in the Iraqi city of Karbala, where Hussein is entombed in a gold-domed shrine. In the streets of the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, mourners gathered to watch reenactments of the Battle of Karbala and Hussein’s death.
In the streets, young men clad in black and white slashed their heads with swords and knives to demonstrate their grief. Friends swabbed each other’s heads with tissues and handed each other water.
In Syria’s capital, Damascus, the crowds were mourning not only the death of Hussein but a deadly attack in the suburb of Sayida Zeinab, home to a shrine to Zeinab, the daughter of the first Shiite imam, Ali, and granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
A bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded there on Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more. On Tuesday, another bomb in a motorcycle had wounded two people.
On Friday, the Islamic State group — a Sunni militant group that often targets Shiites — claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying Thursday’s bombing came “during their annual polytheistic rituals.” The group’s extreme interpretation of Islam holds Shiite Muslims to be apostates.
___
Associated Press writers Anmar Khalil in Karbala, Iraq, and Hassan Ammar in Beirut contributed to this report. | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-lebanons-hezbollah-leader-urges-muslims-to-punish-quran-desecrators-if-governments-fail-to-do-so/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:25 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-lebanons-hezbollah-leader-urges-muslims-to-punish-quran-desecrators-if-governments-fail-to-do-so/ |
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) —
A 9-year-old girl and her 10-year-old brother have been called as witnesses in a criminal case against their mother after she was accused of repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian army.
Lidia Prudovskaya and her two children were summoned by investigators in the northern Russian region of Arkhangelsk on Friday to give testimony in the case, Russian news outlet Sota reported.
Prudovskaya previously faced administrative charges on similar allegations after sharing anti-war posts on Russian social media platform VKontakte in September 2022.
Discrediting the Russian military is a criminal offense under a law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The law is regularly used against Kremlin critics.
In April, Russian authorities petitioned to restrict the parental rights of a single father convicted of discrediting the army following an anti-war sketch drawn by his daughter at school.
Alexei Moskalyov, 54, was sentenced to two years in prison for social media comments he had made criticizing Moscow’s war in Ukraine, while his daughter Maria was placed in an orphanage.
The 13-year-old was later moved to live with her mother. | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-russian-investigators-call-children-as-witnesses-against-their-mother-accused-of-discrediting-army/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:31 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-russian-investigators-call-children-as-witnesses-against-their-mother-accused-of-discrediting-army/ |
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian police arrested the president’s son Saturday as part of a high-profile money laundering probe into funds he allegedly collected from convicted drug traffickers during last year’s presidential campaign.
President Gustavo Petro, a former rebel who rose through Colombia’s political ranks as an anti-corruption crusader, said he wouldn’t interfere with the investigation.
“As an individual and father, it pains me to see so much self destruction and one of my sons going to jail,” Petro said in an early morning message on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “As president of the republic, I’ve assured the chief prosecutor’s office that it will have all of the guarantees so it can proceed according to the law.”
The arrest of Nicolas Petro is a major blow to the government, which has been buffeted by conservative attacks from day one at the same time it has struggled to maintain bipartisan support for Colombia in the U.S., a longtime ally in the war on drugs and fight against illegal armed groups.
The investigation stems from shocking declarations made by Nicolas Petro’s ex-wife, Daysuris del Carmen Vasquez, to local media outlet Semana earlier this year.
In the extended interview, Vasquez detailed how she was present at meetings when her husband arranged a donation of more than 600 million pesos (around $150,000) from a politician once convicted in Washington of drug trafficking and who was seeking the Petro campaign’s support to resume his political career.
She said President Petro was unaware of her son’s dealings and the money he collected in his campaign’s name was kept inside a safe inside the couple’s home in the coastal city of Barranquilla.
Nicolas Petro has denied his ex wife’s claims as unfounded.
The chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Nicolas Petro and his ex-wife were taken into custody on orders of a court in Bogota around 6 a.m. local time Saturday. It said that once brought before a judge, prosecutors would seek their provisional detention as it investigates the two for money laundering. | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-son-of-colombias-president-arrested-as-part-of-money-laundering-probe/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:38 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-son-of-colombias-president-arrested-as-part-of-money-laundering-probe/ |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – In states across the country this year, Republicans have talked a lot about restricting drag performances in front of children.
But that talk, and even their efforts, haven't amounted to much.
Bills restricting drag have failed to pass, passed as watered-down laws, have been vetoed or, in the case of three states that did manage to pass meaningful restrictions, laws have been temporarily halted by federal judges.
Friday, in fact, a judge temporarily blocked drag restrictions in the last remaining state with enforceable restrictions – Montana – just days before the start of Pride festivities.
A few states' lawmakers are still in session, though, so more efforts could be afoot.
In Arkansas, where Republican state Sen. Gary Stubblefield championed and sponsored a bill earlier this year, he said drag shows harm kids and "take away their innocence."
"I can't think of any redeeming quality, anything good that can come from taking children and putting them in front of a bunch of grown men that are dressed like women," Stubblefield said back in January as he introduced his bill on the floor of the Arkansas Senate.
'Prurient interest' and the First Amendment
Stubblefield's bill contained key language that showed up in a lot of states' attempted drag restrictions – an appeal to the "prurient interest." (Texas, Tennessee, Montana, Arizona, South Dakota, for example.)
"That word – prurient interest – means excessive interest in sexual matters," Stubblefield explained to lawmakers in committee.
"Most drag shows do not appeal to the prurient interest," says JT Morris, an attorney for the free-speech group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
"Even if they did, saying something appeals to the 'prurient interest' under the First Amendment is not enough to regulate it," he says, noting that this kind of language makes it harder for a bill to hold up to basic legal scrutiny.
"You can't pass a state law based on disagreement with somebody's viewpoint. It's a textbook First Amendment violation."
And that disagreement has been palpable across the country. In Arkansas, Stubblefield's bill was met with large public backlash from those who say drag is about showmanship, not sex.
"I do drag as an art form," says Jeremy Stuthard, an Arkansas drag performer.
"I take a decent-looking guy and turn him into a statue-esk Barbie doll, and have a great time and put smiles on people's faces and that's all I really try to do."
Stuthard says most of the children he meets at drag brunches and story hours aren't there to indulge a 'prurient interest', but to have fun listening to a story read by a costumed actor.
Drag restrictions put on hold and watered down
In Tennessee, the day before that state's drag restrictions were due to go into effect, a Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge temporarily struck down the law due to its constitutional vagueness.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker wrote, "Whether some of us may like it or not," the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment "as protecting speech that is indecent but not obscene."
A similar law in Florida has been temporarily blocked. For a while, that left Montana as the only state in the country with an enforceable drag law, until the courts temporarily blocked that one, too.
In Arkansas, Sen. Stubblefield's drag ban bill was amended until it hardly resembled a drag ban. The final version of the law, which passed by large margins, now regulates stripping, not drag shows.
"[The]Amended House Bill is the only way to really protect minors. For another reason, it's the only draft that will stand up in court," Stubblefield said of the amendment, which he didn't write but ultimately agreed to.
"None of us like to pass a bill that's going to get struck down by a judge and not help any children at all."
Josie Lenora is the politics/government reporter at KUAR in Little Rock, Ark.
Copyright 2023 KUAR | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2023-07-29/almost-nothing-has-come-from-all-the-talk-about-states-banning-drag-in-front-of-kids | 2023-07-29T17:39:43 | 0 | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2023-07-29/almost-nothing-has-come-from-all-the-talk-about-states-banning-drag-in-front-of-kids |
A $1M Mega Millions ticket has been sold in Arizona
PRESCOTT, Ariz. - There's no winner for the massive Mega Millions jackpot yet, but someone in Arizona just won $1 million Friday night.
The ticket was sold at a Circle K in Prescott near Willow Creek and College Heights roads.
If you want to see if you won a minor prize, the numbers were 5, 10, 28, 52, 63, and the Mega Ball was 18.
That $940 million prize has now climbed to $1.5 billion for Tuesday night's drawing.
The potential jackpot is the fourth-largest in the game and the fifth over $1 billion, Mega Millions said in a statement early Saturday.
Lottery jackpots grow so large because the odds of winning are so small. For Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 302.6 million.
Winners also would be subject to federal taxes, and many states also tax lottery winnings.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Where the winning ticket was sold: | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/a-1m-mega-millions-ticket-has-been-sold-in-arizona | 2023-07-29T17:39:43 | 1 | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/a-1m-mega-millions-ticket-has-been-sold-in-arizona |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday pushed back against Australian demands for an end to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s prosecution, saying the Australian citizen was accused of “very serious criminal conduct” in publishing a trove of classified documents more than a decade ago.
Australia’s center-left Labor Party government has been arguing since winning the elections last year that the United States should end its pursuit of the 52-year-old, who has spent four years in a British prison fighting extradition to the United States.
Assange’s freedom is widely seen as a test of Australia’s leverage with President Joe Biden’s administration.
Blinken confirmed on Saturday that Assange had been discussed in annual talks with Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Brisbane, Australia.
“I understand the concerns and views of Australians. I think it’s very important that our friends here understand our concerns about this matter,” Blinken told reporters.
“Mr. Assange was charged with very serious criminal conduct in the United States in connection with his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country,” he added.
Wong said Assange’s prosecution had “dragged for too long” and that Australia wanted the charges “brought to a conclusion.”
Australia remains ambiguous about whether the United States should drop the prosecution or strike a plea bargain.
Assange faces 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of of hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic and military documents in 2010.
American prosecutors allege he helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at risk.
Australia argues there is a “disconnect” between the U.S. treatment of Assange and Manning. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017. | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-us-secretary-of-state-tells-australia-that-wikileaks-founder-is-accused-of-very-serious-crime/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:45 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-us-secretary-of-state-tells-australia-that-wikileaks-founder-is-accused-of-very-serious-crime/ |
Arizona saguaros are collapsing in this extreme heat, and experts are worried
PHOENIX - The saguaros that tower over the Sonoran Desert are synonymous with Arizona and are known for their resilience, but experts are concerned that this heat could be too much for them.
The cacti usually live about 150 years, and inside their skin, they can reach up to 140 degrees inside. Still, the prolonged dryness and intense heat could be a problem.
"Saguaros, like a lot of cactus, are pretty remarkable for their tolerance to warm conditions," said Kevin Hultine, director of research with the Desert Botanical Garden. But when you start seeing prolonged temperatures like that, the long term impact can be pretty profound."
He says the skin tissues of the cactus play a big role in its growth and health.
"When it gets dry, those tissues start to get really soft and these large plants, the really majestic ones in particular, will literally collapse on themselves, so that’s one of the big concerns we have," Hultine said.
It's happening under extreme and prolonged heat conditions, with little to no moisture.
"We know in 2020, the extended heat wave we had then had a major impact on saguaros, we saw higher rates of mortality, and will probably see higher rates of mortality in the future just based on what happened in 2020," Hultine explained. "So when you add this major heat wave in July, it’s possible that this will compound that."
There's still several weeks of summer left to go, and more monsoonal moisture could help out - not just with living saguaros, but with their seeds.
"So these seeds are in the sun, and it's hotter than ever and they're cooking and dying, so that's the real issue here," said Frank Reichenbacher, associate researcher at the University of Arizona's Desert Laboratory. "The vast majority, 99%, maybe a lot more than 99% die in the sun."
And as those seeds dry up, so do the cacti. They're losing arms or collapsing entirely.
"Saguaro seeds are poorly nourished. They don't last long in the ground and they're timed so that they're released into the environment just before the monsoon hits," Reichenbacher said. They're waiting for the monsoon."
Long-term impacts to a species that can live for decades, says Reichenbacher, are still unknown.
"We're not sure if this drought that we're in is a new normal or if it's just a blimp in the climate and it'll be over soon and things will be back to normal," Reichenbacher said. "If that's the case, then we would expect the situation to be more in favor of saguaros."
But for now, just on Tumamoc Hill, the research team from the University of Arizona says the situation is not looking up.
"A total of 4,000 plus saguaros on Tumamoc Hill in four different plots, he only found about 30 new ones," Reichenbacher said. "That's not enough."
The warm nights, say scientists, are also ruining the cacti's photosynthesis process, which also costs it even more water.
Experts believe we still might not know the full impact on this heat wave to these plants for several months or even years. | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-saguaros-are-collapsing-in-this-extreme-heat-and-experts-are-worried | 2023-07-29T17:39:49 | 1 | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-saguaros-are-collapsing-in-this-extreme-heat-and-experts-are-worried |
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a freshman Republican from Wisconsin, said he was enraged after witnessing a group of high school-age Senate pages "defiling" the Capitol and treating the building like a "frat house common room."
What were the teenagers exactly doing? Briefly lying on the floor to snap photos of the historic Rotunda dome.
On Wednesday night, Senate pages, who help assist day-to-day operations at the Capitol, were touring the Capitol as part of their last week of service, Punchbowl News first reported. To capture a photo of the ceiling, some pages positioned themselves and their camera on the floor. That's when Van Orden walked in.
According to a transcript written by one of the pages and obtained by The Hill, Van Orden said, "Wake the f‑‑‑ up you little s‑‑‑‑" and "Get the f‑‑‑ out of here. You are defiling the space." He reportedly also called the teenagers "jackasses" and "lazy s----."
Since the incident, the congressman has refused to apologize for his outburst — insisting that he was protecting the integrity of the Capitol Rotunda.
"I have long said our nation's Capitol is a symbol of the sacrifice our servicemen and women have made for this country and should never be treated like a frat house common room," Van Orden said in a statement.
Maddy Pritzl, a former Senate page, defended the teenagers and clarified that it was a years-long tradition.
Every single Senate Page has taken midnight photos on the Rotunda floor at some point. I did it in 2016—it's tradition!
— Maddy Pritzl (@pritzlmaddy) July 27, 2023
Leave it to @derrickvanorden to ruin both the fun and experience for some of the hardest working 16-17-year-olds. https://t.co/3MQ05hoPJR
Senior members of Congress say the freshman needs a lesson on manners
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was disturbed by Van Orden's behavior and his lack of remorse.
"I understand that late last night a member of the House majority thought it appropriate to curse at some of these young people," Schumer said Thursday on the Senate floor. "I was shocked when I heard about it. I am further shocked at his refusal to apologize."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., agreed with Schumer, adding "everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way." Both Schumer and McConnell also took time to thank the Senate pages.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Friday that the incident was possibly a "misunderstanding" — adding that he planned to call Van Orden later that day. McCarthy's team did not immediately respond to NPR's request for an update on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, poked fun at Van Orden's outburst by imitating the position that the Senate pages reportedly were rebuked for.
TGIF after a rough week, Senate Pages? I got a great photo, how about you? @SenateCloakroom pic.twitter.com/xaPVVVrFDa
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) July 28, 2023
Van Orden is known for having a short fuse. In 2021, while running for office, he was accused of threatening a 17-year-old Wisconsin library staffer over a display of children's books in honor of Pride Month, the Associated Press reported.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2023-07-29/rep-van-orden-gets-bipartisan-scolding-after-he-cursed-at-teen-senate-pages | 2023-07-29T17:39:49 | 0 | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2023-07-29/rep-van-orden-gets-bipartisan-scolding-after-he-cursed-at-teen-senate-pages |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) – A “weld indication” has been discovered on the Fury 325 coaster at Carowinds in North Carolina — the same ride that had a support column replaced due to a crack found roughly one month ago.
The North Carolina Department of Labor confirmed with Nexstar’s WJZY that the agency was notified of the structural issue found on the popular coaster this week.
A “weld indication” could be either a break or a crack on the coaster, the department said.
“No certificate of operation has been issued nor do we have a timeline of when the certificate of operation will be issued for the Fury 325,” officials with the department said Friday.
Carowinds has since issued a statement concerning the find.
“We are conducting a full maintenance review of Fury 325 during this testing process. This maintenance review — which is consistent with routine off-season procedures — includes a review of the steel superstructure, the trains, and the ride control system,” park officials said.
“During such reviews, it is not uncommon to discover slight weld indications in various locations of a steel superstructure. It is important to note that these indications do not compromise the structural integrity or safety of the ride.”
Park officials added that each indication will be evaluated, tested, repaired and inspected “before the ride is deemed operational.”
“Additionally, as is customary, we conduct test cycles to ensure its smooth operation before guests are allowed on the ride.”
This newly reported defects come after a significant break was discovered by a parkgoer on a support beam for the roller coaster in late June.
The support pillar was replaced earlier this month. Carowinds is currently conducting its own tests and inspections ahead of inspections by the “final inspections by the “ride manufacturer, a third-party testing firm, and the North Carolina Department of Labor’s Elevator and Amusement Device Bureau,” the park said.
Carowinds bills its Fury 325 coaster as North America’s tallest, fastest, and longest giga coaster, meaning it contains a drop of at least 300 feet. Riders reach a peak height of 325 feet following a dramatic 81-degree drop. The ride can reach speeds of up to 95 mph. | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/another-crack-in-the-coaster-weld-indication-found-on-carowinds-ride-after-july-repairs/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:53 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/another-crack-in-the-coaster-weld-indication-found-on-carowinds-ride-after-july-repairs/ |
Congress breaks for August recess with no clear path to avoiding a shutdown this fall
Lawmakers broke for their August recess this week with work on funding the government largely incomplete, fueling worries about whether Congress will be able to avoid a partial government shutdown this fall.
Congress has until Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year, to act on government funding. They could pass spending bills to fund government agencies into next year, or simply pass a stopgap measure that keeps agencies running until they strike a longer-term agreement. No matter which route they take, it won't be easy.
"We're going to scare the hell out of the American people before we get this done," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.
Coons' assessment is widely shared in Congress, reflecting the gulf between the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led Senate, which are charting vastly different — and mostly incompatible — paths on spending.
A view of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, United States on July 28, 2023. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Senate is adhering mostly to the top-line spending levels that President Joe Biden negotiated with House Republicans in late May as part of the debt-ceiling deal that extended the government's borrowing authority and avoided an economically devastating default.
That agreement holds discretionary spending generally flat for the coming year while allowing increases for military and veterans accounts. On top of that, the Senate is looking to add $13.7 billion in additional emergency appropriations, including $8 billion for defense and $5.7 billion for nondefense.
House Republicans, many of whom opposed the debt-ceiling deal and refused to vote for it, are going a different way.
GOP leaders have teed up bills with far less spending than the agreement allows in an effort to win over members who insist on rolling back spending to fiscal year 2022 levels. They are also adding scores of policy add-ons broadly opposed by Democrats. There are proposals to reduce access to abortion pills, bans on the funding of hormone therapy and certain surgeries for transgender veterans, and a prohibition on training programs promoting diversity in the federal workplace, among many others.
READ MORE: Hot mic catches confused Feinstein being told to vote 'aye' in awkward committee moment
At a press conference at the Capitol this past week, some members of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction within the House GOP, said that voters elected a Republican majority in that chamber to rein in government spending and it was time for House Republicans to use every tool available to get the spending cuts they want.
"We should not fear a government shutdown," said Rep. Bob Good, R-Va. "Most of the American people won't even miss if the government is shut down temporarily."
Many House Republicans disagree with that assessment. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, called it an oversimplification to say most Americans wouldn't feel an impact. And he warned Republicans would take the blame for a shutdown.
"We always get blamed for it, no matter what," Simpson said. "So it’s bad policy, it’s bad politics."
But the slim five-seat majority Republicans hold amplifies the power that a small group can wield. Even though the debt ceiling agreement passed with a significant majority of both Republicans and Democrats, conservatives opponents were so unhappy in the aftermath that they shut down House votes for a few days, stalling the entire GOP agenda.
Shortly thereafter, McCarthy argued the numbers he negotiated with the White House amounted to a cap and "you can always do less." GOP Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, followed that she would seek to limit nondefense spending at 2022 budget levels, saying the debt agreement "set a top-line spending cap — a ceiling, not a floor."
The decision to cut spending below levels in the the debt ceiling deal helped get the House moving again, but put them on a collision course with the Senate, where the spending bills hew much closer to the agreement.
"What the House has done is they essentially tore up that agreement as soon as it was signed," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. "And so we are in for a bumpy ride."
Even as House Republicans have been moving their spending bills out of committee on party-line votes, the key committee in the Senate has been operating in a bipartisan fashion, drafting spending bills with sometimes unanimous support.
"The way to make this work is do it in a bipartisan way like we are doing in the Senate. If you do it in a partisan way, you’re heading to a shutdown. And I am really worried that that’s where the House Republicans are headed," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters this week.
McCarthy countered that people had the same doubts about whether House Republicans and the White House could reach an agreement to pass a debt ceiling extension and avoid a default.
"We’ve got 'til Sept. 30. I think we can get this all done," McCarthy said.
In a subsequent press conference, McCarthy said he had just met with Schumer to talk about the road ahead on an array of bills, including the spending bills.
"I don't want the government to shut down," McCarthy said. "I want to find that we can find common ground."
In all, there are 12 spending bills. The House has passed one so far, and moved others out of committee. The Senate has passed none, though it has advanced all 12 out of committee, something that hasn't happened since 2018.
Still, the difficulty ahead was evident on the House side, where Republicans gave up until after the recess on trying to pass a spending measure to fund federal agriculture and rural programs and the Food and Drug Administration, amid disagreements over its contents. They began their August recess a day early instead of holding votes Friday.
Simpson said some of his Republican colleagues don't want to take money approved already outside the appropriations process to cover some of this year's spending and avoid deeper cuts. For example, the House bills would take almost all of the money approved last year for the Internal Revenue Service in Biden's Inflation Reduction Act and use the savings to avoid deeper spending cuts elsewhere.
Simpson said that without such rescissions, as they are called in Washington, he couldn't vote for the agriculture spending bill because the cuts "would have just been devastating."
"That's the challenge we're going to have when we get back in September," he said.
Further complicating things in the House, a few Republicans are opposed to some of the policy riders being included in the spending bills. For example, the agriculture spending bill would reverse the FDA's decision to allow abortion pills to be dispensed in certified pharmacies, instead of only by prescribers in hospitals, clinics, and medical offices.
"I had a problem with abortion being put inside an ag bill," said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. "I think that's ridiculous."
It's a strong possibility that Congress will have to pass a stopgap spending bill before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The Senate can vote first on the measure, which would put the onus on House Republicans to bring it up for a vote or allow for a shutdown. | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/congress-breaks-august-recess-shutdown | 2023-07-29T17:39:55 | 1 | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/congress-breaks-august-recess-shutdown |
(NerdWallet) – On July 14, 804,000 longtime student loan borrowers began receiving word that their $39 billion in remaining debt would be forgiven as the result of the Education Department’s income-driven repayment (IDR) account adjustment. This one-time program, first announced in April 2022 to repair past missteps in the IDR system, is counting more past repayment periods toward income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness. Many borrowers will be at least three years closer to IDR forgiveness — and some will automatically see their loans forgiven altogether.
“At the start of this Administration, millions of borrowers had earned loan forgiveness but never received it. That’s unacceptable,” Department of Education Under Secretary James Kvaal said in a July 14 press release announcing the news. “Today we are holding up the bargain we offered borrowers who have completed decades of repayment.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg. More than 4.4 million borrowers have been repaying their loans for at least 20 years, and 2.3 million of these borrowers have never defaulted or been delinquent on their loans, according to April 2021 Education Department data provided to Sen. Elizabeth Warren. However, there’s not yet a final count of total borrowers who will receive the IDR account adjustment forgiveness, says Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC).
While the Supreme Court recently struck down President Joe Biden’s up-to-$20,000 student debt cancellation plan, no one has challenged this account adjustment since it was introduced in April 2022, and future legal roadblocks are highly unlikely, Pierce says.
“If I were a borrower, I would feel pretty good about this happening, but you know, we never say never,” Pierce says. “This is something that has never been put in front of a federal judge, and we have not seen any signs that it’s going to.”
All this is occurring as borrowers gear up for student loan payments to resume in October. Here’s what you need to know about the next waves of loan forgiveness under the IDR account adjustment and what qualified borrowers can do to prepare for it.
When will IDR adjustments be made?
The Education Department said it will notify waves of loan forgiveness recipients about every two months. Since the first major batch was announced on July 14, borrowers can expect the next announcement by mid-September.
The department plans to apply the account adjustment by the end of 2023 to all borrowers who’ve reached enough payments for forgiveness; all other borrowers will receive at least three additional years of credit toward IDR loan forgiveness in 2024.
Will I get IDR account adjustment forgiveness?
To find out whether you’ll receive loan forgiveness under the one-time IDR account adjustment, you must count your past payments yourself.
Generally, borrowers with undergraduate loans will receive loan forgiveness if they’ve made at least 240 monthly student loan payments, and those with some graduate loans will reach forgiveness if they’ve made at least 300 payments, Pierce says.
From July 1994 onward, the adjustment counts the following periods toward the 240 or 300 payments needed to reach forgiveness:
- Any month a borrower was in repayment, even if the payments were late or partial. The type of repayment plan also doesn’t matter.
- Time spent in forbearance, either periods lasting 12 or more consecutive months or a cumulative 36 or more months.
- Any month spent in deferment other than in-school deferment before 2013.
- Any month spent in economic hardship or military deferments on or after Jan. 1, 2013.
- Any months in repayment, forbearance or a qualifying deferment before a loan consolidation.
Months spent in default will generally not be included in the recount, though borrowers who enroll in the temporary Fresh Start program to get out of default will get IDR credit from March 2020 through the date they leave default.
Log in to your Federal Student Aid (FSA) account at StudentAid.gov to see how long you’ve been in repayment. To see detailed information, including descriptions of the specific forbearance or deferment periods, request your account history from your servicer.
How to prepare for the IDR account adjustment
The loan forgiveness will be largely automatic for most eligible federal borrowers with older direct loans, federally held Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans and parent PLUS loans. These borrowers don’t need to take any action to qualify or receive loan forgiveness.
“The good news is, for most people, you don’t actually need to be an expert on this program to benefit from it,” Pierce says. “If you have a loan that’s owned by the Department of Education, it’s just gonna work for you.”
But there are some small steps you can take to be proactive.
Update your contact information
Regardless of the type of federal student loans you have, check that your current contact information is listed in both your FSA and servicer accounts. While you’re at it, make sure you still have the password to these accounts, and reset your login credentials if needed.
Forty-four percent of federal borrowers were transferred to a new servicer during the pandemic payment pause, according to a June estimate from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, so now is also a good time to see if your servicer changed.
You’ll likely be notified by email if and when your loans are forgiven under the IDR account adjustment, but student loan communications may also arrive by mail.
Consolidate commercially managed federal loans
Some federal loans are not held by the government, but by a private entity. Borrowers with these commercially managed federal loans won’t benefit from the recount automatically — they’ll need to consolidate these loans to qualify. The account adjustment will count periods of repayment prior to consolidation toward IDR forgiveness.
Commercially held loans include certain FFELP loans, Perkins loans and Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program loans. You can see what type of loans you have on the dashboard of your FSA account or servicer portal.
You have until the end of 2023 to consolidate commercially held loans, but don’t delay. The full consolidation process can take from 30 to 60 days, Pierce says. Get started by submitting a direct loan consolidation application on the Federal Student Aid office website.
Consolidate newer parent PLUS loans
Parent PLUS loans are included in the IDR account adjustment. If you reach 300 payments — or 120 payments if you’re eligible for PSLF — your parent PLUS debt will be discharged automatically this year, regardless of whether or not your PLUS loans are consolidated.
But if you have fewer payments than that, you’ll need to act. Consolidate your parent PLUS loans before the end of 2023 to benefit from the adjustment, and enroll in an IDR plan called Income-Contingent Repayment to continue making progress toward forgiveness.
Apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Borrowers eligible for PSLF are also eligible for the account adjustment; they can receive IDR loan forgiveness after just 10 years, or 120 eligible payments. PSLF-eligible borrowers with direct loans, including parent PLUS loans, will benefit automatically. Those with either federally or commercially managed FFELP loans must consolidate them into a direct consolidation loan by the end of 2023 to get PSLF credit under the account adjustment.
After the adjustment is applied to your account, you’ll see credit toward PSLF for any month after October 2007 during which you were in repayment and had qualifying employment.
“If you’ve applied or will apply for PSLF and certify your employment, you may see the benefits of this adjustment to your qualifying payment count,” writes the office of Federal Student Aid. Do so as soon as possible to ensure you benefit from the recount.
Check your state’s tax policy
The federal government won’t tax any debt forgiven as a result of the IDR account adjustment.
However, certain states, including Indiana and Mississippi, treat forgiven student loans as taxable earned income, and thus may tax the amount of forgiven debt you receive. The vast majority of states don’t do this, so check the rules in your state.
If you’re concerned about a state tax bill, you can opt out of loan forgiveness. You have 30 days to do so after you receive notice that your remaining debt will be forgiven under the IDR account adjustment. | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/more-student-loan-forgiveness-coming-for-longtime-borrowers/ | 2023-07-29T17:39:59 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/more-student-loan-forgiveness-coming-for-longtime-borrowers/ |
Data breach reported in Arizona's school voucher program
PHOENIX - Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is responding to a letter by Governor Katie Hobbs seeking information about a data breach involving the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
The program, known as ESA, provides funding for parents who want their kids in private schools.
Hobbs says thousands of personal information data points, including student names and disability categories, could be viewed on ClassWallet, the program's financial vendor.
Horne says his office notified the company about the breach.
"There's a letter from ClassWallet that explained the whole thing. It was a permission setting error that they corrected immediately," Horne said. "They performed a data search, and no other users were affected. It was an isolated incident to a single user. The governor's letter makes it sound like a huge tragedy, but it was just an isolated incident."
Horne says parents were not notified because this was an isolated incident.
He also says the breach had nothing to do with the resignations this week of two top administrators overseeing the ESA program, including operations director Linda Rizzo and Christine Accurso, Horne's pick to oversee the school voucher program.
Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee says her office contracts financial service firms for state agencies, including the ESA program. Her office reportedly learned of the breach earlier this month and notified the Arizona Department of Homeland Security right away.
According to Yee, the agency confirmed the breach did not originate with the vendor.
ClassWallet released the following statement:
"We object to any implication that ClassWallet was at fault in this incident. ClassWallet has fully supported the Arizona Department of Homeland Security in its investigation into the matter, and we look forward to its swift resolution and published results." | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/data-breach-reported-in-arizonas-school-voucher-program | 2023-07-29T17:40:01 | 0 | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/data-breach-reported-in-arizonas-school-voucher-program |
UVALDE, Texas (KXAN) – Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed last year in the Robb Elementary School shooting, is planning to turn her grief into action, after announcing Thursday she will run for mayor of Uvalde, Texas, in an upcoming special election.
“This past year, it’s been so frustrating navigating our country’s political system, and sometimes you have to be the change you seek. So, here I am running for mayor,” Rubio told Nexstar.
The 34-year-old mother is looking to fill the soon-vacant seat held by Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin in an upcoming special election on Nov. 7.
McLaughlin has served as the South Texas town’s mayor since 2014, and has reached his term limit. He is now running to succeed Rep. Tracy King, D-Uvalde, in the Texas House.
Mata-Rubio shared news of her run for mayor Thursday. On social media, she addressed her daughter directly, explaining why she chose to take action.
“I grieve for the woman you would have become and all the difference you would have made in this world,” Mata-Rubio wrote. “I grieve for the woman I was when you were still here. But, one part of me still exist, I am still your mom. I will honor your life with action. This is only the beginning.”
Lexi, 10, was one of the 21 people killed at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022, in the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting. In the year since, Mata-Rubio has been a regular at the Texas Capitol and U.S. Capitol, advocating for tighter gun restrictions she believes will help prevent other parents from feeling her pain.
“Bridging the gap in our fractured community is my number one focus. And the reason being is because we cannot move on or forward without the entire community coming together,” she said. “And when I say moving on, I want to bring those two teachers and 19 students with me along on this journey. That’s the only way to do this. And the only way to move forward and they deserve that they’re part of this community as well.”
Mata-Rubio will face off against Cody Smith, a banker and former mayor of Uvalde, in the Nov. 7 special election. No other candidates have announced a bid for the seat. | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/mother-of-uvalde-shooting-victim-to-run-for-mayor-of-town/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:05 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/mother-of-uvalde-shooting-victim-to-run-for-mayor-of-town/ |
Robbery, attack of Phoenix teen caught on camera; suspects sought
PHOENIX - A family is seeking justice after video showed a 14-year-old boy being attacked and robbed in a north Phoenix neighborhood.
The crime happened near 45th Avenue and Yorkshire Drive on May 29.
Police say the victim and his friend were walking home when they were confronted by two older teenagers riding mini dirt bikes. One of the suspects reportedly demanded the teen's bicycle and sandals.
The suspect could be seen on surveillance video picking the boy up and slamming him to the ground before stealing the sandals.
"I was kind of dozed off, like my head's ringing, and I couldn't think straight because I got slammed," said Joshua, the teen who was attacked.
Joshua's father, Christian, says he could hear the pop of Joshua's head hit the pavement in the raw footage.
"I thought he'd wiped out on his bike… He came home, and I'd seen that he had some blood on his face and that I couldn't believe that he'd been jumped in the neighborhood," said Christian.
The father says he wants to find the teenagers involved as a way of intervention.
"If you guys know anybody that knows these kids, I think it can be a life-changing occurrence for them to change their life now before things get worse," he said.
No information about the two suspects was released, but anyone who recognizes the dirt bikes or the teens is asked to call Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS or to go online at https://silentwitness.org/.
Area where it happened: | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/robbery-attack-of-phoenix-teen-caught-on-camera-suspects-sought | 2023-07-29T17:40:08 | 0 | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/robbery-attack-of-phoenix-teen-caught-on-camera-suspects-sought |
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.
The complaint comes as Twitter 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,” though the child’s actual name is a collection of letters and symbols.
On Friday afternoon, a worker on a lift machine made adjustments to the sign and then left. | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/new-x-logo-atop-twitter-building-in-san-francisco-prompts-complaint-investigation-from-city/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:11 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/new-x-logo-atop-twitter-building-in-san-francisco-prompts-complaint-investigation-from-city/ |
Tim McGraw reveals the one thing he won’t do at his concerts: ‘I'm scared to death’
Tim McGraw revealed the one thing that fans should never expect to see at his concerts.
The 56-year-old country singer, who announced his upcoming "Standing Room Only" tour on Friday, told Entertainment Tonight that there will most likely be no pyrotechnics at any of his concerts.
"I'm not a big pyro guy. I'm scared to death. I know myself enough that I move around all over the place and sure enough I'll be standing right over one of those things when it goes off," the "1923" star quipped.
He added, "We don't need that. I'd light my a** on fire."
TIM MCGRAW, FAITH HILL CELEBRATE DAUGHTER MAGGIE'S BIRTHDAY IN NYC
However, McGraw said that concert-goers can expect a big show and he was excited for his fans to see what he had in store.
"It's the first time we've done an arena tour in a long time," the "It's Your Love" hitmaker said. "I'm looking forward to it. We've got some crazy spectacular production I'm looking forward to everybody seeing. This is probably one the coolest productions we've ever had. We're gonna blow it out."
The singer, who announced his "Standing Room Only" tour on Friday, said that his show will not feature any pyrotechnics. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ABA)
McGraw told ET that his wife Faith Hill will likely attend some of the performances during his tour.
"She comes out occasionally and hangs out with us. She loves it," McGraw said. "She has fun on the side of the stage. If we had a camera on her, you'd see her dancing all night."
During his interview with Entertainment Tonight, the three-time Grammy Award winner joked that he was "the worst singer" in his family. McGraw and fellow country superstar Hill, who have been married for 26 years, share daughters Gracie, 26, Maggie, 24, and Audrey, 21.
Married for nearly 27 years, McGraw and his wife Faith Hill have three daughters, Maggie, Audrey, and Gracie. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)
"All three of them are great singers," McGraw said of his daughters. "I'd love to do a song with all five of us at some point. I talk about it all the time and they're like, 'I ain't gonna sing with you, Dad.'"
He continued, "Maybe I'll talk them into it. Maybe they'll sort of grow out of that phase a little bit where they don't want to sing with me. They'll sing with Mom, but I'm probably not up to par with the rest of them."
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"I'm the worst singer in the family," McGraw added. It's true. I'm pretty good, but I'm the worst singer in the family."
McGraw joked that he is the "worst singer" in his family. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME)
Grammy Award winner Carly Pearce is slated to be the opening act on the 30-date tour, which kicks off on March 14, 2024, in Jacksonville, Florida and will conclude in Phoenix, Arizona on June 27.
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"I always want to deliver the best possible concert I can for the fans," McGraw said in a statement to Billboard. "We’ve got some really special plans to make this the biggest and the best tour we’ve ever done."
The Louisiana native will release his 17th studio album "Standing Room Only on August 25. | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/tim-mcgraw-standing-room-only-tour-2023 | 2023-07-29T17:40:14 | 0 | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/tim-mcgraw-standing-room-only-tour-2023 |
(NEXSTAR) — For many of us, flying is a relatively easy experience. Your flight leaves on time, your seatmates are polite, and you arrive at your destination safely.
But, in some cases, one of those aspects of flying may not go exactly as planned. You may find one of your fellow flyers committing an air travel faux pas: being barefoot.
You’ve seen the photos online of people’s toes peeking out between the seats. Maybe you’ve encountered it yourself. Either way, it’s largely frowned upon. In some cases, barefoot flying can even get you grounded.
Within its contract of carriage, United Airlines considers being barefoot, as well as being “not properly clothed,” an offense that justifies “refusal or removal of a passenger.” The carrier lists it as one of the many infractions that could impact safety for the passenger or others on the plane.
American Airlines says bare feet “aren’t allowed” from passengers, adding that “violent” or “inappropriate actions” could prevent you from boarding, being removed from the terminal, or facing legal prosecution.
Delta Airlines also warns that it can “refuse to transport or may remove passengers from its aircraft” if the passenger is barefoot. A barefoot passenger may be prohibited from boarding the plane, or may be forced to leave the plane, according to Spirit Airlines’ contract of carriage.
Frontier Airlines says it can refuse service to a passenger who is over the age of 3 and barefoot, “unless required to be barefoot for medical reasons.” Southwest Airlines and JetBlue state in their contracts of carriage that they can refuse to let a passenger fly if they are barefoot and older than five years of age, unless required due to a disability.
If these warnings from airlines aren’t enough to sway you from taking off your shoes while flying, maybe consider how many other people have also taken their shoes off on a plane – and what else has touched the floor.
“I would never fly barefoot on a plane,” a veteran flight attendant for a major carrier told Nexstar. “Passengers these days can be quite messy and we see everything from spills to dirty diapers thrown on the floor.”
Planes are tidied between flights, she explains, but the floors won’t be cleaned “unless there is a major mess.” That includes floors in the bathroom, too.
“That is most likely not water on the floor,” she adds. “Think of old men and young boys trying to aim in turbulence. Not good. Also, people love to throw trash anywhere but in the bathroom trash can so it usually ends up on the floor.”
If you still want to take your shoes off, she recommends bringing an old pair of socks to wear, then throwing them away after the flight.
United, American, Delta, Spirit, Frontier, JetBlue, and Southwest did not respond to Nexstar’s request for comment or its inquiry into whether any passengers have been removed or barred from flying over being barefooted.
Barefoot flyers are likely among the least of many airlines’ concerns. Over the last three years, airlines have reported record-setting incidents of disruptive passengers. That includes passengers accused of assaulting flight crews, opening emergency doors, and refusing to wear masks during the height of the COVID pandemic.
More recently, a Las Vegas-bound flight was forced to divert to Denver after an apparent fight broke out between some passengers. Two women were escorted off the plane, according to a passenger that captured video of the incident.
Causing a disturbance on a plane is a federal crime, and unruly passengers can face criminal prosecution or even fines. | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/no-shoes-no-service-what-can-happen-if-you-fly-barefoot/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:17 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/no-shoes-no-service-what-can-happen-if-you-fly-barefoot/ |
(KOIN) – She’s just gonna shake, shake, shake the earth.
Taylor Swift’s July 22 and 23 concerts in Seattle allegedly produced seismic activity on par with a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to a Western Washington University geology professor and seismologist.
Jackie Caplan-Auerbach tracked the seismic activity emanating from Swift’s Lumen Field performances earlier this month, finding similar and overlapping seismic waves on both dates. She later added that she couldn’t be sure whether the fans or the sound systems had caused the activity, but plans to continue investigating.
“I’m not yet convinced that it’s all dancing – the signals between the two nights are ridiculously similar and people tend to be messy,” Caplan-Auerbach wrote on Twitter.
She added that concertgoers were likely unaware of any geological activity at the time, saying the data recorded by the seismometer was “mostly below the range of human hearing.”
Swift’s Seattle concerts, which were attended by over 144,000 people in total, broke Lumen Field’s attendance records, according to The Seattle Times.
Caplan-Auerbach also compared the quake, which she dubbed the “Seismic Swift,” to 2010’s “Beast Quake,” when Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch scored a last-minute touchdown during a playoff game. Activity produced by Seahawks fans registered on a seismograph at a 2.0 magnitude.
The next step for Caplan-Auerbach is attempting to line up the seismic activity beat-by-beat with Swift’s setlist to see how the songs impacted the shake, she said. She’s set up a Google Drive to collect videos to help with her research. | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/taylor-swift-concerts-in-seattle-produced-seismic-activity-on-same-scale-as-a-small-earthquake-seismologist-finds/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:23 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/taylor-swift-concerts-in-seattle-produced-seismic-activity-on-same-scale-as-a-small-earthquake-seismologist-finds/ |
The Toronto Blue Jays host the Los Angeles Angels in MLB 2023 action Saturday, July 29, at Rogers Centre in Toronto. The game will be live streamed on fuboTV.
Left-hander Reid Detmers will start on the mound for the Angels vs. right-hander Alek Manoah for the Blue Jays. Los Angeles is 54-50 this season, while Toronto is 58-46.
The Angels-Blue Jays game starts at 2:07 p.m. Central (3:07 p.m. Eastern) and will be live streamed on fuboTV, which now includes Bally Sports channels and offers a 7-day free trial. MLB Network will broadcast the game nationally, with regional coverage on Bally Sports West and SportsNet.
Preview
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Blue Jays -128, Angels +108; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays face the Los Angeles Angels, leading the series 1-0.
Toronto is 28-20 in home games and 58-46 overall. The Blue Jays have gone 24-11 in games when they hit at least two home runs.
Los Angeles is 54-50 overall and 25-27 in road games. The Angels have a 23-11 record in games when they did not allow a home run.
Saturday’s game is the fifth meeting between these teams this season. The Blue Jays are up 3-1 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bo Bichette has 24 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs and 59 RBI while hitting .315 for the Blue Jays. Whit Merrifield is 16-for-39 with a double and two home runs over the last 10 games.
Taylor Ward has 18 doubles, 14 home runs and 46 RBI while hitting .254 for the Angels. Mickey Moniak is 15-for-43 with four doubles and a home run over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 5-5, .263 batting average, 3.79 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
Angels: 8-2, .254 batting average, 2.87 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs
INJURIES: Blue Jays: Jordan Romano: day-to-day (back), Adam Cimber: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Chad Green: 60-Day IL (elbow), Hyun-Jin Ryu: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Angels: Shohei Ohtani: day-to-day (cramps), Zach Neto: day-to-day (back), Ben Joyce: 60-Day IL (arm), Sam Bachman: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Chris Devenski: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Anthony Rendon: 10-Day IL (shin), Jo Adell: 10-Day IL (oblique), Mike Trout: 10-Day IL (hand), Brandon Drury: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Gio Urshela: 60-Day IL (pelvis), Jose Suarez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Max Stassi: 60-Day IL (hip ), Austin Warren: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jose Quijada: 60-Day IL (elbow), Logan O’Hoppe: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Chris Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jose Marte: 60-Day IL (elbow), Davis Daniel: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.al.com/sports/2023/07/angels-blue-jays-mlb-2023-live-stream-729-how-to-watch-online-tv-info-time.html | 2023-07-29T17:40:28 | 0 | https://www.al.com/sports/2023/07/angels-blue-jays-mlb-2023-live-stream-729-how-to-watch-online-tv-info-time.html |
Hidden camera found inside porta-potty at Wisconsin beach
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (WISN) - A woman at a Wisconsin beach made a terrible discovery after she found a hidden camera underneath the toilet seat of a port-a-potty.
Police are trying to determine if it was the only camera and who put it there.
“That’s insane. Oh my gosh,” Chrissy Hartwig said.
On a beautiful day at Oconomowoc’s Bender Beach, the talk turns instead to something ugly after Hartwig and other beachgoers learn of a small digital camera hidden inside a porta-potty.
“That’s crazy and now that makes me think of all the other porta-potties that might have had something in it,” Hartwig said. “You don’t think about those things.”
Hartwig said she’s heard of people hiding cameras in dressing rooms and even vacation rentals, but never before in a porta-potty.
“I just, I mean, I’m mind blown. I’ve never considered it. I’ve never thought about it. I wouldn’t have thought about it, probably. People are creeps,” she said.
The camera was reportedly inside the toilet, positioned in a way that showed people entering and using the toilet.
Oconomowoc police, along with the public, have a lot of questions.
“It’s, you know, it’s very concerning because you know the little ones use the bathroom,” Lissa Hagen said. “Yeah, it’s concerning, you know, wondering who did it and why they would do something like that. It’s very gross too.”
Hagen’s daughter is a lifeguard at the beach and learned of the camera the day after it was found.
“I mean, it’s uncomfortable. It’s, you know, concerning. Yeah, so, I’m glad they found it at least before, you know, anything happened,” Hagen said.
Police have not shared how long they believe the camera was there and what if anything was on it.
Copyright 2023 WISN via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/29/hidden-camera-found-inside-porta-potty-wisconsin-beach/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:28 | 0 | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/29/hidden-camera-found-inside-porta-potty-wisconsin-beach/ |
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Right now, there are three active meteor showers. Their peak viewing times are approaching in the next few weeks, and they are, conveniently, all going to be on Saturday and Sunday.
For optimal meteor shower viewing, it’s best to be in an area with little or no light pollution.
Perseids
According to NASA, the Perseid Meteor Shower is the best one happening this year, and viewers can see up to 100 meteors per hour. The shower became visible in the northern hemisphere on July 14 and will be around until Sept. 1.
If you want to see the Perseids at its peak, plan a night of stargazing for Aug. 12 or 13, according to NASA. For best viewing, NASA says to look during the pre-dawn hours, although meteors and fireballs could be visible as early as 10 p.m. The meteors will originate near the Perseid constellation and will be more easily-found constellation Cassiopeia.
The Perseids shower is expected to be very visible this year because the moon will not be as bright. This means the sky will be darker, making meteors more visible.
Delta Aquariids
The Delta Aquariids are not usually as impressive as the Perseids, but without a noticeable peak, you have a longer window for possibly seeing meteors from this shower. According to the American Meteor Society, the shower will be visible primarily in the southern tropics between July 18 and Aug. 21, with an estimated peak around Sunday, July 30. The northern hemisphere is less likely to see the Delta Aquariids than the southern.
July 30 is also a full moon, making 2023 less favorable for seeing the Delta Aquariids. Those who want to look for them should look toward the Delta Aquarii constellation from around 2 a.m. to dawn.
Alpha Capricornids
If you want a double chance to see more fireballs, July 30 might be your night, because in addition to the Delta Aquariids, the Alpha Capricornids are also expected to peak that night in 2023. The Alpha Capricornids are visible from July 7 to Aug. 15 but are considered much weaker than the other showers listed above, with only about five meteors visible per hour, but according to the AMS, the shower can have some pretty impressive fireballs in lower quantities.
The shower can also be seen equally as well in the northern and southern hemispheres. | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/the-next-3-meteor-showers-peak-on-weekends-what-to-know/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:29 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/national-news/the-next-3-meteor-showers-peak-on-weekends-what-to-know/ |
At 12:21 a.m. CDT Saturday, the Philadelphia Stars tweeted the USFL team had released LaBryan Ray to allow the former Alabama defensive tackle to sign with an NFL team.
Ray had worked out for the Carolina Panthers on Friday, and Carolina had released running back Tiyon Evans that day, leaving the NFL team with an open spot on its 90-player training-camp roster.
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Could Ray’s NFL destination have been that vacancy on the Panthers’ roster?
On Saturday – 11 hours after the Stars’ announcement -- came confirmation from Ray’s agency, SportsTrust Advisors: Ray had signed with Carolina.
Ray joined the Stars on May 3, three games into the USFL’s season. He recorded three sacks in Philadelphia’s remaining seven games.
Ray came to Alabama from James Clemens High School in Madison after winning the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 7A Lineman of the Year Award in 2015 and 2016.
An undrafted rookie in 2022, Ray stuck with the New England Patriots as a practice-squad member after playing 102 defensive snaps in three preseason games in August. On Oct. 26, the Patriots placed Ray on injured reserve with an undisclosed ailment, and he finished the season there.
Ray re-signed with New England on Jan. 10, but the Patriots waived him on Feb. 17.
Ray becomes the third player with Alabama football roots among the Panthers’ defensive linemen, joining former Auburn All-American Derrick Brown and Murphy High School standout Taylor Stallworth.
Carolina will kick off its three-game preseason schedule on Aug. 12 against the New York Jets.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. | https://www.al.com/sports/2023/07/former-alabama-defensive-lineman-returns-to-the-nfl.html | 2023-07-29T17:40:34 | 1 | https://www.al.com/sports/2023/07/former-alabama-defensive-lineman-returns-to-the-nfl.html |
ATLANTA (AP) — “Excuse me, are you a city of Atlanta voter? Do you know about ‘Cop City?’”
Clipboards in hand, canvassers Sienna Giraldi and Gabriel Sanchez approached shopper after shopper at a Kroger supermarket lot on a recent evening collecting signatures for a referendum over whether to cancel the city’s lease of a proposed police and firefighter training center that’s become a national rallying cry for environmentalists and anti-police protesters.
Most people kept on walking. Others said they weren’t registered to vote or didn’t live within the city limits, both of which are required. Many seemed to have no idea what “Cop City” was and weren’t interested in finding out. The fact that it began raining certainly didn’t help. By the end of a 90-minute shift, 21 people had signed.
“We definitely need to come back here,” Sanchez said. “I was on a roll before the rain started.”
Over the past month, hundreds of people like them — many volunteers, some paid — have spread out across the city of about 500,000, in hopes of persuading more than 70,000 registered voters to sign on to the petition drive. The deadline had been mid-August, but the effort got a boost Thursday when a federal judge extended it to late September, though significant logistical and legal hurdles remain.
Technically, organizers say, they need just 58,203 signatures by Aug. 14 to qualify for the November ballot — the equivalent of 15% of registered voters as of the last city election — but they set the higher goal knowing some will be disqualified. If that’s not reached until late August or September, the referendum wouldn’t happen until March, when a competitive GOP presidential primary could turn out conservative voters and hurt its chances. The city also could move forward with construction in the meantime, unless a judge intervenes.
As of July 25, the drive had collected more than 30,000 signatures, according to Paul Glaze, a spokesperson for the Vote to Stop Cop City Coalition. And with the paid canvassing effort still ramping up, he expects the pace to pick up significantly.
“We’re confident of hitting our number,” Glaze said. “How much extra padding we’re able to get is still a question. … Our experience is that when you talk about this with people, when they hear the price tag, when you ask them if they would choose this or something else to spend the money on, the vast majority are against it.”
Organizers of the drive say Mayor Andre Dickens and the City Council have failed to listen to a groundswell of opposition to the $90 million, 85-acre (34-hectare) training center, which they fear will lead to greater militarization of the police and exacerbate environmental damage in the South River Forest in a poor, predominantly Black area.
Officials counter that the campus would replace outdated, far-flung facilities and boost police morale, which is beset by hiring and retention struggles, especially in the wake of 2020 protests over racial injustice. Dickens has said that the facility will teach the “most progressive training and curriculum in the country” and that officials have repeatedly revised their plans to address concerns about noise pollution and environmental impact.
In June, after hearing about 14 hours of public testimony that was overwhelmingly against the training center, council members voted 11-4 to approve $67 million toward the project. Outraged but not surprised, organizers of the petition drive announced it the next day.
Outside the Kroger, located in a majority-Black neighborhood a few miles south of a Wendy’s parking lot where officers fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in 2020, Giraldi chatted with Lee Little, a Black construction worker who stopped to talk despite the rain, his hands full of bagged groceries.
Little was working near the proposed training center in March and saw the helicopters and mass of armed officers that descended on the area after about 150 masked activists stormed the site and torched construction equipment. He hadn’t thought about it much since, but he signed the petition after hearing Giraldi’s pitch.
“She was just saying that City Council approved 60-something million dollars without listening to the taxpayers. Does that sound fair to you? That should be for the voters to decide,” Little said afterward.
Another who signed was Makela Atchison, who was wearing a “Black Voters Matter” T-shirt as she left the store with her two children.
“I’m not saying I’m for it or against it,” Atchison said, “but I want to be able to have my input.”
The signature drive is the most ambitious in terms of numbers that has ever been launched in a Georgia city, but it has precedent from last year in Camden County, where voters overwhelmingly rejected a planned launchpad for blasting commercial rockets into space. The Georgia Supreme Court in February unanimously upheld the legality of that referendum, though it remains an open question whether citizens can veto decisions of city governments.
In a recent court filing seeking to quash the Atlanta referendum, attorneys for the city said residents can’t force officials to retroactively revoke the lease agreement, which was made in 2021. They called organizers’ efforts “futile” and “invalid.” The state agreed with the city in a separate filing, though that dispute is on hold for now.
Still, activists see the referendum as the best remaining option to block the project. They’ve gotten support from numerous groups, including the Working Families Party and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, which pledged to get 15,000 signatures over the next few weeks.
Activist Hannah Riley tries to collect a handful of them whenever she is out in public, including on a recent afternoon as she worked remotely from Muchacho, a popular taco restaurant in the ultra-liberal Reynoldstown neighborhood. At the end of her table, she taped a sign that read: “Voter? Sign Stop Cop City Petition Here.”
“This is a bit of a Hail Mary, but it’s a Hail Mary that makes a lot of sense,” Riley said. “They’ve begun to clear-cut the trees. They’re getting close to pouring concrete. … Our options are quite limited right now, so this does feel like the most practical, effective next step.”
At the same time, a small number of activists have continued taking a more violent tack, including torching eight police motorcycles over the Fourth of July weekend, actions that canvass organizers have not condemned.
Curtis Duncan, 40, said the first day he went out canvassing, a man approached and accused him of being one of the vandals.
“I said, ‘Well, sir, respectfully, I wasn’t burning cars, and the majority of people within this movement have not been engaging in any type of violent actions,’” Duncan said. He added that troopers fatally shot an activist in the forest and that authorities have brought dozens of “very flimsy” domestic terrorism charges against “Stop Cop City” protesters this year — actions he considers far worse.
Sanchez, who works for a voting rights nonprofit, said that even if the signature drive falls short, it will have made an important impact.
“I feel like we’ve exhausted all the other options, aside from full-on revolution, which I don’t think we need for this,” he said. “There’s a lot of obstacles in our way. … If we only get to 50,000, I think that still shows a real warning sign for these politicians for the 2025 election.” | https://www.kark.com/news/national/ap-atlanta-cop-city-activists-say-theyre-confident-of-getting-70k-signatures-but-big-hurdles-remain/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:35 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/national/ap-atlanta-cop-city-activists-say-theyre-confident-of-getting-70k-signatures-but-big-hurdles-remain/ |
Pet owner says 4-foot-long python has gone missing from his yard
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR/Gray News) - Residents in an Illinois neighborhood are currently on the lookout for a pet snake.
Jonathan Delaney told WIFR that his 15-year-old ball python named Bubba slithered away from his yard last weekend.
Delaney said his exotic 4-foot-long snake is missing, but neighbors shouldn’t be worried.
“He’s completely harmless,” Delaney said. “We’ve had him for 15 years. He’s never been mean and the biggest thing he’d eat is a rat.”
Fellow Edgewater resident Rhonda Hanley said she’d likely be startled if she came across Bubba. But because he’s someone’s pet, she’ll try to help find him.
“I’ll try and put something over the top of it like a blanket or a garbage can if I find him,” Hanley said.
Delaney is thankful that his neighbors are concerned enough to lend a helping hand.
“We are hoping he’s still around here and nobody harms him,” he said. “We are hoping to find him as soon as possible.”
Experts say because ball pythons prefer to be hidden most of the time the snake doesn’t appear to pose a threat to the public.
The snake can strike if it gets agitated, but those bites don’t normally require medical attention.
“The most that could happen is that the snake could take a defensive swipe,” Stephanie Stone, owner of Jurassic Reptile Supply, said. “It’s less impact than a cat scratch or a cat bite.”
Stone added that ball pythons typically don’t travel very far.
“Unless it feels the need to try to find a meal, it’s probably very close to where it was originally,” she said.
Anyone who spots Bubba has been urged to contact Delaney on social media.
Copyright 2023 WIFR via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/29/pet-owner-says-4-foot-long-python-has-gone-missing-his-yard/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:35 | 1 | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/29/pet-owner-says-4-foot-long-python-has-gone-missing-his-yard/ |
The new Hallmark movie Aloha Heart is set to premiere Saturday, July 29 at 8/7c.
Aloha Heart follows the story of a conservationist who travels to Hawaii for her best friend’s wedding.
However, instead of a relaxing vacation, she finds herself in wedding prep and helping the new hotel manager make changes to his family hotel.
Where can I watch Aloha Heart without cable?
Though airing on the Hallmark channel, those without a regular cable subscription can still live stream the movie premiere with Philo or FuboTV. If you’re unsure which streaming service to go with, we can break it down.
Philo is one of the cheaper live streaming services available as is allows users to stream over 70 live channels for just $25 a month.
TV channels offered with Philo include Hallmark, Lifetime, AMC, HGTV, MTV, VH1, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, CMT, BET, TLC and more.
Meanwhile, FuboTV is meant for those looking for a cable alternative with more channel options.
FuboTV considers itself sports-focused streaming service. It comes with more than 100 live channels to choose from including exclusive channels like ABC, NBC, CBS and more for $74.99 a month.
Both live streaming services offer free trials for new subscribers so you can watch Aloha Heart for free before committing to anything. | https://www.al.com/tv/2023/07/aloha-heart-movie-premiere-how-to-watch-where-to-live-stream.html | 2023-07-29T17:40:40 | 1 | https://www.al.com/tv/2023/07/aloha-heart-movie-premiere-how-to-watch-where-to-live-stream.html |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday for the first time publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old girl fathered by his son Hunter with an Arkansas woman, Lunden Roberts, in 2018.
“Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward,” Biden said in a statement. It was his first acknowledgement of the child.
“This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter,” he said. “Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”
Hunter Biden’s paternity was established by DNA testing after Roberts sued for child support, and the two parties recently resolved outstanding child support issues. The president’s son wrote about his encounter with Roberts in his 2021 memoir, saying it came while he was deep in addiction to alcohol and drugs, including crack cocaine.
“I had no recollection of our encounter,” he wrote. “That’s how little connection I had with anyone. I was a mess, but a mess I’ve taken responsibility for.”
An attorney for Roberts did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The president, who has made a commitment to family central to his public persona, has faced increasing criticism from political rivals and pundits for failing to acknowledge the granddaughter. According to a person familiar with the matter, he was taking the cue from his son while the legal proceedings played out. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.
Hunter Biden has four other children, including a son, Beau, born to his wife Melissa Cohen in 2020. He was named after the president’s late son who died of cancer in 2015, leaving behind two children.
Biden’s grandchildren have played a distinctive role in his presidency, often accompanying the president or first lady on trips and making regular visits to the White House. The president has also credited his grandchildren with persuading him to challenge then-President Donald Trump for the White House in 2020.
Biden’s statement was first reported by People Magazine. | https://www.kark.com/news/national/ap-biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-the-daughter-of-son-hunter-and-an-arkansas-woman/ | 2023-07-29T17:40:41 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/national/ap-biden-openly-acknowledges-7th-grandchild-the-daughter-of-son-hunter-and-an-arkansas-woman/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The oldest historically Black collegiate fraternity in the U.S. says it is relocating a planned convention in two years from Florida because of what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration’s “harmful, racist and insensitive” policies towards African Americans.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity said this week that it would move its 2025 convention from Orlando to another location that is yet undecided. The convention draws between 4,000 and 6,000 people and has an economic impact of $4.6 million, the fraternity said.
The decision comes after the NAACP and other civil rights organizations this spring issued a travel advisory for Florida, warning that recently passed laws and policies are openly hostile to African Americans, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Willis Lonzer, the fraternity’s general president, said in statement on Wednesday that the decision was motivated in part by Florida’s new education standards that require teachers to instruct middle school students that slaves developed skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”
“Although we are moving our convention from Florida, Alpha Phi Alpha will continue to support the strong advocacy of Alpha Brothers and other advocates fighting against the continued assault on our communities in Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis,” Lonzer said.
An email seeking comment on Saturday about the fraternity’s decision was sent to Jeremy Redfern, the governor’s press secretary and the governor’s office.
DeSantis, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has come under fire this week over Florida’s new education standards. Among those criticizing the Florida governor on Friday was a rival for the Republican nomination, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the sole Black Republican in the Senate.
Responding to the criticism, DeSantis said Friday that he was “defending” Florida “against false accusations and against lies. And we’re going to continue to speak the truth.”
In May, the NAACP joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state’s largest job sectors. The groups cited recent laws that prohibited state colleges from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory, and the Stop WOKE Act that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses.
They also cited laws that they say made life more difficult for immigrants in Florida and limited discussions on LGBTQ topics in schools.
At least nine other organizations or associations have pulled the plug on hosting conventions in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, two of the state’s most population convention cities, because of Florida’s political climate, according to local media reports.
Florida is one of the most popular states in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. More than 137.5 million tourists visited Florida last year, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotion agency. Tourism supports 1.6 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $98.8 billion in Florida in 2019, the last year figures are available.
___
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/historically-black-fraternity-drops-florida-for-convention-because-of-desantis-policies/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-07-29T17:40:46 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/historically-black-fraternity-drops-florida-for-convention-because-of-desantis-policies/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |