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Dozens of softball players will take to the field at Breed Middle School in Lynn on Saturday to honor a former all-star player and school teacher killed by her husband in 2017.
The Vanessa Masucci Softball Tournament is organized by friends and family to raise money for a scholarship given annually in memory of the popular second grade teacher at Connery Elementary School in Lynn.
“She loved softball,” Joseph Masucci, 32, said of his older sister. “We figured it would be a good way to raise money for a scholarship and keep her name around, and keep people talking about her and sharing stories.”
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The tournament raises money for a $2,500 scholarship awarded to a graduate of a high school in Lynn. Jarielis Perez, a star softball and basketball player at Lynn English High School, is this year’s recipient.
Vanessa grew up in Lynn playing sports, but softball always had a special place in her heart, her brother said. She pitched for the city’s Babe Ruth all-star team. She was a first baseman and designated hitter for four years at St. Mary’s High School in Lynn.
Vanessa was a “very good athlete,” who was “very competitive,” who never lost her love for the sport, Joseph said.
He recalled playing in a softball tournament in 2016. Vanessa was pregnant and was upset she couldn’t participate. “She [said] ‘I’d be the best one out there, just wait until next year, I’m going to play,’” Joseph said. “Obviously she wasn’t able to.”
In a shocking case of domestic violence, Vanessa was murdered at her home in Revere by her husband, who is now serving a life sentence.
The softball tournament gives her family and friends a chance to celebrate her life as a strong athlete, who “always had the biggest smile, [was] funny,” Joseph said.
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Sara McCabe said she and Vanessa were “best friends since high school,” where they played on the St. Mary’s softball team. Vanessa was a “great teammate,” who was “always cheering for everybody.”
“She was fun,” said McCabe, 35. “She was funny, always super silly, never afraid to laugh at herself.”
Jessica Walsh met Vanessa while both were studying criminal justice at Bridgewater State University. They both belonged to the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority.
“She ended up being my big sister in the sorority,” said Walsh who is 33. “She was the most kind, protective, smart, funny person that I’ve ever met.”
The tournament will feature eight co-ed teams, each with up to 15 players. “You have to play at least four girls at a time,” Joseph Masucci said.
Vanessa’s daughter, Adrianna, now 6, will throw out the first pitch. There will be food and raffle prizes to raise money for the scholarship fund.
The day gives those she left behind a chance to come together and remember the good times they shared, McCabe said.
“Every time I think about Vanessa, it’s not always happy memories, with what happened,” McCabe said. “But on this day, it’s a way that we can tell stories and just relive our happy memories.”
Adam Sennott can be reached at adam.sennott@globe.com. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/metro/scholarship-softball-tournament-honors-slain-lynn-teacher/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:04 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/metro/scholarship-softball-tournament-honors-slain-lynn-teacher/ |
BISMARCK, N.D. — Hundreds of new laws will take effect Tuesday in North Dakota, including greater enforcement of seat belt use and restrictions regarding gender identity, sexual content in public libraries, and ownership of farmland by foreign entities.
North Dakota's Republican-controlled Legislature adjourned April 30 after writing new laws and budgets for the next two years. Some contentious policy bills have already taken effect due to emergency clauses, which make legislation immediately into law when signed by the governor.
Among those already in effect are revised laws outlawing all abortions, except in cases where women could face death or a "serious health risk." Another exception for pregnancies caused by rape and incest applies only in the first six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant.
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Among other statutes taking effect, North Dakota joins a majority of states with some form of a primary enforcement seat belt law, according to information from the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The state previously had secondary enforcement, meaning officers could cite front-seat occupants for not wearing a seat belt only after a previous traffic infraction, though there was primary enforcement for minors in all seats.
The new law will require all vehicle occupants to wear seat belts, not just those in front seats. The fine remains at $20.
The proposed change was a hot debate for years in the Legislature, involving arguments of safety versus personal freedom. The change initially will be one of education before transitioning to enforcement, said Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben, who supported the legislation.
“One of the arguments is people always say we should have personal choice, but we regulate a lot of things in our society, and that’s just part of living in a modern society, is there’s going to be rules, and seat belts are proven, time and time again, that’s the one thing people can do that will make a difference in a crash,” Leben said.
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The state government's Vision Zero initiative aims to mitigate traffic deaths, with seat belts as one component.
North Dakota logged a 20-year low of 98 traffic deaths in 2022, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Transportation. Nearly 82 percent of front-seat vehicle occupants used seat belts in 2021, according to NDDOT data.
The Legislature also passed a raft of gender-related bills that will soon take effect.
Those include two bills restricting transgender girls and women from participating on school sports teams matching their gender identity.
Other new laws will restrict sex amendments on birth records and bar transgender people from using restrooms and showers aligning with their identity in correctional facilities and public college dormitories.
Another bill that took effect in May prohibits transgender K-12 students from using restrooms aligning with their gender identity, among other restrictions. The Fargo School Board indicated it will defy the law.
One other bill, which took effect in April, criminalizes sex reassignment surgeries and gender-affirming care for minors.
Republican lawmakers targeted sexual content in public libraries with a new law for removing or relocating "explicit sexual material" from public libraries' children's collections.
Republican Governor Doug Burgum, who vetoed a broader bill allowing misdemeanor charges against librarians, said the new law “standardizes the process for local public libraries to review material when requested by parents, library users or other members of the public — a process already in place and working at nearly all public libraries across the state.”
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Fargo Public Library Director Tim Dirks consulted the city attorney regarding the library's current policies for compliance with the new law, with which he said he feels comfortable. The law requires a “compliance report” from public libraries to a top legislative panel.
“I think the key thing for us is the existing policies and procedures that we have in place," but it remains to be seen how people will respond, Dirks said. The library has about 300,000 items on its shelves at three branches, plus vast collections of electronic materials.
It's unclear how many challenges might arise to library materials, Dirks said. Fargo's public library has had one or two challenges per year.
Republican lawmakers decried books such as “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson and “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe.
“What I always found incredible to this whole conversation ... is that in a society with the First Amendment, free and open, you have to understand you are going to run into things that you find offensive,” Dirks told the Associated Press. “Our job as the public library is to be representative as broadly as we can in terms of our society and our community.”
Two new laws will ban foreign governments and adversaries from owning land in North Dakota. The legislation came amid concerns of Chinese ties to a company's proposed corn milling plant near the Grand Forks Air Force Base.
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One law has exemptions for Canada and agricultural research on no more than 160 acres (64.75 hectares).
The other law also bans local government boards from advancing foreign adversaries' development plans during a two-year legislative study into related issues.
The new laws respond to constituents' concerns but could create confusion for agribusiness companies with ties to foreign countries, Republican state Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring told the AP.
“It's not a government that owns them, but it is a foreign entity, and the reality is all the work that they have to do for research ... they have to do at ground zero,” he said.
Goehring noted all land in the United States is agricultural land until designated otherwise and an area of 160 acres is not enough for extensive research.
Other states such as Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Oklahoma also have laws banning foreign ownership of farmland. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/nation/seat-belts-library-books-many-new-laws-take-effect-north-dakota/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:10 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/nation/seat-belts-library-books-many-new-laws-take-effect-north-dakota/ |
HAMPTON BEACH, N.H. (AP) — A small plane towing a banner landed in the ocean off a crowded New Hampshire beach on Saturday, and lifeguards rescued the pilot, who was unhurt, authorities said.
The single-engine Piper PA-18 plane landed about noon off Hampton Beach, witnesses said. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the pilot was the only person on board.
Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno told WMUR-TV that the pilot was rescued by lifeguards, and wasn't hurt.
The plane has since been pulled to shore and was sitting on the beach.
The FAA said it would investigate the cause of the incident, along with the National Transportation Safety Board.
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The Hampton Police Department and the New Hampshire Beach Patrol did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/nation/small-plane-lands-ocean-off-crowded-hampton-beach-new-hampshire-pilot-unhurt/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:16 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/nation/small-plane-lands-ocean-off-crowded-hampton-beach-new-hampshire-pilot-unhurt/ |
FUKUOKA, Japan — Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh should be a star at next year’s Paris Olympics, and she showed why Sunday on the closing day of the swimming world championships in Japan.
The 16-year-old McIntosh won her second gold of the event, taking the 400-meter individual medley after winning the 200 butterfly gold on Friday.
That made up for a slow start for the young Canadian, who finished fourth in the 400 free, where she held the world record until Australia's Ariarne Titmus took it back. She also took bronze in the 200 free, at least getting a medal.
“Going into tonight I just wanted to see how hard I could push myself,” McIntosh said.
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She did just that. Her time of 4:27.11 was the third fastest ever, not far off her world record of 4:25.87. She was also the defending world champion. American Katie Grimes took the silver in 4:31.41, with Jenna Forrester of Australia picking up the bronze in 4:32.30.
“It was definitely motivating,” McIntosh said of her first few days. “I try to turn everything that goes wrong into motivation somehow.”
Asked about Paris, she replied: “Right now I'm just thinking about a little break.”
McIntosh should be joined by other young stars in Paris like 21-year-old Frenchman Leon Marchand and Australia's 22-year-old Kaylee McKeown. Marchand and McKeown each won three individual golds.
The Americans also closed fast.
After winning only four gold medals during the first seven days, they picked up three on the eighth and final day for a total of seven golds and 38 overall. The gold total is still their lowest in a worlds going back for around 20 years. They won only eight in the 2015 worlds.
Australia finished with 13 gold and 20 overall, and China had five gold and 16 overall.
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“This is the cherry on top,” said American Regan Smith, part of the winning 4x100 women’s medley relay. “I love racing with these girls and I love relays so much and brining home a gold in the last event for Team USA means so much to me and all of us.”
The Americans finished in 3:52.08, followed by Australia (3:53.37) and Canada (3:54.12).
The United States also won the men’s 4x100 medley in 3:27.20, ahead of China (3:29.00) and Australia (3:29.62), and added another gold with Hunter Armstrong in the 50-meter backstroke (24.05).
Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden made history with her victory in the women’s 50-meter freestyle. The gold gave Sjostrom 21 medals in individual races in the world championships, surpassing Michael Phelps who had 20.
Sjostrom, who set the world record in the semifinals on Saturday, powered home in the final 25 meters for the win, clocking 23.62. Shayna Jack of Australia picked up the silver in 24.10, while Zhang Yufei of China earned the bronze in 24.15.
Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania set a world record on the way to winning gold in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke in 29.16. She equaled the old world mark of 29.30 the night before in the semifinals.
Meilutyte grabbed the early lead and was never challenged. American Lilly King claimed the silver in 29.94, while Benedetta Pilato of Italy picked up the bronze in 30.04. She shared the old record of 29.30 with Meilutyte.
Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia added the men’s 1,500-meter free gold to the 800 free he won earlier in the worlds, prevailing in an epic battle with American Bobby Finke that went down to the wire.
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The 20-year-old Hafnaoui, the defending 400 free Olympic champion, captured the gold in 14:31.54, with Finke clocking 14:31.59 for silver. Sam Short of Australia rounded out the podium with the bronze in 14:37.28.
The mark was just off the world record by Sun Yang of China, 14:31.02, set in 2012. Sun has been suspended for a doping violation.
“Bobby (Finke) is so fast at the end of the race. he pushed us to do the 14.31,” Hafnaoui said. “It was so close to the world record. I mean I enjoyed the race and thanks Bobby for pushing me.” | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/sports/ahead-paris-olympics-16-year-old-canadian-summer-mcintosh-picks-up-two-gold-medals-swimming-worlds/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:22 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/sports/ahead-paris-olympics-16-year-old-canadian-summer-mcintosh-picks-up-two-gold-medals-swimming-worlds/ |
RICHMOND, Va. — Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go and won at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, earning himself a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Buescher led 88 laps. He was ahead by nearly 6 seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his sizeable lead over local favorite Denny Hamlin, but when the race went back to green, Buescher pulled away easily.
He and Roush Fenway teammate Brad Keselowski led a combined 190 of the 400 laps, with Keselowski's Ford pacing the field for 102 laps on the 0.75-mile oval.
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Hamlin, coming off a victory last weekend at Pocono, finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and Ryan Preece.
The race was slowed just three times by caution flags, the last sending the leaders to pit road for four tires with eight laps to go. When the green flag was shown again, Buescher used the inside line to pull away for his third career victory.
Hamlin’s bid for the victory ended on the second lap of the final sprint when he drove in too deep in the first turn and slid up the track. He finished 0.549 seconds behind Buescher, with Busch winding up 0.817 off the winning pace. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/sports/chris-bueschers-win-richmond-secures-his-spot-nascar-cup-series-playoffs/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:29 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/sports/chris-bueschers-win-richmond-secures-his-spot-nascar-cup-series-playoffs/ |
Customers want instant gratification. Workers say it's pushing them to the brink
New York — Six straight days of 12-hour driving. Single digit paychecks. The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers.
But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest: The cost to workers whose jobs have changed drastically as companies scramble to meet customer expectations for speed and convenience in industries transformed by technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated those changes, pushing retailers to shift online and intensifying the streaming competition among entertainment companies. Now, from the picket lines, workers are trying to give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a show that can be binged any time or get dog food delivered to their doorstep with a phone swipe.
Overworked and underpaid employees is an enduring complaint across industries — from delivery drivers to Starbucks baristas and airline pilots — where surges in consumer demand have collided with persistent labor shortages. Workers are pushing back against forced overtime, punishing schedules or company reliance on lower-paid, part-time or contract forces.
At issue for Hollywood screenwriters and actors staging their first simultaneous strikes in 40 years is the way streaming has upended entertainment economics, slashing pay and forcing showrunners to produce content faster with smaller teams.
"This seems to happen to many places when the tech companies come in. Who are we crushing? It doesn't matter," said Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, a screenwriter and showrunner on the negotiating team for the Writers Guild of America, whose members have been on strike since May. Earlier this month, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists joined the writers' union on the picket line.
Actors and writers have long relied on residuals, or long-term payments, for reruns and other airings of films and televisions shows. But reruns aren't a thing on streaming services, where series and films simply land and stay with no easy way, such as box office returns or ratings, to determine their popularity.
Consequently, whatever residuals streaming companies do pay often amount to a pittance, and screenwriters have been sharing tales of receiving single digit checks.
Adam Shapiro, an actor known for the Netflix hit "Never Have I Ever," said many actors were initially content to accept lower pay for the plethora of roles that streaming suddenly offered. But the need for a more sustainable compensation model gained urgency when it became clear streaming is not a sideshow, but rather the future of the business, he said.
"Over the past 10 years, we realized: 'Oh, that's now how Hollywood works. Everything is streaming,'" Shapiro said during a recent union event.
Shapiro, who has been acting for 25 years, said he agreed to a contract offering 20% of his normal rate for "Never Have I Ever" because it seemed like "a great opportunity, and it's going to be all over the world. And it was. It really was. Unfortunately, we're all starting to realize that if we keep doing this we're not going to be able to pay our bills."
Then there's the rising use of "mini rooms," in which a handful of writers are hired to work only during pre-production, sometimes for a series that may take a year to be greenlit, or never get picked up at all.
Sanchez-Witzel, co-creator of the recently released Netflix series "Survival of the Thickest," said television shows traditionally hire robust writing teams for the duration of production. But Netflix refused to allow her to keep her team of five writers past pre-production, forcing round-the-clock work on rewrites with just one other writer.
"It's not sustainable and I'll never do that again," she said.
Sanchez-Witzel said she was struck by the similarities between her experience and those of UPS drivers, some of whom joined the WGA for protests as they threatened their own potentially crippling strike. UPS and the Teamsters last week reached a tentative contract staving off the strike.
Jeffrey Palmerino, a full-time UPS driver near Albany, New York, said forced overtime emerged as a top issue during the pandemic as drivers coped with a crush of orders on par with the holiday season. Drivers never knew what time they would get home or if they could count on two days off each week, while 14-hour days in trucks without air conditioning became the norm.
"It was basically like Christmas on steroids for two straight years. A lot of us were forced to work six days a week, and that is not any way to live your life," said Palmerino, a Teamsters shop steward.
Along with pay raises and air conditioning, the Teamsters won concessions that Palmerino hopes will ease overwork. UPS agreed to end forced overtime on days off and eliminate a lower-paid category of drivers who work shifts that include weekends, converting them to full-time drivers. Union members have yet to ratify the deal.
The Teamsters and labor activists hailed the tentative deal as a game-changer that would pressure other companies facing labor unrest to raise their standards. But similar outcomes are far from certain in industries lacking the sheer economic indispensability of UPS or the clout of its 340,000-member union.
Efforts to organize at Starbucks and Amazon stalled as both companies aggressively fought against unionization.
Still, labor protests will likely gain momentum following the UPS contract, said Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, which released a report this year that found the number of labor strikes rose 52% in 2022.
"The whole idea that consumer convenience is above everything broke down during the pandemic. We started to think, 'I'm at home ordering, but there is actually a worker who has to go the grocery store, who has to cook this for me so that I can be comfortable,'" Campos-Medina said.
Associated Press video journalist Leslie Ambriz contributed from Los Angeles. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2023/07/30/customers-want-instant-gratification-workers-feel-pushed-to-brink/70495337007/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:31 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2023/07/30/customers-want-instant-gratification-workers-feel-pushed-to-brink/70495337007/ |
THROOP, Pa. — It was a big celebration in Lackawanna County Saturday for Mid Valley Teener League who are now state champions.
The parade started from the Mid Valley Secondary Center and wound through Throop, Dickson City and Olyphant.
Newswatch 16 congratulates them on their big win.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/parade-held-for-mid-valley-state-champions-teener-league-secondary-center-baseball-throop-dickson-city/523-e5862729-0b71-4d3f-8696-5562c6e0c12e | 2023-07-30T23:39:31 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/parade-held-for-mid-valley-state-champions-teener-league-secondary-center-baseball-throop-dickson-city/523-e5862729-0b71-4d3f-8696-5562c6e0c12e |
SAN FRANCISCO — The Red Sox left Oracle Park with a series loss after the rubber match went 11 innings.
After Jarren Duran and Justin Turner staged a late-innings comeback for the second straight day, the Sox fell to the Giants, 4-3, Sunday.
In the 11th inning, with the automatic runner on second base, recently acquired reliever Michael Llovera plunked the first batter he saw, Casey Schmitt. Brandon Crawford, the next batter, put down a bunt on the left side of the infield that went for a hit and loaded the bases. That brought up Joc Pederson, who laced an RBI single to right field for the Giants’ second consecutive walkoff win.
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Turner’s 17th home run of the season, a two-run shot with one out in the eighth inning, put the Sox in front, 3-2, but the bullpen was unable to hold the lead. In the seventh, Adam Duvall’s solo shot, his ninth homer of the year, got the visitors on the board.
San Francisco tied the game in the eighth on an infield single, a double, and an RBI ground out.
Both the Red Sox and Giants went with the opener strategy.
Brennan Bernardino, the opener for the Sox who has pitched well in that role, made it through the first inning unscathed. But he loaded the bases in the second following two hit batters and a bunt, forcing manager Alex Cora to go to John Schreiber out of the bullpen with no outs in the inning.
Schreiber limited the damage to just a run on an RBI force out to Rafael Devers at third base. After a scoreless third from Schreiber, the Sox turned to Chris Murphy, the bulk guy. Murphy relinquished a one-out single, then Devers booted a Brandon Crawford grounder, allowing the runner from first base to get to third on the play before Wilmer Flores drilled an RBI single to make it 2-0.
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The two runs held up for San Francisco until the Red Sox broke through in the seventh inning when Adam Duvall drilled a solo shot. In the eighth, Duran reached on a double before Turner drilled his homer to left field.
Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him @byJulianMack. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/sports/red-sox-fail-hold-late-lead-lose-game-series-giants-11th-inning/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:35 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/sports/red-sox-fail-hold-late-lead-lose-game-series-giants-11th-inning/ |
DURYEA, Pa. — A festival was held Saturday in Luzerne County to help fight hunger.
NEPA's Summer in the City hosted the festival at Stephenson Street Park in Duryea.
The festival featured dozens of craft vendors, activities for children including make-your-own slime, food trucks, basket raffles, and a meet and greet with members of the Food Dignity Movement, the beneficiary of the festival.
"We are a nonprofit who invests money in to our local farmers our local economy to fight hunger. We help other nonprofits by giving nourishing locally sourced food to them on site," said Clancy Harrison, Founder of the Food Dignity Movement.
A talent show was also held as part of this fundraiser in Luzerne County.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/nepas-day-downtown-fundraising-festival-fighting-hunger-clancy-harrison-food-dignity-movement-stephenson-street-park/523-9de9a401-e0eb-4166-a6fa-7ed4ed9018f7 | 2023-07-30T23:39:37 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/nepas-day-downtown-fundraising-festival-fighting-hunger-clancy-harrison-food-dignity-movement-stephenson-street-park/523-9de9a401-e0eb-4166-a6fa-7ed4ed9018f7 |
NAIROBI — West African leaders on Sunday threatened military action against Niger, where soldiers seized power in a coup Wednesday, unless the country’s democratically elected president is restored to office within a week.
The demand was issued by the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, a 15-member regional bloc, after a crisis summit meeting in Nigeria. It echoed earlier calls by the United States and France, major security allies of Niger, threatening to cut aid and military ties unless the deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, is restored.
After coup supporters massed Sunday outside the French Embassy in the capital, Niamey, calling for the withdrawal of French troops, President Emmanuel Macron of France issued a stiffly worded warning. Any attack on France’s citizens or interests in Niger will be met with an “immediate and uncompromising” reaction, Macron said in a statement.
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Hundreds of protesters also demonstrated in support of Bazoum in several cities across the country.
ECOWAS, in a statement, vowed to take “all measures necessary” to restore democratic rule in Niger and said that “may include the use of force.” It imposed financial sanctions on the putschists, led by the new self-declared leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani.
The new junta, however, insisted it was going nowhere. In a statement before the summit, it warned forcefully against any foreign military intervention.
“We want to once more remind ECOWAS or any other adventurer of our firm determination to defend our homeland,” a junta spokesperson said Saturday night in a televised statement.
The summit and the dueling statements fueled the growing sense of crisis in Niger, a vast and impoverished country. The coup caught many by surprise, including Western countries now seeking to engineer a reverse.
That is a tall order: Experts say coups are very hard to undo once a few days have passed. But the demands are a measure of the alarmed response to the turmoil in a country seen by the West as a crucial ally in a region where Islamist militants are expanding their grip.
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France has about 1,500 troops in Niger, which it ruled as a colony until 1960, and there are about 1,100 US troops, many stationed at drone bases used to carry out airstrikes against militants in Niger and neighboring countries.
On Saturday, France and the European Union suspended some aid to Niger, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said American security ties, worth about $500 million since 2012, were also in jeopardy.
As ever in the region these days, Russia loomed in the background.
Coup supporters waved Russian flags in Niamey on Sunday and hung one on the wall of the French Embassy, an echo of similar scenes in Burkina Faso and Mali, where Russian flags also emerged among people celebrating coups in 2021 and 2022.
Experts say there is no evidence that Russia is behind the coup in Niger, where personal factors are considered a more probable trigger. Tensions had been building steadily between Bazoum and Tchiani, the head of the presidential guard.
Bazoum’s whereabouts remained uncertain Sunday, although he was widely presumed to still be in detention at the presidential palace.
Still, experts say it’s another sign of how Russia has positioned itself as the emblem of anti-Western, and especially anti-French, sentiment in broad patches of Africa. And that helps to create other openings for the Kremlin.
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In neighboring Mali, about 1,000 members of Russia’s Wagner private military company have replaced about 5,000 French troops who pulled out last year. Wagner is also a major presence in the Central African Republic, where it protects President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who held a referendum on Sunday aimed at prolonging his tenure.
The coup in Niger means that an uninterrupted line of countries stretching across Africa, from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, is under military control. Many are former French colonies where a visceral anger at perceived French paternalism and postcolonial meddling has boosted support for the putschists.
“Niger has suffered too much under France’s orders,” said Karimou Sidi, a supporter of the coup who demonstrated in Niamey on Sunday. “Enough is enough.”
The coups are straining traditional regional blocs, like ECOWAS, which in recent years has suspended three of its states — Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali — over military takeovers, with Niger possibly following soon.
In recent decades, ECOWAS has deployed peacekeepers to numerous crisis-hit countries, including Liberia and Guinea-Bissau. Despite its tough talk Sunday, it may need to find a middle path to navigate its way out of the Niger crisis, said Idayat Hassan, a Nigerian analyst.
“Any strong sanctions will impact citizens the most in a country and region with increasingly strong anti-West sentiments, while also pushing the putschists more into the hands of Russia and or Prigozhin and Wagner forces,” said Hassan, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research institute, referring to Yevgeny Prigozhin, who leads the mercenary group.
Advertisement | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/world/west-african-nations-threaten-military-action-unless-niger-coup-is-undone/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:41 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/30/world/west-african-nations-threaten-military-action-unless-niger-coup-is-undone/ |
The 'Barbie' bonanza continues at the box office, 'Oppenheimer' holds the No. 2 spot
New York — A week later, the "Barbenheimer" boom has not abated.
Seven days after Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. "Barbie" took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Oppenheimer" stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
"Barbenheimer" has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it "a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters."
"Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other's fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don't know if there's a comp for this in the annals of box-office history," said Dergarabedian. "There's really no comparison for this."
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of "Barbie" saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan's "The Dark Knight" to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
"Barbie" has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it's played, "Barbie" has made at least $20 million.
And the "Barbie" effect isn't just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It's the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
"That's a crazy number," said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. "There's just a built-in audience that wants to be part of the zeitgeist of the moment. Wherever you go, people are wearing pink. Pink is taking over the world."
Amid the frenzy, "Barbie" is already attracting a lot of repeat moviegoers. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales are people going back with friends or family to see it again.
For a movie industry that has been trying to regain its pre-pandemic footing — and that now finds itself largely shuttered due to actors and screenwriters strikes — the sensations of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" have showed what's possible when everything lines up just right.
"Post-pandemic, there's no ceiling and there's no floor," Goldstein said. "The movies that miss really miss big time, and the movies that work really work big time."
Universal Pictures' "Oppenheimer," meanwhile, is performing more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about scientists talking.
Nolan's drama starring Cillian Murphy as atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has accrued $174.1 million domestically thus far. With an additional $72.4 million in international cinemas, "Oppenheimer" has already surpassed $400 million globally.
Showings in IMAX have typically been sold out. "Oppenheimer" has made $80 million worldwide on IMAX. The large-format exhibitor said Sunday that it will extend the film's run through Aug. 13.
The week's top new release, Walt Disney Co.'s "Haunted Mansion," an adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction, was easily overshadowed by the "Barbenheimer" blitz. The film, which cost about $150 million, debuted with $24 million domestically and $9 million in overseas sales. "Haunted Mansion," directed by Justin Simien ("Dear White People," "Bad Hair") and starring an ensemble of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson, struggled to overcome mediocre reviews.
"Talk to Me," the A24 supernatural horror film, fared better. It debuted with $10 million. The film, directed by Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sophie Wilde, was a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received terrific reviews from critics (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It was made for a modest $4.5 million.
While theaters being flush with moviegoers has been a huge boon to the film industry, it's been tougher sledding for Tom Cruise, the so-called savior of the movies last summer with "Top Gun: Maverick." "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I," which debuted the week before the arrival of "Barbenheimer," grossed $10.7 million in its third weekend. The film starring Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, has grossed $139.2 million domestically and $309.3 million oveseas.
Instead, the sleeper hit "Sound of Freedom" has been the best performing non-"Barbenheimer" release in theaters. The Angel Studios' release, which is counting crowdfunding pay-it-forward sales in its box office totals, made $12.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its haul thus far to nearly $150 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- 1. "Barbie," $93 million.
- 2. "Opppenheimer," $46.2 million.
- 3. "Haunted Mansion," $24.2 million.
- 4. "Sound of Freedom," $12.4 million.
- 5. "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," $10.7 million.
- 6. "Talk to Me," $10 million.
- 7. "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," $4 million.
- 8. "Elemental," $3.4 million.
- 9. "Insidious: The Red Door," $3.2 million.
- 10. "Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani," $1.6 million.
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/07/30/barbie-bonanza-continues-at-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-no-2/70495398007/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:43 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/07/30/barbie-bonanza-continues-at-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-no-2/70495398007/ |
EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Several families were displaced after a fire Sunday afternoon in Monroe County.
You can see the flames and heavy smoke coming from the apartment building on Courtland Street in East Stroudsburg.
The fire broke out just after noon causing severe damage to five apartments.
"All the flames are on the inside of the building, so you couldn't see it, but they were able to get people out just in the nick of time. The second that they came out the door, the smoke was smoldering, and the flames shot out the moment the minute that the firemen arrived," said Thomas Yau, neighbor.
"The total number of personnel, I'm not exactly sure, but we had mutual aid companies; we had Strausberg, Stroud Township, Coolbaugh Township Delaware Water Gap. I'm sure I'm missing something. Also, Shawnee, we all work well together as a whole and trhoughout Monroe County," said Chief Nate Black, Acme Hose Company No. 1.
The Red Cross is helping the five families that are displaced, and officials are still investigating the cause of the fire in Monroe County.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/five-families-displaced-after-house-fire-in-monroe-county-stroudsburg-east-chief-nate-black-thomas-yau/523-d5d6ce4e-3e87-4c88-be64-d3d544de234b | 2023-07-30T23:39:43 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/five-families-displaced-after-house-fire-in-monroe-county-stroudsburg-east-chief-nate-black-thomas-yau/523-d5d6ce4e-3e87-4c88-be64-d3d544de234b |
Who's in, who's out: See which candidates have qualified for the 1st GOP presidential debate
Columbia, S.C. — With less than a month to go until the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, seven candidates say they have met qualifications for a spot on stage in Milwaukee.
But that also means that about half the broad GOP field is running short on time to make the cut.
To qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, candidates needed to satisfy polling and donor requirements set by the Republican National Committee: at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21, and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 in 20 or more states.
Here's a look at who's in, who's (maybe) out and who's still working on making it.
Who's qualified
Donald Trump
The current front-runner long ago satisfied the polling and donor thresholds. But he is considering boycotting and holding a competing event.
Campaign advisers have said the former president has not made a final decision about the debate. One noted that "it's pretty clear," based on Trump's public and private statements, that he is unlikely to appear with the other candidates.
"If you're leading by a lot, what's the purpose of doing it?" Trump asked on Newsmax.
In the meantime, aides have discussed potential alternative programming if Trump opts for a rival event. One option Trump has floated is an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who now has a program on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
Ron Desantis
The Florida governor has long been seen as Trump's top rival, finishing a distant second to him in a series of polls in early-voting states, as well as national polls, and raising an impressive amount of money.
But DeSantis' campaign has struggled in recent weeks to live up to the sky-high expectations that awaited him when he entered the race. He let go of more than one-third of his staff as federal filings showed his campaign was burning through cash at an unsustainable rate.
If Trump is absent, DeSantis may be the top target on stage at the debate.
Tim Scott
The South Carolina senator has been looking for a breakout moment. The first debate could be his chance.
A prolific fundraiser, Scott enters the summer with $21 million cash on hand.
In one debate-approved poll in Iowa, Scott joined Trump and DeSantis in reaching double digits. The senator has focused much of his campaign resources on the leadoff GOP voting state, which is dominated by white evangelical voters.
Nikki Haley
She has blitzed early-voting states with campaign events, walking crowds through her electoral successes ousting a longtime incumbent South Carolina lawmaker, then becoming the state's first woman and first minority governor. Also serving as Trump's U.N. ambassador for about two years, Haley frequently cites her international experience, arguing about the threat China poses to the United States.
The only woman in the GOP race, Haley has said transgender students competing in sports is "the women's issue of our time" and has drawn praise from a leading anti-abortion group, which called her "uniquely gifted at communicating from a pro-life woman's perspective."
Bringing in $15.6 million since the start of her campaign, Haley's campaign says she has "well over 40,000 unique donors" and has satisfied the debate polling requirements.
Vivek Ramaswamy
The biotech entrepreneur and author of "Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam" is an audience favorite at multicandidate events and has polled well despite not being nationally known when he entered the race.
Ramaswamy's campaign says he met the donor threshold earlier this year. He recently rolled out "Vivek's Kitchen Cabinet" to boost his donor numbers even more, by letting fundraisers keep 10% of what they bring in for his campaign.
Chris Christie
The former New Jersey governor opened his campaign by portraying himself as the only candidate ready to take on Trump. Christie called on the former president to "show up at the debates and defend his record."
Christie will be on that stage, even if Trump isn't, telling CNN this month that he surpassed "40,000 unique donors in just 35 days." He also has met the polling requirements.
Doug Burgum
Burgum, a wealthy former software entrepreneur now in his second term as North Dakota's governor, has been using his fortune to boost his campaign.
He announced a program this month to give away $20 gift cards — "Biden Relief Cards," as a critique of President Joe Biden's handling of the economy — to as many as 50,000 people in exchange for $1 donations. Critics have questioned whether the offer violated campaign finance law.
Within about a week of launching that effort, Burgum announced he had surpassed the donor threshold. Ad blitzes in the early-voting states also helped him meet the polling requirements.
WHO HASN'T QUALIFIED
Mike Pence
Trump's vice president has met the polling threshold but has yet to amass a sufficient number of donors, raising the possibility that he might not qualify for the party's first debate.
Pence and his advisers have expressed confidence he will do so, noting that most other Republican hopefuls took a month or two of being active candidates to meet the mark. Pence entered the race on June 7, the same day as Burgum and one day after Christie.
"We're making incredible progress toward that goal. We're not there yet," Pence told CNN in a recent interview. "We will make it. I will see you at that debate stage."
Asa Hutchinson
According to his campaign, the former two-term Arkansas governor has met the polling requirements but is working on satisfying the donor threshold. As of Wednesday, Hutchinson marked more than 11,000 unique donors.
Hutchinson is running in the mold of an old-school Republican and has differentiated himself from many of his GOP rivals in his willingness to criticize Trump. He has posted pleas on Twitter for $1 donations to help secure his slot.
Francis Suarez
The Miami mayor has been one of the more creative candidates in his efforts to boost his donor numbers. He offered up a chance to see Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi's debut as a player for Inter Miami, saying donors who gave $1 would be entered in a chance to get front-row tickets.
Still shy of the donor threshold, he took a page from Burgum's playbook by offering a $20 "Bidenomics Relief Card" in return for $1 donations. A super political action committee supporting Suarez launched a sweepstakes for a chance at up to $15,000 in tuition, in exchange for a $1 donation to Suarez's campaign.
Suarez's campaign did not return a message seeking details on his number of donors or qualifying polls.
Larry Elder
The conservative radio host wrote in an op-ed that the RNC "has rigged the rules of the game by instituting a set of criteria that is so onerous and poorly designed that only establishment-backed and billionaire candidates are guaranteed to be on stage."
His campaign last week declined to detail its number of donors, saying only that there had been "a strong increase the last few weeks." He has not met the polling requirements.
Perry Johnson
Johnson, a wealthy but largely unknown businessman from Michigan, said in a recent social media post that he had notched 23,000 donors and was "confident" he would make the debate stage. He added that all donors were "eligible to attend my free concert in Iowa featuring" country duo Big & Rich next month.
Johnson, who has reached 1% in one qualifying poll, has also offered to give copies of his book "Two Cents to Save America" to anyone who donated to his campaign.
Will Hurd
The former Texas congressman — the last candidate to enter the race, on June 22 — has said repeatedly that he would not pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee, a stance that would keep him off the stage even if he had the qualifying donor and polling numbers. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/30/see-which-candidates-have-qualified-for-the-1st-gop-presidential-debate/70495425007/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:49 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/30/see-which-candidates-have-qualified-for-the-1st-gop-presidential-debate/70495425007/ |
Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against CNN over 'the Big Lie' dismissed in Florida
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against CNN in which the former U.S. president claimed that references in news articles or by the network's hosts to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election as "the Big Lie" were tantamount to comparing him to Adolf Hitler.
Trump had been seeking punitive damages of $475 million in the federal lawsuit filed last October in South Florida, claiming the references hurt his reputation and political career. Trump is a candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination in what is his third run for the presidency as a major-party candidate.
U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, who was appointed by Trump, said Friday in his ruling that the former president's defamation claims failed because the references were opinions and not factual statements. Moreover, it was a stretch to believe that, in viewers' minds, that phrase would connect Trump's efforts challenging the 2020 election results to Nazi propaganda or Hitler's genocidal and authoritarian regime, the judge said.
"CNN's use of the phrase 'the Big Lie' in connection with Trump's election challenges does not give rise to a plausible inference that Trump advocates the persecution and genocide of Jews or any other group of people," the judge wrote in his decision.
Email messages seeking comment were sent to Trump's attorneys in South Florida and Washington. CNN declined to comment on Sunday. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/30/trump-defamation-lawsuit-against-cnn-over-the-big-lie-dismissed-in-florida/70495416007/ | 2023-07-30T23:39:55 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/30/trump-defamation-lawsuit-against-cnn-over-the-big-lie-dismissed-in-florida/70495416007/ |
Sunday's MLB trade roundup: Cardinals deal pitching to Rangers, Blue Jays
San Diego — The AL West-leading Texas Rangers continued to load up on pitching by acquiring left-hander Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
The deal came a few hours after the Rangers announced the acquisition of three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer from the New York Mets. Also on Sunday, the Rangers placed ace Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list with a right forearm strain, retroactive to July 27.
The Rangers sent left-hander John King, minor league infielder Tommy Saggese and Double-A right-hander T.K. Roby to the Cardinals. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Rangers designated right-hander Joe Barlow for assignment.
Montgomery is 6-9 with a 3.42 ERA in 21 starts for last-place St. Louis, with 108 strikeouts against 35 walks. He can become a free agent after this season.
Stratton is 1-1 with a 4.36 ERA and one save in 42 relief appearances, with 59 strikeouts and 17 walks.
Jays add Hicks to bullpen
The Toronto Blue Jays strengthened their depleted bullpen Sunday by acquiring right-hander Jordan Hicks in a trade with the Cardinals.
Toronto sent minor league right-handers Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse to St. Louis for the 26-year-old Hicks. The Blue Jays (59-47) are tied with Houston in the wild-card race, four games behind Tampa Bay. Toronto trails Baltimore by five games in the AL East.
A five-year veteran who had spent his entire career with the Cardinals, Hicks is 1-6 with a 3.67 ERA and eight saves in 11 chances. The hard-throwing Hicks has struck out 59 batters in 41 2/3 innings while walking 24.
Toronto put closer Jordan Romano on the 15-day injured list Saturday because of a sore back. Romano left the July 11 All-Star Game in Seattle because of back pain and did not pitch for the Blue Jays again until July 20. He left with two outs in the ninth inning of Friday’s 4-1 win over the Angels and was replaced by Yimi García.
Toronto lost Sunday’s series finale when García, who was pitching for the third straight day, gave up Hunter Renfroe’s two-run homer in the 10th. It was the first time this season García had pitched on three consecutive days.
The Blue Jays could get more relief help when right-hander Chad Green returns from Tommy John surgery. Green, who had elbow surgery last May, signed a two-year, $8.5 million contract with Toronto in January. The former Yankee made his third rehab appearance with Class-A Dunedin on Saturday and is expected to move up to Triple-A Buffalo next.
Kloffenstein was 5-5 with a 3.24 ERA in 17 starts at Double-A New Hampshire. Robberse, who is from the Netherlands, was 3-5 with a 4.06 ERA in 18 starts for the Fisher Cats.
Right-hander Mitch White was designated for assignment to make room for Hicks on Toronto’s 40-man roster. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/07/30/sundays-mlb-trade-roundup-cardinals-deal-pitching-to-rangers-jays/70495460007/ | 2023-07-30T23:40:07 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/07/30/sundays-mlb-trade-roundup-cardinals-deal-pitching-to-rangers-jays/70495460007/ |
Chris Buescher wins at Richmond and secures spot in NASCAR playoffs
Richmond, Va. — Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go and won at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, earning himself a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Buescher led 88 laps. He was ahead by nearly six seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his sizeable lead over local favorite Denny Hamlin, but when the race went back to green, Buescher pulled away easily.
He and RFK Racing teammate Brad Keselowski led a combined 190 of the 400 laps, with Keselowski's Ford pacing the field for 102 laps on the 0.75-mile oval.
Hamlin, coming off a victory last weekend at Pocono, finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece.
The race was slowed just three times by caution flags, the last sending the leaders to pit road for four tires with eight laps to go. When the green flag was shown again, Buescher used the inside line to pull away for his third career victory.
Hamlin's bid for the victory ended on the second lap of the final sprint when he drove in too deep in the first turn and slid up the track. He finished 0.549 seconds behind Buescher, with Busch winding up 0.817 off the winning pace. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/motor/2023/07/30/chris-buescher-wins-at-richmond-and-secures-spot-in-nascar-playoffs/70495652007/ | 2023-07-30T23:40:13 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/motor/2023/07/30/chris-buescher-wins-at-richmond-and-secures-spot-in-nascar-playoffs/70495652007/ |
You-pick farms lose customers and crops through heat, drought and haze in Iowa
BRIGHTON, Iowa (AP) — You-pick farms are struggling through heat, drought and haze. Specialty crops that require lots of water — like blueberries and strawberries — are refusing to grow. And customers are canceling their appointments to pick berries in the heat. A strawberry farmer in central Iowa said these are the worst conditions he has seen in his 56 years of operating the farm. This year, his entire crop failed. Smoke from Canadian wildfires also caused hazy skies in Iowa and poor air quality several times this summer. A blueberry farmer in southeastern Anderson said customers have canceled their appointments on especially hazy days. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/30/you-pick-farms-lose-customers-and-crops-through-heat-drought-and-haze-in-iowa/ | 2023-07-30T23:40:58 | 0 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/30/you-pick-farms-lose-customers-and-crops-through-heat-drought-and-haze-in-iowa/ |
Senate GOP leaders didn’t want it to get to this point.
They tried and tried to get Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to lift the holds he’s placed on hundreds of military promotions — which have opened Republicans up to attacks from the Biden administration.
But their efforts have failed, and they are now in a situation where the earliest a resolution might be found is September — when lawmakers will also be busy trying to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.
“It’s hung around for a while. I support his goals,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican. “The challenge obviously is the mechanism he used to get to the result has created some challenges. We want to figure out a way to resolve it and address that.”
“There are conversations now going on, which is good — between him and the military and others. We’ll have some time in August to work on a path forward, and hopefully we’ll find it,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been among those trying to find a resolution, Thune said. Tuberville said he and McConnell discussed the holds Wednesday, hours after the GOP leader froze and felt lightheaded in front of reporters.
“At this point, everybody’s engaged trying to figure out how to solve this,” Thune added.
Tuberville began his holds in early March to protest a new Defense Department policy to reimburse service members who must travel to seek an abortion for those travel expenses.
Six months later, the list of holds has grown to 300. Senate Republicans were hoping to find a solution before leaving Washington for five weeks — five additional weeks during which those military officers will remain in limbo, fueling Democratic attacks and frustrating the Pentagon.
One Senate Republican said finding an offramp agreeable to both Tuberville and those opposed to the holds has become a “recurring discussion” in the Senate GOP conference, and that McConnell has been personally involved in that quest.
“There’s not a lunch that goes by that we don’t talk about it,” the senator said, but added there’s “no chance of a resolution” any time soon.
Aside from the potential political and national security implications of the holds, McConnell is worried about the institutional implications.
The longtime GOP leader recently told reporters at a press conference that he is concerned this could lead to a renewed Democratic effort to change the chamber’s rules.
Despite disagreeing with Tuberville’s tactic, however, he says he recognizes it is the prerogative of any single senator to place a hold on a nominee.
Senators on both sides of the aisle for months have been musing publicly and privately about what it would take to get the Alabama Republican to set his hold aside, but have come up empty at every turn.
Initially, there had been hope that a vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reverse the abortion travel policy could do the trick, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) led the effort.
But more recently, Tuberville has maintained that not only does any vote have to be standalone, but that the Pentagon would have to reverse its policy before any vote could be taken.
Trying to bridge that gap for lawmakers has become a herculean challenge no one has been able to complete.
Tuberville didn’t comment on efforts by Senate GOP leaders to seek a remedy, but he criticized the Biden administration and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for their lack of outreach in trying to strike a deal. He also hasn’t had any further conversations with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin since their July 17 call and said that the initial series of calls didn’t yield anything productive.
“There’s no conversation from the other side. It’s ‘our way or the highway.’ … How does that help?” Tuberville said. “They’re not worried about it, I guess. … I hate it, for the promotions and all that.”
He added that he has yet to talk to Schumer, who has refused to use up floor time moving the nominees through regular order because he believes it is the Senate GOP’s job to figure a way out of the maze of military holds.
“This is the responsibility of the Republican Senate caucus. … It’s up to them. I think in August, pressure will mount on Tuberville, and I think the Republicans are feeling that heat,” Schumer said late Thursday. “He’s boxing himself into a corner.”
But Democrats are trying to increase that pressure, with President Biden on Thursday night laying into the Alabama Republican and arguing his holds are harming military readiness and creating instability within the ranks of the armed forces.
“This partisan freeze is already harming military readiness, security and leadership, and troop morale,” Biden said in remarks at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington. “Freezing pay, freezing people in place. Military families who have already sacrificed so much, unsure of where and when they change stations, unable to get housing or start their kids in the new school.”
Senate Democrats also took to the floor before and after the NDAA vote Thursday to criticize their GOP colleague. Since the hold was put into place, Democratic senators have made 12 attempts to move the military promotions in bloc via unanimous request.
Perhaps adding to the difficulty, Tuberville has received a boost in support from voters at home and from conservative corners of the Senate GOP conference who believe he is making the right call, albeit a difficult one.
They also argue that if Senate Democrats truly want to move on some of the nominations, they can start to do so via regular order — a move Democrats have avoided in order to not set precedent.
“Democrats think they have a winning political thing on this. I don’t think they do, and I think Sen. Tuberville morally is in the right position with regard to the issue of abortion,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said. “The [Defense] Department has just as much of a responsibility to find a path forward as any single member does, and I’m not seeing the Department try to work in any fashion other than to simply put pressure on Sen. Tuberville.”
“They’re not trying to find a path forward. They think this is one of those items where if they keep putting pressure on him, he’ll cave, and I don’t think he will,” Rounds continued. “On the issue, he’s correct.” | https://www.texomashomepage.com/hill-politics/gop-leaders-strike-out-on-getting-tuberville-to-bend/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:00 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/hill-politics/gop-leaders-strike-out-on-getting-tuberville-to-bend/ |
Beaver Creek’s butterfly house gains thousands of visitors
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - Butterfly houses are not overly in the common in the Midwest, but in Western Wisconsin, there is one place natural butterflies can fly free in a garden habitat.
It’s the Beaver Creek Reserve’s butterfly house.
Outreach and development specialist, Kristen Giefer, said they have a variety of butterflies.
“We have thousands of native Wisconsin butterflies. We have caterpillars, chrysalis, eggs, houseplants, nectarine plants. It’s very rare for people to see this, especially in other local communities, because they don’t have spaces like this where they can come see the butterflies that we have here in our state. So it’s a pretty unique experience for people to get out and learn,” Kristen said.
There aren’t many places you can get an up close look at local butterflies in Wisconsin. That’s why staff with the Beaver Creek Reserve said they think the butterfly house is growing in popularity.
Typically, their butterfly house gets around 5,000 visitors a year, but this year was different, with 2,000 visitors in the first two weeks.
“We’re kind of a hidden gem out here in Fall Creek, Wisconsin. So having folks come out from all areas, whether they’re from Wisconsin and other parts of the United States or even worldwide, I mean, we see people internationally come to visit our butterfly house because it’s starting to get so much popularity,” Kristen said.
Beaver Creek Reserve’s Naturalist, Megan Giefer, said their butterfly house has been around for 20 years and they have been building up the amount of butterflies they have.
“There’s probably thousands and thousands of butterflies that are in here, and especially when we get towards the end of the season, I’m sure this whole place will be just full of them,” Megan said.
Another reason for Beaver Creek Reserve’s popularity is because they don’t buy their caterpillars from suppliers around the nation.
“So every butterfly in here is either caught by a staff member or a volunteer or we have raised it from egg or caterpillar to be an adult butterfly. We have tons of plants in here as well,” Megan said.
“By coming out to Beaver Creek, which is a very rural area, they can see butterflies, caterpillars, they can see plants, all super up close that they might not normally be able to see and observe while they’re in town,” Kristen said.
The beaver creek reserve will be releasing all the butterflies at the end of summer so they can migrate south.
Their butterfly house is only open through Labor Day weekend.
It will also be hosting a butterfly festival this Friday, which includes a variety of activities to experience and people can learn more about butterflies.
Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/30/beaver-creeks-butterfly-house-gains-thousands-visitors/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:00 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/30/beaver-creeks-butterfly-house-gains-thousands-visitors/ |
Reds beat Dodgers 9-0 on homers by De La Cruz and Votto, grab NL Central lead over Brewers
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Elly De La Cruz, Joey Votto and Matt McLain homered, and the Cincinnati Reds routed the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-0 on Sunday to take over sole possession of first place in the NL Central.
De La Cruz went 4 for 5 and scored twice as the Reds rapped out 14 hits in taking two of three from the NL West-leading Dodgers. It was LA’s worst loss since a 15-0 defeat to San Francisco on June 17.
Graham Ashcraft (6-7) scattered five hits over six innings and struck out two.
The Dodgers hit into three double plays on Friday and three more Sunday. They managed just two hits in a 3-2 loss Saturday. They didn’t get a runner past second base over the final five innings in the finale.
Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas made his first career pitching appearance in the ninth. He nearly hit Votto before the designated hitter answered with an RBI double that made it 9-0. Rojas then hit Christian Encarnacion-Strand.
Dodgers starter Michael Grove (2-3) got hit hard over the first three innings. Three pitches into the game, the Reds led 1-0 on TJ Friedl’s RBI double. Friedl scored on a throwing error by center fielder James Outman, and McLain hustled home on Spencer Steer’s groundout to third.
De La Cruz’s solo shot traveled 411 feet into the right-field pavilion with two outs in the second. It was De La Cruz’s seventh homer.
McLain hit his 11th homer into the Dodgers bullpen in left leading off the third. Votto’s 418-foot shot into the Reds bullpen in right field scored Jake Fraley, who singled, and extended the lead to 7-0.
Votto was robbed of a potential second homer on Outman’s leaping catch at the top of the wall in right-center in the fifth.
The Reds led 8-0 on Friedl’s RBI double with two outs in the sixth.
Grove gave up eight runs and 10 hits in six innings. The rookie right-hander struck out a career-best 10 and walked one on a career-high 96 pitches.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: INF Jonathan India went on the IL with left heel pain.
Dodgers: DH J.D. Martinez left after the first inning with left hamstring tightness. … C Will Smith left the game in the top of the fourth with a left elbow contusion. … OF Mookie Betts (right ankle soreness) was out of the lineup for the second straight day. He got hurt in the batter’s box trying to avoid a pitch on Friday, but is expected back Tuesday. … LHP Julio Urías is having his next start pushed back a couple days while he deals with a nail issue. … LHP Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) played catch.
UP NEXT
Reds: LHP Andrew Abbott (6-2, 1.90 ERA) starts Monday night in the opener of a four-game series at the Chicago Cubs.
Dodgers: RHP Lance Lynn (6-9, 6.47 ERA) makes his Dodgers debut Tuesday in an interleague series opener against Oakland.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/30/reds-beat-dodgers-9-0-on-homers-by-de-la-cruz-and-votto-grab-nl-central-lead-over-brewers/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:04 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/30/reds-beat-dodgers-9-0-on-homers-by-de-la-cruz-and-votto-grab-nl-central-lead-over-brewers/ |
ARCHER CITY (KFDX/KJTL) — The Archer City Volunteer Fire Department’s 6th annual barbecue benefit dinner turned out to be a huge success.
Those in attendance got some yummy brisket that the firefighters prepared on Tuesday. All proceeds and donations from the event went directly to the firefighters. The money helps them maintain their equipment and ensure they can better serve their community.
Kelvin Green, the department’s fire chief, said that the community is the reason why they keep hosting this event.
“Our city is a pretty special place,” said Green. “You know, it’s just like any other small town around here. But the community has always been very supportive of us, and it’s a pretty good feeling whenever you walk in here, and you see the community turn out like this.”
If you missed out on their fundraiser, you can still donate to the Archer City Fire Department by writing a check to City Hall and addressing it to the Archer City Volunteer Fire Department. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/archer-city-volunteer-fire-department-hosts-6th-annual-dinner/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:06 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/archer-city-volunteer-fire-department-hosts-6th-annual-dinner/ |
Elmwood, Wisconsin hosted their 44th annual UFO Days Fest, which ended with a grand, “out of this word” parade
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - An alien themed festival went on this weekend in Elmwood, Wisconsin.
This festival went on Wednesday through Sunday and had crafts, food, music, and even a grand parade on their last day.
Dozens of folks from around Elmwood dressed up in alien costumes to watch the parade, not to mention most of the floats were alien and UFO themed, as well.
Community Club President, Amy Bechal, explains who’s in this year’s parade.
“Local businesses, some surrounding town businesses. Occasionally we get somebody that dresses up like royalty, they tend to get more into the the theme of it all. They’ll be the ones that you’ll see with the aliens on their arms or the aliens added to their floats,” Bechal said.
Bechal also said that this parade is a keystone event for the people of Elmwood, and has been a tradition since the 1970′s when there were multiple UFO sightings around the area.
Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/30/elmwood-wisconsin-hosted-their-44th-annual-ufo-days-fest-which-ended-with-grand-out-this-word-parade/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:06 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/30/elmwood-wisconsin-hosted-their-44th-annual-ufo-days-fest-which-ended-with-grand-out-this-word-parade/ |
Blach, 4 relievers lead Rockies over Athletics, 2-0; McMahon drives in both runs
By MICHAEL KELLY
Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Ty Blach tossed five strong innings, Ryan McMahon had two hits and drove in both runs, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0 on Sunday to salvage the final game of the three-game series.
Matt Koch, Brent Suter and Daniel Bard each pitched an inning before Justin Lawrence capped the shutout with a clean ninth to earn his eighth save.
Ramón Laureano had two hits and Luis Medina (3-8) allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Athletics.
Oakland, which entered the weekend series averaging 3.22 runs, put up a total of 19 runs in its wins Friday and Saturday nights against traditional starters. The Athletics’ bats went silent against Blach, a reliever and designated opener.
Blach (1-0), making his second straight start, went a season-high five innings and threw just 11 balls in his 52 pitches. He allowed three hits and only one runner past first base.
McMahon provided the run support with an RBI single in the third inning and a two-out double in the fifth to bring home Ezequiel Tovar.
The Athletics’ best chance to score was against Suter in the seventh, when they loaded the bases with two outs. Suter got Nick Allen looking with a 78 mph changeup to end the inning.
THOSE WERE THE DAYS
Colorado continued its season-long 30th anniversary celebration by honoring four key figures in franchise history. Clint Hurdle, Pedro Astacio, Jorge De La Rosa and Carlos González were in attendance and recognized for their major contributions to the Rockies.
Hurdle managed the team to the 2007 World Series, Astacio holds team record for complete games with 14, De La Rosa has the most strikeouts in franchise history with 985, and González was a Gold Glove outfielder and NL batting champion. He also hit a walk-off homer to complete a cycle, which occurred on July 30, 2010.
González, Astacio and De La Rosa threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.
UP NEXT
Athletics: Have not announced a starter for Monday night’s game at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Rockies: LHP Austin Gomber (8-8, 5.83) will start the opener of a three-game series against San Diego on Monday night. | https://kion546.com/news/ap-california/2023/07/30/blach-4-relievers-lead-rockies-over-athletics-2-0-mcmahon-drives-in-both-runs/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:10 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/ap-california/2023/07/30/blach-4-relievers-lead-rockies-over-athletics-2-0-mcmahon-drives-in-both-runs/ |
Two shots during the final round of the 3M Open — one more majestic than the next — sealed Lee Hodges’ first career PGA Tour victory on Sunday.
Both were second-shot approaches on par 5s.
The first came on the sixth hole when Hodges, from 253 yards out, laced a ball that landed about two feet clear of the greenside pond and skipped 11 feet past the cup. He buried the eagle putt to get to 23-under par on the tournament.
The second came on the 12th, when Hodges, coming off two pulled drives, on No. 10 and No. 11 that led to scrambling pars, blitzed his drive down the fairway, leaving himself with 256 yards to the pin. He fired a dart that softly landed 2 feet, 8 inches away for a kick-in eagle to all but end the competition.
“Those were two of the greatest shots I ever hit,” Hodges said.
Hodges alternated bogeys and birdies over his final four holes on Sunday at TPC Twin Cities, putting an exclamation point on the victory with a stuffed wedge from 115 yards out to just 16 inches that left a tap-in birdie on 18 to finish his week with a record 24-under 260 score for the tournament. Hodges, the first wire-to-wire winner in tournament’s five-year history, won by a whopping seven shots, marking it the largest margin of victory on the PGA Tour since 2019.
J.T. Poston entered the final hole four shots behind Hodges. But a risky second shot trying to set himself up for eagle and a shot at victory found the lake — the 71st and final ball in the water on No. 18 this week — and Poston , who was rock solid over the first 17 holes of the day, failed to execute from there, turning in a final-hole triple-bogey 8 that dropped him back into a three-way tie for second with Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman at 17-under 267.
That dip from solo second place to a three-way tie for the position moved Poston from 38th in the FedExCup standings to 49th. It’s a consequential drop considering the top 50 make the second event of the FedExCup playoffs, and the top 30 reach the Tour Championship.
“We’re not coming here to finish second. At the end of the day, we were trying to do something special and try and win,” Poston said. “I wouldn’t want to be sleeping tonight wondering ‘what if’ if I had just laid it up instead of trying to go for it. No regrets on the decision. You know, tried to do what we could to win.”
Hodges is in a good position for all of those events now after his victory. Entering the Blaine tournament, Hodges sat in 74th place in the FedExCup standings with just two regular-season events to play. The top 70 players after next week advance to the postseason. With the win, Hodges — who entered this week having missed the cut in three of his past four events —- climbed to 33rd in the standings.
He also collected a cool $1.4 million winner’s check.
Yet Hodges said the coolest thing about the victory is knowing he’s now entered into next year’s Masters.
Low scores were available to be had Sunday at TPC Twin Cities. Beau Hossler demonstrated that in the morning, tying the course record with a 9-under round of 62 that featured eight consecutive birdies from holes No. 9-16. That round moved Hossler to 13 under for the tournament. He finished in a tie for 13th.
Dylan Wu and Zac Blair also carded 7-under rounds of 64 to finish tied for fifth and tied for 13th, respectively.
But those closest to Hodges at the start of the day were unable to generate such fireworks. Defending 3M Open champion Tony Finau was six back to start his round. But while he didn’t record a bogey Sunday, Finau also produced just one birdie, a tap-in four at the par-5 sixth hole.
Regardless of the performance of others, there was no catching Hodges. He noted he started making birdies Monday in Blaine, and that continued throughout the week.
“I played some outstanding golf today and all week,” he said. “The process I went through, yeah, I’ll take this week forever. I’ll just try to keep replicating this week every time I show up to a tournament.”
This was his week. Sunday was his day. That’s why about 100 people were tuned in at a viewing party back in his hometown of Ardmore, Ala., population 1,370. It’s why his wife, Savannah, was in attendance in Blaine. As was his college coach, Alabama golf coach Jay Seawell, who flew in Sunday morning to watch his former player take home a victory.
Hodges first noticed Seawell as he was standing on the 18th green. The coach greeted his former golfer with a chocolate milkshake, continuing a celebratory tradition established in college.
The sweet taste of victory.
“I mean, you can’t even make that up,” Hodges said. “That’s super special, something I’ll remember forever.” | https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/30/3m-open-golf-lee-hodges-notches-first-pga-tour-career-win-in-runaway-fashion/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:11 | 1 | https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/30/3m-open-golf-lee-hodges-notches-first-pga-tour-career-win-in-runaway-fashion/ |
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Police arrested a suspected gun thief after he allegedly used fake money while trying to buy a firearm.
According to the arrest warrant, on July 10, 2023, a Wichita Falls Police officer was waved down by the victim on Seymour Highway. He said he met the suspect on Snapchat, and they agreed to meet at the Wichita Bluffs on Seymour Highway for the victim to sell an AR-15 rifle.
The victim said he had the rifle in his backseat when they met. He said the suspect got in his vehicle, and threw a bunch of counterfeit money at him, causing him to flinch. He said the suspect grabbed the AR weapon and fled.
Using the suspect’s online name, police identify Elijah Williams as the potential suspect. The victim picked Williams out in a police provided photo lineup. Williams is charged with theft of a firearm. His bond was set at $20,000.
This is a developing story. Stick with Texoma’s Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/local-news/gun-theft-victim-claims-suspect-threw-fake-money-at-him/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:12 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/local-news/gun-theft-victim-claims-suspect-threw-fake-money-at-him/ |
Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning
DENVER (AP) — As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, doesn’t have air conditioning.
The 68-year-old covers his windows with mattress foam to insulate against the heat and sleeps in the concrete basement. He knows high temperatures can cause heat stroke and death, and his lung condition makes him more susceptible. But the retired brick layer, who survives on about $1,000 a month largely from Social Security, says air conditioning is out of reach.
“Take me about 12 years to save up for something like that,” he said. “If it’s hard to breathe, I’ll get down to emergency.”
As climate change fans hotter and longer heat waves, breaking record temperatures across the U.S. and leaving dozens dead, the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defenses. Air conditioning, once a luxury, is now a matter of survival.
As Phoenix weathered its 27th consecutive day above 110 degrees (43 Celsius) Wednesday, the nine who died indoors didn’t have functioning air conditioning, or it was turned off. Last year, all 86 heat-related deaths indoors were in uncooled environments.
“To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills,” said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health. “Once the heat wave starts, mortality starts in about 24 hours.”
It’s the poorest and people of color, from Kansas City to Detroit to New York City and beyond, who are far more likely to face grueling heat without air conditioning, according to a Boston University analysis of 115 U.S. metros.
“The temperature differences ... between lower-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods of color and their wealthier, whiter counterparts have pretty severe consequences,” said Cate Mingoya-LaFortune of Groundwork USA, an environmental justice organization. “There are these really big consequences like death. ... But there’s also ambient misery.”
Some have window units that can offer respite, but “in the dead of heat, it don’t do nothing,” said Melody Clark, who stopped Friday to get food at a nonprofit in Kansas City, Kansas, as temperatures soared to 101, and high humidity made it feel like 109. When the central air conditioning at her rental house went on the fritz, her landlord installed a window unit. But it doesn’t do much during the day.
So the 45-year-old wets her hair, cooks outside on a propane grill and keeps the lights off indoors. She’s taken the bus to the library to cool off. At night she flips the box unit on, hauling her bed into the room where it’s located to sleep.
As far as her two teenagers, she said: “They aren’t little bitty. We aren’t dying in the heat. ... They don’t complain.”
While billions in federal funding have been allocated to subsidize utility costs and the installation of cooling systems, experts say they often only support a fraction of the most vulnerable families and some still require prohibitive upfront costs. Installing a centralized heat pump system for heating and cooling can easily reach $25,000.
President Joe Biden announced steps on Thursday to defend against extreme heat, highlighting the expansion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which funnels money through states to help poorer households pay utility bills.
While the program is critical, said Michelle Graff, who studies the subsidy at Cleveland State University, only about 16% of the nation’s eligible population is actually reached. Nearly half of states don’t offer the federal dollars for summer cooling.
“So people are engaging in coping mechanisms, like they’re turning on their air conditioners later and leaving their homes hotter,” Graff said.
While frigid temperatures and high heating bills birthed the term “heat or eat,” she said, “we can now transition to AC or eat, where people are going to have to make difficult decisions.”
As temperatures rise, so does the cost of cooling. And temperatures are already hotter in America’s low-income neighborhoods like Gallegos’ Denver suburb of Globeville, where people live along stretches of asphalt and concrete that hold heat like a cast-iron skillet. Surface temperatures there can be roughly 8 degrees hotter than in Denver’s wealthier neighborhoods, where a sea of vegetation cools the area, according to the environmental advocacy group American Forests.
This disparity plays out nationwide. Researchers at the University of San Diego analyzed 1,056 counties and in over 70%, the poorest areas and those with higher Black, Hispanic and Asian populations were significantly hotter.
About one in 10 U.S. households have no air conditioning, a disparity compounded for marginalized groups, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. Less than 4% of Detroit’s white households don’t have air conditioning; it’s 15% for Black households.
At noon on Friday, Katrice Sullivan sat on the porch of her rented house on Detroit’s westside. It was hot and muggy, but even steamier inside the house. Even if she had air conditioning, Sullivan said she’d choose her moments to run it to keep her electricity bill down.
The 37-year-old factory worker pours water on her head, freezes towels to put around her neck, and sits in her car with the air conditioner on. “Some people here spend every dollar for food, so air conditioning is something they can’t afford,” she said.
Shannon Lewis, 38, lived in her Detroit home for nearly 20 years without air conditioning. Lewis’s bedroom was the only place with a window unit, so she’d squeeze her teenager, 8-year-old and 3-year-old-twins into her queen-size bed to sleep, eat meals and watch television.
“So it was like cool in one room and a heat stroke in another,” Lewis said. For the first time, Lewis now has air conditioning through a local non-profit, she said. “We don’t have to sleep or eat in the same room, we are able to come out, sit at the dining room table, eat like a family.”
After at least 54 died during a 2021 heat wave, mostly elderly people without air conditioning, in the Portland area, Oregon passed a law prohibiting landlords from placing blanket bans on air conditioning units. By and large, however, states don’t have laws requiring landlords to provide cooling.
In the federal Inflation Reduction Act, billions were set aside for tax credits and rebates to help families install energy-efficient cooling systems, but some of those are yet to be available. For people like Gallegos, who doesn’t pay taxes, the available credits are worthless.
The law also offers rebates, the kind of state and federal point-of-sale discounts that Amanda Morian has looked into for her 640-square-foot home.
Morian, who has a 13-week-old baby susceptible to hot weather, is desperate to keep her house in Denver’s Globeville suburb cool. She bought thermal curtains, ceiling fans and runs a window unit. At night she tries to do skin-to-skin touch to regulate the baby’s body temperature. When the back door opens in the afternoon, she said, the indoor temperature jumps a degree.
“All of those are just to take the edge off, it’s not enough to actually make it cool. It’s enough to keep us from dying,” she said.
She got estimates from four different companies for installing a cooling system, but every project was between $20,000 and $25,000, she said. Even with subsidies she can’t afford it.
“I’m finding that you have to afford the project in the first place and then it’s like having a bonus coupon to take $5,000 off of the sticker price,” she said.
Lucy Molina, a single mom in Commerce City, one of Denver’s poorest areas, said her home has reached 107 degrees without air conditioning. Nearby, Molina’s two teenage children slurped popsicles to cool off, lingering in front of the open freezer.
For Molina, who bustled around her kitchen on a recent day when temperatures reached 99 degrees outdoors, it’s hard to see any path to a cooling respite.
“We’re just too poor,” she said.
____
Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Kansas, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
——
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:12 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ |
Taylor Fritz wins the Atlanta Open for his sixth career ATP Tour title
ATLANTA (AP) — Taylor Fritz won his sixth career title Sunday, beating Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4 at the Atlanta Open.
The top seed and highest-ranked American at No. 9 tuned up for the U.S. Open with his second victory of the season on hard courts, having won the Delray Beach title in February.
He appeared en route to winning this title easily, reaching the final without dropping a set and then holding two match points while leading 6-5 in the second with Vukic serving. But the Australian erased those and then won the tiebreaker to force the deciding set.
Fritz, 25, recovered to take the third and deny Vukic his first ATP Tour title.
The 27-year-old Vukic, who played collegiately at Illinois, will rise to a career-high No. 62 in the ATP rankings. He would have climbed into the top 50 with a victory.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://kion546.com/news/ap-california/2023/07/30/taylor-fritz-wins-the-atlanta-open-for-his-sixth-career-atp-tour-title/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:16 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/ap-california/2023/07/30/taylor-fritz-wins-the-atlanta-open-for-his-sixth-career-atp-tour-title/ |
Michael Kopech began the second inning of Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians by walking Oscar Gonzalez.
The Chicago White Sox starter retired the next two batters, but walked the following two to load the bases for Andrés Giménez.
Kopech threw four straight balls, bringing home a run. He avoided any more trouble, striking out José Ramírez to end the inning.
Kopech later described his outing in the 5-0 loss as “pretty pathetic” as he continues his search for consistency.
“I’ve been trying to bounce back from outings all year and haven’t been consistent,” Kopech said. “Today was not an exception to that. I’m trying to figure things out and (I’m) not doing a great job putting this team in a good position to win. There’s a lot to assess and a lot to figure out.”
The right-hander allowed three runs on four hits with two strikeouts and five walks in five innings. He didn’t walk any batters after the second inning, but gave up solo home runs to Steven Kwan and Ramírez in the fifth.
Kopech exited after throwing 93 pitches.
“I’ve got to just find a groove to take one good inning to the next,” Kopech said. “That starts one pitch at a time. Right now when a pitch gets away from me I’m looking to fight myself back into it instead of just trusting the stuff.”
Kopech walked at least five batters in a game for the fifth time this season.
“I think his first pitch strikes were 8 out of 23, and his 2-out-of-3 (strikes to a batter) was 7 out of 18, and that’s just a difficult way to try to navigate through a lineup like that one,” manager Pedro Grifol said.
Kopech is 4-10 with a 4.49 ERA in 20 starts.
Grifol’s conversations with Kopech have been about remaining positive.
“Sometimes when you battle through some adversity like this, you forget about the successes that you’ve had in this game, at this level. I’m not talking about he’s had some success in the minor leagues, he’s had it here (in the majors) against some really good teams,” Grifol said. “So my conversations with him are always on the positive side. Go out there and have some fun.
“You’ve prepared yourself. Just go out there and enjoy that and compete. Compete your ass off there and don’t lose that edge. On the mechanical side and mental side, that’s (pitching coach) Ethan (Katz) and (bullpen coach Curt Hasler) that have it consistently with him. They do a good job of preparing for the game. He’s just got to go out there and really enjoy pitching and not put so much pressure on himself.”
Grifol continued: “We’ve all seen him go out there and just have a lot of fun and be electric. So we’ve got to get him to that point. He’s an important piece moving forward and we’ve got to get him to that point consistently.”
Before the game, Katz discussed Kopech’s continued development.
“It’s been a developmental year, but it’s a developmental time for everybody in the big leagues,” Katz said. “Everybody’s trying to develop, evolve, whether you’re Lance Lynn adding pitches and doing stuff like that or Michael Kopech. There’s things that pop up every single day that you can learn from, and there’s a lot of steps that he is learning from.
“His routine’s gotten better and better. The way he goes about his business is better and better. So it’s just constantly trying to teach him and get him to understand everything he needs to do and understanding hitters more. He’s doing a great job with all that.”
Kopech said he’s trying to remain even-keeled.
“Try not to get too high or too low,” he said. “Still remember that it’s a game we get to play for a living. Still very grateful to be out on the field. Unfortunately I’m just not getting the results I need right now.”
With Sunday’s loss in front of 28,096 at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox split the four-game series with the Guardians.
Ramírez homered twice. He hit the solo home run in the fifth against Kopech and a two-run homer in the seventh against Declan Cronin.
A 36th-round selection in the 2019 draft, Cronin allowed two runs on one hit with one walk in two innings in his big-league debut. Edgar Navarro also made his major-league debut, allowing two hits and striking out two in a scoreless inning.
The evaluation will continue as the Sox look toward the future.
“There are guys in there competing for a job next year,” Grifol said. “Everybody is getting evaluated here.”
() | https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/30/chicago-white-sox-pitcher-michael-kopech-searching-for-consistency-after-sundays-5-0-loss-to-the-cleveland-guardians/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:17 | 1 | https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/30/chicago-white-sox-pitcher-michael-kopech-searching-for-consistency-after-sundays-5-0-loss-to-the-cleveland-guardians/ |
Remains of WWII veteran killed in Romania identified, laid to rest
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - The remains of a missing U.S. Army Lieutenant were laid to rest with full military honors on Saturday.
According to WOIO, First Lieutenant Army Air Corps George “Bud” Julius Reuter was buried at Sunset Memorial Park in North Olmsted, Ohio.
Reuter, who was 25 years old at the time, was killed in action on August 1, 1943 near Ploiesti, Romania.
Reuter’s remains were identified January 10, 2023 by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
After the war, many airmen were interred by Romanian citizens in the Bolovan Cemetery in Ploiesti. The American Graves Registration Command exhumed many unknown remains to identify U.S. veterans who went missing. The organization eventually reinterred the remains that could not be identified.
Reuter was laid to rest near his parents John George and Elizabeth Theodocia Reuter.
A memorial service was held for the lieutenant which included the presentation of four military medals: the Silver Star, Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Medal for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy.
Copyright 2023 WOIO via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/30/remains-wwii-veteran-killed-romania-identified-laid-rest/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:19 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/30/remains-wwii-veteran-killed-romania-identified-laid-rest/ |
AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s no surprise that the summer heat can do significant damage to your vehicle. But as cities around the country continue to break temperature records and endure long heat waves, some car technicians are finding unusual vehicle issues.
Doc Watson, a national training manager with Bosch Diagnostics, said typical summertime issues include dead car batteries and flat tires. However, he said technicians in Texas and along the West Coast have also been recording more unusual vehicle complications due to the extensive heat waves.
In Texas, Arizona and California, technicians are reporting an emergence of “brake fade” cases in cars. When the temperature outside tops 100 degrees for extended periods of time, temperatures under the hood of vehicles during the summer can reach up to 230 degrees.
Brake fluids inside the cylinder under the hood of the car can absorb moisture, as the heat causes that moisture to expand within the fluid. When that happens, stepping on the brake pedal can feel “mushy.” That means the vehicle owner will need to take the car in for maintenance.
Both heat and humidity can add extra wear and tear to the windshield wiper blades, which have a typical lifespan between 12 and 18 months.
“People don’t stop to think about wiper blades — they don’t need them until it rains, right?” Watson said. “You’re driving around in 112-degree temperature, you’ve got heat reflecting off the glass, and that causes the rubber components of a wiper blade to break down.”
The plastic parts of the blades can also suffer.
“With these extreme temperatures that you guys are seeing, it’s the plastic breaking down off the wiper blade itself, and people not realizing that that’s happened until it’s too late,” he said. “The wiper blade breaks and then you’ve got this metal arm scratching the glass.”
Watson recommended car owners keep a checklist of key vehicle parts to monitor during the summer months. Those include:
- Car batteries: Traditionally, car batteries last between three and five years. Amid excessive heat spells, temperatures under the hood of a vehicle reach up to 230 degrees, which can lead to battery fluid evaporations and dead batteries. Watson suggests car owners have their batteries tested by a technician during the summer to get a condition status.
- Tires: Low tire pressure is exacerbated by hot asphalt on roadways. Watson encouraged car owners to purchase a tire pressure gauge and to test their vehicle’s tire pressure early in the morning while it’s still cool to ensure an accurate reading.
- Engine overflow tank: During the summer months, cooling an engine is critical. Watson said when car owners check underneath the hood, they’ll find a plastic overflow tank with a graduated scale. If it looks low, he suggested adding antifreeze to aid your engine.
- Wiper blades: Check wiper blades during dry spells (and before rain storms) to make sure they’re properly working and not deteriorating. If they show signs of wear and tear, replace them and make sure they’re upgraded every 12-18 months.
- Oil changes: Most newer vehicles require an oil change every 5,000 to 7,000 miles. However, remote starting a vehicle and running the air conditioning works the engine without adding any mileage to the vehicle. As a result, Watson suggested not waiting until you hit that 5,000 to 7,000-mile range if you often use remote start on your vehicle during the summer or winter months.
“People aren’t changing oil regularly like they think they are,” he said. “People need to pay more attention to them because these engines will go many miles — 200,000, 300,000 miles — as long as they’re maintained correctly. That’s big with this extreme heat.” | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/the-weird-car-issues-mechanics-are-seeing-during-heat-waves/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:18 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/the-weird-car-issues-mechanics-are-seeing-during-heat-waves/ |
3 dead after plane crashes into California airport hangar while taking off, authorities say
By Chris Boyette, CNN
(CNN) — A small plane crashed into a California airport hangar as it was taking off Sunday, killing all three people on board, authorities say.
The single-engine Beechcraft P35 crashed at Cable Airport in Upland at around 6:30 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Three occupants of aircraft located deceased. Units committed to overhaul. Investigators enroute,” the San Bernardino County Fire Department tweeted.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, the agencies said.
The city of Upland is about 36 miles east of Los Angeles.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/30/3-dead-after-plane-crashes-into-california-airport-hangar-while-taking-off-authorities-say/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:22 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/30/3-dead-after-plane-crashes-into-california-airport-hangar-while-taking-off-authorities-say/ |
St. Paul Saints starter Louie Varland felt good going into Sunday’s game against Toledo at CHS Field. He felt even better afterward.
In one of his better starts since being sent down by the Twins on June 20, Varland allowed one run in six innings to earn the victory in the Saints’ 7-2 win over the Mud Hens.
“I finally got through six; it’s been a while,” said Varland, who improved his record to 5-0 and lowered his earned-run average to 5.00.
Varland limited the Mud Hens to two hits, the only run coming on a home run to lead off the fourth inning. He walked one while striking out seven. Since rejoining the Saints, Varland has added a slider to his repertoire and has been using a new grip on his changeup.
Along with a fastball that appeared to have a little extra zip to it, Varland said he relied on his two new pitches more than he did when he faced the Mud Hens in the first game of the series.
“I got swings and misses on both,” he said.
Saints manager Toby Gardenhire was impressed by what he saw from Varland.
“Today he kind of had that swagger — that Louie thing that he does,” Gardenhire said. “The last few times he’s been kind of nibbling, trying to figure some stuff out. Today he was just more ‘attack’. He just seemed to have more confidence on the mound.”
Renewed confidence and a couple of new pitches might not be enough to get Varland back into the Twins’ starting rotation this season, but Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey mentioned last week the possibility of adding Varland to the bullpen in August or September.
“I was not aware of that comment,” Varland said when asked his reaction, “but I guess I am pretty open to it.”
The Saints took control of the game early with three runs in the first inning. After leadoff hitter Anthony Prato reached on an error, Trevor Larnach launched a long home run to center field. Kyle Garlick followed with a solo homer.
The Saints took a 6-0 lead in the third on a three-run home run by Alex De Goti.
The win gave manager Gardenhire his 200th win with the Saints (200-179) 101 games into his third season.
“It’s pretty cool,” Gardenhire said. “This is a really cool job that I have; I’m very lucky. So any time you hit these milestones it’s very humbling and very cool.”
Gardenhire has been able to put together an impressive record despite the fact that winning games can often take a back seat to player development and satisfying the needs of the major league club.
“It makes me feel good,” Gardenhire said. “I figure if I manage enough games I’ll eventually hit one of the milestones.”
The players presented Gardenhire with a game ball after the game.
“Toby is the man,” Varland said. “I’ll go to war with him anywhere, any day of the week. I love Toby.”
Briefly
Garlick, who added an RBI single in the eighth, has looked smooth at first base while playing the position for the first time in his career. As a right-handed hitter, he could be an option for the Twins with Alex Kirilloff sidelined due to a shoulder injury. | https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/30/louie-varland-pitches-saints-to-7-2-win-over-mud-hens-in-series-finale/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:23 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/30/louie-varland-pitches-saints-to-7-2-win-over-mud-hens-in-series-finale/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — A week later, the “Barbenheimer” boom has not abated.
Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. “Barbie” took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Oppenheimer” stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
“Barbenheimer” has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it “a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters.”
“Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other’s fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don’t know if there’s a comp for this in the annals of box-office history,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s really no comparison for this.”
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of “Barbie” saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
“Barbie” has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it’s played, “Barbie” has made at least $20 million.
And the “Barbie” effect isn’t just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It’s the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
“That’s a crazy number,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “There’s just a built-in audience that wants to be part of the zeitgeist of the moment. Wherever you go, people are wearing pink. Pink is taking over the world.”
Amid the frenzy, “Barbie” is already attracting a lot of repeat moviegoers. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales are people going back with friends or family to see it again.
For a movie industry that has been trying to regain its pre-pandemic footing — and that now finds itself largely shuttered due to actors and screenwriters strikes — the sensations of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have showed what’s possible when everything lines up just right.
“Post-pandemic, there’s no ceiling and there’s no floor,” Goldstein said. “The movies that miss really miss big time, and the movies that work really work big time.”
Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer,” meanwhile, is performing more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about scientists talking.
Nolan’s drama starring Cillian Murphy as atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has accrued $174.1 million domestically thus far. With an additional $72.4 million in international cinemas, “Oppenheimer” has already surpassed $400 million globally.
Showings in IMAX have typically been sold out. “Oppenheimer” has made $80 million worldwide on IMAX. The large-format exhibitor said Sunday that it will extend the film’s run through Aug. 13.
The week’s top new release, Walt Disney Co.’s “Haunted Mansion,” an adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction, was easily overshadowed by the “Barbenheimer” blitz. The film, which cost about $150 million, debuted with $24 million domestically and $9 million in overseas sales. “Haunted Mansion,” directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”) and starring an ensemble of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson, struggled to overcome mediocre reviews.
“Talk to Me,” the A24 supernatural horror film, fared better. It debuted with $10 million. The film, directed by Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sophie Wilde, was a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received terrific reviews from critics (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It was made for a modest $4.5 million.
While theaters being flush with moviegoers has been a huge boon to the film industry, it’s been tougher sledding for Tom Cruise, the so-called savior of the movies last summer with “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I,” which debuted the week before the arrival of “Barbenheimer,” grossed $10.7 million in its third weekend. The film starring Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, has grossed $139.2 million domestically and $309.3 million oveseas.
Instead, the sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom” has been the best performing non-“Barbenheimer” release in theaters. The Angel Studios’ release, which is counting crowdfunding pay-it-forward sales in its box office totals, made $12.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its haul thus far to nearly $150 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Barbie,” $93 million.
2. “Opppenheimer,” $46.2 million.
3. “Haunted Mansion,” $24.2 million.
4. “Sound of Freedom,” $12.4 million.
5. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” $10.7 million.
6. “Talk to Me,” $10 million.
7. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $4 million.
8. “Elemental,” $3.4 million.
9. “Insidious: The Red Door,” $3.2 million.
10. “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” $1.6 million. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/while-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-no-2-spot/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:26 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/while-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-no-2-spot/ |
Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning
DENVER (AP) — As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, doesn’t have air conditioning.
The 68-year-old covers his windows with mattress foam to insulate against the heat and sleeps in the concrete basement. He knows high temperatures can cause heat stroke and death, and his lung condition makes him more susceptible. But the retired brick layer, who survives on about $1,000 a month largely from Social Security, says air conditioning is out of reach.
“Take me about 12 years to save up for something like that,” he said. “If it’s hard to breathe, I’ll get down to emergency.”
As climate change fans hotter and longer heat waves, breaking record temperatures across the U.S. and leaving dozens dead, the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defenses. Air conditioning, once a luxury, is now a matter of survival.
As Phoenix weathered its 27th consecutive day above 110 degrees (43 Celsius) Wednesday, the nine who died indoors didn’t have functioning air conditioning, or it was turned off. Last year, all 86 heat-related deaths indoors were in uncooled environments.
“To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills,” said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health. “Once the heat wave starts, mortality starts in about 24 hours.”
It’s the poorest and people of color, from Kansas City to Detroit to New York City and beyond, who are far more likely to face grueling heat without air conditioning, according to a Boston University analysis of 115 U.S. metros.
“The temperature differences ... between lower-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods of color and their wealthier, whiter counterparts have pretty severe consequences,” said Cate Mingoya-LaFortune of Groundwork USA, an environmental justice organization. “There are these really big consequences like death. ... But there’s also ambient misery.”
Some have window units that can offer respite, but “in the dead of heat, it don’t do nothing,” said Melody Clark, who stopped Friday to get food at a nonprofit in Kansas City, Kansas, as temperatures soared to 101, and high humidity made it feel like 109. When the central air conditioning at her rental house went on the fritz, her landlord installed a window unit. But it doesn’t do much during the day.
So the 45-year-old wets her hair, cooks outside on a propane grill and keeps the lights off indoors. She’s taken the bus to the library to cool off. At night she flips the box unit on, hauling her bed into the room where it’s located to sleep.
As far as her two teenagers, she said: “They aren’t little bitty. We aren’t dying in the heat. ... They don’t complain.”
While billions in federal funding have been allocated to subsidize utility costs and the installation of cooling systems, experts say they often only support a fraction of the most vulnerable families and some still require prohibitive upfront costs. Installing a centralized heat pump system for heating and cooling can easily reach $25,000.
President Joe Biden announced steps on Thursday to defend against extreme heat, highlighting the expansion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which funnels money through states to help poorer households pay utility bills.
While the program is critical, said Michelle Graff, who studies the subsidy at Cleveland State University, only about 16% of the nation’s eligible population is actually reached. Nearly half of states don’t offer the federal dollars for summer cooling.
“So people are engaging in coping mechanisms, like they’re turning on their air conditioners later and leaving their homes hotter,” Graff said.
While frigid temperatures and high heating bills birthed the term “heat or eat,” she said, “we can now transition to AC or eat, where people are going to have to make difficult decisions.”
As temperatures rise, so does the cost of cooling. And temperatures are already hotter in America’s low-income neighborhoods like Gallegos’ Denver suburb of Globeville, where people live along stretches of asphalt and concrete that hold heat like a cast-iron skillet. Surface temperatures there can be roughly 8 degrees hotter than in Denver’s wealthier neighborhoods, where a sea of vegetation cools the area, according to the environmental advocacy group American Forests.
This disparity plays out nationwide. Researchers at the University of San Diego analyzed 1,056 counties and in over 70%, the poorest areas and those with higher Black, Hispanic and Asian populations were significantly hotter.
About one in 10 U.S. households have no air conditioning, a disparity compounded for marginalized groups, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. Less than 4% of Detroit’s white households don’t have air conditioning; it’s 15% for Black households.
At noon on Friday, Katrice Sullivan sat on the porch of her rented house on Detroit’s westside. It was hot and muggy, but even steamier inside the house. Even if she had air conditioning, Sullivan said she’d choose her moments to run it to keep her electricity bill down.
The 37-year-old factory worker pours water on her head, freezes towels to put around her neck, and sits in her car with the air conditioner on. “Some people here spend every dollar for food, so air conditioning is something they can’t afford,” she said.
Shannon Lewis, 38, lived in her Detroit home for nearly 20 years without air conditioning. Lewis’s bedroom was the only place with a window unit, so she’d squeeze her teenager, 8-year-old and 3-year-old-twins into her queen-size bed to sleep, eat meals and watch television.
“So it was like cool in one room and a heat stroke in another,” Lewis said. For the first time, Lewis now has air conditioning through a local non-profit, she said. “We don’t have to sleep or eat in the same room, we are able to come out, sit at the dining room table, eat like a family.”
After at least 54 died during a 2021 heat wave, mostly elderly people without air conditioning, in the Portland area, Oregon passed a law prohibiting landlords from placing blanket bans on air conditioning units. By and large, however, states don’t have laws requiring landlords to provide cooling.
In the federal Inflation Reduction Act, billions were set aside for tax credits and rebates to help families install energy-efficient cooling systems, but some of those are yet to be available. For people like Gallegos, who doesn’t pay taxes, the available credits are worthless.
The law also offers rebates, the kind of state and federal point-of-sale discounts that Amanda Morian has looked into for her 640-square-foot home.
Morian, who has a 13-week-old baby susceptible to hot weather, is desperate to keep her house in Denver’s Globeville suburb cool. She bought thermal curtains, ceiling fans and runs a window unit. At night she tries to do skin-to-skin touch to regulate the baby’s body temperature. When the back door opens in the afternoon, she said, the indoor temperature jumps a degree.
“All of those are just to take the edge off, it’s not enough to actually make it cool. It’s enough to keep us from dying,” she said.
She got estimates from four different companies for installing a cooling system, but every project was between $20,000 and $25,000, she said. Even with subsidies she can’t afford it.
“I’m finding that you have to afford the project in the first place and then it’s like having a bonus coupon to take $5,000 off of the sticker price,” she said.
Lucy Molina, a single mom in Commerce City, one of Denver’s poorest areas, said her home has reached 107 degrees without air conditioning. Nearby, Molina’s two teenage children slurped popsicles to cool off, lingering in front of the open freezer.
For Molina, who bustled around her kitchen on a recent day when temperatures reached 99 degrees outdoors, it’s hard to see any path to a cooling respite.
“We’re just too poor,” she said.
____
Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Kansas, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
——
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:28 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ |
Bear cools off in a Burbank pool during heat wave
CNN
By Cheri Mossburg and Zoe Sottile, CNN
(CNN) — Police in Burbank, California, were called over an unexpected visitor having a bear-y good time taking a dip in a neighbor’s pool.
Police responded to reports of a bear sighting around 3:30 p.m. PT Friday at the 1300 block of Paseo Redondo, the Burbank Police Department said in a news release. When officers arrived, they found the bear relaxing in a jacuzzi toward the rear of one of the homes, the release said.
Shortly after officers arrived, the bear took his leave and “made his way over the wall” and into a tree near the rear of the residence, according to the release. Police monitored the situation with the assistance of the Burbank Animal Shelter and California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the release said.
Burbank police also shared an adorable video of the bear cooling off in the water.
The city is under a heat advisory until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, and is expected to see a high of 96 degrees Fahrenheit.
California is home to an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 black bears, according to the state’s Department of Fish and Game. The department urges residents to avoid approaching the animals, which can weigh up to 500 pounds and run up to 35 miles per hour, and “if encountered, always leave them an escape route.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/30/bear-cools-off-in-a-burbank-pool-during-heat-wave-2/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:28 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/30/bear-cools-off-in-a-burbank-pool-during-heat-wave-2/ |
BALTIMORE — With the trade deadline on Tuesday, there was plenty of activity around Major League Baseball on Saturday and Sunday. But at the time of publication, the Yankees had yet to make any moves.
The first-place Rangers added ex-Mets righty Max Scherzer and ex-Yankees and Cardinals lefty Jordan Montgomery to their rotation. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays — who occupy the final wild card spot that the Yankees are chasing — acquired flame-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks from St. Louis.
If a division rival upgrading wasn’t bad enough, the red-hot Cubs also decided to keep Cody Bellinger, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Bellinger would have been a great — if not costly — fit for the Yankees, as his left-handed bat and glove could have helped an offense and defense that have often lacked.
“You see it with interest,” Aaron Boone said Sunday of the flurry, but he added that his focus is on winning games. “It’s not something for me to worry about.”
Bellinger coming off the market leaves the Yankees with several less-desirable outfield options as the deadline nears — at least when it comes to names they’ve been linked to publicly.
Among them: the Rockies’ Randal Grichuk, the Cardinals’ Dylan Carlson, and the Nationals’ Lane Thomas. However, Grichuk and Thomas are right-handed hitters and Carlson, a switch-hitter, is much better from the right side. Grichuk and Thomas’ gloves could also be better.
If the Yankees don’t add an outfielder, the alternative is to stick with the combination of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jake Bauers, Billy McKinney and Greg Allen in left field.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Yankees improved their pitching, too, and they’ve also been connected to Nationals third baseman Jeimer Candelario. Boone said that “anything is possible” when it comes to the Yankees’ plans over the next few days, but the manager avoids campaigning for the front office to make moves.
“It’s a slight to the people we have in our room that I feel like are totally capable of still reaching all of our hopes and dreams,” Boone explained. “So I’m not going to go lobby for something that may or may not happen. Then if something doesn’t happen, then what? I know our guys, individually and our team, feel very confident in our ability to get right and play a high level of baseball these final two months, and that’s how I look at it. If things come our way and a deal gets done for something, we’ll welcome those people. But it’s too hard to speculate on what may or may not be getting done.”
A DIFFERENT TYPE OF ADDITION
It’s not unusual for teams to temper trade deadline expectations by noting that an injured player or players are due back soon. The idea — one that often disappoints fans if no moves are made — is that getting key players back is just like adding from outside the organization. Never mind that it’s not the same.
On Sunday, Boone noted that the Yankees just got Aaron Judge back from a torn ligament in his toe, which hasn’t fully healed yet. He also mentioned that Nestor Cortes (rotator cuff) and Jonathan Loáisiga (bone spur) are due back soon.
“I think in our case, where you are getting Judge, Nestor and Loáisiga, those are pretty big pieces to get back,” Boone said. “So we’re excited about that. But at the same time, in Nestor’s case and even Los’ case, that’s still days ahead. I guess I don’t take the time to sit and consider. Like I’m serious: we’re getting ready to play the Orioles. All our energy goes into trying to get prepared for that.”
Again, Boone is not going to publicly push for the Yankees to do something. And getting healthy doesn’t mean the team won’t add external pieces.
CORTES AND LOÁISIGA
Speaking of Cortes and Loáisiga, Sunday provided some updates on their rehabs.
Loáisiga tossed two perfect innings with the Tampa Tarpons earlier in the day. He threw 18 pitches, including 15 for strikes. He struck out two.
“I’m excited about Lo, the way he’s looked over the last couple of weeks in his bullpens and his live sessions,” Boone said. “I didn’t see his outing today, but I’ve heard it was really good.
“He seems to be in a really good spot, and obviously looking forward to getting him back. We know the impact he can have at the back of our pen.”
Cortes, meanwhile, is expected to make his last rehab start on Wednesday.
() | https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/30/yankees-notebook-trade-deadline-options-shrinking-as-rivals-get-better/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:29 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/30/yankees-notebook-trade-deadline-options-shrinking-as-rivals-get-better/ |
(The Hill) – Northwestern is the latest in a long line of universities to come under public scrutiny due to a scandal over hazing, a practice that has refused to go extinct in colleges and high schools despite multiple concerted efforts to end it.
Hazing, which in rare instances has proven fatal, in particular plagues sports teams and Greek Life.
Experts say education on the issue and increased consequences are needed to create a real change, although they are skeptical the dangerous practice will exit school life anytime soon.
“Hazing has always been prevalent in society, not just in colleges. It’s anywhere that you see a different power dynamic between people who are trying to join a group [and] people who are in the group,” said Todd Shelton, executive director of the Hazing Prevention Network. “There’s research that shows that hazing starts long before college and in those younger ages. It’s especially prevalent in athletic teams camps, performing arts groups.”
The latest high-profile hazing incident comes from Northwestern University, where the head football coach was recently let go and a barrage of lawsuits have fallen on the school.
One of the reported rituals of hazing on the school’s football team was younger players getting restrained in the locker room by older ones while others dry humped the individual. Another incident described in a lawsuit against the school was a ritual called “carwash” where players were forced to rub themselves against a line of naked men in the showers.
“Certainly, it is typical hazing activities that we’ve seen before and it’s not unusual that they’re shrouded with secrecy. So I applaud the people who came forward and reported because that’s — that’s key for institutions to be able to make changes,” Shelton said. “I think those acts are horrible and examples of how hazing can quickly escalate from what individuals think is something that’s mild and or funny, to quickly being something that’s dangerous, either mentally or physically, to the victims.”
Experts say preventing hazing incidents has to start by educating people about its warning signs and dangers.
A study in 2008 showed 73 percent of students who have been in a sorority or fraternity said they experienced behaviors that meet the definition of hazing, such as being forced into drinking games or getting screamed at by other members.
The same study showed 74 percent of athletes in athletic programs also experienced behaviors that amount to hazing.
“Hazing is specific to that group context where someone is seeking inclusion or a sense of belonging in a club, team or organization. They’re a newcomer typically coming into this group situation, and because of that group dynamic there can be an incredible amount of peer pressure and sometimes a coercive environment. And so that can impede or be a barrier to recognizing and or reporting hazing because there can be a lot of fear,” Elizabeth Allan, a professor at the University of Maine, said.
These rituals and desires to be part of the in-group have led to some deadly consequences for young people.
In 2019, five Penn State University students were sentenced to jail after a 19-year-old student at a Beta Theta Pi fraternity house died at a party after hazing-based binge drinking.
While most hazing incidents don’t result in incarceration, there are other consequences for students who are caught for the crime.
“Financial, monetary damages. People have lost their jobs. People have gone to jail or had, criminal penalties, fines and so forth. Let’s say sometimes when it’s a student organization or a team so with a student organization, they’re often suspended or lose their recognition with the campus for a period of time, and with an athletic team sometimes a portion of the season is put on hold or canceled entirely sometimes at the high school level, we’ve seen that recently.” Allan, who also leads the organization Stop Hazing, said.
And yet, even as schools ramp up their efforts, hazing persists.
Allan says a multifaceted strategy is needed to tackle the problem, and her group has developed a “Hazing Prevention Framework” for schools to follow.
“They can use it to also do some strategic planning and set some goals for the improvements they want to make, and all this is really … based on a public health approach to organizational change and promoting healthy behaviors in a community setting,” Allan said.
Shelton said his group also advocates for hazing to be treated as a felony, whereas many states look at it as a misdemeanor.
“The problem is it’s not taken seriously in the law, and we’ve seen a lot of hazing cases, even when there’s been a death… [where] prosecutors don’t consider it hazing or don’t consider hazing to be a serious crime to go through the measures of prosecuting,” Shelton said. “And so that’s why we’ve been working hard to strengthen those state laws.” | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/why-is-hazing-so-hard-to-eliminate/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:32 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/why-is-hazing-so-hard-to-eliminate/ |
Bear cools off in a Burbank pool during heat wave
By Cheri Mossburg and Zoe Sottile, CNN
(CNN) — Police in Burbank, California, were called over an unexpected visitor having a bear-y good time taking a dip in a neighbor’s pool.
Police responded to reports of a bear sighting around 3:30 p.m. PT Friday at the 1300 block of Paseo Redondo, the Burbank Police Department said in a news release. When officers arrived, they found the bear relaxing in a jacuzzi toward the rear of one of the homes, the release said.
Shortly after officers arrived, the bear took his leave and “made his way over the wall” and into a tree near the rear of the residence, according to the release. Police monitored the situation with the assistance of the Burbank Animal Shelter and California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the release said.
Burbank police also shared an adorable video of the bear cooling off in the water.
The city is under a heat advisory until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, and is expected to see a high of 96 degrees Fahrenheit.
California is home to an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 black bears, according to the state’s Department of Fish and Game. The department urges residents to avoid approaching the animals, which can weigh up to 500 pounds and run up to 35 miles per hour, and “if encountered, always leave them an escape route.”
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™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/30/bear-cools-off-in-a-burbank-pool-during-heat-wave/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:34 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/30/bear-cools-off-in-a-burbank-pool-during-heat-wave/ |
Russian missile attacks leave few options for Ukrainian farmers looking to export grain
(AP) -PAVLIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — The summer winds carried the smell of burned grain across the southern Ukrainian steppe and away from the shards of three Russian cruise missiles that struck the unassuming metal hangars.
The agricultural company Ivushka applied for accreditation to export grain this year, but the strike in mid-July destroyed a large portion of the stock, days after Russia abandoned the grain deal that would have allowed the shipments across the Black Sea without fear of attack.
Men shirtless and barefoot, with blackened soles from ash, swept unburnt grain into piles and awaited the loader, whose driver deftly steered around twisted metal shrapnel, bits of missile and craters despite his shattered windshield.
They hoped to beat the next rain to rescue what was left of the crop. According to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Russia struck the facility July 21 with three Kalibr- and Onyx-class cruise missiles.
“We don’t have a clue why they did it,” explained Olha Romanova, the head of Ivushka. Romanova, who worked in the debris alongside the others, wore a red headscarf and an exhausted expression and was too frazzled to even estimate her losses.
She cannot comprehend why the Russians targeted Ivushka, as there are no nearby military facilities and the frontlines are far from the village in the Odesa region.
“They spent so much money on us,” she said, puzzled. The missiles that ruined the silos are worth millions of dollars — far more than the crop they destroyed.
But Ivushka wasn’t the only target in Odesa. The main port also was struck, leaving Black Sea shipping companies that relied upon the grain deal to keep them safe and food supplies flowing to the world at a standstill.
The Black Sea handled about 95% of Ukrainian grain exports before Russia’s invasion and the U.N.-brokered initiative allowed Ukraine to ship much of what farmers harvested in 2021 and 2022, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Ukraine, a major supplier of corn, wheat, barley and vegetable oil, shipped 32.9 million metric tons (36.2 million U.S. tons) of grain under the nearly yearlong deal designed to ease a global food crisis. It has been able to export an additional 2 million to 2.5 million metric tons (2.2 to 2.7 million U.S. tons) monthly by the Danube River, road and rail through Europe.
Those are now the only routes to ship grain, but have stirred divisions among nearby European countries and generated higher costs to be absorbed by Ukrainian farmers, said Glauber, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Russian missiles strikes against the Danube port last Monday also raised questions about how much longer that route will remain viable.
That’s a disincentive to keep planting fields already threatened by missiles and strewn with explosive mines. Corn and wheat production in agriculture-dependent Ukraine is down nearly 40% this year from prewar levels, analysts say.
From the first of July last year until June 30 this year, Ukraine exported 68 million tons of grain, according to data from Mykola Horbachov, the president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Ukrainian farmers shipped 11.2 million tons via railways, 5.5 million tons by road transport and around 18 million tons through Danube ports. Additionally, nearly half of the total exported grain, 33 million tons, was delivered through seaports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Ihor Osmachko, the general director of Agroprosperis Group, was unsurprised by Russia’s withdrawal from the deal leading to its collapse. His company had never considered it a reliable or permanent solution during wartime.
He said Russians frequently stymied the deal, even while it was functioning, by delaying ship inspections until the cargos were sent back, leading to $30 million in losses for his company alone. Now, they are once again forced to pay to reroute 100,000 tons of grain trapped in ports that are no longer safe, Osmachko said.
“We have been preparing for this whole time,” Osmachko said. “We haven’t stopped. We are moving forward.”
Osmachko estimated around 80% to 90% of the approximately 3.2 million tons of grain Agroprosperis exported to China, Europe and African countries during the past year went through the grain corridor.
“The most significant problem today is the cost of logistics,” explained Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Before the war, farmers paid approximately $20 to $25 per ton to transport grain to the Odesa ports. Now, logistics costs have tripled as they are forced to pay more than $100 to transport a single ton via alternative routes through the Danube port to Constanta, Romania.
“If we were to go on the Danube with the grain corridor closed, practically all our production would be unprofitable,” Osmachko said.
The Danube ports can’t handle the same volume as seaports. The most Agroprosperis has sent through this route is 75,000 tons per month, compared with a monthly average of 250,000 tons through Black Sea ports.
The Ukrainian harvest this year is the lowest in a decade, according to a July report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Horbachov said shipping costs to export around the world and uncertainty about the length of the war will last could quickly make new planting unprofitable for Ukrainian farmers.
Ukraine currently produces three times more grain than it consumes, while global prices will inevitably rise if the country’s exports decrease.
“I think you’re looking at a diminished Ukraine for at least the next couple of years and maybe longer,” said Glauber, the former U.S. agricultural official. “That’s something the rest of the world just needs to make up.”
The war from all sides poses risks for Agroprosperis.
In the Sumy region on the Russian border, farmers harvest their crops wearing body armor. Sometimes they must stop their combines in the middle of the wheat fields to pick up shrapnel from Russian projectiles.
“It can get tough at times,” Osmachko acknowledged. “But there are responsibilities — some have duties on the front. Some must grow food and ensure the country’s and world’s security.”
___
Volodymyr Yurchuk in Lviv, Ukraine, and Courtney Bonnell in London contributed.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2023/07/30/russian-missile-attacks-leave-few-options-ukrainian-farmers-looking-export-grain/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:34 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2023/07/30/russian-missile-attacks-leave-few-options-ukrainian-farmers-looking-export-grain/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When viewed through a wide lens, renters across the U.S. finally appear to be getting some relief, thanks in part to the biggest apartment construction boom in decades.
Median rent rose just 0.5% in June, year over year, after falling in May for the first time since the pandemic hit the U.S. Some economists project U.S. rents will be down modestly this year after soaring nearly 25% over the past four years.
A closer look, however, shows the trend will likely be little comfort for many U.S. renters who’ve had to put an increasing share of their income toward their monthly payment. Renters in cities such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis are still getting hit with increases of 5% or more. Much of the new construction is located in just a few metro areas, and many of the new units are luxury apartments, which rent for well north of $2,000.
Median U.S. rent has risen to $2,029 this June from $1,629 in June 2019, according to rental listings company Rent, which tracks rents in 50 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Demand for apartments exploded during the pandemic as people who could work remotely sought more space or decided to relocate to another part of the country.
The steep rent increases have left tenants like Melissa Lombana, a high school teacher who lives in the South Florida city of Miramar, with progressively less income to spend on other needs.
The rent on her one-bedroom apartment jumped 13% last year to $1,700. It climbed another 6% to $1,800 this month when she renewed her lease.
“Even the $1,700 was a stretch for me,” said Lombana, 43, who supplements her teaching income with a side job doing educational testing. “In a year, I will not be able to afford living here at all.”
Lombana’s rent is now gobbling up nearly half her monthly income. That puts her in a category referred to as “cost-burdened” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, denoting households that pay 30% or more of their income toward rent. Last year, the average rent-to-income ratio per household rose to 30%. This March, it was 29.6%.
Lombana hasn’t had any luck finding a more affordable apartment. While South Florida is one of the metropolitan areas seeing a rise in apartment construction, the units are mostly high-end and not a viable option.
That scenario is playing out across the nation. Developers are rushing to complete projects that were green-lit during the pandemic-era surge in demand for rentals or left in limbo by delays in supplies of fixtures and building materials. Nearly 1.1 million apartments are currently under construction, according to the commercial real estate tracker CoStar, a pace not seen since the 1970s.
Increasing the supply of apartments tends to moderate rent increases over time and can give tenants more options on where to live. But more than 40% of the new rentals to be completed this year will be concentrated in about 10 high job growth metropolitan areas, including Austin, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta and New York, according to Marcus & Millichap. In many areas, the boost to overall inventory will be barely noticeable.
Even within metros where there’ll be a notable increase in available apartments, such as Nashville, most of it will be in the luxury category, where rents average $2,270, nationally. Some 70% of the new rental inventory will be the luxury class, said Jay Lybik, national director of multifamily analytics at CoStar.
That will leave most tenants unlikely to see a big enough reduction in rent to make a difference, industry experts and economists say.
“I think we’re in a period of rent flattening for 12 or 18 months, but it’s certainly not a big rent decline,” said Hessam Nadji, CEO of commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.
“We’re building a multi-decade record number of units,” Nadji said. “It’s going to cause some softening and some pockets of overbuilding, but it’s not going to fundamentally resolve the housing shortage or the affordability problem for renters across the U.S.”
The surge in rents has made it difficult for workers to keep up with inflation despite solid wage gains the past few years and exacerbated a long-term trend. Between 1999 and 2022, U.S. rents soared 135%, while income grew 77%, according to data from Moody’s Analytics.
Realtor.com is forecasting that rents will drop an average of 0.9% this year. But while down nationally, rents are still rising in many markets around the country, especially those where hiring remains robust.
In the New York metro area, the median rent climbed 4.7% in June from a year earlier to $2,899, according to Realtor.com. In the Midwest, rents surged 5.6% in the Cincinnati metro area to $1,188, and 6.9% to $1,350 in the Indianapolis metro area.
The current spike in apartment construction alone isn’t going to be enough to address how costly renting has become for many Americans.
“For the rest of the 2020s rents will continue to grow because millennials are such a big generation and we’re very much in the hole in terms of building housing for that generation,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. “It will take many good years of new construction to build adequate housing for millennials.”
The bigger challenge is building more work force housing, because the cost of land, labor and navigating the government approval process incentivize developers to put up luxury apartments buildings.
Expanding the supply of modestly priced rentals would help alleviate the strain from so many new apartments targeting renters with high incomes, “although additional subsidies will be needed to make housing affordable to households with the lowest incomes,” researchers at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies wrote in a recent report.
Despite the overall pullback in U.S. rents, Joey Di Girolamo, in Pembroke Pines, Florida, worries that he’ll face more sharp rent increases in coming years.
Last year, the web designer left a two-bedroom, two-bath townhome he rented for $2,200 a month to avoid a $600 a month increase. This year, his rent went up by $200, a nearly 10% jump.
“That blew me away,” said Di Girolamo, 50. “I’m just kind of dreading what it’s going to be like next year, but especially 3 or 4 years from now.” | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/renters-get-relief-from-rising-prices-except-in-certain-us-cities/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:39 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/renters-get-relief-from-rising-prices-except-in-certain-us-cities/ |
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Put five former Georgia Bulldog defensive teammates together in the big city, give them huge contracts and let them hang out together and … watch each other’s puppies?
Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith and Nakobe Dean spoke after practice Sunday about how much being together in Philly, along with former teammates Jalen Carter and Kelee Ringo – has helped ease the transition from college football to the NFL.
It's not just a fun story. It's a very real support group for five guys who are 23 and younger.
The five of them have a chat group – Philly Dog Chat Group – and when they’re not together shopping, watching a game on TV or going out to dinner, they’re texting each other and checking up on each other.
They’ll do anything for each other.
Even watching each others’ puppies.
“It’s like having a group of your best friends,” said Davis, who arrived here with Dean in last year’s draft. “Literally yesterday, I was at a store in Delaware, and I was like, ‘Man, hey, if y’all need a little clothes, if y'all need a little shoes, you need to come out here. Little stuff like that.
Philadelphia Eagles
“Helping them get acclimated is a lot easier than it was for us. If they need something, if they need to come over, just another spot to chill at, if they want somebody to watch their dog, little stuff like that just to make the transition easier.
“Because at the end of the day it’s hard. You’ve got to grow up real quick coming from college to the NFL. I know how it is and I’ve been there.”
The Eagles drafted Davis in the first round and Dean in the third last year and Carter and Smith in the first round and Ringo in the fourth round this year.
Davis, Carter and Dean are projected 2023 starters, Smith will be a key rotational edge rusher and Ringo is a promising young corner.
And three of them have puppies.
“She’s like my daughter, she’s my baby - Izzy,” Davis said. “Nolan’s got a pup, Jalen’s got a pup, I don’t think Kelee has a dog, Nakobe doesn’t have a dog, but me, Jalen and Nolan have pups.”
A bulldog most likely?
“I don’t think I could do a bulldog,” Carter said with a laugh. “It’s like another grown man in the house just walking around eating and sleeping. I don’t know if I could dig it.”
Dogs or not, these Georgia Bulldogs are sticking close together. It’s quite a built-in support group for the 23-year-old Davis; Carter, Smith and Dean, who are 22; and Ringo, who’s just 21.
“Our first off day, we were in there FaceTiming each other and talking about practice,” Smith said. “Nakobe was my best friend in college, now he’s in special teams meetings helping me out, so I’ll say those connections are real, and you could shout out to coach (Kirby) Smart for that because he made that happen at Georgia, so we wouldn’t have a connection piece if it weren’t for him.”
Davis and Dean are still just kids, but since they were here last year they’re the ones showing Smith, Carter and Ringo the ropes.
“Yeah, it helps from a just a standpoint of it’s just different for the new guys,” Dean said. “They need somewhere to eat or they need somewhere to find clothes and everything, you know, me and J.D., we've been here for a year so we know a little bit more.
“So any questions, anything they have, we’re (here). We’re friends, you know? Everybody’s cool. We dogs. We’re on there all day shooting texts back and forth.”
We’ve all heard stories about rookies – talented players – who were so overwhelmed by the adjustment from college to the NFL that they weren’t able to be at their best at practice or even in games.
Having four of your best friends a phone call or a short drive away makes a huge difference.
Georgia was 14-1 in 2021 and beat Alabama to win the national championship with all five of these guys playing key roles and then went 15-1 last year and beat TCU to win another one.
So the Eagles aren’t just getting best friends and outstanding defensive players, they’re getting guys who know how to win and know what it takes to win.
“Luckily, me and Nakobe, we’ve been here (for a year), and it’s recent,” Davis said. “You can listen to Fletch and you can listen to B.G., but times have changed since they were rookies and fortunately it’s fresh for us and I get to give them the experience.
“We do everything together. If we’re not together, we’re always talking to each other, making sure everybody’s straight, making sure everybody made it home safe. It’s just that little security. Because at the end of the day, football’s football, but we care about each other on a deeper level.
“That’s my bro’s. That’s how it really is.” | https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/eagles-georgia-players-and-their-puppies-sticking-together/530407/ | 2023-07-30T23:41:58 | 0 | https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/eagles-georgia-players-and-their-puppies-sticking-together/530407/ |
ROANOKE, Va. – A house fire in Roanoke Sunday morning left $29,000 in damages, according to Roanoke Fire-EMS.
Officials said at 6:54 a.m., crews were dispatched to the 500 block of Riverland Road SE for reports of a structure fire.
Arriving units found heavy smoke and flames showing from a two-story residential structure, according to firefighters.
We’re told the fire was marked under control within 20 minutes of arrival.
According to officials, two people were evaluated on scene but were not transported for treatment. No injuries to firefighters were reported.
Firefighters said an investigation from the Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was accidental, caused by improperly discarded smoking materials. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/30/roanoke-house-fire-leaves-29k-in-damages/ | 2023-07-30T23:42:36 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/30/roanoke-house-fire-leaves-29k-in-damages/ |
Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning
DENVER (AP) — As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, doesn’t have air conditioning.
The 68-year-old covers his windows with mattress foam to insulate against the heat and sleeps in the concrete basement. He knows high temperatures can cause heat stroke and death, and his lung condition makes him more susceptible. But the retired brick layer, who survives on about $1,000 a month largely from Social Security, says air conditioning is out of reach.
“Take me about 12 years to save up for something like that,” he said. “If it’s hard to breathe, I’ll get down to emergency.”
As climate change fans hotter and longer heat waves, breaking record temperatures across the U.S. and leaving dozens dead, the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defenses. Air conditioning, once a luxury, is now a matter of survival.
As Phoenix weathered its 27th consecutive day above 110 degrees (43 Celsius) Wednesday, the nine who died indoors didn’t have functioning air conditioning, or it was turned off. Last year, all 86 heat-related deaths indoors were in uncooled environments.
“To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills,” said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health. “Once the heat wave starts, mortality starts in about 24 hours.”
It’s the poorest and people of color, from Kansas City to Detroit to New York City and beyond, who are far more likely to face grueling heat without air conditioning, according to a Boston University analysis of 115 U.S. metros.
“The temperature differences ... between lower-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods of color and their wealthier, whiter counterparts have pretty severe consequences,” said Cate Mingoya-LaFortune of Groundwork USA, an environmental justice organization. “There are these really big consequences like death. ... But there’s also ambient misery.”
Some have window units that can offer respite, but “in the dead of heat, it don’t do nothing,” said Melody Clark, who stopped Friday to get food at a nonprofit in Kansas City, Kansas, as temperatures soared to 101, and high humidity made it feel like 109. When the central air conditioning at her rental house went on the fritz, her landlord installed a window unit. But it doesn’t do much during the day.
So the 45-year-old wets her hair, cooks outside on a propane grill and keeps the lights off indoors. She’s taken the bus to the library to cool off. At night she flips the box unit on, hauling her bed into the room where it’s located to sleep.
As far as her two teenagers, she said: “They aren’t little bitty. We aren’t dying in the heat. ... They don’t complain.”
While billions in federal funding have been allocated to subsidize utility costs and the installation of cooling systems, experts say they often only support a fraction of the most vulnerable families and some still require prohibitive upfront costs. Installing a centralized heat pump system for heating and cooling can easily reach $25,000.
President Joe Biden announced steps on Thursday to defend against extreme heat, highlighting the expansion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which funnels money through states to help poorer households pay utility bills.
While the program is critical, said Michelle Graff, who studies the subsidy at Cleveland State University, only about 16% of the nation’s eligible population is actually reached. Nearly half of states don’t offer the federal dollars for summer cooling.
“So people are engaging in coping mechanisms, like they’re turning on their air conditioners later and leaving their homes hotter,” Graff said.
While frigid temperatures and high heating bills birthed the term “heat or eat,” she said, “we can now transition to AC or eat, where people are going to have to make difficult decisions.”
As temperatures rise, so does the cost of cooling. And temperatures are already hotter in America’s low-income neighborhoods like Gallegos’ Denver suburb of Globeville, where people live along stretches of asphalt and concrete that hold heat like a cast-iron skillet. Surface temperatures there can be roughly 8 degrees hotter than in Denver’s wealthier neighborhoods, where a sea of vegetation cools the area, according to the environmental advocacy group American Forests.
This disparity plays out nationwide. Researchers at the University of San Diego analyzed 1,056 counties and in over 70%, the poorest areas and those with higher Black, Hispanic and Asian populations were significantly hotter.
About one in 10 U.S. households have no air conditioning, a disparity compounded for marginalized groups, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. Less than 4% of Detroit’s white households don’t have air conditioning; it’s 15% for Black households.
At noon on Friday, Katrice Sullivan sat on the porch of her rented house on Detroit’s westside. It was hot and muggy, but even steamier inside the house. Even if she had air conditioning, Sullivan said she’d choose her moments to run it to keep her electricity bill down.
The 37-year-old factory worker pours water on her head, freezes towels to put around her neck, and sits in her car with the air conditioner on. “Some people here spend every dollar for food, so air conditioning is something they can’t afford,” she said.
Shannon Lewis, 38, lived in her Detroit home for nearly 20 years without air conditioning. Lewis’s bedroom was the only place with a window unit, so she’d squeeze her teenager, 8-year-old and 3-year-old-twins into her queen-size bed to sleep, eat meals and watch television.
“So it was like cool in one room and a heat stroke in another,” Lewis said. For the first time, Lewis now has air conditioning through a local non-profit, she said. “We don’t have to sleep or eat in the same room, we are able to come out, sit at the dining room table, eat like a family.”
After at least 54 died during a 2021 heat wave, mostly elderly people without air conditioning, in the Portland area, Oregon passed a law prohibiting landlords from placing blanket bans on air conditioning units. By and large, however, states don’t have laws requiring landlords to provide cooling.
In the federal Inflation Reduction Act, billions were set aside for tax credits and rebates to help families install energy-efficient cooling systems, but some of those are yet to be available. For people like Gallegos, who doesn’t pay taxes, the available credits are worthless.
The law also offers rebates, the kind of state and federal point-of-sale discounts that Amanda Morian has looked into for her 640-square-foot home.
Morian, who has a 13-week-old baby susceptible to hot weather, is desperate to keep her house in Denver’s Globeville suburb cool. She bought thermal curtains, ceiling fans and runs a window unit. At night she tries to do skin-to-skin touch to regulate the baby’s body temperature. When the back door opens in the afternoon, she said, the indoor temperature jumps a degree.
“All of those are just to take the edge off, it’s not enough to actually make it cool. It’s enough to keep us from dying,” she said.
She got estimates from four different companies for installing a cooling system, but every project was between $20,000 and $25,000, she said. Even with subsidies she can’t afford it.
“I’m finding that you have to afford the project in the first place and then it’s like having a bonus coupon to take $5,000 off of the sticker price,” she said.
Lucy Molina, a single mom in Commerce City, one of Denver’s poorest areas, said her home has reached 107 degrees without air conditioning. Nearby, Molina’s two teenage children slurped popsicles to cool off, lingering in front of the open freezer.
For Molina, who bustled around her kitchen on a recent day when temperatures reached 99 degrees outdoors, it’s hard to see any path to a cooling respite.
“We’re just too poor,” she said.
____
Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Kansas, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
——
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ | 2023-07-30T23:42:36 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ |
July keeps sizzling as Phoenix hits another 110-degree day and wildfires spread in California
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FILE - Boys are silhouetted against the sky at sunset as they run along a ridge at Papago Park, April 1, 2022, in Phoenix. President Joe Biden plans to announce new steps to address the extreme heat that has threatened millions of Americans, most recently in the Southwest. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wsls.com/news/national/2023/07/30/july-keeps-sizzling-as-phoenix-hits-another-110-degree-day-and-wildfires-spread-in-california/ | 2023-07-30T23:42:38 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/national/2023/07/30/july-keeps-sizzling-as-phoenix-hits-another-110-degree-day-and-wildfires-spread-in-california/ |
A woman from New Hampshire who works for a nonprofit organization in Haiti and her young daughter have been reported as kidnapped as the U.S. State Department issued a “do not travel advisory” in the country and ordered nonemergency personnel to leave there amid growing security concerns.
Alix Dorsainvil, a nurse for El Roi Haiti, and her daughter were kidnapped on Thursday, the organization said in a statement Saturday. El Roi, which runs a school and ministry in Port au Prince, said the two were taken from campus. Dorsainvil is the wife of the program's director, Sandro Dorsainvil.
“Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family,” El Roi president and co-founder Jason Brown said in the statement. “Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus.”
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement Saturday is it “aware of reports of the kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Haiti," adding, “We are in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners.”
In its advisory Thursday, the department said that “kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens.”
It said kidnappings often involve ransom negotiations and U.S. citizen victims have been physically harmed.
Earlier this month, the National Human Rights Defense Network issued a report warning about an upsurge in killings and kidnappings and the U.N. Security Council met to discuss Haiti's worsening situation.
WMUR-TV reported that Dorsainvil is from Middleton, New Hampshire, and went to Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, which has a program to support nursing education in Haiti.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Alex chose to get involved in this type of service work,” Regis College president Toni Hays told the station. “She was amazing. She was passionate, she was compassionate.” | https://www.wsls.com/news/national/2023/07/30/us-mother-daughter-reported-kidnapped-in-haiti-people-warned-not-to-travel-there/ | 2023-07-30T23:42:39 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/news/national/2023/07/30/us-mother-daughter-reported-kidnapped-in-haiti-people-warned-not-to-travel-there/ |
Remains of WWII veteran killed in Romania identified, laid to rest
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - The remains of a missing U.S. Army Lieutenant were laid to rest with full military honors on Saturday.
According to WOIO, First Lieutenant Army Air Corps George “Bud” Julius Reuter was buried at Sunset Memorial Park in North Olmsted, Ohio.
Reuter, who was 25 years old at the time, was killed in action on August 1, 1943 near Ploiesti, Romania.
Reuter’s remains were identified January 10, 2023 by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
After the war, many airmen were interred by Romanian citizens in the Bolovan Cemetery in Ploiesti. The American Graves Registration Command exhumed many unknown remains to identify U.S. veterans who went missing. The organization eventually reinterred the remains that could not be identified.
Reuter was laid to rest near his parents John George and Elizabeth Theodocia Reuter.
A memorial service was held for the lieutenant which included the presentation of four military medals: the Silver Star, Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Medal for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy.
Copyright 2023 WOIO via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/07/30/remains-wwii-veteran-killed-romania-identified-laid-rest/ | 2023-07-30T23:42:38 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/07/30/remains-wwii-veteran-killed-romania-identified-laid-rest/ |
RICHMOND, Va. – Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go and won at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, earning himself a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Buescher led 88 laps. He was ahead by nearly six seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his sizeable lead over local favorite Denny Hamlin, but when the race went back to green, Buescher pulled away easily.
He and RFK Racing teammate Brad Keselowski led a combined 190 of the 400 laps, with Keselowski's Ford pacing the field for 102 laps on the 0.75-mile oval.
Hamlin, coming off a victory last weekend at Pocono, finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece.
The race was slowed just three times by caution flags, the last sending the leaders to pit road for four tires with eight laps to go. When the green flag was shown again, Buescher used the inside line to pull away for his third career victory.
Hamlin's bid for the victory ended on the second lap of the final sprint when he drove in too deep in the first turn and slid up the track. He finished 0.549 seconds behind Buescher, with Busch winding up 0.817 off the winning pace.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wsls.com/sports/2023/07/30/chris-buescher-wins-at-richmond-and-secures-spot-in-nascar-playoffs/ | 2023-07-30T23:42:39 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/sports/2023/07/30/chris-buescher-wins-at-richmond-and-secures-spot-in-nascar-playoffs/ |
- Innovative Relay Event Introduces Korean Ginseng Across to the East and West Coast
- with Billboard Ads Featuring Hollywood Stars Arden Cho and Kieu Chin
- HSW Brand expanding its lineup with Two New Sparkling Beverages Designed to Beat the Summer Heat: Recharge and Calm
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Korea Ginseng Corp., the world's number one ginseng brand and leading next-generation global herbal brand, is spreading the word about its new beverage product, HSW, which reflects the health functional food's major trend keyword, 'Food as Medicine,' in a guerilla marketing campaign in key areas of the United States.
Korea Ginseng Corp., unveiled a brand advertisement on a billboard in Times square, Manhattan in the past month. Building on this momentum, Korea Ginseng Corp. has recently announced their plans for a relay guerilla marketing campaign, starting from the K-week event held at the Rockefeller center in New York. The event showcased their newest product, HSW, and featured traditional Korean games like Yut-nori and Dddakji-chiji, capturing the attention of American K-Culture fans. Building on the success of this first event, the brand is currently holding relay events across the city.
On the West Coast, Korea Ginseng Corp. will send its new mobile Ginseng Museum Café to this year's editions of the 626 Night Market, the largest night market in the United States, and to the Moon Festival, which celebrates LA's booming Asian street food scene. To draw attention to their one-of-a-kind trailer café, KGC will be running a fun social media awareness campaign and hosting on-the-spot game events and interactive samplings.
HSW is Korea Ginseng Corp.'s latest beverage offering, a contemporary twist on its best-selling energy tonic, Hong Sam Won. The new product is very much in sync with the hottest health food trend – 'Food as Medicine' – and caters to consumers seeking healthy, natural beverage options. With less than 40 calories per serving and zero caffeine, HSW is a light and guilt-free indulgence for the diet-conscious. In addition, Korea Ginseng Corp. is expanding its lineup with 'Recharge' and 'Calm,' two sparkling beverages designed for this year's hot summer season.
Rian Heung Sil Lee, a representative of Korea Ginseng Corp. U.S., notes, "Korean culture is being embraced by Americans, and interest in Korean health foods is at all-time high. We will be redoubling our efforts to make Korean red ginseng's unparalleled role as a food-as-medicine better known."
Korea Ginseng Corp.'s U.S. expansion began in 2002 and reached a new high point in 2021 with the opening of its flagship Ginseng Museum Café, in Manhattan. Since then, the global brand has introduced a new American-specific product line, KORESELECT, and has broadened its appeal with new distribution channels, including Amazon and Costco. Over the past three years, sales have more than doubled, confirming the impressive potential of the American market.
Leveraging its new American R&D Center, the company is committed to a proactive localization strategy and is planning to launch even more new products with the major marketing support of Korea's aT Center for Globalizing Korean Foods.
About Korea Ginseng Corp.
Korea Ginseng Corp.(KGC) is the world's number one ginseng brand and herbal dietary company. Established in 1899, it is one of the most proven and trusted herbal dietary supplement manufacturers, providing the highest quality, traditionally harvested Korean Red Ginseng products to support health and well-being. KGC runs four regional headquarters in the United States, China, Japan, and Taiwan, in addition to South Korea, and exports products to over 40 countries. With over 40% world market share, its presence spans Asia, Europe, the Middle East region and the U.S. KGC's family of brands include KORESELECT, CheongKwanJang, Good Base, and Donginbi. The KGC brands, inclusive of over 250 products, use the most exceptional ginseng combined with the finest herbs and ingredients to deliver superior products to meet everyone's needs.
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SOURCE KGC (Korea Ginseng Corp.) | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/30/expanding-global-presence-korea-ginseng-corp-leads-guerrilla-marketing-new-york-times-square-rockefeller-center-la-street-fair-taking-lead-capturing-us-herbal-market/ | 2023-07-30T23:42:45 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/30/expanding-global-presence-korea-ginseng-corp-leads-guerrilla-marketing-new-york-times-square-rockefeller-center-la-street-fair-taking-lead-capturing-us-herbal-market/ |
4 found clinging to hull of overturned boat off New Jersey rescued, taken to NJ hospital
Jul 30, 2023, 10:40 AM
SANDY HOOK, N.J. (AP) — Four people found clinging to the hull of an overturned boat off New Jersey were rescued and taken to a hospital, authorities said.
Coast Guard officials in New York say Coast Guard crews and New York police and fire units were deployed to the area off Sandy Hook after receiving a distress call over VHF Channel 16.
Petty Officer Logan Kaczmarek told the Asbury Park Press that rescue crews found a floating debris field of items from the boat. They then found the four people at about 2:15 a.m. Sunday holding onto the floating hull near the Romer Shoal Light Station about 2½ nautical miles (4.6 kilometers) from the tip of Sandy Hook.
Crews from Station Sandy Hook pulled two people from the water while the other two were rescued by New York fire crews. All four were taken to Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch; there was no immediate word on their condition. Coast Guard officials didn’t immediately release information about the type of vessel or the reason it capsized. | https://mynorthwest.com/3914956/4-found-clinging-to-hull-of-overturned-boat-off-new-jersey-rescued-taken-to-nj-hospital/ | 2023-07-30T23:42:48 | 0 | https://mynorthwest.com/3914956/4-found-clinging-to-hull-of-overturned-boat-off-new-jersey-rescued-taken-to-nj-hospital/ |
Two people killed after shots fired blocks from University of Florida campus
Jul 30, 2023, 10:48 AM
(AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Gunshots rang out in a crowd early Sunday, killing two people in the city that is home to Florida’s flagship university, authorities said.
Police officers had been conducting crowd control in downtown Gainesville, Florida, in a commercial corridor several blocks from the University of Florida campus when they heard gunshots, the police department said in a post.
The post didn’t disclose how many people were shot but said two of the shooting victims later died from their injuries. Police were seeking the public’s help for any information on the shootings. | https://mynorthwest.com/3914959/two-people-killed-after-shots-fired-blocks-from-university-of-florida-campus/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:04 | 1 | https://mynorthwest.com/3914959/two-people-killed-after-shots-fired-blocks-from-university-of-florida-campus/ |
BRIGHTON, Iowa (AP) — You-pick farms are struggling through heat, drought and haze as customers cancel picking appointments and crops across Iowa refuse to grow.
These farms offer visitors the chance to harvest their own produce straight from the tree, bush or ground.
But this summer marks Iowa’s third year in a row of drought. And that is hurting farmers who grow water-intensive crops like blueberries and strawberries that are particularly sensitive to heat and drought, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported.
Kim Anderson told The Gazette that her well started faltering during last summer’s heat and drought at her 5-acre Blueberry Bottom Farm near Brighton in southeastern Iowa.
Many of her blueberry bushes became parched. And recently, for the first time in the farm’s five-season history, she had to cancel a day of picking appointments because there weren’t enough ripe berries.
“I just never anticipated something like this, that the well wouldn’t have enough water,” she said.
Similarly, Dean Henry told The Gazette that these are the worst conditions he has seen in his 56 years of operating the Berry Patch Farm in Nevada in central Iowa.
Henry said the Iowa Department of Natural Resources restricted his well water usage from 20 acres a day to 1 acre a day. But his strawberry plants need lots of water.
This year, his entire crop failed.
The heat has affected customers too. Some you-pick farms reported a decrease in customer visits, according to The Gazette. If people do come, they aren’t staying as long as normal to take in the entertainment at the farms, like picnic tables or games.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires also caused Iowa skies to grow hazy and air quality to be poor several times this summer. Customers canceled their appointments on especially hazy days, Anderson said. | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/you-pick-farms-lose-customers-and-crops-through-heat-drought-and-haze-in-iowa/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2023-07-30T23:43:05 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/you-pick-farms-lose-customers-and-crops-through-heat-drought-and-haze-in-iowa/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
NEW YORK (AP) — A week later, the “Barbenheimer” boom has not abated.
Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. “Barbie” took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Oppenheimer” stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
“Barbenheimer” has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it “a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters.”
“Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other’s fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don’t know if there’s a comp for this in the annals of box-office history,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s really no comparison for this.”
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of “Barbie” saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
“Barbie” has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it’s played, “Barbie” has made at least $20 million.
And the “Barbie” effect isn’t just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It’s the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
“That’s a crazy number,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “There’s just a built-in audience that wants to be part of the zeitgeist of the moment. Wherever you go, people are wearing pink. Pink is taking over the world.”
Amid the frenzy, “Barbie” is already attracting a lot of repeat moviegoers. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales are people going back with friends or family to see it again.
For a movie industry that has been trying to regain its pre-pandemic footing — and that now finds itself largely shuttered due to actors and screenwriters strikes — the sensations of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have showed what’s possible when everything lines up just right.
“Post-pandemic, there’s no ceiling and there’s no floor,” Goldstein said. “The movies that miss really miss big time, and the movies that work really work big time.”
Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer,” meanwhile, is performing more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about scientists talking.
Nolan’s drama starring Cillian Murphy as atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has accrued $174.1 million domestically thus far. With an additional $72.4 million in international cinemas, “Oppenheimer” has already surpassed $400 million globally.
Showings in IMAX have typically been sold out. “Oppenheimer” has made $80 million worldwide on IMAX. The large-format exhibitor said Sunday that it will extend the film’s run through Aug. 13.
The week’s top new release, Walt Disney Co.’s “Haunted Mansion,” an adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction, was easily overshadowed by the “Barbenheimer” blitz. The film, which cost about $150 million, debuted with $24 million domestically and $9 million in overseas sales. “Haunted Mansion,” directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”) and starring an ensemble of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson, struggled to overcome mediocre reviews.
“Talk to Me,” the A24 supernatural horror film, fared better. It debuted with $10 million. The film, directed by Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sophie Wilde, was a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received terrific reviews from critics (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It was made for a modest $4.5 million.
While theaters being flush with moviegoers has been a huge boon to the film industry, it’s been tougher sledding for Tom Cruise, the so-called savior of the movies last summer with “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I,” which debuted the week before the arrival of “Barbenheimer,” grossed $10.7 million in its third weekend. The film starring Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, has grossed $139.2 million domestically and $309.3 million oveseas.
Instead, the sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom” has been the best performing non-“Barbenheimer” release in theaters. The Angel Studios’ release, which is counting crowdfunding pay-it-forward sales in its box office totals, made $12.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its haul thus far to nearly $150 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Barbie,” $93 million.
2. “Opppenheimer,” $46.2 million.
3. “Haunted Mansion,” $24.2 million.
4. “Sound of Freedom,” $12.4 million.
5. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” $10.7 million.
6. “Talk to Me,” $10 million.
7. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $4 million.
8. “Elemental,” $3.4 million.
9. “Insidious: The Red Door,” $3.2 million.
10. “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” $1.6 million. | https://www.wane.com/entertainment-news/while-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-no-2-spot/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:14 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/entertainment-news/while-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-no-2-spot/ |
Three killed when small plane hits hangar, catches fire at Southern California airport
Jul 30, 2023, 11:45 AM
(San Bernardino County Fire Department via AP)
UPLAND, Calif. (AP) — A pilot and two passengers were killed Sunday when a single-engine plane crashed into a hangar and burst into flames at a Southern California airport, authorities said.
The Beechcraft P35 with three people on board crashed during departure around 6:30 a.m. at Cable Airport in Upland, the Federal Aviation Authority said.
San Bernardino County firefighters doused the fire and pronounced the three victims dead at the scene, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles, Upland Police said in a statement.
The hangar had moderate damage, and no one else was injured, police said.
The crash will be investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. | https://mynorthwest.com/3914979/three-killed-when-small-plane-hits-hangar-catches-fire-at-southern-california-airport/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:19 | 1 | https://mynorthwest.com/3914979/three-killed-when-small-plane-hits-hangar-catches-fire-at-southern-california-airport/ |
LAGRANGE, Ind. (WANE) – After a disappointing 2-8 campaign in 2022, Patrick McCrea hopes to finish with his first winning campaign as Prairie Heights’ head coach this fall.
McCrea is set to begin his eighth season as the Panthers head coach. The longtime coach is working with more than a handful of core seniors, including his son, Wade. Most of the returning starters come along the offensive line, with the Panthers rolling out several young faces at skill positions.
With Churubusco and Eastside also working in several new faces this fall, Prairie Heights hopes the door is wide open this fall to capture a NECC small school division title.
Prairie Heights opens the 2023 season on Friday, Aug. 18 against Whitko. | https://www.wane.com/high-school-sports/2023-highlight-zone-preview-prairie-heights-panthers/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:20 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/high-school-sports/2023-highlight-zone-preview-prairie-heights-panthers/ |
Senate GOP leaders didn’t want it to get to this point.
They tried and tried to get Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to lift the holds he’s placed on hundreds of military promotions — which have opened Republicans up to attacks from the Biden administration.
But their efforts have failed, and they are now in a situation where the earliest a resolution might be found is September — when lawmakers will also be busy trying to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.
“It’s hung around for a while. I support his goals,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican. “The challenge obviously is the mechanism he used to get to the result has created some challenges. We want to figure out a way to resolve it and address that.”
“There are conversations now going on, which is good — between him and the military and others. We’ll have some time in August to work on a path forward, and hopefully we’ll find it,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been among those trying to find a resolution, Thune said. Tuberville said he and McConnell discussed the holds Wednesday, hours after the GOP leader froze and felt lightheaded in front of reporters.
“At this point, everybody’s engaged trying to figure out how to solve this,” Thune added.
Tuberville began his holds in early March to protest a new Defense Department policy to reimburse service members who must travel to seek an abortion for those travel expenses.
Six months later, the list of holds has grown to 300. Senate Republicans were hoping to find a solution before leaving Washington for five weeks — five additional weeks during which those military officers will remain in limbo, fueling Democratic attacks and frustrating the Pentagon.
One Senate Republican said finding an offramp agreeable to both Tuberville and those opposed to the holds has become a “recurring discussion” in the Senate GOP conference, and that McConnell has been personally involved in that quest.
“There’s not a lunch that goes by that we don’t talk about it,” the senator said, but added there’s “no chance of a resolution” any time soon.
Aside from the potential political and national security implications of the holds, McConnell is worried about the institutional implications.
The longtime GOP leader recently told reporters at a press conference that he is concerned this could lead to a renewed Democratic effort to change the chamber’s rules.
Despite disagreeing with Tuberville’s tactic, however, he says he recognizes it is the prerogative of any single senator to place a hold on a nominee.
Senators on both sides of the aisle for months have been musing publicly and privately about what it would take to get the Alabama Republican to set his hold aside, but have come up empty at every turn.
Initially, there had been hope that a vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reverse the abortion travel policy could do the trick, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) led the effort.
But more recently, Tuberville has maintained that not only does any vote have to be standalone, but that the Pentagon would have to reverse its policy before any vote could be taken.
Trying to bridge that gap for lawmakers has become a herculean challenge no one has been able to complete.
Tuberville didn’t comment on efforts by Senate GOP leaders to seek a remedy, but he criticized the Biden administration and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for their lack of outreach in trying to strike a deal. He also hasn’t had any further conversations with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin since their July 17 call and said that the initial series of calls didn’t yield anything productive.
“There’s no conversation from the other side. It’s ‘our way or the highway.’ … How does that help?” Tuberville said. “They’re not worried about it, I guess. … I hate it, for the promotions and all that.”
He added that he has yet to talk to Schumer, who has refused to use up floor time moving the nominees through regular order because he believes it is the Senate GOP’s job to figure a way out of the maze of military holds.
“This is the responsibility of the Republican Senate caucus. … It’s up to them. I think in August, pressure will mount on Tuberville, and I think the Republicans are feeling that heat,” Schumer said late Thursday. “He’s boxing himself into a corner.”
But Democrats are trying to increase that pressure, with President Biden on Thursday night laying into the Alabama Republican and arguing his holds are harming military readiness and creating instability within the ranks of the armed forces.
“This partisan freeze is already harming military readiness, security and leadership, and troop morale,” Biden said in remarks at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington. “Freezing pay, freezing people in place. Military families who have already sacrificed so much, unsure of where and when they change stations, unable to get housing or start their kids in the new school.”
Senate Democrats also took to the floor before and after the NDAA vote Thursday to criticize their GOP colleague. Since the hold was put into place, Democratic senators have made 12 attempts to move the military promotions in bloc via unanimous request.
Perhaps adding to the difficulty, Tuberville has received a boost in support from voters at home and from conservative corners of the Senate GOP conference who believe he is making the right call, albeit a difficult one.
They also argue that if Senate Democrats truly want to move on some of the nominations, they can start to do so via regular order — a move Democrats have avoided in order to not set precedent.
“Democrats think they have a winning political thing on this. I don’t think they do, and I think Sen. Tuberville morally is in the right position with regard to the issue of abortion,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said. “The [Defense] Department has just as much of a responsibility to find a path forward as any single member does, and I’m not seeing the Department try to work in any fashion other than to simply put pressure on Sen. Tuberville.”
“They’re not trying to find a path forward. They think this is one of those items where if they keep putting pressure on him, he’ll cave, and I don’t think he will,” Rounds continued. “On the issue, he’s correct.” | https://www.wane.com/hill-politics/gop-leaders-strike-out-on-getting-tuberville-to-bend/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:26 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/hill-politics/gop-leaders-strike-out-on-getting-tuberville-to-bend/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When viewed through a wide lens, renters across the U.S. finally appear to be getting some relief, thanks in part to the biggest apartment construction boom in decades.
Median rent rose just 0.5% in June, year over year, after falling in May for the first time since the pandemic hit the U.S. Some economists project U.S. rents will be down modestly this year after soaring nearly 25% over the past four years.
A closer look, however, shows the trend will likely be little comfort for many U.S. renters who’ve had to put an increasing share of their income toward their monthly payment. Renters in cities such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis are still getting hit with increases of 5% or more. Much of the new construction is located in just a few metro areas, and many of the new units are luxury apartments, which rent for well north of $2,000.
Median U.S. rent has risen to $2,029 this June from $1,629 in June 2019, according to rental listings company Rent, which tracks rents in 50 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Demand for apartments exploded during the pandemic as people who could work remotely sought more space or decided to relocate to another part of the country.
The steep rent increases have left tenants like Melissa Lombana, a high school teacher who lives in the South Florida city of Miramar, with progressively less income to spend on other needs.
The rent on her one-bedroom apartment jumped 13% last year to $1,700. It climbed another 6% to $1,800 this month when she renewed her lease.
“Even the $1,700 was a stretch for me,” said Lombana, 43, who supplements her teaching income with a side job doing educational testing. “In a year, I will not be able to afford living here at all.”
Lombana’s rent is now gobbling up nearly half her monthly income. That puts her in a category referred to as “cost-burdened” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, denoting households that pay 30% or more of their income toward rent. Last year, the average rent-to-income ratio per household rose to 30%. This March, it was 29.6%.
Lombana hasn’t had any luck finding a more affordable apartment. While South Florida is one of the metropolitan areas seeing a rise in apartment construction, the units are mostly high-end and not a viable option.
That scenario is playing out across the nation. Developers are rushing to complete projects that were green-lit during the pandemic-era surge in demand for rentals or left in limbo by delays in supplies of fixtures and building materials. Nearly 1.1 million apartments are currently under construction, according to the commercial real estate tracker CoStar, a pace not seen since the 1970s.
Increasing the supply of apartments tends to moderate rent increases over time and can give tenants more options on where to live. But more than 40% of the new rentals to be completed this year will be concentrated in about 10 high job growth metropolitan areas, including Austin, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta and New York, according to Marcus & Millichap. In many areas, the boost to overall inventory will be barely noticeable.
Even within metros where there’ll be a notable increase in available apartments, such as Nashville, most of it will be in the luxury category, where rents average $2,270, nationally. Some 70% of the new rental inventory will be the luxury class, said Jay Lybik, national director of multifamily analytics at CoStar.
That will leave most tenants unlikely to see a big enough reduction in rent to make a difference, industry experts and economists say.
“I think we’re in a period of rent flattening for 12 or 18 months, but it’s certainly not a big rent decline,” said Hessam Nadji, CEO of commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.
“We’re building a multi-decade record number of units,” Nadji said. “It’s going to cause some softening and some pockets of overbuilding, but it’s not going to fundamentally resolve the housing shortage or the affordability problem for renters across the U.S.”
The surge in rents has made it difficult for workers to keep up with inflation despite solid wage gains the past few years and exacerbated a long-term trend. Between 1999 and 2022, U.S. rents soared 135%, while income grew 77%, according to data from Moody’s Analytics.
Realtor.com is forecasting that rents will drop an average of 0.9% this year. But while down nationally, rents are still rising in many markets around the country, especially those where hiring remains robust.
In the New York metro area, the median rent climbed 4.7% in June from a year earlier to $2,899, according to Realtor.com. In the Midwest, rents surged 5.6% in the Cincinnati metro area to $1,188, and 6.9% to $1,350 in the Indianapolis metro area.
The current spike in apartment construction alone isn’t going to be enough to address how costly renting has become for many Americans.
“For the rest of the 2020s rents will continue to grow because millennials are such a big generation and we’re very much in the hole in terms of building housing for that generation,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. “It will take many good years of new construction to build adequate housing for millennials.”
The bigger challenge is building more work force housing, because the cost of land, labor and navigating the government approval process incentivize developers to put up luxury apartments buildings.
Expanding the supply of modestly priced rentals would help alleviate the strain from so many new apartments targeting renters with high incomes, “although additional subsidies will be needed to make housing affordable to households with the lowest incomes,” researchers at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies wrote in a recent report.
Despite the overall pullback in U.S. rents, Joey Di Girolamo, in Pembroke Pines, Florida, worries that he’ll face more sharp rent increases in coming years.
Last year, the web designer left a two-bedroom, two-bath townhome he rented for $2,200 a month to avoid a $600 a month increase. This year, his rent went up by $200, a nearly 10% jump.
“That blew me away,” said Di Girolamo, 50. “I’m just kind of dreading what it’s going to be like next year, but especially 3 or 4 years from now.” | https://www.wane.com/news/renters-get-relief-from-rising-prices-except-in-certain-us-cities/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:32 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/renters-get-relief-from-rising-prices-except-in-certain-us-cities/ |
Erratic winds challenge firefighters battling two major California blazes
Jul 30, 2023, 1:51 PM
MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. (AP) — A massive wildfire burning out of control in California’s Mojave National Preserve was spreading rapidly Sunday amid erratic winds, while firefighters reported progress against another major blaze to the south that prompted evacuations.
The York Fire that erupted Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the preserve was sending up a huge plume of smoke visible nearly 100 miles (160 kilometers) away across the state line in Nevada.
Flames 20 feet (6 meters) high in some spots have charred more than 110 square miles (284 square kilometers) of desert scrub, juniper and Joshua tree woodland, according to a Sunday incident update.
“The dry fuel acts as a ready ignition source, and when paired with those weather conditions it resulted in long-distance fire run and high flames, leading to extreme fire behavior,” the update said. No structures were threatened. There was no containment.
To the southwest, the Bonny Fire was holding steady at about 3.4 square miles (8.8 square kilometers) in rugged hills of Riverside County. More than 1,300 people were ordered to evacuate their homes Saturday near the remote community of Aguanga.
Windy conditions and the chance of thunderstorms into Monday will heighten the risk of renewed growth, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
One firefighter was injured in the blaze, which was 5% contained Sunday. | https://mynorthwest.com/3914991/erratic-winds-challenge-firefighters-battling-two-major-california-blazes/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:34 | 1 | https://mynorthwest.com/3914991/erratic-winds-challenge-firefighters-battling-two-major-california-blazes/ |
(The Hill) – Northwestern is the latest in a long line of universities to come under public scrutiny due to a scandal over hazing, a practice that has refused to go extinct in colleges and high schools despite multiple concerted efforts to end it.
Hazing, which in rare instances has proven fatal, in particular plagues sports teams and Greek Life.
Experts say education on the issue and increased consequences are needed to create a real change, although they are skeptical the dangerous practice will exit school life anytime soon.
“Hazing has always been prevalent in society, not just in colleges. It’s anywhere that you see a different power dynamic between people who are trying to join a group [and] people who are in the group,” said Todd Shelton, executive director of the Hazing Prevention Network. “There’s research that shows that hazing starts long before college and in those younger ages. It’s especially prevalent in athletic teams camps, performing arts groups.”
The latest high-profile hazing incident comes from Northwestern University, where the head football coach was recently let go and a barrage of lawsuits have fallen on the school.
One of the reported rituals of hazing on the school’s football team was younger players getting restrained in the locker room by older ones while others dry humped the individual. Another incident described in a lawsuit against the school was a ritual called “carwash” where players were forced to rub themselves against a line of naked men in the showers.
“Certainly, it is typical hazing activities that we’ve seen before and it’s not unusual that they’re shrouded with secrecy. So I applaud the people who came forward and reported because that’s — that’s key for institutions to be able to make changes,” Shelton said. “I think those acts are horrible and examples of how hazing can quickly escalate from what individuals think is something that’s mild and or funny, to quickly being something that’s dangerous, either mentally or physically, to the victims.”
Experts say preventing hazing incidents has to start by educating people about its warning signs and dangers.
A study in 2008 showed 73 percent of students who have been in a sorority or fraternity said they experienced behaviors that meet the definition of hazing, such as being forced into drinking games or getting screamed at by other members.
The same study showed 74 percent of athletes in athletic programs also experienced behaviors that amount to hazing.
“Hazing is specific to that group context where someone is seeking inclusion or a sense of belonging in a club, team or organization. They’re a newcomer typically coming into this group situation, and because of that group dynamic there can be an incredible amount of peer pressure and sometimes a coercive environment. And so that can impede or be a barrier to recognizing and or reporting hazing because there can be a lot of fear,” Elizabeth Allan, a professor at the University of Maine, said.
These rituals and desires to be part of the in-group have led to some deadly consequences for young people.
In 2019, five Penn State University students were sentenced to jail after a 19-year-old student at a Beta Theta Pi fraternity house died at a party after hazing-based binge drinking.
While most hazing incidents don’t result in incarceration, there are other consequences for students who are caught for the crime.
“Financial, monetary damages. People have lost their jobs. People have gone to jail or had, criminal penalties, fines and so forth. Let’s say sometimes when it’s a student organization or a team so with a student organization, they’re often suspended or lose their recognition with the campus for a period of time, and with an athletic team sometimes a portion of the season is put on hold or canceled entirely sometimes at the high school level, we’ve seen that recently.” Allan, who also leads the organization Stop Hazing, said.
And yet, even as schools ramp up their efforts, hazing persists.
Allan says a multifaceted strategy is needed to tackle the problem, and her group has developed a “Hazing Prevention Framework” for schools to follow.
“They can use it to also do some strategic planning and set some goals for the improvements they want to make, and all this is really … based on a public health approach to organizational change and promoting healthy behaviors in a community setting,” Allan said.
Shelton said his group also advocates for hazing to be treated as a felony, whereas many states look at it as a misdemeanor.
“The problem is it’s not taken seriously in the law, and we’ve seen a lot of hazing cases, even when there’s been a death… [where] prosecutors don’t consider it hazing or don’t consider hazing to be a serious crime to go through the measures of prosecuting,” Shelton said. “And so that’s why we’ve been working hard to strengthen those state laws.” | https://www.wane.com/news/why-is-hazing-so-hard-to-eliminate/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:38 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/why-is-hazing-so-hard-to-eliminate/ |
COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. (WANE) – For a second straight day, a costly eighth inning from the TinCaps resulted in a 6-5 loss to West Michigan on Sunday. The TinCaps wrap up their 6-game series with a 3-3 split.
With Dayton defeating Great Lakes on Sunday, the TinCaps are tied for the Midwest League’s East Division lead with just over a month left in the season.
Graham Pauley continued his hot start in Fort Wayne, crushing a 2-run shot in the top of the first inning to give the TinCaps a 2-0 lead. West Michigan responded with a pair of runs on a fielding error in the second inning.
Tied at 2-2, the TinCaps regained the lead in the seventh inning. Both Juan Zabala and Kervin Pichardo drove in a run to give Fort Wayne a 4-2 lead.
West Michigan took control for good with a huge eighth inning. The Whitecaps plated four runs to pull ahead, 6-4. Fort Wayne cut the deficit in half on a 2-out RBI single by Nerwilian Cedeño, but the TinCaps couldn’t close the gap.
Fort Wayne has Monday off before hosting Great Lakes for a 6-game series. Game one is Tuesday, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. | https://www.wane.com/sports/tincaps/series-win-slips-away-from-tincaps-in-sunday-matinee/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:44 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/sports/tincaps/series-win-slips-away-from-tincaps-in-sunday-matinee/ |
4 killed in fiery ATV rollover crash in central Washington
Jul 30, 2023, 4:16 PM
ELLENSBURG, Wash. (AP) — Four people are dead after the all-terrain vehicle they were in rolled over and burst into flames on a dirt road in central Washington’s Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
Kittitas County sheriff’s officials say 24-year-old Conner Jenkins of Orting crashed his side-by-side ATV west of the town of Liberty on Saturday afternoon. First responders arrived within minutes and prevented the gas-fueled fire from spreading.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Also in the vehicle were Jenkins’ friend, 23-year-old Benjamin Gomez Santana of Covington, and a couple they met that day; 26-year-old Devon Anonson of Kent and 24-year-old Halle Cole of Maple Valley.
Gomez Santana and Cole died at the scene. Jenkins and Anonson were flown by helicopter to a burn center in Seattle, where they both died.
The open field where the crash happened is a popular spot for campers and off-roaders. Investigators have not said what caused the ATV to roll. | https://mynorthwest.com/3915017/4-killed-in-fiery-atv-rollover-crash-in-central-washington/ | 2023-07-30T23:43:50 | 1 | https://mynorthwest.com/3915017/4-killed-in-fiery-atv-rollover-crash-in-central-washington/ |
Senate GOP leaders didn’t want it to get to this point.
They tried and tried to get Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to lift the holds he’s placed on hundreds of military promotions — which have opened Republicans up to attacks from the Biden administration.
But their efforts have failed, and they are now in a situation where the earliest a resolution might be found is September — when lawmakers will also be busy trying to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.
“It’s hung around for a while. I support his goals,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican. “The challenge obviously is the mechanism he used to get to the result has created some challenges. We want to figure out a way to resolve it and address that.”
“There are conversations now going on, which is good — between him and the military and others. We’ll have some time in August to work on a path forward, and hopefully we’ll find it,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been among those trying to find a resolution, Thune said. Tuberville said he and McConnell discussed the holds Wednesday, hours after the GOP leader froze and felt lightheaded in front of reporters.
“At this point, everybody’s engaged trying to figure out how to solve this,” Thune added.
Tuberville began his holds in early March to protest a new Defense Department policy to reimburse service members who must travel to seek an abortion for those travel expenses.
Six months later, the list of holds has grown to 300. Senate Republicans were hoping to find a solution before leaving Washington for five weeks — five additional weeks during which those military officers will remain in limbo, fueling Democratic attacks and frustrating the Pentagon.
One Senate Republican said finding an offramp agreeable to both Tuberville and those opposed to the holds has become a “recurring discussion” in the Senate GOP conference, and that McConnell has been personally involved in that quest.
“There’s not a lunch that goes by that we don’t talk about it,” the senator said, but added there’s “no chance of a resolution” any time soon.
Aside from the potential political and national security implications of the holds, McConnell is worried about the institutional implications.
The longtime GOP leader recently told reporters at a press conference that he is concerned this could lead to a renewed Democratic effort to change the chamber’s rules.
Despite disagreeing with Tuberville’s tactic, however, he says he recognizes it is the prerogative of any single senator to place a hold on a nominee.
Senators on both sides of the aisle for months have been musing publicly and privately about what it would take to get the Alabama Republican to set his hold aside, but have come up empty at every turn.
Initially, there had been hope that a vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reverse the abortion travel policy could do the trick, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) led the effort.
But more recently, Tuberville has maintained that not only does any vote have to be standalone, but that the Pentagon would have to reverse its policy before any vote could be taken.
Trying to bridge that gap for lawmakers has become a herculean challenge no one has been able to complete.
Tuberville didn’t comment on efforts by Senate GOP leaders to seek a remedy, but he criticized the Biden administration and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for their lack of outreach in trying to strike a deal. He also hasn’t had any further conversations with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin since their July 17 call and said that the initial series of calls didn’t yield anything productive.
“There’s no conversation from the other side. It’s ‘our way or the highway.’ … How does that help?” Tuberville said. “They’re not worried about it, I guess. … I hate it, for the promotions and all that.”
He added that he has yet to talk to Schumer, who has refused to use up floor time moving the nominees through regular order because he believes it is the Senate GOP’s job to figure a way out of the maze of military holds.
“This is the responsibility of the Republican Senate caucus. … It’s up to them. I think in August, pressure will mount on Tuberville, and I think the Republicans are feeling that heat,” Schumer said late Thursday. “He’s boxing himself into a corner.”
But Democrats are trying to increase that pressure, with President Biden on Thursday night laying into the Alabama Republican and arguing his holds are harming military readiness and creating instability within the ranks of the armed forces.
“This partisan freeze is already harming military readiness, security and leadership, and troop morale,” Biden said in remarks at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington. “Freezing pay, freezing people in place. Military families who have already sacrificed so much, unsure of where and when they change stations, unable to get housing or start their kids in the new school.”
Senate Democrats also took to the floor before and after the NDAA vote Thursday to criticize their GOP colleague. Since the hold was put into place, Democratic senators have made 12 attempts to move the military promotions in bloc via unanimous request.
Perhaps adding to the difficulty, Tuberville has received a boost in support from voters at home and from conservative corners of the Senate GOP conference who believe he is making the right call, albeit a difficult one.
They also argue that if Senate Democrats truly want to move on some of the nominations, they can start to do so via regular order — a move Democrats have avoided in order to not set precedent.
“Democrats think they have a winning political thing on this. I don’t think they do, and I think Sen. Tuberville morally is in the right position with regard to the issue of abortion,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said. “The [Defense] Department has just as much of a responsibility to find a path forward as any single member does, and I’m not seeing the Department try to work in any fashion other than to simply put pressure on Sen. Tuberville.”
“They’re not trying to find a path forward. They think this is one of those items where if they keep putting pressure on him, he’ll cave, and I don’t think he will,” Rounds continued. “On the issue, he’s correct.” | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/hill-politics/gop-leaders-strike-out-on-getting-tuberville-to-bend/ | 2023-07-30T23:44:17 | 0 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/hill-politics/gop-leaders-strike-out-on-getting-tuberville-to-bend/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When viewed through a wide lens, renters across the U.S. finally appear to be getting some relief, thanks in part to the biggest apartment construction boom in decades.
Median rent rose just 0.5% in June, year over year, after falling in May for the first time since the pandemic hit the U.S. Some economists project U.S. rents will be down modestly this year after soaring nearly 25% over the past four years.
A closer look, however, shows the trend will likely be little comfort for many U.S. renters who’ve had to put an increasing share of their income toward their monthly payment. Renters in cities such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis are still getting hit with increases of 5% or more. Much of the new construction is located in just a few metro areas, and many of the new units are luxury apartments, which rent for well north of $2,000.
Median U.S. rent has risen to $2,029 this June from $1,629 in June 2019, according to rental listings company Rent, which tracks rents in 50 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Demand for apartments exploded during the pandemic as people who could work remotely sought more space or decided to relocate to another part of the country.
The steep rent increases have left tenants like Melissa Lombana, a high school teacher who lives in the South Florida city of Miramar, with progressively less income to spend on other needs.
The rent on her one-bedroom apartment jumped 13% last year to $1,700. It climbed another 6% to $1,800 this month when she renewed her lease.
“Even the $1,700 was a stretch for me,” said Lombana, 43, who supplements her teaching income with a side job doing educational testing. “In a year, I will not be able to afford living here at all.”
Lombana’s rent is now gobbling up nearly half her monthly income. That puts her in a category referred to as “cost-burdened” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, denoting households that pay 30% or more of their income toward rent. Last year, the average rent-to-income ratio per household rose to 30%. This March, it was 29.6%.
Lombana hasn’t had any luck finding a more affordable apartment. While South Florida is one of the metropolitan areas seeing a rise in apartment construction, the units are mostly high-end and not a viable option.
That scenario is playing out across the nation. Developers are rushing to complete projects that were green-lit during the pandemic-era surge in demand for rentals or left in limbo by delays in supplies of fixtures and building materials. Nearly 1.1 million apartments are currently under construction, according to the commercial real estate tracker CoStar, a pace not seen since the 1970s.
Increasing the supply of apartments tends to moderate rent increases over time and can give tenants more options on where to live. But more than 40% of the new rentals to be completed this year will be concentrated in about 10 high job growth metropolitan areas, including Austin, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta and New York, according to Marcus & Millichap. In many areas, the boost to overall inventory will be barely noticeable.
Even within metros where there’ll be a notable increase in available apartments, such as Nashville, most of it will be in the luxury category, where rents average $2,270, nationally. Some 70% of the new rental inventory will be the luxury class, said Jay Lybik, national director of multifamily analytics at CoStar.
That will leave most tenants unlikely to see a big enough reduction in rent to make a difference, industry experts and economists say.
“I think we’re in a period of rent flattening for 12 or 18 months, but it’s certainly not a big rent decline,” said Hessam Nadji, CEO of commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.
“We’re building a multi-decade record number of units,” Nadji said. “It’s going to cause some softening and some pockets of overbuilding, but it’s not going to fundamentally resolve the housing shortage or the affordability problem for renters across the U.S.”
The surge in rents has made it difficult for workers to keep up with inflation despite solid wage gains the past few years and exacerbated a long-term trend. Between 1999 and 2022, U.S. rents soared 135%, while income grew 77%, according to data from Moody’s Analytics.
Realtor.com is forecasting that rents will drop an average of 0.9% this year. But while down nationally, rents are still rising in many markets around the country, especially those where hiring remains robust.
In the New York metro area, the median rent climbed 4.7% in June from a year earlier to $2,899, according to Realtor.com. In the Midwest, rents surged 5.6% in the Cincinnati metro area to $1,188, and 6.9% to $1,350 in the Indianapolis metro area.
The current spike in apartment construction alone isn’t going to be enough to address how costly renting has become for many Americans.
“For the rest of the 2020s rents will continue to grow because millennials are such a big generation and we’re very much in the hole in terms of building housing for that generation,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. “It will take many good years of new construction to build adequate housing for millennials.”
The bigger challenge is building more work force housing, because the cost of land, labor and navigating the government approval process incentivize developers to put up luxury apartments buildings.
Expanding the supply of modestly priced rentals would help alleviate the strain from so many new apartments targeting renters with high incomes, “although additional subsidies will be needed to make housing affordable to households with the lowest incomes,” researchers at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies wrote in a recent report.
Despite the overall pullback in U.S. rents, Joey Di Girolamo, in Pembroke Pines, Florida, worries that he’ll face more sharp rent increases in coming years.
Last year, the web designer left a two-bedroom, two-bath townhome he rented for $2,200 a month to avoid a $600 a month increase. This year, his rent went up by $200, a nearly 10% jump.
“That blew me away,” said Di Girolamo, 50. “I’m just kind of dreading what it’s going to be like next year, but especially 3 or 4 years from now.” | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/renters-get-relief-from-rising-prices-except-in-certain-us-cities/ | 2023-07-30T23:44:23 | 1 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/renters-get-relief-from-rising-prices-except-in-certain-us-cities/ |
AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s no surprise that the summer months in Texas can do significant damage to your vehicle. But as Austin continues its second-longest stretch of 100° days in recorded history, car technicians are finding some unusual vehicle issues from the extremely high temperatures and heat indexes.
Doc Watson works as a national training manager with Bosch Diagnostics. This summer, he said Bosch’s teams of car technicians and vehicle specialists are seeing typical summertime issues, like dead car batteries and flat tires courtesy of the heat.
However, he said crews in Texas and along the west coast are recording unusual vehicle complications due to extensive heat waves, beyond the already high summer temperatures these regions traditionally see.
“People don’t stop to think about wiper blades — they don’t need them until it rains, right?” Watson said. “You’re driving around in 112° temperature, you’ve got heat reflecting off the glass, and that causes the rubber components of a wiper blade to break down.”
Both heat and humidity can add extra wear and tear to the rubber components of the blades, which have a typical lifespan between 12-18 months. But it isn’t just the rubber suffering from the relentless heat, but the plastic itself.
“With these extreme temperatures that you guys are seeing, it’s the plastic breaking down off the wiper blade itself, and people not realizing that that’s happened until it’s too late,” he said. “The wiper blade breaks and then you’ve got this metal arm scratching the glass.”
In Texas, Arizona and California, technicians are reporting an emergence of “brake fade” cases in cars. While extreme outdoor temperatures can linger 100° and above, temperatures under the hood of vehicles during the summer can reach up to 230°.
Brake fluids inside the cylinder under the hood of the car can absorb moisture, with the heat under the hood causing that moisture to expand within the fluid. When that happens, stepping on the brake pedal can feel “mushy,” with the vehicle owner needing to take the car in for maintenance.
Watson recommended car owners keep a checklist of key vehicle parts to monitor during the summer months. Those include:
- Car batteries: Traditionally, car batteries last between three and five years. Amid excessive heat spells, temperatures under the hood of a vehicle reach up to 230°, which can lead to battery fluid evaporations and dead batteries. Watson suggests car owners have their batteries tested by a technician during the summer to get a condition status.
- Tires: Low tire pressure is exacerbated by hot asphalt on Texas roadways. Watson encouraged car owners to purchase a tire pressure gauge and to test their vehicle’s tire pressure early in the morning while it’s still cool to ensure an accurate reading.
- Engine overflow tank? During the summer months, cooling an engine is critical. Watson said when car owners check underneath the hood, they’ll find a plastic overflow tank with a graduated scale. If it looks low, he suggested adding antifreeze to aid your engine.
- Wiper blades: Check wiper blades during dry spells (and before rain storms) to make sure they’re properly working and not deteriorating. If they show signs of wear and tear, replace them and make sure they’re upgraded every 12-18 months.
- Oil changes: Most newer vehicles require an oil change every 5,000 to 7,000 miles. However, remote starting a vehicle and running the air conditioning works the engine without adding any mileage to the vehicle. As a result, Watson suggested not waiting until you hit that 5,000 to 7,000-mile range if you often use remote start on your vehicle during the summer or winter months.
“People aren’t changing oil regularly like they think they are,” he said. “People need to pay more attention to them because these engines will go many miles — 200, 300,000 miles — as long as they’re maintenance correctly. That’s big with this extreme heat.” | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/what-are-some-weird-car-issues-technicians-are-seeing-during-the-texas-heat-spell/ | 2023-07-30T23:44:24 | 0 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/what-are-some-weird-car-issues-technicians-are-seeing-during-the-texas-heat-spell/ |
AUSTIN (KXAN) – A new analysis shows how much you need to make to be in Texas’ top 1% of income earners compared to other states.
In Texas, the median household income is $67,321 a year, according to 2021 Census data. To qualify as the top 1% of earners in the state, one would have to earn over $631,849 a year. Texas has the 14th highest 1% threshold in the country, per the SmartAsset study.
SmartAsset analyzed IRS and Bureau of Labor Statistics data to find the income required to be in the top 1% of earners for each state. The state with the highest 1% threshold is Connecticut. There, folks would need to earn $952,902 to be in the top 1% of households.
Income equality has been on the rise in the U.S. and Texas — from 2011 to 2022, the rate increased by about 1.2%. The top 1% of earners in the U.S. hold almost as much wealth as the bottom 90% of earners in the U.S., according to Princeton Economics.
Texas has a higher proportion of childhood and adult poverty than the national average. From 2012 to 2021, around 10.4% of Texans qualified as living in poverty. Nationally, the average rate is 9.4%, according to a 2022 report. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/what-you-need-to-earn-to-be-among-the-top-1-in-texas/ | 2023-07-30T23:44:24 | 0 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/what-you-need-to-earn-to-be-among-the-top-1-in-texas/ |
AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – “The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas!”
For over 80 years, “Deep in the Heart of Texas” has been a familiar refrain in the Lone Star State, standing as one of the most reliable ways to summon a chorus of clapping and answering shouts. However, the catchy tune also holds true; according to experts such as those with the International Dark-Sky Association and other agencies, Texas is home to some of the best places to stargaze in the world.
Here are a few of the best locations in Texas to turn your gaze skyward this summer.
The stargazing areas have also been included with their “Bortle Scale” rankings from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, a measurement used to convey the level of light pollution in a location from Class 1 (stars are the most visible) to Class 9 (stars are the least visible.)
Panhandle Plains and North Texas
Copper Breaks State Park (IDSP)
The IDA designated Copper Breaks State Park in Quanah as an “International Dark Sky Park,” a protected area open to the public that has an exceptional quality of starry nights. The park has a Class 2 Bortle Scale ranking, meaning it is just barely removed from the darkest skies that can be viewed without a telescope on planet Earth.
While those dark skies can be seen at any time for those visiting the park, its organizers have also noted that it has regular “star parties” and stargazing-focused events throughout the year.
Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway
While Caprock Canyons State Park in Quitaque isn’t designated as an IDSP, it still holds a Class 2 Bortle Scale ranking and stands as one of the most popular outdoor destinations around the High Plains and Texas Panhandle region.
Not only can visitors to the park participate in assorted history and wildlife programs, and enjoy nearly 90 miles of trails open for hiking and biking, horseback riding, and camping, but it also offers year-round beautiful sunsets and stargazing opportunities. Caprock Canyons State Park is also home to Texas State Bison Herd, the last remaining example of the Southern Plains buffalo.
Hill Country and Central Texas
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area (IDSP)
Established in Fredericksburg, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area stands as another of the IDSP-designated parks around Texas. Often known for its massive pink granite dome rising above Central Texas and other geological draws, the park also has a Class 3 Bortle Scale Ranking.
While its Class 3 ranking means that the area’s sky is considered “rural,” with some light pollution obscuring the view compared to some other areas, park officials with the TPWD have said that they have taken steps to minimize nighttime lighting in the park. Further, the park has a “dark sky monitor” to measure its relative darkness and regularly hosts its own “Rock Star Parties” for the benefit of community spectacle and education.
South Llano River State Park (IDSP)
On the southwestern edge of the Hill Country, the South Llano River State Park in Junction offers activities and habitats for regional wildlife and locals alike. Many visitors to the park enjoy swimming, floating, paddling, and fishing along the river, though they also take advantage of the area’s after-dark events and opportunities.
The South Llano River State Park also has a Class 3 Bortle Scale ranking, like its regional neighbor in Fredericksburg, and is similarly designated as an IDSP. Dark sky monitoring through the Putman Mountain Observatory has further allowed visitors to see real-time sky darkness measurements along the South Llano River and curate their best stargazing experience.
Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area
In the Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area in Rocksprings, many visitors flock to see the approximately 3 million bats swirl in search of food on warm Texas nights. Although the bats rule the night in the park, the sky is also speckled with a magnificent array of stars.
Aside from a ready view of the Mexican free-tailed bats in the sinkhole itself, the park has a Class 2 Bortle Scale ranking, meaning its summer skies offer a rare view of the Milky Way as well as other astronomical objects, such as the Triangulum and Andromeda galaxies.
East Texas and Gulf Coastal Plains
Brazos Bend State Park
Only 45 miles from downtown Houston, Brazos Bend State Park in Needville stands among the most reliable areas in Texas for city-dwelling nature lovers to travel for hiking, biking, fishing, picnicking, and camping – albeit while sharing space with the local alligators.
Although Brazos Bend State Park has a Class 5 Bortle Scale ranking, considered a “suburban” sky with much of the Milky Way obscured, it is home to the George Observatory. Weather permitting, the observatory is open on Saturday nights all throughout the year and offers guides through the night sky through deck and dome telescopes as well as live camera feeds.
Mission Tejas State Park
Settled at the north end of the Davy Crockett National Forest, the Mission Tejas State Park in Grapeland is a center for Texas history in the Pineywoods. The Civilian Conservation Corps has worked to preserve remnants of Spanish efforts to settle in the area as well as a log home built in the early 1800s, alongside activities for visitors such as hiking, fishing, and camping.
Mission Tejas State Park is also noted by the TPWD to have a Class 3 Bortle Scale ranking, the highest among the parks in the Pineywoods region, meaning visitors to the area will be able to get an astronomical look back in history during their visit by looking up past the forest canopy.
Southwest Texas and Big Bend Country
Big Bend Ranch State Park (IDSP)
Coming in with the only Class 1 Bortle Scale ranking in Texas, Big Bend Ranch State Park is not only an IDSP but arguably one of the very best places to be to stargaze in the Lone Star State.
Nestled away with entrances in Marfa, Terlingua, and Presidio, the Big Bend Ranch State Park is just a short drive northwest of Big Bend National Park, which is also designated as an IDSP. Remote and rugged, Big Bend Ranch State Park was noted by the IDA to have once been among the 15 largest working cattle ranches in the U.S. Now, it’s one of the numerous hotspots in the Big Bend region for stargazing, camping, hiking, off-roading, and other outdoor activities.
Barton Warnock Visitor Center (IDSP)
Right between Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park, the Barton Warnock Visitor Center in Terlingua is another Class 2 Bortle Scale ranking area for the stargazing adventurers of Texas to visit.
While the park cautions that visitors may experience dangerously-high heat from April to September, even after sunset, it does offer a number of trails, a two-acre desert garden, river paddling, and an uninterrupted view of the desert skies.
Devils River State Natural Area (IDSS)
While not designated as an IDSP, the Devils River State Natural Area in Del Rio is certified as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary.
Like its siblings with the IDSS designation, the Devils River State Natural Area is in a remote location with few nearby threats to its dark sky. Considered to have a Class 2 Bortle Scale ranking, visitors can fish and paddle along the river, camp, hike, and share in one of the clearest views of the starry sky in Texas.
However, as noted by park officials, visitors wishing to access the area or the paddler camps will need to have a Devils River Access Permit.
A full list of Texas state parks and their dark sky rankings can be found here, alongside further information on observatories in Texas, the TPWD Dark Skies program, and other notable resources for stargazers in the Lone Star State. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/where-are-the-best-places-to-see-stars-in-texas-top-options-in-every-region/ | 2023-07-30T23:44:25 | 1 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/where-are-the-best-places-to-see-stars-in-texas-top-options-in-every-region/ |
We hit an afternoon high of 102 degrees once again here in San Angelo. We have seen a few clouds develop throughout the area, but mostly sunny skies continued on our Sunday afternoon. Winds have been out of the south southeast around 10 mph. As we go into the evening our temps will gradually cool back to the low and mid 70s for our overnight lows. Skies will be mostly clear and winds will be out of the southeast at 5-10 mph though as we pass midnight they will shift out of the southwest.
As we start our workweek we will see another afternoon with temps mixing in the upper 90s and lower triple digits. A slight increase in our temps is possible. Skies will be mostly sunny once again with few clouds developing through the later afternoon hours. Winds will be out of the southwest at 5-10 mph and transitioning out of the south southeast as we transition into the evening. As we follow through into the evening our temps will gradually decrease back to the mid 70s for our overnight lows. Skies will be mostly clear through the night and our winds will continue out of the south southeast around 10 mph. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/weather/klst-evening-forecast-sunday-july-30th-2023/ | 2023-07-30T23:44:37 | 1 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/weather/klst-evening-forecast-sunday-july-30th-2023/ |
Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning
DENVER (AP) — As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, doesn’t have air conditioning.
The 68-year-old covers his windows with mattress foam to insulate against the heat and sleeps in the concrete basement. He knows high temperatures can cause heat stroke and death, and his lung condition makes him more susceptible. But the retired brick layer, who survives on about $1,000 a month largely from Social Security, says air conditioning is out of reach.
“Take me about 12 years to save up for something like that,” he said. “If it’s hard to breathe, I’ll get down to emergency.”
As climate change fans hotter and longer heat waves, breaking record temperatures across the U.S. and leaving dozens dead, the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defenses. Air conditioning, once a luxury, is now a matter of survival.
As Phoenix weathered its 27th consecutive day above 110 degrees (43 Celsius) Wednesday, the nine who died indoors didn’t have functioning air conditioning, or it was turned off. Last year, all 86 heat-related deaths indoors were in uncooled environments.
“To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills,” said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health. “Once the heat wave starts, mortality starts in about 24 hours.”
It’s the poorest and people of color, from Kansas City to Detroit to New York City and beyond, who are far more likely to face grueling heat without air conditioning, according to a Boston University analysis of 115 U.S. metros.
“The temperature differences ... between lower-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods of color and their wealthier, whiter counterparts have pretty severe consequences,” said Cate Mingoya-LaFortune of Groundwork USA, an environmental justice organization. “There are these really big consequences like death. ... But there’s also ambient misery.”
Some have window units that can offer respite, but “in the dead of heat, it don’t do nothing,” said Melody Clark, who stopped Friday to get food at a nonprofit in Kansas City, Kansas, as temperatures soared to 101, and high humidity made it feel like 109. When the central air conditioning at her rental house went on the fritz, her landlord installed a window unit. But it doesn’t do much during the day.
So the 45-year-old wets her hair, cooks outside on a propane grill and keeps the lights off indoors. She’s taken the bus to the library to cool off. At night she flips the box unit on, hauling her bed into the room where it’s located to sleep.
As far as her two teenagers, she said: “They aren’t little bitty. We aren’t dying in the heat. ... They don’t complain.”
While billions in federal funding have been allocated to subsidize utility costs and the installation of cooling systems, experts say they often only support a fraction of the most vulnerable families and some still require prohibitive upfront costs. Installing a centralized heat pump system for heating and cooling can easily reach $25,000.
President Joe Biden announced steps on Thursday to defend against extreme heat, highlighting the expansion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which funnels money through states to help poorer households pay utility bills.
While the program is critical, said Michelle Graff, who studies the subsidy at Cleveland State University, only about 16% of the nation’s eligible population is actually reached. Nearly half of states don’t offer the federal dollars for summer cooling.
“So people are engaging in coping mechanisms, like they’re turning on their air conditioners later and leaving their homes hotter,” Graff said.
While frigid temperatures and high heating bills birthed the term “heat or eat,” she said, “we can now transition to AC or eat, where people are going to have to make difficult decisions.”
As temperatures rise, so does the cost of cooling. And temperatures are already hotter in America’s low-income neighborhoods like Gallegos’ Denver suburb of Globeville, where people live along stretches of asphalt and concrete that hold heat like a cast-iron skillet. Surface temperatures there can be roughly 8 degrees hotter than in Denver’s wealthier neighborhoods, where a sea of vegetation cools the area, according to the environmental advocacy group American Forests.
This disparity plays out nationwide. Researchers at the University of San Diego analyzed 1,056 counties and in over 70%, the poorest areas and those with higher Black, Hispanic and Asian populations were significantly hotter.
About one in 10 U.S. households have no air conditioning, a disparity compounded for marginalized groups, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. Less than 4% of Detroit’s white households don’t have air conditioning; it’s 15% for Black households.
At noon on Friday, Katrice Sullivan sat on the porch of her rented house on Detroit’s westside. It was hot and muggy, but even steamier inside the house. Even if she had air conditioning, Sullivan said she’d choose her moments to run it to keep her electricity bill down.
The 37-year-old factory worker pours water on her head, freezes towels to put around her neck, and sits in her car with the air conditioner on. “Some people here spend every dollar for food, so air conditioning is something they can’t afford,” she said.
Shannon Lewis, 38, lived in her Detroit home for nearly 20 years without air conditioning. Lewis’s bedroom was the only place with a window unit, so she’d squeeze her teenager, 8-year-old and 3-year-old-twins into her queen-size bed to sleep, eat meals and watch television.
“So it was like cool in one room and a heat stroke in another,” Lewis said. For the first time, Lewis now has air conditioning through a local non-profit, she said. “We don’t have to sleep or eat in the same room, we are able to come out, sit at the dining room table, eat like a family.”
After at least 54 died during a 2021 heat wave, mostly elderly people without air conditioning, in the Portland area, Oregon passed a law prohibiting landlords from placing blanket bans on air conditioning units. By and large, however, states don’t have laws requiring landlords to provide cooling.
In the federal Inflation Reduction Act, billions were set aside for tax credits and rebates to help families install energy-efficient cooling systems, but some of those are yet to be available. For people like Gallegos, who doesn’t pay taxes, the available credits are worthless.
The law also offers rebates, the kind of state and federal point-of-sale discounts that Amanda Morian has looked into for her 640-square-foot home.
Morian, who has a 13-week-old baby susceptible to hot weather, is desperate to keep her house in Denver’s Globeville suburb cool. She bought thermal curtains, ceiling fans and runs a window unit. At night she tries to do skin-to-skin touch to regulate the baby’s body temperature. When the back door opens in the afternoon, she said, the indoor temperature jumps a degree.
“All of those are just to take the edge off, it’s not enough to actually make it cool. It’s enough to keep us from dying,” she said.
She got estimates from four different companies for installing a cooling system, but every project was between $20,000 and $25,000, she said. Even with subsidies she can’t afford it.
“I’m finding that you have to afford the project in the first place and then it’s like having a bonus coupon to take $5,000 off of the sticker price,” she said.
Lucy Molina, a single mom in Commerce City, one of Denver’s poorest areas, said her home has reached 107 degrees without air conditioning. Nearby, Molina’s two teenage children slurped popsicles to cool off, lingering in front of the open freezer.
For Molina, who bustled around her kitchen on a recent day when temperatures reached 99 degrees outdoors, it’s hard to see any path to a cooling respite.
“We’re just too poor,” she said.
____
Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Kansas, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
——
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ | 2023-07-30T23:45:21 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ |
Russian missile attacks leave few options for Ukrainian farmers looking to export grain
(AP) -PAVLIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — The summer winds carried the smell of burned grain across the southern Ukrainian steppe and away from the shards of three Russian cruise missiles that struck the unassuming metal hangars.
The agricultural company Ivushka applied for accreditation to export grain this year, but the strike in mid-July destroyed a large portion of the stock, days after Russia abandoned the grain deal that would have allowed the shipments across the Black Sea without fear of attack.
Men shirtless and barefoot, with blackened soles from ash, swept unburnt grain into piles and awaited the loader, whose driver deftly steered around twisted metal shrapnel, bits of missile and craters despite his shattered windshield.
They hoped to beat the next rain to rescue what was left of the crop. According to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Russia struck the facility July 21 with three Kalibr- and Onyx-class cruise missiles.
“We don’t have a clue why they did it,” explained Olha Romanova, the head of Ivushka. Romanova, who worked in the debris alongside the others, wore a red headscarf and an exhausted expression and was too frazzled to even estimate her losses.
She cannot comprehend why the Russians targeted Ivushka, as there are no nearby military facilities and the frontlines are far from the village in the Odesa region.
“They spent so much money on us,” she said, puzzled. The missiles that ruined the silos are worth millions of dollars — far more than the crop they destroyed.
But Ivushka wasn’t the only target in Odesa. The main port also was struck, leaving Black Sea shipping companies that relied upon the grain deal to keep them safe and food supplies flowing to the world at a standstill.
The Black Sea handled about 95% of Ukrainian grain exports before Russia’s invasion and the U.N.-brokered initiative allowed Ukraine to ship much of what farmers harvested in 2021 and 2022, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Ukraine, a major supplier of corn, wheat, barley and vegetable oil, shipped 32.9 million metric tons (36.2 million U.S. tons) of grain under the nearly yearlong deal designed to ease a global food crisis. It has been able to export an additional 2 million to 2.5 million metric tons (2.2 to 2.7 million U.S. tons) monthly by the Danube River, road and rail through Europe.
Those are now the only routes to ship grain, but have stirred divisions among nearby European countries and generated higher costs to be absorbed by Ukrainian farmers, said Glauber, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Russian missiles strikes against the Danube port last Monday also raised questions about how much longer that route will remain viable.
That’s a disincentive to keep planting fields already threatened by missiles and strewn with explosive mines. Corn and wheat production in agriculture-dependent Ukraine is down nearly 40% this year from prewar levels, analysts say.
From the first of July last year until June 30 this year, Ukraine exported 68 million tons of grain, according to data from Mykola Horbachov, the president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Ukrainian farmers shipped 11.2 million tons via railways, 5.5 million tons by road transport and around 18 million tons through Danube ports. Additionally, nearly half of the total exported grain, 33 million tons, was delivered through seaports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Ihor Osmachko, the general director of Agroprosperis Group, was unsurprised by Russia’s withdrawal from the deal leading to its collapse. His company had never considered it a reliable or permanent solution during wartime.
He said Russians frequently stymied the deal, even while it was functioning, by delaying ship inspections until the cargos were sent back, leading to $30 million in losses for his company alone. Now, they are once again forced to pay to reroute 100,000 tons of grain trapped in ports that are no longer safe, Osmachko said.
“We have been preparing for this whole time,” Osmachko said. “We haven’t stopped. We are moving forward.”
Osmachko estimated around 80% to 90% of the approximately 3.2 million tons of grain Agroprosperis exported to China, Europe and African countries during the past year went through the grain corridor.
“The most significant problem today is the cost of logistics,” explained Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Before the war, farmers paid approximately $20 to $25 per ton to transport grain to the Odesa ports. Now, logistics costs have tripled as they are forced to pay more than $100 to transport a single ton via alternative routes through the Danube port to Constanta, Romania.
“If we were to go on the Danube with the grain corridor closed, practically all our production would be unprofitable,” Osmachko said.
The Danube ports can’t handle the same volume as seaports. The most Agroprosperis has sent through this route is 75,000 tons per month, compared with a monthly average of 250,000 tons through Black Sea ports.
The Ukrainian harvest this year is the lowest in a decade, according to a July report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Horbachov said shipping costs to export around the world and uncertainty about the length of the war will last could quickly make new planting unprofitable for Ukrainian farmers.
Ukraine currently produces three times more grain than it consumes, while global prices will inevitably rise if the country’s exports decrease.
“I think you’re looking at a diminished Ukraine for at least the next couple of years and maybe longer,” said Glauber, the former U.S. agricultural official. “That’s something the rest of the world just needs to make up.”
The war from all sides poses risks for Agroprosperis.
In the Sumy region on the Russian border, farmers harvest their crops wearing body armor. Sometimes they must stop their combines in the middle of the wheat fields to pick up shrapnel from Russian projectiles.
“It can get tough at times,” Osmachko acknowledged. “But there are responsibilities — some have duties on the front. Some must grow food and ensure the country’s and world’s security.”
___
Volodymyr Yurchuk in Lviv, Ukraine, and Courtney Bonnell in London contributed.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/30/russian-missile-attacks-leave-few-options-ukrainian-farmers-looking-export-grain/ | 2023-07-30T23:45:28 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/30/russian-missile-attacks-leave-few-options-ukrainian-farmers-looking-export-grain/ |
Kahleah Copper scored 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting, Marina Mabrey hit four 3-pointers and finished with 23 points and the Chicago Sky beat the Phoenix Mercury 104-85 Sunday.
Courtney Williams made 9 of 13 from the field, scored 19 points and had nine assists and Alanna Smith added 10 points for Chicago (10-15). Robyn Parks, a 31-year-old rookie who went undrafted out of VCU in 2014, hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points — both career highs.
Mabrey and Copper hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 9-0 run that made it 20-8 midway through the first quarter. Phoenix, which led for just 43 seconds, twice trimmed its deficit to six points but got no closer. Williams hit a 3-pointer that made it 64-53 with 8:34 left in the third quarter and the Sky led by double figures the rest of the way.
Diana Taurasi, who missed the Mercury’s last three games (quad/toe), hit five 3-pointers and scored 24 points. The 41-year-old three-time WNBA champion is just 47 points shy of 10,000 for her illustrious career, which includes 14 All-WNBA selections (10 first team) and two Finals MVPs (2009, 2014). Tina Thompson (7,488), Tamika Catchings (7,380) and Tina Charles (7,115) are the only other players to score at least 7,000 career points.
Chicago scored 32 points off 16 Phoenix turnovers.
Michaela Onyenwere scored 18 points and Megan Gustafson added 17 and eight rebounds for the Mercury (6-18), who have lost three consecutive games. | https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ct-ap-wnba-mercury-chicago-sky-20230730-bx33vux2wnehbl74it5polywiq-story.html | 2023-07-30T23:45:32 | 0 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ct-ap-wnba-mercury-chicago-sky-20230730-bx33vux2wnehbl74it5polywiq-story.html |
Drayer: What’s at stake in this Seattle Mariners trade deadline
Jul 30, 2023, 9:35 AM | Updated: 1:49 pm
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
While some believe the final 36 hours leading up to the MLB trade deadline will disappoint with not near the number of names that have been thrown around the past few weeks changing teams, others including Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto see a flurry of activity on the near-horizon.
Mariners Trade Deadline Update: Sunday rumors hint at selling
“Roughly the public clamor is, ‘Why is it so quiet? Why aren’t they doing anything?’ And then here comes the firehose,” Dipoto said Thursday on his weekly Seattle Sports show.
How much will the Mariners be a part of this?
It would appear some way or another they need to be a big part of it.
The players in the clubhouse are hoping for some help and nervous that they could see players subtracted. Many have acknowledged they have put themselves in this position of uncertainty with their play in the first half of the season, but have felt more recently they have gotten back on track. In Arizona, catcher Cal Raleigh perhaps put it best when addressing the deadline situation and what could possibly happen.
He said simply, “We want to compete.”
Seattle Mariners Trade Deadline: Is doing nothing a viable choice?
Raleigh and the other Mariners players are focused on the next 2-3 months, as they should be. It’s a focus Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander would likely love to share, but with the position they are in, their focus needs to be broader. A word that came up more than once in Dipoto’s interview was that they need to be “responsible.”
“Our pitching is good enough that if we can get on the dance floor for the postseason, we can do some damage,” he said. “We are aware of that and we want to put ourselves in a position to to that over the course of the final two months. That said, we’re always focused on how do we do the responsible thing in making sure we are constantly building our core. If we have a chance to do that, we will do that. If we have a chance to make ourselves meaningfully better without putting ourselves in a precarious position moving forward, we will do it. We will try to be responsible in how we address our roster’s needs with what’s available on the market.”
One eye is on October, the other on 2024. With the roster needs and an upcoming thin free agent class, this is necessary for the long-term. It is perhaps an uncomfortable balance. While sustaining a winning team is a key part to “the plan” that was instituted when the organization took the step back following the 2018 season, taking advantage of a “window” that was expected as the Houston Astros’ roster aged or moved on was also a big part. Now the Texas Rangers look to claim that window.
The long-term outlook cannot be ignored, but neither should the short-term. As of Sunday morning, Fangraphs gives the Seattle Mariners a 14% chance of making the postseason this year. It’s not much, but it is something, and playoff opportunities shouldn’t be taken lightly. Moves are expected, and they are in a place where the moves could be painful for some. There is interest in a number of players on the Mariners’ major league roster.
It’s unlikely they would trade Logan Gilbert, but what exactly is the haul such a trade could return? Could it net two difference makers for 2024?
Closers are always valuable this time of year but Paul Sewald has been valuable to you, as well.
There is a feeling the Mariners can and will trade from the major league roster if the right return is available. What about the prospects? Could we see something similar to what we saw last year when Luis Castillo was acquired? If there is an eye toward 2024, is trading players ticketed for a later date the way to go?
The truth is we could see anything before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline. Something similar to the Kendall Graveman trade in 2021 – a “veteran for potential” deal – to the all-in move with prospects for Castillo last year, to anything and everything in between.
The Mariners have long- and short-term needs, and this is one of the few opportunities to fill them. With the position the club currently is in, both this season and for the future, this has the potential to be one of the most fascinating and then undoubtedly scrutinized deadlines we have seen in some time.
More on the Seattle Mariners trade deadline
• Morosi on Mariners: Is Nolan Arenado a name to watch?
• Seattle Mariners Trade Deadline: What Dipoto says M’s are looking to do
• Dipoto: What does the MLB trade market look like?
• Seattle Mariners Trade Deadline: Who could be dealt if they sell?
• Seattle Mariners trade with Toronto for RHP Trent Thornton | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762498/drayer-whats-at-stake-seattle-mariners-trade-deadline/ | 2023-07-30T23:47:09 | 0 | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762498/drayer-whats-at-stake-seattle-mariners-trade-deadline/ |
Mariners Trade Deadline Update: Rumors hint at selling
Jul 30, 2023, 1:43 PM | Updated: 3:51 pm
(Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
It seems equally possible that the Seattle Mariners could buy or sell before the 3 p.m. Tuesday MLB trade deadline. Based on what has come to light Sunday, it appears the idea of the M’s selling is picking up steam.
Drayer: What’s at stake in this Seattle Mariners trade deadline
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto joined analyst and former MLB general manager Jim Bowden on “The Front Office” Sunday morning on SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio, and he certainly didn’t rule out the possibility of Seattle dealing from its current major league roster to bolster the team’s future.
Asked if right fielder Teoscar Hernández, who is set to be a free agent after this season, will still be with the Mariners on Wednesday, Dipoto replied, “Don’t know the answer to that.”
He continued: “We’re still very much a foot in both camps. We’ve spoken with every team. We’re just as focused on what happens after 2023 as in ’23, and we’re letting the schedule and the teams around us tell us which way we should go.”
Could Teoscar Hernández be the first piece on the move in Seattle?@Mariners | #SeaUsRise | #JerryDiPoto | @JimBowdenGM | @JimDuquetteGM pic.twitter.com/xl3RacTNfn
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) July 30, 2023
The Mariners entered Sunday with a 14% chance of making the playoffs per Fangraphs’ calculations, standing just five games out of the American League’s third wild card spot with a 53-51 record. Seattle is enjoying its most successful month of the season, too, with a 16-9 showing thus far in July (.640 winning percentage) after Sunday’s win, which is guaranteed to at least tie their 17-11 record in May (.607) with only one game left in the month.
There could be opportunity for Seattle to take advantage of a trade market that is featuring far more buyers than sellers, however. The fact that teams in their division have been making splashes on the trade market could also tip the scales. The AL West-leading Texas Rangers have added three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, the Los Angeles Angels dealt with the White Sox to add former All-Star starter Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo López, and the defending world champion Houston Astros have re-acquired veteran reliever Kendall Graveman from Chicago (and have reportedly had talks with the Mets to do the same with another three-time Cy Young, Justin Verlander).
Which Seattle Mariners players could be traded?
Three key Mariners were named Sunday in a report by USA Today MLB columnist Bob Nightengale as potential trade chips for Seattle.
Per Nightengale: “The Seattle Mariners have informed teams that closer Paul Sewald, outfielder Teoscar Hernández and first baseman Ty France are available in trades.”
It’s no surprise to see Hernández and Sewald on that list. Hernández would be a classic rental as a proven slugger with playoff experience on an expiring contract, while Sewald, who has one more year of team control on his contract, should be particularly attractive to contenders due to his track record in high-leverage situations. Seeing France’s name, however, is a surprise. The 2021 All-Star isn’t set to be a free agent until after the 2025 season.
MLB trade deadline details
The MLB trade deadline is at 3 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday, Aug. 1. We’ll have everything covered in the days leading up to the deadline with articles here on SeattleSports.com, and the Seattle Sports 710 AM shows will be on the air to keep you up to date all the way until Mariners Pregame takes over at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday ahead of a 6:40 p.m. first pitch against the Boston Red Sox at T-Mobile Park.
More on the Seattle Mariners trade deadline
• Who could be dealt if the Mariners sell?
• Trade Deadline: Is doing nothing a viable choice for Seattle?
• Morosi on Mariners: Is Nolan Arenado a name to watch?
• Seattle Mariners Trade Deadline: What Dipoto says M’s are looking to do
• Dipoto: What does the MLB trade market look like? | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762508/seattle-mariners-trade-deadline-rumors-hint-selling/ | 2023-07-30T23:47:12 | 1 | https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1762508/seattle-mariners-trade-deadline-rumors-hint-selling/ |
NEW YORK — Six straight days of 12-hour driving. Single digit paychecks. The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers.
But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest: The cost to workers whose jobs have changed drastically as companies scramble to meet customer expectations for speed and convenience in industries transformed by technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated those changes, pushing retailers to shift online and intensifying the streaming competition among entertainment companies. Now, from the picket lines, workers are trying to give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a show that can be binged any time or get dog food delivered to their doorstep with a phone swipe.
Overworked and underpaid employees is an enduring complaint across industries — from delivery drivers to Starbucks baristas and airline pilots — where surges in consumer demand have collided with persistent labor shortages. Workers are pushing back against forced overtime, punishing schedules or company reliance on lower-paid, part-time or contract forces.
At issue for Hollywood screenwriters and actors staging their first simultaneous strikes in 40 years is the way streaming has upended entertainment economics, slashing pay and forcing showrunners to produce content faster with smaller teams.
“This seems to happen to many places when the tech companies come in. Who are we crushing? It doesn’t matter,” said Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, a screenwriter and showrunner on the negotiating team for the Writers Guild of America, whose members have been on strike since May. Earlier this month, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists joined the writers’ union on the picket line.
Actors and writers have long relied on residuals, or long-term payments, for reruns and other airings of films and televisions shows. But reruns aren’t a thing on streaming services, where series and films simply land and stay with no easy way, such as box office returns or ratings, to determine their popularity.
Consequently, whatever residuals streaming companies do pay often amount to a pittance, and screenwriters have been sharing tales of receiving single digit checks.
Adam Shapiro, an actor known for the Netflix hit “Never Have I Ever," said many actors were initially content to accept lower pay for the plethora of roles that streaming suddenly offered. But the need for a more sustainable compensation model gained urgency when it became clear streaming is not a sideshow, but rather the future of the business, he said.
"Over the past 10 years, we realized: ‘Oh, that’s now how Hollywood works. Everything is streaming,’” Shapiro said during a recent union event.
Shapiro, who has been acting for 25 years, said he agreed to a contract offering 20% of his normal rate for “Never Have I Ever” because it seemed like "a great opportunity, and it’s going to be all over the world. And it was. It really was. Unfortunately, we’re all starting to realize that if we keep doing this we’re not going to be able to pay our bills.”
Then there's the rising use of “mini rooms,” in which a handful of writers are hired to work only during pre-production, sometimes for a series that may take a year to be greenlit, or never get picked up at all.
Sanchez-Witzel, co-creator of the recently released Netflix series “Survival of the Thickest,” said television shows traditionally hire robust writing teams for the duration of production. But Netflix refused to allow her to keep her team of five writers past pre-production, forcing round-the-clock work on rewrites with just one other writer.
“It's not sustainable and I'll never do that again,” she said.
Sanchez-Witzel said she was struck by the similarities between her experience and those of UPS drivers, some of whom joined the WGA for protests as they threatened their own potentially crippling strike. UPS and the Teamsters last week reached a tentative contract staving off the strike.
Jeffrey Palmerino, a full-time UPS driver near Albany, New York, said forced overtime emerged as a top issue during the pandemic as drivers coped with a crush of orders on par with the holiday season. Drivers never knew what time they would get home or if they could count on two days off each week, while 14-hour days in trucks without air conditioning became the norm.
“It was basically like Christmas on steroids for two straight years. A lot of us were forced to work six days a week, and that is not any way to live your life,” said Palmerino, a Teamsters shop steward.
Along with pay raises and air conditioning, the Teamsters won concessions that Palmerino hopes will ease overwork. UPS agreed to end forced overtime on days off and eliminate a lower-paid category of drivers who work shifts that include weekends, converting them to full-time drivers. Union members have yet to ratify the deal.
The Teamsters and labor activists hailed the tentative deal as a game-changer that would pressure other companies facing labor unrest to raise their standards. But similar outcomes are far from certain in industries lacking the sheer economic indispensability of UPS or the clout of its 340,000-member union.
Efforts to organize at Starbucks and Amazon stalled as both companies aggressively fought against unionization.
Still, labor protests will likely gain momentum following the UPS contract, said Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, which released a report this year that found the number of labor strikes rose 52% in 2022.
“The whole idea that consumer convenience is above everything broke down during the pandemic. We started to think, ‘I’m at home ordering, but there is actually a worker who has to go the grocery store, who has to cook this for me so that I can be comfortable,’” Campos-Medina said. | https://www.wthr.com/article/money/business/customers-want-instant-gratification-workers-say-its-pushing-them-to-the-brink-sag-ups/507-102fe2a7-ad77-4f73-b19f-9a3d78169bd3 | 2023-07-30T23:47:35 | 0 | https://www.wthr.com/article/money/business/customers-want-instant-gratification-workers-say-its-pushing-them-to-the-brink-sag-ups/507-102fe2a7-ad77-4f73-b19f-9a3d78169bd3 |
INDIANAPOLIS — Sunday marked 78 years since the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. 879 heroes were lost at sea July 30th, 1945 when a Japanese submarine torpedoed the ship.
To mark the occasion, the USS Indianapolis legacy organization held the 8th annual "Honor Watch" at the memorial near the canal.
As part of the ceremony, they read letters written between William Bray, the last living survivor of the Indianapolis, and the last living survivor of the Japanese sub.
Organizers say this is an important way to remember past heroes.
"It behooves all of us to remember precious freedoms we have today," said Michael Emery, who lost a relative on the USS Indianapolis.
Organizers also raised an American flag that flew over the ship three months before it sank. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/8th-annual-honor-watch-held-to-remember-uss-indianapolis-legacy-organization-78-anniversary/531-ce8147c5-285b-4f62-9e5a-35d0eefe4277 | 2023-07-30T23:47:41 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/8th-annual-honor-watch-held-to-remember-uss-indianapolis-legacy-organization-78-anniversary/531-ce8147c5-285b-4f62-9e5a-35d0eefe4277 |
INDIANAPOLIS — Jewell Loyd scored 26 points with eight assists, Jordan Horston made 7 of 11 from the field and finished with 15 points to help the Seattle Storm beat the Indiana Fever 85-62 on Sunday.
Seattle (6-19), which snapped a franchise-record 10-game losing streak with a 97-74 win Friday over the Chicago Sky, has won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Indiana (6-19) has lost four games in a row and 12 of its last 13 to fall into a tie with the Storm for last in the WNBA standings — a half-game behind the Phoenix Mercury.
Loyd made 4 of 6 from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the first half and had 15 points and four assists as the Storm took a 47-27 lead into halftime. Indiana went scoreless for six-plus minutes in the second quarter as Seattle scored 15 points to open its biggest lead of the game at 44-19 with 2:32 left in the first half.
Kelsey Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to cap a 9-2 spurt that trimmed Indiana's deficit to 57-51 late in the third quarter but Loyd answered with a three-point play and then hit two free throws and the Fever trailed by double figures throughout the fourth.
The Storm had 23 assists on 31 made field goals and shot 53.4% from the field, made 12 of 24 from behind the arc and hit 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. Indiana was 25-of-66 (38%) shooting and made just 4 of 16 from 3-point range.
Mitchell hit three 3s and led the Fever with 19 points. Alliyah Boston added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
SEATTLE 85, INDIANA 62
Seattle 24 23 15 23 — 85
Indiana 17 10 24 11 — 62
SEATTLE — Magbegor 2-4 2-4 6, Williams 6-11 0-0 14, Fankam Mendjiadeu 0-0 0-0 0, Loyd 7-15 9-9 26, Whitcomb 3-7 0-0 9, Holmes 1-2 0-0 3, Horston 7-11 0-0 15, Russell 3-3 0-0 6, Dojkic 0-0 0-0 0, Melbourne 1-1 0-0 3, Nurse 1-4 0-0 3, Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-58 11-13 85.
INDIANA — Hull 0-4 0-0 0, Vivians 3-9 1-2 7, Boston 6-9 2-3 14, Mitchell 7-20 2-4 19, Wheeler 4-10 1-1 9, Cannon 1-2 2-2 4, Saxton 2-4 0-0 5, Zahui B 1-2 0-0 2, Berger 0-1 0-0 0, Caldwell 0-0 0-0 0, Wallace 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 25-66 8-12 62.
3-Point Goals—Seattle 12-24 (Loyd 3-6, Whitcomb 3-7, Williams 2-4, Melbourne 1-1, Holmes 1-2, Horston 1-2, Nurse 1-2), Indiana 4-16 (Mitchell 3-6, Saxton 1-1, Vivians 0-1, Wallace 0-2, Hull 0-3, Wheeler 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Seattle 28 (Horston 6), Indiana 27 (Boston 7). Assists—Seattle 23 (Loyd 8), Indiana 17 (Mitchell, Wheeler 5). Total Fouls—Seattle 19, Indiana 11. A—5,196 (20,000). | https://www.wthr.com/article/sports/wnba/indiana-fever/indiana-fever-lose-to-seattle-storm-85-62-post-fourth-consecutive-loss/531-b2397fd4-af09-4826-b22b-53399656ea7e | 2023-07-30T23:47:48 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/sports/wnba/indiana-fever/indiana-fever-lose-to-seattle-storm-85-62-post-fourth-consecutive-loss/531-b2397fd4-af09-4826-b22b-53399656ea7e |
BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON
When the Hot Springs football squad takes the field to open 2023 preseason practice on Monday, it will do so with the earned respect of its peers.
Trojans head coach Darrell Burnett heads into his fifth year with a program that won just a single game the season before he took over to one returning 15 starters from a 7-5 campaign last season.
“They are taking pride and they have worked hard at it, but – we’re not negative – but we are going to keep them humble and let them them know that 5-5 was mediocre and 7-4 is just two games above mediocre,” Burnett said.
“We are letting them know that if you want people to talk about you then play past Thanksgiving and do so on a consistent basis. That’s our goal.”
Little Rock Parkview head coach Brad Bolding and Benton head coach Brad Harris are two fellow Class 6A program bosses that lauded the revival of Hot Springs, who opens its season August 25 at Vilonia.
“It makes you feel good and it shows the work the kids and coaches have put into it,” Burnett said. “Now I wish our kids look like Brad’s – both Brads. They have got muscles coming out of their ears. We are still trying to get to that stage.
“But it is just nice to be able to stand up and compete against them. Now we have got to expect to win. That it the phase that we should be at because a few years ago going up against them wouldn’t have been pretty and we would have had to coach them on how got handle their emotions.
“Now we have to push them over the edge and say ‘you’re there, you just have got to do the little things that people don’t talk about’ and how you handle yourself on and off the field.”
Burnett is not shying away from heightened expectations.
“We are expecting big things,” Burnett said. “We are not going to downplay it, we are not going to sugar coat it and say ‘well, we hope to compete, we hope to sneak into the playoffs.’ That’s not it. That’s not our standards. Our kids, our coaches – everybody knows that. It’s our job to get it there.”
Even though the Trojans return the 15 starters, Burnett says that summer 7-on-7 events and team camps were used to figure if position changes might be best.
“That is what we are doing now,” Burnett said. “Trying to move this guy here and move this guy there. Where do you feel more comfortable? What you like abate scheme and what we are doing now. We are just trying to get them to play fast and compete, bu that is what we have the summer for in Arkansas.”
Hot Springs has two Division I wide receiver prospects in Octavious Rhodes (6-4, 175), who had 40 catches for 821 yards and 14 touchdowns, and T.J. Brogdon (6-1, 170), who hauled in 27 passes for 533 yards and a trio of scores in seven games before getting injured.
“Of course, we have got those big-time D-1 receivers outside, but like I told them we, now you have that added spotlight and you are not sneaking up on nobody no more,” Burnett said. “The bullseye is now on you.”
They also have a tailback returning in Perry Jones (6-0, 190), who had 179 carries for 779 yards and and 13 touchdowns in 2022.
“We have a three-year starting running back (Jones) coming back that had over 800 yards,” Burnett said. “Our offensive line has some of our hardest-working and greatest kids. We’ve got some safeties that played a lot.”
There is a solid quarterback duo in senior all-state starter Matt Contreras (5-10, 170), who passed for 2,552 yards and 31 touchdowns last season and junior Sean Elia (6-2, 165).
“Our JV quarterback is good, that’s Sean and he started every JV game last year,” He is about 6-2, can throw, is fast and can run, too. Then you got Matt and I wish I could put some shoe soles in the there and get him to 6-1. If he was, he would probably have about 30 offers.
“But he is what he is, confident, got a little cockiness to him. He’s a baseball guy. He can make any and every throw and he knows it. That’s good. I would rather have a quarterback like that than a quarterback that is unsure, who can’t push the ball downfield because that is what we have got to do.”
Kendall Williams heads up the Hot Springs defense after having 134 tackles last season, forcing six fumbles, recovering four and blocking three kicks.
Senior defensive tackle Damarius Porter (6-0, 250) had 66 tackles and 4 sacks in 2022 while senior Kaleb Kalex (6-0, 175) has started at both linebacker and safety and had 37 stops last season.
“On defense, we’ve got Kendall Williams that we are playing at D-end and middle linebacker,” Burnett said. “We got some pieces, but those individual pieces don’t mean anything unless you connect all the pieces.
“We lost our playmaker Derrick Hicks. We have to find us a linebacker and a right corner. We have got some pieces that we have to plug in and that is going to be the difference between five wins, seven wins and going undefeated.
“So that’s the thing we have to do as staff and as players. It’s the little things – look a catch in, break a ball up, communication – and once we put it all together, we have a chance.”
Photo by John D. James | https://www.fox16.com/fearless-friday/fearless-friday-content/hot-springs-grid-program-has-earned-respect-under-burnett/ | 2023-07-30T23:47:52 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/fearless-friday/fearless-friday-content/hot-springs-grid-program-has-earned-respect-under-burnett/ |
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NEW YORK — A week later, the “Barbenheimer” boom has not abated.
Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. “Barbie” took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Oppenheimer” stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
“Barbenheimer” has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it “a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters.”
“Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other’s fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don’t know if there’s a comp for this in the annals of box-office history,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s really no comparison for this.”
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of “Barbie” saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
“Barbie” has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it’s played, “Barbie” has made at least $20 million.
And the “Barbie” effect isn’t just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It’s the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
“That’s a crazy number,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “There’s just a built-in audience that wants to be part of the zeitgeist of the moment. Wherever you go, people are wearing pink. Pink is taking over the world.”
Amid the frenzy, “Barbie” is already attracting a lot of repeat moviegoers. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales are people going back with friends or family to see it again.
For a movie industry that has be trying to regain its pre-pandemic footing — and that now finds itself largely shuttered due to actors and screenwriters strikes — the sensations of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have showed what’s possible when everything lines up just right.
“Post-pandemic, there’s no ceiling and there’s no floor,” said Goldstein. “The movies that miss, really miss big time and the movies that work really work big time.”
Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer,” meanwhile, is performing more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about scientists talking.
Nolan’s drama starring Cillian Murphy as atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has accrued $174.1 million domestically thus far. With an additional $72.4 million in international cinemas, “Oppenheimer” has already surpassed $400 million globally.
Showings in IMAX have typically been sold out. “Oppenheimer” has made $80 million worldwide on IMAX. The large-format exhibitor said Sunday that it will extend the film’s run through Aug. 13.
The week’s top new release, Walt Disney Co.’s “Haunted Mansion,” an adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction, was easily overshadowed by the “Barbenheimer” blitz. The film, which cost about $150 million, debuted with $24 million domestically and $9 million in overseas sales. “Haunted Mansion,” directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”) and starring an ensemble of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson, struggled to overcome mediocre reviews.
“Talk to Me,” the A24 supernatural horror film, fared better. It debuted with $10 million. The film, directed by Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sophie Wilde, was a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received terrific reviews from critics (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It was made for a modest $4.5 million.
While theaters being flush with moviegoers has been a huge boon to the film industry, it’s been tougher sledding for Tom Cruise, the so-called savior of the movies last summer with “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I,” which debuted the week before the arrival of “Barbenheimer,” grossed $10.7 million in its third weekend. The film starring Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, has grossed $139.2 million domestically and $309.3 million oveseas.
Instead, the sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom” has been the best performing non-“Barbenheimer” release in theaters. The Angel Studios’ release, which is counting crowdfunding pay-it-forward sales in its box office totals, made $12.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its haul thus far to nearly $150 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Barbie,” $93 million.
2. “Opppenheimer,” $46.2 million.
3. “Haunted Mansion,” $24.2 million.
4. “Sound of Freedom,” $12.4 million.
5. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” $10.7 million.
6. “Talk to Me,” $10 million.
7. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $4 million.
8. “Elemental,” $3.4 million.
9. “Insidious: The Red Door,” $3.2 million.
10. “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” $1.6 million.
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Click now to support or get more information. | https://www.timesleader.com/features/entertainment/1615707/the-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-the-no-2-spot | 2023-07-30T23:47:52 | 0 | https://www.timesleader.com/features/entertainment/1615707/the-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-the-no-2-spot |
Trea Turner and Rob Thomson still puzzled by slump this season, caution with closers, and more
There's only so long that one can point to achievements in the past while falling short of expectations in the present.
PITTSBURGH — For months, Trea Turner could cope with the worst stretch of his career by trusting his track record — “the back of the baseball card,” as Phillies manager Rob Thomson often calls it.
But is the season too far gone for the struggling shortstop’s usual numbers to reappear?
“I think my worst season, in my eyes, was 2018, and I would take that year way over this year,” Turner said. “I never really thought we’d be here, but here we are.”
Indeed, Turner notched career-lows with a .271 average and .760 on-base plus slugging in 2018 with the Washington Nationals. After going 1-for-5 with a double and two strikeouts from the No. 5 spot in the lineup Sunday, he’s batting .242 with a .673 OPS.
Based on his pace of 4.13 at-bats per game, he would have to bat .313 the rest of the way to hoist his average to even .270. And while that hardly seems unreachable for Turner, a .295 career hitter, he hasn’t gotten on a roll at the plate yet.
“For me, it’s [try to] stack good days on top of each other,” Turner said. “I haven’t been able to do that this year. Good game, bad game, good game, bad game, good stretch, bad stretch, but not long enough.”
Manager Rob Thomson dropped Turner to the No. 7 spot in the order Saturday, the lowest he has batted since July 2018. Turner batted fifth Sunday. Thomson believes the Phillies’ offense is at its best when Turner occupies the No. 2 spot — but only when he’s hitting.
» READ MORE: A year later, trading for Brandon Marsh is still paying off for the Phillies
And nobody with the Phillies imagined Turner would go this long without hitting, least of all Turner.
”It was the farthest thing from my mind from how the last four or five seasons have been,” Turner said. “Got to grind it out. Can’t get it all back in one day.“
Or maybe two months. So, Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long have tried to get Turner to alter his barometer for a successful season. Thomson talked to him about breaking down his performance at the plate into increments of 10 at-bats. String together enough good ones in a row, and Turner can help jumpstart the offense.
And if Turner is able to help the Phillies finish strong and reach the postseason, it will dull the overall disappointment of not playing to his typically lofty standards in his first season of an 11-year, $300 million contract.
“You can’t change the past, right?“ Turner said. “My numbers are what they are. I don’t like them. I’ve definitely worked to improve them. It hasn’t gone how I wanted it to. But there’s a lot of baseball left.
“It’s not an individual sport, it’s a team sport. I think I can definitely change games and help the team win and that’s kind of an individual perspective of it. In the grand scheme of things, it’s about winning. That’s what I want to do. That’s why I’m here.”
‘Careful’ with bullpen
Keep this in mind as the Phillies pursue pitching depth before the trade deadline Tuesday: Craig Kimbrel and Gregory Soto are on pace for 72 and 71 appearances, respectively.
It’s been a hefty workload for both relievers. Kimbrel, 35, hasn’t topped 70 appearances in a season since 2011; Soto, 28, has never appeared in more than 64 games.
“I’ll put it this way: I’m going to be careful with them,” Thomson said before using both for an inning Sunday.
The Phillies are seeking a back-end starter (Tigers righty Michael Lorenzen is one possibility) as insurance against injury to one of their starters. They have more organizational depth in the bullpen, but if the return for starters is heavy, they could pivot to relief help.
Stott sits vs. lefty
Never mind that Bryson Stott leads the Phillies with a .306 average. Or that he has hit lefties to the tune of .310./364/.400. The second baseman wasn’t in the lineup against Hill.
Thomson explained that he gave Stott a breather in the midst of a stretch of 17 consecutive games without a day off. Stott also had played all but five innings since the All-Star break.
“We’ve got to get guys rest or they’re going to break down,” Thomson said. “I thought today was maybe a good day for that.”
Josh Harrison started at second base. The Phillies also loaded up on right-handed hitters against Hill, who is tougher on lefties. Johan Rojas started in center field over Brandon Marsh, while Edmundo Sosa played third base.
» READ MORE: Phils are own worst enemy in 10-inning loss to Pirates
Extra bases
Lefty reliever José Alvarado (elbow inflammation) threw lightly off a mound Saturday and is scheduled for a more rigorous bullpen session Tuesday. ... In his last five triple-A starts, Bailey Falter has a 1.96 ERA. Griff McGarry has a 2.30 ERA, but also 14 walks in 27⅔ innings, over his last five starts at double A. ... Taijuan Walker (11-4, 4.06 ERA) is scheduled to start Monday in Miami against righty Edward Cabrera (5-6, 4.74 ERA). | https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/trea-turner-rob-thomson-slump-bryson-stott-20230730.html | 2023-07-30T23:47:52 | 0 | https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/trea-turner-rob-thomson-slump-bryson-stott-20230730.html |
Senate GOP leaders didn’t want it to get to this point.
They tried and tried to get Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to lift the holds he’s placed on hundreds of military promotions — which have opened Republicans up to attacks from the Biden administration.
But their efforts have failed, and they are now in a situation where the earliest a resolution might be found is September — when lawmakers will also be busy trying to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.
“It’s hung around for a while. I support his goals,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican. “The challenge obviously is the mechanism he used to get to the result has created some challenges. We want to figure out a way to resolve it and address that.”
“There are conversations now going on, which is good — between him and the military and others. We’ll have some time in August to work on a path forward, and hopefully we’ll find it,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been among those trying to find a resolution, Thune said. Tuberville said he and McConnell discussed the holds Wednesday, hours after the GOP leader froze and felt lightheaded in front of reporters.
“At this point, everybody’s engaged trying to figure out how to solve this,” Thune added.
Tuberville began his holds in early March to protest a new Defense Department policy to reimburse service members who must travel to seek an abortion for those travel expenses.
Six months later, the list of holds has grown to 300. Senate Republicans were hoping to find a solution before leaving Washington for five weeks — five additional weeks during which those military officers will remain in limbo, fueling Democratic attacks and frustrating the Pentagon.
One Senate Republican said finding an offramp agreeable to both Tuberville and those opposed to the holds has become a “recurring discussion” in the Senate GOP conference, and that McConnell has been personally involved in that quest.
“There’s not a lunch that goes by that we don’t talk about it,” the senator said, but added there’s “no chance of a resolution” any time soon.
Aside from the potential political and national security implications of the holds, McConnell is worried about the institutional implications.
The longtime GOP leader recently told reporters at a press conference that he is concerned this could lead to a renewed Democratic effort to change the chamber’s rules.
Despite disagreeing with Tuberville’s tactic, however, he says he recognizes it is the prerogative of any single senator to place a hold on a nominee.
Senators on both sides of the aisle for months have been musing publicly and privately about what it would take to get the Alabama Republican to set his hold aside, but have come up empty at every turn.
Initially, there had been hope that a vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reverse the abortion travel policy could do the trick, and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) led the effort.
But more recently, Tuberville has maintained that not only does any vote have to be standalone, but that the Pentagon would have to reverse its policy before any vote could be taken.
Trying to bridge that gap for lawmakers has become a herculean challenge no one has been able to complete.
Tuberville didn’t comment on efforts by Senate GOP leaders to seek a remedy, but he criticized the Biden administration and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for their lack of outreach in trying to strike a deal. He also hasn’t had any further conversations with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin since their July 17 call and said that the initial series of calls didn’t yield anything productive.
“There’s no conversation from the other side. It’s ‘our way or the highway.’ … How does that help?” Tuberville said. “They’re not worried about it, I guess. … I hate it, for the promotions and all that.”
He added that he has yet to talk to Schumer, who has refused to use up floor time moving the nominees through regular order because he believes it is the Senate GOP’s job to figure a way out of the maze of military holds.
“This is the responsibility of the Republican Senate caucus. … It’s up to them. I think in August, pressure will mount on Tuberville, and I think the Republicans are feeling that heat,” Schumer said late Thursday. “He’s boxing himself into a corner.”
But Democrats are trying to increase that pressure, with President Biden on Thursday night laying into the Alabama Republican and arguing his holds are harming military readiness and creating instability within the ranks of the armed forces.
“This partisan freeze is already harming military readiness, security and leadership, and troop morale,” Biden said in remarks at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington. “Freezing pay, freezing people in place. Military families who have already sacrificed so much, unsure of where and when they change stations, unable to get housing or start their kids in the new school.”
Senate Democrats also took to the floor before and after the NDAA vote Thursday to criticize their GOP colleague. Since the hold was put into place, Democratic senators have made 12 attempts to move the military promotions in bloc via unanimous request.
Perhaps adding to the difficulty, Tuberville has received a boost in support from voters at home and from conservative corners of the Senate GOP conference who believe he is making the right call, albeit a difficult one.
They also argue that if Senate Democrats truly want to move on some of the nominations, they can start to do so via regular order — a move Democrats have avoided in order to not set precedent.
“Democrats think they have a winning political thing on this. I don’t think they do, and I think Sen. Tuberville morally is in the right position with regard to the issue of abortion,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said. “The [Defense] Department has just as much of a responsibility to find a path forward as any single member does, and I’m not seeing the Department try to work in any fashion other than to simply put pressure on Sen. Tuberville.”
“They’re not trying to find a path forward. They think this is one of those items where if they keep putting pressure on him, he’ll cave, and I don’t think he will,” Rounds continued. “On the issue, he’s correct.” | https://www.fox16.com/hill-politics/gop-leaders-strike-out-on-getting-tuberville-to-bend/ | 2023-07-30T23:47:54 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/hill-politics/gop-leaders-strike-out-on-getting-tuberville-to-bend/ |
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PAVLIVKA, Ukraine — The summer winds carried the smell of burned grain across the southern Ukrainian steppe and away from the shards of three Russian cruise missiles that struck the unassuming metal hangars.
The agricultural company Ivushka applied for accreditation to export grain this year, but the strike in mid-July destroyed a large portion of the stock, days after Russia abandoned the grain deal that would have allowed the shipments across the Black Sea without fear of attack.
Men shirtless and barefoot, with blackened soles from ash, swept unburnt grain into piles and awaited the loader, whose driver deftly steered around twisted metal shrapnel, bits of missile and craters despite his shattered windshield.
They hoped to beat the next rain to rescue what was left of the crop. According to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Russia struck the facility July 21 with three Kalibr- and Onyx-class cruise missiles.
“We don’t have a clue why they did it,” explained Olha Romanova, the head of Ivushka. Romanova, who worked in the debris alongside the others, wore a red headscarf and an exhausted expression and was too frazzled to even estimate her losses.
She cannot comprehend why the Russians targeted Ivushka, as there are no nearby military facilities and the frontlines are far from the village in the Odesa region.
“They spent so much money on us,” she said, puzzled. The missiles that ruined the silos are worth millions of dollars — far more than the crop they destroyed.
But Ivushka wasn’t the only target in Odesa. The main port also was struck, leaving Black Sea shipping companies that relied upon the grain deal to keep them safe and food supplies flowing to the world at a standstill.
The Black Sea handled about 95% of Ukrainian grain exports before Russia’s invasion and the U.N.-brokered initiative allowed Ukraine to ship much of what farmers harvested in 2021 and 2022, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Ukraine, a major supplier of corn, wheat, barley and vegetable oil, shipped 32.9 million metric tons (36.2 million U.S. tons) of grain under the nearly yearlong deal designed to ease a global food crisis. It has been able to export an additional 2 million to 2.5 million metric tons (2.2 to 2.7 million U.S. tons) monthly by the Danube River, road and rail through Europe.
Those are now the only routes to ship grain, but have stirred divisions among nearby European countries and generated higher costs to be absorbed by Ukrainian farmers, said Glauber, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Russian missiles strikes against the Danube port last Monday also raised questions about how much longer that route will remain viable.
That’s a disincentive to keep planting fields already threatened by missiles and strewn with explosive mines. Corn and wheat production in agriculture-dependent Ukraine is down nearly 40% this year from prewar levels, analysts say.
From the first of July last year until June 30 this year, Ukraine exported 68 million tons of grain, according to data from Mykola Horbachov, the president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Ukrainian farmers shipped 11.2 million tons via railways, 5.5 million tons by road transport and around 18 million tons through Danube ports. Additionally, nearly half of the total exported grain, 33 million tons, was delivered through seaports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Ihor Osmachko, the general director of Agroprosperis Group, was unsurprised by Russia’s withdrawal from the deal leading to its collapse. His company had never considered it a reliable or permanent solution during wartime.
He said Russians frequently stymied the deal, even while it was functioning, by delaying ship inspections until the cargos were sent back, leading to $30 million in losses for his company alone. Now, they are once again forced to pay to reroute 100,000 tons of grain trapped in ports that are no longer safe, Osmachko said.
“We have been preparing for this whole time,” Osmachko said. “We haven’t stopped. We are moving forward.”
Osmachko estimated around 80% to 90% of the approximately 3.2 million tons of grain Agroprosperis exported to China, Europe and African countries during the past year went through the grain corridor.
“The most significant problem today is the cost of logistics,” explained Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Before the war, farmers paid approximately $20 to $25 per ton to transport grain to the Odesa ports. Now, logistics costs have tripled as they are forced to pay more than $100 to transport a single ton via alternative routes through the Danube port to Constanta, Romania.
“If we were to go on the Danube with the grain corridor closed, practically all our production would be unprofitable,” Osmachko said.
The Danube ports can’t handle the same volume as seaports. The most Agroprosperis has sent through this route is 75,000 tons per month, compared with a monthly average of 250,000 tons through Black Sea ports.
The Ukrainian harvest this year is the lowest in a decade, according to a July report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Horbachov said shipping costs to export around the world and uncertainty about the length of the war will last could quickly make new planting unprofitable for Ukrainian farmers.
Ukraine currently produces three times more grain than it consumes, while global prices will inevitably rise if the country’s exports decrease.
“I think you’re looking at a diminished Ukraine for at least the next couple of years and maybe longer,” said Glauber, the former U.S. agricultural official. “That’s something the rest of the world just needs to make up.”
The war from all sides poses risks for Agroprosperis.
In the Sumy region on the Russian border, farmers harvest their crops wearing body armor. Sometimes they must stop their combines in the middle of the wheat fields to pick up shrapnel from Russian projectiles.
“It can get tough at times,” Osmachko acknowledged. “But there are responsibilities — some have duties on the front. Some must grow food and ensure the country’s and world’s security.”
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BENTON, Ark. – The Benton Police Department has announced that they have received funding from the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership and will be forming a new Overdose Response Team that will begin training in August.
Thanks to the funding, the team is now approved for the Naloxone Hero Program, which will enable naloxone dissemination and training for families and community members.
Peer Recovery Specialist Sean Willits said that the program equips community members to act in moments of life and death.
“We will begin the training in August,” Willits said. “Equipping community members with the knowledge and capacity to act in moments of life and death is an invaluable part of the Overdose Response Team’s efforts. We are committed to saving lives and helping resolve the issues around substance use disorder.”
Willits said more details, including official dates and times, will be forthcoming. If you know anyone struggling with substance use who is wanting help, please reach out to Willits at 501-239-2147 (office) or 501-326-5222 (cell).
For more information regarding ARORP, visit www.arorp.org. | https://www.fox16.com/news/local-news/benton-police-department-receives-funding-for-naloxone-training-dissemination/ | 2023-07-30T23:47:55 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/news/local-news/benton-police-department-receives-funding-for-naloxone-training-dissemination/ |
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NEW YORK — At a moment of growing legal peril, Donald Trump ramped up his calls for his GOP rivals to drop out of the 2024 presidential race as he threatened to go after Republican members of Congress who fail to focus on investigating Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump also urged a halt to Ukrainian military aid until the White House cooperates with congressional investigations into Biden and his family.
“Every dollar spent attacking me by Republicans is a dollar given straight to the Biden campaign,” Trump said at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night.
The former president and GOP front-runner said it was time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others he dismissed as “clowns” to clear the field, accusing them of “wasting hundreds of millions of dollars that Republicans should be using to build a massive vote-gathering operation” to take on Biden in November.
The comments came two days after federal prosecutors unveiled new criminal charges against Trump as part of the case that accuses him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club and refusing to turn them over to investigators. The superseding indictment unsealed Thursday alleges that Trump and two staffers sought to delete surveillance at the club in an effort to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation.
The case is just one of Trump’s mounting legal challenges. His team is currently bracing for additional possible indictments, which could happen as soon as this coming week, related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election brought by prosecutors in both Washington and Georgia. Trump already faces criminal charges in New York over hush money payments made to women who accused him of sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Nevertheless, Trump remains the dominant early figure for the Republican nomination and has only seen his lead grow as the charges have mounted and as his rivals have struggled to respond. Their challenge was on display at a GOP gathering in Iowa Friday night, where they largely declined to go after Trump directly. The only one who did — accusing Trump of “running to stay out of prison” — was booed as he left the stage.
In the meantime, Trump has embraced his legal woes, turning them into the core message of his bid to return to the White House as he accuses Biden of using the Justice Department to maim his chief political rival. The White House has said repeatedly that the president has had no involvement in the cases.
At rallies, Trump has tried to frame the charges, which come with serious threats of jail time, as an attack not just on him, but those who support him.
“They’re not indicting me, they’re indicting you. I just happen to be standing in the way,” he said in Erie, adding, “Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists and fascists indict me, I consider it actually a great badge of honor…. Because I’m being indicted for you.”
But the investigations are also sucking up enormous resources that are being diverted from the nuts and bolts of the campaign. The Washington Post first reported Saturday that Trump’s political action committee, Save America, will report Monday that it spent more than $40 million on legal fees during the first half of 2023 defending Trump and all of the current and former aides whose lawyers it is paying. The total is more than the campaign raised during the second quarter of the year.
“In order to combat these heinous actions by Joe Biden’s cronies and to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed, the leadership PAC contributed to their legal fees to ensure they have representation against unlawful harassment,” said Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung.
At the rally, in a former Democratic stronghold that Trump flipped in 2016, but Biden won narrowly in 2020, Trump also threatened Republicans in Congress who refuse to go along with efforts to impeach Biden. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said this past week that Republican lawmakers may consider an impeachment inquiry into the president over unproven claims of financial misconduct.
Trump, who was impeached twice while in office, said Saturday that, “The biggest complaint that I get is that the Republicans find out this information and then they do nothing about it.”
“Any Republican that doesn’t act on Democrat fraud should be immediately primaries and get out — out!” he told the crowd to loud applause. “They have to play tough and … if they’re not willing to do it, we got a lot of good, tough Republicans around … and they’re going to get my endorsement every singe time.”
Trump, during the 2022 midterm elections, made it his mission to punish those who had voted in favor of his second impeachment. He succeeded in unseating most who had by backing primary challengers.
At the rally, Trump also called on Republican members of Congress to halt the authorization of additional military support to Ukraine, which has been mired in a war fighting Russia’s invasion, until the Biden administration cooperates with Republican investigations into Biden and his family’s business dealings — words that echoed the call that lead to his first impeachment.
“He’s dragging into a global conflict on behalf of the very same country, Ukraine, that apparently paid his family all of these millions of dollars,” Trump alleged. “In light of this information,” Congress, he said, “should refuse to authorize a single additional payment of our depleted stockpiles … the weapons stockpiles to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ and IRS hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden crime family’s corrupt business dealings.”
House Republicans have been investigating the Biden family’s finances, particularly payments Hunter, the president’s son, received from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that became tangled in the first impeachment of Trump.
An unnamed confidential FBI informant claimed that Burisma company officials in 2015 and 2016 sought to pay the Bidens $5 million each in return for their help ousting a Ukrainian prosecutor who was purportedly investigating the company. But a Justice Department review in 2020, while Trump was president, was closed eight months later with insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.
Trump’s first impeachment by the House resulted in charges that he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to dig up dirt on the Bidens while threatening to withhold military aid. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate.
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Click now to support or get more information. | https://www.timesleader.com/news/1615715/trump-calls-on-gop-to-rally-around-him-and-focus-on-investigating-biden | 2023-07-30T23:47:55 | 1 | https://www.timesleader.com/news/1615715/trump-calls-on-gop-to-rally-around-him-and-focus-on-investigating-biden |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When viewed through a wide lens, renters across the U.S. finally appear to be getting some relief, thanks in part to the biggest apartment construction boom in decades.
Median rent rose just 0.5% in June, year over year, after falling in May for the first time since the pandemic hit the U.S. Some economists project U.S. rents will be down modestly this year after soaring nearly 25% over the past four years.
A closer look, however, shows the trend will likely be little comfort for many U.S. renters who’ve had to put an increasing share of their income toward their monthly payment. Renters in cities such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis are still getting hit with increases of 5% or more. Much of the new construction is located in just a few metro areas, and many of the new units are luxury apartments, which rent for well north of $2,000.
Median U.S. rent has risen to $2,029 this June from $1,629 in June 2019, according to rental listings company Rent, which tracks rents in 50 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Demand for apartments exploded during the pandemic as people who could work remotely sought more space or decided to relocate to another part of the country.
The steep rent increases have left tenants like Melissa Lombana, a high school teacher who lives in the South Florida city of Miramar, with progressively less income to spend on other needs.
The rent on her one-bedroom apartment jumped 13% last year to $1,700. It climbed another 6% to $1,800 this month when she renewed her lease.
“Even the $1,700 was a stretch for me,” said Lombana, 43, who supplements her teaching income with a side job doing educational testing. “In a year, I will not be able to afford living here at all.”
Lombana’s rent is now gobbling up nearly half her monthly income. That puts her in a category referred to as “cost-burdened” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, denoting households that pay 30% or more of their income toward rent. Last year, the average rent-to-income ratio per household rose to 30%. This March, it was 29.6%.
Lombana hasn’t had any luck finding a more affordable apartment. While South Florida is one of the metropolitan areas seeing a rise in apartment construction, the units are mostly high-end and not a viable option.
That scenario is playing out across the nation. Developers are rushing to complete projects that were green-lit during the pandemic-era surge in demand for rentals or left in limbo by delays in supplies of fixtures and building materials. Nearly 1.1 million apartments are currently under construction, according to the commercial real estate tracker CoStar, a pace not seen since the 1970s.
Increasing the supply of apartments tends to moderate rent increases over time and can give tenants more options on where to live. But more than 40% of the new rentals to be completed this year will be concentrated in about 10 high job growth metropolitan areas, including Austin, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta and New York, according to Marcus & Millichap. In many areas, the boost to overall inventory will be barely noticeable.
Even within metros where there’ll be a notable increase in available apartments, such as Nashville, most of it will be in the luxury category, where rents average $2,270, nationally. Some 70% of the new rental inventory will be the luxury class, said Jay Lybik, national director of multifamily analytics at CoStar.
That will leave most tenants unlikely to see a big enough reduction in rent to make a difference, industry experts and economists say.
“I think we’re in a period of rent flattening for 12 or 18 months, but it’s certainly not a big rent decline,” said Hessam Nadji, CEO of commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.
“We’re building a multi-decade record number of units,” Nadji said. “It’s going to cause some softening and some pockets of overbuilding, but it’s not going to fundamentally resolve the housing shortage or the affordability problem for renters across the U.S.”
The surge in rents has made it difficult for workers to keep up with inflation despite solid wage gains the past few years and exacerbated a long-term trend. Between 1999 and 2022, U.S. rents soared 135%, while income grew 77%, according to data from Moody’s Analytics.
Realtor.com is forecasting that rents will drop an average of 0.9% this year. But while down nationally, rents are still rising in many markets around the country, especially those where hiring remains robust.
In the New York metro area, the median rent climbed 4.7% in June from a year earlier to $2,899, according to Realtor.com. In the Midwest, rents surged 5.6% in the Cincinnati metro area to $1,188, and 6.9% to $1,350 in the Indianapolis metro area.
The current spike in apartment construction alone isn’t going to be enough to address how costly renting has become for many Americans.
“For the rest of the 2020s rents will continue to grow because millennials are such a big generation and we’re very much in the hole in terms of building housing for that generation,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. “It will take many good years of new construction to build adequate housing for millennials.”
The bigger challenge is building more work force housing, because the cost of land, labor and navigating the government approval process incentivize developers to put up luxury apartments buildings.
Expanding the supply of modestly priced rentals would help alleviate the strain from so many new apartments targeting renters with high incomes, “although additional subsidies will be needed to make housing affordable to households with the lowest incomes,” researchers at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies wrote in a recent report.
Despite the overall pullback in U.S. rents, Joey Di Girolamo, in Pembroke Pines, Florida, worries that he’ll face more sharp rent increases in coming years.
Last year, the web designer left a two-bedroom, two-bath townhome he rented for $2,200 a month to avoid a $600 a month increase. This year, his rent went up by $200, a nearly 10% jump.
“That blew me away,” said Di Girolamo, 50. “I’m just kind of dreading what it’s going to be like next year, but especially 3 or 4 years from now.” | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/renters-get-relief-from-rising-prices-except-in-certain-us-cities/ | 2023-07-30T23:47:57 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/renters-get-relief-from-rising-prices-except-in-certain-us-cities/ |
AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s no surprise that the summer heat can do significant damage to your vehicle. But as cities around the country continue to break temperature records and endure long heat waves, some car technicians are finding unusual vehicle issues.
Doc Watson, a national training manager with Bosch Diagnostics, said typical summertime issues include dead car batteries and flat tires. However, he said technicians in Texas and along the West Coast have also been recording more unusual vehicle complications due to the extensive heat waves.
In Texas, Arizona and California, technicians are reporting an emergence of “brake fade” cases in cars. When the temperature outside tops 100 degrees for extended periods of time, temperatures under the hood of vehicles during the summer can reach up to 230 degrees.
Brake fluids inside the cylinder under the hood of the car can absorb moisture, as the heat causes that moisture to expand within the fluid. When that happens, stepping on the brake pedal can feel “mushy.” That means the vehicle owner will need to take the car in for maintenance.
Both heat and humidity can add extra wear and tear to the windshield wiper blades, which have a typical lifespan between 12 and 18 months.
“People don’t stop to think about wiper blades — they don’t need them until it rains, right?” Watson said. “You’re driving around in 112-degree temperature, you’ve got heat reflecting off the glass, and that causes the rubber components of a wiper blade to break down.”
The plastic parts of the blades can also suffer.
“With these extreme temperatures that you guys are seeing, it’s the plastic breaking down off the wiper blade itself, and people not realizing that that’s happened until it’s too late,” he said. “The wiper blade breaks and then you’ve got this metal arm scratching the glass.”
Watson recommended car owners keep a checklist of key vehicle parts to monitor during the summer months. Those include:
- Car batteries: Traditionally, car batteries last between three and five years. Amid excessive heat spells, temperatures under the hood of a vehicle reach up to 230 degrees, which can lead to battery fluid evaporations and dead batteries. Watson suggests car owners have their batteries tested by a technician during the summer to get a condition status.
- Tires: Low tire pressure is exacerbated by hot asphalt on roadways. Watson encouraged car owners to purchase a tire pressure gauge and to test their vehicle’s tire pressure early in the morning while it’s still cool to ensure an accurate reading.
- Engine overflow tank: During the summer months, cooling an engine is critical. Watson said when car owners check underneath the hood, they’ll find a plastic overflow tank with a graduated scale. If it looks low, he suggested adding antifreeze to aid your engine.
- Wiper blades: Check wiper blades during dry spells (and before rain storms) to make sure they’re properly working and not deteriorating. If they show signs of wear and tear, replace them and make sure they’re upgraded every 12-18 months.
- Oil changes: Most newer vehicles require an oil change every 5,000 to 7,000 miles. However, remote starting a vehicle and running the air conditioning works the engine without adding any mileage to the vehicle. As a result, Watson suggested not waiting until you hit that 5,000 to 7,000-mile range if you often use remote start on your vehicle during the summer or winter months.
“People aren’t changing oil regularly like they think they are,” he said. “People need to pay more attention to them because these engines will go many miles — 200,000, 300,000 miles — as long as they’re maintained correctly. That’s big with this extreme heat.” | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/the-weird-car-issues-mechanics-are-seeing-during-heat-waves/ | 2023-07-30T23:47:57 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/the-weird-car-issues-mechanics-are-seeing-during-heat-waves/ |
(The Hill) – Northwestern is the latest in a long line of universities to come under public scrutiny due to a scandal over hazing, a practice that has refused to go extinct in colleges and high schools despite multiple concerted efforts to end it.
Hazing, which in rare instances has proven fatal, in particular plagues sports teams and Greek Life.
Experts say education on the issue and increased consequences are needed to create a real change, although they are skeptical the dangerous practice will exit school life anytime soon.
“Hazing has always been prevalent in society, not just in colleges. It’s anywhere that you see a different power dynamic between people who are trying to join a group [and] people who are in the group,” said Todd Shelton, executive director of the Hazing Prevention Network. “There’s research that shows that hazing starts long before college and in those younger ages. It’s especially prevalent in athletic teams camps, performing arts groups.”
The latest high-profile hazing incident comes from Northwestern University, where the head football coach was recently let go and a barrage of lawsuits have fallen on the school.
One of the reported rituals of hazing on the school’s football team was younger players getting restrained in the locker room by older ones while others dry humped the individual. Another incident described in a lawsuit against the school was a ritual called “carwash” where players were forced to rub themselves against a line of naked men in the showers.
“Certainly, it is typical hazing activities that we’ve seen before and it’s not unusual that they’re shrouded with secrecy. So I applaud the people who came forward and reported because that’s — that’s key for institutions to be able to make changes,” Shelton said. “I think those acts are horrible and examples of how hazing can quickly escalate from what individuals think is something that’s mild and or funny, to quickly being something that’s dangerous, either mentally or physically, to the victims.”
Experts say preventing hazing incidents has to start by educating people about its warning signs and dangers.
A study in 2008 showed 73 percent of students who have been in a sorority or fraternity said they experienced behaviors that meet the definition of hazing, such as being forced into drinking games or getting screamed at by other members.
The same study showed 74 percent of athletes in athletic programs also experienced behaviors that amount to hazing.
“Hazing is specific to that group context where someone is seeking inclusion or a sense of belonging in a club, team or organization. They’re a newcomer typically coming into this group situation, and because of that group dynamic there can be an incredible amount of peer pressure and sometimes a coercive environment. And so that can impede or be a barrier to recognizing and or reporting hazing because there can be a lot of fear,” Elizabeth Allan, a professor at the University of Maine, said.
These rituals and desires to be part of the in-group have led to some deadly consequences for young people.
In 2019, five Penn State University students were sentenced to jail after a 19-year-old student at a Beta Theta Pi fraternity house died at a party after hazing-based binge drinking.
While most hazing incidents don’t result in incarceration, there are other consequences for students who are caught for the crime.
“Financial, monetary damages. People have lost their jobs. People have gone to jail or had, criminal penalties, fines and so forth. Let’s say sometimes when it’s a student organization or a team so with a student organization, they’re often suspended or lose their recognition with the campus for a period of time, and with an athletic team sometimes a portion of the season is put on hold or canceled entirely sometimes at the high school level, we’ve seen that recently.” Allan, who also leads the organization Stop Hazing, said.
And yet, even as schools ramp up their efforts, hazing persists.
Allan says a multifaceted strategy is needed to tackle the problem, and her group has developed a “Hazing Prevention Framework” for schools to follow.
“They can use it to also do some strategic planning and set some goals for the improvements they want to make, and all this is really … based on a public health approach to organizational change and promoting healthy behaviors in a community setting,” Allan said.
Shelton said his group also advocates for hazing to be treated as a felony, whereas many states look at it as a misdemeanor.
“The problem is it’s not taken seriously in the law, and we’ve seen a lot of hazing cases, even when there’s been a death… [where] prosecutors don’t consider it hazing or don’t consider hazing to be a serious crime to go through the measures of prosecuting,” Shelton said. “And so that’s why we’ve been working hard to strengthen those state laws.” | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/why-is-hazing-so-hard-to-eliminate/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:12 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/why-is-hazing-so-hard-to-eliminate/ |
Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning
DENVER (AP) — As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, doesn’t have air conditioning.
The 68-year-old covers his windows with mattress foam to insulate against the heat and sleeps in the concrete basement. He knows high temperatures can cause heat stroke and death, and his lung condition makes him more susceptible. But the retired brick layer, who survives on about $1,000 a month largely from Social Security, says air conditioning is out of reach.
“Take me about 12 years to save up for something like that,” he said. “If it’s hard to breathe, I’ll get down to emergency.”
As climate change fans hotter and longer heat waves, breaking record temperatures across the U.S. and leaving dozens dead, the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defenses. Air conditioning, once a luxury, is now a matter of survival.
As Phoenix weathered its 27th consecutive day above 110 degrees (43 Celsius) Wednesday, the nine who died indoors didn’t have functioning air conditioning, or it was turned off. Last year, all 86 heat-related deaths indoors were in uncooled environments.
“To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills,” said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health. “Once the heat wave starts, mortality starts in about 24 hours.”
It’s the poorest and people of color, from Kansas City to Detroit to New York City and beyond, who are far more likely to face grueling heat without air conditioning, according to a Boston University analysis of 115 U.S. metros.
“The temperature differences ... between lower-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods of color and their wealthier, whiter counterparts have pretty severe consequences,” said Cate Mingoya-LaFortune of Groundwork USA, an environmental justice organization. “There are these really big consequences like death. ... But there’s also ambient misery.”
Some have window units that can offer respite, but “in the dead of heat, it don’t do nothing,” said Melody Clark, who stopped Friday to get food at a nonprofit in Kansas City, Kansas, as temperatures soared to 101, and high humidity made it feel like 109. When the central air conditioning at her rental house went on the fritz, her landlord installed a window unit. But it doesn’t do much during the day.
So the 45-year-old wets her hair, cooks outside on a propane grill and keeps the lights off indoors. She’s taken the bus to the library to cool off. At night she flips the box unit on, hauling her bed into the room where it’s located to sleep.
As far as her two teenagers, she said: “They aren’t little bitty. We aren’t dying in the heat. ... They don’t complain.”
While billions in federal funding have been allocated to subsidize utility costs and the installation of cooling systems, experts say they often only support a fraction of the most vulnerable families and some still require prohibitive upfront costs. Installing a centralized heat pump system for heating and cooling can easily reach $25,000.
President Joe Biden announced steps on Thursday to defend against extreme heat, highlighting the expansion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which funnels money through states to help poorer households pay utility bills.
While the program is critical, said Michelle Graff, who studies the subsidy at Cleveland State University, only about 16% of the nation’s eligible population is actually reached. Nearly half of states don’t offer the federal dollars for summer cooling.
“So people are engaging in coping mechanisms, like they’re turning on their air conditioners later and leaving their homes hotter,” Graff said.
While frigid temperatures and high heating bills birthed the term “heat or eat,” she said, “we can now transition to AC or eat, where people are going to have to make difficult decisions.”
As temperatures rise, so does the cost of cooling. And temperatures are already hotter in America’s low-income neighborhoods like Gallegos’ Denver suburb of Globeville, where people live along stretches of asphalt and concrete that hold heat like a cast-iron skillet. Surface temperatures there can be roughly 8 degrees hotter than in Denver’s wealthier neighborhoods, where a sea of vegetation cools the area, according to the environmental advocacy group American Forests.
This disparity plays out nationwide. Researchers at the University of San Diego analyzed 1,056 counties and in over 70%, the poorest areas and those with higher Black, Hispanic and Asian populations were significantly hotter.
About one in 10 U.S. households have no air conditioning, a disparity compounded for marginalized groups, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. Less than 4% of Detroit’s white households don’t have air conditioning; it’s 15% for Black households.
At noon on Friday, Katrice Sullivan sat on the porch of her rented house on Detroit’s westside. It was hot and muggy, but even steamier inside the house. Even if she had air conditioning, Sullivan said she’d choose her moments to run it to keep her electricity bill down.
The 37-year-old factory worker pours water on her head, freezes towels to put around her neck, and sits in her car with the air conditioner on. “Some people here spend every dollar for food, so air conditioning is something they can’t afford,” she said.
Shannon Lewis, 38, lived in her Detroit home for nearly 20 years without air conditioning. Lewis’s bedroom was the only place with a window unit, so she’d squeeze her teenager, 8-year-old and 3-year-old-twins into her queen-size bed to sleep, eat meals and watch television.
“So it was like cool in one room and a heat stroke in another,” Lewis said. For the first time, Lewis now has air conditioning through a local non-profit, she said. “We don’t have to sleep or eat in the same room, we are able to come out, sit at the dining room table, eat like a family.”
After at least 54 died during a 2021 heat wave, mostly elderly people without air conditioning, in the Portland area, Oregon passed a law prohibiting landlords from placing blanket bans on air conditioning units. By and large, however, states don’t have laws requiring landlords to provide cooling.
In the federal Inflation Reduction Act, billions were set aside for tax credits and rebates to help families install energy-efficient cooling systems, but some of those are yet to be available. For people like Gallegos, who doesn’t pay taxes, the available credits are worthless.
The law also offers rebates, the kind of state and federal point-of-sale discounts that Amanda Morian has looked into for her 640-square-foot home.
Morian, who has a 13-week-old baby susceptible to hot weather, is desperate to keep her house in Denver’s Globeville suburb cool. She bought thermal curtains, ceiling fans and runs a window unit. At night she tries to do skin-to-skin touch to regulate the baby’s body temperature. When the back door opens in the afternoon, she said, the indoor temperature jumps a degree.
“All of those are just to take the edge off, it’s not enough to actually make it cool. It’s enough to keep us from dying,” she said.
She got estimates from four different companies for installing a cooling system, but every project was between $20,000 and $25,000, she said. Even with subsidies she can’t afford it.
“I’m finding that you have to afford the project in the first place and then it’s like having a bonus coupon to take $5,000 off of the sticker price,” she said.
Lucy Molina, a single mom in Commerce City, one of Denver’s poorest areas, said her home has reached 107 degrees without air conditioning. Nearby, Molina’s two teenage children slurped popsicles to cool off, lingering in front of the open freezer.
For Molina, who bustled around her kitchen on a recent day when temperatures reached 99 degrees outdoors, it’s hard to see any path to a cooling respite.
“We’re just too poor,” she said.
____
Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Kansas, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
——
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:14 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/30/record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ |
VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The Visalia Police Department has announced the arrest of a 29-year-old man on Sunday who is suspected of stabbing a man to death earlier this year.
Police say the evening of May 30 they were called to Visalia Liquor on Whitendale
Avenue where they found a 48-year-old man who had been stabbed, and later died.
On Friday around 9:00 p.m., officers say they conducted a traffic stop near Murray Avenue and Church Street. During the stop, they arrested 29-year-old Jose De Jesus Espinoza for warrants related to the stabbing in May.
Authorities say Espinoza was booked under suspicion of violating California Penal Code 182 (conspiracy), 186.22 gang enhancement, and murder.
Anyone seeking to provide additional information to this case is asked to contact Detective Max Navo at (559) 713-4234. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/crime/arrest-made-in-visalia-man-stabbed-to-death-police-say/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:17 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/crime/arrest-made-in-visalia-man-stabbed-to-death-police-say/ |
Russian missile attacks leave few options for Ukrainian farmers looking to export grain
(AP) -PAVLIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — The summer winds carried the smell of burned grain across the southern Ukrainian steppe and away from the shards of three Russian cruise missiles that struck the unassuming metal hangars.
The agricultural company Ivushka applied for accreditation to export grain this year, but the strike in mid-July destroyed a large portion of the stock, days after Russia abandoned the grain deal that would have allowed the shipments across the Black Sea without fear of attack.
Men shirtless and barefoot, with blackened soles from ash, swept unburnt grain into piles and awaited the loader, whose driver deftly steered around twisted metal shrapnel, bits of missile and craters despite his shattered windshield.
They hoped to beat the next rain to rescue what was left of the crop. According to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Russia struck the facility July 21 with three Kalibr- and Onyx-class cruise missiles.
“We don’t have a clue why they did it,” explained Olha Romanova, the head of Ivushka. Romanova, who worked in the debris alongside the others, wore a red headscarf and an exhausted expression and was too frazzled to even estimate her losses.
She cannot comprehend why the Russians targeted Ivushka, as there are no nearby military facilities and the frontlines are far from the village in the Odesa region.
“They spent so much money on us,” she said, puzzled. The missiles that ruined the silos are worth millions of dollars — far more than the crop they destroyed.
But Ivushka wasn’t the only target in Odesa. The main port also was struck, leaving Black Sea shipping companies that relied upon the grain deal to keep them safe and food supplies flowing to the world at a standstill.
The Black Sea handled about 95% of Ukrainian grain exports before Russia’s invasion and the U.N.-brokered initiative allowed Ukraine to ship much of what farmers harvested in 2021 and 2022, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Ukraine, a major supplier of corn, wheat, barley and vegetable oil, shipped 32.9 million metric tons (36.2 million U.S. tons) of grain under the nearly yearlong deal designed to ease a global food crisis. It has been able to export an additional 2 million to 2.5 million metric tons (2.2 to 2.7 million U.S. tons) monthly by the Danube River, road and rail through Europe.
Those are now the only routes to ship grain, but have stirred divisions among nearby European countries and generated higher costs to be absorbed by Ukrainian farmers, said Glauber, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Russian missiles strikes against the Danube port last Monday also raised questions about how much longer that route will remain viable.
That’s a disincentive to keep planting fields already threatened by missiles and strewn with explosive mines. Corn and wheat production in agriculture-dependent Ukraine is down nearly 40% this year from prewar levels, analysts say.
From the first of July last year until June 30 this year, Ukraine exported 68 million tons of grain, according to data from Mykola Horbachov, the president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Ukrainian farmers shipped 11.2 million tons via railways, 5.5 million tons by road transport and around 18 million tons through Danube ports. Additionally, nearly half of the total exported grain, 33 million tons, was delivered through seaports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Ihor Osmachko, the general director of Agroprosperis Group, was unsurprised by Russia’s withdrawal from the deal leading to its collapse. His company had never considered it a reliable or permanent solution during wartime.
He said Russians frequently stymied the deal, even while it was functioning, by delaying ship inspections until the cargos were sent back, leading to $30 million in losses for his company alone. Now, they are once again forced to pay to reroute 100,000 tons of grain trapped in ports that are no longer safe, Osmachko said.
“We have been preparing for this whole time,” Osmachko said. “We haven’t stopped. We are moving forward.”
Osmachko estimated around 80% to 90% of the approximately 3.2 million tons of grain Agroprosperis exported to China, Europe and African countries during the past year went through the grain corridor.
“The most significant problem today is the cost of logistics,” explained Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Before the war, farmers paid approximately $20 to $25 per ton to transport grain to the Odesa ports. Now, logistics costs have tripled as they are forced to pay more than $100 to transport a single ton via alternative routes through the Danube port to Constanta, Romania.
“If we were to go on the Danube with the grain corridor closed, practically all our production would be unprofitable,” Osmachko said.
The Danube ports can’t handle the same volume as seaports. The most Agroprosperis has sent through this route is 75,000 tons per month, compared with a monthly average of 250,000 tons through Black Sea ports.
The Ukrainian harvest this year is the lowest in a decade, according to a July report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Horbachov said shipping costs to export around the world and uncertainty about the length of the war will last could quickly make new planting unprofitable for Ukrainian farmers.
Ukraine currently produces three times more grain than it consumes, while global prices will inevitably rise if the country’s exports decrease.
“I think you’re looking at a diminished Ukraine for at least the next couple of years and maybe longer,” said Glauber, the former U.S. agricultural official. “That’s something the rest of the world just needs to make up.”
The war from all sides poses risks for Agroprosperis.
In the Sumy region on the Russian border, farmers harvest their crops wearing body armor. Sometimes they must stop their combines in the middle of the wheat fields to pick up shrapnel from Russian projectiles.
“It can get tough at times,” Osmachko acknowledged. “But there are responsibilities — some have duties on the front. Some must grow food and ensure the country’s and world’s security.”
___
Volodymyr Yurchuk in Lviv, Ukraine, and Courtney Bonnell in London contributed.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/30/russian-missile-attacks-leave-few-options-ukrainian-farmers-looking-export-grain/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:17 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/30/russian-missile-attacks-leave-few-options-ukrainian-farmers-looking-export-grain/ |
SELMA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The man hit by a moving car while he was riding a skateboard at an intersection has been identified by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
The California Highway Patrol says just before 7:30 p.m. Friday a skateboarder entered the intersection of Highland and Conejo Avenues and was struck by a white Dodge sedan.
An on-duty CHP officer happened to be a few cars back from where the collision occurred and witnessed the incident. The CHP says the officer rushed to give medical assistance to the pedestrian, but he died from his injuries.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office says 22-year-old Martin Garcia Mendoza was the pedestrian who was killed. Authorities do not know his city of residence at this time.
The driver did not report any injuries as a result of the collision. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/identified-skateboarder-hit-and-killed-in-selma/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:18 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/identified-skateboarder-hit-and-killed-in-selma/ |
(KTLA) – A security guard at a nightclub was killed after being brutally beaten by a large mob in Hollywood early Sunday morning, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officers responded to the Dragonfly Hollywood nightclub in the 6500 block of Santa Monica Boulevard near Wilcox Avenue around 2 a.m. on reports of a group of 10 people attacking one person, police said.
“The victim was working at this nightclub, and a large group – for unknown reasons – confronted that security guard, causing him to fall into the street,” said LAPD West Bureau Homicide Division Detective Samuel Marullo. “At which time the group advanced and kicked and stomped him to death.”
Police are still investigating whether the fight began inside the club and spilled onto the street or if it began outside entirely.
Video from the scene captured first responders attempting life-saving measures on the security guard, only identified as a male in his 30s, as he was lying in the street.
Dragonfly Hollywood was still open and full of patrons at the time of the security guard’s death. According to the club’s social media, it was hosting its weekly Signature Saturdays event, with Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley headlining the festivities.
The club also hosts an event on Sundays called Sunday Night Fever, but it is unclear whether that event will be postponed following the security guard’s death.
No arrests have been made.
Anyone with information regarding the attack is urged to contact the LAPD immediately. | https://www.fox16.com/news/nightclub-security-guard-allegedly-beaten-to-death-in-hollywood-police/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:18 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/news/nightclub-security-guard-allegedly-beaten-to-death-in-hollywood-police/ |
Fever vs. Mercury Prediction & Picks: Line, Spread, Over/Under - August 1
The Indiana Fever (6-19) carry a four-game skid into a home contest versus the Phoenix Mercury (6-18), who have dropped three straight. It begins at 7:00 PM ET (on ESPN3 and AZFamily) on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
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Fever vs. Mercury Game Info & Odds
- When: Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 7:00 PM ET
- Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
- TV: ESPN3 and AZFamily
- Favorite: Fever (-4.5)
- Over/Under: 164.5
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Fever vs. Mercury Score Prediction
Prediction: Mercury 85 Fever 81
Spread & Total Prediction for Fever vs. Mercury
- Pick ATS: Mercury (+4.5)
- Pick OU: Over (164.5)
Fever vs. Mercury Spread & Total Insights
- Indiana's record against the spread is 13-10-0.
- The Fever have no wins ATS (0-1) as a 4.5-point favorite or greater this season.
- This season, 12 of Indiana's 24 games have gone over the point total.
- The Fever have had an average of 166.3 points in their games this season, 1.8 fewer than this matchup's total.
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Fever Performance Insights
- The Fever's offense, which ranks seventh in the league with 80.6 points per game, has performed better than their worst defense (85.6 points allowed per game).
- Indiana ranks second-best in the WNBA by allowing just 32.5 rebounds per game. It ranks fifth in the league by pulling down 34.5 rebounds per contest.
- The Fever are committing 13.8 turnovers per game (eighth-ranked in WNBA) this year, while forcing 12.7 turnovers per contest (ninth-ranked).
- The Fever have struggled to rack up threes, ranking second-worst in the league with 6.3 threes made per game. They rank ninth with a 32.2% shooting percentage from beyond the arc this year.
- In terms of threes, the Fever's defense is struggling, as they rank second-worst in the league in three-pointers allowed (8.4 per game) and worst in three-point percentage allowed (36.9%).
- Indiana is attempting 49.6 two-pointers per game this year, which account for 71.7% of the shots it has attempted (and 79.3% of the team's baskets). Meanwhile, it is attempting 19.6 three-pointers per contest, which are 28.3% of its shots (and 20.7% of the team's buckets).
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/fever-mercury-wnba-picks-predictions/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:18 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/fever-mercury-wnba-picks-predictions/ |
(The Hill) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee say a high-profile hearing on UFOs is just the start of their push for answers.
And they are threatening to use heavier handed tactics if the Pentagon and intelligence agencies stand in their way.
Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) want more information on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) — commonly referred to as UFOs — beginning with new laws, a classified hearing and the possible creation of a select committee.
The lawmakers said they are willing to use subpoena power if needed to get the answers they’re seeking from the federal government.
“If there’s not a cover up, the government and the Pentagon are sure spending a lot of resources to stop us from studying it,” Burchett told The Hill.
He added that they hope House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) can aid them in setting up a select committee to study the issue of UAPs — as well as any government program that addresses them. If they don’t get leadership approval, they’ll “just start holding field hearings because the public is demanding that we have transparency,” Burchett said.
The effort comes after three former military officials earlier this week and under oath gave bombshell testimony on the unexplained aerial objects, telling lawmakers that for years they’ve been kept in the dark about the mysterious sightings and encounters.
David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer, gave the most shocking testimony when he said he was told of a “multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program,” accusing the military of misdirecting funds to keep such operations secret.
The shocking testimony now has committee members questioning how Congress should begin to investigate the witness claims and demand more answers from the executive branch on programs it claims doesn’t exist.
Lawmakers hope to start with obtaining additional information and documents that Grusch said he submitted to the Pentagon’s inspector general after serving on two Defense Department task forces looking into UAPs.
To get the information from Grusch — who said he was unable to discuss specifics on what he told the Pentagon’s watchdog arm — lawmakers want to sit down with the former official in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) to get additional information from him.
The group has been blocked, however, by officials that have informed them that Grusch doesn’t currently have security clearance to discuss the issues in a SCIF, according to Burchett.
“I think we’ll get there eventually, it’s just frustrating. I’m ready to go and the American public are ready to go,” he said.
Luna argued the SCIF with Grusch would help lawmakers better understand the type of legislation they need to write regarding UAPs. She said she supports legislation that would declassify information on the phenomena.
With a growing amount of bipartisan interest for more government transparency surrounding the issue, a need for reporting procedures for UAP’s both in the miliary and commercial airspace, and “stronger and stricter punishment for those that try to silence whistleblowers,” the topic is more important than ever, she said.
There is currently a provision in the Senate’s version of the annual defense authorization bill, inserted by Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), which would force federal government agencies to hand over UAP records to a review panel with the power to declassify them. The bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, was passed by the Senate on Thursday and now must be reconciled with the House’s version, so the initiative could still be stripped out.
Burchett also made an attempt to put an amendment into a Federal Aviation Administration bill to improve air travel, passed July 20, that would have required UAP sightings be reported to Congress. The initiative was blocked, which Luna said was an indication that “we clearly have a battle ahead of us.”
Another avenue for lawmakers should they not receive access to a SCIF would be invoking the Holman rule.
During Wednesday’s hearing Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) vowed to do just that, saying that he would “personally volunteer to initiate the Holman rule against any personnel, or any program, or any agency that denies access to Congress.”
The Holman rule is a House power through which they can strip the salary of a specific government position, fire civil servants or cut a particular program.
Ogles’s pledge came after Grusch told lawmakers that the federal government for decades has secretly funded a “UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program” and that he believes the government is in possession of non-human crafts, based on interviews with 40 witnesses.
Moskowitz told The Hill that while it’s too early to use the Holman rule — as Congress must first “figure out where these positions exist and then examine whether or not they should be funded” — he hopes that by discussing the rule it will create more transparency with the federal government.
“This is about government transparency. I’m all for protecting national security, but that can’t just be a shield to deny the American people the basics of what we know about UAPs,” he said.
And Burchett said if lawmakers “start getting stonewalled” by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, he will have “no hesitation,” to invoke the rule.
Luna, meanwhile, said whether lawmakers use the rule depends on the response they receive from various agencies, programs and appointees.
That process could start as soon as September when lawmakers consider the Defense Appropriations bill on the House floor.
“We know that enormous sums of money are being spent on UAP related activity, whether it’s retrieval/recovery, research and reverse engineering, or just security for whatever the government is hiding,” she told The Hill. “But none of that is on the books, so from a basic governance perspective, Congress needs to know where money is being misappropriated.”
The Hill’s Sarakshi Rai contributed reporting. | https://www.fox16.com/news/ufo-curious-lawmakers-brace-for-a-fight-over-government-secrets/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:24 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/news/ufo-curious-lawmakers-brace-for-a-fight-over-government-secrets/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — A week later, the “Barbenheimer” boom has not abated.
Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. “Barbie” took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Oppenheimer” stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
“Barbenheimer” has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it “a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters.”
“Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other’s fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don’t know if there’s a comp for this in the annals of box-office history,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s really no comparison for this.”
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of “Barbie” saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
“Barbie” has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it’s played, “Barbie” has made at least $20 million.
And the “Barbie” effect isn’t just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It’s the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
“That’s a crazy number,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “There’s just a built-in audience that wants to be part of the zeitgeist of the moment. Wherever you go, people are wearing pink. Pink is taking over the world.”
Amid the frenzy, “Barbie” is already attracting a lot of repeat moviegoers. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales are people going back with friends or family to see it again.
For a movie industry that has been trying to regain its pre-pandemic footing — and that now finds itself largely shuttered due to actors and screenwriters strikes — the sensations of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have showed what’s possible when everything lines up just right.
“Post-pandemic, there’s no ceiling and there’s no floor,” Goldstein said. “The movies that miss really miss big time, and the movies that work really work big time.”
Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer,” meanwhile, is performing more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about scientists talking.
Nolan’s drama starring Cillian Murphy as atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has accrued $174.1 million domestically thus far. With an additional $72.4 million in international cinemas, “Oppenheimer” has already surpassed $400 million globally.
Showings in IMAX have typically been sold out. “Oppenheimer” has made $80 million worldwide on IMAX. The large-format exhibitor said Sunday that it will extend the film’s run through Aug. 13.
The week’s top new release, Walt Disney Co.’s “Haunted Mansion,” an adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction, was easily overshadowed by the “Barbenheimer” blitz. The film, which cost about $150 million, debuted with $24 million domestically and $9 million in overseas sales. “Haunted Mansion,” directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”) and starring an ensemble of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson, struggled to overcome mediocre reviews.
“Talk to Me,” the A24 supernatural horror film, fared better. It debuted with $10 million. The film, directed by Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sophie Wilde, was a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received terrific reviews from critics (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It was made for a modest $4.5 million.
While theaters being flush with moviegoers has been a huge boon to the film industry, it’s been tougher sledding for Tom Cruise, the so-called savior of the movies last summer with “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I,” which debuted the week before the arrival of “Barbenheimer,” grossed $10.7 million in its third weekend. The film starring Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, has grossed $139.2 million domestically and $309.3 million oveseas.
Instead, the sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom” has been the best performing non-“Barbenheimer” release in theaters. The Angel Studios’ release, which is counting crowdfunding pay-it-forward sales in its box office totals, made $12.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its haul thus far to nearly $150 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Barbie,” $93 million.
2. “Opppenheimer,” $46.2 million.
3. “Haunted Mansion,” $24.2 million.
4. “Sound of Freedom,” $12.4 million.
5. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” $10.7 million.
6. “Talk to Me,” $10 million.
7. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $4 million.
8. “Elemental,” $3.4 million.
9. “Insidious: The Red Door,” $3.2 million.
10. “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” $1.6 million. | https://www.fox16.com/news/while-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-no-2-spot/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:30 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/news/while-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-no-2-spot/ |
FAYETTEVILLE, Ar. (KNWA/KFTA) – On this weeks’ Hog Hoops Report, our Evan Kamikow is joined by hogs hoops insider Kevin McPherson to talk the latest on the state of Arkansas basketball.
From the addition of Denijay Harris to the roster, an official visit from K. Annor Boateng, and the upcoming Arkansas and Purdue exhibition match, the guys cover it all. | https://www.fox16.com/red-and-white-report/hog-hoops-report-with-kevin-mcpherson-breakdown-of-hogs-commit-denijay-harris-2024-target-annor-boateng-and-more/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:36 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/red-and-white-report/hog-hoops-report-with-kevin-mcpherson-breakdown-of-hogs-commit-denijay-harris-2024-target-annor-boateng-and-more/ |
TONIGHT: A few showers and storms will be possible across the state before midnight. After that, we will see partly cloudy skies and temperatures cooling into the upper 70s. Northeast wind 5 mph.
MONDAY: A complex of showers and thunderstorms will enter northern Arkansas Monday morning. It will move into the Little Rock metro around noon and impact southern Arkansas during the afternoon. There is a very low risk of severe weather. Folks that see rain will enjoy cooler temperatures! East wind around 5 mph.
TUESDAY: There is a lower chance of showers and storms Tuesday morning. I think most of the activity will stay in Northeast Arkansas. It will be very hot with temperatures in the upper 90s and low 100s. Feels like temperatures will be near 110°. Southeast wind 5-10 mph.
EXTENDED OUTLOOK: The hottest temperatures of the year will arrive mid to late week. Temperatures will be in the low 100s and feels like temperatures will be over 110°.
– Meteorologist Alex Libby
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram | https://www.fox16.com/weather/weather-forecasts/arkansas-storm-team-forecast-less-hot-and-stormy-to-start-the-week/ | 2023-07-30T23:48:42 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/weather/weather-forecasts/arkansas-storm-team-forecast-less-hot-and-stormy-to-start-the-week/ |
A pleasant next few days before more storms
Meteorologist Jordan Smith has a look at your Sunday evening forecast!
Lexington, Kentucky (WTVQ – ABC 36): Good Sunday evening everyone, today has been an average summer day across Kentucky with temperatures in the mid to upper 90s and scattered afternoon thunderstorms. Here are todays weather headlines as we track out the next week.
Any storm action out there this evening will diminish later tonight setting us up for a FANTASTIC three day stretch from Monday – Wednesday. Highs on Monday are only in the low to mid 80s with low humidity and mostly sunny skies.
Tuesday morning is going to start very pleasant with upper 50s to near 60 for temperatures.
By the afternoon we are only back into the low to mid 80s with low humidity and a partly cloudy sky.
Wednesday is our last completely dry and nice day with mid 80s back in the forecast under a mostly sunny sky. Wednesday night we will see scattered storms move back into the area and that will set the stage for another extended stretch of daily thunderstorms right on through the upcoming weekend. It is not going to rain this entire stretch and there will be more dry hours than not, but just like the last few days… we will need to watch out for heavy rain that can lead to flash flooding and strong to potentially severe storms.
Stay with the ABC 36 Storm Team for updates as we get closer. #kywx
Back here in the short term:
TONIGHT: | https://www.wtvq.com/a-pleasant-next-few-days-before-more-storms/ | 2023-07-30T23:50:50 | 0 | https://www.wtvq.com/a-pleasant-next-few-days-before-more-storms/ |
Coroner: 9-month-old assault victim has died
LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- Lexington police are investigating the death of a 9-month-old girl.
Police say they were dispatched Tuesday morning to Whitney Avenue for a welfare check. They say a baby was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Investigators learned that the baby was allegedly assaulted by her father. Police arrested 28-year-old Syied Malik-Kawon Epps Wednesday and charged him with assault.
The Fayette County coroner has identified the baby as Sy’kia Epps. The coroner says Sy’kia died Sunday morning just after 6:30 at U.K. Medical Center. The coroner says her death is being investigated as a homicide.
Epps is behind bars at the Fayette County Detention Center.
Lexington police are handling the investigation. | https://www.wtvq.com/coroner-9-month-old-assault-victim-has-died/ | 2023-07-30T23:50:56 | 0 | https://www.wtvq.com/coroner-9-month-old-assault-victim-has-died/ |
Lexington non-profit raising awareness for “World Day Against Trafficking In Persons”
LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- Sunday marks World Day Against Trafficking In Persons: a day that raises awareness against human trafficking and aims to combat the crisis.
One Lexington non-profit is spreading a message of support for the victims of human trafficking and to encourage the community to step up their efforts.
Liz Hodge is on the board of directors at The Well of Lexington, Incorporated. She says she was surprised to learn human trafficking happens right here in Kentucky.
“I was just very unaware. I thought this happens other places, it doesn’t happen here, but it really does happen here,” says Hodge.
For nearly a decade, The Well has provided a place of healing to human trafficking victims, offering programs and other resources.
“We have all kinds of ways of doing that. We have a safe house located in Lexington that houses our residents while they’re healing. We provide counseling, of course education, job placement. Anything to help them kind of find their feet again to get back a live healthy lives,” says Hodge.
Hodge says one in three women in Kentucky will experience violence in her lifetime, with some becoming victims of human trafficking. It’s not just women, however.
“This is not something that just happens only with females, but males too. With our transgender community, with our LGBTQ community, we see it across the board. And it has nothing to do with education or socioeconomic status. This is something that is a problem across Kentucky and we really wanna address it,” says Hodge.
There are contributing factors that lead to human trafficking, including high poverty rates, lack of human rights, and economic opportunity.
With Sunday marking the world day, it’s a day The Well and its’ staff want to help spread awareness. The small non-profit encouraging the community to take a stand against the crisis.
“It’s a great way for us to gain support from the community and actually have those conversations that might be a little bit difficult. It’s not sometimes easy to talk about, things like human trafficking. But its just as important as talking about addiction recovery and domestic violence. And a lot of times, they go hand-in-hand, so this is just a great day to have those conversations and gain support,” says Hodge.
The Well is always in need of donations to help further their mission. You can find ways to learn more here. The Well is planning a 5K at Coldstream Park on September 8th to help raise funding.
If you notice possible human trafficking situations and need to make a report, you can do so by calling the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
To reach the Homeland Security Investigations Tip Line, call 1-866-347-2423. | https://www.wtvq.com/lexington-non-profit-raising-awareness-for-world-day-against-trafficking-in-persons/ | 2023-07-30T23:51:02 | 1 | https://www.wtvq.com/lexington-non-profit-raising-awareness-for-world-day-against-trafficking-in-persons/ |