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Two Icons at the Heart of Pop Culture and Celebrations Come Together for a Stella-r Campaign of Sips and Sweetness this Summer
LOS ANGELES, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Life is a collection of small moments and America's #1 imported wine, Stella Rosa® Wines, is proud to announce another exciting milestone: a collaborative campaign of two industry powerhouses. According to a recent study, celebrating positive life events increases perceived social support. Stella Rosa and country music star, Lainey Wilson, are on a mission to spread positive vibes by inspiring consumers to gather, raise a glass, and #stellabrate every moment. Stella Rosa proudly offers 30+ wines in its portfolio, a glass for every occasion on the good 'ole journey.
Stella Rosa® Wines recently released the 'Moments Made Sweeter' campaign featuring Lainey Wilson. The campaign emphasizes celebrating the journey, not just the destination. Stella Rosa® was there to celebrate with Lainey Wilson when she set off on her first solo headlining tour, won Female Artist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, and of course, raised a glass on National Wine Day.
Stella Rosa Wines' impact on pop culture today is undeniable - from trendy cocktail recipes to new innovations like canned wines, spicy flavors, non-alcoholic wine and more, Gen Z and Millennials are embracing the moments to #stellabrate.
Stella Rosa Wines' nostalgic yet ever-evolving presence is what initially attracted Wilson to team up with the brand, but it was Stella Rosa Wines' commitment to supporting her journey, and that of other women in music, that gave her endorsement deeper meaning for both Stella Rosa and Lainey Wilson fans.
"Whether I'm at home or on the road, I'm always dreaming up new ways to express myself through more than just my music," said Wilson "There are so many small moments along this crazy journey that have helped build my story, which is why I love to savor them, and Stella Rosa makes them that much sweeter."
Whether she's entertaining at home or on the road, Lainey Wilson is a proud fan of Stella Rosa's various collections, including but not limited to:
- Stella Rosa Semi-Sparkling and Fully-Sparkling Wines
- Stella Rosa Non-Alcoholic Wines
- Stella Rosa Single-Serving Canned Wines
"Everyone has a story to tell, a reason to celebrate, or a tradition to keep alive and our hope is that Stella Rosa Wines can be there to make those moments sweeter," says Stella Rosa® Wines President, Steve Riboli. "Lainey Wilson is the ultimate example of perseverance and authenticity. She is comfortable in her journey, and we hope that can serve as an inspiration to other Stella Rosa fans."
To learn more about the 'Moments Made Sweeter' campaign, visit our Stella Rosa website. For the official commercial, watch here. Follow Stella Rosa Wines on Instagram at @StellaRosa for the latest happenings.
More about Stella Rosa Wines
Stella Rosa® is a selection of semi-sweet, semi-sparkling Italian wines, evolving with the spirit of the times when it comes to wine trends and popular culture. Among its impressive achievements are a 10x Impact Magazine Hot Brand award and its position as the #1 imported wine in America. Most recently, Stella Rosa® curated a collection of hand-crafted premium and fruit-flavored Brandy made from high-quality grapes grown in Northern Italy. Stella Rosa® is created by Riboli Family Wines, a Los Angeles-based establishment founded in 1917. For more information, visit www.stellarosawines.com.
Instagram: @StellaRosa
Twitter: @StellaRosaWines
More about Lainey Wilson
As the leading female winner at the 2023 ACM awards, Billboard Women in Music's "Rulebreaker", CMA's 2022 Female Vocalist and New Artist of the Year, Lainey Wilson has made a name for herself as one of music's most buzzed-about new artists. Her critically acclaimed album, "Bell Bottom Country," has amassed over 430 million streams and continues to reach new heights across charts and with hits like "Heart Like A Truck" and "Watermelon Moonshine". Most recently, she made her acting debut on the hit series "Yellowstone", where she showcased other hits off her recent album. For more information visit www.laineywilson.com.
Instagram:@laineywilsonmusic
Twitter: @laineywilson
PR/Media Contacts
Daniela Garrido, Communications Director for Stella Rosa Wines: dgarrido@riboliwines.com
JONESWORKS: TeamLainey@jonesworks.com
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SOURCE Riboli Family Wines | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/moments-made-sweeter-with-stella-rosa-wines-lainey-wilson/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:13 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/moments-made-sweeter-with-stella-rosa-wines-lainey-wilson/ |
LINCOLN, Neb., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sophie Norman joined Assurity Life Insurance Company as its new Senior Director of Assurity Ventures Inc (AVI). Norman will focus on recruiting and developing new non-traditional distribution partners for Assurity through Assurity Ventures, the company's business arm dedicated to building relationships with insurtech and fintech startups to harness new methods of interacting with prospective customers.
"Sophie brings significant insurance experience and is strategic in her approach, with an eye on long-term growth," said Todd Reimers, Assurity's Senior Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer. "We welcome Sophie to Assurity and look forward to accomplishing great things together."
Norman comes to Assurity with a background as an independent broker, agency manager and a benefits strategist. She brings industry expertise as a Director of Operations at a well-respected actuarial firm, has launched technology platforms for her clients and is an experienced public speaker. Norman studied Business and Finance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she earned her bachelor's degree. She enjoys spending time with her family.
About Assurity: As a mutual organization, Assurity was founded on the simple concept of people coming together to support each other in moments of need. We help people through difficult times by providing affordable insurance protection that's easy to understand and buy. We all share in the future we create, and we believe in using our business as a force for good.
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SOURCE Assurity | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/sophie-norman-joins-assurity-ventures-senior-director/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:14 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/sophie-norman-joins-assurity-ventures-senior-director/ |
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Frank Clark has reunited with Russell Wilson in Denver and now the outside linebacker has former teammate Patrick Mahomes in his sights instead.
The 30-year-old outside linebacker signed with Denver after being jettisoned by the Kansas City Chiefs in a cost-cutting move this offseason and the Broncos are counting on him to add some oomph to their pass rush.
Still in the AFC West, Clark gets two opportunities at beating his former team this season, something the Broncos haven’t done since 2015. Their 15-game skid against the Chiefs is the fourth longest by one team to a single opponent in NFL history.
Unlike his reunion with Wilson, revenge and rivalry aren’t top of mind for Clark as he embraces his fresh start in the Rocky Mountains.
“I wouldn’t call it a rivalry. A rivalry is competitive,” Clark interjected in his first public comments since signing a one-year, $5.5 million deal with Denver last month. “I’m (with) the Broncos now. I’ve been on the other side. We didn’t call it a rivalry then.”
And before anyone around Denver can call it that the Broncos will have to beat Mahomes, something they have a better shot at doing with Clark on their side.
The Chiefs parted ways with Clark just a year after signing him to a two-year, $30 million extension. The Broncos haven’t had a fearsome pass rush since trading Von Miller two years ago. And with Baron Browning sidelined by a knee injury and Randy Gregory coming off an injury-filled debut season in Denver, first-year head coach Sean Payton eagerly welcomed the veteran with 58 1/2 sacks.
Clark had 23 1/2 sacks in four seasons in Kansas City and another 10 1/2 in the playoffs, helping the Chiefs go 10-2 in the postseason and make three trips to the Super Bowl.
“What we did in Kansas City was special,” Clark said. “Four-year run, two Super Bowl (rings), three AFC titles. It was fun, but at the end of the day all good things come to an end.”
Bad things, too, he hopes. Such as Denver’s 15-game skid to the Chiefs.
One thing Clark insists isn’t nearing the finish line in his proclivity for getting after the passer even though his five sacks in 2022 and two-game suspension for gun possession incidents a year earlier meant an end to his three-year run as a Pro Bowler.
“I wouldn’t say it was the end” in Kansas City last season, Clark said. “It’s never the end when you get the job finished.”
Now he aims to help the Broncos and Wilson bounce back in 2023.
“He’s still dangerous. Don’t get it twisted,” Clark said of Wilson, whom he played with in Seattle from 2015-18. “Russ is a veteran. He’s a guy that’s won on multiple levels. … I was a part of Seahawks teams that were successful; I was a part of teams where we didn’t make the playoffs. But it was the same Russ.
“So don’t think a bad season’s going to shake a guy like Russ,” Clark added. “Naw, bro, we start fresh every year. Every summer’s a fresh start.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-ex-chiefs-linebacker-frank-clark-reunites-with-russell-wilson-in-denver/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:15 | 0 | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-ex-chiefs-linebacker-frank-clark-reunites-with-russell-wilson-in-denver/ |
Leveraging AI, Topline Pro Scales to Help the Millions of Small Home Service Businesses Succeed
NEW YORK, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Topline Pro, a Generative AI platform enabling home services professionals to manage and scale their businesses online, today announced $12M in Series A funding led by Forerunner Ventures (Brian O'Malley) along with support from Bonfire Ventures (Jim Andelman), TMV (Soraya Darabi), BBG Ventures (Susan Lyne).
Topline Pro is democratizing the key building blocks for managing and growing a Home Services business, which is uniquely possible through AI advancements. The platform enables pros, from general contractors to landscapers, to be discovered, trusted and booked — repeatedly. Topline Pro's mission is to ensure more home service business owners succeed by providing all the tools and resources they need, so pros can focus more on their craft versus the operational overhead of running a small business.
Topline Pro's intuitive interface empowers pros to efficiently and seamlessly manage and grow business by helping them:
- Build a thriving online presence through custom generated content, from personalized social media content to a custom website and online ads, while syncing content to and from local listings
- Gain trust and showcasing experience through robust reviews collection, response and showcasing capabilities
- Get paid online, schedule and book business, and develop meaningful customer relationships
Topline leverages generative AI across its suite of offerings so business owners can focus more on their craft and doing work in the field, instead of sinking time and energy into growing and managing the business in the background. To date, the platform has generated over $180M in business across thousands of businesses in nearly all 50 states.
"Topline Pro is akin to a Shopify for Home Services businesses," said Brian O'Malley, Managing Director at Forerunner Ventures. "By building a vertical stack for this ecosystem, Topline has the opportunity to bring this underserved category online and empower greater economic opportunity."
Until the creation of Topline Pro, the home service market was mostly served through marketplaces and intermediaries for connecting homeowners with service providers. The prevailing system and solutions has been inefficient and expensive, where business owners have no other option but to pay significantly for leads without any guarantee of winning the work. Topline Pro believes in tipping the power back towards Home Services small business owners, where they have more control and resources to grow and operate their business directly.
"Home Services businesses are part of the backbone of the American economy and an industry that consumers rely on for the safety and comfort of their home, but the space has been overlooked for far too long due to structural and cultural dynamics, such as market fragmentation and misplaced stigma," said Nick Ornitz, CEO and Co-founder of Topline Pro. "Topline Pro is on a mission to help millions of home service business owners in the more than $500Bn market be more likely to succeed.".
Topline Pro will use the recent funding to further expand Generative AI capabilities across the existing suite of tools, build out additional product offerings, and expand their team across multiple roles in engineering, product, customer success, marketing and sales.
Topline Pro
Topline Pro (toplinepro.com) is a platform that empowers service based small businesses to get discovered, build trust, and get booked, repeatedly. Topline Pro utilizes generative AI to automate the creation of a SEO optimized website and ongoing online engagement along with tools that streamline operations from booking to payment. Topline Pro enables the business owner to own the relationship with their customers and grow their business while focusing on what they do best, exceptional service in the field. Topline Pro has generated over $180M in business across thousands of businesses in nearly all 50 states.
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SOURCE Topline Pro | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/topline-pro-announces-12m-series-funding-reshape-economic-opportunity-home-services/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:20 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/topline-pro-announces-12m-series-funding-reshape-economic-opportunity-home-services/ |
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers is sticking by his offensive coordinator and firing his hardest throw of the summer at Sean Payton.
The Jets quarterback was bothered by critical comments Payton, the Denver Broncos’ head coach, recently made about offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Payton told USA Today for a story published Thursday that Hackett’s 15-game stint with the Broncos last season ”was one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.″
Payton also said there were “20 dirty hands” around Russell Wilson’s career-worst season, and took some shots at the Jets — Hackett’s new team where he and Rodgers are reunited after enjoying success together in Green Bay.
“It made me feel bad that someone who has accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some sort of easy fall if it doesn’t go well for that team this year,” Rodgers told NFL Network on Sunday. “I think it was way out of line, inappropriate, and I think he needs to keep my coaches’ names out of his mouth.”
Rodgers, acquired by New York in April from Green Bay, said Hackett is “arguably my favorite coach I’ve ever had in the NFL.” The pair was together for two of Rodgers’ four NFL MVP awards in 2020 and 2021 with the Packers.
During the interview with USA Today’s Jarrett Bell, Payton also criticized the Jets being the latest NFL team “trying to win the offseason” — something he said the Broncos under Hackett tried to do and were “embarrassed.”
Jets coach Robert Saleh said Thursday “Hackett’s doing a phenomenal job here” when asked about Payton’s comments. He also said the Jets are just focused on themselves, but recognizes “there’s a lot of people that are hatin’ on us and a lot of people looking for us to fail.”
Payton on Friday said he regretted his comments in which he disparaged Hackett, and said he would reach out to Hackett and Saleh “at the right time” to do so.
“Listen, I had one of those moments where I still had my Fox hat on and not my coaching hat,” said Payton, who’s returning to the sideline this season after a year’s sabbatical during which he worked as a studio football analyst for Fox Sports following a 15-year stint with the New Orleans Saints.
Rodgers told NFL Network he thought Payton’s initial comments “were very surprising, for a coach to do that to another coach.”
Meanwhile, the back-and-forth made the Jets’ matchup in Denver in Week 5 on Oct. 8 a bit juicier. Payton acknowledged Friday his comments “certainly will bring more interest to the game when we play them, but that seems like years from now.”
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AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton in Englewood, Colorado, contributed.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-jets-aaron-rodgers-defends-nathaniel-hackett-and-fires-back-at-the-broncos-sean-payton/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:22 | 1 | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-jets-aaron-rodgers-defends-nathaniel-hackett-and-fires-back-at-the-broncos-sean-payton/ |
Pep Boys further expands its footprint in the Raleigh market as it celebrates its 14th location and pledges its support to the community.
PHILADELPHIA, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pep Boys, a leading U.S. automotive service provider, will celebrate the grand opening of its newest location in Raleigh at the Triangle Town Center tomorrow, August 1, 2023. The 7320 Old Wake Forest Rd Raleigh, NC 27616 location will join 13 other locations in the Raleigh market. Customers can expect a full range of automotive maintenance and repair services at this newest location.
Pep Boys will celebrate this monumental opening with residents and special guests at 11am. As a testament to the Company's commitment to its community, Pep Boys will be presenting a donation to two local non-profit organizations, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of North Carolina and the Haven House Society.
"Pep Boys takes pride in extending our automotive service experience to an even larger customer base in Raleigh," said Scott Collette, Pep Boys CEO. "Our team of technicians and service advisors are looking forward to connecting with the local community and providing quality car care to its drivers."
The Raleigh location provides both individual customers and the area's fast-growing fleets with preventative maintenance, tire installations and both routine and major repairs performed by certified technicians. In addition to being equipped with the latest technology to handle today's complex vehicles, Pep Boys offers every driver a Courtesy Vehicle Inspection as well as an entirely digital customer experience from online appointment booking to service tracking and mobile pay.
Pep Boys also offers a broad range of opportunities and career paths for today's auto service technician. With a commitment to supporting technical education and training and development, a Pep Boys auto service technician can pursue several different career paths. For more information on a career with Pep Boys, visit www.careers.pepboys.com.
About Pep Boys
Founded in 1921 by military veterans, generations of drivers have counted on Pep Boys ASE-certified Pros to care for their cars. With a national network of Service and Tire Centers, millions of vehicles and fleets pass through Pep Boys bays each year. Our commitment to being the one our communities count on is demonstrated through our exceptional customer experience and technical expertise. For more information, visit www.pepboys.com/corporate.
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SOURCE The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe and Jack LLC | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/pep-boys-celebrates-new-auto-service-tire-center-raleigh-august-1-with-celebration-community-commitment/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:21 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/pep-boys-celebrates-new-auto-service-tire-center-raleigh-august-1-with-celebration-community-commitment/ |
Biden goes west to talk about his administration’s efforts to combat climate change
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to Arizona, New Mexico and Utah next week and is expected to talk about his administration’s efforts to combat climate change as the region endures a brutally hot summer with soaring temperatures, the White House said Monday.
Biden is expected to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act, America’s most significant response to climate change, and the push toward more clean energy manufacturing. The act aims to spur clean energy on a scale that will bend the arc of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
July has been the hottest month ever recorded. Biden last week announced new steps to protect workers in extreme heat, including measures to improve weather forecasts and make drinking water more accessible.
Members of Biden’s administration also are fanning out over the next few weeks around the anniversary of the landmark climate change and health care legislation to extol the administration’s successes as the Democratic president seeks reelection in 2024.
Vice President Kamala Harris heads to Wisconsin this week with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to talk about broadband infrastructure investments. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack goes to Oregon to highlight wildfire defense grants, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will go to Illinois and Texas, and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona heads to Maryland to talk about career and technical education programs.
The Inflation Reduction Act included roughly $375 billion over a decade to combat climate change and capped the cost of a month’s supply of insulin at $35 for older Americans and other Medicare beneficiaries. It also helps an estimated 13 million Americans pay for health care insurance by extending subsidies provided during the coronavirus pandemic.
The measure is paid for by new taxes on large companies and stepped-up IRS enforcement of wealthy individuals and entities, with additional funds going to reduce the federal deficit. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/biden-goes-west-to-talk-about-his-administrations-efforts-to-combat-climate-change/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:25 | 0 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/biden-goes-west-to-talk-about-his-administrations-efforts-to-combat-climate-change/ |
BROOKLYN, N.Y., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VICE Media Group today announced the completion of its sale to a consortium of its former lenders (the "Investor Group"), which consists of funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC ("Fortress"), Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital.
"This marks the start of an exciting new chapter for VICE," said Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala, VICE's Co-Chief Executive Officers. "With the support of our Investor Group, we now have the resources to strengthen our business, our partnerships and our content creation across all platforms. Under new ownership and with this leadership team, VICE is positioned to drive our uniquely differentiated brand of news, entertainment and lifestyle content that makes VICE a trusted brand for global audiences and a valued partner to brands, agencies and platforms."
"We are very pleased to complete the acquisition of VICE and we are excited to build upon the achievements of one of the most iconic brands in news and entertainment," the Investor Group said in a joint statement. "We look forward to growing a strong business that is committed to serving audiences, brands and partners with award-winning content. With a strong management team in place, VICE is well-positioned to grow its uniquely compelling world class businesses and drive value during its next chapter."
VICE Media Group is a multi-platform media company with a global reach of over 400 million people. Its Emmy and Peabody award-winning News division is one of the most trusted news sources among Gen Z and is watched on TikTok and other social platforms by hundreds of millions of people. Its studio group, including VICE Studios and Pulse Films, produced Bamarush for HBO Max, Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now for Netflix, The American Gladiators Documentary for ESPN, Gangs of London for Sky, and Tell Me Lies for Hulu. Its award-winning publishing division includes VICE.com, Refinery29 and the fashion bible i-D. Its advertising, commercial and music video teams, including the creative agency Virtue, work with brands including Coke and Target and artists such as Harry Styles, and has created award-winning campaigns such as "Backup Ukraine" and "Unfiltered History." VICE TV is home to shows including Tales from the Territories, produced by Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and the Dark Side franchise, including the breakout hit Dark Side of the Ring.
About VICE Media Group
VICE Media Group is a global multi-platform media company. Launched in 1994, VICE has offices across multiple countries and a focus on five key businesses: An award-winning network of digital content; an Oscar-nominated feature film and television production studio; an Emmy-winning international television network, VICE TV; a Peabody and Emmy award-winning News division; and a global, full-service creative agency, Virtue. VICE Media Group's portfolio includes Refinery29, a leading global media and entertainment company focused on women; Pulse Films, a London-based next-generation production studio with an office in Los Angeles; and i-D, a global digital and quarterly magazine defining fashion and contemporary culture and design.
Media Contact:
Jonathan Bing
jonathan.bing@vice.com
(818) 643-0146
or
Sophie Throsby / Lyle Weston
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
(212) 355-4449
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SOURCE VICE Media Group | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/vice-media-group-completes-sale-lenders/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:27 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/vice-media-group-completes-sale-lenders/ |
HOUSTON (AP) — Quarterback C.J. Stroud, taken second overall in this year’s draft, isn’t worried that the Panthers picked No. 1 selection Bryce Young as their starter on Day 1 of training camp while the Houston Texans are making him compete for the job.
“I’m happy for him, but his situation is his situation, and my situation is mine,” Stroud said Sunday. “So, I know that I’ve got to work on my end and do whatever I’ve got to do to make this team better. It’s not about the starter (or) who’s not the starter, it’s about getting better for Week 1 against Baltimore.”
Stroud is vying with Davis Mills to be the team’s quarterback. The Texans have split first-team snaps between the two in the first few days of camp.
Houston drafted Stroud after Mills struggled as the team’s starter for the past two years after Deshaun Watson sat out following a trade request before being shipped to Cleveland before last season.
Mills went 5-22-1 in 28 games, including 26 starts, as the Texans were among the NFL’s worst teams.
Stroud is just the third quarterback the Texans have drafted in the first round, joining Watson, taken 12th in 2017 and David Carr, the team’s first draft pick who was taken first overall in 2002.
After using such a high pick on Stroud it’s hard to imagine that he won’t end up as the team’s starter. But for now, new coach DeMeco Ryans is adamant that it’s an open competition between the former Ohio State star and Mills.
While Ryans won’t answer questions about what Stroud will have to do to win the job, he’s had plenty to say about the dedication the 21-year-old has shown since joining the team.
“What you see about C.J. is the work and preparation that he does when he’s not here,” Ryans said. “He’s a true football junkie. He loves football, always watching football, always asking for extra cut-ups from our coaches. I’m so impressed with the mental part of him and just how much he loves the game of football. When a guy has that much love for the game of football, he’s (only) going to continue to get better.”
Stroud was a two-year starter for Ohio State, where he threw for 8,123 yards with 85 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions as the Buckeyes went 21-4. His 85 touchdowns over two seasons broke a Big Ten record held by Drew Brees.
Despite competing with Mills for the job, the rookie said that he and fellow quarterback Case Keenum have both helped him a lot as he’s made the jump from college to the pros.
“I’ve learned everything from Davis,” Stroud said. “Davis and Case are great vets. And just because we may be competing against each other, doesn’t mean that we’re not going to learn from each other. I’ve had a really great time being in the room with those guys.”
Stroud certainly knows what’s at stake for him in this camp, but he’s trying not to let the competition change how he approaches his job day to day.
“I feel like when you try to have a different mindset you confuse yourself,” he said. “So, for me, I just try to keep my head down and I work — just try to work harder and harder every day. Just trying to … be the best person I can be on and off the field.”
As Stroud prepares for his first NFL season, he certainly has plenty of goals. However, his approach to goals has never been to list only lofty, far down the road ones.
“I have goals written down,” he said. “I did it in college and I’ll do it now. But I have a lot of things that I put down, like really small goals. I think the more you can accomplish small goals in your life, the big ones can come kind of natural. And they come as you get the small ones checked off.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-no-2-pick-stroud-competes-with-mills-for-starting-qb-job-with-houston-texans/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:28 | 0 | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-no-2-pick-stroud-competes-with-mills-for-starting-qb-job-with-houston-texans/ |
RESTON, Va., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the White House released the National Cyber Workforce & Education Strategy. Peraton applauds this step forward in developing a robust cyber workforce as the company, government partners, and key stakeholders work in concert to protect our nation's most critical assets.
"Over the past six years, Peraton has been a leading force in the education, recruitment, and development of cyber professionals across our nation through university partnerships, like the CybHER program," said Matt McQueen, chief communications and engagement officer, Peraton. "These strategic investments are approaching maturity at time when national security is faced with a zenith of challenges."
Peraton's commitment to advancing the nation's cyber strategy is unwavering – from the company's involvement in the National Cyber Workforce & Education Summit and subsequent strategy development to leveraging its independent research and development portfolio to provide innovative solutions to ever-evolving threats.
"We look forward to working with the federal government, industry partners, academia, and other stakeholders to close the workforce gap and maintain the United States' dominance in cybersecurity," said Scott Cooper, vice president, Strategic Advocacy, Peraton.
About Peraton
Peraton is a national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world's leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies that protect our nation and allies from threats across the digital and physical domains. Peraton supports every branch of the US Armed Forces, and we serve as a valued partner to essential government agencies who sustain our way of life. Every day, our employees do the can't be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we're safeguarding your peace of mind.
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SOURCE Peraton | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/peraton-supports-national-cyber-workforce-amp-education-strategy/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:28 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/peraton-supports-national-cyber-workforce-amp-education-strategy/ |
Discovery of whale carcass in Hong Kong sparks anger over the potential damage done by sightseers
By KANIS LEUNG
Associated Press
HONG KONG (AP) — The discovery of a whale carcass in Hong Kong waters on Monday has sparked an outpouring of grief on social media, with many comments blaming the mammal’s death on sightseers.
Many residents thought the dead mammal was the whale that has attracted groups of sightseers since it was first spotted in the city’s waters in mid-July.
Compass Chan, scientific officer of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong, didn’t confirm whether it was the same whale. But he said an initial check on the dead whale found a new wound on its back, in addition to two old wounds.
“It’s a pity,” Chan said at a media briefing. “If it really died, I think it’s a good chance to let everyone to think seriously how we should get along with other species in the nature.”
Its cause of death would have to be confirmed by a necropsy, he said.
After the carcass was found in the waters in Sai Kung — a district known for its hiking trails, beaches and islands — many residents have taken issue with the whale-watching activities seen over the past two weeks.
They accused the sightseers of causing the death of the whale because of their ignorance. Some reposted a Canto-pop song whose title translated as “Whale Eater” on their social media.
The foundation said in its previous statement that a crowd of people was spotted approaching the animal, believed to be a Bryde’s whale and to be around seven metres (23 feet) long. It warned that human activities can cause stress and lead to life-threatening consequences, saying the whale already had propeller wounds.
The government said Friday night that the necropsy might take several days and the results would serve as a reference for it to handle the emergence of whales in Hong Kong in the future. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/discovery-of-whale-carcass-in-hong-kong-sparks-anger-over-the-potential-damage-done-by-sightseers/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:31 | 1 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/discovery-of-whale-carcass-in-hong-kong-sparks-anger-over-the-potential-damage-done-by-sightseers/ |
Timely discussion specifies how hospice provides compassionate care to the nation's most vulnerable while driving substantial Medicare cost savings
WASHINGTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VITAS Healthcare's Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Joseph Shega, MD, along with Dianne Munevar, Vice President of Health Care Strategy at NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC), and Susan Lloyd, MSN, RN, Chief Executive Officer of Delaware Hospice, participated in a Capitol Hill briefing on Thursday, July 27, to educate Congress about a recent study by NORC that illustrates the value of hospice in Medicare. Specifically, the panelists highlighted how the research demonstrates that earlier referral to hospice benefits patients and families while simultaneously delivering more cost savings to Medicare.
"As a fundamentally patient- and family-centered care model," says Dr. Shega, "hospice provides patients with improved clinical outcomes and pain management, reduced physical and emotional distress, and the ability to spend their last days with dignity at home among loved ones."
The NORC report was released in March 2023. The in-depth study found that greater utilization of hospice during the last six months of life is associated with increased patient satisfaction and quality of life, while also reducing Medicare costs—with $3.5 billion in savings in a single year.
The research identified an opportunity to deliver value through greater access to hospice care for patients with chronic and serious diseases such as cancer, respiratory disease and chronic kidney disease/end-stage renal disease, with a projected savings to Medicare of 17% to 25%.
For patients with dementia, NORC's analysis found that, within the study period, end-of-life care continues to generate cost savings related to neurodegenerative disease. The panelists presented these findings and more during the briefing in Washington, D.C., in coordination with the two national trade associations, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC).
One opportunity brought to light by the NORC study, according to the panelists, is the need for a community-based palliative care benefit to support earlier transitions to hospice which will, in turn, continue to drive quality and Medicare savings. Investing in serious illness care increases the quality of end-of-life care for millions of patients, families and caregivers across the country.
"Former President Jimmy Carter's hospice journey is a testament to the value of longer hospice stays," says Dr. Shega. "He is an excellent example of someone who sought out hospice care earlier in his advanced disease state so he could spend his remaining time in comfort and surrounded by family."
One of the nation's first hospice and palliative care providers, VITAS has devoted 45 years of compassionate care to patients and their families throughout 14 states and the District of Columbia. As an organization, VITAS supports the ethic that all hospice-eligible patients should have the opportunity to access hospice in a way—and for a length of time—that allows them to fully benefit from this person- and family-centered care model.
About VITAS® Healthcare
Established in 1978, VITAS Healthcare is a pioneer and leader in the American hospice movement. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 50 hospice programs in 14 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. VITAS employs 10,328 professionals who care for patients with advanced illness, primarily in the patients' homes, and also in the company's 25 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the first quarter of 2023, VITAS reported an average daily census of 18,542. Visit www.vitas.com.
Media inquiries contact: media@vitas.com, 877-848-2701
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SOURCE VITAS Healthcare | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/vitas-healthcare-co-leads-value-hospice-panel-briefing-congress/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:33 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/vitas-healthcare-co-leads-value-hospice-panel-briefing-congress/ |
ATLANTA (AP) — Matt Olson says it’s no mystery why he’s leading the majors in RBIs.
In Atlanta’s powerful lineup, Olson is often hitting with runners on base.
Olson drove in five runs with two homers, including a two-run shot in the eighth, and the Braves beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-6 on Sunday to cap their sweep of the high-scoring series.
Olson has 35 homers, tops in the NL, and 88 RBIs. The Braves scored 29 runs in the three-game sweep in the matchup of NL contenders.
“There’s always dudes on base,” Olson said. “I feel like I’m rarely taking at-bats with the bases empty.”
The only player in the majors with more homers than Olson is Shohei Ohtani, with 39. Ohtani will bring the Los Angeles Angels into Atlanta for a series beginning Monday night.
With the sweep, the Braves won five of six against the Brewers in the last two weeks, including two of three in Milwaukee on July 21-23.
“You know you’re probably not shutting them out,” said Brewers left fielder Christian Yelich, who homered and drove in two runs.
Yelich said a “back-and-forth game” is likely against Atlanta. Sure enough, the Brewers lost despite holding leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 6-5.
“To keep roaring back, it’s a testament to how tough these guys are,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Atlanta (67-36) leads the NL East by 11 1/2 games over Miami. Milwaukee’s loss coupled with Cincinnati’s win at the Dodgers dropped the Brewers (57-49) into second in the NL Central.
Orlando Arcia led off the eighth with a double to left against Milwaukee’s Joel Payamps (4-2). With one out, Olson’s tiebreaking 35th homer landed in the Atlanta bullpen in right-center.
Payamps entered with a string of 17 consecutive scoreless appearances. He had allowed just seven hits in his last 18 innings.
Kirby Yates (5-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Raisel Iglesias earned his 20th save by striking out the side in the ninth.
Olson’s three-run homer lifted the Braves to a 5-3 lead in the third. He drove in Ronald Acuña Jr., who singled and stole second, and Austin Riley, who walked.
Collin McHugh blew the 5-3 lead by giving up three runs in the sixth. William Contreras doubled in two runs for Milwaukee.
Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna tied the game at 6 with his homer off Hoby Milner.
Riley continued his power surge for Atlanta by hitting his eighth homer in the last 11 games in the first, giving him 24 on the year. The two-run shot off Colin Rea carried 463 feet to left-center.
Rea allowed five runs in five innings.
Carlos Santana, acquired from Pittsburgh on Saturday, hit his first homer with the Brewers in the third. The liner over the right-field wall gave Milwaukee a 3-2 lead. Yelich led off the third with his 16th homer.
TRADE
Atlanta added veteran infielder Nicky Lopez in a trade with the Kansas City Royals. The Braves sent left-hander Taylor Hearn to Kansas City for the 28-year-old Lopez, who can play shortstop, second base and third.
ROOKIE RETURNS
Atlanta rookie AJ Smith-Shawver, recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game, allowed three runs and four hits in five innings.
“He’s got a great way about him,” Snitker said of the 20-year-old right-hander. “There’s no panic in him. … There’s tremendous upside for him as he figures things out.”
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Thanks to Riley’s homer, the Braves have scored 109 first-inning runs, the most in the majors by any team in any inning. The Texas Rangers’ 90 fourth-inning runs are second on the list.
“We come in ready to swing and ready to do damage,” Ozuna said.
TRAINING ROOM
Brewers: LHP Wade Miley (left elbow) will come off the 15-day injured list to start Wednesday night at Washington. … RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) will pitch for Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday. … RHP Julio Teheran (right hip impingement) was placed on the 15-day IL. RHP Peter Strzelecki was recalled from Nashville.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Corbin Burnes (9-6, 3.46 ERA) is scheduled to pitch Monday night’s opener of a three-game series at Washington against RHP Jake Irvin (3-5, 4.96 ERA).
Braves: Atlanta opens an interleague series against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. Braves RHP Charlie Morton (10-8, 3.57 ERA) faces RHP Griffin Canning (6-4, 4.46 ERA). Morton is 4-1 with a 3.83 ERA in 10 career starts against the Angels.
——
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP–Sports | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-olson-drives-in-5-with-2-hrs-including-go-ahead-shot-as-braves-sweep-brewers-8-6/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:34 | 1 | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-olson-drives-in-5-with-2-hrs-including-go-ahead-shot-as-braves-sweep-brewers-8-6/ |
WASHINGTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Real American Hardwood Coalition (RAHC), the domestic hardwood industry's consumer promotion initiative, recently launched its new Build Your World™ advertising campaign to promote Real American Hardwood® flooring, cabinetry, furniture, and millwork. In partnership with Magnolia Network, the integrated, digital campaign will run through January 29, 2024.
"An advertising campaign on this scale is a first for the American hardwood industry," says Michael Martin, president and CEO of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA). "For decades, misinformation has spread and the industry has seen market share slip away to alternative products that offer the wood look, without any of the benefits of real wood. Through the Build Your World campaign, our industry is showing how Real American Hardwood products offer unmatched aesthetics, natural durability, and lasting value—as well as why they are healthier for our homes and environment. And Magnolia Network is the perfect partner to share these stories."
Developed by CANVAS United, the campaign relates the authenticity and attributes of Real American Hardwood products to the uniqueness and lifestyles of consumers. Five different vignettes capture the spirit of individuality in real-life settings, encouraging consumers to envision how they can build their world with hardwood.
"As long-time partners to the RAHC, we're excited to see the Build Your World campaign launch. We're particularly proud of this campaign's capacity to highlight both the emotional and rational benefits of hardwood," said Mark Lainas, president of CANVAS United. "Leveraging entertaining yet poignant storytelling in the creative will feel relatable to consumers across the country, and allows us to showcase not just the beauty of American hardwoods, but the lasting value of the products."
The ad campaign will run on the Magnolia Network channel, as well as on Magnolia and discovery+ digital streaming platforms. Magnolia Network is available through cable and satellite providers; Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV services; and Magnolia, HGTV, discovery+, and Max streaming apps. The campaign also includes digital and social media components.
To learn more about the Build Your World campaign and Real American Hardwood products, visit realamericanhardwood.com/build-your-world.
Editor's Notes: Photography is available upon request. Real American Hardwood is a registered trademark and Build Your World is a trademark of the Real American Hardwood Coalition.
Media Contact:
Real American Hardwood Coalition
info@RealAmericanHardwood.org
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SOURCE Real American Hardwood Coalition | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/real-american-hardwood-coalition-launches-build-your-world-campaign-partnership-with-magnolia-network/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:34 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/real-american-hardwood-coalition-launches-build-your-world-campaign-partnership-with-magnolia-network/ |
Locals vow to keep fighting to save a forest in southwest Turkey after the chainsaws finish work
By ANDREW WILKS
ISTANBUL (AP) — Campaigners fighting to protect woodlands earmarked for coal-mining in southwest Turkey say they will maintain their fight as tree-felling comes to an end. Locals have held a four-year vigil in Akbelen forest to hold off logging that paves the way for a lignite mine near the village of Ikizkoy in Mugla province. “They massacred our forest,” Nejla Isik, from the Ikizkoy Environment Committee, said Monday at a meeting with lawyers reported by the Duvar newspaper. Chainsaw teams that arrived to start felling trees a week ago have now finished their work, following violent confrontations between police dispatched to guard the operation and residents. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/locals-vow-to-keep-fighting-to-save-a-forest-in-southwest-turkey-after-the-chainsaws-finish-work/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:38 | 0 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/locals-vow-to-keep-fighting-to-save-a-forest-in-southwest-turkey-after-the-chainsaws-finish-work/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sparked by the young guy and the old man, the Cincinnati Reds took over sole possession of first place in the NL Central.
Elly De La Cruz, the 21-year-old sensation, and Joey Votto, who turns 40 in September, helped the Reds rout the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-0 on Sunday. They won home and road series against the NL West-leading Dodgers this season.
“It’s big-time for us,” winning pitcher Graham Ashcraft said. “It keeps us going and gives us that edge to keep fighting.”
De La Cruz hit a two-run homer and went 4 for 5 in his third game of the season with four hits. He also scored twice as the Reds rapped out 14 hits in handing the Dodgers their worst loss since a 15-0 defeat to San Francisco on June 17.
De La Cruz broke out of the struggles he’s had since the All-Star break, while Votto shook off his offensive funk with a two-run shot. Votto went 2 for 5 with three RBIs.
“He knows how to come out of those slumps. He gives us ideas and tips on how we can get out of there too,” De La Cruz said. “He helps me and if there’s something I can help him out with, I’ll tell him, too.”
Votto respects the equanimity shown by his much younger teammates.
“During the rough spells, these guys have been the exact same people every day,” he said. “It’s a very young team. The energy is consistent. That’s the really charming part about it. Every single day from spring training, the optimism has been there.”
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 Matt McLain hustled home on Spencer Steer’s groundout to third.
“Too many pitches to hit with guys on base. I got to shore that up,” Grove said. “My attack plan wasn’t great early and I just got put on defense to start with and had to adjust. I got punished cause I was leaving pitches over the plate.”
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 after getting hit by a pitch. X-rays were negative. … 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://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-reds-beat-dodgers-9-0-on-homers-by-de-la-cruz-and-votto-grab-nl-central-lead-over-brewers/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:40 | 1 | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-reds-beat-dodgers-9-0-on-homers-by-de-la-cruz-and-votto-grab-nl-central-lead-over-brewers/ |
Roar's passion for creating virtual, immersive social experiences brings talent and technology to Yuga that greatly complements Yuga's expansive vision for Otherside.
Roar Studios' Founder and CEO, Eric Reid, to join Yuga as the General Manager of Otherside.
MIAMI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Yuga Labs, web3 leader and home of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), CryptoPunks, Meebits, 10KTF, and Otherside today announced it has agreed to acquire Roar Studios, a company at the convergence of gaming, social media, and the metaverse with deep technology and AI roots.
Roar Studios is the developer of ROAR, an immersive media experience where artists and fans connect, collaborate, and compete in real time from anywhere.
Developed by Roar's leading team of audio, game, and AI engineers, ROAR combines innovative proprietary technology with established MMO game and platform systems to produce an entirely new product category: an experiential, semi-autonomous music and entertainment world driven by individual content creators and community consensus.
As Yuga Labs develops Otherside – its ambitious, interoperable metaverse – the Roar team will contribute their innovative technology, specialized expertise, and leadership.
"Roar Studios has redefined what it means to experience media content in the metaverse," said Daniel Alegre, CEO of Yuga Labs. "Yuga's North Star is creating new ways for communities to connect and express themselves, and I am excited to welcome Roar's talented team to our Yuga family. Roar's dedication to creative content creation and social connections will accelerate our execution of our bold vision for Otherside and Yuga's ecosystem more broadly."
Roar Studios' Founder and CEO, Eric Reid, added, "Our team's mission is to empower players to create and be social in a community-driven, open media experience, so our work fundamentally aligns with Yuga's larger web3 metaverse strategy. When Daniel and Mike Seavers opened the door for us to contribute to Yuga's paradigm-shifting approach to content and immersive experiences, we jumped at the opportunity."
Following the acquisition, Reid will join Yuga as the General Manager of Otherside. He will be charged with evolving the vision and leading the development and production of the platform, together with the highly experienced Yuga executive team. Prior to Roar, Reid spent more than two decades building teams and creating and distributing film, television, and music content for audiences worldwide (including film franchises such as UNDERWORLD).
About Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs is a web3 company shaping the future through storytelling, experiences, and community. Guided by the belief that the potential of web3 can be realized when we start with imagination, not limitations, Yuga's initiatives aim to reinvent what real-world utility for NFTs look like and push the space forward as a whole. Since their launch in April 2021 with flagship collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, they've made headlines as one of the first companies to release IP licenses to their NFT holders, acquired and released rights to other top collections (CryptoPunks and Meebits), and made web3 history with record-breaking synchronized player participation in their newest initiative, Otherside. One of the most ambitious interactive metaverse projects to date, Otherside is built with the community, rebelling against traditional walled gardens in gaming spaces. In March 2022, Yuga Labs raised a $450M seed round at a $4B valuation.
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SOURCE Yuga Labs | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/yuga-labs-agrees-acquire-technology-innovator-roar-studios/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:39 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/yuga-labs-agrees-acquire-technology-innovator-roar-studios/ |
Teresa Lancaster, who was featured in The Keepers documentary on Netflix,
is an attorney and sex abuse survivor turned advocate for victims of abuse
BALTIMORE, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. today announced that the leading Maryland medical malpractice, personal injury and civil litigation law firm has secured nationally recognized advocate for sexual abuse victims, Teresa Lancaster, as a client of the firm.
Lancaster, a sex abuse victim who was featured in the Netflix documentary, The Keepers, will be represented by the firm and will also serve as a well-respected spokesperson for the thousands of other sex abuse victims across Maryland.
"We are honored to have our firm chosen to represent such a powerful advocate and voice in the fight against sexual abuse in all its forms across Maryland and the entire country," said Jonathan Schochor, Founding Partner and Chairman of Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. "Teresa Lancaster has bravely shared her powerful story as a survivor overcoming sexual abuse and has proven to be a compassionate, articulate and impactful spokesperson for all fellow victims fighting for justice. We look forward to working together to share her message and to help bring closure for her and all other sex abuse victims that have had the courage to come forward."
Teresa Lancaster is an attorney and vocal advocate for victims of sexual abuse. She is known for her story being featured in The Keepers, the seven-part documentary on Netflix, which examines decades old sexual abuse cases in Maryland within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Lancaster was the second sexual assault victim to come forward against the Archdiocese of Baltimore for sexual abuse she suffered from a priest while a student at Archbishop Keough High School in the 1970s.
Later in life, Lancaster received her bachelor's degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and worked as a social work intern at the Baltimore Public Defender's Office in the Juvenile Division where she advocated for juvenile offenders. She later graduated from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and dedicated herself to representing survivors of child sexual abuse seeking justice. As an advocate, Lancaster also worked for years to help pass the bill in the Maryland General Assembly to eliminate the statute of limitations to file lawsuits against alleged sexual abusers across the state.
On April 11, 2023, the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023 was passed to eliminate the statute of limitations for adult survivors of sexual abuse to bring forth civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers. The new law will take effect on October 1, 2023.
About Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A.
Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. has been fighting for patients' rights as a leading medical malpractice law firm since 1984. Additionally, the firm is a recognized leader in sexual abuse cases as well as class action and mass tort litigation. Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. has offices in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Its lawyers are licensed to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia, and they have been specially admitted on a case-by-case basis by courts in Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, West Virginia and other states. On special motion and with approval of courts elsewhere, the firm's lawyers are available to participate in cases throughout the United States. To learn more, visit: sfspa.com.
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SOURCE Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/schochor-staton-goldberg-cardea-pa-announce-nationally-recognized-advocate-sex-abuse-victims-new-client-spokesperson/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:40 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/schochor-staton-goldberg-cardea-pa-announce-nationally-recognized-advocate-sex-abuse-victims-new-client-spokesperson/ |
Michigan court affirms critical benefits for thousands badly hurt in car wrecks
By ED WHITE
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court is out with a decision that provides critical relief for thousands of people who were badly injured in car wrecks. The court says people getting care for catastrophic crashes before summer 2019 won’t lose their lifetime insurance benefits. For decades, people injured in crashes were entitled to lifetime payment for “all reasonable charges” related to care and rehabilitation. But a new state law that kicked in in 2019 set a fee schedule and a cap on reimbursements. Suddenly, 18,000 people were in at risk. The Supreme Court says a “vested contractual right” to ongoing benefits “cannot be stripped away or diminished.” | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/michigan-court-affirms-critical-benefits-for-thousands-badly-hurt-in-car-wrecks/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:44 | 1 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/michigan-court-affirms-critical-benefits-for-thousands-badly-hurt-in-car-wrecks/ |
LOS ANGELES, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Zefr's third-party brand suitability verification solution for Instagram Feed is now available. This AI-powered measurement solution provides marketers with even more transparency into their Meta campaigns, measuring GARM brand safety and suitability across both Instagram and Facebook Feed placements.
Additionally, the verification solution will now be available in more global territories, supporting advertisers in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese and Portuguese speaking countries. Advertisers will have full access to their Instagram Feed measurement via their Atrium dashboard, which provides full transparency across platforms including Meta, TikTok and YouTube.
Meta recently announced new inventory filters for Facebook and Instagram Feeds that are now rolling out to advertisers in these additional global markets. Both the added inventory filters and expanded third-party brand suitability verification developments underscore Zefr and Meta's ongoing commitment to critical innovation within the industry, powered by AI technology that deepens advertiser transparency and brand suitability controls.
"Earlier this year we began rolling out our third party brand suitability verification solution with Zefr for Facebook Feed as a part of the launch of our AI-powered brand suitability controls. We are excited to expand this offering to Instagram Feed, offering businesses another solution to help meet their brand safety and suitability needs. In addition to English and Spanish, our brand suitability verification solution is also being expanded to four additional languages and testing for third party brand suitability verification for Reels will begin in August. We look forward to sharing more expansion offerings for the brand suitability verification solution in the coming months." Samantha Stetson, Vice President, Client Council and Industry Trade Relations.
"We're excited to announce our AI-powered, third-party brand suitability verification for Instagram Feed. This innovation marks another important step forward in the industry, providing brands with transparency into their adjacencies across both Facebook & Instagram Feed. Our continued collaboration with Meta, expanded global coverage, and commitment to transparency mapped to the GARM standards enables more responsible media investment for advertisers worldwide," said Rich Raddon, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Zefr.
For more detail on Zefr's brand suitability verification product for Meta, please visit www.zefr.com/atrium, or reach out to measurement@zefr.com.
CONTACT: Hank Kim, hank@m8media.net
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SOURCE Zefr | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/zefr-meta-expand-ai-powered-brand-suitability-measurement-instagram-feed-additional-languages/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:46 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/zefr-meta-expand-ai-powered-brand-suitability-measurement-instagram-feed-additional-languages/ |
LINCOLN, Neb., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sophie Norman joined Assurity Life Insurance Company as its new Senior Director of Assurity Ventures Inc (AVI). Norman will focus on recruiting and developing new non-traditional distribution partners for Assurity through Assurity Ventures, the company's business arm dedicated to building relationships with insurtech and fintech startups to harness new methods of interacting with prospective customers.
"Sophie brings significant insurance experience and is strategic in her approach, with an eye on long-term growth," said Todd Reimers, Assurity's Senior Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer. "We welcome Sophie to Assurity and look forward to accomplishing great things together."
Norman comes to Assurity with a background as an independent broker, agency manager and a benefits strategist. She brings industry expertise as a Director of Operations at a well-respected actuarial firm, has launched technology platforms for her clients and is an experienced public speaker. Norman studied Business and Finance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she earned her bachelor's degree. She enjoys spending time with her family.
About Assurity: As a mutual organization, Assurity was founded on the simple concept of people coming together to support each other in moments of need. We help people through difficult times by providing affordable insurance protection that's easy to understand and buy. We all share in the future we create, and we believe in using our business as a force for good.
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SOURCE Assurity | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/sophie-norman-joins-assurity-ventures-senior-director/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:46 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/sophie-norman-joins-assurity-ventures-senior-director/ |
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Defending Formula One champion Max Verstappen enters the mid-season break in unstoppable form, after emphatically winning the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday for an eighth straight win and 10th overall of a crushingly dominant season.
Despite starting from sixth place he finished 22.3 seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Perez to give Red Bull an easy 1-2. It moved Verstappen ominously closer to a third straight world title and his own F1 record of 15 wins from last year.
Verstappen is 125 points ahead of Perez after just 12 races, and his next target is matching Sebastian Vettel’s F1 record of nine straight wins with a victory at the Dutch GP when the lopsided season resumes on Aug. 27.
“I just want to have a nice time now, have a bit of time with family and friends,” Verstappen said.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished in third spot for a third podium of the season, with Lewis Hamilton in fourth for Mercedes ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, with Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) completing the top 10.
Leclerc started on pole ahead of Perez, with Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. behind them. McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri was on the next row alongside Verstappen — who was fastest in Friday’s qualifying but took a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change and had to avoid early traffic.
“It was just about surviving turn one. I could see it was all getting really tight,” Verstappen said. “I’ve been in that position before myself so I am just going to stay out of that and it worked out. From there onwards I made the right overtakes.”
Last year Verstappen won from 14th, and once he overtook Perez on Lap 17 of 44 his 45th career win was seemingly inevitable.
“Really enjoyable to drive once I got in the lead,” Verstappen said. “It was again a great race.“
Red Bull extended its record to 13 straight wins, including the final race of last season.
Hamilton came in on the penultimate lap for a tire change and the move paid off as he took the bonus point for fastest lap from Verstappen — a very minor blip for the dominant Dutchman.
It was yet another stellar weekend for Verstappen, who also won Saturday’s sprint race. The only issue was some more bickering with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase over radio, as they continued their spat from Friday’s qualifying.
“Don’t forget Max, use your head, please,” Lambiase told Verstappen when he questioned why Perez was making his first tire change on Lap 14.
Verstappen defused any talk of tension with Lambiase.
“It’s fine. We know each other very well and we have a very good relationship,” he said. “I think it’s really important.”
With some rain forecast, Verstappen boxed on the next lap and came out about 2 seconds behind Perez. Just minutes later he cruised past Perez and, as so often this season, the rest was just about control.
Perez, meanwhile, pledged to stay on the podium for the rest of the season.
“It’s been a bit of a rough patch,” the 33-year-old Mexican said. “I really need this summer break, it’s been really intense. I’ll come back really strong for Zandvoort.”
Conditions were dry for the race start, in stark contrast to the two previous days, which were impacted by heavy rain at the 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Leclerc, who won his first F1 race here in 2019, made a solid start but Perez’s extra pace soon put him in front.
“I knew it was quite crucial for my race to get Charles on Lap 1,” Perez said.
Verstappen rose two places to fourth after Sainz bumped into Piastri on the first corner.
Piastri had to retire, while Verstappen overtook Hamilton on Lap 6, Leclerc three laps later and made short work of Perez just before some rain fell briefly.
Some good overtaking from Ocon moved the Frenchman up from 10th to eighth in the closing stages.
It was an early end for Piastri, who had impressed with a second place in Saturday’s sprint race.
A bad day for Sainz saw him retiring on Lap 25 and Leclerc moving above him in the standings.
“Of course the race was good on my side, a shame for Carlos as we had good pace,” Leclerc said. “When you look at the Red Bulls we still have a lot of work to do … This was the best we could achieve today, no doubt.”
After the F1 break there will be 10 races left, but most of the competition for places will be behind Verstappen.
Alonso is one point ahead of Hamilton in third overall, with Leclerc and Russell level and Sainz seven points behind them.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-verstappen-wins-belgian-gp-to-extend-huge-f1-lead-red-bull-teammate-perez-2nd/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:46 | 1 | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-verstappen-wins-belgian-gp-to-extend-huge-f1-lead-red-bull-teammate-perez-2nd/ |
Takeaways from AP’s reporting on inconsistencies in RFK Jr.’s record
By MICHELLE R. SMITH and ALI SWENSON
Associated Press
As Democratic presidential primary candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenges President Joe Biden, the stories he tells on the campaign trail about himself, his life’s work and what he stands for are often the opposite of what his record shows. Kennedy rose to prominence during the coronavirus pandemic because of his strident opposition to vaccines, but he insists he’s not anti-vaccine. Kennedy has associated with influential people on the far right — including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn — to raise his profile. Yet, he portrays himself as a true Democrat inheriting the mantle of the Kennedy family. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/takeaways-from-aps-reporting-on-inconsistencies-in-rfk-jr-s-record/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:50 | 0 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/takeaways-from-aps-reporting-on-inconsistencies-in-rfk-jr-s-record/ |
Rays vs. Yankees: Betting Trends, Odds, Records Against the Run Line, Home/Road Splits
Tyler Glasnow starts for the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday at Yankee Stadium against Gleyber Torres and the New York Yankees. First pitch is at 7:05 PM ET for the first game of a three-game series.
The favored Rays have -135 moneyline odds to win against the underdog Yankees, who are listed at +110. The total is 8.5 runs for the contest.
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Rays vs. Yankees Odds & Info
- Date: Monday, July 31, 2023
- Time: 7:05 PM ET
- TV: MLB Network
- Location: The Bronx, New York
- Venue: Yankee Stadium
- Live Stream: Watch on Fubo!
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Rays Recent Betting Performance
- In six games as the favorite over the last 10 matchups, the Rays have a record of 2-4.
- In their last 10 games with a total, the Rays and their opponents have failed to hit the over six times.
- Sportsbooks have not set a spread for any of the Rays' last 10 games.
Discover More About This Game
Rays Betting Records & Stats
- The Rays have won 65.1% of the games this season when they were favored on the moneyline (56-30).
- Tampa Bay has a 49-18 record (winning 73.1% of its games) when playing as moneyline favorites of -135 or shorter.
- The implied moneyline probablility in this matchup gives the Rays a 57.4% chance to win.
- Tampa Bay has combined with opponents to go over the total 57 times this season for a 57-47-4 record against the over/under.
- The Rays have a 10-7-0 record against the spread this season.
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Rays Splits
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/rays-vs-yankees-mlb-betting-trends-stats/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:52 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/rays-vs-yankees-mlb-betting-trends-stats/ |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have given outside linebacker Danielle Hunter a hefty pay raise, paving the way for the team’s best pass rusher to participate in practice after a months-long contract stalemate.
The Vikings announced Sunday on their website that they reached a new deal with Hunter, the three-time Pro Bowl pick with 71 sacks who will turn 29 in three months.
Hunter reported to training camp last week on schedule after skipping the offseason program and mandatory minicamp, but he has yet to join his teammates on the field. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said Saturday that Hunter has been “in the building” and that they’ve been in “daily dialogue” about his physical and mental preparation.
“Danielle Hunter is a very special player, and as soon as we can get him out here, you guys will see him out here,” O’Connell said.
Hunter’s previous contract called for a $4.9 million base salary. According to NFL Network, he’ll make $17 million guaranteed this year with an opportunity to earn an additional $3 million in incentives. Hunter will still hit the free agent market after the season, unless he and the team strike a deal on an extension in the meantime.
Hunter’s presence will be vital for a Vikings defense that has been one of the NFL’s worst over the past three years. They allowed the second-most yards and the fourth-most points in the league in 2022, despite decent production by their primary edge rushers. Hunter had 10 1/2 sacks, Za’Darius Smith had 10 sacks and backups D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones had four sacks apiece.
Smith was since traded to Cleveland in a cost-cutting move, leaving Hunter as the only proven pass rusher on the roster. Marcus Davenport was signed as a free agent to push for a starting spot, but this remains one of the biggest questions surrounding the team this season.
“I think Danielle’s a phenomenal player,” said defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who was hired to replace the fired Ed Donatell. “I look forward to working with him.”
Under Donatell, Hunter often found himself as a standup rusher in a three-point stance. The Vikings with Flores are aiming to get back to turning Hunter loose with his hand in the ground more often.
“Veteran players, they’ve seen a lot of defense, coverages, fronts, stunts. I think terminology will probably be the one thing that’s a little bit different, maybe, but some of it, there’s some crossover from some things he’s heard in the past so I don’t think it’ll take long for him to get up to speed,” Flores said. “At the end of the day, we’re telling him to go get the quarterback. There’s really not much to that. So I think he’ll be just fine.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-vikings-end-stalemate-with-danielle-hunter-by-giving-edge-rusher-a-big-pay-raise/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:53 | 0 | https://www.yourbasin.com/sports/ap-vikings-end-stalemate-with-danielle-hunter-by-giving-edge-rusher-a-big-pay-raise/ |
Leveraging AI, Topline Pro Scales to Help the Millions of Small Home Service Businesses Succeed
NEW YORK, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Topline Pro, a Generative AI platform enabling home services professionals to manage and scale their businesses online, today announced $12M in Series A funding led by Forerunner Ventures (Brian O'Malley) along with support from Bonfire Ventures (Jim Andelman), TMV (Soraya Darabi), BBG Ventures (Susan Lyne).
Topline Pro is democratizing the key building blocks for managing and growing a Home Services business, which is uniquely possible through AI advancements. The platform enables pros, from general contractors to landscapers, to be discovered, trusted and booked — repeatedly. Topline Pro's mission is to ensure more home service business owners succeed by providing all the tools and resources they need, so pros can focus more on their craft versus the operational overhead of running a small business.
Topline Pro's intuitive interface empowers pros to efficiently and seamlessly manage and grow business by helping them:
- Build a thriving online presence through custom generated content, from personalized social media content to a custom website and online ads, while syncing content to and from local listings
- Gain trust and showcasing experience through robust reviews collection, response and showcasing capabilities
- Get paid online, schedule and book business, and develop meaningful customer relationships
Topline leverages generative AI across its suite of offerings so business owners can focus more on their craft and doing work in the field, instead of sinking time and energy into growing and managing the business in the background. To date, the platform has generated over $180M in business across thousands of businesses in nearly all 50 states.
"Topline Pro is akin to a Shopify for Home Services businesses," said Brian O'Malley, Managing Director at Forerunner Ventures. "By building a vertical stack for this ecosystem, Topline has the opportunity to bring this underserved category online and empower greater economic opportunity."
Until the creation of Topline Pro, the home service market was mostly served through marketplaces and intermediaries for connecting homeowners with service providers. The prevailing system and solutions has been inefficient and expensive, where business owners have no other option but to pay significantly for leads without any guarantee of winning the work. Topline Pro believes in tipping the power back towards Home Services small business owners, where they have more control and resources to grow and operate their business directly.
"Home Services businesses are part of the backbone of the American economy and an industry that consumers rely on for the safety and comfort of their home, but the space has been overlooked for far too long due to structural and cultural dynamics, such as market fragmentation and misplaced stigma," said Nick Ornitz, CEO and Co-founder of Topline Pro. "Topline Pro is on a mission to help millions of home service business owners in the more than $500Bn market be more likely to succeed.".
Topline Pro will use the recent funding to further expand Generative AI capabilities across the existing suite of tools, build out additional product offerings, and expand their team across multiple roles in engineering, product, customer success, marketing and sales.
Topline Pro
Topline Pro (toplinepro.com) is a platform that empowers service based small businesses to get discovered, build trust, and get booked, repeatedly. Topline Pro utilizes generative AI to automate the creation of a SEO optimized website and ongoing online engagement along with tools that streamline operations from booking to payment. Topline Pro enables the business owner to own the relationship with their customers and grow their business while focusing on what they do best, exceptional service in the field. Topline Pro has generated over $180M in business across thousands of businesses in nearly all 50 states.
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SOURCE Topline Pro | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/topline-pro-announces-12m-series-funding-reshape-economic-opportunity-home-services/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:53 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/topline-pro-announces-12m-series-funding-reshape-economic-opportunity-home-services/ |
The FBI should face new limits on its use of US foreign spy data, a key intelligence board says
By NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A White House advisory board is calling for major changes in how the FBI uses a controversial foreign surveillance tool. The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board issued a report Monday with new recommendations related to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. U.S. intelligence officials say Section 702 enables investigations of Chinese and Russian espionage, potential terrorist plots, and other threats. But misuses and mistakes by the FBI are coloring the debate over whether to reauthorize the law before it expires in December. The board recommends the FBI should stop using a U.S. spy database of foreigners’ emails and other communications for investigating crimes that aren’t related to national security. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/the-fbi-should-face-new-limits-on-its-use-of-us-foreign-spy-data-a-key-intelligence-board-says/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:56 | 1 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/the-fbi-should-face-new-limits-on-its-use-of-us-foreign-spy-data-a-key-intelligence-board-says/ |
England vs. China: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 9:46 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
England will play China in Adelaide, Australia, in the last round of group-stage games at the 2023 Women's World Cup, on August 1 at 7:00 AM ET.
This matchup will be available on FOX US,Fox Sports 1.
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How to Watch England vs. China
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 7:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Adelaide, Australia
- Venue: Coopers Stadium
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
England Group Stage Schedule
England's Recent Performance
- England picked up a victory in its last match 1-0 over Denmark on July 28. was outshot in the matchup, 11 to seven.
- England was led by Lauren James, who netted her side's goal versus .
- James' Women's World Cup statline through two appearances for England includes one goal.
- Rachel Daly has no goals, but has one assist for England in Women's World Cup action.
- In two Women's World Cup matchups, Georgia Stanway has one goal.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
England's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Mary Earps #1
- Lucy Bronze #2
- Niamh Charles #3
- Keira Walsh #4
- Alex Greenwood #5
- Millie Bright #6
- Lauren James #7
- Georgia Stanway #8
- Rachel Daly #9
- Ella Toone #10
- Lauren Hemp #11
- Jordan Nobbs #12
- Hannah Hampton #13
- Lotte Wubben-Moy #14
- Esme Morgan #15
- Jessica Carter #16
- Laura Coombs #17
- Chloe Kelly #18
- Bethany England #19
- Katie Zelem #20
- Ellie Roebuck #21
- Katie Robinson #22
- Alessia Russo #23
China Group Stage Schedule
China's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 28, China claimed a 1-0 victory over Haiti. China outshot Haiti nine to six.
- Wang Shuang scored the lone goal for China on one shot.
- In two Women's World Cup matches for China, Shuang has one goal (16th in the 2023 Women's World Cup).
China's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Zhu Yu #1
- Mengwen Li #2
- Jiaxing Dou #3
- LinLin Wang #4
- Wu Haiyan #5
- Xin Zhang #6
- Wang Shuang #7
- Yao Wei #8
- Mengyu Shen #9
- Zhang Rui #10
- Wang Shanshan #11
- Xu Huan #12
- Lina Yang #13
- Lou Jiahui #14
- Qiaozhu Chen #15
- Lingwei Yao #16
- Wu Cheng Shu #17
- Jiali Tang #18
- Linyan Zhang #19
- Yuyi Xiao #20
- Gu Yasha #21
- Hongyan Pan #22
- Chen Gao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-england-china-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T14:59:58 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-england-china-live-stream-tv/ |
BROOKLYN, N.Y., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VICE Media Group today announced the completion of its sale to a consortium of its former lenders (the "Investor Group"), which consists of funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC ("Fortress"), Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital.
"This marks the start of an exciting new chapter for VICE," said Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala, VICE's Co-Chief Executive Officers. "With the support of our Investor Group, we now have the resources to strengthen our business, our partnerships and our content creation across all platforms. Under new ownership and with this leadership team, VICE is positioned to drive our uniquely differentiated brand of news, entertainment and lifestyle content that makes VICE a trusted brand for global audiences and a valued partner to brands, agencies and platforms."
"We are very pleased to complete the acquisition of VICE and we are excited to build upon the achievements of one of the most iconic brands in news and entertainment," the Investor Group said in a joint statement. "We look forward to growing a strong business that is committed to serving audiences, brands and partners with award-winning content. With a strong management team in place, VICE is well-positioned to grow its uniquely compelling world class businesses and drive value during its next chapter."
VICE Media Group is a multi-platform media company with a global reach of over 400 million people. Its Emmy and Peabody award-winning News division is one of the most trusted news sources among Gen Z and is watched on TikTok and other social platforms by hundreds of millions of people. Its studio group, including VICE Studios and Pulse Films, produced Bamarush for HBO Max, Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now for Netflix, The American Gladiators Documentary for ESPN, Gangs of London for Sky, and Tell Me Lies for Hulu. Its award-winning publishing division includes VICE.com, Refinery29 and the fashion bible i-D. Its advertising, commercial and music video teams, including the creative agency Virtue, work with brands including Coke and Target and artists such as Harry Styles, and has created award-winning campaigns such as "Backup Ukraine" and "Unfiltered History." VICE TV is home to shows including Tales from the Territories, produced by Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and the Dark Side franchise, including the breakout hit Dark Side of the Ring.
About VICE Media Group
VICE Media Group is a global multi-platform media company. Launched in 1994, VICE has offices across multiple countries and a focus on five key businesses: An award-winning network of digital content; an Oscar-nominated feature film and television production studio; an Emmy-winning international television network, VICE TV; a Peabody and Emmy award-winning News division; and a global, full-service creative agency, Virtue. VICE Media Group's portfolio includes Refinery29, a leading global media and entertainment company focused on women; Pulse Films, a London-based next-generation production studio with an office in Los Angeles; and i-D, a global digital and quarterly magazine defining fashion and contemporary culture and design.
Media Contact:
Jonathan Bing
jonathan.bing@vice.com
(818) 643-0146
or
Sophie Throsby / Lyle Weston
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
(212) 355-4449
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SOURCE VICE Media Group | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/vice-media-group-completes-sale-lenders/ | 2023-07-31T15:00:00 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/vice-media-group-completes-sale-lenders/ |
Yellow is shutting down and headed for bankruptcy, the Teamsters Union says. Here’s what to know
BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Trucking company Yellow Corp. has shut down operations and is headed for a bankruptcy filing, according to the Teamsters Union and multiple media reports.
After years of financial struggles, reports of Yellow preparing for bankruptcy emerged last week — as the Nashville, Tennessee-based trucker saw customers leave in large numbers. Yellow shut down operations on Sunday, according to the Wall Street Journal, following the layoffs of hundreds of nonunion employees on Friday.
In an announcement early Monday, the Teamsters said that the union received legal notice confirming Yellow was ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
“Today’s news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government,” Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry.”
The Associated Press reached out to Yellow for comment on Monday. No bankruptcy filings had gone live as of the early morning.
The bankruptcy reports have renewed attention around Yellow’s ongoing negotiations with unionized workers, a $700 million pandemic-era loan from the government and other bills the trucker has racked up over time. Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The company’s reported closure puts 30,000 jobs at risk.
Here’s what you need to know.
WHAT WOULD BANKRUPTCY MEAN FOR YELLOW?
According to Satish Jindel, president of transportation and logistics firm SJ Consulting, Yellow handled an average of 49,000 shipments per day in 2022. Last week, he estimated that number was down to between 10,000 and 15,000 daily shipments.
With customers leaving — as well reports of Yellow stopping freight pickups last week — bankruptcy would “be the end of Yellow,” Jindel told The Associated Press, noting increased risk for liquidation.
“The likelihood of them surviving and remaining solvent diminishes really by the day,” added Bruce Chan, a research director at investment banking firm Stifel.
Yellow declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday. In a Wednesday statement to The Journal, the company said it was continuing “to prepare for a range of contingencies.” On Thursday, Yellow said it was in talks with multiple parties about selling its third-party logistics organization.
Even if Yellow was able to sell its logistics firm, it would “not generate a sufficient amount of cash to keep them operational on any sort of permanent basis,” Chan said. “Without a major equity injection, it would be very difficult for them to survive.”
HOW MUCH DEBT DOES YELLOW HAVE?
As of late March, Yellow had an outstanding debt of about $1.5 billion. Of that, $729.2 million was owed to the federal government.
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the Treasury Department granted the company a $700 million pandemic-era loan on national security grounds. Last month, a congressional probe concluded that the Treasury and Defense Departments “made missteps” in this decision — and noted that Yellow’s “precarious financial position at the time of the loan, and continued struggles, expose taxpayers to a significant risk of loss.”
The government loan is due in September 2024. As of March, Yellow had made $54.8 million in interest payments and repaid just $230 million of the principal owed, according to government documents.
Yellow’s current finances and prospect of bankruptcy “is probably two decades in the making,” Chan said, pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back to the early 2000s. “At this point, after each party has bailed them out so many times, there is a limited appetite to do that anymore.”
In May, Yellow reported a loss of $54.6 million, a decline of $1.06 per share, for its first quarter of 2023. Operating revenue was about $1.16 billion in the period.
A Wednesday investors note from financial service firm Stephens estimated that Yellow could be burning between $9 million and $10 million each day. Using a liquidity disclosure from earlier this month, Yellow had roughly $100 million in cash at the end of June, the note added — estimating that the company has been burning through increasing amounts of money through July.
“It is reasonable to believe that the Company could breach its $35 mil. liquidity requirement at any moment,” Stephens analyst Jack Atkins and associate Grant Smith wrote.
DID THE COMPANY JUST AVERT A STRIKE?
Last week’s reports of bankruptcy preparations arrived just days after a strike from the Teamsters, which represents Yellow’s 22,000 unionized workers, was averted.
A series of heated exchanges have built up between the Teamsters and Yellow, who sued the union in June after alleging it was “unjustifiably blocking” restructuring plans needed for the company’s survival. The Teamsters called the litigation “baseless” — with O’Brien pointing to Yellow’s “decades of gross mismanagement,” which included exhausting the $700 million federal loan.
On July 23, a pension fund agreed to extend health benefits for workers at two Yellow Corp. operating companies, averting a strike — and giving Yellow “30 days to pay its bills,” notably $50 million that Yellow failed to pay the Central States Health and Welfare Fund on July 15, the union said. While the strike didn’t occur, talks of a walkout may have caused some Yellow customers to pull back, Chan said.
“The financial struggles of Yellow are not related to the union and the contracts,” Jindel said, pointing to management’s responsibility around its services and prices. He added the union wages from Yellow are “lower than any competitor.”
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YELLOW WENT UNDER?
As Yellow customers take their shipments to other carriers, like FedEx or ABF Freight, prices will go up.
Yellow’s prices have historically been the cheapest compared to other carriers, Jindel said. “That’s why they obviously were not making money,” he added. “And while there is capacity with the other LTL carriers to handle the diversions from Yellow, it will come at a high price for (current shippers and customers) of Yellow.”
Chan adds that we’re in an interesting time for the LTL marketplace — noting that, if Yellow liquidates, “the freight would find a home” with other carriers, which may not have been true in recent years.
“It may take time, but there’s room for it to be absorbed,” he said. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/yellow-is-shutting-down-and-headed-for-bankruptcy-the-teamsters-union-says-heres-what-to-know/ | 2023-07-31T15:00:02 | 1 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/yellow-is-shutting-down-and-headed-for-bankruptcy-the-teamsters-union-says-heres-what-to-know/ |
Timely discussion specifies how hospice provides compassionate care to the nation's most vulnerable while driving substantial Medicare cost savings
WASHINGTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VITAS Healthcare's Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Joseph Shega, MD, along with Dianne Munevar, Vice President of Health Care Strategy at NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC), and Susan Lloyd, MSN, RN, Chief Executive Officer of Delaware Hospice, participated in a Capitol Hill briefing on Thursday, July 27, to educate Congress about a recent study by NORC that illustrates the value of hospice in Medicare. Specifically, the panelists highlighted how the research demonstrates that earlier referral to hospice benefits patients and families while simultaneously delivering more cost savings to Medicare.
"As a fundamentally patient- and family-centered care model," says Dr. Shega, "hospice provides patients with improved clinical outcomes and pain management, reduced physical and emotional distress, and the ability to spend their last days with dignity at home among loved ones."
The NORC report was released in March 2023. The in-depth study found that greater utilization of hospice during the last six months of life is associated with increased patient satisfaction and quality of life, while also reducing Medicare costs—with $3.5 billion in savings in a single year.
The research identified an opportunity to deliver value through greater access to hospice care for patients with chronic and serious diseases such as cancer, respiratory disease and chronic kidney disease/end-stage renal disease, with a projected savings to Medicare of 17% to 25%.
For patients with dementia, NORC's analysis found that, within the study period, end-of-life care continues to generate cost savings related to neurodegenerative disease. The panelists presented these findings and more during the briefing in Washington, D.C., in coordination with the two national trade associations, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC).
One opportunity brought to light by the NORC study, according to the panelists, is the need for a community-based palliative care benefit to support earlier transitions to hospice which will, in turn, continue to drive quality and Medicare savings. Investing in serious illness care increases the quality of end-of-life care for millions of patients, families and caregivers across the country.
"Former President Jimmy Carter's hospice journey is a testament to the value of longer hospice stays," says Dr. Shega. "He is an excellent example of someone who sought out hospice care earlier in his advanced disease state so he could spend his remaining time in comfort and surrounded by family."
One of the nation's first hospice and palliative care providers, VITAS has devoted 45 years of compassionate care to patients and their families throughout 14 states and the District of Columbia. As an organization, VITAS supports the ethic that all hospice-eligible patients should have the opportunity to access hospice in a way—and for a length of time—that allows them to fully benefit from this person- and family-centered care model.
About VITAS® Healthcare
Established in 1978, VITAS Healthcare is a pioneer and leader in the American hospice movement. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 50 hospice programs in 14 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. VITAS employs 10,328 professionals who care for patients with advanced illness, primarily in the patients' homes, and also in the company's 25 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the first quarter of 2023, VITAS reported an average daily census of 18,542. Visit www.vitas.com.
Media inquiries contact: media@vitas.com, 877-848-2701
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Opinion: The changing Republican electorate could upend this basic rule of politics
Opinion by Mike Shields
(CNN) — A proverb often attributed to baseball legend Yogi Berra is, “It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” And yet, the entire industry of politics is built around trying to do just that.
Fortunately, Republicans now have sophisticated data tools to help guide us in making extremely educated guesses about what is to come. But even when data points us in a clear direction, we sometimes don’t want to believe what we are seeing.
Case in point, many still believe an old theory that Republicans fare better in midterm elections when voter turnout is traditionally lower, and that Democrats fare better in presidential election years when voter turnout is traditionally higher.
Yet recent elections suggest a new trend is emerging, and we need to pay attention to it.
The great realignment of American politics, which began with the House of Representatives’ Republican freshman class in 2010 — and was boosted by the candidacy of Donald Trump in 2016 — has given us critical new data points about American voters. The tectonic polarization of the electorate along education, income and geographic lines isn’t just reshaping the parties, it is also reshaping voter turnout models.
The new, or perhaps still emerging Republican coalition has more blue-collar, non-college educated and rural voters — similar to the expansive coalition that former President Ronald Regan built in the 1980s. It has more voters who didn’t take part in many previous elections because they didn’t believe anyone cared about them or that their vote made a difference.
In fact, we now have enough election data to confidently say many of them are more likely to stay home in a midterm election and more likely to participate in a presidential election — upending decades of political science orthodoxy.
Further exacerbating this phenomenon is the Democratic Party’s move toward a much higher-income, White coastal voter base, and with it, a more left-wing progressivism that is alienating significant segments of Hispanic and Black voters.
The upshot is, to paraphrase Berra, when Republicans come to a fork in the road, they should take it. GOP candidates considering a run for political office in 2024 should not fear presidential turnout; they should embrace it.
This trend began to emerge in the 2016 election cycle and became clearer in 2018 and 2020. For simplicity, let’s compare the most recent midterm cycle, 2022, with the most recent presidential cycle, 2020.
In 2020, Republicans gained 15 seats in the House, losing zero incumbents, even while losing the presidential election. Yes, a large part of this is due to the stellar job House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and then-National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Emmer did in recruiting. Every single pickup we had in 2020 was a woman, a veteran or a minority candidate. (Current NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson is executing the same game plan, trying to recruit an even more diverse class in 2024.)
But another large part of that success was due to the new turnout trend in presidential cycles.
In 2024, according to NRCC data models, which took 2020 congressional vote totals and grouped them by their new congressional district lines for 2022, two-thirds of battleground districts look likely to be more favorable to Republicans in a presidential cycle than they were in a midterm cycle.
According to the NRCC analysis of final vote tallies, there are 19 districts in which Trump’s 2020 performance was greater than the Republican congressional candidate in 2022. In an additional eight districts, the 2020 GOP congressional candidate outperformed the GOP congressional candidate in 2022. That’s 27 congressional seats that benefited from a presidential election year lift.
Examples from NRCC historical election analysis show that in top target districts like North Carolina’s 13th District, Trump’s 2020 margin overperformed the 2022 GOP congressional candidate’s margin by 1.5 percentage points; by 0.5 points in Michigan’s 10th District; by 4.7 points in Michigan’s 7th District; by 5.3 points in Pennsylvania’s 8th District; and by a whopping 16.2 points in Ohio’s 9th District.
Similarly, in seven targeted congressional races occupied by a Republican, either Trump’s margin or the Republican congressional candidate’s margin in 2020 overperformed the Republican congressional candidate’s margin in 2022 within the current district lines.
A good example that Republicans may be acknowledging this trend is former Rep. Mayra Flores, who recently announced she is running again for Texas’ 34th District in 2024. She lost the heavily Democratic seat in 2022, but NRCC modeling indicates she could be in a better position to win in the 2024 election.
Right now, President Joe Biden has historically low approval ratings, as Americans continue to voice their discontent with his leadership. One can actually make a case that, based on these numbers, a Republican blowout could be a likely scenario.
But we all know political fortunes can change, especially over the next 16 months, and each congressional race across the country is unique. Candidate quality, the power of incumbency, fundraising totals and public messaging all play critical roles in determining who wins. Simply stated, Republicans still have work to do.
As the 2024 campaign gets underway, political pundits may again predict the doom of Republicans in the House — and many will use presidential election year turnout as a reason why.
My advice to Republicans — ignore them. They will be as wrong next year as they were in 2020 and 2022. As Berra and others used to say, “The future ain’t what it used to be.”
The-CNN-Wire
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Roar's passion for creating virtual, immersive social experiences brings talent and technology to Yuga that greatly complements Yuga's expansive vision for Otherside.
Roar Studios' Founder and CEO, Eric Reid, to join Yuga as the General Manager of Otherside.
MIAMI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Yuga Labs, web3 leader and home of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), CryptoPunks, Meebits, 10KTF, and Otherside today announced it has agreed to acquire Roar Studios, a company at the convergence of gaming, social media, and the metaverse with deep technology and AI roots.
Roar Studios is the developer of ROAR, an immersive media experience where artists and fans connect, collaborate, and compete in real time from anywhere.
Developed by Roar's leading team of audio, game, and AI engineers, ROAR combines innovative proprietary technology with established MMO game and platform systems to produce an entirely new product category: an experiential, semi-autonomous music and entertainment world driven by individual content creators and community consensus.
As Yuga Labs develops Otherside – its ambitious, interoperable metaverse – the Roar team will contribute their innovative technology, specialized expertise, and leadership.
"Roar Studios has redefined what it means to experience media content in the metaverse," said Daniel Alegre, CEO of Yuga Labs. "Yuga's North Star is creating new ways for communities to connect and express themselves, and I am excited to welcome Roar's talented team to our Yuga family. Roar's dedication to creative content creation and social connections will accelerate our execution of our bold vision for Otherside and Yuga's ecosystem more broadly."
Roar Studios' Founder and CEO, Eric Reid, added, "Our team's mission is to empower players to create and be social in a community-driven, open media experience, so our work fundamentally aligns with Yuga's larger web3 metaverse strategy. When Daniel and Mike Seavers opened the door for us to contribute to Yuga's paradigm-shifting approach to content and immersive experiences, we jumped at the opportunity."
Following the acquisition, Reid will join Yuga as the General Manager of Otherside. He will be charged with evolving the vision and leading the development and production of the platform, together with the highly experienced Yuga executive team. Prior to Roar, Reid spent more than two decades building teams and creating and distributing film, television, and music content for audiences worldwide (including film franchises such as UNDERWORLD).
About Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs is a web3 company shaping the future through storytelling, experiences, and community. Guided by the belief that the potential of web3 can be realized when we start with imagination, not limitations, Yuga's initiatives aim to reinvent what real-world utility for NFTs look like and push the space forward as a whole. Since their launch in April 2021 with flagship collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, they've made headlines as one of the first companies to release IP licenses to their NFT holders, acquired and released rights to other top collections (CryptoPunks and Meebits), and made web3 history with record-breaking synchronized player participation in their newest initiative, Otherside. One of the most ambitious interactive metaverse projects to date, Otherside is built with the community, rebelling against traditional walled gardens in gaming spaces. In March 2022, Yuga Labs raised a $450M seed round at a $4B valuation.
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A local man’s efforts to stop child trafficking worldwide
By Cynthia Yip
Click here for updates on this story
HONOLULU, Hawaii (KITV) — A local man is sharing his experience with the real life events that inspired The Sound of Freedom on social media. The movie is based on the story behind Tim Ballard, a federal agent who conducted a sting operation to protect children from human traffickers.
While the movie mixes fact and fiction, Kahea Kamau’u, an anti-human trafficking volunteer, took to social media to share the truth.
“The question was, ‘is she a true character? Was this person real?’ and the answer is yes,” Kamau’u said on TikTok. “She was Miss Cartegena for Colombia … she used her influence to attract young kids and then she would traffic them.”
Kamau’u helped protect Tim Ballard in 2018 when he went to Cartegena to testify against the traffickers portrayed in the Sound of Freedom.
“We had to keep him safe,” Kamau’u said. “Bomb threats, shooting threats to basically kill the witness. So a team of us flew in and we covered him to the courthouse, we had armed guards. He was wearing a bullet proof vest.”
Kamau’u says he volunteers and donates to non profits that help end human trafficking and that he is moved to help these groups because of his two sons. He said like girls, boys are trafficked too.
He hopes the Sound of Freedom ignites awareness about child traffickers.
“If at minimum, its talked about this talk about the abuse of young girls difficult subject to talk about which is why these traffickers have gotten away with it,” Kamau’u said. “But now that we are aware just sharing and talking about it and being more aware of the situation, then it will ignite the fire that will eventually end the trafficking issues.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. | https://kion546.com/cnn-regional/2023/07/31/a-local-mans-efforts-to-stop-child-trafficking-worldwide/ | 2023-07-31T15:00:14 | 0 | https://kion546.com/cnn-regional/2023/07/31/a-local-mans-efforts-to-stop-child-trafficking-worldwide/ |
LOS ANGELES, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Zefr's third-party brand suitability verification solution for Instagram Feed is now available. This AI-powered measurement solution provides marketers with even more transparency into their Meta campaigns, measuring GARM brand safety and suitability across both Instagram and Facebook Feed placements.
Additionally, the verification solution will now be available in more global territories, supporting advertisers in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese and Portuguese speaking countries. Advertisers will have full access to their Instagram Feed measurement via their Atrium dashboard, which provides full transparency across platforms including Meta, TikTok and YouTube.
Meta recently announced new inventory filters for Facebook and Instagram Feeds that are now rolling out to advertisers in these additional global markets. Both the added inventory filters and expanded third-party brand suitability verification developments underscore Zefr and Meta's ongoing commitment to critical innovation within the industry, powered by AI technology that deepens advertiser transparency and brand suitability controls.
"Earlier this year we began rolling out our third party brand suitability verification solution with Zefr for Facebook Feed as a part of the launch of our AI-powered brand suitability controls. We are excited to expand this offering to Instagram Feed, offering businesses another solution to help meet their brand safety and suitability needs. In addition to English and Spanish, our brand suitability verification solution is also being expanded to four additional languages and testing for third party brand suitability verification for Reels will begin in August. We look forward to sharing more expansion offerings for the brand suitability verification solution in the coming months." Samantha Stetson, Vice President, Client Council and Industry Trade Relations.
"We're excited to announce our AI-powered, third-party brand suitability verification for Instagram Feed. This innovation marks another important step forward in the industry, providing brands with transparency into their adjacencies across both Facebook & Instagram Feed. Our continued collaboration with Meta, expanded global coverage, and commitment to transparency mapped to the GARM standards enables more responsible media investment for advertisers worldwide," said Rich Raddon, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Zefr.
For more detail on Zefr's brand suitability verification product for Meta, please visit www.zefr.com/atrium, or reach out to measurement@zefr.com.
CONTACT: Hank Kim, hank@m8media.net
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Car-to-car shooting shuts down 10 Freeway lanes in East L.A. area
By Web Staff
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CALIFORNIA (KCAL) — Eastbound 10 Freeway traffic was shut down during a California Highway Patrol investigation after a driver was shot in a car-to-car shooting early Monday morning.
A Sigalert was issued in the East Los Angeles area after a driver was reportedly shot on eastbound 10 Freeway lanes near Eastern Avenue and Campus Road at about 4 a.m.
California Highway Patrol officers responded at about 4 a.m. to the scene following reports of a car-to-car shooting.
One victim was found at the scene with a gunshot wound. The driver of a Honda SUV, a man in his 50s, reportedly called 911 after sustaining gunshot wounds to his head and shoulder and pulling over. He was hospitalized in unknown condition.
No suspect information or motivation was immediately released.
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Detroit woman files lawsuit after ambulance crash causes miscarriage
By Alysia Burgio
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DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — A Metro Detroit woman is demanding justice after a ride to the hospital in an ambulance turned tragic.
“All I remember is we hit something extremely hard at a high of rate speed,” said Brandy Holmes.
It was at the intersection of Oakwood Boulevard and Southfield Road on Monday, July 24, around 4 p.m., when fear took over Holmes.
That’s when the ambulance she was riding in crashed into a parked car at a stop light after the driver of the rig was reportedly driving erratically with no lights or sirens.
“The rig lifted off the ground, it began to rock violently, and because I was strapped into the restraints, my body lifted forward, which put pressure on my stomach,” Holmes said.
Holmes was seven weeks pregnant and was en route to the hospital after she experienced stomach pains. The following day after the incident, she suffered a miscarriage.
“Just when we started getting excited about having a baby, we lost it. I want someone held accountable for this,” she said.
According to the police report, the driver of the rig fell asleep, causing the collision. Holmes has now filed a lawsuit against that driver and Hart EMS Medical Services whom the driver was employed.
“We have questions. It’s not enough to say that you fell asleep behind the wheel after driving so erratically. Were there other things that contributed to this car accident? We don’t know,” said James King, Holmes’ attorney at The Cochran Firm Detroit.
King says after the crash, it took 30 minutes for Holmes to arrive at the hospital for treatment. And since the incident, no one has reached out.
“It’s inexcusable and something that could have been prevented. We’re asking for answers. We’re demanding answers. We’re demanding that someone answer these questions, and someone be held accountable for what happened to this woman, this man and their unborn child,” King said.
Holmes is a 911 dispatcher in Detroit and is demanding justice for a public service system that she says failed her tremendously.
“This is not ok. This is not ok, and something needs to be done,” she said.
King says only a few parties are named in the lawsuit as of now. The law firm does plan on adding more as they gather further evidence.
CBS News Detroit has reached out to Hart EMS for a response to the lawsuit. We have not heard back.
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Happy Cat Hotel and Spa takes pet boarding to next level in Westchester County
By John Dias
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SCARSDALE, NEW YORK (WCBS) — The Happy Cat Hotel and Spa recently opened up in Westchester County, and its owners say it’s different than other pet boarding places.
They say it’s perfect for cat parents looking to get away this summer.
Creativity was key when it came to the yearlong process of designing and custom building the 2,500 square foot cat-only boarding facility. Each of its unique rooms is individually themed.
They vary in sizes and could be shared or private, and some even have televisions.
Co-Owner Christina Marraza says pretending the cats are away on vacation too is a bonus.
“It’s kind of more for the people than the cats, but that’s OK, we love it,” she said.
She says it’s really the large space the cats enjoy the most while their parents are out of town.
“Happy Cat is not traditional cat boarding,” she said. “Eight foot ceilings, cats have places to climb, places to breathe. We are all about the vertical spaces here, which is why every room has climbing shelves, because cats need to be cats, they should not be confined.”
Cats get playtime with staff every day and even get room service three times a day. Parents must supply the food from home due to dietary reasons.
Staff also assist with basic medical care.
“We do get a lot of cats who need medication or maybe cats who are a little elderly,” said Marraza
If you’re missing your cat while away, you can check in from wherever you are, since each room is equipped with a webcam.
“If it’s 3 in the morning and you’re on vacation and you want to see what Fluffy is up to, you can do that,” Marraza said.
The staff also sends daily pictures and videos so you can rest assured, like the name of the hotel, your pet will likely be a happy cat.
Like human hotels, each room varies in prices and can be more expensive during peak travel months.
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England vs. China: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 6:46 AM MST|Updated: 1 hour ago
England will play China in Adelaide, Australia, in the last round of group-stage games at the 2023 Women's World Cup, on August 1 at 7:00 AM ET.
This matchup will be available on FOX US,Fox Sports 1.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch England vs. China
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 7:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Adelaide, Australia
- Venue: Coopers Stadium
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
England Group Stage Schedule
England's Recent Performance
- England picked up a victory in its last match 1-0 over Denmark on July 28. was outshot in the matchup, 11 to seven.
- England was led by Lauren James, who netted her side's goal versus .
- James' Women's World Cup statline through two appearances for England includes one goal.
- Rachel Daly has no goals, but has one assist for England in Women's World Cup action.
- In two Women's World Cup matchups, Georgia Stanway has one goal.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
England's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Mary Earps #1
- Lucy Bronze #2
- Niamh Charles #3
- Keira Walsh #4
- Alex Greenwood #5
- Millie Bright #6
- Lauren James #7
- Georgia Stanway #8
- Rachel Daly #9
- Ella Toone #10
- Lauren Hemp #11
- Jordan Nobbs #12
- Hannah Hampton #13
- Lotte Wubben-Moy #14
- Esme Morgan #15
- Jessica Carter #16
- Laura Coombs #17
- Chloe Kelly #18
- Bethany England #19
- Katie Zelem #20
- Ellie Roebuck #21
- Katie Robinson #22
- Alessia Russo #23
China Group Stage Schedule
China's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 28, China claimed a 1-0 victory over Haiti. China outshot Haiti nine to six.
- Wang Shuang scored the lone goal for China on one shot.
- In two Women's World Cup matches for China, Shuang has one goal (16th in the 2023 Women's World Cup).
China's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Zhu Yu #1
- Mengwen Li #2
- Jiaxing Dou #3
- LinLin Wang #4
- Wu Haiyan #5
- Xin Zhang #6
- Wang Shuang #7
- Yao Wei #8
- Mengyu Shen #9
- Zhang Rui #10
- Wang Shanshan #11
- Xu Huan #12
- Lina Yang #13
- Lou Jiahui #14
- Qiaozhu Chen #15
- Lingwei Yao #16
- Wu Cheng Shu #17
- Jiali Tang #18
- Linyan Zhang #19
- Yuyi Xiao #20
- Gu Yasha #21
- Hongyan Pan #22
- Chen Gao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-england-china-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T15:00:25 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-england-china-live-stream-tv/ |
‘I thank God he sent her my way’: On International Friendship Day, two seniors share about their special bond
By Madison Smith
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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Saturday, July 30, marked International Friendship Day, which is recognized as a day for people to celebrate those closest to them.
In Asheville, two ladies shared with News 13 what it means to them to be friends through thick and thin.
At Brookdale Asheville Overlook, Nancy and Pauline have been friends for a year now, but they remember that day like it was yesterday.
“I met Nancy at the Western North Carolina Baptist Home in Asheville, North Carolina. That day, she sat across the table from me in the dining room, and I looked at her and I said I will see you Dec. 15 — and that came true,” said Pauline Brinkley, Nancy’s best friend.
“From the time I came to the other place we were at, we’ve just been very close,” said Nancy Suddreth, Pauline’s best friend. “And when we moved over here, we were just as close.”
Living right next to each other, they share a lot of time getting to know one another and making up for lost time.
“We’re together three times a day. Morning, lunch and dinner in the evening,” Pauline said. “We always enjoy when she comes to my doorway and we sit in our chairs and talk, reminisce and talk about our childhood — how we grew up, where we grew up. She’s special to me.”
Spending all that time together has really made them appreciate each other.
“Oh, I can tell you exactly the perfect thing about her,” Pauline said. “She has the most beautiful smile of anybody in this facility. She’s always smiling. She always seems happy.”
“She’s just such a sweet person, and I love her so much,” Nancy said about Pauline.
It’s a friendship that might have started later in life, but one that will continue on for many more years to come.
“It’s very special to me that I can have a true friend, that I can say she’s my true friend any time,” Pauline said. “Anywhere we are, she’s there with me. I thank God that he sent her my way.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. | https://kion546.com/cnn-regional/2023/07/31/i-thank-god-he-sent-her-my-way-on-international-friendship-day-two-seniors-share-about-their-special-bond/ | 2023-07-31T15:00:32 | 1 | https://kion546.com/cnn-regional/2023/07/31/i-thank-god-he-sent-her-my-way-on-international-friendship-day-two-seniors-share-about-their-special-bond/ |
MOBOT announces bloom of corpse flower, extended hours for viewing
By Rheanna Wachter
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — The Missouri Botanical Garden has announced extended viewing hours for visitors wishing to watch the bloom of one of their Corpse Flowers.
The flower, named Octavia, started blooming around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The blooms, which create a fragrant smell the flower is named after, last less than 24 hours. Because of this, the garden will be open for free viewings from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. in the Linnean House, where Octavia is.
Those with tickets to Chihuly Nights will be able to see Octavia with admission as well.
Octavia is the garden’s 13th corpse flower bloom.
This plant, Octavia, was one of four tubers gifted to the Garden from The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in 2008. Octavia has bloomed three previous times.
Earlier this year, Octavia split, creating two tubers. Her clone, yet to be named, will likely bloom in about 10 days.
Corpse flowers are listed as Endangered in the wild by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species. They can take five to ten years to grow from seed until it is ready for its first bloom.
For more information visit: mobot.org/corpseflower
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New York City rule banning single-use plastic in takeout orders goes into effect Monday
By Web Staff
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK (WCBS) — New York City is eliminating plastic utensils, condiment packets and napkins from your takeout order.
The “Skip the Stuff” rule goes into effect Monday. It aims to reduce single-use plastic, most of which ends up in landfills.
Restaurants and online ordering services are not allowed to include them in an order unless specifically requested.
A warning period for the new requirement ends June 30, 2024, then fines will be issued for violations.
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NYPD: Deadly stabbing of Sibley Oshae at Brooklyn gas station under investigation as possible hate crime
By Kristie Keleshian
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK (WCBS) — The NYPD has identified the man who was stabbed to death outside of a Brooklyn gas station on Saturday night and added the Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.
CBS New York spoke to one of the victim’s close friends on Sunday.
Police said the altercation started as an argument outside a Mobil gas station on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue P in Midwood at around 11:15 p.m. A man seen on surveillance video wearing black shorts came out of Bolla Market after apparently seeing a group of friends dancing.
He allegedly directed comments at them, which sparked an argument that ended with a 28-year-old, identified as Sibley Oshae, being stabbed to death.
“He was just a fun-loving, beautiful person, like energetic. He was very protective of his family, like all he promoted was just love,” one friend said.
The friend who didn’t want to be identified, was heartbroken after hearing about his death on Facebook. They had been friends for about the last decade.
“This circumstances is like ridiculous. He wasn’t a part of no gangs. Like, he was out here, it was a night of fun,” the friend said.
Oshae was known to be a part of the ballroom community, which is made up predominantly of LGBTQ+ men of color. The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force says it is investigating.
“I said, ‘What happened?’ And my friend was so shocked, he couldn’t even talk first,” delivery worker Zafar Safaroe said. “I came over and checked and they said, ‘Back off, back off, there’s someone dead.'”
Safaroe was working Saturday night. All of his orders out of the 24-hour Burger King at the gas station had to be canceled because of the investigation. Those pumping their gas at the station and Safaroe said it is normally a safe area, but now Safaroe is proceeding with extra caution.
Oshae’s friend said he and his group of friends were just coming back from a birthday celebration before heading to the gas station.
“This is how, like, the night just ended up, which was him, you know, just passing away,” the friend said.
Police have not made any arrests.
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Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee surprised with bronze bust of herself in Phalen Regional Park
By Marielle Mohs
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ST. PAUL, Minnesota (WCCO) — A Minnesota superstar was honored in a big way Sunday morning in her hometown.
St. Paul Parks and Recreation surprised Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee with a statue of herself at Phalen Regional Park.
“I’m so excited and I’m super happy. I love it. It’s beautiful,” said Suni, who was thrilled to bring home “bronze” this time.
Suni was the first Hmong American to win an Olympic gold medal, and now she’ll be the first female athlete to ever be commemorated in a St. Paul Park.
“It’s just such an amazing community that I’m so grateful to be a part of,” Suni said.
This bust marks the time in history when Lee took home the gold for the Women’s All-Around in Gymnastics in Tokyo in 2021.
“This is our gift to you,” said Seexeng Lee, the artist of the bust, who is also related to Suni.
It took him less than a year to design, mold and then create a statue to stand permanently along Lake Phalen.
“I worked this hard because it’s totally worth working hard for,” Seexeng said.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was also on hand to proclaim July 30th “Sunisa Lee” Day in the state of Minnesota.
“I hope to be an inspiration and an advocate for the next generations and other amazing athletes,” Suni said.
She certainly is an inspiration. Suni stuck around Phalen Regional Park after the ceremony to meet her fans and sign autographs, including signing a T-shirt for 9-year-old gymnast Emma Nguyen.
“She taught me to never give up, believe in myself,” said Nguyen, who hopes to follow in Suni’s footsteps. “I might as well make it to the Olympics, too.”
Suni inspires beyond the sport of gymnastics. These young fans say her journey to get the gold serves as a life lesson.
“To never give up on your dreams and that it may seem impossible but you just got to keep fighting for it,” said Katie Bierscheid, a fan of Suni who got her autograph on Sunday.
Suni has her sights set on the Olympics 2024 in Paris. First, she’s expected to compete in the Olympics trials which will be hosted in Minneapolis in June 2024.
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Police: 84-year-old Milwaukee man found dead inside apartment after power outage caused by severe weather
By Ellie Nakamoto-White
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MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (WDJT) — An 84-year-old man is dead after police said Friday’s severe weather may have caused the power in his apartment to go out, leading his electric oxygen unit to fail.
On Sunday, the Milwaukee medical examiner identified the man as Alton Smith who lived on N. Lovers Ln Rd.
Police said Smith’s niece, Sheila, found him lying on the ground in his apartment’s living room on Saturday afternoon.
She had come over the night before around 9:30 to check on him.
Neighbors told officials the power had gone out just 30 minutes later.
When police arrived on scene Saturday a little after 3 p.m., they found an oxygen tank on one side of Smith and a plug-in oxygen unit on the other, records said.
The power had not yet been restored.
Officials said the inside of the apartment was “uncomfortably hot” and that there was “no thermostat observed in the home.”
According to relatives, Smith did not drink alcohol, smoke tobacco or use any illegal drugs.
There was no trauma or other injuries observed on his body.
This incident is still under investigation.
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Riverside Mo woman dies while attending the Chiefs training camp
By Melonne McBride
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SAINT JOSEPH, Missouri (KCTV) — Lifelong Chiefs fan, Jessica Tangen, Riverside Missouri, passed away on Sunday while attending the Chiefs training camp.
Mosaic Life Care, healthcare partner to the Chiefs, provided medical attention along with Buchanan County EMS and Missouri Western State University staff Sunday morning.
Tangen’s family shared with the healthcare provider that she loved cheering for the Chiefs.
KCTV5 reached out to Mosaic Life Care to ask the cause of death. At this time, no additional details were provided.
It is our honor and sacred duty to provide the highest quality health care to our communities and visitors. Our Mosaic caregivers who provided medical attention at camp Sunday morning and our emergency department caregivers would like to thank our partners who reacted swiftly including Buchanan County EMS and Missouri Western State University staff.
Mosaic Life Care
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Santa joins Philadelphia motorcycle club to celebrate Christmas in July with toy run
By Madeleine Wright
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Sunday is the 27th annual Christmas in July toy run! Santa Claus got on his Harley-Davidson and lead a pack of 500 to 600 motorcyclists to Shriners Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the city’s Hunting Park neighborhood.
“A lot of the kids down there are suffering from multiple orthopedic issues. They have missing limbs, deformities, broken legs, broken bones — things like that. Shriners Hospital treats children all over the country at no cost or very little cost. So that’s why a day like today helps facilitate their treatment,” said Bill Ciamaichelo, president of the Centurion Motorcycle Club.
The Centurion Motorcycle Club will help drop off $70,000 in donations for the hospital, as well as hundreds of toys for pediatric patients waiting on the sidewalk with their families.
“They love it. Their faces — it’s priceless to see their faces. They’re laughing, smiling and they can’t wait to see some of the motorcycles and Santa Claus when he shows up,” Ciamaichelo added. “It just gives them something to look forward to every year without waiting for actual Christmas, so they do Christmas in July. And it just helps them throughout the year — lifts their spirits a little bit.”
Over the last 27 years, the motorcycle club has raised $700,000 in donations for the hospital.
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Small Towns Against Hate: Group organizes ‘ball gown’ protest for Hartford Jason Aldean concert
By Rob Polansky and Dylan Fearon
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HARTFORD, Connecticut (WFSB) — Activists protested at this weekend’s Jason Aldean concert in Hartford.
Kamora’s Cultural Corner organized the event for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Xfinity Theatre.
It was called “Small Towns Against Hate.”
Organizers encouraged attendees to wear ball gown attire.
“There’s this natural discourse that says small-town America should be scared of big-city America. But these folks don’t know that when we have to venture out into their communities, we are scared because of all these stereotypes out there,” said Kamora Herrington, Organizer, Hartford.
“There’s nothing really racist about the actual song. If we’re taking something that happened in 1937 and we’re going to carry it with us for 100 years, I can guarantee you that they probably didn’t even really know the situation that was going on,” said Joe Ward, Jason Aldean Fan, Bristol.
The concert was rescheduled after Aldean suffered heatstroke during the original Hartford show on July 15.
Aldean made headlines recently for his music video “Try That in a Small Town,” which included footage from Black Lives Matter protests.
Some people said the message in the song insinuated that the protests and riots in large cities wouldn’t fly in small towns. They argued that it glorified lynching, racial tension and violence.
Viewers noted that the music video was shot in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, TN, where an 18-year-old Black man was lynched in 1927.
Aldean defended the song on social media. He said it was about getting back a sense of community.
“When you grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other,’” he wrote on Instagram. “It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way.”
As a result of the controversy, CMT pulled the music video from its rotation.
However, the song continued to make waves on the Billboard charts. This week, it reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It hit number 1 on the Billboard country chart.
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TBI investigating deputy death in Cheatham County
By Tony Garcia
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ASHLAND CITY, Tennessee (WSMV) — A deputy with the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Department passed away over the weekend, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into it.
According to TBI, District Attorney General Ray Crouch requested an investigation into the death of an off-duty Cheatham County deputy this weekend. Special agents responded to a home in the 2300 block of Highway 12 in Ashland City.
The deputy’s name has not been released, and the body has been taken to the Medical Examiner’s office to determine a cause of death.
TBI confirms the investigation remains open.
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Ashley Hooks always planned to retire at Lakewood Regional Medical Center, where she has been a nurse for 12 years. But now, Hooks said, staffing issues are so bad and burnout so severe that she’s rethinking how she wants to spend the rest of her career.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the number of nurses at the hospital dropped from just below 500 to 330 according to her union’s roster, said Hooks, who is 53.
“It wasn’t even this difficult during the height of the COVID pandemic,” she said.
Hooks’ stress reflects pressure many California nurses are under because of steep understanding that she and others say is driving many professionals out of the industry.
According to the Hospital Association of Southern California, nursing vacancy rates among local hospitals exceed 30%. Prior to the pandemic the average vacancy rate was 6%.
“Within the last year and a half or so, it’s really gotten worse,” Hooks said.
Now the Legislature is looking at several ideas to address the nursing shortage by bringing more early-career nurses into the field. But so far, the groups with most to gain — or lose — are at odds over how to solve the staffing problems afflicting California’s health care workforce.
“There is a lot of trauma in the nursing workforce. The numbers are not good.”JOANNE SPETZ, THE INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH POLICY STUDIES AT UC SAN FRANCISCO
Labor organizations and hospitals want nursing schools to prioritize certain applicants for admission, such as people who already have experience in the industry.
“We don’t have enough nurses entering the system as opportunities are opening up for them to leave the system,” said Peter Sidhu, a nurse and executive vice president of United Nurses Associations of California/United Health Care Professionals.
But the schools say that won’t help them graduate more nurses. They need more faculty and more hands-on training opportunities to increase class sizes.
Hospitals and unions say they don’t have much time to waste. Estimates show California faces a shortage of about 36,000 licensed nurses, according to the UC San Francisco Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care.
Preliminary data from a statewide survey conducted in 2022 shows nurses cut back on the number of hours worked per week since 2020, and nearly half the workforce reports symptoms of burnout, said Joanne Spetz, director of the Institute for Health Policy Studies at UC San Francisco, who has studied nursing workforce issues for more than a decade.
More nurses, even those as young as 35, are thinking about leaving the profession entirely or retiring within the next two years, and half of the workforce had at least one patient die of COVID-19, Spetz said.
“There is a lot of trauma in the nursing workforce,” Spetz said. “The numbers are not good.”
Union-backed bills for nursing shortage
Labor advocates say the nursing shortage creates a vicious cycle. The nurses on shift wind up doing more work. They get burned out and flee the industry, worsening the problem.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the United Nurses Associations of California/United Health Care Professionals turned their attention to the state’s community college system, where graduates can earn degrees to become nursing assistants, licensed vocational nurses or registered nurses. Both groups say community colleges offer the most affordable and efficient way to earn a nursing degree.
One of their ideas aims to help high school students get into nursing schools faster. Another would give entry-level workers the chance to move into more skilled and higher paid positions like nursing.
Sidhu’s union is sponsoring a bill that would create a pilot program for high school students who take extra classes to have preferential admission into a community college nursing program.
A second measure, which is co-sponsored by SEIU and the California Hospital Association, would require community colleges to set aside 15% of enrollment slots for health care workers looking to further their education with a more advanced degree. They say helping current workers get higher-paying jobs within health care will help with retention.
“When we talk to our hospital members, workforce issues are the number one thing that keep them up at night,” said Jan Emerson-Shea, spokesperson for the California Hospitals Association. “We also hear from employees that they’ve tried getting into community college programs, but because they’re so impacted, it can take them three, four or five years to get into the program.”
California colleges skeptical of union bills
But community college and some university nursing school leaders contend neither bill will boost the number of graduates. Nursing programs are full, they say, and the proposals do nothing to expand the number of admission slots.
“These bills come up and I wonder who on earth would propose something like this to impact the community colleges without getting our input,” said Tammy Vant Hul, south region president of the California Organization of Associate Degree Nursing Program Directors.
Vant Hul is also dean of nursing at Riverside City College, the second largest community college nursing program in the state. High school students would not have completed enough prerequisites to apply directly to a nursing program, much less be guaranteed admission, Vant Hul said, and existing health care workers already get additional points during the admissions process.
The problem isn’t generating career interest in nursing; it’s creating more spots, program leaders say.
Karen Bradley, president of the California Association of Colleges of Nursing, said nursing programs have an overabundance of competitive applicants.
“We have not had a dip at all in enrollment in my program. I have a waiting list,” said Bradley, who is also dean of California Baptist University’s nursing program. “Every dean is going to tell you that they have a waiting list or enough qualified applicants that they turn away students.”
About 14,000 new students enrolled in nursing programs during the 2020-21 school year, according to the Board of Registered Nursing’s annual school report. That’s about 1,000 fewer students than the previous two years due to smaller class sizes, but schools across the state received more than 55,000 applications, a 10-year record.
The bills’ sponsors say they have spoken with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, which has not taken a position on any of the workforce bills.
Separate from the bills, United Nurses Associations of California/United Health Care Professionals lobbied for a $300 million investment over five years to double the state’s nursing school capacity. It was included in the state budget Gov. Gavin Newsom signed earlier this summer.
The details of how the money will be spent have not been decided, Sidhu said, but it could be used to increase faculty salaries and overcome other factors that limit class sizes.
More room needed for California nurse trainees
Representatives for nursing programs say the money will be helpful, but they’re worried about other bottlenecks that they say prevent them from enrolling more students.
Lack of nursing faculty caps class sizes, for instance, with potential educators instead choosing to make more money working in health care. They also say hospitals are not offering enough opportunities for their students to get hands-on training.
“As we move forward with the nursing shortage, clinical placements are an issue. So many hospitals kind of downsized their willingness to bring on students during the pandemic, and those spots never came back,” said Linda Zorn, legislative chair for the California Organization of Associate Degree Nursing and executive director of economic and workforce development for Butte-Glenn Community College District.
A third proposal in the Legislature attempts to clear that hurdle by guaranteeing clinical placement spots for community college students. A mix of opponents are fighting the bill, including hospitals, four-year universities and some community college advocates who say it will take spots away from other students and overwhelm nursing staff.
“Some hospitals aren’t big enough. They can’t take on hundreds of students. They have 25 beds,” said Sarah Bridge, senior legislative advocate for the Association of Health Care Districts, which represents primarily small, rural hospitals in the state.
During the 2020-21 school year, the most commonly cited reason by nursing schools for decreasing class sizes was “unable to secure clinical placements,” according to the Board of Registered Nursing’s annual school report, in part due to workforce challenges resulting from the pandemic. The report states that more than 15,000 students were impacted by restricted training spots compared to roughly 2,200 students during the 2018-19 school year.
“So many hospitals kind of downsized their willingness to bring on students during the pandemic, and those spots never came back.”LINDA ZORN, LEGISLATIVE CHAIR FOR THE CALIFORNIA ORGANIZATION OF ASSOCIATE DEGREE NURSING
Bridge said many small and rural hospitals also are teetering on the edge of a financial crisis. It costs about $7,000 to train one student, not including the salary cost of nurses who supervise students. Multiply that by the number of student trainees accepted and some hospitals can’t foot the bill, Bridge said.
Zorn said nursing schools know they have to be sensitive to how many students get sent to any one hospital, which is part of the reason many are skeptical of the bill. The number of student training spots recently has been limited by the profession’s thinly stretched workforce.
“It can close down the rural hospitals if you don’t have the correct staffing,” Zorn said.
Leaders from four-year degree programs also say the proposal would displace their nursing students in favor of community college students.
The bill sponsors say the intent of the legislation is to create more training capacity, not to displace existing students, as some critics have claimed, said Eric Robles, legislative director for United Nurses Associations of California/United Health Care Professionals.
“If hospitals are getting bailouts, I would sure hope everybody believes our nurse workforce needs a bailout too,” Robles said. “And that bailout can come through strengthening the pipeline, growing the workforce and maintaining the workforce.”
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing "harmful" materials to minors, a federal judge ruled Saturday.
U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which also would have created a new process to challenge library materials and request that they be relocated to areas not accessible by kids. The measure, signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year, was set to take effect Aug. 1.
A coalition that included the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock had challenged the law, saying fear of prosecution under the measure could prompt libraries and booksellers to no longer carry titles that could be challenged.
The judge also rejected a motion by the defendants, which include prosecuting attorneys for the state, seeking to dismiss the case.
The ACLU of Arkansas, which represents some of the plaintiffs, applauded the court's ruling, saying that the absence of a preliminary injunction would have jeopardized First Amendment rights.
"The question we had to ask was — do Arkansans still legally have access to reading materials? Luckily, the judicial system has once again defended our highly valued liberties," Holly Dickson, the executive director of the ACLU in Arkansas, said in a statement.
The lawsuit comes as lawmakers in an increasing number of conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books. The number of attempts to ban or restrict books across the U.S. last year was the highest in the 20 years the American Library Association has been tracking such efforts.
Laws restricting access to certain materials or making it easier to challenge them have been enacted in several other states, including Iowa, Indiana and Texas.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said in an email Saturday that his office would be "reviewing the judge's opinion and will continue to vigorously defend the law."
The executive director of Central Arkansas Library System, Nate Coulter, said the judge's 49-page decision recognized the law as censorship, a violation of the Constitution and wrongly maligning librarians.
"As folks in southwest Arkansas say, this order is stout as horseradish!" he said in an email.
"I'm relieved that for now the dark cloud that was hanging over CALS' librarians has lifted," he added.
Cheryl Davis, general counsel for the Authors Guild, said the organization is "thrilled" about the decision. She said enforcing this law "is likely to limit the free speech rights of older minors, who are capable of reading and processing more complex reading materials than young children can."
The Arkansas lawsuit names the state's 28 local prosecutors as defendants, along with Crawford County in west Arkansas. A separate lawsuit is challenging the Crawford County library's decision to move children's books that included LGBTQ+ themes to a separate portion of the library.
The plaintiffs challenging Arkansas' restrictions also include the Fayetteville and Eureka Springs Carnegie public libraries, the American Booksellers Association and the Association of American Publishers.
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As the hour creeps past three in the afternoon, New Orleans' streets are devoid of tourists and locals alike. The heat index is over 105 degrees.
At the city's ambulance depot, the concrete parking lot seems to magnify the sweltering heat, circulating the air like a convection oven.
New Orleans Emergency Medical Services has been busy this summer, responding to heat-related emergency calls and rushing patients to nearby hospitals.
Capt. Janick Lewis and Lt. Titus Carriere demonstrate how they can load a stretcher into an ambulance using an automated loading system.
Lewis wipes sweat from his brow as the loading arm whirs and hums, raising the stretcher into the ambulance — "unit" in official terminology.
But the mechanical assistance isn't the best thing about the new vehicle. "The nicest thing about being assigned a brand new unit, is it's a brand-new air conditioning system," Lewis says.
The new AC is much more than just a luxury for the hard-working crews. These days they need the extra cooling power to help save lives.
"The number one thing you do take care of somebody is get them out of the heat, get them somewhere cool," Lewis says. "So the number one thing we spend our time worrying about in the summertime is keeping the truck cool."
Like much of the country, New Orleans has been embroiled in an almost relentless heat wave for weeks. As a result, more people are falling ill with heat-related conditions than ever before. Just last week, EMS responded to 29 heat-related calls — more than triple compared to the same period last year.
As the city's emergency medical systems deal with the influx of patients, scientists say these dangerous heat levels — and the increasing stress they put on human bodies and medical systems — may be the new norm.
At the same time, New Orleans EMS has struggled with funding and staffing challenges. It's currently operating with only 60% of its needed staff. The city's chief of EMS has called for increased funding for higher wages to attract more workers.
Lewis says they're making do with the resources they have, and prioritizing one-time expenses like new ambulances to help them meet the challenges they're facing.
"We're going to provide the care everybody needs, regardless of how hot it gets," Lewis says. "We'd love to have all the help in the world, but we're getting the job done with what we have right now."
Health dangers above 100℉
When a human being is exposed to high levels of heat for too long, it starts to raise the core body temperature. Once that exceeds 100 degrees, hyperthermia can develop. That can prompt an escalating cascade of health problems if it isn't quickly addressed.
The first stage is heat exhaustion, Lt. Carriere explains: "That means you're hot, you may have an elevated temp, but you also have what's called diaphoresis, which means your body is sweating, is still trying to compensate and cool yourself off." You'll also likely have other symptoms like weakness, dizziness, and headache.
Carriere says that if you can quickly get out of the heat and into some AC, generally you'll recover from heat exhaustion on your own. But if you don't, your core temperature will continue to rise.
Near 104° the dangers escalate
If internal body temperature approaches 104 degrees, you could succumb to the next stage — heat stroke.
"Once you move to heat stroke, your body stops compensating," Carriere says. "You stop sweating. You're hot. You're dry, and your organs are basically like frying themselves from the inside out."
When you stop sweating, it becomes even harder for your body to cool itself down. During heat stroke, you may also experience other severe symptoms like an altered state of mind, confusion, and a rapid, erratic pulse. You may even lose consciousness.
Heat illness can develop after unrelieved exposure to incessant heat, but high humidity compounds the problem by making it harder for the body to cool itself by sweating.
Working outdoors, dehydration, alcohol or drug use, and sunburn all increase the risk. The very old, children under 4, and those who are obese or have certain medical conditions are particularly vulnerable.
Without medical intervention, heat stroke can be deadly. EMS starts treatment immediately after they arrive on the scene.
"We'll get them on a gurney, get them into the unit, start removing their clothing and put ice packs wherever applicable to try to cool them down," says Carriere.
Saving lives in the ER with ice, fluids, and medical support
Once you're loaded into the ambulance, they'll race you to a nearby hospital, Carriere says. At University Medical Center (UMC), the city's largest hospital, doctors and nurses will continue efforts to quickly lower body temperature, and replace fluids by IV if necessary..
"When the patient ends up at the hospital, we're going to continue that cooling process," Elder says. "We're going to put them in an ice water bath," says Dr. Jeffrey Elder, the Medical Director for Emergency Management at UMC. "We may use some misting fans and some cold fluids to get their body temperature down to a reasonable temperature while we're supporting all the other bodily functions."
Getting your core temperature down as quickly as possible is the highest priority, Elder explains, and is what will ultimately save your life. One way they can speed that along is by burying you in ice. In other parts of the country, doctors actually place patients inside body bags pre-packed with pounds of ice. Body bags are useful in these cases because they're waterproof and are designed to closely fit the human form.
They don't use body bags at UMC's emergency room, but during the summer, staffers do keep bags of ice ready to go at all times.
"On the stretcher, we'll use some of the sheets as kind of a barrier," Elder says. "And while they're on the stretcher, we'll just put the ice on them right then and there."
Hospital staff will continue to work to cool you down until your temperature gets back below 100. That's when you're considered to be in the medical safe zone.
Elder admits that while it always gets hot in New Orleans during the summer, his emergency room has been treating more heat-related illness in 2023 than ever before. A few patients have died from the heat.
Like many other hospital systems, UMC is struggling with staffing challenges since the pandemic. But UMC has prioritized staffing of the emergency department in order to handle things like an influx of patients from heat-related illness, Elder says.
Burden on health infrastructure heats up
Across the country, meteorological events like heat waves and heat domes will become more frequent and intense in the future, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Extreme summer heat is increasing in the United States," says Claudia Brown, a health scientist with the CDC's Climate and Health Program. "And climate projections are indicating that extreme heat events will be more frequent and intense in the coming decades."
Health infrastructure will be challenged to keep up in order to treat patients suffering from extreme heat exposure. In New Orleans, both first responders and doctors say they expect to see more patients with heat-related illness. July is merely the halfway point of a Louisiana summer.
"We haven't even gotten to the hottest part yet, which is typically August to September," says EMS Lt. Titus Carriere. "So I'm expecting it to get pretty bad."
This story comes from NPR's health reporting partnership with the Gulf States Newsroom and KFF Health News.
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Texas teen drowns in Sabine River
By Web Staff
Click here for updates on this story
LOGANSPORT, Louisiana (KTBS) — A Texas teenager died late Friday night in the Sabine River in Logansport, Sheriff Jayson Richardson said.
The drowning was reported just before 6:30 p.m. near the pavilion on the downtown riverfront.
An adult and several teenage boys were fishing in the area before two of the teens decided to go in for a swim. One did not resurface after jumping in, Richardson said.
One of the teens ran to the nearby DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Substation for help. DeSoto sheriff’s and DeSoto Parish Fire District No. 1 divers responded within minutes.
It took about 30 minutes from the time the drowning was reported to find the victim’s body, Richardson said.
The 15-year-old victim is from Center, Texas.
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Lady Gaga shares moving tribute to her ‘true friend’ Tony Bennett
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Lady Gaga is grieving the loss of her “real true friend.”
On Monday, the superstar actress and singer posted a tribute to her friend and collaborator Tony Bennett, who recently died at the age of 96.
Gaga hailed the legendary crooner, writing, “I will miss my friend forever. I will miss singing with him, recording with him, talking with him, being on stage together.”
“With Tony, I got to live my life in a time warp. Tony & I had this magical power,” her caption continued. “We transported ourselves to another era, modernized the music together, & gave it all new life as a singing duo. But it wasn’t an act. Our relationship was very real.”
The pair’s friendship spanned more than a decade. They recorded two albums together, 2014’s “Cheek to Cheek” and 2021’s “Love for Sale,” both of which won Grammy awards.
They also performed in the 2021 special, “One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.”
She wrote on Instagram that while Bennett taught her about music, “he also showed me how to keep my spirits high and my head screwed on straight.”
“He was an optimist, he believed in quality work AND quality life,” she wrote. “Plus, there was the gratitude…Tony was always grateful.”
Bennett’s family went public in 2021 with his Alzheimer’s diagnosis and in her post Gaga wrote, “I’ve been grieving the loss of Tony for a long time. We had a very long and powerful goodbye.”
“Losing Tony to Alzheimer’s has been painful but it was also really beautiful. An era of memory loss is such a sacred time in a person’s life,” she wrote. “There’s such a feeling of vulnerability and a desire to preserve dignity. All I wanted was for Tony to remember how much I loved him and how grateful I was to have him in my life.”
She also shared a message for others.
“If I could say anything to the world about this I would say don’t discount your elders, don’t leave them behind when things change,” she wrote. “Don’t flinch when you feel sad, just keep going straight ahead, sadness is part of it. Take care of your elders and I promise you will learn something special.”
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Lawsuit alleges Delta overserved alcohol to male passenger who allegedly groped mother and underage daughter on flight
By Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN
(CNN) — A male passenger groped a mother and her underage daughter while aboard an international flight last summer after being overserved alcohol by Delta Air Lines, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week in New York.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. Eastern District Court of New York, alleges that Delta flight attendants continued to serve alcohol to an intoxicated passenger even after the mother and her 16-year-old daughter repeatedly told them that the man was making them feel “unsafe” and inappropriately touching them.
The unnamed plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that throughout the duration of the nearly nine-hour flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Athens, Greece, the man made obscene gestures, sexually assaulted, and yelled at the 16-year-old girl seated next to him on the flight. Delta flight attendants served the man “approximately ten vodka on ice drinks” among other alcoholic beverages, during the course of the flight according to the lawsuit.
The mother, who was sitting on the other seat next to her daughter, said she repeatedly “begged” flight attendants to stop serving the man alcohol.
The mother and daughter both allege in the complaint that flight attendants dismissed their claims and downplayed their concerns about the man.
At one point on the flight the lawsuit alleges that the young girl began having a “panic attack” after becoming “terrified that no one was helping her or her mother find safety and that they were stuck on this aircraft, in a small row alone with the intoxicated Delta passenger.”
Eventually another passenger on the flight who saw the young girl crying and afraid offered to switch seats with her for the rest of the flight, according to the lawsuit.
When the flight landed in Greece, the man was allowed to leave the aircraft with no police intervention despite the mother’s request that authorities arrest him in Athens, the lawsuit said.
“While we don’t have any specific comment on this pending litigation, Delta has zero tolerance for customers who engage in inappropriate or unlawful behavior,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and our people.”
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial. CNN has reached out to the plaintiffs’ attorney for comment.
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She bought an airplane ticket she thought was a scam. Then her future husband was on board
By Francesca Street, CNN
(CNN) — The flight seemed too good to be true.
When Martina Jones got the text with the details, she scrutinized them for several minutes.
It was a $279 return flight departing from either Washington D.C. or New York City, flying to Nairobi, Kenya.
“Of course, this was a great deal, I wanted to take advantage of it,” Martina tells CNN Travel today.
“But it was also very weird, I thought it might be a scam.”
It was November 2014, the day after Martina’s 29th birthday. The flight was scheduled for the following March. After weighing up the options and doing some research, Martina decided to bite the bullet and buy the ticket. Then she sent the deal round her various group chats, encouraging more of her friends to sign up.
Martina fell in love with travel during her stint studying abroad in London. After graduating college, she taught English in South Korea and then backpacked around Southeast Asia.
“I’m a traveler, through and through,” says Martina. “It gives me life.”
In 2014, several years into her New Jersey-based sales job, Martina was feeling a little disillusioned and bored by work. But she kept herself motivated by counting down the days until her next trip.
Across the Hudson River in New York City, Leslie Johnson, 33, also received a text from a friend with the Nairobi flight details.
Like Martina, Leslie was skeptical – the price seemed too good to be true. And to get the deal, you had to follow a series of random links – it really did seem like a potential con.
But the friend who’d forwarded the deal to Leslie was a seasoned flyer. They’d found the details via a travel group for Black travelers. Leslie – who “traveled a bit here and there, but not too crazy, just enough to get one or two passport stamps a year” – trusted their judgment, so decided to go for it.
His confirmation email didn’t arrive for a couple days. Leslie spent that waiting period still slightly convinced he’d been scammed.
Finally, the details came through.
“Then I knew it was good,” Leslie recalls.
March rolled around. The first leg of the flight, from the US to Amsterdam, was uneventful. In Amsterdam, Martina attempted to amend her booking so she could sit with her friends – she was traveling with five others and they were all at the back of the plane, while she was sitting on her own at the front.
The gate agent advised Martina to ask her fellow passengers if they’d mind moving. But when Martina asked, no one would budge, so she settled down to her textbooks instead – Martina was studying for the GMAT, a business school admissions test, and figured she could use the long flight time to get in some study.
By chance, Leslie was also separated from his friend on this leg of the flight. And by coincidence, he was seated directly in front of Martina.
He was immediately struck by Martina and intrigued by her. He’d also studied for the GMAT in the past, so once the airplane had taken off from Schiphol Airport, Leslie plucked up the courage to speak to Martina, using the test and the textbook as an entryway.
From there, the conversation never let up.
“We talked the entire flight,” says Martina. “We had a really good conversation.”
Throughout the hours-long chat, Martina remained sat in her seat while Leslie knelt backwards on his, looking back at her. There was a seat next to Martina, but Leslie didn’t want to overstep any boundaries by inviting himself to sit there.
As the aircraft made its way south, Leslie and Martina spoke about jobs, travel, their interests and their lives, and realized they lived a seven-minute drive from each other, on opposite sides of the Hudson River.
Almost every key topic was covered, but the two danced around the topic of their respective relationship statuses.
“In the back of my head, I’m thinking,’If he’s single, we’re going to date.’ But I didn’t know if he was single,” recalls Martina.
Before they landed in Nairobi, Martina asked Leslie for his phone number – but in the context of networking. Leslie had been talking about a friend who worked in TV production and Martina was interested in getting into that world.
“And then we went our separate ways,” she says.
While nothing obviously romantic had happened, Martina disembarked the plane with that same feeling of certainty: “We’re going to be together.”
There was something in the way they spoke to each other. Something about the way they looked at each other. But most of all, it was the ease Martina felt in his company.
A couple of her friends spotted the connection too.
“Oh, he’s cute. I saw you,” said one of them, nudging Martina as they disembarked the plane.
A restaurant reunion
Over the next week, Martina and Leslie enjoyed their respective adventures in and around Nairobi. They both thought about one another from time to time, but mostly focused on enjoying their travels.
“Then, on the very last day – or his last day, I was staying a day longer – we ended up at the same restaurant,” says Martina.
It was a seafood restaurant – Martina’s favorite, but far from Leslie’s first choice. He hates seafood and when his friend suggested it, he’d considered vetoing the idea, but then decided he didn’t want to “be that person.”
So he ended up, against the odds, at a restaurant where he couldn’t eat almost anything on the menu. And then he spotted Martina and he forgot all about the food.
She saw him too. They didn’t meet each other’s gaze. Instead, they both stole glances when they thought the other wasn’t looking.
“I was excited to see him,” says Martina. “But I was also playing it very cool.”
Leslie got up several times and walked by Martina’s table, hoping she might spot him and speak to him.
“I went to the restroom. Didn’t think she caught my attention. So I end up going back like two or three more times and still didn’t make any kind of eye contact with her,” he says.
But, then, coincidentally, Leslie and Martina both ended up leaving the restaurant at the same time.
The restaurant was in a hotel, so the two ended up standing in the lobby together, both with their friends in tow, chatting for a bit. It was, says Martina, “a little awkward.”
But she still left with that same thought: “If he’s single, we’re going to have a moment.”
“It’s weird, because it was just a matter-of-fact feeling,” says Martina today. “It wasn’t necessarily like, ‘Oh, I just met this guy – I’m so excited!’ It was just a very calm, matter-of-fact: ‘We just had a great conversation. He seems like a great person. And if he’s single, that’s it. We’re going to date.’”
Leslie was single. Just before he flew to Nairobi, he’d deleted the dating apps he’d been using off and on for the past couple of years.
“I live in New York City,” he thought. “There’s no way I can’t meet someone in person.”
On past travels, he’d daydreamed about meeting someone at the airplane gate, or boarding the airplane and catching someone’s eye. But he’d never thought it would actually happen.
And when it did actually happen, it just felt natural.
“Everything just kind of seemed like it was meant to be, or just was happening for a reason,” says Leslie.
A few days later, once Martina and Leslie were both home in the US, Martina sent him a text.
“How’s jet lag treating you?” she wrote.
From there, they messaged back and forth for a day or two, comparing what they’d each got up to in Nairobi. Then Leslie invited Martina to dinner.
He picked out a South African restaurant in Midtown.
Martina lived right on the edge of New Jersey and could usually get into New York City within 10 minutes. But that day, the traffic was terrible.
In stationary traffic, Martina sat behind the wheel, fretting Leslie would think she’d stood him up and just leave. She called him to explain and apologize.
Leslie told her not to worry. He wasn’t going anywhere. An hour and a half later, Martina arrived.
“When she walked up, I remember thinking she was even cuter than I remembered,” says Leslie. “When we first met I believe her hair was straight. And at that time it was really curly and I was like, ‘Oh this is really cute.’”
Martina and Leslie settled quickly back into the easy conversation they’d enjoyed on the plane.
And then, at the end of the night, they realized they were both flying out of Newark Airport the next day. The Easter weekend was approaching, and they were both traveling to visit their families – Martina was heading back to Ohio and Leslie to Michigan.
“So the very next day, we met up at the airport before our flight,” says Martina. “I always say our second date was at the airport.”
Over the next few days, Martina and Leslie texted none-stop. Three dates turned into four and then five and then they quickly lost count.
“We were constantly in touch,” says Leslie.
“It was very easy,” says Martina. “There were no gray areas. We liked each other, and we hung out, we spent time together.”
A month or so later, Leslie went to San Francisco for a work trip and Martina joined him for part of the time. It was their first trip together, and was shortly followed by their second – a weekend away with Martina’s friends at a beach house in Delaware.
Martina was also busy planning her next big adventure – a trip to Costa Rica in November to coincide with her 30th birthday. She’d invited her closest friends to join her. Only weeks after meeting Leslie, she invited him too.
The trip was still months away, and the relationship was still new. It was a little intimidating, but Leslie tried not to worry about this. He knew he wanted things to work out, and wanted to be there.
“I’m an overthinker,” he says. “And the more I overthink, the more I stop making moves. I told myself not to overthink this.”
There were a couple of bumps in the road – by the summer, Martina was getting frustrated at Leslie’s hesitation to label the relationship. This conversation came to a head in July, three months or so after they’d got together.
But after this — their first proper argument – Martina and Leslie confirmed that, yes, they were in a relationship. And yes, they both wanted to see where it went next. And yes, they couldn’t wait.
Traveling together
Travel quickly became a cornerstone of Leslie and Martina’s relationship.
“We really enjoyed each other and we traveled a lot,” says Leslie. “So that was cool for both of us to have someone to travel with.”
Martina was the more adventurous of the two, so she encouraged Leslie to get outside of his comfort zone.
The couple realized they traveled well together, with good “synergy,” as they put it.
“In a lot of different ways, it just all seemed to work, just seemed like the perfect situation. perfect match for us,” says Leslie.
Around a year and a half after their airplane meeting, in December 2016, Leslie and Martina traveled to London together. It was a city that meant a lot to both of them – Martina studied there, while Leslie has family in the UK.
Leslie figured London was the perfect location for a proposal. Leslie and Martina had spoken about marriage and both saw it as the next step, so the proposal wouldn’t be a surprise, but Leslie wanted to surprise Martina in the moment.
He enlisted the help of his London-based cousins, asking if they could also get a bunch of their friends on board.
Leslie arranged that he and Martina would walk by Tower Bridge, a famous London landmark, just as night fell. Once there, they’d be approached by a series of seemingly random strangers, who were actually friends of his cousins on a mission.
Each stranger handed Martina a rose and a piece of paper with a letter printed on it. The first two interactions just seemed random and Martina assumed the strangers were trying to get her to buy the roses.
Then, people started coming thick and fast and soon the letters spelled out a question: “Will you marry me?”
“And once the last person came, I got on my knee and asked her,” says Leslie.
Martina was both overwhelmed and delighted.
“I was so, so happy. It was an incredible feeling. It was just amazing,” she says. “And what made it even more special to me is that it was in London.
“London is where I got my first passport stamp and really opened up my mind and my heart, and is where I truly fell in love with travel.
“So then to go back to the very first place where it started – and now I’m getting proposed to by the man that I met on a plane – it was really special.”
Martina and Leslie say their wedding day in Columbus, Ohio was “really beautiful.” The theme was “love at first flight,” with this slogan emblazoned on the invites and the menus, and the couple gave guests luggage tags as party favors. Martina Jones became Martina Jones Johnson.
Traveling today
Cut to today and travel remains a big part of Martina and Leslie’s lives. They chronicle their adventures on their Instagram account That Couple Who Travels, aiming to inspire others to follow in their footsteps.
“I’m so appreciative of the community that we’ve built and the opportunities that we’re able to have from it,” says Martina.
Martina and Leslie’s account includes destination guides, flight reviews and recommendations of Black-owned businesses, as well as photographs of the couple on their incredible adventures across the globe.
“I do love being a representation of a healthy Black relationship,” says Martina. “I think more people need to see that.”
This is important to Martina and Leslie not only in the context of Instagram.
Martina recalls a recent group trip where she and Leslie found themselves entirely in the company of older White couples.
“These people aren’t around young Black couples. But we just loved each other, we just had such a good time with each other, sharing our different experiences and bonding over travel,” she says.
“And that’s what it’s all about. I think that’s how the world gets better. Love is what kills hate and it’s what makes fears go away when you have those relationships with people.”
Looking back on the not-actually-a-scam flight, and their fortuitous meeting, leads Leslie to conclude “you just never know what’s out there.
“I met someone who lived not too far away from me, but I met them on a plane – thousands or whatever miles away from home,” he says.
As for Martina, she finds herself reflecting on something her best friend said to her long before Leslie came into her life:
“Do what you love, and it will lead you to everything else.”
For Martina, this turned out to be true.
“I love to travel. I traveled and I met the love of my life. So, find that thing that you love and you don’t know what breadcrumbs that will lead you to. It might lead you to the love of your life. It might lead you to your purpose – you just don’t know, but we all have unique desires and things that we are passionate about,” says Martina. “Don’t ignore it. Don’t wait for someone else to go with you. Just do what you love and see what happens.”
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Most states received a D or F grade on maternal mental health. It could get worse.
By Carlotta Dotto and Alex Leeds Matthews, CNN
Nearly every state in the United States is neglecting access to maternal mental health care, according to a recent report, and experts fear the situation could get worse as more states severely restrict or ban abortion.
All but 10 US states received either a D or F grade on a number of key measures of maternal mental health risk policies and access to care — including access to therapists, psychiatrists or mental health treatment programs, according to a May report released by the nonprofit Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, in partnership with researchers from George Washington University. This is the group’s first report grading states on maternal mental health resources and policies.
Forty states and the District of Columbia received grades of a D or F, while just one state – California – earned a grade higher than a C. No state where abortion was banned or severely restricted received a grade higher than a D+.
More than a dozen states have banned abortion access in the year since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which has had severe consequences for maternal mental health, some providers told CNN. Other states continue to restrict abortion – most recently, Iowa legislators passed a six-week ban that has since been temporarily blocked by the courts. A 12-week ban went into effect in North Carolina on July 1.
“The truth is that access to mental care in this country – specifically in states where abortion has been restricted – has been abysmal for a very long time,” said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.
The Policy Center report found that most states lack specialized care for pregnant and postpartum women. For instance, only five states — California, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey and Oklahoma — require ob/gyns to conduct maternal mental health screening during prenatal and postpartum visits, Caitlin Murphy, research scientist at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, told CNN.
Alabama and Mississippi – two states that banned abortion almost immediately after the Supreme Court reversed Roe vs. Wade – already had among the lowest numbers of certified perinatal mental health providers relative to the expected number of births, according to data from the report. Both states received an F on the report cards.
About 4 million babies are born every year in the country, and roughly 600,000 (20%) of US mothers may experience challenges with their mental well-being every year, according to the Policy Center. Black women are twice as likely as White women to experience maternal mental health conditions but half as likely to receive treatment, according to the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance.
“What we see is that the areas where there is the most need are actually the areas with the fewest resources and providers available,” Murphy said.
Texas is among the 15 states that received an F. Before the Dobbs decision, it banned abortions after six weeks of gestational age – before many people realize they are pregnant.
Elaine Cavazos, the chief clinical officer at a reproductive mental health care clinic in Austin, said that abortion bans have worsened an already-poor state of access to reproductive and mental health care in the state. She told CNN fears over prosecution for aiding and abetting an abortion have created a barrier between patients and providers to speak openly about their reproductive experiences, from pregnancy termination in another state to pregnancy loss.
“Mental health is already tricky as it is, but when you add in a layer of ‘We can’t even talk about these things openly for fear that some negative repercussion could happen to our client,’ it just adds a layer of oppression,” Cavazos said.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found in an ongoing study that when people are denied abortion and are forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy, their mental health suffers, increasing the risk of perinatal mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.
The UCSF researchers found that people who were denied an abortion experienced more symptoms of anxiety and low self-esteem than people who received one, according to their Turnaway Study.
For people who are able to obtain an abortion out of state, bans have introduced major practical and financial barriers, McNicholas said.
“Seeking an abortion in this country at this time – particularly if you live in the Midwest and the South, and most certainly if you live in a ban state – is a moment of incredible anxiety,” she said. “Not necessarily because you need an abortion but because it is so difficult to do so.”
McNicholas said she has often encountered people seeking abortions due to pre-existing mental health conditions that could be exacerbated by a pregnancy. This includes people in recovery from addiction or who already experienced a case of postpartum depression from a previous pregnancy.
“Abortion has been a really critical tool for them to continue to manage mental health crises in their lives and to keep them healthy and safe,” McNicholas said.
Maternal health professionals are also moving away from abortion-restricted states which experts said may result in even less capacity to screen for and detect maternal mental health conditions.
Most states have low access to maternal mental health care professionals already. The report cards allocated points for any state that had at least 5 certified perinatal mental health providers per 1,000 annual births. Just two states – Vermont and Montana – met that threshold. Those two states had fewer than 20,000 births combined in 2022, according to provisional CDC data
Residency applications decreased slightly last year nationally, but those decreases were larger in states with total abortion bans, particularly for ob/gyns, according to research from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Although there is no systemic process to measure how many women receive maternal mental health screening and diagnosis in the United States, the CDC estimates that more than half of pregnant women suffering from depression don’t receive treatment.
“Providers are already leaving the states with abortion restrictions because they feel like they really can’t do their job properly,” Murphy said. “They feel they can’t provide high-quality care to patients, whether that’s through counseling or to ensure that a birthing person who needs to terminate their pregnancy for health reasons can do it.”
More providers fear also being held responsible for facilitating an abortion if their patient miscarries, which is especially common early in pregnancy, Murphy told CNN.
“This is a big risk for the mother and the baby, both in terms of mental health and general health,” Murphy said.
While experts told CNN they are most concerned about states where abortion bans were enacted — and where bans may still be introduced — the state of maternal mental health is poor nationally, and bans stand to affect patients beyond a state’s boundaries.
Providers in states with access to abortions are seeing an increase in patient loads, as well as misinformation and mistrust – all of which create barriers to care, said Anna King, a perinatal counselor and training director of the LA-based non-profit Maternal Mental Health NOW.
“Providers and communities across the board are feeling really impacted in terms of their ability to proceed in the way that they were,” King said.
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Adidas signs $1.2 billion partnership with Manchester United
By Jordan Valinsky, CNN
New York (CNN) — Manchester United and Adidas are extending their apparel-sponsorship contract in a colossal £900 million ($1.2 billion) deal that lasts for another decade.
The German sportswear company will continue making kits and other apparel for the British football team, in one of the biggest Premiere League sponsorships that began in 2015, following the team’s defection from Nike.
Manchester United said on its website that the Adidas partnership has “excited fans around the world with forward-thinking initiatives, iconic designs on the pitch and fan-favorite culturewear off of it” and that new deal “increases the focus” on its women’s team for new apparel.
“We are extremely proud to announce the extension of the contract with Manchester United,” Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said. “Adidas and Manchester United are two of the most important brands in international football and it is very natural for us to continue our cooperation.”
Monday’s deal is a marked increase from the previous deal, which was worth around £750 million. Commercial deals like these can be lucrative for sports teams as their international appeal grows and selling fashionable clothing becomes an additional revenue stream.
The deal comes as the world-famous club is possibly up for sale. Last year, its American owners, the Glazer family, said it has begun a “process to explore strategic alternatives,” which might include a total sale. That was welcome news to the team’s fans as its ownership is deeply unpopular with them since the leveraged buyout of Manchester United left the club burdened with a net debt of $626 million, according to the organization’s latest accounts.
Forbes ranks Manchester United as the world’s second most valuable team, assessing the 145-year-old team at to be worth $6 billion. Shares of the team perked up 2% in trading following the news.
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™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://kion546.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2023/07/31/adidas-signs-1-2-billion-partnership-with-manchester-united/ | 2023-07-31T15:01:56 | 1 | https://kion546.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2023/07/31/adidas-signs-1-2-billion-partnership-with-manchester-united/ |
A flashing ‘X’ was installed atop the San Francisco headquarters following Twitter’s rebrand. A city complaint says the sign went up without a permit
CNN
By Jamiel Lynch, CNN
San Francisco (CNN) — In a complaint, the city of San Francisco says they have visited the headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter twice since Friday regarding the new flashing “X” sign on top of the building.
According to the complaint, a notice of violation (NOV) was issued for work without a permit for the new sign that adorns the building where the social media platform’s headquarters is located.
Owner Elon Musk rebranded Twitter and its iconic bird logo as X last week, as CNN previously reported. He tweeted video of the building with the new flashing “X” logo on Saturday saying, “Our HQ in San Francisco tonight.”
“NOV issued for work without permit. Site visited by MH and spoke with Tweeter (sic) representatives and Building maintenance engineer representatives. I explained BID’s complaint investigation process and requested access to roof area. Tweeter (sic) representative decline to provide access but did explain that the structure is a temporary lighted sign for an event. I explained to all representatives that the NOV requires the structure to be remove with a building permit or legalize,” the complaint reads.
The complaint also noted that on Saturday another attempt was made to access the roof but was also denied.
Patrick Hannan, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Building Inspection told the Washington Post that “to ensure consistency with the historic nature of the building and to ensure the new additions are safely attached to the sign,” the city requires a permit to approve new letters or symbols on a sign, the paper reported.
CNN has reached out to the City of San Francisco and X for comment.
According to the city’s website, a notice of violation can incur fees, including permit and investigation fees. It is unknown what fees X could face.
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™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/31/a-flashing-x-was-installed-atop-the-san-francisco-headquarters-following-twitters-rebrand-a-city-complaint-says-the-sign-went-up-without-a-permit/ | 2023-07-31T15:02:02 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/31/a-flashing-x-was-installed-atop-the-san-francisco-headquarters-following-twitters-rebrand-a-city-complaint-says-the-sign-went-up-without-a-permit/ |
Matthew McConaughey has a suggestion for America’s conversation about gun safety
By Marianne Garvey, CNN
(CNN) — Matthew McConaughey is still fighting to make America’s school’s safer more than a year after a gunman killed two teachers and 19 children at Robb Elementary School in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas.
McConaughey, who was a visible and vocal advocate for the community in the aftermath of the shooting, along with his wife, Camila, has launched the Greenlights Grant Initiative to help schools across the country access funding to create safer learning environments.
“My wife was out of the country,” McConaughey recalled of the Uvalde tragedy in an interview with ABC News. “She heard about the news, immediately writes me and says, ‘We got to go down there.’ She cut her trip short, flew in. We packed up and headed out.”
The couple spent time with families in Uvalde and worked to raise awareness of the impact of gun violence.
Not long after, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) in 2022, which approved funding for crisis intervention programs aimed at mental health services and school security.
McConaughey says he was told that three months after the Uvalde shooting, 12 schools in the area had applied for government funding but none had been given any.
“What are we doing?” McConaughey said. “That’s a zero percent success rate. One, way too few applications. Number two, the 12 applications, we went zero for twelve?”
“The government admits that it shouldn’t be this complicated. You got 14,000 something schools,” he continued. “This grant initiative is going to connect those districts to those billions of dollars that’s there, available, and wants to be used to make our kids safe.”
McConaughey also has other ideas. “I’d change the word from [gun] ‘control’ to ‘responsibility,’” he said.
“No one wants to be controlled,” he said. “But responsibility is still something that we can all go, ‘Yeah, I’ll take responsibility.’ … The Second Amendment defenders could talk responsibility. They could look you in the eye and talk responsibility with someone from the other side of the aisle.”
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™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/31/matthew-mcconaughey-has-a-suggestion-for-americas-conversation-about-gun-safety/ | 2023-07-31T15:02:06 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/31/matthew-mcconaughey-has-a-suggestion-for-americas-conversation-about-gun-safety/ |
The stars of Broadway’s ‘Back to the Future’ musical happily speed into the past every night
By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — When actor Casey Likes watched “Back to the Future” growing up, his mom would always say he reminded her of the film’s star, Michael J. Fox. Something in the universe agrees: He’s taking on Fox’s classic role on Broadway. The rising stage star plays Marty McFly for a musical adaptation of the beloved 1985 sci-fi comedy about a time-traveling duo who go back to the 1950s in a souped-up, gull-winged DeLorean. Broadway veteran and Tony Award-winner Roger Bart takes on Christopher Lloyd’s role of Doc Brown, the oddball scientist with a knack for inventions. Opening night is set for Thursday. | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/31/the-stars-of-broadways-back-to-the-future-musical-happily-speed-into-the-past-every-night/ | 2023-07-31T15:02:12 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/31/the-stars-of-broadways-back-to-the-future-musical-happily-speed-into-the-past-every-night/ |
New Jersey school district reaches $9.1 million settlement with family of teen who died by suicide
CNN
By Celina Tebor and Jessica Xing, CNN
(CNN) — A New Jersey school district has agreed to pay $9.1 million to the family of a girl who died by suicide after she was bullied at school, the family’s attorney said.
The settlement comes after Diane and Seth Grossman sued Rockaway Township School District in 2018, claiming that, despite repeated complaints, Copeland Middle School administrators did not do enough to prevent their daughter’s death.
Twelve-year-old Mallory Grossman took her own life in June 2017 after being bullied in school and cyberbullied by classmates throughout the school year through text and Snapchat messages, according to the lawsuit filed in New Jersey superior court.
CNN has reached out to the Rockaway Township School District for comment on the settlement, which was reached in court Wednesday.
It is the largest bullying settlement in New Jersey history, an attorney for the Grossman family, Bruce Nagel, told CNN.
“This settlement should send a strong signal to schools around the country that bullying is an epidemic and schools have a responsibility to protect our children,” Nagel said.
“Seth and I are satisfied with the settlement, ready to put this part behind us and move forward, continuing to lend our voice to the epidemic that is stealing our children’s future,” Dianne Grossman said in a statement. “We hope all schools, (Boards of Education) and administrators will take a look at their current policies & make the necessary changes to protect all students, as it pertains to bullying and cyberbullying.”
The issue of bullying in schools has taken on a new dynamic since the rise of social media, experts say.
“Before social media, there might have been an unpleasant interaction at school and that’s mostly where it stops,” Nikki Pagano, a licensed clinical social worker in Charlotte, North Carolina, previously told CNN. “Now, that interaction carries over to home and is inescapable. Instead of one person making you feel bad, there may be something posted online and peers may be seeing or even ‘liking’ this post.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has taken measures to address bullying concerns in schools. In January 2022 he signed a measure, dubbed “Mallory’s Law,” requiring school districts to provide specific consequences in anti-bullying policies for students harassing or bullying a classmate, according to the New Jersey state legislature.
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CNN’s Michelle Icard contributed to this report. | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/31/new-jersey-school-district-reaches-9-1-million-settlement-with-family-of-teen-who-died-by-suicide-2/ | 2023-07-31T15:02:18 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/31/new-jersey-school-district-reaches-9-1-million-settlement-with-family-of-teen-who-died-by-suicide-2/ |
SYDNEY — The Women’s World Cup is taking shape with shocks and highlights as it nears the end of the group stage.
Some players have established themselves as ones to watch, like Colombia star Linda Caicedo, who has made her team one of the tournament surprises. Colombia picked up an upset win over Germany, and Nigeria upset co-host Australia — just two of the games that showed the gap has closed at top level women’s soccer.
But co-host New Zealand was eliminated, and other big teams are in danger of not advancing headed into the final few days of group play.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights so far.
Goal of the tournament
There have been a number of contenders and Bia Zaneratto’s strike against Panama after a sweeping move from Brazil stands out as the most complete goal so far.
Ireland’s Katie McCabe scored directly from a corner kick against Canada, and England’s Lauren James curled in a long range effort against Denmark.
Even so, Caicedo’s solo goal in Colombia’s dramatic 2-1 win against Germany is the pick of the bunch. With a flash of skill, she beat two German players in the box before lashing a shot into the top corner as the Sydney crowd dominated by Colombia fans went wild.
Moment of the tournament
It has to be Manuela Vanegas’ late winner for Colombia against Germany. Alexandra Popp seemed to position two-time champion Germany for a draw with an 89th-minute penalty.
But Vanegas’ header in the 97th minute gave Colombia a World Cup upset.
Comeback
Norway looked down and out after an opening game loss to co-host New Zealand and a goalless draw against Switzerland. With star player Ada Hegerberg injured, the odds were beginning to stack up against the Norwegians going into their final Group A match against the Philippines.
But three goals within 31 minutes set up a 6-0 rout that saw Norway advance to the knockout rounds in second place. The Norway win knocked New Zealand out of the tournament, making the Football Ferns the first host to be eliminated in group play in tournament history.
Emerging stars
Caicedo’s standout performances aren’t a surprise to those who have followed her career. The Real Madrid forward has long-been tipped to be one of the biggest stars in women’s soccer.
She hasn’t disappointed in her first World Cup and has inspired Colombia to back-to-back wins with goals in each game.
England coach Sarina Wiegman unleashed Chelsea forward James from the start in the Lionesses’ second game against Denmark, and she made a quick impression. Collecting the ball outside the area after six minutes, she swept a curling effort past Lene Christensen.
Haiti’s Melchie Dumornay has shown flashes of the talent that earned her a move to French powerhouse Lyon, while 19-year-old Aoba Fujino has become the youngest player to score at a World Cup for Japan’s men’s or women’s teams.
Casey Phair, a 16 year old, became the youngest-ever player to appear in a senior soccer World Cup when she was a second-half substitute for South Korea against Colombia.
Disappointments
While youngsters have capitalized on their chance to shine, some of the established names have yet to make their mark.
There have been differing reasons for that.
Sam Kerr’s calf injury robbed Australia of its star striker for its opening two games, while Hegerberg’s groin injury has cut her playing time for Norway.
Alex Morgan, who was the co-leading scorer at the last World Cup, is still finding her footing in the United States’ new look attack.
Record international scorer Christine Sinclair was benched for Canada’s second game and is still waiting for her first goal of the tournament, while Brazil great Marta has also been used sparingly.
Surprises
New Zealand kicked the tournament off with a 1-0 win against Norway, but couldn’t keep up its momentum and went on to lose by the same score to the Philippines to set up the co-host’s early exit.
Jamaica’s 0-0 draw with fifth-ranked France was described by its coach Lorne Donaldson as the country’s greatest soccer result, for men or women. But the biggest surprise could be yet to come if Jamaica can avoid defeat against Brazil to advance to the round of 16.
Colombia’s dramatic late winner against Germany, meanwhile, was one of the great upsets.
Entertainers
The goals have been flowing for Spain and Japan, teams that both advanced from the group stage with a game to spare. Both teams secured 5-0 wins against Zambia and both have produced technically excellent displays.
Germany was on a high after its 6-0 rout of Morocco, but was humbled by Colombia.
Sweden routed Italy 5-0, while Norway found its scoring touch just in time against the Philippines.
Ones to watch
Some of the favorites have made underwhelming starts. The two-time defending champion United States, England, Germany and France have not been totally convincing in group play and the tournament still looks wide open.
Colombia looks legitimate, and with Kerr back in action, Australia could become a contender.
The Netherlands look like serious contenders, while Spain and Japan have impressed. Brazil has shown flashes, but faces a fight to advance from the group stage.
Nigeria has shown it is dangerous, and Sweden has picked up back-to-back wins. | https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ct-world-cup-moments-20230731-e7e7mip6gvettnubycs6upewaq-story.html | 2023-07-31T15:02:25 | 1 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ct-world-cup-moments-20230731-e7e7mip6gvettnubycs6upewaq-story.html |
‘We’ve made a mistake’: Frisco police with guns drawn mistakenly pull over family headed to a basketball tournament
By Rebekah Riess, CNN
(CNN) — The Frisco, Texas, police chief issued an apology on Friday after a family from Little Rock, Arkansas, who were headed to a basketball tournament in Grapevine, was mistakenly pulled over in a “high-risk stop,” after a Frisco officer ran the car’s plates as being from Arizona, instead of Arkansas, leading police to believe it was stolen, according to body camera video and information released by police.
On July 23, a Frisco police officer saw a black Dodge Charger with an out-of-state license plate leave a hotel and ran a check of the vehicle’s license plate. According to a news release from Frisco Police, when entering the information, the officer mistakenly entered the plate as being from Arizona, instead of Arkansas, causing an incorrect registration return and leading the officer to believe that the vehicle was possibly stolen.
The officer then initiated a “high-risk traffic stop” on the Dallas North Tollway and waited for backup officers to arrive, the release said. Police closed the southbound lanes of the tollway and conducted the high-risk stop, which the department said is “standard procedure for stolen vehicles.”
Body camera video from two officers, released by the department on Friday, shows the mother who was driving and her 6th grade son, who was in the back seat, being ordered out of the vehicle.
“Slowly exit the vehicle. Face away from us. (…) Turn around. Do not face us,” says one officer who has his gun drawn toward the car. “Everybody in the car – hands outside the window. (…) Driver, slowly lift up your shirt, only for us to see your waistband. Slowly spin around.”
“If you reach in that car, you may get shot so be careful. Do not reach in the car,” the officer shouts once they have been told, by the driver, that her licensed handgun is locked in the glove compartment.
Police say an incident review is underway.
“We made a mistake,” Frisco Police Chief David Shilson said in a statement Friday. “Our department will not hide from its mistakes. Instead, we will learn from them. The officer involved quickly accepted responsibility for what happened, which speaks to integrity. I’ve spoken with the family. I empathize with them and completely understand why they’re upset.”
The body camera video shows the officer who initiated the stop taking the mother aside and questioning her about her car’s tags. The woman tells the officer that the children in the back of the car are her son and nephew. Meanwhile, body camera video shows the driver’s husband talking to a second officer, saying “Listen sir, this is my wife’s car. We’re just in a basketball tournament.”
“I’m a basketball coach. Look at this bro,” he continues, as his son can be heard crying.
“I got conceal carry … Y’all put a gun on my son for no reason.”
A Frisco police sergeant then arrived, and officers realized a mistake had been made.
One officer explains that it was an honest mistake.
“That’s a terrible experience,” responds the father. “You all got to do your job, but we’re all legit,” he said.
“It looks like I made a mistake,” the officer tells the family after her sergeant ordered officers to stand down and called off the high-risk stop. “So I ran it AZ for Arizona, instead of AR – and that’s what happened.”
The father then responds, “It could have gone all wrong for us.”
Distraught, the driver’s husband can then be seen turning away from the officers and breaking down in tears.
“We’re so sorry that happened like this. We had no intent on doing this, you know?” another officer tells the family. “We’re humans as well and we make mistakes. I’m not justifying anything, I’m just saying, like, it wasn’t a computer that ran it. It was our human error that did this. So please forgive us.”
According to police, the incident review was initiated that day to determine “what happened, how it was managed, and to evaluate what needed to be addressed to prevent this from happening in the future.” Police said an ongoing review would identify further changes to the department’s “training, policies, and procedures” needed.
“I apologized on behalf of our department and assured them that we will hold ourselves accountable and provide transparency through the process. This incident does not reflect the high standard of service that our officers provide on a daily basis to our residents, businesses and visitors,” the chief added in his statement.
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CNN’s Sarah Moon contributed to this report. | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/31/weve-made-a-mistake-frisco-police-mistakenly-pull-over-family-headed-to-a-basketball-tournament-with-guns-drawn/ | 2023-07-31T15:02:26 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/07/31/weve-made-a-mistake-frisco-police-mistakenly-pull-over-family-headed-to-a-basketball-tournament-with-guns-drawn/ |
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The United States arrived at the Women’s World Cup as the favorites to win an unprecedented third consecutive title. But after an underwhelming draw against the Netherlands, there’s a real chance the Americans can be eliminated in group play for the first time in tournament history.
The U.S. plays Portugal in the third and final match of Group E play, and if Portugal pulls off an upset Tuesday at Eden Park in Auckland, the Americans could be in big trouble.
The United States needs to either win or draw against Portugal, one of eight teams playing in its first World Cup, to ensure the Americans continue to play in this tournament.
“I think we feel like we have to win everything all the time,” said American star Megan Rapinoe. “That’s the expectation for ourselves. That’s the expectation playing for U.S. national team. It’s just kind of like, ‘Why would you come into the World Cup if you don’t think that you should win it, and if you don’t think that you can win it?’”
The United States sits atop the group after a 3-0 victory over Vietnam in the tournament opener, and a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands last Thursday in Wellington. The Dutch are tied with the U.S. on points, but the Americans have the tie-breaker on goals scored.
Portugal lost to the Dutch in its opener but then beat Vietnam 2-0. So if the Portuguese beat the United States, they’ll move on, and the Americans would then need Vietnam to beat the Dutch in Dunedin — while keeping their advantage on goal differential — to advance.
“One thing is for sure, that we have a job to do and that’s first and foremost to take care of our game, so our main focus right now it our performance, our team, and Portugal,” said U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski. “What happens on the other side is something we can’t control. We have to stay focused on the things we can control.”
Portugal could use a swarming defense to try to prevent the United States from scoring the way Vietnam — unsuccessfully — played the Americans in the opener.
Portugal defender Ana Borges said her team will be prepared.
“This is the stage where we want to be. It’s against these teams that we want to play because we’re going to learn and grow from them,” Borges said. “Not saying anything about the other team, but if we weren’t prepared for this challenge, we wouldn’t be playing football.”
China-England
England is in very good shape headed into its Group D finale against China, needing only a draw Tuesday night in Adelaide, Australia to win the group and advance to the round of 16.
Even a loss would be OK and push England through as group winners so long as Denmark doesn’t beat Haiti. If Denmark won and England lost, the group winner would be decided by FIFA tiebreakers.
England edged out a 1-0 victory over Haiti to open the tournament, then beat Denmark by the same score.
China lost 1-0 to Denmark in the opener but rebounded with a 1-0 win over Haiti and is now trying to keep its streak intact of advancing out of group play in all eight of its World Cup appearances.
It will be a tough task: China can advance to the round of 16 if the Chinese beat England. But if Denmark beats Haiti, coupled with a China win, then FIFA tiebreakers would come into a play. A loss would mean China’s only chance at advancing would be if Haiti beat Denmark.
England and China meet for just the fifth time, but first since a 2-1 China victory in 2015.
England has scored in each of its last 15 matches at the Women’s World Cup for a tally of 25 goals since 2015. A goal against China would make England the first team to score in 16 consecutive matches in the tournament.
China is looking to win consecutive World Cup games for the first time since 1999.
Vietnam-Netherlands
The Netherlands want to win every match in the Women’s World Cup but none more so than Tuesday’s game against Vietnam.
At stake: avoiding Sweden in the knockout round.
The Dutch, the tournament runner-up in 2019, need only a win or a draw in the Group E match played in Dunedin, New Zealand. And even a loss would be OK so long as the United States beats Portugal in a game being played simultaneously.
But the Netherlands has mapped out the tournament and wants no part of Sweden anytime soon.
“The first aim is always to win and get to the last 16 and then after that if we can score goals we will, of course,” said Dutch coach Andries Jonker. “But looking at our colleagues from the U.S. and Portugal, we’ve noticed it’s not all that easy. We’ve never shown any kind of arrogance, but if we get chances to score goals we will. We would prefer to play against the number two in this group and not Sweden.”
The Netherlands are tied with the United States for the top spot in the group after playing to a 1-1 draw against the Americans and a 1-0 win over Portugal.
Vietnam has already been eliminated from its first Women’s World Cup following losses to the United States and Portugal. Vietnam has lost its last five internationals by a combined score of 18-1.
“The Netherlands tries to have as many goals as possible, and I have to say we are at a low level,” said Vietnam coach Mai Duc Chung. “If we compare with Asia, we’re still at a low level. So if we compare with the world, we are still quite behind. It is a success for us already. In the past two matches we have tried our best. Great effort already.”
Haiti-Denmark
First-time Women’s World Cup participant Haiti would like to stick around a bit longer but needs a miracle against in the Group D finale against Denmark to have any shot to advance.
Haiti needs to beat Denmark in the Tuesday match played in Perth, Australia, and hope England beats China. If both those things happen, Haiti’s only chance would still come down to FIFA’s tiebreaker system.
It’s very long odds for Haiti, which has played better in this tournament than its 0-2 record shows. Haiti held both England and China to one goal each in the first two matches.
Haiti is on a six-game losing streak headed into what is probably its final game of this tournament.
Denmark, meanwhile, is trying to advance to the group stage for the first time since 1995. Denmark was a 1-0 winner over China to start the tournament, then lost 1-0 to England and heads into the game tied for second in the group with China with three points each.
A win over Haiti pushes Denmark through to the next round so long as England doesn’t lose to China. That scenario would put tiebreakers into play.
The Danes, in the tournament for the first time since 2007, can also get through with a draw, but again, only if England beats China.
Denmark has won five of its last seven international matches. | https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ct-world-cup-us-elimination-20230731-ogcbailskjerfpmtvwcmj6w75a-story.html | 2023-07-31T15:02:32 | 0 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ct-world-cup-us-elimination-20230731-ogcbailskjerfpmtvwcmj6w75a-story.html |
Before she was kidnapped, an American nurse described Haitians as ‘full of joy and love.’ Last week, the US urged citizens to leave the island nation
By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
(CNN) — Before Alix Dorsainvil was kidnapped with her child in Haiti, the American nurse described Haitians as a “resilient people” who are “full of joy and life and love.”
Her comments came in a video on the website of El Roi Haiti, the Christian humanitarian aid organization for which she works.
Dorsainvil, the wife of El Roi Haiti Director Sandro Dorsainvil, and their child were reportedly abducted Thursday morning while serving in their community ministry on El Roi Haiti’s campus near the capital city Port-au-Prince, according to a statement from the non-profit. It’s unclear how old the couple’s child is.
That same day, the US State Department ordered the departure of non-emergency government personnel from Haiti as the security situation in the country deteriorates.
The order followed a travel advisory from the US Embassy in Haiti advising US nationals to leave the country immediately due to recent armed clashes between criminal groups and police in Port-au-Prince.
Dorsainvil, a nurse from New Hampshire, moved to Haiti after her husband invited her to the Haitian school to provide nursing care for the children, Dorsainvil explained in an undated video on the organization’s website.
“Haitians are such a resilient people,” Dorsainvil said in that video. “They’re full of joy and life and love and I’m so blessed to be able to know so many amazing Haitians.”
El Roi Haiti has 390 students enrolled from pre-K through 12th grade, according to its website.
The non-profit describes the nurse as a “deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family.”
“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,” the statement from El Roi Haiti said.
US authorities are aware of the abductions and are working with Haitian authorities and US government interagency partners, according to a statement given to CNN by a State Department spokesperson.
“The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas,” the spokesperson said.
The department warned of a high threat of violent crime and kidnapping in Port-au-Prince. It added that the US government’s capacity to provide emergency services to US citizens in Haiti is severely constrained.
“Given the recent armed clashes between gangs and the police and the high threat of violent crime and kidnapping throughout Port-au-Prince, the Department of State urges U.S. citizens to make plans to depart Haiti as soon as possible via commercial means,” the earlier advisory stated.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Heather Law and Aaron Pellish contributed to this report. | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-world/2023/07/31/before-she-was-kidnapped-an-american-nurse-described-haitians-as-full-of-joy-and-love-last-week-the-us-urged-citizens-to-leave-the-island-nation/ | 2023-07-31T15:02:32 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-world/2023/07/31/before-she-was-kidnapped-an-american-nurse-described-haitians-as-full-of-joy-and-love-last-week-the-us-urged-citizens-to-leave-the-island-nation/ |
Black Lives Mural vandalized again in Santa Cruz
SANTA CRUZ, CALIF. (KION-TV)- Police are investigating the vandalizing of the BLM mural in Santa Cruz for the second time.
Around 6 PM on Saturday, July 29th, Santa Cruz received a report of damage to the mural, which included blue paint covering the letters A and C.
The mural was just recently repainted in June after it was vandalized back in 2021. At the time, police arrested two suspects for "burning out" along the mural and causing tire tread marks to stretch along the mural's lettering. Both men were part of the repainting process.
Public Works is working to mitigate the damage and preserve the recently restored mural paint.
In a statement regarding the situation, Santa Cruz Police Chief Bernie Escalante said:
“We will not tolerate any actions aimed at undermining the fabric of our diverse community. We want to emphasize that Santa Cruz should be a safe space for all individuals, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.”
Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker also talked on the matter saying:
“This is deeply disappointing and completely contradictory to the values the City holds dear.” | https://kion546.com/top-stories/2023/07/31/black-lives-mural-vandalized-again-in-santa-cruz/ | 2023-07-31T15:03:08 | 0 | https://kion546.com/top-stories/2023/07/31/black-lives-mural-vandalized-again-in-santa-cruz/ |
A Slight Cool down Will End July
Temperatures will head downward out of the weekend as the monsoonal ridge to our southeast weakens a little and allows for a trough to dig down the coast. During the transition, the ridge will throw some high level moisture at us, but it will likely only manifest in some high cloudcover. As the trough digs down the coast, the marine layer will deepen, so expect more low clouds this week than in recent days. We may also see some drizzle at times. By the end of the week, however, the ridge begins to push back toward us which will likely lead to a warm-up. Some models are showing a significant warm-up by next weekend.
AIR QUALITY: Good
This Morning: Low clouds slow to return with patchy fog around the bay. Scattered high clouds moving through. Lows in the 50s on the coast and upper 40s to 50s for inland valleys.
Monday: Becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon with a mix of high and low clouds on the coast—low clouds will be more focused on the south side of the bay, however. Expect highs in the 60s to mid 70s on the coast—warmest on the sheltered ,north side of the bay—and highs ranging from upper 70s to around 100ºF inland. Westerly onshore winds will be gusty on the coast at times and stronger than recent days. Inland valleys can also expect gusty winds from the late afternoon into the evening.
Tuesday: Widespread low clouds in the morning with patchy drizzle on the south/east sides of the bay. Remaining mostly cloudy on the coast with a mix of high and low clouds and highs remaining in the 60s for most areas—maybe getting to 70ºF in Santa Cruz. Inland areas will have scattered high clouds and will be cooler with highs in the 70s to low 90s.
Extended: The cooler, cloudier weather will continue Wednesday and perhaps into Thursday with rounds of morning drizzle. Temps will head back up and clouds will thin as we head into the weekend. In fact, highs should be above normal for both the coast and inland areas next weekend.
————————————————————————-
This week’s normal temperatures:
–COASTAL CITIES–
LOW: 55ºF
HIGH: 68ºF
–INLAND CITIES–
LOW: 53ºF
HIGH: 86ºF
————————————————————————–
-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for August 7th – 13th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation. Note: Little to no precipitation typically falls this time of year.
– ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory
– Forecast: Moderate to strong El Niño expected this winter.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free | https://kion546.com/weather-authority/local-forecast/2023/07/31/a-slight-cool-down-will-end-july/ | 2023-07-31T15:03:14 | 0 | https://kion546.com/weather-authority/local-forecast/2023/07/31/a-slight-cool-down-will-end-july/ |
A primordial sea animal that lives on the tidal mudflats of the East Coast and serves as a linchpin for the production of vital medicines stands to benefit from new protective standards.
But conservationists who have been trying for years to save a declining bird species — the red knot — that depends on horseshoe crabs fear the protections still don't go far enough.
Drug and medical device makers are dependent on the valuable blue blood of the crabs — helmet-shaped invertebrates that have scuttled in the ocean and tidal pools for more than 400 million years — to test for potentially dangerous impurities. The animals are drained of some of their blood and returned to the environment, but many die from the bleeding.
Recent revisions to guidelines for handling the animals should keep more alive through the process, regulators said. The animals — not really true crabs but rather more closely related to land-dwelling invertebrates such as spiders and scorpions — are declining in some of their East Coast range.
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"They were here before the dinosaurs," said Glenn Gauvry, president of Ecological Research & Development Group, a Delaware-based nonprofit that advocates for horseshoe crab conservation. "And they’re having problems because the new kids on the block, us, haven’t learned to appreciate the elders."
The harvest of horseshoe crabs, which are also caught for bait in the commercial fishing industry, has emerged as a critical issue for conservationists in recent years because of the creature's role in coastal ecosystems. The crabs' eggs are vitally important food for a declining subspecies of a bird called the red knot — a rust-colored, migratory shorebird listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
U.S. & World
The birds, which migrate some 19,000 miles (30,577 kilometers) roundtrip from South America to Canada and must stop to eat along the way, need stronger protection of horseshoe crabs to survive, said Bethany Kraft, senior director for coastal conservation with the Audubon Society. Kraft and other wildlife advocates said the fact the guidelines for handling crabs are voluntary and not mandatory leaves the red knot at risk.
“Making sure there is enough to fuel these birds on this massive, insanely long flight is just critical,” Kraft said. “There's very clear linkage between horseshoe crabs and the survival of the red knot in the coming decades.”
The horseshoe crabs are valuable because their blood can be manufactured into limulus amebocyte lysate, or LAL, that is used to detect pathogens in indispensable medicines such as injectable antibiotics. The crabs are collected by fishermen by hand or via trawlers for use by biomedical companies, then their blood is separated and proteins within their white blood cells are processed. It takes dozens of the crabs to produce enough blood to fill a single glass tube with its blood, which contains immune cells sensitive to bacteria.
There are only five federally licensed manufacturers on the East Coast that process horseshoe crab blood. The blood is often described by activist groups as worth $15,000 a quart (liter), though some members of the industry say that figure is impossible to verify.
Regulators estimate about 15% of the crabs die in the bleeding process. In 2021, that meant about 112,000 crabs died, said Caitlin Starks, a senior fishery management plan coordinator with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The bait fishery for horseshoe crabs, which are used as bait for eels and sea snails, killed more than six times that, she said.
Still, the fisheries commission in May approved new best management practices for the biomedical industry's harvesting and handling of the crabs. Those include minimizing exposure to sunlight and keeping crabs cool and moist, Starks said.
“The goal is to give the crabs that are bled a better chance of surviving and contributing to the ecosystem after they are released,” she said.
That's exactly what the new guidelines will do, said Nora Blair, quality operations manager with Charles River Laboratories, one of the companies that manufactures LAL from horseshoe crab blood. Blair was a member of a working group that crafted the updated guidelines alongside other industry members, conservationists, fishery managers, fishermen and others.
Blair said the industry is working toward a synthetic alternative — an outcome conservationists have been pushing for years. However, for now the wild harvest of horseshoe crabs remains critically important to drug safety, Blair said.
“The critical role of horseshoe crab in the biopharmaceutical supply chain and coastal ecosystem makes their conservation imperative,” he said.
The Atlantic horseshoe crab, the species harvested on the East Coast, ranges from the Gulf of Maine to Florida. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as being “vulnerable” based on a 2016 assessment.
One of the most important ecosystems for horseshoe crabs is the Delaware Bay, an estuary of the Delaware River between Delaware and New Jersey. The bay is where the crabs breed and the red knots feed.
The density of horseshoe crab eggs in the bay is nowhere near what it was in the 1990s, said Lawrence Niles, an independent wildlife biologist who once headed New Jersey's state endangered species program. Meanwhile, the population of the rufa red knot, the threatened subspecies, has declined by 75% since the 1980s, according to the National Park Service.
The birds need meaningful protection of horseshoe crab eggs to be able to recover, Niles said. He tracks the health of red knots and horseshoe crabs and has organized a group called Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition to advocate for conservation measures.
Niles and volunteers he organizes have been counting the horseshoe crab eggs since the 1980s and tagging birds since the 1990s. In mid-June, as he was wrapping up this year's tracking in southern New Jersey, he described the eggs as “good and consistent” through the month.
“What we want is the harvest to stop, the killing to stop, and let the stock rebuild to its carrying capacity,” Niles said.
The horseshoe crabs have been harvested for use as bait and medicine from Florida to Maine over the years, though the largest harvests are in Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts and Virginia. According to federal fishery statistics, the crabs were worth about $1.1 million in total at the docks in 2021.
That figure is dwarfed by seafood species such as lobsters and scallops, which are routinely worth hundreds of millions of dollars. However, horseshoe crab fishers are dedicated stewards of a fishery that supplies a vital product, said George Topping, a Maryland fisherman.
“Everything you do in life comes from horseshoe crab blood. Vaccines, antibiotics,” he said. “The horseshoe crab stocks are healthy."
___
Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke in Pickering Beach, Delaware, and video journalist Rodrique Ngowi in Middle Township, N.J., contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/blue-blood-from-horseshoe-crabs-is-needed-for-medicine-but-a-declining-bird-relies-on-crabs-to-eat/4550837/ | 2023-07-31T15:03:47 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/blue-blood-from-horseshoe-crabs-is-needed-for-medicine-but-a-declining-bird-relies-on-crabs-to-eat/4550837/ |
Boston man charged with striking Randolph police cruiser, fleeing scene
RANDOLPH − A Boston man has been charged with fleeing the scene after striking a police cruiser that was stopped to assist a broken-down motorist, police said.
A Randolph police officer responded to North Main Street about 8 p.m. on Saturday during the weekend's storm to assist with a vehicle that had run out of fuel in the left lane.
"While assisting the disabled vehicle, a 2014 black Jeep, traveling northbound, crossed over the double yellow line and struck the stopped cruiser," Police Chief Anthony Marag said in a written statement. "After striking the cruiser, the vehicle fled the scene and continued driving northbound."
The officer, who was inside the cruiser when it was struck, was evaluated at the scene, but declined further treatment, Marag said.
A second officer arrived on scene and attempted to stop the vehicle.
"Out of caution for the safety of the officers and other drivers, a decision was made not to initiate a pursuit and responding officers continued to assist the disabled vehicle," Marag said.
Police say they used photo evidence to obtain the license plate number and the suspect vehicle was quickly identified.
About half an hour later, Detective Sgt. Jason Fisher and Detective Christopher Jones located the vehicle unoccupied near the registered owner's address near Wellington Hill Street in Boston.
"Upon locating the vehicle, detectives found it to have damage consistent with the crash," Marag said. "The vehicle was taken to the Randolph Police Department and impounded."
Police say the registered owner and alleged driver turned himself in on Sunday morning.
The suspect, a 29-year-old Mattapan man, has been charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
Police say he was not identified because a criminal complaint had not yet been issued.
The suspect will be summoned to Quincy District Court to face the charges at a later date.
Enterprise senior reporter Cody Shepard can be reached at cshepard@enterprisenews.com. | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/crime/2023/07/31/randolph-police-cruiser-struck-rain-boston-man-charged-fleeing-scene/70497475007/ | 2023-07-31T15:04:05 | 1 | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/crime/2023/07/31/randolph-police-cruiser-struck-rain-boston-man-charged-fleeing-scene/70497475007/ |
Too vulgar for the road? The custom license plates Massachusetts RMV denied
While out on your weekly errands, you'll see many creative vanity license plates. But you won't see vehicles with plates reading "DILF," GLOCK7," "AYKFM" or "NARCAN."
Those are among the nearly 900 custom license plates rejected by the state Registry of Motor Vehicles in 2022. In all, Massachusetts residents requested 10,165 vanity license plates last year.
The department even has a dedicated team, the Special Plates Division, that handles these requests. Even if you're able to slip something past their watchful eyes, the registry says it reserves the right to revoke a custom license plate
In a public records request, we asked for all of the different versions of license plates from last year. We at The Enterprise have compiled them into a searchable database for our subscribers to view.
Accepted or Denied:Search Massachusetts's vanity plate requests in 2022
The RMV has several rules for vanity plates
They can have up to six characters, with a minimum of two. The first two characters must be letters and numbers can only come at the end. They cannot be used as a substitute letter, according to the RMV.
In addition, the letters "I," "O," "Q" and "U" can be used only in words that are spelled correctly.
66 acres:How much would fairgrounds purchase cost Brockton taxpayers?
Why are custom license plates denied?
Vanity plates that already exist are denied, and there are several other reasons for denial.
One such reason is when a combination of characters is considered "vulgar in that it is in poor taste or is degrading or is considered profanity."
It also includes plates that could be derogatory of belittling to someone. Obscene messages or references to body parts, ethnic heritage, gender, disabilities, sexual orientation or political affiliation are reasons for denials.
A license plate that has "fighting words" or is "designed to inflame passions" will also be denied, according to the RMV.
'Flexible and convenient':Need your driver's license reinstated? RMV has tool for virtual hearings
Those restrictions also apply when such words appear when someone sees them in a mirror, according to the RMV.
"It is irrelevant whether offensive material is communicated when reading the vanity plate from left-to-right or from right-to-left, when viewed through a rear-view mirror, or whether it is in a foreign language or in a code which only a small segment of the community may be able to readily decipher," according to the RMV rules.
These personalized license plate requests were denied. Here's why
ADEQ. Because Q can only be used in a word that is spelled correctly.AYKFM. Because it can be considered vulgar or in poor taste. It is an acronym for "Are you (expletive) kidding me."BOIBYE. For the lack of significance or meaning.COUGR, COGAR, CUGAR (all requested by one person). Can be viewed as demeaning or vulgar.DILF. Because of vulgarity. It is an acronym for "Dad I'd like to (expletive deleted)."DOOBIE - Drug reference.GLCOK7 - vulgarity.HITMAN - expression of fighting words.NARCAN - obscene or in bad taste.OINKER - obscene or in bad taste.REDRUM and MURDER (requested by same person) - expression of fighting words. SMUT - Obscene or in bad taste.
For more, use our searchable database.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime. | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/state/2023/07/31/denied-personalized-license-plates-massachusetts-why-they-were-rejected/70489432007/ | 2023-07-31T15:04:11 | 0 | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/state/2023/07/31/denied-personalized-license-plates-massachusetts-why-they-were-rejected/70489432007/ |
Meet Kristie Mewis: Everything to know about the World Cup soccer star from Hanson
As the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off last week in Auckland, New Zealand, all eyes were on Hanson, MA native Kristie Mewis as she made her World Cup debut.
Mewis, 32, currently plays midfield for the New Jersey-based "Gotham Football Club (FC)" of the U.S. National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and for the U.S. National Team.
According to reporting by Jason Snow for The Enterprise, Mewis began to play professionally in 2013 when she signed with the Australian team Canberra United FC, going on to play for professional teams in Kansas City, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Houston, before being traded to Gotham FC in 2022.
But before her professional career, Mewis was a star on the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School girls' soccer team. By the time she graduated in 2008, she had scored 74 goals and had 34 assists. She went on to play for Boston College, graduating in 2012 with 39 goals, 38 assists, and nine game-winning goals.
On July 22, Mewis helped the U.S. team secure their first win against Vietnam (3-0) and five days later, played in a tied game against the Netherlands (1-1). Before she hits the field again on August 1, here’s everything you want to know about Hanson’s very own soccer star.
Where did Kristie Mewis grow up?
Mewis was born on February 25, 1991 in Weymouth. She grew up in Hanson, attending Whitman-Hanson Regional High School where she starred on the high school girls’ soccer team.
HOW TO WATCH:Women’s World Cup Guide: Results, schedule and how to watch
Does Kristie Mewis have a sister?
Born less than two years apart, Kristie’s little sister Samantha Mewis is also a professional soccer player. The two played together at Whitman-Hanson High and later became the first sisters to make a U.S. Women's National team together. She currently plays midfield for the Kansas City Currents, but a knee injury prevented her from competing in this year’s World Cup.
She'll be cheering her sister on during her World Cup debut. They follow every one of each other’s games and always know they have someone to call, Sam's official bio reads.
SPORTS:Hanson's Kristie Mewis selected to U.S. Women's National Team's 2023 FIFA World Cup roster
What is Kristie Mewis’ number?
Mewis is playing under number 22.
What does Kristie Mewis do for fun?
In a video released on the FIFA World Cup’s website, Mewis admits she's more like us than you'd think. When she's not on the field, she likes to watch Netflix, online shop, and get coffee.
What happened to Kristie Mewis in 2018?
In 2018, Mewis tore her ACL while playing with the Houston Dash. While the injury delayed her return to the sport, she came back to play against the Netherlands in 2020, winning 2-0 and setting a women's team record: 2,722 days between goals.
In 2020, Mewis spoke via Zoom from Commerce City, Colorado, site of the U.S. Women's National Team training camp. "Tearing my ACL was kind of a blessing in disguise because it woke me up a little bit. It made me realize, 'Kristie, what are you doing? You need to come back from this. You're missing out on your dreams. I want to get back with the national team. I want to be the best player I can be," she said.
Big moments at Women's World Cup:These are some of the highlights & lowlights
Who is Kristie Mewis dating?
Mewis is dating professional soccer star Sam Kerr, captain of the Australian National Team and a forward for Chelsea FC in England's Women's Super League. Kerr is sitting this World Cup out due to a calf injury. The two went public in 2021, sharing an intimate photo on Instagram.
Where can I watch Kristie Mewis play?
According to USA Today, the World Cup will be broadcast on Fox’s main channel, as well as Fox Sports 1. It’s also available to stream on FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app. Mewis and team U.S.A will play again on August 1 against Portugal at 3 a.m. ET. | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/sports/women/2023/07/31/world-cup-soccer-star-kristie-mewis-hanson-whitman-hanson-high/70485558007/ | 2023-07-31T15:04:17 | 0 | https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/sports/women/2023/07/31/world-cup-soccer-star-kristie-mewis-hanson-whitman-hanson-high/70485558007/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Trucking company Yellow Corp. has shut down operations and is headed for a bankruptcy filing, according to the Teamsters Union and multiple media reports.
After years of financial struggles, reports of Yellow preparing for bankruptcy emerged last week — as the Nashville, Tennessee-based trucker saw customers leave in large numbers. Yellow shut down operations on Sunday, according to the Wall Street Journal, following the layoffs of hundreds of nonunion employees on Friday.
In an announcement early Monday, the Teamsters said that the union received legal notice confirming Yellow was ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
“Today’s news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government,” Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry.”
The Associated Press reached out to Yellow for comment on Monday. No bankruptcy filings had gone live as of the early morning.
The bankruptcy reports have renewed attention around Yellow’s ongoing negotiations with unionized workers, a $700 million pandemic-era loan from the government and other bills the trucker has racked up over time. Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The company’s reported closure puts 30,000 jobs at risk.
Here’s what you need to know.
WHAT WOULD BANKRUPTCY MEAN FOR YELLOW?
According to Satish Jindel, president of transportation and logistics firm SJ Consulting, Yellow handled an average of 49,000 shipments per day in 2022. Last week, he estimated that number was down to between 10,000 and 15,000 daily shipments.
With customers leaving — as well reports of Yellow stopping freight pickups last week — bankruptcy would “be the end of Yellow,” Jindel told The Associated Press, noting increased risk for liquidation.
“The likelihood of them surviving and remaining solvent diminishes really by the day,” added Bruce Chan, a research director at investment banking firm Stifel.
Yellow declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday. In a Wednesday statement to The Journal, the company said it was continuing “to prepare for a range of contingencies.” On Thursday, Yellow said it was in talks with multiple parties about selling its third-party logistics organization.
Even if Yellow was able to sell its logistics firm, it would “not generate a sufficient amount of cash to keep them operational on any sort of permanent basis,” Chan said. “Without a major equity injection, it would be very difficult for them to survive.”
HOW MUCH DEBT DOES YELLOW HAVE?
As of late March, Yellow had an outstanding debt of about $1.5 billion. Of that, $729.2 million was owed to the federal government.
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the Treasury Department granted the company a $700 million pandemic-era loan on national security grounds. Last month, a congressional probe concluded that the Treasury and Defense Departments “made missteps” in this decision — and noted that Yellow’s “precarious financial position at the time of the loan, and continued struggles, expose taxpayers to a significant risk of loss.”
The government loan is due in September 2024. As of March, Yellow had made $54.8 million in interest payments and repaid just $230 million of the principal owed, according to government documents.
Yellow’s current finances and prospect of bankruptcy “is probably two decades in the making,” Chan said, pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back to the early 2000s. “At this point, after each party has bailed them out so many times, there is a limited appetite to do that anymore.”
In May, Yellow reported a loss of $54.6 million, a decline of $1.06 per share, for its first quarter of 2023. Operating revenue was about $1.16 billion in the period.
A Wednesday investors note from financial service firm Stephens estimated that Yellow could be burning between $9 million and $10 million each day. Using a liquidity disclosure from earlier this month, Yellow had roughly $100 million in cash at the end of June, the note added — estimating that the company has been burning through increasing amounts of money through July.
“It is reasonable to believe that the Company could breach its $35 mil. liquidity requirement at any moment,” Stephens analyst Jack Atkins and associate Grant Smith wrote.
DID THE COMPANY JUST AVERT A STRIKE?
Last week’s reports of bankruptcy preparations arrived just days after a strike from the Teamsters, which represents Yellow’s 22,000 unionized workers, was averted.
A series of heated exchanges have built up between the Teamsters and Yellow, who sued the union in June after alleging it was “unjustifiably blocking” restructuring plans needed for the company’s survival. The Teamsters called the litigation “baseless” — with O’Brien pointing to Yellow’s “decades of gross mismanagement,” which included exhausting the $700 million federal loan.
On July 23, a pension fund agreed to extend health benefits for workers at two Yellow Corp. operating companies, averting a strike — and giving Yellow “30 days to pay its bills,” notably $50 million that Yellow failed to pay the Central States Health and Welfare Fund on July 15, the union said. While the strike didn’t occur, talks of a walkout may have caused some Yellow customers to pull back, Chan said.
“The financial struggles of Yellow are not related to the union and the contracts,” Jindel said, pointing to management’s responsibility around its services and prices. He added the union wages from Yellow are “lower than any competitor.”
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YELLOW WENT UNDER?
As Yellow customers take their shipments to other carriers, like FedEx or ABF Freight, prices will go up.
Yellow’s prices have historically been the cheapest compared to other carriers, Jindel said. “That’s why they obviously were not making money,” he added. “And while there is capacity with the other LTL carriers to handle the diversions from Yellow, it will come at a high price for (current shippers and customers) of Yellow.”
Chan adds that we’re in an interesting time for the LTL marketplace — noting that, if Yellow liquidates, “the freight would find a home” with other carriers, which may not have been true in recent years.
“It may take time, but there’s room for it to be absorbed,” he said. | https://www.ksn.com/news/business/yellow-trucking-shutdown-bankruptcy-heres-what-to-know/ | 2023-07-31T15:04:18 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/business/yellow-trucking-shutdown-bankruptcy-heres-what-to-know/ |
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WILKES-BARRE — Keystone Mission’s new CEO/Executive Director Danielle O. Keith-Alexandre on Monday said her vision is to continue the journey together with the NEPA community for Keystone Mission to be a beacon of hope for the homeless and marginalized in Northeast PA.
Keith-Alexandre said Keystone Mission will remain steadfast in providing services and giving individuals the tools they need to be productive members of society.
“I look forward to maintaining our current partnerships, as we build on the great foundation laid by those before me, through growth and expansion,” Keith-Alexandre said. “My desire is that Keystone Mission will be a social change agent that affects positive change in the lives of our guests and residents.”
Keith-Alexandre has a background of over 20 years working with individuals experiencing HIV+/AIDS, substance abuse, homelessness, and other marginalized communities through non-profit programming and contract management.
Her past roles include supervisory, program, and contract management at Family Services Network of New York, Inc., Philadelphia Public School Retired Employees Association, Resurrected Community Development Corporation, and most recently, Family Connection of Easton, Inc., as the Director of Operations.
Keith-Alexandre holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a Masters of Science in Human and Social Services from Walden University.
“Overall, I am excited about working with our guests and residents whom we serve day in and day out, the staff, and all others who believe in the mission of Keystone,” Keith-Alexandre said. “Knowing that with hard work, perseverance, and encouragement, the future is bright.”
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Click now to support or get more information.Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle. | https://www.timesleader.com/news/1615850/keystone-mission-welcomes-new-ceo-executive-director | 2023-07-31T15:04:18 | 1 | https://www.timesleader.com/news/1615850/keystone-mission-welcomes-new-ceo-executive-director |
HIALEAH, Fla. (WFLA) — A federal judge in Florida has thrown out a multi-million dollar lawsuit involving microwavable mac and cheese.
The $5 million lawsuit claimed the Kraft Heinz Food Company misled the public about the time it takes to prepare Velveeta microwavable mac and cheese cups.
According to court records, a West Palm Beach-based law firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of a woman from Hialeah, Florida, on Nov. 18.
The lawsuit alleged that the Kraft Heinz Food Company violated federal law by saying the mac and cheese cups take 3½ minutes to prepare, arguing that the time limit does not include the time it takes to remove the lid, add water and stir in the cheese sauce.
The lawsuit had claimed Amanda Ramirez bought the product for a “premium price” of $10.99 “between October and November 2022, among other times.” However, it did not say how long it actually took Ramirez to prepare the mac and cheese.
The suit described Ramirez as someone who “looks to bold statements of value when quickly selecting groceries”, and “like many consumers who seek to stretch their money as far as possible when buying groceries.”
Despite the arguments, a Miami district judge threw out the lawsuit. | https://www.ksn.com/news/national-world/florida-judge-tosses-5-million-lawsuit-over-microwavable-mac-and-cheese/ | 2023-07-31T15:04:24 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/national-world/florida-judge-tosses-5-million-lawsuit-over-microwavable-mac-and-cheese/ |
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Private Facebook accounts by elected officials who post or share posts related to government issues could be considered public records, according to a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruling last week.
The appellate court on Thursday vacated a decision by a Luzerne County judge that protected the Facebook postings of Wyoming Borough Mayor Joseph Dominick.
Former Wyoming Borough Mayor Robert Boyer, an attorney, filed a Right-to-Know requests in May 2018 seeking documents from the Facebook account titled, Joseph Dominick Mayor of Wyoming.
Boyer sought contact information of page administrators, editors, comments and deleted and blocked comments from Dominick’s Facebook account.
Wyoming Borough did not respond to Boyer’s request within the allotted time, which is considered denied under the Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law.
In a letter dated June 21, 2018, Wyoming Borough explained Dominick’s Facebook account was not affiliated with Wyoming Borough and is “privately maintained.”
Boyer appealed to the state’s Open Records Office claiming Dominick is a public figure and his Facebook page identifies Dominick as “Mayor of Wyoming,” which often posted council meeting information, memos related to municipal business and borough announcements.
The Open Records Office concluded Dominick’s Facebook page is a “record” of Wyoming Borough despite Dominick claiming during the appeal process Boyer had access to his page. Boyer contended he does not have a Facebook account.
Wyoming Borough appealed the ruling by the Open Records Office to Luzerne County Court.
Judge Thomas Burke, now retired, determined posts on Dominick’s Mayor of Wyoming Facebook page are “not public records.”
Boyer appealed Burke’s ruling with the Commonwealth Court who ruled Dominick used his private Facebook account in an “official capacity.”
“The Office found Dominick used the page in his role as mayor as a tool to foster community action and engagement,” the appellate court ruled in vacating Burke’s decision.
The appellate court sent the case back to Luzerne County to determine if the documents and other information Boyer sought from Dominick’s private Facebook account are “public records” subject to the state’s Right-to-Know Law.
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Click now to support or get more information. | https://www.timesleader.com/news/1615853/ruling-vacated-in-wyoming-borough-mayors-private-facebook-page | 2023-07-31T15:04:28 | 1 | https://www.timesleader.com/news/1615853/ruling-vacated-in-wyoming-borough-mayors-private-facebook-page |
(The Hill) — The Department of Education released a beta website on Monday for the Biden administration’s new income-driven student loan repayment plan, known as the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.
“A beta version of the updated [Income-Driven Repayment (IDR)] application is now available and includes the option to enroll in the new SAVE Plan – the most affordable repayment plan yet,” the department said on the site.
Previously, the administration had numerous IDR options for borrowers, which advocates have said led to a confusing system for borrowers.
The new SAVE plan will replace the Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment (REPAYE) plan, one of the most widely used out of the four IDR options available to borrowers. The other three IDR plans will be phased out by the department or limited in the future.
The SAVE plan will make three significant changes this year compared to the REPAYE option. The first raises the income exemption from 150 percent above the poverty line to 225 percent, meaning a single person earning less than $32,800 would have $0 monthly payments under the plan.
The plan also won’t allow unpaid interest to grow if a person is making their monthly student loan payments. Lastly, spousal income for borrowers who are married and file separately will not be included.
The website – first reported by CNN — shows a demo of the application process, where some information such as tax returns can be automatically inserted due to information the government has on file for a borrower.
“We will be able to show borrowers their exact monthly payment amount and give them the ability to choose the most affordable repayment plan for them,” one official told CNN.
Officials told the network the full website launch will happen in August after the department has time to assess the site’s performance during the beta launch. Those who apply for SAVE during the beta period will not have to reapply after the full launch.
Those on the previous REPAYE IDR plan will be automatically enrolled in the new plan and do not need to use the launched application.
The Hill has reached out to the Department of Education for comment on the beta launch.
Other aspects of the SAVE program will be implemented next year such as payments getting reduced from 10 percent to 5 percent of income above 225 percent of the poverty line for undergraduate loans.
The SAVE plan, touted as the most generous IDR plan by the administration, is expected to cost between $150 billion to $350 billion a year, according to varying estimates.
The launch of the SAVE plan comes two months before borrowers end their three-year-long pause on student loan payments and begin President Joe Biden’s “on-ramp” repayment system.
Under the system, interest will still accrue, but borrowers will not be penalized in other ways such as credit score ratings for not paying their student loan payments up until Sept. 2024. | https://www.ksn.com/news/national-world/new-income-driven-student-loan-repayment-plan-available-to-borrowers/ | 2023-07-31T15:04:30 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/national-world/new-income-driven-student-loan-repayment-plan-available-to-borrowers/ |
ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Many were not just killed at home. They were killed by their homes.
Angela Eason had visited Brenda Odoms’ tidy mobile home before. It was a place where Odoms, who had many tragedies in her life, felt safe.
In March, a tornado ripped through this small Mississippi town and people in mobile or manufactured homes were hit the hardest. Inside a mobile morgue, Eason, the county coroner, examined Odoms’ gaping fatal head wound. Odoms was found just outside of her collapsed mobile home that was tossed around by a tornado. Blunt force trauma killed her.
“The one place she felt safe she was not,” Eason said. Fourteen people died in that Rolling Fork tornado, nine of them, including Odoms, were in uprooted manufactured or mobile homes.
Tornadoes in the United States are disproportionately killing more people in mobile or manufactured homes, especially in the South, often victimizing some of the most socially and economically vulnerable residents. Since 1996, tornadoes have killed 815 people in mobile or manufactured homes, representing 53% of all the people killed at home during a tornado, according to an Associated Press data analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tornado deaths. Meanwhile, less than 6% of America’s housing units are manufactured homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
While the dangers of tornadoes to mobile homes have long been known, and there are ways to mitigate the risk, the percentage of total tornado deaths that happen in mobile homes has been increasing. Part of the problem is that federal housing rules that call for tougher manufactured home standards, including anchoring, only apply in hurricane zones, which is most of Florida and then several counties along the coast. Those are not the areas where tornadoes usually hit.
Auburn University engineering professor David Roueche called manufactured homes in non-coastal places “death traps compared to most permanent homes” when it comes to tornadoes.
A DEADLY YEAR
The first tornado deaths this year were in Alabama in January, killing seven people, all in mobile homes. All but one were thrown at least 1,000 feet from their homes, with the seventh person thrown at least 500 feet, said Ernie Baggett, the former emergency management chief for Autauga County, Alabama. Less than 100 yards from where four of those people died was a permanent home that had little more than shingle damage, he said.
When the wind hits the mobile homes, “it’s like a house of cards. They just crumble,” Baggett said.
So far this year, at least 45 of the 74 people killed in the U.S. by tornadoes were in some form of manufactured housing when they died, according to NOAA data. Nine others died in site homes and the rest were killed in other places, such as in vehicles.
The manufactured housing industry — which disputes that there’s any disproportionate danger — insists on calling the structures manufactured homes if they are built after hurricane-based federal standards in 1976 and mobile homes if they are built before, saying age of the home matters. Federal housing officials use the term manufactured housing. Other people, including many researchers and residents, use the terms interchangeably.
More than 70% of the 8 million manufactured homes in America were built after 1976. Because a big chunk were built in the 1980s and early 1990s, 60% of all those homes were installed before increased federal standards were adopted in 1994, the industry’s trade group, Manufactured Housing Institute said.
TORNADOES DON’T HAVE TO BE DEADLY
Tornado experts say most tornadoes should be survivable.
“You just have to be in some structure that’s attached to the ground. And then no matter what the tornado throws at you, you have really good odds,” said NOAA social scientist Kim Klockow-McClain.
But in manufactured homes, even the weakest tornadoes are killing people in large numbers when they shouldn’t be, more than a dozen experts in meteorology, disasters and engineering told The AP.
More than 240 people in mobile homes in the past 28 years have died in tornadoes with winds of 135 mph or less, the three weakest of the six categories of twisters, the AP analysis found. That’s 79% of the deaths at home in the weaker tornadoes. It’s only in storms with winds higher than 165 mph where most of the at home deaths are in more permanent structures.
Auburn’s Roueche not only studies what happens in mobile homes during tornadoes, he grew up in one. What he sees over and over are mobile homes that fail from the bottom up because they are not secured enough to the ground, like permanent homes are.
WHAT HAPPENS IN A TORNADO
“The whole structure is rolling or flying through air. You’ve got dressers falling on top of you. You’ve got the entire structure that’s trying to crush you,” said Roueche.
That March evening in Rolling Fork, when the tornado roared through Ida Cartlidge remembered the air blowing so powerfully that she couldn’t breathe, the sounds of windows shattering and then utter mayhem.
“The only thing that’s holding a mobile home down are the little straps in the ground,” Cartlidge said. “It picked up the home one time, set it down. It picked it up again, set it down. It picked it up a third time, and we were in the air.”
The tornado hit Mildred Joyner’s mobile home so hard she felt the mobile home shake, heard the cracking sound of what she figured was her home coming apart and then she woke up in the hospital and her mother who was in the mobile home with her ended up paralyzed from the waist down.
The problem is worsening in the South because tornadoes have been moving more from the Great Plains to the mid-South in recent decades and will likely to continue to do so with climate change a possible factor, studies show. Alabama has the most tornado deaths by far.
Unlike the rest of the country, which usually has most manufactured housing in parks, the South has mobile homes scattered about the countryside in ones and twos, making central tornado shelters less effective and likely to be built, said Villanova University tornado expert Stephen Strader and Northern Illinois meteorology professor Walker Ashley.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ANCHORING
One thing scientists, emergency managers and the manufactured housing industry agree on is that anchoring mobile homes to the ground is key.
That requires expensive concrete or expensive tie down systems, said former Alabama emergency official Jonathan Gaddy, now a professor at Idaho State University.
“Why does that matter? Well, it explains why we haven’t fixed the problem with anchoring because nobody can fix the problem and still make money. That’s the bottom line,” Gaddy said.
“Anchoring matters and has been shown to be the difference between life or death,” Villanova’s Strader said in an email. “However, the MH industry seems disinterested in addressing this because it would make their homes more expensive.”
Manufactured Home Institute Chief Executive Officer Lesli Gooch said the industry is “very clear” about the importance of anchoring. “We also talk about making sure that a professional checks your anchoring systems on your manufactured home, especially on mobile homes built prior to (19)76,” she said.
“We’re very focused on making sure that there are minimum installation standards in the states,” Gooch said.
Northern Illinois’ Ashley said lack of state regulations and inspections, especially in much of the South, is a big problem.
Improvements in federal codes that went into effect in 1976, 1994 and 2008 make a big difference, Gooch said, arguing that the NOAA data the AP analyzed and that scientists use lump different ages of manufactured homes together and tar them with the problems of the oldest ones.
“I wouldn’t want your readers to misinterpret your data to suggest that living in a manufactured home is somehow more deadly than living in a site-built home because I would tell you that I don’t think that the data bears that out,” Gooch said.
Gooch pointed to manufactured homes in Florida, where tighter federal Housing and Urban Development safety rules apply because it is a hurricane wind zone. “Homes in Florida that are manufactured homes are performing better than what you see in the site-built world,” she said.
IT’S NOT GETTING BETTER
Several scientists and engineers said data, and history, show the situation has not improved.
“This is more of the handwaving- and misdirection-type statements that has come to represent the manufactured housing industry’s take on tornado and manufactured home safety,” Villanova’s Strader said in an email, with Northern Illinois’ Ashley agreeing.
“Our study of the Lee County Alabama EF4 tornado found that 19 of the 23 deaths were in manufactured homes (all built after 1994),” Strader said. “All of those deaths were due to a lack of anchoring or a floor-to-wall connection. There have been many prior studies that have illustrated that these homes are failing at lower wind loads than permanent homes.”
If Gooch were right, the percentage of tornado deaths in mobile homes would be going down with time and they are not, NOAA National Severe Storms Lab tornado scientist Harold Brooks said, presenting data that goes back to 1975. His data showed mobile home deaths between 1975 and 1984 were 43.6% of all at-home tornado deaths and the same figure was 63.2% for the past ten years through the end of May.
A contributing factor, Strader, Ashley and Roueche said, is that federal rules for anchoring only apply in hurricane zones, mostly in Florida. Those are not the areas where tornadoes usually hit. Instead, they hit inland where the weakest federal standards are, they said. Most of tornado-prone areas, including almost all of Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Mississippi are in “Zone 1,” where safety and anchoring of mobile homes have the most lax standards.
“People are dying in new and old Zone 1 manufactured homes,” Roueche said in response to Gooch’s comments. Tornado homes throughout the country would be much safer if the coastal federal requirements applied everywhere, he said.
HURTING POOR PEOPLE MORE
One of the issues with mobile homes and tornadoes is that it is an intersection of risk and “different social vulnerability factors like poverty, even some issues pertaining to race, ethnicity, age,” NOAA’s Klockow said.
And it makes it harder for people to leave their mobile homes and head for a permanent shelter.
“I always think about the single mother who’s living in a manufactured home. It’s the middle of the night. She has three kids. Her car’s not starting correctly and all of a sudden here comes a tornado,” Strader said in an interview.
Officials tell her “to get to a storm shelter because our manufactured home isn’t safe,” Strader said. “Well, the problem there is that there’s all these factors up against them.”
Tornadoes pop down rapidly, which doesn’t allow meteorologists to give much warning, maybe 10 to 15 minutes. In many cases, the National Weather Service warns days in advance that the conditions are ripe for tornadoes, but that isn’t the same as warning that one has touched down.
University of Oklahoma social scientist Justin Sharpe, who studies disaster warnings, said with poor and disabled residents the key is to avoid warnings that simply say “get out now” and nothing else.
Instead, a couple hours before a tornado is possible, meteorologists should warn people to be packed up and ready to go at a moment’s notice later, Sharpe and Klockow-McClain said.
FINDING SAFER PLACES
A relatively new law in Alabama could help provide more shelters and be a model for other states. The law gives liability protection to buildings like churches and stores that open up in an emergency as a shelter if specifically-built shelters aren’t available.
When this year’s first deadly tornado struck just outside Montgomery, Alabama, Autauga County had about 30 minutes warning but no “safer places” to send people, the then-emergency chief, Baggett said. Seven people in mobile homes died.
The tornado continued into neighboring Elmore County, which had already set off its 30 warning sirens, used a mass notification system to make 16,772 calls to phones in the danger area and opened up 16 churches and other safer places.
People went into the temporary shelters. Homes were destroyed, but no one died. | https://www.ksn.com/weather/weather-stories/tornadoes-are-killing-more-in-mobile-or-manufactured-homes/ | 2023-07-31T15:04:36 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/weather/weather-stories/tornadoes-are-killing-more-in-mobile-or-manufactured-homes/ |
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Player and Life Guard Imaging VP of Business Development Martín Gramática appears on Bloom with Host Gayle Guyardo to discuss the importance of being proactive and putting your health in your hands by getting annual scans and screening. From their heart health and full body scans to their virtual colonoscopies, Life Guard Imaging provides innovative screening technology. Early detection can increase your chances of survival. Currently, Life Guard Imaging is one of only 5 facilities in the country offering these scans right in the Tampa Bay area. The incredible body scan at Life Guard Imaging can detect heart disease and hundreds of forms of cancer.
BLOOM SPECIAL OFFER TODAY ONLY Visit Lifeguardimaging.com or Call TODAY 813-582-5222 to receive and schedule a Free Heart Scan and Consultation — a $599 value when you mention Gayle/Bloom.
You can watch Bloom in the Tampa Bay Market weekdays at 2pm on WFLA News Channel 8.
Bloom is now part of DBTV Network Seen In Over 300 Million Households worldwide, including Roku TV, and Amazon Fire.
Bloom also airs in 40 markets across the country, with a reach of approximately 36 million households, and in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Madison, WI.
Plus, Bloom has gone digital! Catch the “Bloom Health Club” streaming on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts. | https://www.wfla.com/bloom-tampa-bay/life-guard-imaging-early-detection-saves-lives-16/ | 2023-07-31T15:04:55 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/bloom-tampa-bay/life-guard-imaging-early-detection-saves-lives-16/ |
Alina Alcantara stars as Norma in the American Stage presentation of La Gringa! She spoke with Maggie about the opportunity to bring this show to St. Pete as the first bilingual production in the state of Florida. For tickets, visit AmericanStage.org.
American Stage brings bilingual production to St. Pete with ‘La Gringa’
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Subscribe Now | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/american-stage-brings-bilingual-production-to-st-pete-with-la-gringa/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:01 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/american-stage-brings-bilingual-production-to-st-pete-with-la-gringa/ |
For more information visit TeamBorham.com or call 866-308-7109.
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Subscribe Now | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/housing-market-update-team-borham-at-exp-realty/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:07 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/housing-market-update-team-borham-at-exp-realty/ |
With children ranging in age from toddlers to young adults, our moms share the life skills they’re teaching their kids right now. We also debate the question of giving children a weekly alloweance even if they don’t do chores. Plus, our advice and an expert’s for dealing with mean girls.
Maggie and the Moms on life skills, chores and mean girls
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Subscribe Now | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/maggie-and-the-moms-on-life-skills-chores-and-mean-girls/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:13 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/maggie-and-the-moms-on-life-skills-chores-and-mean-girls/ |
The FBI should face new limits on its use of US foreign spy data, a key intelligence board says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI should stop using a U.S. spy database of foreigners’ emails and other communications for investigating crimes that aren’t related to national security, a group of White House intelligence advisers recommended in a report released Monday.
The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board’s findings come as the White House pushes Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before its expiration at the end of this year. U.S. intelligence officials say Section 702 enables investigations of Chinese and Russian espionage, potential terrorist plots, and other threats.
But spy agencies also end up capturing the communications of U.S. citizens and businesses, and a series of intelligence mistakes at the FBI has fanned bipartisan criticism of the bureau that has strongly colored the debate over renewing the law.
The advisory board says the FBI made “inappropriate use” at times of Section 702 information. Those include queries for a U.S. senator and state senator’s names without properly limiting the search, looking for someone believed to have been at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and doing large queries of names of protesters following the 2020 death of George Floyd.
“Unfortunately, complacency, a lack of proper procedures, and the sheer volume of Section 702 activity led to FBI’s inappropriate use of Section 702 authorities, specifically U.S. person queries,” the board said in its report. “U.S. person queries” generally mean searches for U.S. citizens and businesses.
The board recommends the FBI no longer search the data when it is seeking evidence of a crime not related to national security. Currently, the FBI conducts fewer than two dozen such searches a year, a senior administration official told reporters Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
The White House has not decided whether it will accept the recommendation but is studying the board’s work and report, the official said.
The board’s report largely lines up with the White House’s positions on other changes being debated in Congress. The board opposed requiring the FBI to obtain a warrant before it searches Section 702 data, saying that change would be impractical. It also says the FBI needs to maintain access to foreign spy collection because unlike other intelligence agencies, it has law enforcement authorities inside the U.S. and can warn Americans that they are being targeted by foreign spies or criminals.
Already, both Republicans and Democrats have called for broader changes affecting the FBI, including a handful of lawmakers in both parties who want to require warrants for any search.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., sharply questioned Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen in June about how it searches Section 702 data and signaled he would push for new protections.
“I don’t think you’ve effectively made the case that there shouldn’t be a warrant requirement, whether or not it is constitutionally required, for a U.S. person search that is crime only,” he said.
Many in the GOP, meanwhile, are furious about the FBI’s investigations of former President Donald Trump and mistakes found by the Justice Department inspector general and other reviewers.
In a statement, the FBI said the report highlighted “how crucial” foreign intelligence was to the bureau’s mission.
“We agree that Section 702 should be reauthorized in a manner that does not diminish its effectiveness, as well as reassures the public of its importance and our ability to adhere rigorously to all relevant rules,” the bureau’s statement said.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/31/fbi-should-face-new-limits-its-use-us-foreign-spy-data-key-intelligence-board-says/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:17 | 1 | https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/31/fbi-should-face-new-limits-its-use-us-foreign-spy-data-key-intelligence-board-says/ |
5 Akron teens arrested for robbing, assaulting 18-year-old
SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - Five teenagers, ages 13-17, were arrested by Akron police Saturday afternoon for robbing an 18-year-old male walking down the street.
The victim told police he was walking in the area of W. Thornton and Main Streets when the group of males approached him and at least one pointed a gun at him.
He was assaulted and robbed of his cell phone, said police.
The victim sustained minor injuries.
Officers who responded to the scene said they received information within minutes that helped identify the young suspects and they were located at a home in the 700 block of Dunbar Dr.
Officers added the handgun possibly used in the robbery was also recovered.
The teens are charged with assault and aggravated robbery.
Copyright 2023 WOIO. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/5-akron-teens-arrested-robbing-assaulting-18-year-old/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:17 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/5-akron-teens-arrested-robbing-assaulting-18-year-old/ |
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by: Deanna Moore Posted: Jul 31, 2023 / 09:30 AM EDT Updated: Jul 28, 2023 / 12:17 PM EDT f For more information go to: Tgh.org/limbpreservation
See Mattel’s ‘Barbie’ movie dolls that have become … Fans of all ages are excited about the upcoming ‘Barbie’ movie. These newly released dolls from Mattel are upping the anticipation even more.
Everything you need to start crocheting at home If you want to start crocheting at home, put yarn, needles and several other supplies on your shopping list.
Every smart thermostat essential you need to learn A smart thermostat could be the answer to several problems. Read on to learn what makes them a brilliant addition to your home. | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/tghs-heart-and-vascular-institute-opened-he-first-and-pnly-limb-preservation-program-in-the-region/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:19 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/daytime/tghs-heart-and-vascular-institute-opened-he-first-and-pnly-limb-preservation-program-in-the-region/ |
Mother of 8 found dead in plastic storage box
CLEVELAND (WOIO/Gray News) - An Ohio woman’s remains were found in a plastic storage box nearly a year after she disappeared, WOIO reports.
The remains of 41-year-old Tyresha Little, a mother of eight, were discovered behind an abandoned home in Cleveland.
A tip to police led them to the backyard of the home on July 20.
Family and friends, including five of Little’s children, gathered outside of the abandoned home to pay tribute to her life.
“My daughter, she was a very, very loving heart. She would give you the shirt off of her back. She did have a drug background, but she had been clean for two years,” her mother said.
Little’s oldest daughter said her mother was her best friend.
“If anything, she loved her kids. There was nothing else that came before her kids,” she said.
Little’s daughter said she was hurt by what she said a Cleveland police detective told her when her mother was first reported missing.
“The very first thing they told me is, ‘She’s probably just off somewhere getting high, on a binge’ and kept asking if it was normal. I kept repeating, ‘No, no,’” she said.
Little’s family is determined to find out what happened to her since her disappearance on Aug. 30, 2022.
A group of at least 30 people released balloons into the sky chanting, “We love you, We’ll see you on the other side. Justice for Tyresha.”
WOIO reached out to the City of Cleveland regarding the family’s concerns suggesting that not every missing person’s case is treated equally. The detective on the case said it was special to him and that he has worked on it for nearly a year. He also said every missing person’s case is important, and he will continue to work tirelessly to get answers for Little’s family, including how and when the Cleveland mother died.
A $2,500 reward is still available through Crime Stoppers for anyone who provides a tip that could help determine how Little died by calling 1-800-25-CRIME. Callers can remain anonymous.
Copyright 2023 WOIO via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/31/mother-8-found-dead-plastic-storage-box/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:23 | 0 | https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/31/mother-8-found-dead-plastic-storage-box/ |
5 fallen Ohio officers honored during 15th annual ‘Cops Ride’
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 10:14 AM EDT|Updated: 50 minutes ago
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The five Ohio police officers that lost their lives in 2022 were memorialized during the 15th annual Cops Ride.
Sunday’s event in Downtown Cleveland saw more than 300 motorcycle riders, all of who came to pay respects to the five officers:
- Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Terrance Bateman, who died Jan. 15.
- Medina County Drug Force Agent John Stayrook, who died Feb. 6
- Bluffton Police Officer Dominic Francis, who died March 31
- Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Yates, who died July 24
- Wyandott County Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Kin, who died Dec. 15
The police-escorted processional ride traveled through Cleveland, Lakewood, Rocky River, Bay Village, Avon Lake, Avon, North Ridgeville, Olmsted Township, Olmsted Falls, Berea, Middleburg Heights, Brook Park and concluded at Rock N Roll City Harley Davidson in Cleveland.
Copyright 2023 WOIO. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/5-fallen-ohio-officers-honored-during-15th-annual-cops-ride/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:23 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/5-fallen-ohio-officers-honored-during-15th-annual-cops-ride/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Madonna, the pop legend who dominated the music scene for generations, said she was lucky to be alive after having health issues in June.
The OG “Material Girl” was hospitalized for a “serious bacterial infection” that landed her in the ICU, according to her manager, Guy Oseary.
Sunday morning, Madonna wrote a reflection on her recovery journey one month after her hospitalization, saying love from her family and friends was the “best medicine.”
“As a Mother you can really get caught up In the needs Of your children and the seemingly endless giving……….. But when the chips were down my children really showed up for me,” she wrote in an Instagram post featuring her and her children. “I saw a side to them I had never seen before. It made all the difference.”
Madonna also said a gift from her manager, an Andy Warhol polaroid of artist Keith Haring wearing a painted Michael Jackson jacket, made her reflect on her life.
“I sobbed when I opened this gift because I realized how lucky I am to be alive,” she said. “And how fortunate I am to have known these people and so many others who are also gone.”
The pop legend’s post received several well wishes from members of the entertainment and arts world — including Julia Garner, who was once cast in a now-shelved Madonna biopic, and other Hollywood icons.
“Honey i was so worried,” actress Sharon Stone wrote.
Following her illness, Madonna’s “Celebration Tour” was postponed as she took time to recover, with it slated to begin on Oct. 14. Her Tampa stop, originally scheduled for Sept. 7, will be rescheduled as well.
“Thank you to all my angels who protected me and let me Stay to finish doing my work! ♥️” Madonna wrote. | https://www.wfla.com/entertainment-news/madonna-says-shes-lucky-to-be-alive-after-hospitalization/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:26 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/entertainment-news/madonna-says-shes-lucky-to-be-alive-after-hospitalization/ |
The FBI should face new limits on its use of US foreign spy data, a key intelligence board says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI should stop using a U.S. spy database of foreigners’ emails and other communications for investigating crimes that aren’t related to national security, a group of White House intelligence advisers recommended in a report released Monday.
The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board’s findings come as the White House pushes Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before its expiration at the end of this year. U.S. intelligence officials say Section 702 enables investigations of Chinese and Russian espionage, potential terrorist plots, and other threats.
But spy agencies also end up capturing the communications of U.S. citizens and businesses, and a series of intelligence mistakes at the FBI has fanned bipartisan criticism of the bureau that has strongly colored the debate over renewing the law.
The advisory board says the FBI made “inappropriate use” at times of Section 702 information. Those include queries for a U.S. senator and state senator’s names without properly limiting the search, looking for someone believed to have been at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and doing large queries of names of protesters following the 2020 death of George Floyd.
“Unfortunately, complacency, a lack of proper procedures, and the sheer volume of Section 702 activity led to FBI’s inappropriate use of Section 702 authorities, specifically U.S. person queries,” the board said in its report. “U.S. person queries” generally mean searches for U.S. citizens and businesses.
The board recommends the FBI no longer search the data when it is seeking evidence of a crime not related to national security. Currently, the FBI conducts fewer than two dozen such searches a year, a senior administration official told reporters Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
The White House has not decided whether it will accept the recommendation but is studying the board’s work and report, the official said.
The board’s report largely lines up with the White House’s positions on other changes being debated in Congress. The board opposed requiring the FBI to obtain a warrant before it searches Section 702 data, saying that change would be impractical. It also says the FBI needs to maintain access to foreign spy collection because unlike other intelligence agencies, it has law enforcement authorities inside the U.S. and can warn Americans that they are being targeted by foreign spies or criminals.
Already, both Republicans and Democrats have called for broader changes affecting the FBI, including a handful of lawmakers in both parties who want to require warrants for any search.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., sharply questioned Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen in June about how it searches Section 702 data and signaled he would push for new protections.
“I don’t think you’ve effectively made the case that there shouldn’t be a warrant requirement, whether or not it is constitutionally required, for a U.S. person search that is crime only,” he said.
Many in the GOP, meanwhile, are furious about the FBI’s investigations of former President Donald Trump and mistakes found by the Justice Department inspector general and other reviewers.
In a statement, the FBI said the report highlighted “how crucial” foreign intelligence was to the bureau’s mission.
“We agree that Section 702 should be reauthorized in a manner that does not diminish its effectiveness, as well as reassures the public of its importance and our ability to adhere rigorously to all relevant rules,” the bureau’s statement said.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/fbi-should-face-new-limits-its-use-us-foreign-spy-data-key-intelligence-board-says/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:29 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/fbi-should-face-new-limits-its-use-us-foreign-spy-data-key-intelligence-board-says/ |
The FBI should face new limits on its use of US foreign spy data, a key intelligence board says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI should stop using a U.S. spy database of foreigners’ emails and other communications for investigating crimes that aren’t related to national security, a group of White House intelligence advisers recommended in a report released Monday.
The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board’s findings come as the White House pushes Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before its expiration at the end of this year. U.S. intelligence officials say Section 702 enables investigations of Chinese and Russian espionage, potential terrorist plots, and other threats.
But spy agencies also end up capturing the communications of U.S. citizens and businesses, and a series of intelligence mistakes at the FBI has fanned bipartisan criticism of the bureau that has strongly colored the debate over renewing the law.
The advisory board says the FBI made “inappropriate use” at times of Section 702 information. Those include queries for a U.S. senator and state senator’s names without properly limiting the search, looking for someone believed to have been at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and doing large queries of names of protesters following the 2020 death of George Floyd.
“Unfortunately, complacency, a lack of proper procedures, and the sheer volume of Section 702 activity led to FBI’s inappropriate use of Section 702 authorities, specifically U.S. person queries,” the board said in its report. “U.S. person queries” generally mean searches for U.S. citizens and businesses.
The board recommends the FBI no longer search the data when it is seeking evidence of a crime not related to national security. Currently, the FBI conducts fewer than two dozen such searches a year, a senior administration official told reporters Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
The White House has not decided whether it will accept the recommendation but is studying the board’s work and report, the official said.
The board’s report largely lines up with the White House’s positions on other changes being debated in Congress. The board opposed requiring the FBI to obtain a warrant before it searches Section 702 data, saying that change would be impractical. It also says the FBI needs to maintain access to foreign spy collection because unlike other intelligence agencies, it has law enforcement authorities inside the U.S. and can warn Americans that they are being targeted by foreign spies or criminals.
Already, both Republicans and Democrats have called for broader changes affecting the FBI, including a handful of lawmakers in both parties who want to require warrants for any search.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., sharply questioned Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen in June about how it searches Section 702 data and signaled he would push for new protections.
“I don’t think you’ve effectively made the case that there shouldn’t be a warrant requirement, whether or not it is constitutionally required, for a U.S. person search that is crime only,” he said.
Many in the GOP, meanwhile, are furious about the FBI’s investigations of former President Donald Trump and mistakes found by the Justice Department inspector general and other reviewers.
In a statement, the FBI said the report highlighted “how crucial” foreign intelligence was to the bureau’s mission.
“We agree that Section 702 should be reauthorized in a manner that does not diminish its effectiveness, as well as reassures the public of its importance and our ability to adhere rigorously to all relevant rules,” the bureau’s statement said.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kswo.com/2023/07/31/fbi-should-face-new-limits-its-use-us-foreign-spy-data-key-intelligence-board-says/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:29 | 1 | https://www.kswo.com/2023/07/31/fbi-should-face-new-limits-its-use-us-foreign-spy-data-key-intelligence-board-says/ |
Mother of 8 found dead in plastic storage box
CLEVELAND (WOIO/Gray News) - An Ohio woman’s remains were found in a plastic storage box nearly a year after she disappeared, WOIO reports.
The remains of 41-year-old Tyresha Little, a mother of eight, were discovered behind an abandoned home in Cleveland.
A tip to police led them to the backyard of the home on July 20.
Family and friends, including five of Little’s children, gathered outside of the abandoned home to pay tribute to her life.
“My daughter, she was a very, very loving heart. She would give you the shirt off of her back. She did have a drug background, but she had been clean for two years,” her mother said.
Little’s oldest daughter said her mother was her best friend.
“If anything, she loved her kids. There was nothing else that came before her kids,” she said.
Little’s daughter said she was hurt by what she said a Cleveland police detective told her when her mother was first reported missing.
“The very first thing they told me is, ‘She’s probably just off somewhere getting high, on a binge’ and kept asking if it was normal. I kept repeating, ‘No, no,’” she said.
Little’s family is determined to find out what happened to her since her disappearance on Aug. 30, 2022.
A group of at least 30 people released balloons into the sky chanting, “We love you, We’ll see you on the other side. Justice for Tyresha.”
WOIO reached out to the City of Cleveland regarding the family’s concerns suggesting that not every missing person’s case is treated equally. The detective on the case said it was special to him and that he has worked on it for nearly a year. He also said every missing person’s case is important, and he will continue to work tirelessly to get answers for Little’s family, including how and when the Cleveland mother died.
A $2,500 reward is still available through Crime Stoppers for anyone who provides a tip that could help determine how Little died by calling 1-800-25-CRIME. Callers can remain anonymous.
Copyright 2023 WOIO via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kswo.com/2023/07/31/mother-8-found-dead-plastic-storage-box/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:31 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/2023/07/31/mother-8-found-dead-plastic-storage-box/ |
A super PAC that works to help Democrats get elected to the House is calling on them to promote the economy and the party’s successes as Congress goes on recess for the next month.
House Majority PAC said in a memo to congressional Democrats on Monday that the party must emphasize its accomplishments at the national and local level heading into the 2024 election. The memo said the PAC conducted research showing Democrats “dramatically” improve their position when they are proactive in speaking about the economy.
“Go on offense, and build the contrast with the MAGA House Republicans immediately,” it states.
The memo, which was first reported by Politico, references several key legislative accomplishments of the Biden administration, including the bipartisan infrastructure package, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The chips legislation provided billions of dollars in incentives for manufacturers to build domestic semiconductor plants, while the Inflation Reduction Act made significant investments in climate programs, allowed Medicare to negotiate on some drug prices and raised taxes on large corporations, among other initiatives.
The memo also states that “month after month” has shown President Biden’s “Bidenomics” economic policy is working.
The push to highlight economic issues comes as Biden’s approval rating, especially on the economy, remains underwater. A CNBC All-America Economic Survey earlier this month found that 37 percent of Americans approved of Biden’s handling of the economy, compared to 58 percent who disapproved.
The PAC said Democrats need to point to continued job growth that dropped the unemployment rate to 3.6 percent last month and declining inflation as evidence of the party’s success.
The memo also urges Democrats to target Republicans as “extremist” and threatening economic progress. It said they should note the battle over raising the debt ceiling in the spring and the potential government shutdown in September if Congress does not pass the 12 annual appropriations bills to fund the government.
The PAC also called on Democrats to go on offense over abortion, pointing to the annual defense bill the Republican-controlled House passed that would prohibit the Department of Defense from reimbursing service members who travel to receive an abortion. | https://www.wfla.com/hill-politics/top-house-democratic-pac-urging-members-to-lean-into-economy/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:32 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/hill-politics/top-house-democratic-pac-urging-members-to-lean-into-economy/ |
Full Brain Solution Sets New Industry Standard in Stroke Care
NEW YORK, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aidoc, a pioneering force in clinical AI, announced today the launch of its revolutionary Full Brain Solution. This new solution will significantly expand the anatomy analyzed by AI to identify suspected strokes, allowing for identification and care coordination of patients with medium vessel occlusions (MeVOs) as well as posterior and anterior large vessel occlusions (LVOs).
The Full Brain Solution represents a significant advancement in medical technology aiding patient care, being the first and only AI technology to identify suspected posterior and anterior LVOs and MeVOs. The prevalence of the newly covered conditions, posterior LVO and MeVO, is significant. 795,000 strokes take place each year in the United States, of which, 87% are ischemic strokes. Approximately 25-40% of ischemic strokes are MeVOs and 24-46% of all ischemic strokes are LVOs. 20-25% of LVOs are posterior.1,2,3,4
The addition of posterior LVO and MeVO enables approximately twice as many patients to receive faster access to life-saving therapy with AI-powered care coordination.1,2,3,4
"AI has shown remarkable success in enhancing workflow for patients with anterior LVOs, nearly halving the time to treatment. However, this is just the beginning. With Aidoc's Full Brain Solution, we can now broaden these advancements to benefit a significantly larger patient population, leading to improved care and ultimately better patient outcomes," shared Dr. Brian Mason, Associate Professor NeuroEndovascular Surgery at University of Illinois Champaign, one of the leading AI-healthcare experts in the country.
Extending beyond acute ischemic stroke, the Full Brain Solution employs diverse artificial intelligence technologies such as image-based identification and natural language processing to identify and orchestrate care for patients suffering from intracerebral hemorrhage, subdural hemorrhage, and brain aneurysms, making it the most complete neurovascular AI solution.
Aidoc's Full Brain Solution is delivered through the company's proprietary operating system (aiOS™) that enables organizations to reliably deploy AI solutions in high volumes and overcome the challenges associated with legacy IT systems and separate physician workflows. The aiOS™ seamlessly integrates with existing IT infrastructure, enabling the scale needed to realize the full potential of AI in healthcare. Aidoc's aiOS™ is also the only platform integrated into electronic health records (EHR).
"AI continues to drive significant gains and contributions in addressing the challenges health systems are facing," stated Elad Walach, CEO, Aidoc. "Our groundbreaking Full Brain Solution is propelling AI into new and needed territories and proving impact to facilities by cutting the time to treatment nearly in half for twice as many patients. Our vision is to continue pushing boundaries, transforming the lives of a significantly larger patient population, elevating the standard of care, and driving remarkable improvements in patient outcomes."
Aidoc's Full Brain Solution will be showcased during the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) Annual Meeting in San Diego, California from July 31 to August 4. If interested in seeing a demonstration register here.
About Aidoc
Aidoc is a pioneering force in clinical AI. We focus on aiding and empowering healthcare teams to optimize patient treatment, which results in improved economic value and clinical outcomes. Our clinically proven AI solutions eliminate silos, increase efficiencies and improve outcomes by delivering critical information when and where care teams need it leading to immediate collective action. Built on Aidoc's proprietary aiOS™, we analyze and aggregate medical data to enable care teams to operationalize the unexpected and work seamlessly with a continued focus on the patient. Used in more than 1,000 medical centers worldwide, Aidoc has the most FDA clearances (13) in clinical AI and its AI-based solutions cover 75 percent of patient populations, enabling physicians to make informed decisions based on real-time data. Aidoc AI is always on, running in the background to change the foreground. Visit Aidoc.com to see how we are connecting all points of care with always on AI.
- https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/facts.htm
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.028956
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6584910
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6170115/#:~:text=Approximately%2020%E2%80%9325%25%20of%20all,mistaken%20for%20more%20benign%20entities.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2163484/Full_brain_comparison.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2015772/4183551/Aidoc_Always_On_AI_Logo.jpg
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SOURCE Aidoc Medical LTD | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/aidoc-introduces-first-only-ai-powered-solution-identify-suspected-posterior-anterior-large-medium-vessel-occlusions/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:32 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/aidoc-introduces-first-only-ai-powered-solution-identify-suspected-posterior-anterior-large-medium-vessel-occlusions/ |
A Blackbaud Partner, Momentum, is Helping Blackbaud Customers Create More Impact with AI
CHARLESTON, S.C., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the leading provider of software for powering social impact, today announced a strategic investment in Momentum, a leading AI-focused Blackbaud partner, graduate of Blackbaud's Social Good Startup tech accelerator program, and winner of Blackbaud's 2022 startup showcase.
Blackbaud recently unveiled a major new wave of its Intelligence for Good® strategy, with a commitment to increase the availability of AI-enabled partner solutions in the Blackbaud Marketplace. This investment in Momentum is one way the company is accelerating product delivery and focusing on the creation of AI capabilities embedded in Blackbaud solutions. With Momentum's integration with Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®, Blackbaud customers can optimize their fundraising and stewardship processes.
"A tremendous opportunity exists for social impact organizations to use AI to address key operational and financial challenges," said Mike Gianoni, president and CEO, Blackbaud. "Blackbaud is actively investing in organic analytics and AI capabilities, and partnering with leading AI companies such as Momentum, to enable our customers to reach donors at a scale never seen before."
Momentum, founded by behavioral scientists from Duke's Center for Advanced Hindsight, launched the first version of its solution in 2019. Key to Momentum's success is a focus on the use of AI to create fundraising tools that build lasting relationships between high impact charities and their donors.
In its current release, the Momentum platform connects donor portfolios with automation and generative AI capabilities to deliver personalized first-draft communications and outreach recommendations directly to a fundraiser's email inbox. Customers using Momentum thus far have experienced a 400% increase in the number of personalized touchpoints their fundraisers could produce and an average of $60,000 per month in increased donations.
Momentum originally joined the Blackbaud ecosystem through participation in the Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program, where the company was connected to Blackbaud experts and fast-tracked into Blackbaud's partner program.
According to Nick Fitz, founder and CEO of Momentum, "Blackbaud's tech accelerator has been a pleasure to be a part of. With their help, we've refined our AI capabilities and integrated core infrastructure. We're working directly with fundraisers—helping people build more meaningful relationships with less psychological burden—and we're excited to learn from the leader in the space. This investment, and guidance from Blackbaud, will help us better serve the people powering the social good sector."
As Blackbaud continues to enhance its AI offerings, partners are a key piece of the company's strategy to grow the ecosystem around its leading solutions and services for social impact organizations. Learn more about Blackbaud's Intelligence for Good approach here and read more about the Blackbaud Partner Network here.
About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to powering social impact. Serving the nonprofit and education sectors, companies committed to social responsibility and individual change makers, Blackbaud's essential software is built to accelerate impact in fundraising, nonprofit financial management, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management. With millions of users and over $100 billion raised, granted or managed through Blackbaud platforms every year, Blackbaud's solutions are unleashing the potential of the people and organizations who change the world. Blackbaud has been named to Newsweek's list of America's Most Responsible Companies, Quartz's list of Best Companies for Remote Workers, and Forbes' list of America's Best Employers. A remote-first company, Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
About Momentum
Momentum is an innovative AI and behavioral science company helping people build more meaningful relationships. Founded in 2019, our technology streamlines fundraising processes through thoughtful workflow automation and artificial intelligence, enabling fundraisers to focus on relationship-building rather than administrative tasks. Through our suite of products, Momentum has powered impactful campaigns, driving effectiveness and warmth in philanthropy. Our commitment to enhancing fundraising practices has made us a trusted partner for organizations around the world. For more about how Momentum is serving the sector, visit www.givemomentum.com.
Media Inquiries
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Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud's investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.
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Wayward dachshund returns home after days on the run
NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (WJAR) - It is not uncommon for dogs to run away, but that doesn’t make it any easier for their worried owners.
So when the owners of a lost Massachusetts dog asked their community for help, their neighbors stepped up.
What started out as a nightmare for Dorothy and Glenn Haskell has turned into a happy ending.
“It was an absolute dream,” Dorothy Haskell said.
Positioned peacefully in her arms now, this 14-month-old daredevil dachshund named Chelsea is back home safe and sound after being on the run literally for almost four days.
“Knowing your dog is on Route 95, it’s a nightmare,” Dorothy Haskell said.
Last Sunday, Chelsea was playing with her sister Coco in their backyard when she escaped through a small hole in the fence.
They tried to get her, but she took off.
Glenn Haskell had been out for a jog. “Veered off my run and went after her, you know, but she went into the woods and gone,” he said.
From there, they posted on social media.
“(Neighbors were) coming out their doors, they were hiking through the woods. They were leaving their lights on. They were leaving water out,” Dorothy Haskell said.
They were pleading to the public to help find her as day turned to night.
“This is not going to, it’s not going to end well between her and a fox or a raccoon,” Glenn Haskell said.
The next morning, they made flyers, stuffing them in mailboxes all over. Then that night, a call came in.
“A woman is yelling, ‘Your dachshund, I know she’s up on Route 295. There’s a driver pulled over on the side of the road,’” Dorothy Haskell said.
That same driver called state police. They all tried to grab her, following her across an on ramp.
“And across three lanes of Route 95,” Dorothy Haskell said.
Spooked, the dog went back into the woods.
On Tuesday, Dorothy Haskell went back out there desperately with police, realizing there was a river nearby.
“To the officer and I said, ‘I think it’s time to call it.’ And suddenly he yelled, ‘Oh my God, she’s right there in the bushes,’” she said.
Chelsea ran back to the median and onto the highway again. Drivers began to pull over. One woman stopped traffic, but Chelsea kept going.
Having exhausted nearly all resources, the Haskells got help from Missing Dogs of Massachusetts, a volunteer-run group that help owners get their dogs back.
“A trap in our side yard. And she had me put out dirty laundry…” Dorothy Haskell said.
Just after midnight Wednesday, prayers for the pooch were answered.
“Dogs in Massachusetts, the woman called me, and she said, ‘She’s in the trap. Go out and get her.’ Because they had a camera,” Dorothy Haskell said.
The Haskells are so happy to have Chelsea back home and can’t thank the community enough for caring.
“It definitely restored your faith in humanity,” Dorothy Haskell said.
Copyright 2023 WJAR via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/wayward-dachshund-returns-home-after-days-run/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:35 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/wayward-dachshund-returns-home-after-days-run/ |
Anna Maria Island (BLOOM) – In a tribute to Florida’s cherished Pink Flamingos and the splendor of nature, a talented artist and proud Florida resident, Patricia Filomeno, has just unveiled her first-ever Coloring Book. This captivating book features twenty-seven original illustrations that showcase the vibrant essence of these iconic birds and the state’s picturesque scenes. Filomeno said she was inspired by her passion for art and love for Florida’s natural beauty.
Born in Peru, Patricia has resided in Florida for the past 25 years, and for the last seven years, she has made Anna Maria Island her home, along with her husband, Rainer Scheer. Besides her artistic pursuits, Patricia is also the proprietor of two successful local businesses – Ink Graphics Media, a digital marketing firm, and Florida Furniture Rental, a reputable furniture rental company.
Creating a coloring book from scratch is no easy feat, but Patricia’s determination and vision have led her to this remarkable achievement. “It’s all about listening to that voice inside your head and following up on that dream with an action plan,” she remarked with pride. Patricia believes that her coloring book reflects the idea of cherishing the intricacies of life and nature, reminding us to find beauty in every detail.
The Pink Flamingo Coloring Book’s illustrations beautifully capture the essence of Florida through various scenes, adding an element of fun and whimsy to the beloved birds. One page features the “Pink Flamingo Floatie” resting in a pool, set within the backdrop of a refreshing summer drink, akin to a delightful pool party. Another illustration shows a fearless flamingo perched atop an alligator, showcasing the unique and adventurous side of Florida’s wildlife. Of course, no Florida-themed coloring book would be complete without the inclusion of the “Flamingo Sunshine Skyway Bridge,” a well-known architectural wonder of the state.
With the completion of her coloring book, Patricia has found a new level of enjoyment in her craft. “Now that the book is finally finished, I get to have fun coloring my own coloring book!” she exclaimed. Self-publishing this book has been a transformative and educational journey for her. “I know how to do this, and now it is just a matter of letting the world know about this new adventure,” she added.
To share her creation with a global audience, Patricia has decided to sell the Pink Flamingo Coloring Book on Amazon, capitalizing on its incredible reach. This move ensures that art enthusiasts and nature lovers from all around the world can enjoy and immerse themselves in the vibrant charm of Florida’s Pink Flamingos.
Looking to the future, Patricia already has her sights set on a second book, which she plans to release just in time for the holidays. Her dedication to the craft and her passion for Florida’s natural wonders promise yet another delightful experience for coloring enthusiasts and admirers of her work.
The Florida’s Pink Flamingo Coloring Book is now available on Amazon (https://a.co/d/dguWt46). For more information about Patricia’s artistic journey and her Pink Flamingo Story, please visit https://inkgraphicsonline.com/pinkflamingo/.
About Patricia Filomeno: Patricia Filomeno is a talented artist and long-time Florida resident who draws inspiration from the state’s captivating scenery and wildlife. As the proud creator of the Pink Flamingo Coloring Book, she seeks to share her love for nature and art with the world. Patricia also manages Ink Graphics Media, a local digital marketing firm, and Florida Furniture Rental, a renowned furniture rental company, showcasing her entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. | https://www.wfla.com/news/anna-maria-island-resident-releases-pink-flamingo-coloring-book/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:38 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/anna-maria-island-resident-releases-pink-flamingo-coloring-book/ |
NEW YORK , July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Right now, in the United States, there are about 34.8 million kids aged 0 to 17 who are going through really painful times called adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The scariest part is that a CDC ACE Study found that going through six or more ACEs can take away almost 20 years from a person's life. But their stories can have a different ending. There is hope for positive change and healing.
Fred Scarf, the founder and CEO of BioFormula Select, turned his childhood scar into a successful company selling dark spot removal products called Stop Guessing. This journey brought him remarkable results, profitable success, and personal closure.
"When I was born, I had a dark spot on my face mistaken for dirt, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It helped me handle life's challenges, discover my strengths, and make meaningful contributions to my community. If I was going to carry childhood scars into adulthood, I wanted to finally heal the wound," says Scarf. Scarf graduated as the salutatorian in high school, earned a scholarship to UC Berkeley, and worked as a model in California.
BioFormula Select's Stop Guessing Dark Spot Removal products achieved impressive customer results and brought significant profits in Q2. The company's revenue surged by 320% compared to the earnings in Q2 of the previous year.
"My dark spot dilemma is solved, and my childhood wound is healed," says Scarf.
The CDC estimates that 21 million depression cases and 1.9 million heart disease cases potentially could have been avoided by preventing ACEs. ACEs cause $748 billion economic burden annually in the US, Canada, & Bermuda.
"I can't change my past and tell my younger self that the dark spot won't always be so dark, but I can tell the 34 million kids facing trauma and the 114 million Americans dealing with skin issues that their stories can still have a beautiful ending. A tiny spark of light can illuminate the way forward out of our darkest moments. Right now, darkness can turn into light, and dark spots can be removed," says Scarf.
With heat making dark spots worse and cold weather creating hyperpigmentation, Stop Guessing Skincare is ready to solve dark spot dilemmas in the upcoming fall and winter.
CONTACT: Stopguessing@michelemariepr.com
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SOURCE BioFormula Select | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/childhood-scar-skincare-stardom-entrepreneur-transforms-pain-into-profitable-success-with-bioformula-selects-brand-stop-guessing-skincare/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:39 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/childhood-scar-skincare-stardom-entrepreneur-transforms-pain-into-profitable-success-with-bioformula-selects-brand-stop-guessing-skincare/ |
England vs. China: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 9:46 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
England will play China in Adelaide, Australia, in the last round of group-stage games at the 2023 Women's World Cup, on August 1 at 7:00 AM ET.
This matchup will be available on FOX US,Fox Sports 1.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch England vs. China
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 7:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Adelaide, Australia
- Venue: Coopers Stadium
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
England Group Stage Schedule
England's Recent Performance
- England picked up a victory in its last match 1-0 over Denmark on July 28. was outshot in the matchup, 11 to seven.
- England was led by Lauren James, who netted her side's goal versus .
- James' Women's World Cup statline through two appearances for England includes one goal.
- Rachel Daly has no goals, but has one assist for England in Women's World Cup action.
- In two Women's World Cup matchups, Georgia Stanway has one goal.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
England's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Mary Earps #1
- Lucy Bronze #2
- Niamh Charles #3
- Keira Walsh #4
- Alex Greenwood #5
- Millie Bright #6
- Lauren James #7
- Georgia Stanway #8
- Rachel Daly #9
- Ella Toone #10
- Lauren Hemp #11
- Jordan Nobbs #12
- Hannah Hampton #13
- Lotte Wubben-Moy #14
- Esme Morgan #15
- Jessica Carter #16
- Laura Coombs #17
- Chloe Kelly #18
- Bethany England #19
- Katie Zelem #20
- Ellie Roebuck #21
- Katie Robinson #22
- Alessia Russo #23
China Group Stage Schedule
China's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 28, China claimed a 1-0 victory over Haiti. China outshot Haiti nine to six.
- Wang Shuang scored the lone goal for China on one shot.
- In two Women's World Cup matches for China, Shuang has one goal (16th in the 2023 Women's World Cup).
China's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Zhu Yu #1
- Mengwen Li #2
- Jiaxing Dou #3
- LinLin Wang #4
- Wu Haiyan #5
- Xin Zhang #6
- Wang Shuang #7
- Yao Wei #8
- Mengyu Shen #9
- Zhang Rui #10
- Wang Shanshan #11
- Xu Huan #12
- Lina Yang #13
- Lou Jiahui #14
- Qiaozhu Chen #15
- Lingwei Yao #16
- Wu Cheng Shu #17
- Jiali Tang #18
- Linyan Zhang #19
- Yuyi Xiao #20
- Gu Yasha #21
- Hongyan Pan #22
- Chen Gao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-england-china-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:41 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-england-china-live-stream-tv/ |
A super PAC that works to help Democrats get elected to the House is calling on them to promote the economy and the party’s successes as Congress goes on recess for the next month.
House Majority PAC said in a memo to congressional Democrats on Monday that the party must emphasize its accomplishments at the national and local level heading into the 2024 election. The memo said the PAC conducted research showing Democrats “dramatically” improve their position when they are proactive in speaking about the economy.
“Go on offense, and build the contrast with the MAGA House Republicans immediately,” it states.
The memo, which was first reported by Politico, references several key legislative accomplishments of the Biden administration, including the bipartisan infrastructure package, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The chips legislation provided billions of dollars in incentives for manufacturers to build domestic semiconductor plants, while the Inflation Reduction Act made significant investments in climate programs, allowed Medicare to negotiate on some drug prices and raised taxes on large corporations, among other initiatives.
The memo also states that “month after month” has shown President Biden’s “Bidenomics” economic policy is working.
The push to highlight economic issues comes as Biden’s approval rating, especially on the economy, remains underwater. A CNBC All-America Economic Survey earlier this month found that 37 percent of Americans approved of Biden’s handling of the economy, compared to 58 percent who disapproved.
The PAC said Democrats need to point to continued job growth that dropped the unemployment rate to 3.6 percent last month and declining inflation as evidence of the party’s success.
The memo also urges Democrats to target Republicans as “extremist” and threatening economic progress. It said they should note the battle over raising the debt ceiling in the spring and the potential government shutdown in September if Congress does not pass the 12 annual appropriations bills to fund the government.
The PAC also called on Democrats to go on offense over abortion, pointing to the annual defense bill the Republican-controlled House passed that would prohibit the Department of Defense from reimbursing service members who travel to receive an abortion. | https://www.kark.com/hill-politics/top-house-democratic-pac-urging-members-to-lean-into-economy/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:42 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/hill-politics/top-house-democratic-pac-urging-members-to-lean-into-economy/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — If you’ve ever wanted to travel the world, now might be your chance.
Victoria Cruises Line is offering an “affordable” residential cruise that will visit 213 ports around the world. The cruise sets sail from Port Everglades, Florida in December.
If you are curious about the cruise’s cost, it might be cheaper than your current rent, depending on where you live.
The long-term cruise will cost at least $2,400 per month per person.
“Victoria Cruises Line offers our customers a unique lifestyle that is completely new to the shipping industry,” said Olavs Zvinelis, CEO of Victoria Cruises Line. “We provide rental cabins at affordable prices to clients who want to live on a boat and travel the world without any strings attached. It’s our mission to deliver a unique houseboat experience for our residents, who will live on board like a little family.”
According to WOFL, there will be 1,000 passengers onboard the ship.
The cruise takes about 27 months and travelers will spend about 540 days at ports. The boat will dock at each port for one to five days, giving travelers the chance to explore the area at their leisure.
Residents on the ship will have to be over 18 years old and the minimal rental period is six months.
Meals and unlimited internet are both included.
If the cruise is successful, the company said it will look to expand its fleet in the future.
“We have no competitors. Our value for money is by far the best, even compared to classic cruise ships,” said Zvinelis. “Rather than the ownership option, which is too costly for many, Victoria Cruises Line is proposing an intermediate solution: chartering. This will give people a much more affordable way to travel and live on a houseboat. In summary, a houseboat lifestyle can offer much more than a classic cruise.”
For more information, visit Victoria Cruises Line’s website. | https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/affordable-residential-cruise-ship-to-set-sail-from-florida-for-round-the-world-cruise/ | 2023-07-31T15:05:44 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/affordable-residential-cruise-ship-to-set-sail-from-florida-for-round-the-world-cruise/ |