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The latest news from around North Texas.
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https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/woman-battling-cancer-receives-heat-relief-help-after-a-crucial-phone-call-the-connection/3306704/
| 2023-07-31T20:12:22
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https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/woman-battling-cancer-receives-heat-relief-help-after-a-crucial-phone-call-the-connection/3306704/
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Mazda on Friday afternoon revealed that its MX-30 lineup will not be returning for U.S. sales after the 2023 model year.
For longtime Mazda fans, that piece of news also means that Mazda’s Wankel rotary engine won’t be coming back to America anytime soon.
The MX-30 EV arrived for first deliveries in late 2021, and with its 100-mile EPA range rating it’s been one of the lowest-driving-range EVs available in the U.S. market.
The single-motor, front-wheel-drive MX-30 was always intended to be just part of the lineup, though. Since the model’s 2021 introduction, Mazda teased an upcoming range-extended version enabled by a Wankel rotary engine—a Mazda signature—on board as a range extender.
That version, called the Mazda MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV, is on closer scrutiny a model that may be hard for American drivers to comprehend, let alone see advantages to in either by-the-numbers operating expenses or in sheer driving enjoyment. It features a smaller 17.8-kwh battery pack enabling a range that might likely land near 40 miles EPA (53 miles on the significantly more generous WLTP cycle). Its little 0.83-liter, single-rotor engine makes 73 hp and its only task is to drive a generator. Despite a boost at the drive motor of about 25 hp, a gain of more than 250 pounds doesn’t make it much quicker than the EV, and both dash to 60 mph in the nine-second range.
It’s unclear what kind of fuel economy the R-EV might have been able to deliver after running through a charge in American-style freeway driving, but rotary engines were never stellar for cruising efficiency, and neither is the series-hybrid layout.
In a statement, Mazda North American Operations emphasized that plug-in hybrids rather than EVs are in its immediate future for America. And it essentially cuts off any hope of the R-EV arriving in the U.S.
“Our current U.S. electrification efforts are focused on large platform PHEVs, such as the first-ever 2024 CX-90 PHEV and upcoming CX-70 PHEV, as well as introducing CX-50 Hybrid into our lineup to address the specific needs of the U.S. market,” it stated.
Mazda rotary nostalgia? Not for now, America
That said, Mazda reported that “mass production” of the R-EV had started, and the model appears to still be bound for Europe and the U.K., with deliveries due in the fall.
As a Mazda executive told Green Car Reports several years ago, before the project itself had been revealed, the automaker had pushed for the idea of a rotary range extender partly because of Americans’ nostalgia over the brand’s rotary-powered sports cars like the RX-7 and RX-8. America may have inspired the product but it appears to lose out in actually getting the product.
In a review of the Mazda MX-30 EV published earlier this year, we found this short-range EV to offer up a bewildering mix of limited compliance-car availability, compromised performance, slow road-trip charging, and an underwhelming exterior design contrasting with unique cabin appointments that felt as if Mazda were pulling out all the stops.
MX-30 EV has been exotic-car rare
The MX-30 has been a very slow-seller, which Mazda has only officially made available in California. Mazda delivered just 520 MX-30s for the 2022 model year, split between late calendar-year 2021 and the earlier part of 2022. Then with the 2022s gone, a 2023 Mazda MX-30 EV returned with only a slight price increase.
The 2023 model year may be the one for the collectors, as it’s looking rarer than some supercars. Mazda sold just 66 MX-30 EVs in the U.S. in the first half of 2023 (through June), and we’ve no reason to believe that the pace picked up appreciably in July.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/automotive/internet-brands/mazda-mx-30-ev-cut-from-us-lineup-rotary-version-too/
| 2023-07-31T20:12:23
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/automotive/internet-brands/mazda-mx-30-ev-cut-from-us-lineup-rotary-version-too/
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WASHINGTON — Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian best known for his character Pee-wee Herman, has died at 70 years old after a years-long battle with cancer that he did not make public. The Monday announcement of his death was met with an immediate outpouring of grief from his friends and colleagues in the entertainment industry.
"Russian Doll" star Natasha Lyonne, who made her acting debut at 6 years old on the first season of "Pee-wee's Playhouse," shared images from the hit television series on social media.
"Love you so much, Paul. One in all time. Thank you for my career & your forever friendship all these years & for teaching us what a true original is," she wrote, adding several heart emojis and one emoji of a broken heart.
Lyonne was one of many actors and comedians who described Reubens as a friend or mentor, sharing photos or personal stories.
"No tweet can capture the magic, generosity, artistry, and devout silliness of Paul Reubens. Everyone I know received countless nonsensical memes from Paul on their birthday, and I mean EVERYONE. His surreal comedy and unrelenting kindness were a gift to us all. Damn, this hurts.
"Paul Reubens was like no one else - a brilliant and original comedian who made kids and their parents laugh at the same time. He never forgot a birthday and shared his genuine delight for silliness with everyone he met. My family and I will miss him."
"Paul Reubens was a great, great friend. He gave me the muppets for my birthday and never forgot anyone’s birthday from our class. He was in my class at CalArts and we had the same business manager. He was always kind to me and to everyone. He will be missed."
"Paul Reubens was a gifted performer and a nice person. He brought so much joy to people over the years as Pee Wee, my sister and I loved that character. I was privileged to work with him in a film and he was as great in real life as he was on screen. Tough news here."
"This is devastating. Truly heartbreaking. Paul was such a comedy genius. From his Letterman appearances to his TV shows and movies, he was so original and hilarious. And such a sweet man too. This is a huge loss for comedy. Thanks for all the laughs, Paul."
"One of the patron saints of all misfitted, weird, maladjusted, wonderful, miraculous oddities."
"One of the greats is gone. It is a very sad day. Thank you for the joy, @peeweeherman. Chris and I were so proud to call you friend. You will live in our hearts forever, Paul.
"The greatest. No one ever like him ever."
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https://www.thv11.com/article/news/nation-world/paul-reubens-death-fellow-comedians-actors-react/507-a2fda3a4-b718-4ac5-b043-7e28c12e4296
| 2023-07-31T20:12:23
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https://www.thv11.com/article/news/nation-world/paul-reubens-death-fellow-comedians-actors-react/507-a2fda3a4-b718-4ac5-b043-7e28c12e4296
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Friday issued a proposal to update Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks, calling for a fleet average of 58 mpg, according to its methodology, by 2032—which will equate to a real-world fleet efficiency average of about 43.5 mpg.
The proposed rules, on which the NHTSA is now taking public comment, call for a 2% annual improvement in fuel efficiency for passenger cars, and a 4% improvement for light trucks, between model years 2027 and 2032. As is always the case with CAFE standards though, the 58-mpg figure in the framework itself represents an array of adjustments built into the rules, as well as the existence of emissions credits automakers can purchase to offset excess emissions.
The proposal also includes a 10% annual improvement in fuel efficiency for commercial pickup trucks and work vans with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) or more than 8,500 pounds and less than 14,001 pounds, beginning with the 2030 model year and continuing through the 2035 model year.
If enacted, these fuel-efficiency increases would eliminate the use of 88 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050 and prevent more than 900 million tons of CO2 emissions during that time, according to an NHTSA press release. The emissions reduction would be the equivalent of taking more than 233 million vehicles off the road from 2022 to 2050, according to the agency.
The proposed rules throttle back efficiency increases somewhat. As Reuters points out, NHTSA rules finalized in 2022 for model years 2024-2026 require a fleet average of 49 mpg by 2026, which calls for efficiency increases of 8% in 2024 and 2025 and 10% in 2026.
EPA rules might result in 67% EV sales by 2032. The current rules, EPA suggests, can be met with about 17% EV sales by 2026. The NHTSA and EPA share authority over emissions standards because they overlap in the EPA’s mandate to reduce pollution and the NHTSA’s mandate to administer rules governing new cars sold in the U.S.
How challenging the NHTSA proposal is to automakers, and how it stands versus proposed EPA rules announced earlier this year, depends on the outcome of a controversial factor that digs deep in rulemaking jargon but is especially important this time around. The NHTSA doesn’t directly consider the true efficiency of EVs, incorporating electricity generation, in its rule making, and the federal government is in the process of updating the Petroleum Equivalency Factor (PEF) that governs how EVs are taken into account.
The level of difficulty in meeting future emissions standards will depend to some level on the revised PEF and whether it becomes more representative of reality, which General Motors is opposing.
GM has also already taken issue with the EPA proposal for the next rule period and what the automaker views as an unrealistic acceleration of the EV market by the end of the decade. GM previously declared an “aspiration” to make all of its light-duty vehicles electric by 2035.
The Natural Resources Defense Council lauded the new standards and called them important to low-income drivers. But several other environmental groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Center for Biological Diversity spoke up on Friday to suggest that the NHTSA rules could be stronger to support the EPA rules recently released. Consumer Reports suggested that the new rules could go farther, and it pointed to a nationally representative survey it conducted in 2022 suggesting that fuel economy is “very important” or “extremely important” to 70% of American drivers. It also noted that strong CAFE rules will help assure that automakers make their EVs as efficient as possible.
After some negotiation, the NHTSA and EPA are usually in alignment on proposed emissions rules. In practice, if there’s more of a difference between them this time around, it might allow any remaining internal-combustion vehicles to be lower in their fuel efficiency than the EPA rules would permit—especially if EV volumes prove to be higher than assumed by rulemaking. But much is yet to be determined in the details and how this NHTSA proposal carries into a final rule.
with additional reporting by Bengt Halvorson
Related Articles
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- EPA tailpipe emissions rules for 2027-2032: EVs not mandated
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/automotive/internet-brands/nhtsa-aims-for-43-5-mpg-across-new-vehicles-by-2032/
| 2023-07-31T20:12:23
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/automotive/internet-brands/nhtsa-aims-for-43-5-mpg-across-new-vehicles-by-2032/
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LOS ANGELES — Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose character Pee-wee Herman became a cultural phenomenon through films and TV shows, has died. He was 70.
Reubens died Sunday night after a six-year struggle with cancer that he did not make public, his publicist said in a statement.
“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” Reubens said in a statement released Monday with the announcement of his death. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”
The character with his too-tight gray suit, white chunky loafers and red bow tie was best known for the film “Pee-wee's Big Adventure” and the television series “Pee-wee's Playhouse.”
The Pee-wee character would become a cultural constant for much of the 1980s, though an indecent exposure arrest in 1991 would send him into entertainment exile for years.
Reubens created Pee-wee when he was part of the Los Angeles improv group The Groundlings in the late 1970s. The live “Pee-wee Herman Show” debuted at a Los Angeles theater in 1981 and was a success with both kids during matinees and adults at a midnight show.
The show closely resembled the format the Saturday morning TV “Pee-wee's Playhouse” would follow years later, with Herman living in a wild and wacky home with a series of stock-character visitors, including one, Captain Karl, played by the late “Saturday Night Live” star Phil Hartman. In the plot, Pee-wee secretly wishes to fly.
HBO would air the show as a special.
“Pee Wee got his wish to fly,” Steve Martin tweeted after his death. “Thanks Paul Reubens for the brilliant off the wall comedy.”
Reubens took Pee-wee to the big screen in 1985’s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” The film, in which Pee-wee’s cherished bike is stolen, was said to be loosely based on Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neo-realist classic, “The Bicycle Thief.” The film, directed by Tim Burton and co-written by Phil Hartman of “Saturday Night Live,” sent Pee-wee on a nationwide escapade. The movie was a success, grossing $40 million, and continued to spawn a cult following for its oddball whimsy.
A sequel followed three years later in the less well-received “Big Top Pee-wee,” in which Pee-wee seeks to join a circus. Reubens’ character wouldn’t get another movie starring role until 2016’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday,” for Netflix. Judd Apatow produced Pee-wee’s big-screen revival.
His television series, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” ran for five seasons, earned 22 Emmys and attracted not only children but adults to Saturday-morning TV.
Both silly and subversive and championing nonconformity, the Pee-wee universe was a trippy place, populated by things like a talking armchair and a friendly pterodactyl. The host, who is fond of secret words and loves fruit salad so much he once married it, is prone to lines like, “I know you are, but what am I?” and “Why don’t you take a picture; it’ll last longer?” The act was a hit because it worked on multiple levels, even though Reubens insists that wasn’t the plan.
“It’s for kids,” Reubens told The Associated Press in 2010. “People have tried to get me for years to go, ‘It wasn’t really for kids, right?’ Even the original show was for kids. I always censored myself to have it be kid-friendly.
“The whole thing has been just a gut feeling from the beginning," Reubens told the AP. "That’s all it ever is and I think always ever be. Much as people want me to dissect it and explain it, I can’t. One, I don’t know, and two, I don’t want to know, and three, I feel like I’ll hex myself if I know.”
Reubens' career was derailed when he was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult movie theater in Sarasota, Florida, where he grew up. He was handed a small fine but the damage to the character was incalculable.
He became the frequent butt of late-night talk show jokes and the perception of Reubens immediately changed.
“The moment that I realized my name was going to be said in the same sentence as children and sex, that’s really intense," Reubens told NBC in 2004. "That’s something I knew from that very moment, whatever happens past that point, something’s out there in the air that is really bad.”
Reubens said he got plenty of offers to work, but told the AP that most of them wanted to take "advantage of the luridness of my situation"," and he didn't want to do them.
“It just changed,” he said. "Everything changed.”
In 2001, Reubens was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography after police seized images from his computer and photography collection, but the allegation was reduced to an obscenity charge and he was given three years probation.
Born Paul Rubenfield in Peekskill, New York, Reubens, the eldest of three children, grew up primarily in Sarasota before going to Boston University and the California Institute of the Arts.
Reubens would also act as non-Pee-wee characters including in Burton’s 1992 movie “Batman Returns,” the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” film and a guest-star run on the TV series “Murphy Brown.”
The actor's death was met with an immediate response from fans and fellow entertainers on social media.
"Paul Reubens was like no one else - a brilliant and original comedian who made kids and their parents laugh at the same time," wrote television host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel. "He never forgot a birthday and shared his genuine delight for silliness with everyone he met. My family and I will miss him."
"Love you so much, Paul," wrote actress Natasha Lyonne. "One in all time. Thank you for my career & your forever friendship all these years & for teaching us what a true original is."
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https://www.thv11.com/article/news/nation-world/pee-wee-herman-actor-paul-reubens-has-died/507-5aabe911-4a9a-428f-a97c-ff3099d3c5fc
| 2023-07-31T20:12:23
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https://www.thv11.com/article/news/nation-world/pee-wee-herman-actor-paul-reubens-has-died/507-5aabe911-4a9a-428f-a97c-ff3099d3c5fc
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SoftwareReviews' latest Data Quadrant report highlights the top-rated CRM software solutions in the current market that are successfully harnessing the technological trends.
TORONTO, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - SoftwareReviews, a leading source for insights on the software provider landscape, has revealed its new 2023 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Data Quadrant Report, which highlights the top ten CRM solutions in the enterprise, midmarket, and small business spaces for the year.
In an era defined by digital transformation, organizations are strategically adapting to fortify their customer relationships, as corroborated by the recent 2023 Data Quadrant report from SoftwareReviews. The report and its list of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software points to the substantial expansion of the CRM industry as organizations strive to consolidate their customer experiences across various sectors, such as sales, marketing, and customer service.
"As digital technology and transformation further embed themselves into our personal and professional lives, our expectations for quality customer experience increase," says Robert Fayle, research advisory lead at Info-Tech Research Group. "With the advent of generative AI and other AI and machine learning technologies, customers now demand a personalized experience. To meet these demands, organizations need to procure CRM platforms that enable personal interactions and that are also heavily investing in the adoption of these new technologies."
Although CRM adoption has its challenges, including the need for organizational cultural shifts, extensive employee training, and stringent data privacy measures, the potential benefits are substantial. From improved customer service to streamlined marketing efforts and increased sales, well-executed CRM systems can be transformative.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is introducing a new dimension to CRM systems, automating routine tasks, predicting customer behaviors, and identifying potential sales leads. As the CRM industry continues to evolve rapidly, driven by technological advancements and the rising relevance of mobile and social CRM platforms, it underscores the importance of overcoming implementation challenges to fully harness the power of CRM in the digital economy.
The 2023 Enterprise Customer Relationship Management Software Gold Medalists are as follows:
- Zoho CRM, 8.6 CS, ranked high for ease of customization.
- Oracle PeopleSoft CRM, 8.4 CS, ranked high for business value creation.
The 2023 Midmarket Customer Relationship Management Software Gold Medalists are as follows:
- NetSuite CRM, 8.9 CS, ranked high for lead management.
- ActiveCampaign, 8.8 CS, ranked high for quality of features.
- Salesforce Sales Cloud Professional, 8.6 CS, ranked high for its breadth of features.
- Agile CRM, 8.6 CS, ranked high for ease of implementation.
- Sage CRM, 8.6 CS, ranked high for sales management.
The 2023 Small Business Customer Relationship Management Software Gold Medalists are as follows:
- ConvergeHub, 9.0 CS, ranked high for lead management.
- Less Annoying CRM, 8.9 CS, ranked high for usability and intuitiveness.
- Pipeliner CRM, 8.8, ranked high for ease of data integration.
Cloud-based CRM systems now offer the flexibility of remote access and management, while advanced analytics tools empower organizations to derive actionable insights from the overwhelming influx of customer data. Concurrently, mobile and social CRM platforms are gaining prominence as essential tools for successful customer engagement. As the digital landscape evolves, these innovative platforms will continue to redefine customer interaction and shape the future of customer relationship management.
The full report is now accessible on the firm's website, which is updated in real time to reflect new reviews and ratings.
User assessments of software categories on SoftwareReviews provide an accurate and detailed view of the constantly changing market. SoftwareReviews' reports are informed by data from users and IT professionals who have intimate experience with the software throughout the procurement, implementation, and maintenance processes.
For more information about SoftwareReviews, the Emotional Footprint, or the Data Quadrant, or to access resources to support the software selection process, visit softwarereviews.com
SoftwareReviews empowers organizations with the best data, insights, and advice to improve the software buying and selling experience.
For buyers, SoftwareReviews' proven software selection methodologies, customer insights, and technology advisors help maximize success with technology decisions. For providers, the firm helps build more effective marketing, product, and sales processes with expert analysts, how-to research, customer-centric marketing content, and comprehensive analysis of the buyer landscape.
SoftwareReviews is a division of Info-Tech Research Group, a world-class information technology research and advisory firm.
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https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/top-2023-crm-vendors-embracing-ai-redefining-customer-experience-according-softwarereviews-users/
| 2023-07-31T20:12:28
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https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/top-2023-crm-vendors-embracing-ai-redefining-customer-experience-according-softwarereviews-users/
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18-year-old from ‘Brainy Bunch’ family graduates with master’s degree
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA/Gray News) – At age 18, most people are just heading into their freshman year of undergraduate studies. But one 18-year-old from Alabama is graduating with her master’s degree.
Marianna Harding is graduating from Auburn University with a master’s degree in agriculture at the age of 18.
She also graduated from high school at age 11.
Harding comes from a Montgomery family known as “The Brainy Bunch” – she is one of 10 children, most of whom started college by the age of 12. One of the boys even graduated law school at 19.
All the children grew up homeschooled. Harding is the eighth child in the family.
She said there was always healthy competition between siblings.
“We all had different interest levels, and most of us different colleges,” she said.
In 2022, Harding earned her bachelor’s degree virtually from a university in Nebraska. Shortly after, she was off to Auburn’s campus to get her master’s degree.
“Although my focus was very much on studies, there was no lack of fun times,” she said.
While on campus, Harding was part of multiple clubs, a campus employee, and kept active in her church. She hopes that her story will encourage others to go after their goals no matter their age.
Now that she has graduated, Harding will begin working for the Lee County Extension where she’ll teach others about agriculture.
Parents Kip and Mona Lisa Harding made an appearance on NBC’s “Today Show” in 2014 to discuss their book, “The Brainy Bunch: The Harding Family’s Method to College Ready by Age Twelve.” They also have a YouTube channel.
“My kids are not any smarter than anybody else’s, they’re really motivated and they’re very hard working, but really feel like anyone can get these kinds of results,” Mona Lisa Harding said during a 2021 interview.
Copyright 2023 WSFA via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T20:12:38
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Red Bull Racing scored a one-two finish during the past week’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, which served as round 13 of the 2023 season and the final race before the summer break.
Fresh from his win at Saturday’s standalone Sprint race, Max Verstappen took home another win on Sunday at the main event after recovering from starting in the fifth position due to a grid penalty related to a gearbox change. Once again the rest of the field, including Verstappen teammate Sergio Perez, provided little in the way of competition.
Perez, who started the race second on the grid, finished 22 seconds after Verstappen to secure second place, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the polesitter, finished 32 seconds behind the winner to secure the final podium spot.
There was plenty of action at the start, with Perez moving ahead of Leclerc on the first lap and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri making contact. The damage eventually led to both drivers retiring, with Piastri out at the start and Sainz around the midway point of the race.
Verstappen was able to take advantage of the clash and move up to fourth early on, behind Hamilton, who was in third behind Perez and Leclerc. Verstappen made a successful move on Hamilton on lap six and passed Leclerc to claim second just three laps later.
He overtook race leader Perez on lap 16. With a gap of just half a second between them, Verstappen used the DRS on the Kemmel straight to shoot past his teammate. From there, the reigning world champion cruised to the end of the race.
Hamilton finished in fourth place, and managed to set the fastest lap of the race fresh after changing to Medium tires on the penultimate lap. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished in fifth place ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, who worked a one-stop strategy to take sixth.
Following the weekend’s action, Verstappen leads the 2023 Drivers’ Championship with 314 points. Perez is a distant second with 189 points and Alonso is third with 149 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull leads with 503 points, versus the 247 points of second-placed Mercedes and 196 points of third-placed Aston Martin. Teams now enjoy a three-week summer break before returning for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Below are the full results from the 2023 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix:
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
2) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing +22.305 seconds
3) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +32.259 seconds
4) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +49.671 seconds
5) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +56.184 seconds
6) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +63.101 seconds
7) Lando Norris, McLaren +73.719 seconds
8) Esteban Ocon, Alpine +74.719 seconds
9) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +79.340 seconds
10) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri +80.221 seconds
11) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +83.084 seconds
12) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +85.191 seconds
13) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo +95.441 seconds
14) Alexander Albon, Williams +96.184 seconds
15) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +101.754 seconds
16) Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri +103.071 seconds
17) Logan Sargeant, Williams +104.476 seconds
18) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas +110.450 seconds
NC) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari – DNF
NC) Oscar Piastri, McLaren – DNF
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- Ford Mustang Dark Horse R ready to race in one-make series
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/automotive/internet-brands/red-bull-secures-one-two-finish-at-2023-f1-belgian-grand-prix/
| 2023-07-31T20:12:42
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WASHINGTON — X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has threatened to sue a group of independent researchers whose research documented an increase in hate speech on the site since it was purchased last year by Elon Musk.
An attorney representing the social media site wrote to the Center for Countering Digital Hate on July 20 threatening legal action over the nonprofit's research into hate speech and content moderation. The letter alleged that CCDH's research publications seem intended “to harm Twitter’s business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims.”
Musk is a self-professed free speech absolutist who has welcomed back white supremacists and election deniers to the platform, which he renamed X earlier this month. But the billionaire has at times proven sensitive about critical speech directed at him or his companies.
The center is a nonprofit with offices in the U.S. and United Kingdom. It regularly publishes reports on hate speech, extremism or harmful behavior on social media platforms like X, TikTok or Facebook.
The organization has published several reports critical of Musk's leadership, detailing an increase in anti-LGBTQ hate speech as well as climate misinformation since his purchase. The letter from X's attorney cited one specific report from June that found the platform failed to remove neo-Nazi and anti-LGBTQ content from verified users that violated the platform’s rules.
In the letter, attorney Alex Spiro questioned the expertise of the researchers and accused the center of trying to harm X's reputation. The letter also suggested, without evidence, that the center received funds from some of X's competitors, even though the center has also published critical reports about TikTok, Facebook and other large platforms.
“CCDH intends to harm Twitter’s business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims,” Spiro wrote, using the platform's former name.
Imran Ahmed, the center’s founder and CEO, told the AP on Monday that his group has never received a similar response from any tech company, despite a history of studying the relationship between social media, hate speech and extremism. He said that typically, the targets of the center’s criticism have responded by defending their work or promising to address any problems that have been identified.
Ahmed said he worried X’s response to the center’s work could have a chilling effect if it frightens other researchers away from studying the platform. He said he also worried that other industries could take note of the strategy.
“This is an unprecedented escalation by a social media company against independent researchers. Musk has just declared open war,” Ahmed told the Associated Press. “If Musk succeeds in silencing us other researchers will be next in line.”
Messages left with Spiro and X were not immediately returned Monday.
It's not the first time that Musk has fired back at critics. Last year, he suspended the accounts of several journalists who covered his takeover of Twitter. Another user was permanently banned for using publicly available flight data to track Musk's private plane; Musk had initially pledged to keep the user on the platform but later changed his mind, citing his personal safety. He also threatened to sue the user.
He initially had promised that he would allow any speech on his platform that wasn't illegal. “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” Musk wrote in a tweet last year.
X's recent threat of a lawsuit prompted concern from U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who said the billionaire was trying to use the threat of legal action to punish a nonprofit group trying to hold a powerful social media platform accountable.
“Instead of attacking them, he should be attacking the increasingly disturbing content on Twitter,” Schiff said in a statement.
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| 2023-07-31T20:12:42
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Biden has decided to keep Space Command in Colorado, rejecting move to Alabama, officials tell AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has decided to keep U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado, overturning a last-ditch decision by the Trump administration to move it to Alabama and ending months of politically fueled debate, according to senior U.S. officials.
The officials said Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. Dickinson’s view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, who studied the issue at length and determined that relocating to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the decision ahead of the announcement.
The president, they said, believes that keeping the command in Colorado Springs would avoid a disruption in readiness that the move would cause, particularly as the U.S. races to compete with China in space. And they said Biden firmly believes that maintaining stability will help the military be better able to respond in space over the next decade.
Biden’s decision is sure to enrage Alabama lawmakers and fuel accusations that abortion politics played a role in the choice. The location debate has become entangled in the ongoing battle between Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville and the Defense Department over the move to provide travel for troops seeking reproductive health care. Tuberville opposed the policy is blocking hundreds of military promotions in protest.
Formally created in August 2019, the command was temporarily based in Colorado, and Air Force and Space Force leaders initially recommended it stay there. In the final days of his presidency Donald Trump decided it should be based in Huntsville.
The change triggered a number of reviews.
Proponents of keeping the command in Colorado have argued that moving it to Huntsville and creating a new headquarters would set back its progress at a time it needs to move quickly to be positioned to match China’s military space rise. And Colorado Springs is also home to the Air Force Academy, which now graduates Space Force guardians, and more than 24 military space missions, including three Space Force bases.
Huntsville, however, scored higher than Colorado Springs in a Government Accountability Office assessment of potential locations and has long been a home to some of earliest missiles used in the nation’s space programs, including the Saturn V rocket. It is home to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command.
According to officials, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who ordered his own review of the matter, leaned toward Huntsville, while Dickinson was staunchly in favor of staying put. The officials said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin presented both options to Biden.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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In 1998, Mercedes-Benz built the CLK LM to take on the FIA GT Championship in the premier GT1 class, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It dominated the series, though it failed to finish at Le Mans due to reliability issues.
Just four examples are thought to have been built in total, and now one of them is up for sale.
According to its listing on Piston Heads, the striking race car is available via London-based dealership JM Performance and was used purely as a test vehicle during its motorsports career. After that career ended, the car was sold into private hands, initially to a customer in Japan. It’s been with its current owner in the U.K. since 2017, who went through the process of making it road legal.
The CLK LM is the successor to the much more widely known Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR built a year prior. While that car required 25 road-going homologation specials to be built, the CLK LM needed just one.
That sole CLK LM homologation is currently in private hands and may eventually turn up for sale one day. Until that happens, anyone with a desire for a road-legal CLK LM can purchase this car from JM Performance. No price is mentioned in the listing.
For the CLK LM, Mercedes swapped out the CLK GTR’s V-12 engine in favor of a V-8 deemed to be better able to last when racing around the clock at Le Mans. The mid-mounted engine is a 5.0-liter unit rated at close to 600 hp. It’s paired with a 6-speed sequential transmission and spins the rear wheels only.
With the next season of the GT Championship adopting a prototype class for its premier class, Mercedes ended the CLK LM program, replacing it with the CLR prototype. That car had a disastrous outing at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, with aerodynamic issues causing multiple high-speed flips.
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- Nissan GT-R from “Gran Turismo” movie heads to auction
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The U.S. Department of Energy is banning the sale of energy inefficient light bulbs beginning Aug. 1, 2023. Given that incandescent and halogen light bulbs are far less energy efficient than LED light bulbs, many people are treating this as a ban on incandescent and halogen bulbs.
Incandescent and halogen lights have a wire within the bulb that heats up and produces light, while LED bulbs do not.
But light bulbs aren’t just used in floor lamps and ceiling fans. People in various online communities have asked how the light bulb ban affects them — including a question about halogen headlights in a Ram trucks subreddit, multiple questions about heat lamps in communities for reptile pet owners and a question about how the law affects lava lamps.
THE QUESTION
Is the U.S. government banning all incandescent and halogen light bulbs?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, the U.S. government is not banning all incandescent and halogen light bulbs.
WHAT WE FOUND
The new rule bans the manufacture and sale of inefficient “general service lamps,” which largely refers to the standard kinds of light bulbs you’d use to illuminate your home. Most incandescent and halogen light bulbs fail to meet these new energy efficiency standards, and are therefore banned by the rule.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has carved out exceptions for many different kinds of light bulbs in its ban on the manufacturing and sale of energy inefficient light bulbs.
“It does not ban the sale or manufacture of ALL incandescent bulbs, just those common household incandescent (and other) bulbs that are not energy-efficient,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says of the new ban. “Many bulbs, including specialty bulbs, three-way bulbs, chandelier bulbs, refrigerator bulbs, plant grow lights and others, are exempt from the law's requirements.”
The reason incandescent and halogen bulbs are less energy efficient than LED bulbs is because the incandescent and halogen bulbs create light by passing an electrical current through a tungsten filament, which also creates heat, General Electric says. The heat that’s released is usually wasted energy, although it can sometimes be useful for things like heat lamps.
The ban is a rule that has been in the making since 2007, when Congress passed and former President George W. Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The law required the Secretary of Energy to determine if there should be a rule with a “minimum standard of 45 lumens per watt for general service lamps.”
In Jan. 2017, the DOE adopted this rule, and planned to begin enforcing it in 2020. DOE withdrew this rule in Sept. 2019 and didn’t adopt it again until May 2022, regulations.gov says. Therefore, the enforcement date was moved to Aug. 1, 2023, a DOE document says.
According to the 2007 law, the rule only makes changes to the “Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles” within the U.S. code, meaning the ban does not apply to car lights, including headlights.
Additionally, the 2007 law required the rule to exempt a number of various bulbs from the ban. These include:
Appliance lamps (such as refrigerator lights)
Heat lamps, plant lights and bug lamps
Colored lights and black lights
Reflector lamps
Chandelier bulbs, Christmas lights and decorative bulbs of 40 watts or less
The EPA notes that the rule does not ban the use or purchase of incandescent or halogen lightbulbs, just the manufacture and sale of the bulbs. Therefore, individuals will not be penalized for continuing to use incandescent bulbs in their homes.
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| 2023-07-31T20:12:48
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Doctors concerned brain-eating amoeba infection could increase due to warmer water temperatures
PHOENIX (KPHO/Gray News) -- Some scientists predict brain-eating amoeba cases could grow since we’ve had record heat and water temperatures are increasing.
The amoeba, naegleria fowleri, can enter the body through the nose and travel to the brain, resulting in an infection. While cases are limited over the years, there have been multiple in Arizona at Lake Pleasant and Lake Mead.
Most recently in Nevada, a child died because of the disease.
Brain-eating amoeba is a microscopic parasite found in warm, fresh bodies of water like hot springs or lakes. You can’t get it by accidentally swallowing the water or through a cut. The only way to get infected is by getting it far up your nose by diving or cannonballing into a lake.
Although infection is rare, the disease has a 97% fatality rate since symptoms are common at first. The disease is usually only diagnosed when it’s in the late-stage and symptoms progress to more severe illness like hallucinations and seizures. By that point, it’s usually too late to treat the disease effectively.
There are only about 10 cases per year, but experts say because the amoebas live in warm, fresh bodies of water, they expect to see that number increase with rising temperatures.
Dr. Wassim Ballan, an infectious disease specialist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, said there are concerns about cases rising, as well as a number of other infectious diseases.
“We are probably going to see a change in trends because of the climate changing and the temperatures rising,” Ballan said. “So there is a lot of concern in the infectious disease community about a lot of different infections, including amoebic infections becoming more common as the climate is warming.”
He also said parents who notice their child feeling unwell after a day of swimming should get them checked out right away. Early symptoms usually start five days after infection. They include sudden fever, headache, and stiff neck. Because the amoebas can only be deadly by entering through the nose, doctors recommend you not jump or dive into the water and instead hold your nose or wear nose clips. Or better yet, keep your head above water.
Digging in shallow water is also not advised since it stirs up the sediment where the amoeba live. It’s important to note there haven’t been any recent cases at Saguaro Lake. Since they started tracking the disease in 1962, there have been only 160 reported cases, so it’s infrequent. Still, Ballan said it isn’t worth the risk when prevention is so easy.
For more information on the naegleria fowleri, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
Copyright 2023 KPHO/KTVK via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The City of El Paso and a human-rights nonprofit have announced events to honor the victims of the racially motivated Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting and their families.
Mayor Oscar Leeser, Mexican Consul General Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de Leon and other dignitaries will participate in a bell-tolling ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Crime Victims Memorial Park, 610 San Paulo Drive. The bell will ring for each of the 23 fatal victims of a gunman who drove 10 hours from North Texas to “kill Mexicans” almost four years ago.
Twenty-two other people were wounded in the attack. Most of the victims were American citizens. A federal judge earlier this month sentenced the gunman to 90 consecutive terms of life in prison for hate crimes in connection to the massacre.
Members of the El Paso City Council and the El Paso County Commissioners’ Court are scheduled to join a coalition of civil rights organizations in a procession with crosses from Ponder Park, 7500 Burges Drive, to the Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall, the site of the massacre.
The El Paso Firme events begin at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday.
“As we approach the fourth anniversary of this horrific, white supremacist attack, we hope to offer a space of community healing and resistance,” said Fernando Garcia, executive director of Border Network for Human Rights, the event organizer. “We cannot forget that this massacre occurred as a result of weak gun-control laws and the spread of hateful, white supremacist and xenophobic rhetoric toward immigrants of color and minorities.”
County officials will lead the Day of Resilience Ceremony, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the El Paso Healing Garden at Ascarate Park, 6900 Delta Drive. It begins with a meditation, yoga and sound bath session, a performance by ProMusica at 7 p.m., and the 8 p.m. name-reading and light beam ceremony.
County Commissioners Court on Monday approved a resolution declaring next Thursday as “El Paso Day of Remembrance.” County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said it’s important to remember and honor the victims every year and that the Healing Garden stands as a “beacon of hope” for the community.
“More than just a memorial, the Healing Garden is a testament to an undying spirit of unity and resiliency that arises in the face of tragedy,” Samaniego said as he read from the resolution.
Other events, some of them ongoing, include:
- Unite with Light, in which some city landmarks, bridges and buildings will be illuminated at night with orange light in remembrance of the victims. The lights are on through August 5.
- Art displays in honor of crime victims at Judge Marquez Library, 610 N. Yarbrough Drive (August 3), El Paso Museum of Art, 1 Arts Festival Plaza (Aug. 3-Aug. 31), and the Armijo Branch Library, 620 E. 7th Ave. (Aug. 3).
- Live Active El Paso and United Way of El Paso County are having meditation and sound bath sessions nightly at various locales through August 2.
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| 2023-07-31T20:12:54
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On July 29, several accounts on Twitter, now called X, shared an image of actor Tom Hanks wearing a shirt that said “KEEP AMERICA TRUMPLESS.” The image went viral, trending on the social media site, with some commenters questioning whether the image was real or manipulated.
The photo spread to other platforms, racking up hundreds of thousands of views across social media and photo sharing websites.
THE QUESTION
Is the photo of Tom Hanks wearing a “Keep America Trumpless” shirt real?
THE SOURCES
RevEye, a reverse image search engine
THE ANSWER
No, the photo of Tom Hanks in a ‘Keep America Trumpless’ shirt is fake.
WHAT WE FOUND
The photo of Tom Hanks in an anti-Trump shirt was edited. It was created using a photo taken in 2020 when Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were in Sydney, Australia.
VERIFY was able to find the original photo using RevEye, a reverse image search engine.
Photos posted on British tabloid The Sun’s website show Hanks walking down a Sydney sidewalk with Wilson ahead of their son, Truman.
Comparing the doctored image to the original image, you can see Truman wearing the same shirt behind Hanks, with the same watch and rolled-up sleeves. You can also see Hanks is wearing the same hat, sunglasses and has the same facial expression.
The only difference is the shirt. In the original, Hanks is wearing a solid navy shirt – not a “KEEP AMERICA TRUMPLESS” shirt.
This is not the first time a photo of a celebrity was doctored to make it appear like he was wearing a shirt that said “KEEP AMERICA TRUMPLESS.”
In June 2022, a doctored photo of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson went viral claiming to show the wrestler-turned-actor wearing a shirt with the same slogan. That photo was fake, too.
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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today announced that it will report its second quarter financial results on Thursday, August 3, 2023, after the close of the U.S. financial markets. The announcement will be followed by a conference call with the investment community at 1:30 p.m. PT. Participating in the call from Amgen will be Robert A. Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer, and other members of Amgen's senior management team.
Live audio of the conference call will be simultaneously broadcast over the internet and will be available to members of the news media, investors and the general public.
The webcast, as with other selected presentations regarding developments in Amgen's business given by management at certain investor and medical conferences, can be found on Amgen's website, www.amgen.com, under Investors. Information regarding presentation times, webcast availability and webcast links are noted on Amgen's Investor Relations Events Calendar. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for at least 90 days after the event.
About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.
Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.
Amgen is one of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is also part of the Nasdaq-100 index. In 2022, Amgen was named one of the "World's Best Employers" by Forbes and one of "America's 100 Most Sustainable Companies" by Barron's.
For more information, visit Amgen.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
CONTACT: Amgen, Thousand Oaks
Jessica Akopyan, 805-440-5721 (media)
Elissa Snook, 609-251-1407 (media)
Arvind Sood, 805-447-1060 (investors)
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Saving the lives of homeless animals is something many of us are passionate about, including us at NBCUniversal with our 9th annual “Clear The Shelters” nationwide pet adoption and donation campaign.
But for 16-year-old Sir Darius Brown, it’s become his life’s mission, or as he calls it, his PAW-SOME mission.
Sir Darius got his start after learning about hundreds of dogs displaced from their home in Texas and Puerto Rico that were transferred to shelters in the northeast after hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017. He knew right then he needed to do something to help.
So he turned his passion for sewing, which he learned from his sister, to create bow ties for shelter pets. His creation quickly turned into a thriving company he founded called “Beaux & Paws,” where he is also CEO.
“Beaux & Paws” is the company where I handcraft bow ties for dogs and cats to help them be noticeable and adoptable and find everlasting homes,” Sir Darius said. “I believe a bow tie is a symbol. It gives them a form of importance. It’s going to attract people to want to adopt a dog or a cat.”
“What a wonderful young man,” said Liz Morgan, director of Montclair Township Animal Shelter in New Jersey. “People might walk past a dog that’s middle-aged, but with a bow tie, you have to look at her.”
For every bow tie that is purchased, Sir Darius donates a bow tie to a shelter pet.
“Every single bow tie that I make is personal,” Sir Darius said. “It’s not just any bow tie you can buy at a local store. When it’s handmade, it creates that bond.”
This year, Sir Darius was selected as an ambassador for Clear The Shelters to further his goal of finding every shelter pet a loving, forever home. In fact, he’s so dedicated to his mission that he created a special bow tie just for Clear The Shelters.
“I created this bow tie for Clear the Shelters because not only is it really cute, but I wanted to spread the word,” he said.
Since its inception in 2015, Clear The Shelters has helped more than 860,000 pets find new homes. For Clear The Shelters 2023, which runs Aug. 1 through Aug. 31, we want to reach a new milestone with the help of Sir Darius.
“For this year’s Clear the Shelters, we want to help adopt our one-millionth pet,” Sir Darius said. “People should want to come together to uplift and inspire others to adopt and to really help us reach our goal.”
To date, Sir Darius has donated over 5,000 bow ties and helped raise more than $800,000 for animal shelters.
“I don’t think any of us ever thought that it would get to the magnitude that it currently is,” sister and co-founder, Dazhai Brown said. “I’m so glad that it is Sir Darius that has been able to be an advocate for shelter animals and to promote adopting, not shopping.”
“My mom and my sister are very proud of me,” he said. “If it wasn’t for them, this initiative wouldn’t have come close to being possible.”
If you would like to purchase a “Clear The Shelters” bow tie, check out his website.
For more information about 2023 Clear The Shelters, including available pets in your area and how to donate, click here.
To learn more about Clear The Shelters 2023 and search for adoptable pets in your area, visit cleartheshelters.com. You can also donate to your local animal shelters and rescue groups by visiting clearthesheltersfund.org.
Follow Clear The Shelters on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on this year’s pet adoption and donation news:
- Twitter @ClearTheShelter
- Instagram: @cleartheshelters
- Hashtags: #ClearTheShelters & #DesocuparLosAlbergues
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RYE BROOK, N.Y., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Belle Haven Investments is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place To Work® for the second year in a row. The prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at Belle Haven Investments. This year, 93% of employees said it's a great place To Work – 36 points higher than the average U.S. company.
Great Place To Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation.
"Great Place To Work Certification is a highly coveted achievement that requires consistent and intentional dedication to the overall employee experience," says Sarah Lewis-Kulin, the Vice President of Global Recognition at Great Place To Work. She emphasizes that Certification is the sole official recognition earned by the real-time feedback of employees regarding their company culture. "By successfully earning this recognition, it is evident that Belle Haven Investments stands out as one of the top companies to work for, providing a great workplace environment for its employees."
Matt Dalton, CEO & CIO, expressed his excitement emphasizing "We owe the Firm's continued success to our dedicated and awesome employees. We celebrate and thank them for all they do to earn this incredible recognition."
About Belle Haven Investments
Belle Haven Investments is an independent, employee-owned asset manager that focuses exclusively on fixed income. They prioritize service, reliability, and customization, nurturing long-term partnerships with their clients. Their core values - trust and communication - permeate both external client relationships and internal team dynamics. The autonomy given to employees fosters trust, driving them to deliver their best work daily. To learn more, visit: https://www.bellehaven.com/
About Great Place to Work Certification™
Great Place To Work® Certification™ is the most definitive "employer-of-choice" recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience – specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place To Work-Certified.
Contact:
Nicole Robbins
robbinsn@bellehaven.com
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HONG KONG (AP) — Fans of singer and songwriter Coco Lee, who was known for her powerful voice and live performances, gathered with flowers to pay their respects to their idol at her funeral in Hong Kong on Monday.
The memorial service was attended by her family and friends, including singers Elva Hsiao and Jenny Tseng, as well as other supporters. Lee died July 5 at age 48.
She was born in Hong Kong and attended school in San Francisco before releasing her first album in 1994 at age 19. She began her career as a Mandopop singer but branched out to release albums in Cantonese and English.
She was the first Chinese singer to break into the American market, and her English song “Do You Want My Love” climbed to #4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Breakouts chart in December 1999. In 2001, she sang “A Love Before Time” from Ang Lee’s movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” at the Academy Awards, becoming the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars.
Lee was also the voice of heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney’s “Mulan,” and sang the Mandarin version of the movie’s theme song “Reflection.”
Lee was married to Bruce Rockowitz, former CEO of Hong Kong supply chain company Li & Fung. She had two stepdaughters.
Her death had shocked fans. Her siblings posted on Facebook that she had depression for years and had attempted suicide at home on July 2. She died a few days later.
On Monday afternoon, more than 100 fans dressed in black were waiting outside the funeral home.
Lin Jing, a fan from Fujian province in the southeast, said she admired Lee’s smile and appearance, adding: “She was really talented. She always tried to improve and she inspired women to feel independent.”
Inside the funeral hall, three pink hearts made of flowers and other floral decorations were displayed below Lee’s photo.
Her close friend, Hsiao, said during the ceremony that she remembered watching Lee’s performances as a student and thinking of her as a perfect idol. After they became friends in the entertainment industry, Lee encouraged Hsiao when she was lost and treated her as “a little sister.”
“She brightened my life with her happiness and bravery. I will keep preserving her spirit,” Hsiao said in a quavering voice.
In a video for the memorial service, actors and singers from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan recalled their memories with Lee and mourned her death.
Action star Jackie Chan said in the video that everyone was proud of her when she sang at the Oscars.
“To friends like us, Coco was a passionate and kind friend who showed care to us. She was really a good person. That’s why we are so reluctant to accept she has left us,” he said.
Award-winning director Ang Lee recalled his exchanges with the late singer before the Oscars and said it was a pity she died so young. “We miss her very much. Coco, rest in peace,” he said in the video.
Coco Lee had sounded notes of positivity in social media posts during the months before her death. In March, she posted about recuperating from surgery for an old leg injury.
“Successful surgery. Even though I’m in a lot of pain and I have to re-learn how to walk again, I know I can do it,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Yes I can and I will!”
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Associated Press video journalist Alice Fung and news assistant Annie Cheung contributed to this report.
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- VOXZOGO® Growth Continued in the Second Quarter Driven by Global Demand Resulting in Increased Full Year 2023 Guidance
- Pivotal Program with VOXZOGO in New, Potential Second Indication, Hypochondroplasia, to Begin in the Fourth Quarter of 2023
- U.S. Approval of ROCTAVIAN™ Received in the Second Quarter and Commercial Launch Underway; Commercial Launch in Europe Making Progress
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) today announced financial results for the six months and second quarter ended June 30, 2023.
"Outstanding execution across our business led to record revenues in the first half of 2023. We reached more children with VOXZOGO around the world, as physicians and families sought treatment with the only approved medicine targeting the genetic cause of achondroplasia," said Jean-Jacques Bienaimé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BioMarin. "We were also very pleased to have received the highly anticipated U.S. approval of ROCTAVIAN, the only gene therapy treatment for severe hemophilia A. U.S. commercial launch activities are well underway following the June 29 approval, in parallel with launch progress across a number of European countries."
Mr. Bienaimé added, "for the remainder of 2023, we plan to build on the foundation of growth and profitability achieved in the first half of the year, expand VOXZOGO globally and treat the first ROCTAVIAN patients in the U.S. and Europe."
Financial Highlights:
- Total Revenues for the second quarter of 2023 were $595.3 million, an increase of 12% compared to the same period in 2022. The increase in Total Revenues was primarily attributed to the following:
- GAAP and Non-GAAP Net Income increased by $28.3 million and $28.4 million, respectively, for the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. The increased net income was primarily due to higher gross profit and interest income, partially offset by higher spend in research and development programs to support both early-stage research and clinical activities, as well as higher selling, general and administrative expenses due to higher foreign currency losses and to support the commercial launches of VOXZOGO and ROCTAVIAN.
Recent Product Approvals and Launches (ROCTAVIAN and VOXZOGO)
- On June 29, 2023 the FDA approved ROCTAVIAN gene therapy for the treatment of adults with severe hemophilia A (congenital factor VIII (FVIII) deficiency with FVIII activity < 1 IU/dL) without antibodies to adeno-associated virus serotype 5 (AAV5) detected by an FDA-approved test. The FDA approval is based on data from the global Phase 3 GENEr8-1 study, the largest Phase 3 trial of any gene therapy in hemophilia. The one-time, single-dose infusion is the first approved gene therapy for severe hemophilia A in the U.S. ROCTAVIAN was first conditionally approved by the European Commission in August 2022.
Following FDA approval, the Company activated its U.S.-based salesforce and communicated that ROCTAVIAN is expected to be available for commercial use in August. BioMarin estimates that there are approximately 2,500 people living with severe hemophilia A in the United States who are eligible for treatment and receiving care at approximately 140 hemophilia treatment centers. - In Europe, BioMarin continues to make progress on the pricing and reimbursement process for ROCTAVIAN in Germany, France and Italy to facilitate access. BioMarin is working directly with the German National Association of Statuary Health Insurance Funds (GKV) to finalize access to ROCTAVIAN. At present, people in Germany with severe hemophilia A, who are eligible for treatment with ROCTAVIAN, can access treatment through either Named Patient authorizations or previously secured Outcomes Based Agreements. In France and Italy, BioMarin is working directly with the single public insurance funds in each country to secure reimbursement and access to ROCTAVIAN, expected later in 2023.
- As of the end of June 2023, more than 2,000 children with achondroplasia were being treated with VOXZOGO across 36 active markets. In the second quarter, patient growth remained strong worldwide. Based on these trends, today BioMarin updated full-year 2023 VOXZOGO guidance to between $400 million and $440 million. VOXZOGO is currently approved for the treatment of children 2 years old and older in Europe, for children 5 years old and older in the U.S., and approved for all ages from birth in Japan.
VOXZOGO and ROCTAVIAN Market Expansion Opportunities
- Today, BioMarin announced its plan to begin enrollment in the pivotal program with VOXZOGO for the treatment of children with hypochondroplasia, a condition characterized by impaired bone growth. Hypochondroplasia is a genetic statural condition caused by a mutation (gene change) in the fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 (FGFR3) gene.
Leveraging years of safety data from the VOXZOGO development program in achondroplasia, emerging data from an investigator-led Phase 2 study and following receipt of feedback from FDA, BioMarin plans to begin the 6-month observation arm of the study later this year, followed by the 52-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase of the 80-participant clinical trial. If successful, BioMarin believes this study will be able to support regulatory approval in this large indication. - In the coming months in the U.S. and Europe, the Company expects to learn the outcome of its request to expand VOXZOGO access to younger age groups, based on favorable results from a Phase 2 study in infants and young children and the importance of starting treatment as early as feasible. Age expansions would provide access to treatment with VOXZOGO to more than 1,000 additional children in the U.S. and Europe.
- Additional product expansion opportunities with ROCTAVIAN continue, including a clinical study investigating ROCTAVIAN treatment in those with active or prior inhibitors and continued exploration of methods of administering ROCTAVIAN in people with pre-existing antibodies against AAV5.
Earlier-stage Development Portfolio (BMN 255, BMN 331, BMN 351, BMN 349, BMN 293)
- BioMarin plans to showcase its Research and Development capabilities and earlier-stage product candidate updates at its R&D Day on September 12, 2023. Details on accessing the live event will be available on BioMarin's website in early September.
- BMN 255 for hyperoxaluria in chronic liver disease: The Company has concluded the multi-ascending dose study with BMN 255 in healthy human volunteers. Based on early data demonstrating a rapid and potent increase in plasma glycolate following treatment with BMN 255, BioMarin plans to open enrollment in an expanded study in patients with chronic liver disease and hyperoxaluria in the second half of 2023. The Company believes the availability of a potent, orally bioavailable, small molecule like BMN 255 may be able to significantly reduce disease and treatment burden in a patient population with significant unmet need.
- BMN 331 gene therapy product candidate for Hereditary Angioedema (HAE): Dosing continues in the Phase 1/2 HAERMONY study to evaluate BMN 331, an investigational AAV5-mediated gene therapy for people living with HAE. In January 2023, BioMarin shared that the first participant treated with the 6e13vg/kg dose demonstrated C1-Inhibitor levels that were approaching the therapeutically relevant range. In March 2023, the second sentinel participant was safely dosed at 6e13vg/kg and this individual has had a similar initial response. BioMarin will continue to monitor the trajectory of expression in these two individuals before deciding on next steps in this program.
- BMN 351 for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD): Investigational New Drug application (IND)-enabling activities continue with BMN 351, an antisense oligonucleotide therapy for individuals with exon 51-skip-amenable DMD. BMN 351 was developed using familiar chemistry and superior biology, by targeting a novel, splice enhancer site demonstrating improved binding affinity and tolerability in preclinical models. Preclinical data suggest that restored expression of near-full-length dystrophin protein at levels of up to 40% will convert phenotypes from rapid loss to durable preservation of strength and ambulation.
- BMN 349 for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: Preclinical studies have demonstrated that BMN 349 is an orally bioavailable, small molecule that preferentially sequesters mutant protein, preventing polymerization in liver cells that drive the progressive liver disease form of the illness. In preclinical studies BMN 349 is titratable to effect, with rapid onset and high potency. Preclinical results have strong implications for potential improvement of current management, particularly for severe liver disease requiring rapid action. IND enabling studies are concluding and BioMarin plans to submit the IND in the second half of 2023.
- BMN 293 for MYBPC3 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM): Mutations in the MYBPC3 gene are the most common cause of inherited HCM. Early investigations suggest that gene therapy-mediated gene transfer can lead to widespread expression of the gene product, cardiac myosin-binding protein C (MyBP-C), in cardiac tissue, which can normalize cardiac hypertrophy, improve relaxation kinetics and potentially alleviate functional deficits in individuals suffering from cardiomyopathy. IND enabling studies are underway and have incorporated pre-IND feedback from the FDA. BioMarin's goal is to submit an IND for BMN 293 in the second half of 2023.
2023 Full-Year Financial Guidance (in millions, except % and EPS amounts) (Updated)
BioMarin will host a conference call and webcast to discuss second quarter 2023 financial results today, Monday, July 31, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. ET. This event can be accessed through this link or on the investor section of the BioMarin website at www.biomarin.com.
About BioMarin
Founded in 1997, BioMarin is a global biotechnology company dedicated to transforming lives through genetic discovery. The Company develops and commercializes targeted therapies that address the root cause of genetic conditions. BioMarin's robust research and development capabilities have resulted in multiple innovative commercial therapies for patients with rare genetic disorders. The Company's distinctive approach to drug discovery has produced a diverse pipeline of commercial, clinical, and pre-clinical candidates that address a significant unmet medical need, have well-understood biology, and provide an opportunity to be first-to-market or offer a substantial benefit over existing treatment options. For additional information, please visit www.biomarin.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and the associated conference call and webcast contain forward-looking statements about the business prospects of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BioMarin), including, without limitation, statements about: the expectations of Total Revenues, Net Product Revenues, Enzyme Product Revenues, Gross Profit, Research and Development Expense (R&D), Selling, General and Administrative Expense (SG&A), GAAP Net Income, Non-GAAP Income, GAAP Diluted EPS and Non-GAAP Diluted EPS for the full-year 2023; cash flows from operating activities; the timing of orders for commercial products; the timing of BioMarin's clinical development and commercial prospects, including announcements of data from clinical studies and trials; the clinical development and commercialization of BioMarin's product candidates and commercial products, including (i) the potential to leverage VOXZOGO in conditions beyond achondroplasia, such as hypochondroplasia, (ii) the results from clinical studies regarding product expansion opportunities for ROCTAVIAN, (iii) BioMarin's plans to initiate and enroll an expanded study of BMN 255 in the second half of 2023, (iv) BioMarin's plan to submit an IND for BMN 349 in the second half of 2023, and (v) BioMarin's goal to submit an IND for BMN 293 in the second half of 2023; the potential approval and commercialization of BioMarin's product candidates, including commercialization of ROCTAVIAN for the treatment of severe hemophilia A in the U.S. following FDA approval in June 2023, and the timing of such approval decisions and product launches, including (i) the anticipated start and growth of commercial sales of VOXZOGO in additional countries, and (ii) BioMarin's expectation that U.S. and EU health authorities take action on its supplemental marketing applications for VOXZOGO in the coming months and the number of additional children that will be eligible for VOXZOGO if such age expansions are accepted; the expected benefits and availability of BioMarin's product candidates; and potential growth opportunities and trends, including that BioMarin expects accelerated growth of VOXZOGO revenues as the product launch continues in future quarters and that BioMarin expects growth of ROCTAVIAN revenues as the product's access is expanded in Europe and following commercial launch in the U.S.
These forward-looking statements are predictions and involve risks and uncertainties such that actual results may differ materially from these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: BioMarin's success in the commercialization of its commercial products, impacts of macroeconomic and other external factors on BioMarin's operations; results and timing of current and planned preclinical studies and clinical trials and the release of data from those trials; BioMarin's ability to successfully manufacture its commercial products and product candidates; the content and timing of decisions by the FDA, the European Commission and other regulatory authorities concerning each of the described products and product candidates; the market for each of these products; actual sales of BioMarin's commercial products; the introduction of generic versions of BioMarin's commercial products, in particular generic versions of KUVAN; and those factors detailed in BioMarin's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including, without limitation, the factors contained under the caption "Risk Factors" in BioMarin's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 as such factors may be updated by any subsequent reports. Stockholders are urged not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. BioMarin is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
BioMarin®, BRINEURA®, KUVAN®, NAGLAZYME®, PALYNZIQ®, VIMIZIM® and VOXZOGO® are registered trademarks of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., or its affiliates. ROCTAVIANTM is a trademark of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. ALDURAZYME® is a registered trademark of BioMarin/Genzyme LLC. All other brand names and service marks, trademarks and other trade names appearing in this release are the property of their respective owners.
Non-GAAP Information
The results presented in this press release include both GAAP information and Non-GAAP information. Non-GAAP Income is defined by the Company as GAAP Net Income excluding amortization expense, stock-based compensation expense, contingent consideration expense, and, in certain periods, certain other specified items, as detailed below when applicable. The Company also includes a Non-GAAP adjustment for the estimated tax impact of the reconciling items. Non-GAAP Diluted EPS is defined by the Company as Non-GAAP Income divided by Non-GAAP diluted shares outstanding
BioMarin regularly uses both GAAP and Non-GAAP results and expectations internally to assess its financial operating performance and evaluate key business decisions related to its principal business activities: the discovery, development, manufacture, marketing and sale of innovative biologic therapies. Because Non-GAAP Income, Non-GAAP Diluted EPS and Non-GAAP Diluted Shares are important internal measurements for BioMarin, the Company believes that providing this information in conjunction with BioMarin's GAAP information enhances investors' and analysts' ability to meaningfully compare the Company's results from period to period and to its forward-looking guidance, and to identify operating trends in the Company's principal business. BioMarin also uses Non-GAAP Income internally to understand, manage and evaluate its business and to make operating decisions, and compensation of executives is based in part on this measure.
Non-GAAP Income and its components are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to comparable GAAP measures and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors should note that the Non-GAAP information is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and does not reflect all of the amounts associated with the Company's results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. Investors should also note that these Non-GAAP financial measures have no standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and, therefore, have limits in their usefulness to investors. In addition, from time to time in the future there may be other items that the Company may exclude for purposes of its Non-GAAP financial measures; likewise, the Company may in the future cease to exclude items that it has historically excluded for purposes of its Non-GAAP financial measures. Because of the non-standardized definitions, the Non-GAAP financial measure as used by BioMarin in this press release and the accompanying tables may be calculated differently from, and therefore may not be directly comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies.
The following tables present the reconciliation of GAAP reported to Non-GAAP adjusted financial information:
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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A legal advocacy group for journalists wants to get involved in Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says a win by the Florida governor could embolden other governments across the U.S. to take actions against journalists and other media when they exercise their First Amendment rights.
The group on Friday asked a judge for permission to file a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the claims brought by Disney against DeSantis, his appointees to a special district board governing Disney World and a state economic development agency. The lawsuit claims the Florida governor violated the company’s free speech rights by taking control over the district in retaliation for Disney’s public opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The committee said that the impact of a DeSantis win would be felt beyond the 39 square miles (101 square kilometers) of the Disney World property governed by the new appointees picked by the Florida governor to the governing district’s board.
“If Defendants prevail in this case, those on whose behalf the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press advocates will be first in the line of fire given the nature of reporting and the press’s role in our constitutional system,” the committee said in its request to file the supporting brief in federal court in Tallahassee. “As such, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press’s proposed brief provides a voice to those not directly involved, but undoubtedly impacted by this case.”
DeSantis and Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity have argued that Disney’s case should be dismissed because of sovereign immunity protection against being sued for conducting government business, and that Disney hasn’t shown how it has been hurt so it lacks standing to sue the state government defendants.
DeSantis has used the fight with Disney to burnish his “anti-woke” credentials and demonstrate his ability to push a conservative agenda during his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
The DeSantis appointees took over the Disney World governing board earlier this year following a yearlong feud between the company and DeSantis. The fight began last year after Disney, beset by significant pressure internally and externally, publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, a policy critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”
As punishment, DeSantis took over the district through legislation passed by Florida lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services for the sprawling theme parks and hotels.
If the retaliatory actions by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers are left unchecked, it poses a threat to watchdog journalism and press coverage of public issues “to the detriment to the free flow of information on matters of public concern that has long been the hallmark of our democratic system of government,” the committee said.
Before the new board came in, Disney made agreements with previous oversight board members who were Disney supporters that stripped the new supervisors of their authority over design and development. The DeSantis-appointed members of the governing district have sued Disney in state court in a second lawsuit stemming from the district’s takeover, seeking to invalidate those agreements.
Disney had asked for the case be dismissed or delayed pending the outcome of the federal lawsuit. However, Circuit Judge Margaret Schreiber in Orlando on Friday refused to toss or postpone the case, saying among other reasons that to do so would have created “an undue delay” for the district, which still must continue governing. ___
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP
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Imagine stepping on stage with your favorite artist in VR from your browser. Discover secret rooms, join live Q&As with other fans, shop for merch, and more. Connect with your audience like never before.
NEW YORK, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BR Marketing Group, a leading luxury brand marketing agency in NYC, is excited to offer its new Web Virtual Reality (WebVR) service to clients worldwide. With this service, clients can create memorable marketing experiences in WebVR. WebVR is a technology that allows users to enjoy virtual reality from their browsers, without any extra hardware or software.
BR Marketing Group has a team of creative experts who design and promote WebVR experiences that capture the unique essence of each brand. Whether it's a concert, a store, a gallery, or more BR Marketing Group can bring it to life in WebVR.
"Our service stands out because we embrace the future. We know how innovative technologies like WebVR can transform the customer experience," said Andrea Canas, CEO of BR Marketing Group.
- Drake, global superstar, has recently taken his concerts and online store to the next level by adding immersive technology for an interactive virtual experience. He is not alone. Luxury brands and artists are following suit.
- Revenue in the VR Advertising market is projected to reach US$161.70m in 2023, revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 2.33%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$177.30m by 2027, according to a recent study.
WebVR is still a new and fast-growing tech, able to give immersive, interactive, awe-inspiring experiences. WebVR also connects with IRL events, enabling users to explore real-world objects, locations, and people through VR.
To get more info on WebVR or work with BR Marketing Group for your next virtual or IRL event, visit us at brmarketgroup.com or call 332-600-4466.
About BR Marketing Group
As one of the first creative agencies to offer WebVR immersive services, BR Marketing Group combines its web development, design, and marketing skills to create amazing VR events that connect the virtual and physical worlds.
BR Marketing Group is a leading luxury brand marketing agency in NYC, led by Andrea Cañas, a visionary Latina leader. She and her team of creative experts' craft captivating and unforgettable marketing experiences that bring out the unique essence of each brand they work with.
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BAYREUTH, Germany (AP) — Two years after the debut of the Bayreuth Festival’s first female conductor, Nathalie Stutzmann became the second to lead a Richard Wagner opera in the Festpielhaus’ famous covered pit.
The 58-year-old former contralto, fresh off her first season as Atlanta Symphony Orchestra music director, drew a luminous performance of “Tannhäuser” on Friday night in a revival of the Tobias Kratzer 2019 production — the one featuring the title character in a clown suit and a murder in a Burger King parking lot.
“It’s good news to be second,” Stutzmann said. “It proves that things are moving.”
Launched by Richard Wagner in 1876 and currently run by great-granddaughter Katharina Wagner, the festival broke its conductor gender barrier when Oksana Lyniv led a new staging of “Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)” in 2021. The 45-year-old returned this summer to preside over the Dmitri Tcherniakov production for the third straight year.
“They are very highly accepted,” Katharina Wagner said. “I hope that this question would disappear with time, that we are just talking about good conductors and not female and male conductors anymore.”
Stutzmann’s year so far has also included debuts with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, where she provoked the orchestra when she alleged in a New York Times interview that musicians were bored playing while not being able to see onstage activity. The orchestra criticized her in a statement, prompting Stutzmann to apologize.
At Bayreuth, conductors must adjust to a pit Richard Wagner designed to keep the orchestra hidden from the audience, arranged in nine rows that descend toward the stage: violins in the first two, followed by violas, cellos, double basses, woodwinds, brass and percussion. The instrumental sound mixes with voices before traveling out to 30 rows of seats and three tiers of boxes.
“I had done a lot of research, so I knew the experience would be new and unexpected and tricky,” Stutzmann said in a response to an emailed question. “We hear the sound completely different from what the audience hears, that’s why we have to rely on our assistants. … You hardly hear the singers on stage and they sound always late even when we are perfectly together!”
Stutzmann’s performance, using the original Dresden score, featured unusual clarity when the overture slowed and the volume lowered during a pilgrims’ chorus repeat in the overture. She was greeted with boisterous applause and foot-stomping during 14 minutes of curtain calls.
Stutzmann has been invited back to conduct the 2024 revival of the sold-out “Tannhäuser” staging, notorious for the director adding the drag queen Le Gateau Chocolat and dwarf actor Manni Laudenbach, who combine with the title character and the goddess Venus to form a counterculture clique Richard Wagner never could have envisioned for a work that premiered in 1845.
During an interview in New York before heading to Germany, Stutzmann said “Tannhäuser” was the perfect vehicle for her Bayreuth debut, given her quarter-century as a contralto and the opera’s full title, which translates to “Tannhäuser and the Minstrels’ Contest at Wartburg.”
She winked.
“It’s a singer competition, after all,” she said with a laugh.
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DALLAS, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Hotels Dallas, the 260 room luxury lifestyle hotel located in the Dallas Design District, is proud to announce that it has been honored with the Equity Leadership award presented by D CEO at their annual Nonprofit & Corporate Citizenship award ceremony. The Equity Leadership award is given each year to a corporation in the Dallas community that supports efforts that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Since the hotel opened in 2019, Virgin Hotels Dallas has supported local organizations that champion diversity and equity such as Cafe Momentum, Unlock Potential, and My Possibilities. Through these initiatives, the hotel has been able to provide mentorship and employment opportunities to justice-involved youth as well as adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"It is an honor for Virgin Hotels Dallas to be recognized as a leader in diversity within the Dallas community," says Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group. "Creating an inclusive environment where our guests and teammates always feel welcomed to be who they are has always been our priority at Virgin."
Looking ahead, Virgin Hotels Dallas is dedicated to continuing to evolve their diversity program with new partnerships, teammate training, and more. The Dallas Design District boutique hotel is committed to being Autism Double Checked by the end of 2024. According to the online autism training company, over 20 million people are parents to one or more children with autism. Due to the current landscape and lack of autism-friendly travel experiences, 87% of parents of autistic children currently do not travel or take family vacations. However, 93% of parents with autistic children said they would travel if autistic-friendly travel experiences were available.
With the certification, teammates at Virgin Hotels Dallas will undergo neurodiversity training and guests with special needs will receive a detailed visitors guide ahead of their stay that highlights potential sensory issues such as crowds, temperature, noise, body awareness and more.
In addition to the property's Autism Double Checked commitment, Virgin Hotels Dallas will also implement a new policy with Hidden Disabilities that will allow teammates and guests to wear a sunflower lanyard that indicates that they have a non-visible disability and may need more time, assistance, etc.
The brand's commitment to diversity goes beyond external partnerships. Internally, Virgin Hotels strives to hire individuals that are reflective of the world and encompass a variety of racial backgrounds, genders, etc. In an effort to be the most inclusive employer in the hotel industry, Virgin Hotels launched the J.E.D.I program which stands for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The idea behind this people-focused approach is to implement new guidelines for community partners, recruitment, and training in a phased approach. Currently, the brand is in its third phase which involves a complete demographic analysis to identify gaps in our workforce. Future phases will include J.E.D.I committees at each hotel, unconscious bias training, and more.
"I am so proud of the team at Virgin Hotels Dallas for leading the charge in diversity within the Dallas community and hospitality industry as a whole," says James Bermingham, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Hotels Collection. "Their efforts are a testament to the brand's purpose of 'everyone leaves feeling better'. We are so thankful to have an amazing team that prioritizes our dedication to being an inclusive and comfortable environment."
For more information on Virgin Hotels diversity & inclusivity commitment, visit https://virginhotels.com/diversity-and-inclusivity/.
About Virgin Hotels Dallas
Virgin Hotels Dallas is the second property from Virgin Hotels - the lifestyle hospitality brand that combines heartfelt service, straightforward value and a seamless, personalized hotel experience with the track record of innovation and smart disruption that Sir Richard Branson's global Virgin Group has pioneered for 50 years. The property intermixes a passion for food and beverage with music and culture that fuses with the local landscape, providing an inclusive environment for travelers and locals alike. Located in the Dallas Design District on 1445 Turtle Creek Blvd, the hotel features 260 Chambers (rooms) and two Penthouse Suites. Dining and drinking outlets include Commons Club the brand's flagship restaurant and bar, Funny Library Coffee Shop and The Pool Club. Reservations accepted and can be made directly on the hotel's website, www.virginhotels.com/dallas or by calling 469.359.7003.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose Pee-wee Herman character — an overgrown child with a tight gray suit and an unforgettable laugh — became a 1980s pop cultural phenomenon, has died at 70.
Reubens, who’s character delighted fans in the film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and on the TV series “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” died Sunday night after a six-year struggle with cancer that he kept private, his publicist said in a statement.
“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” Reubens said in a statement released Monday with the announcement of his death. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”
Created for the stage, Pee-wee with his white chunky loafers and red bow tie would become a cultural constant in both adult and children’s entertainment for much of the 1980s, though an indecent exposure arrest in 1991 would send the character into entertainment exile for years.
The laugh that punctuated every sentence, catch phrases like “I know you are but what am I” and a tabletop dance to the Champs’ song “Tequila” in a biker bar in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” were often imitated by fans, to the joy of some and the annoyance of others.
Reubens created Pee-wee when he was part of the Los Angeles improv group The Groundlings in the late 1970s. The live “Pee-wee Herman Show” debuted at a Los Angeles theater in 1981 and was a success with both kids during matinees and adults at a midnight show.
The show closely resembled the format the Saturday morning TV “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” would follow years later, with Herman living in a wild and wacky home with a series of stock-character visitors, including one, Captain Karl, played by the late “Saturday Night Live” star Phil Hartman. In its story, Pee-wee secretly longs to fly, but turns over a wish granted by the genie character Jambi to a friend instead.
HBO would air the show as a special.
“Pee Wee got his wish to fly,” Steve Martin tweeted after his death. “Thanks Paul Reubens for the brilliant off the wall comedy.”
Reubens took Pee-wee to the big screen with 1985’s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” which takes the character outside for a nationwide escapade. The film, in which Pee-wee’s cherished bike is stolen, was said to be loosely based on Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neo-realist classic, “The Bicycle Thief.” Directed by Tim Burton and co-written by Hartman, the movie was a success, grossing $40 million, and continued to spawn a cult following for its oddball whimsy.
A sequel followed three years later in the less well-received “Big Top Pee-wee,” in which Pee-wee seeks to join a circus. Reubens’ character wouldn’t get another movie starring role until 2016’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday,” for Netflix. Judd Apatow produced Pee-wee’s big-screen revival.
His television series, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” ran for five seasons, earned 22 Emmys and attracted not only children but adults to Saturday-morning TV.
Both silly and subversive and championing nonconformity, the Pee-wee universe was a trippy place, populated by things like a talking armchair and a friendly pterodactyl. The host, who is fond of secret words and loves fruit salad so much he once married it, is prone to lines like, “Why don’t you take a picture; it’ll last longer?” The act was a hit because it worked on multiple levels, even though Reubens insists that wasn’t the plan.
“It’s for kids,” Reubens told The Associated Press in 2010. “People have tried to get me for years to go, ‘It wasn’t really for kids, right?’ Even the original show was for kids. I always censored myself to have it be kid-friendly.
“The whole thing has been just a gut feeling from the beginning,” Reubens told the AP. “That’s all it ever is and I think always ever be. Much as people want me to dissect it and explain it, I can’t. One, I don’t know, and two, I don’t want to know, and three, I feel like I’ll hex myself if I know.”
Jimmy Kimmel posted on Instagram that “Paul Reubens was like no one else — a brilliant and original comedian who made kids and their parents laugh at the same time. He never forgot a birthday and shared his genuine delight for silliness with everyone he met.”
Reubens’ career was derailed when he was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult movie theater in Sarasota, Florida, the city where he grew up. He was handed a small fine but the damage was incalculable.
He became the frequent butt of late-night talk show jokes and the perception of Reubens immediately changed.
“The moment that I realized my name was going to be said in the same sentence as children and sex, that’s really intense,” Reubens told NBC in 2004. “That’s something I knew from that very moment, whatever happens past that point, something’s out there in the air that is really bad.”
Reubens said he got plenty of offers to work, but told the AP that most of them wanted to take “advantage of the luridness of my situation”,” and he didn’t want to do them.
“It just changed,” he said. “Everything changed.”
He did take advantage of one chance to poke fun at his tarnished image. Just weeks after his arrest, he would open the MTV Video Music Awards, walking on to the stage alone and saying, “Heard any good jokes lately?” (Herman appearances on MTV had fueled Pee-wee’s popularity in the early 1980s.)
In 2001, Reubens was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography after police seized images from his computer and photography collection, but the allegation was reduced to an obscenity charge and he was given three years probation.
Born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, in 1952, the eldest of three kids, he grew up in Sarasota where his parents ran a lamp store and he put on comedy shows for neighbor kids.
After high school he sought to study acting. He spent a year at Boston University, and was then turned down by the Juilliard School and Carnegie-Mellon University. So he enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts. That would lead to appearances at local comedy clubs and theaters and joining the Groundlings.
After the 1991 arrest, he would spend the decade playing primarily non-Pee-wee characters, including roles in Burton’s 1992 movie “Batman Returns,” the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” film and a guest-star run on the TV series “Murphy Brown.”
He also appeared in the 1999 comedy film “Mystery Men” and Johnny Depp’s 2001 drug-dealer drama “Blow.”
Reubens — who never lost his boyish appearance even in his 60s, would slowly re-introduce Pee-wee, eventually doing a Broadway adaptation of “The Pee-wee Herman Show” in 2010, and the 2016 Netflix movie.
Reubens was beloved by his fellow comedians, and fans of Pee-wee spanned the culture.
Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted Monday that he was “one of the patron saints of all misfitted, weird, maladjusted, wonderful, miraculous oddities.”
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Associated Press Writer Alicia Rancilio and Film Writer Jake Coyle contributed to this report.
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WASHINGTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, announces the impending retirement of Chris Thompson as President and CEO, effective May 31, 2024. After a successful tenure of leading the organization, Thompson has decided to step down and pursue life beyond work.
During his time as President and CEO, Thompson has played a pivotal role in promoting the United States as a premier travel destination. Under his leadership, Brand USA has achieved remarkable milestones, including increased international visitation, and enhanced global awareness of the diverse offerings across the country.
Thompson's strategic vision and unwavering commitment to excellence have been instrumental in driving Brand USA's success. His dedication to fostering partnerships with industry stakeholders, government agencies, and international organizations has strengthened the organization's position as a global leader in destination marketing.
"It has been an incredible privilege to serve as President and CEO of Brand USA," said Thompson. "I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together, and I am confident that the organization will continue to thrive under new leadership."
The Brand USA Board of Directors expressed their gratitude to Thompson for his exceptional leadership and significant contributions to the organization. "Under Chris's strategic guidance, the Brand USA team has kept the USA the preferred travel destination in the world", stated Todd Davidson, Chair of the Brand USA Board and CEO of Travel Oregon. "Chris's integrity, tenacity, passion and belief in the power of the travel and tourism industry to bring prosperity to all Americans, fueled the advancement of the US travel and tourism industry and established an organizational foundation of innovation, resiliency and future-focused confidence. We all wish him the very best in his retirement."
The search for a new President and CEO is commencing, and Brand USA is committed to finding a successor who will build upon Thompson's legacy and continue to drive the organization forward. The Board of Directors will work closely with an executive search firm to identify a candidate with the necessary expertise, vision, and passion for promoting the United States as a global travel destination.
About Brand USA
Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, was established by the Travel Promotion Act as the nation's first public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. travel policies and procedures to worldwide travelers. The organization's mission is to increase international visitation to the United States in order to fuel the U.S. economy and enhance the image of the United States worldwide. Formed as the Corporation for Travel Promotion in 2010, the public-private entity began operations in May 2011 and does business as Brand USA. According to studies by Oxford Economics, over the past ten years Brand USA's marketing initiatives have helped welcome 8 million incremental visitors to the United States, benefiting the U.S. economy with more than $58 billion in total economic impact and supporting, on average, more than 37,000 incremental jobs a year.
For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit TheBrandUSA.com. To discover more about the USA and the boundless diversity of American travel experiences and authentic, rich culture, please visit Brand USA's consumer website VisitTheUSA.com and follow Visit The USA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Contact:
Colleen Mangone
Director, Public Affairs Communications
cmangone@thebrandusa.com
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https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/chris-thompson-announces-retirement-president-ceo-brand-usa/
| 2023-07-31T20:13:31
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — If you believe Janelle Monae ’s hyper-sexual expression is a front, think again.
These days, Monae is unapologetically living her truth in a bold manner while trying to avoid negativity. The star, once known for sporting custom-made suits, has shed that attire (at least for now) to nearly bare all, like on the cover of her latest studio album, “The Age of Pleasure,” where she’s seen swimming topless in a pool. It’s her first release since 2018’s “Dirty Computer,” which was nominated for album of the year at the Grammys.
In recent months, Monae hasn’t been afraid of risque looks and nudity. She revealed herself during an event celebrating the release of her single “Lipstick Lover” and again onstage at an Essence Music Festival set — which drew some social media criticism including from singer India Arie and rapper Uncle Luke. She also attended the 2023 Met Gala in a barely-there outfit.
For Monae, this is her time to be free.
Monae spoke recently with The Associated Press about her supportive mother, side-stepping criticism and teasing her upcoming North American tour, which kicks off Aug. 30 in Seattle. Other tour stops include New York and Nashville and she’ll wrap in Los Angeles in mid-October.
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AP: Since you haven’t toured since 2019, was your recent Essence Festival performance a tune up for your upcoming tour?
MONAE: Yeah, we’re testing out the songs. You‘re getting them in your body. Right now, we don’t have a lot of muscle memory with the new songs. We haven’t toured them. I know if you come into the show, you’ll love the songs. But hearing them live is a different experience, especially when you’re putting them with songs from previous work. We’re basically just putting a show together based on what we feel is good. Sometimes you just don’t know until you get on stage.
AP: What do you want people to take away from your show?
MONAE: Tap into your free (expletive) energy. That’s rooted in self-love — not arrogance. Tap into that space and then take care of each other. That’s what I hope. With the shows that I do, and when I look out, it’s an experience. It’s like our own church. You want to take care of each other.
Even if your freedom doesn’t look like that person’s freedom, you understand that we’re fighting against something much bigger than us. We’re systemically fighting against something much bigger than us, so we got to band together, we got to stick together. We have to make sure that we’re showing up for each other. If we have privilege in certain areas, making sure that we’re lending a hand, lending a voice, amplifying a message.
AP: How has it been to walk in your truth while facing criticism about your racy performances from people like Arie and Uncle Luke?
MONAE: That has absolutely nothing to do with me. I love everybody. I’m in the age of pleasure.
AP: When did you feel comfortable with living life the way you want without caring about others’ opinions?
MONAE: It’s not like I don’t care what people think. I care what some people think. I don’t care what everybody thinks. That’s the same when it comes to music. When you make a new song, I can’t go soliciting everybody’s opinions about the song. By the time I get back to the second pass of it, it’s all over the place. Everybody’s going to have an opinion. For me, it’s like, whose voice do I trust? Who do I know that loves me, cares about me, whose taste do I like, who actually is evolved enough to even understand what it is that I’m doing? Who understands nuance?
You shouldn’t care what anybody has to say. You just care what the right people have to say and everything else is muted.
AP: Who are those right people for you?
MONAE: Family. Close friends.
AP: In your journey, your mother has been a huge supporter. Whenever you have fallen under certain criticisms, how has she helped you navigate the critics?
MONAE: My mom is like ride or die. I have to tell her like “Mom, you don’t need to defend me. You don’t need to defend my life or my decisions.” For her, I’m her baby. Like any mama bear, you might get punched in the eye if you say something. You might. But I’ve calmed her down over the years. For the most part, we mostly respond to love. It’s a lot of people that love where I am and who I am and what I’m doing, and they feel really empowered and inspired by it, and that makes my mom proud, and it makes me happy.
AP: How do you avoid the naysayers?
MONAE: I’m too busy living life to be distracted. The positive things are always amazing too, but I also don’t go fishing for that. One of the things about being in the age of pleasure is being present and making sure that I’m dipping in on social media, saying what I need to say, showing love, saying “thank you,” putting up my art and leaving, going to go create more things and make more memories and more experiences.
I’m in the middle of putting together a tour for North America. We haven’t been on tour since 2019. For me, I have a lot of things that keep me busy. I’m practicing guitar. I’m having the best sex of my life. I’m happy. Even in the middle of all that’s going on in this world, I’m finding time to steal joy and to center joy and to stay surrounded by the people that bring me joy and that I can bring joy too.
AP: How did “Age of Pleasure” define where you are in life?
MONAE: I wanted to create a soundtrack to our lifestyle. I think this album like all my albums reflect exactly where I am at that time. Each album will let you know where I was in my evolution process, what things I had to unlearn, what things I learned. I love that. I love that you can always look at an artist working, sort of see what they were on at that time.
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Quiet Stretch Continues
Monday will be ending as beautiful as it’s been throughout the day!! A lack of cloud cover into the overnight will help us cool back off into the low-60s overnight before we’re back into the mid-80s on Tuesday. Skies become partly cloudy for most of the rest of the week.
Rain opportunities remain limited. A couple isolated thundershowers cannot be ruled out Tuesday. If anyone sees them, they would take place around the Highway 14 corridor. Although odds are that we stay dry heading into the weekend. Once there, we have rain in the forecast the majority of the weekend while also not having severe weather. If your flowers and crops need rain (which we pretty much all do) this is your opportunity.
Air quality has been healthy for the majority of the past week. Despite air quality alerts north of us heading into Tuesday, smoke is not expected to impact us like it is by the Minnesota/Canada border. We could see some moderate air quality during the middle of the week due to ground-level ozone, but that would be the worst it gets.
We’ll get up into the mid to upper-80s by the middle of the week, but it won’t feel nearly as hot as what we experienced that time last week with less humidity to work with.
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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Cumberland County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Detectives arrested a Fayetteville man on Friday in connection with an armed robbery at a convenience store.
Christian Jared Ashworth, 22, was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, second-degree kidnapping, felony conspiracy, possession of stolen goods, and assault by pointing a gun. He is accused of robbing the Circle K at 1581 Mcarthur Road in Fayetteville on June 23.
Warrants were also served on Ashworth in the robbery of the Waffle House at 3901 Goldsboro Road in Eastover on June 28. He was charged in that case with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, felony conspiracy, possession of stolen goods, and two counts of assault by pointing a gun.
He is being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center on a $250,000 secured bond.
Anyone with further information about this investigation is asked to please contact Cumberland County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Detective Senior Sgt. A. Mundy at (910) 677-5513 or Crimestoppers at (910) 483-TIPS (8477). Crimestoppers information can also be submitted electronically.
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https://abc11.com/armed-robbery-fayetteville-circle-k-mcarthur-road/13578344/
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NEW YORK, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Debevoise & Plimpton LLP announced today the release of its 2023 Private Equity Midyear Outlook, a helpful summary of the various forces shaping the industry and the strategies market participants are using during this dynamic time.
At the beginning of the year, we noted in our Private Equity Report: 2023 Outlook the considerable macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges facing private equity. As we pass the year's midpoint, those challenges continue to hang over the private equity industry like a stalled weather system, refusing to dissipate, as existing obstacles have solidified and new hurdles have emerged. While the crisis around the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank and Signature Bank was not protracted, it nonetheless compounded an already difficult liquidity environment. Fundraising remains highly competitive. The polarization around ESG in the United States has intensified, resulting in a patchwork of wildly different state legislation. The SEC continues to take aim at private fund practices, while in the EU, new regulations stand to complicate both fundraising and the M&A landscape. In this environment, caution rules the day for both sponsors and investors.
And yet, with creativity and persistence, deals are getting done. Lenders are adjusting their balance sheet exposures. Direct lending and co-investments, as well as innovative deal structures, help to fill the financing gaps caused by the pull-back in syndicated debt financings. Brand-name funds are weathering fundraising headwinds by offering incentives and flexibility with terms, while first-time managers are building track records by raising capital deal-by-deal. And through it all, bright spots have begun to appear. The U.S. IPO market is showing early signs of thawing. In Latin America, proactive monetary policy, the move toward nearshoring and a spate of welcomed governmental reforms give reason for optimism. And while investors continue their caution regarding China, other Asian markets such as Japan, Australia and India are showing healthy levels of activity.
The full report is available here.
About the Debevoise Private Equity Group
Debevoise is a trusted partner and legal advisor to a majority of the world's largest private equity firms, and has been a market leader in the Private Equity industry for over 40 years. The firm's Private Equity Group brings together the diverse skills and capabilities of more than 400 lawyers around the world from a multitude of practice areas, working together to advise our clients across the entire private equity life cycle. The Group's strong track record, leading-edge insights, deep bench and commitment to unified, agile teams are why, year after year, clients quoted in Chambers Global, Chambers USA, The Legal 500 and PEI cite Debevoise for our close-knit partnership, breadth of resources and relentless focus on results.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a premier law firm with market-leading practices, a global perspective and strong New York roots. We deliver effective solutions to our clients' most important legal challenges, applying clear commercial judgment and a distinctively collaborative approach.
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NEW YORK (AP) — When actor Casey Likes watched “Back to the Future” growing up, his mom would always say he reminded her a lot of the film’s star, Michael J. Fox. Something in the universe agrees: He’s taken on Fox’s classic movie 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.
“I remember growing up and just really, really loving the film. It kind of sat in that realm of like ‘E.T.’ and ‘Close Encounters’ — movies that came at a time when film was magical,” says Likes, 21. “I hope we accomplish something kind of similar with Broadway.”
The show, which won the Olivier Award for best new musical last year in London, arrives at the Winter Garden Theatre this summer with a story by Bob Gale, who previously co-created and co-wrote the movie with Robert Zemeckis. It hews very closely to the original, including having a DeLorean onstage and the shout “Great Scott!”
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. Bart recalls seeing “Back to the Future” in his early 20s when it first appeared in movie theaters. He watched with three friends from theater school and they were all secretly jealous of Fox.
“None of my friends — even knowing each other as well as we did — none of them, including my mother, ever nudged me and said, ‘No, no, kid. You’re Doc Brown. Just be patient,’” the Tony-winner says laughing.
Like the film, the musical centers on Marty McFly traveling back to his hometown in 1955. Once there, he gets caught up in the soap opera lives of his own teenage parents, including his mom, who develops a crush on her future son. He must reconnect mom and dad or he risks disappearing from history.
“We feel like it’s very important – I’m sure Casey would agree — for the public to come to the show and recognize that they are seeing that story in a different form but with all of its charms very deeply intact,” says Bart, whose Broadway credits include “The Producers,” “Disaster!” and “Young Frankenstein.”
New songs have been crafted by the film’s composer Alan Silvestri and songwriter and producer Glen Ballard. Some Huey Lewis and the News songs from the movie also have been included, like the theme tune “The Power of Love” and “Back in Time,” as well as Marty McFly’s futuristic rendition of “Johnny B. Goode.”
“We go back to the ‘50s, you get some songs that sound like ’Grease,’ like ‘Bye Bye Birdie.’ And then we have some ‘80s moments in there that are very ’Footloose,’” says Likes. “It feels kind of like the greatest hits of not only rock ‘n’ roll, but of musical theater.”
While both men are fans of the films — and both got to meet the original stars at a gala last week — neither Bart nor Likes want to straightjacket themselves into the way Fox and Lloyd performed their roles.
“I don’t want to impersonate the movie. I want to remind you of the movie,” says Likes, who made his Broadway debut last year as the Cameron Crowe-inspired lead character of the musical “Almost Famous.”
“There’s a lot of things that Roger is doing that are similar, and there’s a lot of things that I’m doing that hopefully are similar to Michael. But we’re really just reminding you of their brilliance. Hopefully, at the same time, you’re able to kind of go along the journey with our Marty and Doc.”
In addition to being a cultural touchstone, “Back to the Future” was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry and the American Film Institute listed it as the No. 10 best science-fiction film. Bart thinks the movie’s staying power is because it manages to straddle many worlds.
There’s a time travel story and one about getting to know your parents as peers. There’s a love story between Marty’s parents and there’s also a buddy movie — Marty and Doc putting their friendship on the line.
“Between all of these elements, it answers so many of the things that we love about that era of moviemaking and storytelling,” says Bart. “I think that’s one of the reasons why it is has sort of stuck around so long.”
Not to mention the fact that audiences can appreciate the story at different parts of their lives. Kids can enjoy the thrills and special effects; adults can be moved by the notion of meeting their own moms and dads. “Part of its sustaining power is the fact that it can mean one thing at one age and another at another,” says Bart.
Likes also adds another reason: Marty initially only wants to get back to his own time period to reconnect with his girlfriend. But his reasons start to change — save Doc, save his family, save the world.
“As the show goes on, there’s more stacked up reasons as to why he has to get back. And I think that’s a really interesting thing to think about in our own life,” he says. “What would be our reasons to to get back to our current life?”
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Mark Kennedy can be reached at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
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| 2023-07-31T20:13:40
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Austin Public Schools announces new Ellis Middle School Dean of Students
(ABC 6 News) – Austin Public Schools (APS) on Monday announced its new Dean of Students at Ellis Middle School.
Dr. Nichelle Guillaume, was named to the position.
Dr. Guillaume, a graduate of Austin High School, has worked in education since 2015, most recently as the Instructional Coach at Ellis Middle School.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a Master of Science and a Doctorate in Education from Winona State University.
“Dr. Guillaume brings unique talents to our Dean position at Ellis Middle School,” says Principal Dewey Schara. “Since she served as our Instructional Coach last year, Dr. Guillaume understands our teachers’ day-to-day work and the rigors of offering an engaging curriculum. Last year, she assisted with behavior issues when necessary and is passionate about building relationships with students to understand their behavior issues better. We truly believe she will be an asset to our school.”
“I am excited to continue working at Ellis and honored to transition into this new role as Dean of Students,” says Dr. Guillaume. “I look forward to working with and supporting students, their families and staff to create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning environment for all.”
Dr. Guillaume will succeed Paula Ziems.
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| 2023-07-31T20:13:44
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Growing Mobile Storage Brand Looks to Build Off Impressive Start to 2023 with Continued National Expansion
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Go Mini's - the portable storage franchise that offers containers for moving, storage, renovation, and restoration needs - has seen consistent growth throughout the first half of 2023 as the brand looks to continue the momentum for the remainder of the year. With six new Go Mini's territories awarded in 2023 already, the brand looks to further expand and bring portable storage solution to communities across the nation. In the second half of the year, Go Mini's expects to sign more franchise deals, further expanding the brands footprint, as well as further execute and implement the brands new long distance moving service, Go MINI's Miles. In addition, the brand is looking to further invest in their growing franchisee network by expanding and investing in robust advertising strategies to increase consumer traffic.
"What we have accomplished as a brand up to this point has been remarkable," said Go Mini's CEO and President, Chris Walls. "The conceptualization and gradual implementation of Go MINI's Miles was a turning point for our brand this year as we aim to further expand throughout the nation and service more customers with their moving and portable storage needs. I am tremendously proud of everyone within our network for their commitment and determination to making Go Mini's a growing national brand that continues to get stronger."
To further its development and success into 2024, the brand is looking at new ways in which they can utilize the existing trucks and containers to innovate with the industry. With the addition of new and robust marketing strategies, Go Mini's looks to cement themselves as a leader within the moving and portable storage industry.
Go Mini's offers a complete support system for their franchisees who have everything they need to hit the ground running, including a proprietary operating system. Each territory is protected with no need for a warehouse or retail space due to the product's superior construction and durability in all outdoor conditions. The business model requires minimal staffing with a simple concept, and the corporate office works closely with owners to analyze and fully understand their market's potential to maximize profits. Go Mini's is one of the few franchised portable storage concepts where franchisees benefit from a scalable opportunity to operate as a locally owned company with deep ties to the communities they serve.
"Today, with the ever-changing housing market and continued economic uncertainty, portable storage services remain in-demand," continued Walls. "As the industry grows, Go Mini's has the necessary infrastructure and systems to keep pace and provide customers with the best experience possible. Our continued success is dependent on our franchisee's success, so we have created a business model that is designed to thrive in any market. We are looking forward to the second half of the year and hope to end just as successfully as we began."
Go Mini's currently has 114 locations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico with additional available territories. For more information on franchising with Go Mini's, visit: https://www.gominisfranchise.com/
About Go Mini's:
Founded in 2002, Go Mini's® has become one of the fastest-growing portable storage and moving companies in North America with locations in 41 states in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In 2012, the brand converted into a franchise model and now has 114 locations within the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Go Mini's is proud to have been recognized by Franchise Business Review as a Top Franchise in 2017, as well as being ranked 16th by Entrepreneur Magazine in their list of 2017's Top New Franchises. Go Mini's Franchising LLC. was recently named a Top Franchise for 2023 by Franchise Business Review. Got a Project? Get a Mini. For more information, please go to https://www.gominis.com/.
Contact: Hunter Devereux, Franchise Elevator PR, (914) 486-0330, hdevereux@franchiseelevator.com
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — This year Whitney Houston would have turned 60, and a special celebration to raise money for a good cause is being planned for her birthday.
Houston’s estate, Sony and Primary Wave Music will host the 2nd annual Whitney Houston Legacy of Love on Aug. 9, which will benefit the late singer’s foundation aimed at helping young people.
Houston’s close friends BeBe Winans and Kim Burrell will perform at the gala at Atlanta’s St. Regis Hotel, as will Whitney’s brother, Gary, who toured with her for three decades.
“When I turned 50, Whitney gave me two celebrations — one in Ireland and one in London. I always tell everyone now that one of them was for her,” says Pat Houston, Whitney Houston’s sister-in-law and the executor of her estate. Houston died in February 2012 at age 48. “This year is Whitney at 60 — we’re all looking forward to being a part of the power of love in that room.”
Houston found the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children in 1989 with the goal of empowering youth, providing resources to unhoused children, giving out college scholarships, and raising funds for charities like the Children’s Defense Fund and St. Jude Children’s Research.
A charity auction will raise money for the foundation, which is now called the Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation.
“We’re going to auction off a beautiful lavender dress Dolly Parton wore when she sang ‘I Will Always Love You’ at Country Music Television’s ‘100 Greatest Love Songs of Country Music’ special in 2004,” says Pat Houston. “This dress is particularly special because it’s lavender, and lavender is Whitney’s favorite color.”
The song, originally written by Parton, was recorded by Houston and became one of her great, everlasting hits. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it diamond early last year, which means the track has sold and streamed 10 million equivalent units in the United States. It became her first diamond single, and made Houston the third woman to ever achieve diamond-status with both a single and an album, following Mariah Carey and Taylor Swift.
Clive Davis will serve as honorary chairman. Recording Academy President Harvey Mason jr. is scheduled to attend. Also expected are Gamma’s Larry Jackson and Whitney Houston’s musical director Rickey Minor.
“I always tell people, Whitney is the star,” Pat Houston said. “Everybody in that room is royalty, but she’s loyalty — and she’s still showing that.”
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| 2023-07-31T20:13:46
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Beijing has invested $25.4B in Pakistan over the last decade, Chinese vice premier says
ISLAMABAD (AP) — China has invested $25.4 billion in Pakistan over the past decade for projects ranging from roads to power plants, China’s vice premier said Monday, as the two countries celebrated the 10th anniversary of the so-called Belt and Road Initiative.
The initiative, also called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor program, is China’s global endeavor to reconstitute the ancient Silk Road trade routes and link China to all corners of Asia.
In Pakistan, the CPEC has been billed as an opportunity to bring new prosperity to the South Asian nation. Since 2013, thousands of Chinese construction workers and engineers have been working in this impoverished Islamic nation as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative.
However, work on some projects has since slowed down or been briefly suspended for multiple reasons, including a 2021 militant attack in which 13 Chinese workers were killed by a suicide bomber targeting a bus carrying them in the northwest.
In his televised remarks, Chinese Vice Premier He Lefing said Pakistan’s southwestern town of Gwadar was once just a fishing town but because of the construction of a deep-water port there by China it has become a city and hub for regional connections.
He said because of the completion of several CPEC-related projects, Pakistanis were now facing fewer power outages and hoped that Pakistanis “will create a better future with their own hands” in the years to come.
His comments came days after China rolled over a $2.4 billion loan for Pakistan in a move aimed at helping the country overcome a serious economic crisis. China recently played a key role in helping Pakistan avoid a default on a debt payment.
Loans from Beijing to Pakistan have continued pouring in since December, when the International Monetary Fund delayed the revival of a bailout for Islamabad until June, when a breakthrough came following talks between the International Monetary Fund and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The IMF deposited the first installment of $1.2 billion in Pakistan’s central bank earlier this month.
On Monday, Sharif, in the presence of the Chinese vice premier at a gathering, said he wouldn’t forget the recent Chinese financial help, which came at a very crucial time. Since coming to power in April 2022, Sharif has blamed alleged corruption under former Prime Minister Imran Khan for Pakistan’s economic downturn.
He said Pakistan will “emulate the Chinese model” of hard work to overcome one of the worst economic crises his country has faced in recent months. Sharif also said he wanted to see an end to relying on foreign loans.
“We have to move away from these borrowed loans and handouts, and have to stand on our feet to show to the world that our people are great, energetic, and capable of facing difficult challenges,” he said.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:13:50
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Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 3:05 PM CDT|Updated: 8 minutes ago
Broadband revenue up 20% and Video SaaS revenue up 58% year over year
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced its unaudited results for the second quarter of 2023.
"While we achieved double digit year over year Broadband and Video SaaS revenue growth and strong gross margins for the second quarter, we experienced hardware sales delays across our business segments resulting in total revenue that was below our expectations," said Patrick Harshman, president and chief executive officer of Harmonic. "Despite these short-term headwinds, we have the largest backlog in our Company's history and our operating model continued to deliver solid profitability. The strength of our market position was reinforced by several new customer wins which further supports our multi-year growth plan."
Q2 Financial and Business Highlights
Financial
Revenue: $156.0 million, down 1% year over year
Gross margin: GAAP 54.5% and non-GAAP 54.7%, compared to GAAP 52.3% and non-GAAP 52.8% in the year ago period
Operating income: GAAP income $10.0 million and non-GAAP income $18.2 million, compared to GAAP income $15.1 million and non-GAAP income $21.4 million in the year ago period
Net income: GAAP net income $1.6 million and non-GAAP net income of $14.0 million, compared to GAAP net income $14.8 million and non-GAAP net income $17.6 million in the year ago period
Adjusted EBITDA: $21.1 million income compared to $24.3 million income in the year ago period
EPS: GAAP net income per share of $0.01 and non-GAAP net income per share of $0.12, compared to GAAP net income per share of $0.14 and non-GAAP net income per share of $0.16 in the year ago period
Cash: $71.0 million, down $50.8 million year over year
Business
CableOS® solution commercially deployed with 98 customers, serving 21.0 million cable modems, and initial orders received from two new Tier 1 customers
Recognized for the first time as the "cable broadband equipment" market share leader, by the most recent Dell'Oro Group1 report
Signed a follow-on multi-year software contract with an existing Tier 1 customer
Live sports streaming SaaS expansions and new wins drove 58.3% Video SaaS revenue growth year over year
Select Financial Information
Explanations regarding our use of non-GAAP financial measures and related definitions, and reconciliations of our GAAP and non-GAAP measures, are provided in the sections below entitled "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations".
Financial Guidance
Conference Call Information
Harmonic will host a conference call to discuss its financial results at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET) on Monday, July 31, 2023. The live webcast will be available on the Harmonic Investor Relations website at http://investor.harmonicinc.com. To participate via telephone, please register in advance using this link, https://register.vevent.com/register/BI455acac6063542fb837fd89bddfb1d84. A replay will be available after 5:00 p.m. PT on the same web site.
About Harmonic Inc.
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtualized broadband and video delivery solutions, enables media companies and service providers to deliver ultra-high-quality video streaming and broadcast services to consumers globally. The company revolutionized broadband networking via the industry's first virtualized broadband solution, enabling cable operators to more flexibly deploy gigabit internet service to consumers' homes and mobile devices. Whether simplifying OTT video delivery via innovative cloud and software platforms, or powering the delivery of gigabit internet cable services, Harmonic is changing the way media companies and service providers monetize live and on-demand content on every screen. More information is available at www.harmonicinc.com.
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to our expectations regarding: net revenue, gross margins, operating expenses, operating income (loss), Adjusted EBITDA, tax expense and tax rate, EPS and cash. Our expectations regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks include, in no particular order, the following: the market and technology trends underlying our Video and Broadband businesses will not continue to develop in their current direction or pace; the possibility that our products will not generate sales that are commensurate with our expectations or that our cost of revenue or operating expenses may exceed our expectations; the impact of general economic conditions on our sales and operations; the mix of products and services sold in various geographies and the effect it has on gross margins; delays or decreases in capital spending in the cable, satellite, telco, broadcast and media industries; customer concentration and consolidation; our ability to develop new and enhanced products in a timely manner and market acceptance of our new or existing products; losses of one or more key customers; risks associated with our international operations; exchange rate fluctuations of the currencies in which we conduct business; risks associated with our CableOS and VOS product solutions; dependence on various video and broadband industry trends; inventory management; the lack of timely availability or the impact of increases in the prices of parts or raw materials necessary to produce our products; the effect of competition, on both revenue and gross margins; difficulties associated with rapid technological changes in our markets; risks associated with unpredictable sales cycles; our dependence on contract manufacturers and sole or limited source suppliers; and the effect on our business of natural disasters. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Harmonic's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and Harmonic disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company reports its financial results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP" or referred to herein as "reported"). However, management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures provide management and other users with additional meaningful financial information that should be considered when assessing our ongoing performance. Our management regularly uses our supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business, establish operating budgets, set internal measurement targets and make operating decisions.
These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. The Company believes that non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with Harmonic's results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and that these measures should only be used to evaluate Harmonic's results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.
The Company believes that the presentation of non-GAAP measures, when shown in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures, provides useful information to investors and management regarding financial and business trends relating to its financial condition and its historical and projected results of operations. Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative to, the Company's reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP.
The non-GAAP measures presented here are: Gross profit, operating expenses, income (loss) from operations, non-operating expenses and net income (loss) (including those amounts as a percentage of revenue), Adjusted EBITDA and net income (loss) per diluted share. The presentation of non-GAAP information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP, and is not necessarily comparable to non-GAAP results published by other companies. A reconciliation of the historical non-GAAP financial measures discussed in this press release to the most directly comparable historical GAAP financial measures is included with the financial statements provided with this press release. The non-GAAP adjustments described below have historically been excluded from our GAAP financial measures.
Our non-GAAP financial measures reflect adjustments based on the following items, as well as the related income tax effects:
Stock-based compensation - Although stock-based compensation is a key incentive offered to our employees, we continue to evaluate our business performance excluding stock-based compensation expenses. We believe that management is limited in its ability to project the impact stock-based compensation would have on our operating results. In addition, for comparability purposes, we believe it is useful to provide a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes stock-based compensation in order to better understand the long-term performance of our core business and to facilitate the comparison of our results to the results of our peer companies.
Restructuring and related charges - Harmonic from time to time incurs restructuring charges which primarily consist of employee severance, one-time termination benefits related to the reduction of its workforce, lease exit costs, and other costs. These charges are associated with material business shifts. We exclude these items because we do not believe they are reflective of our ongoing long-term business and operating results.
Non-cash interest expense and other expenses related to convertible notes and other debt - We record the amortization of issuance costs as non-cash interest expense. We believe that excluding these costs provides meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance and liquidity, along with enhancing investors' ability to view the Company's results from management's perspective. In addition, we believe excluding these costs from the non-GAAP measures facilitates comparisons to our historical operating results and comparisons to peer company operating results.
Gain and losses on equity investments - We exclude the gain and losses from the sale of our equity investments in calculating our non-GAAP financial measures. We exclude these items because we do not believe they are reflective of our ongoing long-term business and operating results.
Discrete tax items and tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments - The income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments relates to the tax effect of the adjustments that we incorporate into non-GAAP financial measures in order to provide a more meaningful measure of non-GAAP net income.
Depreciation - Depreciation expense, along with interest, tax and stock-based compensation expense, and restructuring charges, is excluded from Adjusted EBITDA because we do not believe depreciation and the other items relate to the ordinary course of our business or are reflective of our underlying business performance.
Non-recurring advisory fees - There were non-recurring costs that we excluded from non-GAAP results relating to professional accounting, tax and legal fees associated with strategic corporate initiatives, including assessing corporate structure and organization, as we seek to optimize value for our business.
The above press release was provided courtesy of PRNewswire. The views, opinions and statements in the press release are not endorsed by Gray Media Group nor do they necessarily state or reflect those of Gray Media Group, Inc.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) rolled out his economic policy plan at a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Monday, dubbing the plan “a declaration of economic independence.”
“We will declare our economic independence from the failed elites that have orchestrated American decline, from the reckless federal spending that has inflated prices and plunged this nation to the brink of bankruptcy,” DeSantis told a crowd in Rochester, N.H., at Prep Partners Group, which handles logistics, including warehousing and distribution for companies.
The plan particularly takes aim at China by putting an end to the country’s preferential trade status and banning import goods made by stolen intellectual property.
The 10-part economic plan includes getting to 3 percent growth, making America energy independent, reining in the Federal Reserve, pushing back on “wasteful federal spending” and reforming the education system for working-class Americans.
The Democratic National Committee was quick to attack DeSantis over the plan, dubbing it “extreme.”
“It remains a mystery why DeSantis would try to reboot his dumpster fire of a campaign by promising to bring his failures as governor nationwide, but by all means, we welcome Republicans to continue reminding the American people how catastrophic the MAGA agenda is for the economy,” said Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for the DNC.
Last week DeSantis’s campaign declared a “reset” in a memo to donors, noting that the themes of its “Great American Comeback” message will be the economy, border, China and culture.
However, polling still shows DeSantis in second place behind former President Trump, with a new New York Times/Siena College survey showing the former president leading the Florida governor by 37 points.
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| 2023-07-31T20:13:55
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MLB pays $185 million in settlement of minor leaguers’ minimum wage lawsuit
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has paid its $185 million settlement of a lawsuit by minor leaguers alleging violations of minimum wage laws.
Under terms of the settlement agreed to last year, about 24,000 players from 2009-22 were potentially eligible to share the money, with estimated payments to players averaging in the $5,000 to $5,500 range. MLB said Monday it had transferred the money to JND Legal Administration, which is expected to make the payments by Aug. 14.
Minor leaguers unionized last September and agreed this spring to a five-year labor contract that more than doubled player salaries.
The settlement covers all players with minor league contracts who played in the California League for at least seven straight days starting on Feb. 7, 2010, through the settlement’s preliminary approval last Aug. 26; players who participated in spring training, extended spring training or instructional leagues in Florida from Feb. 7, 2009, through last Aug. 26; and players who participated in spring training, extended spring training or instructional leagues in Arizona from Feb. 7, 2011, through last Aug. 26.
The suit was filed in 2014 by first baseman/outfielder Aaron Senne, a 10th-round pick of the then-Florida Marlins in 2009 who retired in 2013, and two other retired players who had been lower-round selections: Kansas City Royals infielder Michael Liberto and San Francisco Giants pitcher Oliver Odle. They claimed violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state minimum wage and overtime requirements for a work week they estimated at 50 to 60 hours.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:13:57
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13% Sequential Revenue Growth Including 10% Organic
Maintains Strong Balance Sheet Post-Acquisitions of Atreus and businessfourzero
CHICAGO, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSII) ("Heidrick & Struggles", "Heidrick" or the "Company") announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2023.
Second Quarter Highlights:
- Net revenue of $271.2 million increased 13% sequentially, 10% organically
- Operating income of $13.6 million decreased $4.2 million sequentially and operating margin was 5.0%
- Adjusted operating income of $20.8 million increased 17% sequentially and adjusted operating margin was 7.7%
- Adjusted EBITDA of $36.4 million increased 33% sequentially and adjusted EBITDA margin was 13.4%
- Net income was $9.0 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.44; adjusted net income was $15.0 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.73
"We are very pleased with the second quarter results which included the first full quarter of results from our recent acquisition of Atreus Group ("Atreus") in our On-Demand Talent segment, as well as the results from businessfourzero ("B4Z") in our Heidrick Consulting segment. Even before the positive effects of these acquisitions, each of our lines of business demonstrated organic sequential growth, despite ongoing macro uncertainty and an anticipated return to more normalized levels of business performance. This validates our focus on the steadfast execution of our strategy while maintaining strong profitability," stated Heidrick & Struggles' President and Chief Executive Officer, Krishnan Rajagopalan. "Importantly, the integrations of both our recent acquisitions are progressing smoothly. We are advancing our diversification strategy while continuing to make appropriate investments in our digital capabilities and technologies throughout the company. These initiatives are aimed at providing our clients with the next generation of talent and leadership advisory services, enabling them to achieve higher performance through their leaders and teams in an ever-evolving business landscape."
2023 Second Quarter Results
Consolidated net revenue of $271.2 million compared to record consolidated net revenue of $298.7 million in the 2022 second quarter. Consolidated financial results include the first full quarter of contribution from the Company's recent acquisitions of Atreus and B4Z.
On a sequential basis, 2023 second quarter net revenue increased 13.3% from the 2023 first quarter, 10% of that growth was organic, as the Company experienced growth in Executive Search driven by the Americas and Europe markets, partially offset by a decline in the Asia Pacific market, along with sequential revenue growth in Heidrick Consulting and On-Demand Talent. 2023 second quarter adjusted operating income increased 17.2% and adjusted operating margin increased 30 basis points to 7.7% compared to 7.4% in the 2023 first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA of $36.4 million in the 2023 second quarter increased 33% sequentially and adjusted EBITDA margin increased 190 basis points to 13.4% compared to 11.5% in the 2023 first quarter. 2023 second quarter adjusted net income was $15.0 million compared to $15.6 million in the 2023 first quarter. This generated adjusted diluted earnings per share in the 2023 second quarter of $0.73 compared to $0.76 in the 2023 first quarter.
Executive Search net revenue of $206.8 million compared to net revenue of $253.9 million in the 2022 second quarter reflecting an anticipated market slowdown combined with a return to more normalized operating levels. Excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, which negatively impacted results by 0.3%, or $0.8 million, net revenue decreased 18.2%, or $46.3 million, from the 2022 second quarter. Net revenue decreased 21.3% in the Americas (down 21.2% on a constant currency basis), decreased 5.3% in Europe (down 6.1% on a constant currency basis), and decreased 23.9% in Asia Pacific (down 20.5% on a constant currency basis) when compared to the prior year second quarter. The Social Impact and Industrial practice groups exhibited growth over the prior year.
The Company had 423 Executive Search consultants at June 30, 2023, compared to 388 at June 30, 2022. Productivity, as measured by annualized Executive Search net revenue per consultant, was $1.9 million compared to $2.6 million in the 2022 second quarter, reflecting a higher number of consultants combined with lower revenue. Average revenue per executive search was approximately $143,000 compared to $153,000 in the prior year period. The number of search confirmations decreased 12.7% compared to the year-ago period.
On-Demand Talent net revenue of $39.2 million, an increase of 75.5% compared to net revenue of $22.4 million in the 2022 second quarter, primarily due to the acquisition of Atreus, partially offset by a decrease in the volume of legacy on-demand projects.
Heidrick Consulting net revenue of $25.2 million compared to net revenue of $22.4 million in the 2022 second quarter. The Company had 89 Heidrick Consulting consultants at June 30, 2023, compared to 66 at June 30, 2022.
Consolidated salaries and benefits decreased $28.8 million, or 13.9%, to $178.9 million compared to $207.7 million in the 2022 second quarter. Year-over-year, fixed compensation expense increased $18.8 million due to base salaries and payroll taxes, the deferred compensation plan, reorganization, and retirement and benefits, as well as the acquisitions of Atreus and B4Z, partially offset by a decrease in stock compensation. Variable compensation decreased $47.6 million due to lower bonus accruals related to decreased consultant productivity. Salaries and benefits expense was 66.0% of net revenue for the quarter compared to 69.5% in the 2022 second quarter.
General and administrative expenses increased $5.3 million, or 15.1%, to $40.5 million compared to $35.2 million in the 2022 second quarter. The increase was due to intangible amortization and accretion, office occupancy, IT, and taxes and licenses, partially offset by a decrease in business development travel. As a percentage of net revenue, general and administrative expenses were 14.9% for the 2023 second quarter compared to 11.8% in the 2022 second quarter.
The Company's cost of services was $25.3 million, or 9.3% of net revenue for the quarter, compared to $17.4 million, or 5.8% of net revenue in the 2022 second quarter. This related to an increase in the volume of On-Demand Talent projects driven by the acquisition of Atreus.
The Company's research and development expenses were $5.7 million, or 2.1%, of net revenue for the quarter compared to $4.5 million, or 1.5%, of net revenue for the second quarter 2022.
In the 2023 second quarter, the Company recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $7.2 million associated with the Company's Heidrick Consulting segment. In the 2022 fourth quarter, the Company conducted its most recent annual goodwill impairment evaluation, which indicated that the carrying value of the Heidrick Consulting reporting unit was less than its fair value. During the 2023 second quarter, the Company acquired B4Z and recorded approximately $7.1 million of goodwill in the Heidrick Consulting reporting unit. Due to the inclusion of goodwill in a reporting unit with a pre-existing fair value shortfall, the Company identified a triggering event and performed an interim goodwill impairment evaluation during the 2023 second quarter, which resulted in the impairment of the recently acquired B4Z goodwill.
Including the previously mentioned non-cash impairment charge, operating income was $13.6 million for the quarter compared to $33.9 million in the 2022 second quarter. Operating income margin was 5.0% versus 11.3% in the 2022 second quarter. Excluding the non-cash impairment charge, adjusted operating income in the 2023 second quarter was $20.8 million and adjusted operating margin was 7.7%.
Adjusted EBITDA was $36.4 million compared to $36.8 million in the 2022 second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 13.4%, compared to 12.3% in the 2022 second quarter. In Executive Search, adjusted EBITDA was $53.9 million compared to $52.3 million in the prior year period. In On-Demand Talent, adjusted EBITDA was $2.6 million versus $0.6 million in the prior year period. In Heidrick Consulting, adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $1.6 million compared to a loss of $0.1 million in the prior year period.
Net income was $9.0 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.44, with an effective tax rate of 46.8%. This compares to net income of $24.1 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.19, with an effective tax rate of 30.9% in the 2022 second quarter. Excluding the non-cash impairment charge recorded in the 2023 second quarter, adjusted net income was $15.0 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.73, with an adjusted effective tax rate of 37.7%.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $46.9 million, compared to $82.7 million in the 2022 second quarter. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at June 30, 2023 was $239.0 million compared to $336.6 million at June 30, 2022 and $621.6 million at December 31, 2022. The Company's cash position typically builds throughout the year as employee bonuses are accrued, mostly to be paid out in the first half of the year.
2023 Six Months Results
For the six months ended June 30, 2023, consolidated net revenue was $510.5 million compared to $582.6 million in the first six months of 2022. Excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, which negatively impacted results by 1.0%, or $6.1 million, consolidated net revenue decreased 11.3%, or $65.9 million, compared to the prior year period.
Executive Search net revenue in the first six months of 2023 decreased 20.0%, or $99.2 million, to $397.3 million from $496.5 million in the first six months of 2022. Excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, which negatively impacted results by 1.0%, or $5.1 million, net revenue decreased 19.0%, or $94.1 million. Net revenue decreased 21.5% in the Americas (decreased 21.3% on a constant currency basis), decreased 13.7% in Europe (decreased 11.3% on a constant currency basis), and decreased 21.9% in Asia Pacific (decreased 18.0% on a constant currency basis). Only the Social Impact and Industrial practice groups exhibited growth over the prior year. Productivity was $1.9 million for the first six months of 2023 compared to $2.6 million in the first six months of 2022. The average revenue per executive search was $133,000 in the first six months of 2023 compared to $137,000 the same period in 2022, while search confirmations decreased 17.6%.
On-Demand Talent net revenue in the first six months of 2023 was $70.4 million compared to $45.7 million in the same period of 2022. The increase in net revenue was primarily driven by the acquisition of Atreus, as well as an increase in the volume of legacy on-demand projects.
Heidrick Consulting net revenue in the first six months of 2023 increased 6.3%, or $2.5 million, to $42.9 million from $40.4 million in the first six months of 2022. Excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, which negatively impacted results by 2.0%, or $0.8 million, Heidrick Consulting revenue increased 8.3%, or $3.3 million, compared to the prior year period.
Operating income for the first six months of 2023 was $31.4 million compared to operating income of $64.1 million in the same period of 2022. The operating income margin was 6.1% compared to 11.0% in the first six months of 2022. Excluding the non-cash impairment charge recorded in the 2023 year-to-date period, adjusted operating income was $38.6 million and adjusted operating income margin was 7.6%.
Adjusted EBITDA for the first six months of 2023 was $63.8 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.5%, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $72.5 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.4% for the same period in 2022. In Executive Search, adjusted EBITDA was $102.3 million compared to $104.2 million in the prior year period. In On-Demand Talent, adjusted EBITDA was $1.2 million versus $0.9 million in the prior year period. In Heidrick Consulting, adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $4.3 million compared to a loss of $1.9 million in the prior year period.
Net income for the first six months of 2023 was $24.6 million and diluted earnings per share was $1.19, with an effective tax rate of 38.1%. This compares to net income of $42.6 million and diluted earnings per share of $2.08, with an effective tax rate of 32.2%, in the first six months of 2022. Excluding the restructuring charge recorded in the 2023 year-to-date period, adjusted net income was $30.6 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.48 with an adjusted effective tax rate of 34.8%.
Dividend
The Board of Directors declared a 2023 second quarter cash dividend of $0.15 per share payable on August 25, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 11, 2023.
2023 Third Quarter Outlook
The Company expects 2023 third quarter consolidated net revenue of between $245 million and $265 million, which reflects typical summer seasonality, while acknowledging that continued fluidity in external factors, such as the foreign exchange and interest rate environments, foreign conflicts, inflation and macroeconomic constraints on pricing actions, may impact quarterly results. In addition, this outlook is based on the average currency rates in June 2023 and reflects, among other factors, management's assumptions for the anticipated volume of new Executive Search confirmations, On-Demand Talent projects, and Heidrick Consulting assignments, consultant productivity, consultant retention, and the seasonality of the business along with the current backlog.
Quarterly Webcast and Conference Call
Heidrick & Struggles will host a conference call to review its second quarter results today, July 31, 2023 at 5:00 pm Eastern Time. Participants may access the Company's call and supporting slides through its website at www.heidrick.com or by dialing (888) 440-4091 or (646) 960-0846, conference ID# 6106012. For those unable to participate on the live call, a webcast and copy of the slides will be archived at www.heidrick.com and available for up to 30 days following the investor call.
About Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.
Heidrick & Struggles (Nasdaq: HSII) is a premier provider of global leadership advisory and on-demand talent solutions, serving the senior-level talent and consulting needs of the world's top organizations. In our role as trusted leadership advisors, we partner with our clients to develop future-ready leaders and organizations, bringing together our services and offerings in executive search, diversity and inclusion, leadership assessment and development, organization and team acceleration, culture shaping and on-demand, independent talent solutions. Heidrick & Struggles pioneered the profession of executive search more than 65 years ago. Today, the firm provides integrated talent and human capital solutions to help our clients change the world, one leadership team at a time. ® www.heidrick.com
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement the financial results presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), Heidrick & Struggles presents certain non-GAAP financial measures. A "non-GAAP financial measure" is defined as a numerical measure of a company's financial performance that excludes or includes amounts different than the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP in the statements of comprehensive income, balance sheets or statements of cash flow of the Company.
Non-GAAP financial measures used within this earnings release are adjusted operating income, adjusted operating income margin, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted effective tax rate, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, and consolidated net revenue excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations. These measures are presented because management uses this information to monitor and evaluate financial results and trends. Management believes this information is also useful for investors to evaluate the comparability of financial information presented. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP are provided as schedules attached to this release.
Adjusted operating income reflects the exclusion of goodwill impairment.
Adjusted operating income margin refers to adjusted operating income as a percentage of net revenue in the same period.
Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share reflect the exclusion of goodwill impairment, net of tax.
Adjusted effective tax rate reflects the exclusion of goodwill impairment, net of tax.
Adjusted EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, intangible amortization, equity-settled stock compensation expense, earnout accretion, earnout obligation adjustments, contingent compensation related to acquisitions, deferred compensation plan income and expense, reorganization costs, impairment charges, restructuring charges, and other non-operating income (expense).
Adjusted EBITDA margin refers to adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue in the same period.
The Company evaluates its results of operations on both an as reported and a constant currency basis. The constant currency presentation is a non-GAAP financial measure, which excludes the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The Company believes providing constant currency information provides valuable supplemental information regarding its results of operations, consistent with how it evaluates its performance. The Company calculates constant currency percentages by converting its financial results in a local currency for a period using the average exchange rate for the prior period to which it is comparing. This calculation may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding guidance for the third quarter of 2023. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about the industry in which we operate and management's beliefs and assumptions. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "outlook," "projects," "forecasts," "aim" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, rely on a number of assumptions, and involve certain known and unknown risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, many of which are beyond our control. Factors that may cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from what is expressed, forecasted, or implied in the forward-looking statements include, among other things, our ability to attract, integrate, develop, manage and retain qualified consultants and senior leaders; our ability to prevent our consultants from taking our clients with them to another firm; our ability to maintain our professional reputation and brand name; our clients' ability to restrict us from recruiting their employees; our heavy reliance on information management systems; risks arising from our implementation of new technology and intellectual property to deliver new products and services to our clients; our dependence on third parties for the execution of certain critical functions; the fact that we face the risk of liability in the services we perform; the fact that data security, data privacy and data protection laws and other evolving regulations and cross-border data transfer restrictions may limit the use of our services and adversely affect our business; any challenges to the classification of our on-demand talent as independent contractors; the increased cybersecurity requirements, vulnerabilities, threats and more sophisticated and targeted cyber-related attacks that could pose a risk to our systems, networks, solutions, services and data; the impacts, direct and indirect, of the COVID-19 pandemic (including the emergence of variant strains) or other highly infectious or contagious disease on our business, our consultants and employees, and the overall economy; the aggressive competition we face; the fact that our net revenue may be affected by adverse economic conditions including inflation, the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; our ability to access additional credit; social, political, regulatory, legal and economic risks in markets where we operate, including the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the risks of an expansion or escalation of that conflict; unfavorable tax law changes and tax authority rulings; the timing of the establishment or reversal of valuation allowance on deferred tax assets; the fact that we may not be able to align our cost structure with net revenue; any impairment of our goodwill, other intangible assets and other long-lived assets; our ability to execute and integrate future acquisitions; and the fact that we have anti-takeover provisions that could make an acquisition of us difficult and expensive. We caution the reader that the list of factors may not be exhaustive. For more information on these risks, uncertainties and other factors, refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, under the heading "Risk Factors" in Item 1A, as updated in Part II of our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts:
Investors & Analysts:
Suzanne Rosenberg, Vice President, Investor Relations
srosenberg@heidrick.com
Media:
Nina Chang, Vice President, Corporate Communications
nchang@heidrick.com
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Nine state residents and the Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the nation’s first openly religious charter school from operating.
Oklahoma’s Statewide Virtual Charter School Board had voted 3-2 last month to approve the application of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.
The plaintiffs, represented by organizations including Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union, are arguing the board violated the Oklahoma Constitution, the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and several of its own regulations when it approved St. Isidore.
Among the reasons the lawsuit says the school is unlawful are policies that could deny students admissions for sexual orientation or a difference in beliefs. It says St. Isidore will provide a religious education “and indoctrinate its students in Catholic religious beliefs.”
“A school that claims to be simultaneously public and religious would be a sea change for American democracy. It’s hard to think of a clearer violation of the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers and public-school families than the state establishing a public school that is run as a religious school,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
“We’re witnessing a full-on assault on church-state separation and public education – and religious public charter schools are the next frontier. America needs a national recommitment to church-state separation,” Laser added.
The residents filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County to stop funding to St. Isidore and block the charter school board from doing business with the school.
The Hill has reached out to St. Isidore for comment.
Ryan Walters, state superintendent of public instruction for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, said in response to the lawsuit that “It is time to end atheism as the state sponsored religion.”
“Suing and targeting the Catholic Virtual Charter School is religious persecution because of one’s faith, which is the very reason that religious freedom is constitutionally protected,” Walters said in a statement.
“A warped perversion of history has created a modern day concept that all religious freedom is driven from the classrooms. I will always side for an individual’s right to choose religious freedom in education,” he added.
The lawsuit had been expected as the proposed school caused quite a stir when it was approved, even among other charter school advocates.
“This decision runs afoul of state law and the U.S. Constitution. All charter schools are public schools, and as such must be non-sectarian. Charter schools were conceived as, and have always been, innovative public schools that provide an alternative for families who want a public school option other than the one dictated by their ZIP code,” Nina Rees, president of the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, said after the board voted.
St. Isidore went through a months-long process to get approved, with its application originally rejected by the charter school board. The school has already indicated it is ready to take a lawsuit all the way to the Supreme Court.
“We’re not surprised by the threat of a suit, but we will be preparing if they choose to file one,” Brett Farley, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, said back in June. “This is a question that ultimately needs to be answered by the courts, perhaps by the US Supreme Court.”
—Updated at 3:24 p.m.
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Pipeline operators to pay $12.5M after spills in Montana, North Dakota
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two pipeline operators have agreed to pay a $12.5 million civil penalty related to crude oil spills in Montana and North Dakota.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced the settlement in a 2022 federal court lawsuit. Belle Fourche Pipeline Company and Bridger Pipeline LLC will pay the $12.5 million to resolve the claims made under the Clean Water Act and Pipeline Safety Laws, EPA said. The affiliated companies own and operate oil pipelines in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.
In 2015, Bridger’s Poplar Pipeline broke and spilled more than 50,000 gallons (about 190,000 liters) of crude into the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Montana. Bridger has completed cleanup of the site, and in 2021 settled a lawsuit with federal and Montana authorities for $2 million.
In 2016, Belle Fourche’s Bicentennial Pipeline in Billings County, North Dakota, broke due to a landslide and spilled over 600,000 gallons (about 2.3 million liters) of oil, impacting an unnamed tributary, Ash Coulee Creek and the Little Missouri River. Belle Fourche’s cleanup is ongoing with oversight from North Dakota’s Department of Environmental Quality, according to EPA.
Belle Fourche also will pay the state’s past response costs, totaling over $98,000, according to court documents filed Monday.
“Oil pipeline spills can cause enormous and long-lasting damage to the environment,” Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said in a statement. “This settlement holds Belle Fourche and Bridger Pipeline accountable for their significant oil spills and requires them to take meaningful measures to prevent future spills from their oil pipelines.”
The operators also are required to implement specified compliance measures, in addition to the civil penalty.
Belle Fourche and Bridger are owned by Wyoming-based True Companies, whose spokesman, when reached by email, did not have an immediate comment on the agreement.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI) achieves highest impact factor among Computer Society journals
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The IEEE Computer Society (CS), the leading global computer science and engineering member community, announced today that its journal IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI) earned the highest 2022 Journal Impact Factor™ (JIF™) of all IEEE CS publications, securing the top spot among artificial intelligence journals.
"Computer science and engineering represent some of the most prominent, promising areas of research today," said Nita Patel, president, IEEE CS. "As the number of papers in our field continues to climb, paper acceptance gets increasingly competitive, and our editors work tirelessly to ensure that only the top papers make their way into our journals. We're thrilled to, once again, hold top impact factor rankings, and we thank all of our volunteers for their commitment to excellence."
Impact factor measures the frequency with which the average article in a publication has been cited in a particular year. The calculation is based on a two-year period and involves dividing the number of times articles were cited by the number of articles that are citable. It offers a key metric to assess the overall strength and industry influence of a particular publication.
Overall, 11 IEEE CS journals now hold the coveted top impact factor ranking in their specialty field. The following four publications join TPAMI to round out the top five highest-ranked IEEE CS journals:
- IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (TAC)
- IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE), a new entrant to IEEE CS' top five journals
- IEEE Transactions on Services Computing (TSC)
- IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing (TMC), a new entrant to IEEE CS' top five journals
In addition, IEEE CS' fully open access publication, IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society, received its first impact factor in Clarivate's Emerging Sources Citation Index™ (ESCI), which features newly launched, niche, and open access journals publishing high-quality research on a range of topics. This is the first year Clarivate included the multidisciplinary ESCI in its JIF review.
"We're thrilled that IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society had the opportunity to be recognized this year," said Greg Byrd, IEEE CS VP of Publications. "With the innovative research it brings to the field, it is certain to have a long-standing impact on the computer science and engineering community."
Impact factor applies not only to scientific and engineering journals but to technical magazines as well. Those IEEE CS publications with the highest impact factor rankings include:
"One of the most important things about impact factor rankings is that they point to the most highly researched topics in the field," said Patel. "This year, there's a heavy focus on artificial intelligence, data science, and mobile computing. It will be interesting to watch the evolution of these topics and the advances that arise from papers presented in Computer Society publications."
JIF rankings are released annually in Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports™ (JCR™). These reports evaluate more than 21,500 high-quality academic journals from across more than 250 scientific and research disciplines.
To learn more about IEEE Computer Society journals and the research they offer, visit https://www.computer.org/publications.
About the IEEE Computer Society
Engaging computer engineers, scientists, academia, and industry professionals from all areas of computing, the IEEE Computer Society (CS) sets the standard for the education and engagement that fuels continued global technological advancement. Through conferences, publications, and programs, and by bringing together computer science and engineering leaders at every phase of their career for dialogue, debate, and collaboration, IEEE CS empowers, shapes, and guides the future of not only its members, but the greater industry, enabling new opportunities to better serve our world. Visit computer.org for more information.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Churchill Downs will implement safety measures for its September meet including new track surface maintenance equipment and additional monitoring and equine care following 12 horse deaths before and after the Kentucky Derby that spurred suspension of its spring meet.
Racing is scheduled to resume Sept. 14 and run through Oct. 1 at the historic track, which paused racing operations on June 7 to conduct an internal safety review following the spate of horse deaths from racing or training injuries. Seven died in the days leading up to the 149th Derby on May 6, including two in races preceding the premier event.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority recommended suspending the remainder of the meet, which moved to Ellis Park in western Kentucky. Training continued at Churchill Downs during the investigation, and a release on Monday stated that while industry experts found no issues with the racing surfaces, the track invested in new maintenance equipment. It will also double the frequency of surface testing among infrastructure upgrades.
Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said the track’s commitment to safety “remains paramount” in the release and added, “our participants, fans and the public can be assured that we will continue to investigate, evaluate and improve upon every policy and protocol.”
The announcement comes days after Carstanjen said racing would resume this fall with no changes and called the deaths “a series of unfortunate circumstances” in an earnings call with CDI investors.
Churchill Downs veterinarians will receive additional resources for specialized horse care and to assist in pre-race inspections and entry screening, the release added. The track will work with HISA and industry experts to predict at-risk horses through advanced analytic techniques.
A safety management committee including horsemen, track employees and veterinarians will also be created.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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Help available for undocumented Minnesotans struggling to pay for insulin
(ABC 6 News) – During the 2023 legislative session, the Minnesota Legislature made important changes to the program that will improve access to this life-saving drug for undocumented Minnesotans who are struggling to afford their insulin.
The Minnesota Insulin Safety Net Program was created in 2020 to help Minnesotans who face difficulty affording their insulin.
Starting August 1, Minnesotans can use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) as an accepted form of identification for program eligibility. This change provides a pathway to access the program for those who do not have a valid Minnesota identification card, driver’s license or permit, or tribal-issued identification. For minors under the age of 18 who need help affording insulin, a parent or legal guardian can use an ITIN as an accepted form of identification.
The urgent need program is for Minnesotans who are in immediate need of assistance — that is, they have less than a seven-day supply of insulin and will likely face significant health consequences without it. Eligible residents will receive a 30-day supply of insulin right away at a pharmacy and pay no more than a $35 co-pay, one time per year. The pharmacist also will share helpful resources that cover how to apply for health insurance and how to access other patient assistance or prescription drug discount programs.
The continuing need program supports eligible Minnesotans who need longer-term help to receive up to a year supply of insulin for no more than $50 per 90-day refill. MNsure-certified navigators offer free help applying for the continuing need program, and help is available in multiple languages including Hmong, Somali, Spanish, Russian, and Vietnamese.
For more information on how to qualify and apply for both the urgent need and continuing need insulin affordability programs, visit MNinsulin.org. The Minnesota Insulin Safety Net program is implemented by MNsure, the state’s health insurance marketplace, and the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy.
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HARRISBURG, Pa. — Beer and veggie lovers alike have some big things to celebrate!
Appalachian Brewing Company (ABC), which started in Harrisburg but now has various locations throughout central Pa., announced its upcoming collaboration with The Vegetable Hunter, a vegan eatery on Monday.
The two local establishments worked together to create Beyond Beer Brambleberry Saison, which nods to The Vegetable Hunter's vegan roots with a reference to the Beyond Burger meat substitute.
The Beyond Beer Saison is conditioned on pounds of blueberries, blackberries and strawberries that work together to create a subtle sweetness and intriguing flavor profile. From beer enthusiasts to self-described casuals, this beer aims to be a crowd-pleaser.
“This Saison-style beer was brewed at ABC’s Mechanicsburg location with the help of our friends at The Vegetable Hunter,” said Bruce Tanner, head brewmaster at ABC. "We kicked around a few styles, and eventually landed on a Saison style recipe with fruit additions; subtle notes from the fruits results in a beer that we are all very excited about!"
The limited edition beer arrives at all ABC brewpub locations this week.
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PHILADELPHIA, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Livent Corporation (NYSE: LTHM) today published its 2022 Sustainability Report, with the theme Reimagining Possibilities. The report provides updates on the company's progress against its 2030 and 2040 sustainability goals, includes new disclosures and reaffirms Livent's commitment to responsible production and expansion.
Paul Graves, president and chief executive officer of Livent, commented: "We believe the lithium industry will play an increasingly important role in the clean energy transition towards a more sustainable, low-carbon future. Our 2022 Sustainability Report demonstrates how Livent is reimagining what's possible for producing more of the lithium the world needs while continuing to lead our industry forward in corporate social responsibility, environmental stewardship and transparency."
Report Highlights:
- Initial global Scope 3 screening of Livent's Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and first disclosures on global air pollutants
- Completion of ISO-compliant Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) for all of Livent's major lithium chemical products, ahead of the original 2025 target
- Achievement of Livent's 2030 Waste Disposed intensity reduction target, ahead of schedule
- Summary of recent water and biodiversity studies conducted at the Salar del Hombre Muerto in Argentina
- Updates on other key collaborations and initiatives to support a low-carbon future, minimize environmental impacts, expand local community engagement and development efforts, protect human rights, and build a more engaged, diverse and inclusive workforce
To view Livent's 2022 Sustainability Report, visit livent.com/sustainability. The report will be made available in multiple languages.
Key ESG metrics in the report were reviewed and assured by ERM Certification and Verification Services (ERM CVS).
About Livent
For nearly eight decades, Livent has partnered with its customers to safely and sustainably use lithium to power the world. Livent is one of only a small number of companies with the capability, reputation, and know-how to produce high-quality finished lithium compounds that are helping meet the growing demand for lithium. The Company has one of the broadest product portfolios in the industry, powering demand for green energy, modern mobility, the mobile economy, and specialized innovations, including light alloys and lubricants. Livent has a combined workforce of approximately 1,350 full-time, part-time, temporary, and contract employees and operates manufacturing sites in the United States, England, China and Argentina. For more information, visit Livent.com.
Livent Forward-Looking Statements
Statement under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements, which are based on management's current views and assumptions regarding future events, future business conditions and the outlook for the company based on currently available information. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "will," "will continue to," "will likely result," "is on track," "should," "expect," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believe," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue," "could," "forecast," "future," "is confident that," or "projects," the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. These factors include, among other things, the risk factors and other cautionary statements included within Livent's 2022 Form 10-K filed with the SEC as well as other SEC filings and public communications. Livent cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the above cautionary statement. Livent undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which they were made, except as otherwise required by law.
The Company's investor relations website, located at https://ir.livent.com, should be considered as a recognized channel of distribution, and the Company may periodically post important information to the website for investors, including information that the Company may wish to disclose publicly for purposes of complying with federal securities laws.
Media contact: Juan Carlos Cruz +1.215.299.6725
juan.carlos.cruz@livent.com
Investor contact: Daniel Rosen +1.215.299.6208
daniel.rosen@livent.com
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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.
Vallow Daybell was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife. Vallow Daybell will serve three life sentences one after the other, the judge said.
The husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same murder charges. Vallow Daybell also faces two other cases in Arizona — one on a charge of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and one of conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband. Charles Vallow was shot and killed in 2019, but her niece’s ex survived an attempt later that year.
At the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, Judge Steven W. Boyce said the search for the missing children, the discovery of their bodies and the evidence photos shown in court left law enforcement and jurors traumatized, and he would never be able to get images of the slain children out of his head.
A parent killing their own children “is the most shocking thing really that I can imagine,” Boyce said.
Vallow Daybell justified the murders by “going down a bizarre religious rabbit hole, and clearly you are still down there,” the judge said.
“I don’t think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused,” he said.
Boyce heard testimony from several representatives of the victims, including Vallow Daybell’s only surviving son, Colby Ryan.
“Tylee will never have the opportunity to become a mother, wife or have the career she was destined to have. JJ will never be able to grow and spread his light with the world the way he did,” Ryan wrote in a statement read by prosecuting attorney Rob Wood. “My siblings and father deserve so much more than this. I want them to be remembered for who they were, not just a spectacle.”
Ryan also wrote about his own grief.
“I’ve lost the opportunity to share life with the people I love the most. I have lost my sister, father, brother and my mother,” he wrote. “I pray for healing for everyone involved, including those who took the lives of everyone we loved.”
The murder scheme and Tammy Daybell’s death left a deep rift in her family, Tammy’s sister Samantha Gwilliam told the court.
“Why? Why plan something so heinous? You are not exalted beings, and your behavior makes you ineligible to be one,” Gwilliam said, referring to the unusual religious claims. “Because of the choices you made, my family lost a beloved mother, sister and daughter.”
Tammy Daybell’s mother was fighting cancer, and spent the last months of her life watching the murder trial, Gwilliam said. The family has also been hounded by media and others drawn by “all of the salacious scandal you stirred up,” Gwilliam told Vallow Daybell, who looked down as she sat between her defense attorneys.
“I miss my sister every day. I will grieve her, and the loss of my mother, every single day of my life,” Gwilliam said. “As for you, I choose to forget you and as I leave the courtroom here today, I choose to never think of you again.”
Boyce also heard from Vallow Daybell before handing down the sentence. She quoted Bible verses about how people should not judge each other. She said she too mourned the deaths of her children and Tammy Daybell but knew they would be together in the afterlife.
She claimed she is regularly visited by the spirits of her dead children, as well as the spirit of her “eternal friend,” Tammy Daybell, and suggested that the three weren’t murdered at all.
“Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case,” she said. “Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medication happen.”
Wood pointed to the two Arizona cases as well as the three murders in six weeks in Idaho.
“A defendant who is willing to murder her own children is willing to murder anyone,” Wood said. “Society can only be protected from this defendant by a sentence of life in prison without parole.”
Vallow Daybell was committed multiple times for treatment to make her mentally competent for the court proceedings. But Wood said there is no evidence that her crimes were impacted by her “alleged mental illness” — which includes delusional disorder with grandiose features, according to reports referenced in court.
“The evidence is overwhelming that she did know right from wrong,” Wood said, noting testimony from several people who said she lied to them about the deaths.
In July 2019, Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in a suburban Phoenix home. Cox told police he acted in self-defense. He was never charged and later died of what authorities determined were natural causes.
Vallow Daybell was already in a relationship with Chad Daybell, a self-published writer of doomsday-focused fiction loosely based on Mormon teachings. She moved to Idaho with her kids and brother to be closer to him.
The children were last seen alive in September 2019. Police discovered they were missing a month later after an extended family member became worried. Their bodies were found buried in Chad Daybell’s yard the following summer.
During the trial, experts said Tylee appeared to have been stabbed and her body burned before it was buried in a pet cemetery, Wood said.
JJ’s head was wrapped in tape and plastic, asphyxiating him, Wood said, speculating that his last thoughts must have “been filled with fear and betrayal.”
Tammy Daybell’s body was bruised, suggesting she fought back as she was asphyxiated in her bed, Wood said.
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow married in November 2019, about two weeks after Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy, was killed. Tammy Daybell initially was described as having died of natural causes, but an autopsy later showed she had been asphyxiated, authorities said.
Defense attorney Jim Archibald argued during the trial that there was no evidence tying Vallow Daybell to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met Chad Daybell and fell for his “weird” apocalyptic religious claims. He suggested that Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.
Daybell told her they had been married in several previous lives and she was a “sexual goddess” who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Archibald said.
Vallow Daybell’s former friend Melanie Gibb testified during the trial that Vallow Daybell believed people in her life had been taken over by evil spirits and turned into “zombies,” including JJ and Tylee.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/ap-idaho-mom-lori-vallow-daybell-faces-sentencing-in-deaths-of-2-children-and-her-romantic-rival/
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Connecticut US Rep. Rosa DeLauro gets inked at age 80 alongside her 18-year-old granddaughter
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro has stood out for years with her colorful clothing and hairstyle, but it took one of her six grandchildren to finally convince the 80-year-old lawmaker to complement her fashion-forward look with a tattoo.
The Democrat revealed in a statement Monday that she and her granddaughter, who is now old enough to legally get a tattoo in Connecticut, got inked together.
“For her 18th birthday, my granddaughter wanted to get a tattoo with me. So, we went together,” DeLauro said. “She’s off to college in the fall, and this strengthens our bond.”
The design of the tattoo on her left upper arm is personal for DeLauro. It depicts a rose, which represents her name Rosa. The petal in the center of flower forms the letter “D” to represent her last name, and the bottom left of the rose has a stylized version of Italy, an homage to the country where her father immigrated from, said Daniel Robillard, her press assistant.
DeLauro is far from the first member of Congress to sport body art. Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s nine tattoos were often mentioned when he ran in 2022.
The dean of Connecticut’s congressional delegation, DeLauro has represented the state’s 3rd Congressional District in the New Haven area since 1991. She now serves as ranking member of the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees federal investments in education, health, and employment.
This is DeLauro’s first tattoo, Robillard said, but it likely won’t be her last.
“I have four more grandkids who still haven’t turned 18 yet,” DeLauro said. “So be on the lookout for more new ink!”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.kaaltv.com/news/political-news/connecticut-us-rep-rosa-delauro-gets-inked-at-age-80-alongside-her-18-year-old-granddaughter/
| 2023-07-31T20:14:15
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MITCHELL — Mitchell’s Regional Emergency Management Services division is implementing a new fee structure for ambulance standbys at events.
Mitchell Fire Chief Dan Pollreisz said the hourly rate structure will help the division cover overtime costs that come with ambulance standbys during events in the Mitchell area.
Under the new rate structure, all events that request an ambulance presence provided by Mitchell’s EMS division for one hour will be subject to pay a $125 fee.
“What happens when we do an ambulance standby for somebody’s event, we have to call in off-duty personnel and pay them overtime,” Pollreisz said. “All we’re trying to do is recoup the money that we are spending for somebody else’s event.”
Considering many small towns surrounding Mitchell lack ambulance services, Pollreisz said Mitchell’s EMS personnel providing ambulance standbys are common for high school football games. Locally, Pollreisz said rodeos and other special events request an ambulance presence.
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According to Pollreisz, any ambulance standby services that extend over an hour will be charged by quarter-hour increments, which amounts to 15 minutes. Event coordinators must fill out and submit a request for an ambulance presence within 30 days of the event, according to the terms of the new rate structure.
“We feel that it’s fair that when we do ambulance standbys that everybody would pay the same. And they would pay per hour,” Pollreisz said.
Pollreisz noted the fee structure does not impact any patient care or responses during events that have an ambulance presence.
The new rate structure agreement was approved by the Mitchell City Council during its recent July meeting.
Prior to implementing the hourly rate structure, Mitchell’s Regional EMS division was providing ambulance standbys at no cost. The city of Mitchell was responsible for covering the overtime costs associated with the ambulance presence requests at events in the area.
Mitchell’s EMS division covers a wide territory, spanning 900 miles in the Mitchell region.
To have adequate first responders on staff at all times handling emergencies and fires in the Mitchell area, the division doesn’t pull personnel on scheduled shifts at the Mitchell Department of Public Safety to handle ambulance standbys. Rather, off-duty emergency responders who may have just completed a long shift handling fires and emergency responses are tasked with handling ambulance standbys at events.
The minimum staff of first responders each shift operates with is five. Lately, first responders are handling about 10 emergency calls per day.
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https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/local/new-hourly-rate-structure-implemented-for-mitchell-ambulance-standby-services-to-recoup-costs
| 2023-07-31T20:14:17
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CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — After nearly 100 years in operation, it’s the end of the road for one of our country’s largest trucking companies.
Yellow Corp. ceased operations Sunday at noon, leaving its 30,000 workers across the U.S. jobless.
That includes those at the Carlisle and Camp Hill terminals, where a sign on-site confirmed the news.
Chris Thropp, president of SAGE Truck Driving Schools, says the closure was anticipated.
“Their freight had started to slow down, they’ve had union problems, and I think all their freight had transitioned to other trucking companies at this point," said Thropp.
Yellow racked up a lot of debt after receiving a $700 million pandemic-era loan from the federal government, creating financial troubles amid ongoing negotiations with its unionized workers.
“They’re probably all good drivers, experienced drivers but I think they will most likely be moving to other unionized carriers like ABF [Freight] and Old Dominion [Freight Line]," explained Thropp.
Early Monday, the Teamsters’ Union was given legal notice the company had shut down, with plans to file 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. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien.
Thropp believes the closure is a “one-off” event and is not reflective of what’s happening across the trucking industry.
“I do think it’s possible people are going to look at the Yellow shutdown and say ‘Well there really aren’t jobs’ but there’s a huge demand," said Thropp. "They’re 80,000 short today, by 2030 they expect it to be 160,000 short.”
But beyond drivers, there are still a large number of workers now looking for a new job.
“That’s troubling," Thropp continued. "I think out of the 30,000 people, I think the majority are drivers but there are other people who are going to have to find employment.”
FOX43 reached out to Yellow and the Teamsters Union for further comment. Neither returned our request, as of late Monday afternoon.
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https://www.fox43.com/article/money/business/yellow-corp-trucking-company-ceases-operations-sage-driving-school/521-b4665ca7-3558-4da1-8321-7c7c16de5374
| 2023-07-31T20:14:17
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Jackpocket Crowns its First $100K Winner in Massachusetts, Partnership With Circle K Offers a New, Convenient Way to Play the Lottery
BOSTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackpocket, America's #1 lottery app*, launched in Massachusetts in partnership with Circle K, one of the largest convenience store brands in the United States.
Yesterday, a Jackpocket customer ordered a $100,000 winning lottery ticket for the daily "Mass Cash" drawing using the app.
"We are excited that our partnership with Circle K landed our first $100K winner in the Bay State, cementing Jackpocket's presence in Massachusetts," said Peter Sullivan, CEO of Jackpocket. "Jackpocket's mission is to make the lottery more accessible and convenient to play. As Tuesday's Mega Millions crosses the $1 billion mark, it's easier than ever to play your favorite games from anywhere in Massachusetts."
To celebrate the new partnership, Jackpocket is offering lottery fans across the state their first lottery ticket for free on the app. New players will receive a $2 lottery ticket by entering the code HEYMASS at checkout. Lottery fans can play Powerball and Mega Millions—currently over $1.05B—as well as local favorites MassCash (the game responsible for the $100K winning ticket), Megabucks Doubler, Lucky for Life, and The Numbers Game.
"We're proud to partner with Jackpocket in Massachusetts and make this fun and convenient experience available to every lottery player across the state," said Melissa Lessard, the head of North American marketing at Circle K. "At Circle K, we are always looking for ways to make life a little easier for our customers and providing the opportunity for customers to order official state lottery tickets with just the tap of a button through the Jackpocket app is yet another example of that commitment."
Massachusetts is now the 17th state available for lottery play on the Jackpocket app. Jackpocket is iCAP certified for best practices in player protection, backed by the expertise of the National Council on Problem Gambling. To ensure player safety, Jackpocket offers consumer protections such as daily deposit and spend limits, self-exclusion, and in-app access to responsible gambling resources.
*According to data from AppFollow
*Must be 18 or older to play. Jackpocket is not affiliated with and is not an agent of the Massachusetts State Lottery. Please visit jackpocket.com/tos for full terms of service. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050.
Are You Our Next BIG Winner? Visit play.jackpocket.com or download Jackpocket for iOS and Android and get in the game. New players can receive a $2 lottery ticket by entering the code HEYMASS at checkout.
About Jackpocket
Jackpocket is on a mission to create a more convenient, fun, and responsible way to take part in the lottery. The first licensed third-party lottery courier app in the United States, Jackpocket provides an easy, secure way to order official state lottery tickets. Jackpocket is currently available in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington D.C., and West Virginia, and is expanding to many new markets. Download the app on iOS and Android or participate via desktop. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Circle K and Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
Couche-Tard is a global leader in convenience and mobility, operating in 25 countries and territories, with more than 14,400 stores, of which approximately 11,000 offer road transportation fuel. With its well-known Couche-Tard and Circle K banners, it is one of the largest independent convenience store operators in the United States and it is a leader in the convenience store industry and road transportation fuel retail in Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltics, as well as in Ireland. It also has an important presence in Poland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Approximately 128,000 people are employed throughout its network.
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https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/massachusetts-lottery-fans-can-now-play-record-105b-mega-millions-their-phone/
| 2023-07-31T20:14:19
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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Supreme Court said Monday that a full panel of 15 justices would hear petitions in September against a contentious law that was passed last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and which has spurred mass protests.
The law was one of a series of proposed changes to Israel’s judiciary put forward by Netanyahu’s government earlier this year that seek to curb the power of the Supreme Court. The judicial overhaul plan has been met with months of sustained mass protest against the legislation and drawn criticism from the White House.
Critics of the overhaul say that the package of laws would concentrate power in the hands of the ruling coalition and erode the system of checks and balances between branches of government. Proponents say the measures are necessary to limit the power of unelected judges who they say are overly activist.
Netanyahu and his allies passed a law last week that removes the high court’s ability to annul government decisions considered “unreasonable.” The “reasonableness standard” was implemented by the Supreme Court earlier this year to thwart the appointment of a Netanyahu ally as interior minister after he had recently pleaded guilty to tax offenses.
The court said the hearing concerning the law striking down the “reasonableness standard” would take place on Sept. 12 with a full bench of 15 justices. The Supreme Court typically hears cases with smaller panels of justices, but appears to have opted for a full complement of judges because of the highly delicate nature of the matter.
The Netanyahu administration’s push to overhaul the judiciary has deeply divided an already highly polarized country and sparked the longest sustained protests in the country’s history.
Netanyahu and his allies took office in December after the country’s fifth election in under four years, most of them referendums on the longtime leader’s fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/ap-israels-full-high-court-to-hear-petitions-against-judiciary-law-in-september-that-spurred-protests/
| 2023-07-31T20:14:20
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Leading anti-abortion group rips DeSantis for not pushing for national ban
CHICAGO (AP) — A leading anti-abortion organization criticized Republican Ron DeSantis on Monday for not supporting a national ban on the procedure, calling the Florida governor’s position “unacceptable” as he seeks the GOP nomination for president.
The president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an influential player in conservative politics, took issue with DeSantis’ statements in a recent interview in which he declined to back a national abortion ban. SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the anti-abortion movement and Americans across the U.S. deserve a president who will “boldly advocate” for a ban on abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“A pro-life president has a duty to protect the lives of all Americans. He should be the National Defender of Life,” she said. “Gov. DeSantis’s dismissal of this task is unacceptable to prolife voters. A consensus is already formed. Intensity for it is palpable and measurable. There are many pressing legislative issues for which Congress does not have the votes at the moment, but that is not a reason for a strong leader to back away from the fight. This is where presidential leadership matters most.”
DeSantis’ campaign called the statement unjustified.
“Governor DeSantis delivers results and acts, especially when it comes to protecting life. He did so in Florida by signing the heartbeat bill and will be a pro-life president,” Press Secretary Bryan Griffin said. “He does not kowtow to DC interest groups. This unjustified attack on him is another example of the DC political games that have seen conservatives falter in Washington while Governor DeSantis has produced unmatched conservative victories in Florida.”
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America was responding to a recent interview in which Megyn Kelly asked DeSantis if he would support a national abortion ban. The U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade, the roughly 50-year-old ruling that established a federal right to abortion. Susan B. Anthony has said it would not support any White House candidate in 2024 who did not at a minimum support a 15-week federal ban.
In the interview, DeSantis noted he signed legislation in Florida to ban abortion at six weeks of pregnancy but suggested that individual states should decide the issue. He said he is “pro-life” but added that he is “running on doing things that I know I can accomplish.”
The criticism from a powerful organization comes at a tenuous time for DeSantis, who is seen as the top rival to former President Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, but who has been running a distant second to Trump in public polling. DeSantis’ campaign has been working in recent weeks to improve his trajectory and reboot his campaign, including cutting staff.
He is not alone in drawing criticism from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, however. The group also was critical of Trump for not supporting the 15-week federal ban.
Trump has defended that position, noting he appointed the Supreme Court justices who made it possible for Roe v. Wade to be overturned.
Some other Republicans seeking the nomination support the national ban. Former Vice President Mike Pence said he would go further, endorsing a ban at six weeks of pregnancy, or before some women know they are pregnant.
He told The Associated Press that abortion should be banned when a pregnancy isn’t viable — a standard that would force women to carry pregnancies to term even when doctors have determined there is no chance a baby will survive outside the womb.
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Associated Press reporter Michelle L. Price contributed from New York.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:22
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LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A man wanted in two states was arrested in Lancaster County over the weekend.
Benny Ray Stapleton was wanted by Pennsylvania State Police for distribution of a controlled substance, the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office for a parole violation and by the Union County (South Carolina) Sheriff's Office for theft, according to the Quarryville Borough Police Department.
Officers reportedly received a tip that Stapleton could be in the Quarryville area.
With that information in mind, on July 29, officers with the QPD spotted Stapleton at an apartment building along the 200 block of E. State Street in Quarryville Borough.
A foot pursuit ensued and Stapleton allegedly fled into a nearby apartment where QPD found him attempting to hide in a back room of the apartment.
Stapelton was arrested and QPD officers allegedly discovered he was in possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
Stapleton has since been charged with additional criminal offenses, including flight to avoid apprehension, trial by punishment, evading arrest or detention on foot, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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https://www.fox43.com/article/news/crime/man-wanted-two-states-arrested-lancaster-county/521-763657b8-c743-48f9-968f-75254ff20bb7
| 2023-07-31T20:14:23
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2025 Cruises and Cruisetours from Alaska's Leading Cruise Line
on Sale August 3
Family Favorite Caribbean Princess to Sail Alaska for First Time
SANTA CLARITA, Calif., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Princess Cruises has unveiled its 2025 Alaska cruise and cruisetours season, featuring three captivating roundtrip itineraries and an exclusive new National Parks Cruisetour. These remarkable offerings are available for booking starting August 3.
New Adventures and Extended Journeys Await, including a Departure from LA:
New for 2025 from the cruise line that brings the most guests to Alaska every year is a 22-day roundtrip voyage sailing from San Francisco on Ruby Princess that coincides with the Summer Solstice, and a 17-day roundtrip cruise from Seattle on Grand Princess featuring three days of scenic glacier viewing. For guests seeking to sail from Southern California, a new 16-day roundtrip Inside Passage voyage from Los Angeles on Grand Princess offers a convenient and affordable option.
National Parks Cruisetour
Following its debut in 2024, the National Parks Cruisetour returns in 2025 with a 15-night adventure to five of Alaska's most breathtaking parks. Guests will have the opportunity to explore Glacier Bay, Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias, Kenai Fjords National Parks, and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway. Unique to Princess, this experience combines a seven-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise, scenic rail travel, and multiple days on land, including stays at four Princess-owned wilderness lodges.
"As the market leader in Alaska, we're excited to offer guests even more exciting ways to see the natural beauty of Alaska with itineraries in 2025 that serve up new adventures and extended journeys that first-time guests and repeat visitors are going to find intriguing," said John Padgett, Princess Cruises president. "We're also making it easier for guests to access an Alaska cruise by bringing back a roundtrip option out of Los Angeles, which also make it more affordable for millions within that drive market."
Caribbean Princess to Debut in Alaska in 2025
In 2025, seven Princess ships will sail to Alaska, including Caribbean Princess for the first time. In addition, the number of Princess homeports offering Alaska voyages expands to five with the addition of Los Angeles, with the season featuring 21 cruise destinations and four glacier-viewing experiences, highlighted by 88 visits to Glacier Bay National Park, taking more guests to this spectacular national park than any other cruise line.
With 155 total departures on 18 unique itineraries ranging in length from 4 to 22 days, cruise and cruisetour choices include:
Cruises – Seven Ships, Five Homeports
- NEW! Ultimate Alaska Solstice with Glacier Bay National Park: 22-day roundtrip from San Francisco on Ruby Princess – departs June 6, 2025
- NEW! Ultimate Alaska with Glacier Bay National Park: 17-day roundtrip from Seattle on Grand Princess – departs May 6, 2025
- Inside Passage with Glacier Bay National Park: 16-day roundtrip from Los Angeles on Grand Princess visiting Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park, Sitka, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan and Victoria, B.C. – departs August 30, 2025
- Voyage of the Glaciers: This top-rated seven-day itinerary features Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and two glacier-viewing experiences at Glacier Bay National Park and Hubbard Glacier or College Fjord. Caribbean Princess, Coral Princess, and Sapphire Princess offer weekly northbound and southbound cruises from Vancouver, B.C. to Anchorage (Whittier) and vice versa. Guests can combine select seven-day voyages for an amazing 14-day Voyage of the Glaciers Grand Adventure – operates May 10 to September 13, 2025.
- Inside Passage: Princess' signature seven-day roundtrip sailings from Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., as well as 11-day roundtrip departures from San Francisco and Vancouver that include four ports of call and a day of glacier viewing. Many Inside Passage cruises include Glacier Bay National Park. Discovery Princess and Royal Princess sail from Seattle weekly, May 4 – September 21, 2025. Grand Princess offers weekly cruises from Vancouver, B.C., May 27 – August 19, 2025. Ruby Princess sails 11-day cruises roundtrip from San Francisco May 4 – September 13, 2025.
- Alaska Samplers: Three itineraries of four to five days offer shorter voyages for guests looking for a quick getaway. Discovery Princess, Royal Princess and Grand Princess operate four-day, roundtrip voyages between Vancouver, B.C. to Seattle with a stop in Ketchikan – departing April 30, May 13 and May 23, 2025. Caribbean Princess sails a four-day, roundtrip cruise from Vancouver, B.C., with a visit to Ketchikan departing September 13, 2025, and a five-day roundtrip cruise from Vancouver, B.C., with stops in Sitka and Ketchikan sailing May 5, 2025.
Cruisetours
- More than 26 cruisetour options give guests variety of choice with four styles of travel including Denali Explorer tours, On Your Own options, Connoisseur Deluxe Escorted and Off the Beaten Path.
- The exclusive Direct-to-the-Wilderness rail service ensures a seamless transition between the ship in Whittier and the Denali area on the same day.
Award-Winning North to Alaska Program
Princess' award-winning North to Alaska program enriches the onboard and onshore experience with local lumberjacks, Iditarod champions, and storytellers sharing their Alaska experiences and insights. Other offerings include Wild for Alaska seafood menus, a variety of shore excursions, Puppies in the Piazza to meet sled-dog puppies, Junior Ranger program for youth, and authentic commentary by Glacier Bay Park Rangers and Naturalists.
Visit www.princess.com/alaska for more details on the 2025 Alaska cruises and cruisetours season from Princess Cruises.
Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel advisor, by calling 1-800-Princess (1-800-774-6237) or by visiting www.princess.com.
About Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises is The Love Boat, the world's most iconic cruise brand that delivers dream vacations to millions of guests every year in the most sought-after destinations on the largest ships that offer elite service personalization and simplicity customary of small, yacht-class ships. Well-appointed staterooms, world class dining, grand performances, award-winning casinos and entertainment, luxurious spas, imaginative experiences and boundless activities blend with exclusive Princess MedallionClass service to create meaningful connections and unforgettable moments in the most incredible settings in the world - the Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, Mexican Riviera, Europe, South America, Australia/New Zealand, the South Pacific, Hawaii, Asia, Canada/New England, Antarctica, and World Cruises. The company is part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE:CCL; NYSE:CUK).
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SOURCE Princess Cruises
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https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/national-parks-cruisetour-longer-adventures-new-itineraries-highlight-princess-cruises-2025-alaska-season/
| 2023-07-31T20:14:25
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KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — An Afghan branch of Islamic State on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed at least 54 people at a pro-Taliban party’s election rally, in one of the region’s worst attacks in recent years.
Islamic State in Khorasan Province made the claim in a statement posted on its Amaq website. It said the attacker detonated an explosive vest, and that the bombing in the northwestern town of Bajur was part of the group’s continuing war against forms of democracy it deems to be against Islam.
Hours earlier, hundreds of mourners in Bajur carried caskets draped in colorful cloths to burial sites following the previous day’s attack at the election rally for the Jamiat Ulema Islam party. Officials said Sunday’s bombing killed 54 people, including at least five children, and wounded nearly 200.
The attack appeared to reflect divisions between Islamist groups, which have a strong presence in the district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan. The Jamiat Ulema Islam party has ties to the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.
At least 1,000 people were crowded into a tent near a market for the rally ahead of fall elections, according to police.
“People were chanting God is Great as the leaders arrived,” said Khan Mohammad, a local resident who said he was standing outside the tent, “and that was when I heard the deafening sound of the bomb.”
Mohammad said he heard people crying for help, and minutes later ambulances arrived and began taking the wounded away.
Police had suggested in their initial investigation that Islamic State in Khorasan Province was a suspect. The group is based in neighboring Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida.
Pakistan security analyst Mahmood Shah also previously had said that breakaway factions of the Pakistani Taliban could be possible suspects, though the group distanced itself from the attack.
The Pakistani military spent years fighting the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, in Bajur before declaring the district clear of militants in 2016. But the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman, has remained a potent political force.
On Monday, police recorded statements from some of the wounded at a hospital in Khar, the district’s principal town.
Female relatives and children wailed and beat their chests at family homes Monday as the dead were taken for funerals, following local customs. Hundreds of men followed the caskets to mosques and open areas for special funeral prayers and then into the hills for burial.
As condolences continued to pour in from across the country, dozens of people who had lesser injuries were discharged from hospital, while the critically wounded were taken to the provincial capital of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll continued to rise as some critically wounded people died in hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Gul Akbar, the father of an 11-year-old boy who was wounded in the attack, told The Associated Press that his entire family was in a state of shock after hearing about the bombing Sunday. He said he first went to the scene of the attack, and later found his son Taslim Khan being treated in a hospital in Khar.
“What would I have done if he had also been martyred? Five children died in this barbaric attack, and we want to know what our children did wrong,” he said.
Rehman’s party is preparing to contest elections, which are expected in October or November. Abdul Rasheed, one of the party’s senior leaders, said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that “such attacks cannot deter our resolve.”
Rehman’s party is part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. Khan condemned the bombing Sunday, as did the U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad.
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the bombing, saying that it was intended to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, wrote in a tweet that “such crimes cannot be justified in any way.”
The bombing came hours before Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng arrived in Islamabad, where he signed new agreements to boost trade and economic ties to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which China has invested $10 billion in Pakistan over 10 years, according to Sharif.
“We will not tolerate any obstacles in the way of friendship with China,” Sharif said, as he stood next to He.
But the government canceled a cultural event that had been arranged in honor of He, according to Sharif, while the nation mourns.
Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Rehman, who has long supported Afghanistan’s Taliban government, survived at least two known bomb attacks in 2011 and 2014, when bombings damaged his car at rallies.
Sunday’s bombing was one of the worst in northwestern Pakistan in the last decade. In 2014, 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this story from Islamabad.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:26
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LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Pennsylvania will direct up to $400 million in federal money over the next five years to reimburse organizations that train new infrastructure workers on the job, under an executive order signed Monday by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.
A portion of the $19 billion that the state will receive from two federal programs for infrastructure projects will, under the governor’s order, fund the new training program.
Organizations doing infrastructure work — such as repairing roads and bridges, replacing lead pipes and expanding high speed internet — could receive up to $40,000 for each new worker they train. A maximum of $400,000 could be reimbursed through the program, which will be managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
The grants are meant to reimburse the cost of workers' salaries and other training costs. Additionally, the money can be used to help employees with housing, child and dependent care, tools, uniforms, educational testing and transportation. The Shapiro administration aims to create 10,000 new jobs.
Shapiro said that reopening a collapsed section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia in less than two weeks showed “what’s possible when our highly skilled workers get to work and when we have their backs.”
“We need the workforce to be able to do it,” the governor said at a press conference in Pittsburgh. “So one of the biggest hurdles we face is having enough workers trained and ready for these kinds of projects at a time when we now have more money than ever before for this type of investment.”
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https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/pennsylvania-governor-millions-will-go-help-train-workers-infrastructure-projects/521-d0d52ee6-7b80-4c60-93f7-a2adb5ee74b1
| 2023-07-31T20:14:29
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NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — The world is levying economic sanctions over a coup against one of the West’s last democratic partners against Islamic extremists in West Africa. Families in one of the world’s poorest nations could pay the price.
In the capital of Niger, many people live in makeshift shelters tied together with slats of wood, sheets and plastic tarps because they can’t pay rent, and they scramble daily to make enough money to feed their children.
Salou Hassan and his family live in a two-room hut on the side of the road, along with some 140 people. The family sleeps on wooden slats close to the floor, with no electricity or running water, and they bathe in public showers.
“The most difficult part is finding food for my children,“ said Hassan, 30, whose sons are 5 and 6 years old.
Hassan sells water door to door, earning about $6 a day when things go well. His wheelbarrow’s been broken and he doesn’t have nearly $70 he needs to fix it. His wife sweeps stalls at the central market making less than half what Hassan does.
Hassan has hardly been aware that the country’s president was overthrown.
“I’m looking for money for food for my family,” he said.
Meanwhile, Niger’s neighbors are threatening armed intervention against the junta run by the head of the presidential guard, although analysts say there is only a slim chance of the regional body successfully sending troops.
Both the United States and France have sent forces and hundreds of millions of military and humanitarian aid in recent years to Niger, which was a French colony until 1960. The French and the US train Nigerien forces, and the French military carries out joint operations in the north.
Since the coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, people have been toting Russian flags and praising that country in pro-junta demonstrations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Niger in March to strengthen ties and announce $150 million in direct assistance, calling the country “a model of democracy.” France pulled out of Mali last year and has some 1,500 troops in Niger.
The West African regional body known as ECOWAS announced travel and economic sanctions against Niger on Sunday over the coup, and said they would use force if the coup leaders don’t reinstate him within one week.
Since the 1990s, the 15-nation bloc has unsuccessfully tried to protect democracies against the threat of coups, with mixed success.
Niger relies heavily on foreign aid and sanctions could further impoverish its more than 25 million people. ECOWAS suspended all commercial and financial transactions between its member states and Niger, as well as freezing Nigerien assets held in regional central banks.
The sanctions could be disastrous and Niger needs to find a solution to avoid them, the country’s Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou told French media outlet Radio France Internationale on Sunday.
“When people say there’s an embargo, land borders are closed, air borders are closed, it’s extremely difficult for people … Niger is a country that relies heavily on the international community,” he said.
Four nations are run by military governments in West and Central Africa, where there have been nine successful or attempted coups since 2020.
In the 1990s, ECOWAS intervened in Liberia during its civil war, one of the bloodiest conflicts in Africa and one that left many wary of intervening in internal conflicts. In 2017, ECOWAS intervened in The Gambia to prevent the new president’s predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, from disrupting the handover of power. Around 7,000 troops from Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal entered the country, according to the Global Observatory, which provides analysis on peace and security issues. The intervention was largely seen as accomplishing its mission.
If the regional bloc uses force, it could trigger violence not only between Niger and ECOWAS forces but also between civilians supporting the coup and those against it, Niger analysts say.
While unlikely, “the consequences on civilians of such an approach if putschists chose confrontation would be catastrophic,” said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank.
Lyammouri does not see a “military intervention happening because of the violence that could trigger,” he said.
Blinken on Sunday commended the resolve of the ECOWAS leadership to “defend constitutional order in Niger” after the sanctions announcement, and joined the bloc in calling for the immediate release of Bazoum and his family.
The military junta, which seized power on Wednesday when members of the presidential guard surrounded Bazoum’s house and detained him, is already cracking down on the government and civil liberties.
On Sunday evening it arrested four government officials, including the minister of petroleum and son of a former president; the minister of education; the minister of mines; and the president of the ruling party. The arrests were recounted to The Associated Press by a person close to the president, who was not authorized to speak about the situation, and a Nigerien analyst who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.
Also Sunday, junta spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane banned the use of social media to put out messages he describe as harmful to state security. He also claimed that Bazoum’s government had authorized the French to carry out strikes to free Bazoum, allegations that were not confirmed.
Observers believe Bazoum is being held at his house in the capital, Niamey. The first photos of him since the coup appeared Sunday evening, sitting on a couch smiling beside Chad’s President Mahamat Deby, who had flown in to mediate between the government and the junta.
In anticipation of the ECOWAS decision Sunday, thousands of pro-junta supporters took to the streets in Niamey, denouncing France, waving Russian flags ong with signs reading “Down with France” and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and telling the international community to stay away. Protesters also burned down a door and smashed windows of the French Embassy, before the Nigerien army dispersed them.
France said Monday that President Emmanuel Macron is closely monitoring the situation in Niger and has discussed the crisis with regional leaders and European and international partners.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:32
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Animal Shelters, Rescue Groups, and Happy Adopters, Nationally and Internationally, Encouraged to Celebrate the Role Adopted Dogs Play in Our Lives
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tuesday, August 1st is DOGust 1ST ®– the official birthday for all rescue dogs – and North Shore Animal League America is encouraging animal lovers around the country and globe to join them in celebrating the incredible meaning our adopted animals add to our lives.
Since the actual dates of birth for most rescued dogs are unknown, Animal League America created DOGust 1st to celebrate rescue dogs (those adopted and those awaiting loving homes.) Since 2008, these "Mutt-i-grees" have had this day designated to honor the incredible impact they make on our lives.
"This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate rescue dogs and the invaluable role they play in our lives, while raising awareness about the importance of rescue and adoption," said Joanne Yohannan, Senior Vice President, Operations, North Shore Animal League America.
In honor of DOGust 1st, North Shore Animal League America, and many of their shelter partners across the country, will be participating in DOGust 1st festivities throughout the week (August 1 – 7.) By encouraging adoption specials, birthday themed activities, and local media opportunities, even more rescue dogs are expected to find loving, responsible homes.
To find an adoptable pet at a shelter or rescue group in your area go to www.animalleague.org.
To find a participating DOGust 1st group near you visit www.animalleague.org/dogust1st.
For video highlights of DOGust 1st, visit: DOGUST 1ST ASSETS
Photo & Video Credit: North Shore Animal League America
MEDIA CONTACT:
KATHLEEN LYNN
Senior Director of Communications
Cell: (516) 528-7878
Email: KathleenL@animalleague.org
#DOGust1st #GetYourRescueOn
About NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA
Animal League America has saved more than 1.1 million lives. As the world's largest no-kill rescue and adoption organization, we understand that a rescue isn't complete until each animal is placed into a loving home. Our innovative programs provide education to reduce animal cruelty and advance standards in animal welfare. We reach across the country to rescue animals from overcrowded shelters, unwanted litters, commercial breeding facilities, natural disasters and other emergencies and find them permanent, loving homes. www.animalleague.org
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SOURCE North Shore Animal League America
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https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/north-shore-animal-league-america-leads-worldwide-celebration-dogust-1st-official-birthday-all-rescue-dogs/
| 2023-07-31T20:14:32
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4 separatist Bosnian Serb leaders are sanctioned by US Treasury for undermining a 1995 peace deal
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The U.S. on Monday imposed sanctions on four ranking Bosnian Serb officials for undermining a 1995 peace agreement that ended a war that left more than 100,000 dead and millions homeless.
The four officials sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury include Zeljka Cvijanovic, a Serb member of the tripartite collective Bosnian presidency, as well as the prime minister of the Serb entity in Bosnia, Radovan Viskovic.
The four are alleged to have taken part in drafting a law that U.S. and other international officials say undermines the unity of Bosnia by ignoring the decisions of the country’s constitutional court.
The Bosnian Serb parliament has passed the law to not recognize or implement any decisions by Bosnia’s multi-ethnic Constitutional Court.
“This action threatens the stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the hard-won peace underpinned by the Dayton Peace Agreement,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “This behavior further threatens the country’s future trajectory and successful integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions.”
The Bosnian War started in 1992, pitting mostly Muslim Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats against each other. It ended with the U.S.-sponsored Dayton accords that created two regions, the Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation.
The Bosnian Serb ruling party, SNSD, said that the latest U.S. sanctions were “shameful” and “hypocritical” and would not “stop us from doing our job.”
The pro-Russian Bosnian Serb leader, Milorad Dodik, has openly been striving to separate Bosnian Serb territories from the rest of Bosnia and join them with neighboring Serbia.
Because of that, he was also sanctioned by the U.S., in 2017.
On Monday, the U.S Treasury said that “as a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported.”
The U.S. recently also imposed sanctions on the pro-Russian head of Serbia’s security agency, Aleksandar Vulin, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.
There are widespread fears that Serbia, an ally of Russia, could inflame tensions in the Balkans to divert at least some of the world attention from the war in Ukraine.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:34
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WASHINGTON — Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian best known for his character Pee-wee Herman, has died at 70 years old after a years-long battle with cancer that he did not make public. The Monday announcement of his death was met with an immediate outpouring of grief from his friends and colleagues in the entertainment industry.
"Russian Doll" star Natasha Lyonne, who made her acting debut at 6 years old on the first season of "Pee-wee's Playhouse," shared images from the hit television series on social media.
"Love you so much, Paul. One in all time. Thank you for my career & your forever friendship all these years & for teaching us what a true original is," she wrote, adding several heart emojis and one emoji of a broken heart.
Lyonne was one of many actors and comedians who described Reubens as a friend or mentor, sharing photos or personal stories.
"No tweet can capture the magic, generosity, artistry, and devout silliness of Paul Reubens. Everyone I know received countless nonsensical memes from Paul on their birthday, and I mean EVERYONE. His surreal comedy and unrelenting kindness were a gift to us all. Damn, this hurts.
"Paul Reubens was like no one else - a brilliant and original comedian who made kids and their parents laugh at the same time. He never forgot a birthday and shared his genuine delight for silliness with everyone he met. My family and I will miss him."
"Paul Reubens was a great, great friend. He gave me the muppets for my birthday and never forgot anyone’s birthday from our class. He was in my class at CalArts and we had the same business manager. He was always kind to me and to everyone. He will be missed."
"Paul Reubens was a gifted performer and a nice person. He brought so much joy to people over the years as Pee Wee, my sister and I loved that character. I was privileged to work with him in a film and he was as great in real life as he was on screen. Tough news here."
"This is devastating. Truly heartbreaking. Paul was such a comedy genius. From his Letterman appearances to his TV shows and movies, he was so original and hilarious. And such a sweet man too. This is a huge loss for comedy. Thanks for all the laughs, Paul."
"One of the patron saints of all misfitted, weird, maladjusted, wonderful, miraculous oddities."
"One of the greats is gone. It is a very sad day. Thank you for the joy, @peeweeherman. Chris and I were so proud to call you friend. You will live in our hearts forever, Paul.
"The greatest. No one ever like him ever."
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https://www.fox43.com/article/news/nation-world/paul-reubens-death-fellow-comedians-actors-react/507-a2fda3a4-b718-4ac5-b043-7e28c12e4296
| 2023-07-31T20:14:35
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DENVER, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) today announced that it was selected by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to support coordination between federal and commercial licensees of the 3450 - 3550 MHz spectrum band. Palantir will provide its software platform to enable end-to-end automation that will enhance coordination between the Department of Defense and commercial spectrum licensees for shared use of the 3450-3550 MHz band within cooperative planning area (CPA) and periodic use area (PUA) coordination zone boundaries.
As part of an ongoing interagency effort to facilitate the shared usage of critically important mid-band spectrum, Palantir's software will enable DISA's Defense Spectrum Organization (DSO) to support formal and informal coordination processes between the Department of Defense and commercial licensees. Existing and future government activities in the spectrum band are vital to protect national security and ensure military readiness.
Palantir software will be used to integrate multiple existing functions and capabilities into a single infrastructure that will result in more efficient workflows, reducing the timelines for licensee coordination with DoD to establish sharing agreements and enable deployment of 5G wireless services within CPA/PUA boundaries. Palantir software will also be used to demonstrate the ability to support more advanced spectrum sharing use cases.
"We are proud to partner with DISA DSO to support the complex task of sharing limited spectrum resources between federal and commercial users," said Akash Jain, President, Palantir USG. "We are excited to rapidly deploy software that will accelerate and automate coordination workflows and enable the increasingly dynamic and efficient use of spectrum."
"As military and commercial use of radio-frequency spectrum continues to grow, spectrum coordination will be increasingly necessary to preserve the effectiveness of critical national security capabilities while enabling U.S. commercial leadership in 5G and other critical technology areas. Palantir looks forward to working alongside the Department of Defense to deploy innovative software solutions that support advanced spectrum sharing workflows and processes," said Miriam Marwick, SVP, Emerging Technologies, Palantir USG.
About Palantir Technologies Inc.
Foundational software of tomorrow. Delivered today. Additional information is available at https://www.palantir.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements may relate to, but are not limited to, Palantir's expectations regarding the amount and the terms of the contract and the expected benefits of our software platforms. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and were based on current expectations as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management as of that time with respect to future events. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties include our ability to meet the unique needs of our customer; the failure of our platforms to satisfy our customer or perform as desired; the frequency or severity of any software and implementation errors; our platforms' reliability; and our customer's ability to modify or terminate the contract. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.
Media Contact
Lisa Gordon
media@palantir.com
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SOURCE PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:39
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An escalating dispute over a gas field in the Persian Gulf poses an early challenge to a Chinese-brokered agreement to reconcile regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Saudi Arabia and neighboring Kuwait jointly claim the offshore Al-Durra gas field. Iran says it has rights to the field, which it refers to as Arash. The two sides held talks in Iran in March but were unable to agree on a border demarcation.
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said the country would not tolerate any infringement on its rights, echoing remarks by the country’s oil minister the previous day.
“We have expressed our readiness to engage in dialogue with the Kuwaiti side,” Kanaani told reporters Monday. “But if there is no interest in mutual utilization of this joint field, the Islamic Republic of Iran has naturally put the exploration and utilization of the resources on its agenda.”
Kuwait’s oil minister told Sky News Arabia last week that his country would commence drilling and production without waiting for a deal.
Saudi Arabia has sided with Kuwait, saying the two countries have exclusive ownership of the field, and has called on Iran to return to negotiations.
Saudi Arabia and Iran, which have backed opposite sides in conflicts across the Middle East and accused each other of destabilizing the region, formally restored diplomatic relations in April following a seven-year freeze. They have since reopened embassies and welcomed senior officials on visits.
But they continue to back opposite sides in Yemen’s civil war, which is ongoing despite a 15-month cease-fire. Saudi Arabia is also in negotiations with the United States over potentially normalizing relations with Israel, which Iran’s leaders have said should be wiped off the map.
“Any step in the direction toward normalization of ties with this aggressive regime will only serve to give it more leeway to commit more atrocities against the Palestinian nation,” Kanaani, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.
It’s unclear whether the dispute over the gas field, which goes back to the 1960s, will escalate beyond rhetoric. But tensions are already high in the Persian Gulf, where the U.S. is building up military forces in response to what it says is Iran’s unlawful seizure of oil tankers and harassment of commercial vessels.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait agreed last year to jointly develop the gas field. Kuwait said at the time that they aimed to produce 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 84,000 barrels of liquefied gas per day. Iran denounced the agreement as illegal and said it should be included in any such plans.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:38
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden decides to keep Space Command in Colorado, overturning Trump decision to move it to Alabama, officials tell AP.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.kaaltv.com/news/us-world-news/biden-decides-to-keep-space-command-in-colorado-overturning-trump-decision-to-move-it-to-alabama-officials-tell-ap/
| 2023-07-31T20:14:40
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https://www.kaaltv.com/news/us-world-news/biden-decides-to-keep-space-command-in-colorado-overturning-trump-decision-to-move-it-to-alabama-officials-tell-ap/
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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s economy has grown modestly after months of stagnation, but higher interest rates designed to fight inflation are casting a shadow as they make it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow, invest and spend.
The 20 countries that use the euro currency and their 346 million people saw 0.3% growth in the April-to-June period, compared with the first three months of the year, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Monday.
That’s an improvement over zero growth in the first quarter and a slight decline in fourth quarter of last year — but not by much. Plus, one-time factors and an outsized bump from Ireland made things look better than they really were.
The eurozone got a boost by 0.5% growth in France and 0.4% in Spain, where lower inflation has helped lift consumer spending power.
Yet the French figure was increased by the delivery of one very large manufactured item — a cruise ship. That statistical quirk flattered French growth but does little to disguise weak demand for goods in the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
Ireland’s growth of 3.3%, largest in the eurozone, also distorted the overall picture. Its growth figures often show large swings due to major international companies housing their headquarters there, including tech giants like Meta, Google and Apple.
Without Ireland, euro-area growth would have been only 0.1%, said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.
The overall figure “was driven by a few country idiosyncrasies and masks an underlying momentum that is likely much closer to stagnation,” said Marc de Muizon, senior European analyst at Deutsche Bank Research.
Europe’s largest economy, Germany, struggled in the second quarter, recording zero growth after two straight quarters of falling output as it grappled with high energy costs tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Italy, the No. 3 economy, shrank by 0.3%.
The eurozone growth figures for the first quarter were revised from a decline of 0.1%, statistically erasing what had been two straight quarters of contraction — one definition of recession.
Inflation in the eurozone, meanwhile, continued its gradual decline, falling to 5.3% in July from 5.5% in June.
Europe is still struggling with the aftershocks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including Moscow cutting off most of its natural gas to the continent that sharply raised prices for the fuel and the electricity it generates.
In Germany, Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse, Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck has proposed capping energy prices for industry with government help.
The worst of the price spike is over, but costs are still higher than before the war began. Energy has faded as a main driver of inflation, but price rises are hitting Europeans when they shop for groceries, clothes and more, and the rebound for services companies — such as hotels and restaurants that suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic — has mostly run its course.
Food prices rose 10.8% in July from a year earlier, an improvement from June and previous months but still a pain point for households. Energy, meanwhile, kept dropping, falling 6.1%. Stripping out volatile food and energy prices, core inflation held steady at 5.5% — a key indicator that has not fallen as much as central bankers want.
In a bright spot for Europe, rebounding travel, especially in the Mediterranean countries that heavily rely on tourism, is expected to support growth in the upcoming third quarter as people flock to the beach for their summer holidays in Greece, Spain and Italy, despite recent heat waves and wildfires.
Other than that, prospects for the rest of the year are muted. Another drag on the economy is the rapid series of interest rate increases that the European Central Bank has unleashed to knock down inflation.
The ECB made its ninth straight hike Thursday, bringing its key deposit rate from minus 0.5% to 3.75% in just one year, a record pace since the creation of the euro in 1999. The result has been higher mortgage rates and canceled construction plans due to expensive or unavailable credit.
The central bank’s lending survey shows the lowest level of business loans and credit lines since the statistics started in 2003.
Bank President Christine Lagarde left open whether the bank will keep hiking rates at its next meeting on Sept. 14, saying the decision will depend on incoming inflation data.
Since the rate hikes began, inflation has steadily fallen from a peak of 10.6% in October, but July’s figure of 5.3% is still well above the ECB’s 2% target.
Bank officials say tough action now will spare even more painful restriction of credit later if inflation gets completely out of control.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:43
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The Fitness Superstore to Exclusively Carry the REP Line
DENVER, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Home and commercial gyms in the United Kingdom and Ireland are about to level up.
One of the USA's top gym equipment brands has joined forces with the UK's largest speciality fitness retailer. Starting this summer, Bodypower Sports Ltd. (trading as Fitness Superstore) will carry a large range of REP Fitness equipment. This expansion was in response to a growing demand overseas, after REP took the US by storm. It kicks off the launch of REP products throughout all of Europe, so more people can have access to REP's versatile, quality, innovative equipment.
REP, founded a decade ago in Colorado by two gym-loving brothers, has risen to become America's most popular brand in the home gym market. It offers a full line of gym gear, all designed by in-house, weightlifting engineers for both commercial and home gyms.
REP's award-winning power racks, benches, functional training gyms, and more will soon be available for UK customers to try out and order in Fitness Superstore showrooms across the UK (11 stores). Fitness Superstore, founded in 1994, is the largest supplier of specialist fitness equipment in the UK and is proud to feature the largest fitness equipment showrooms in the UK.
Fitness Superstore will also carry REP on its website, to be delivered throughout the UK and Ireland.
"Fitness Superstore is proud to exclusively represent this fantastic and innovative brand in the UK," says Paul Walker, Fitness Superstore managing director and owner.
Ryan McGrotty, co-founder or REP, echoes that. He says Fitness Superstore and REP make a great partnership because both are staffed by real-life fitness enthusiasts and professionals; they both offer a full range of equipment, and they both value creating community and making fitness accessible to all.
"We're excited to be working with such a strong partner in the UK with Fitness Superstore. We know they will offer a great shopping experience for all our fans in the UK who have been eagerly awaiting the availability of our products," says McGrotty. "Their broad store footprint will make it convenient for everyone to easily see and test our products before taking them home.
ABOUT REP
REP Fitness designs and sells world-class, innovative strength equipment that is sold around the world. REP was founded in Colorado in 2012 by two brothers with a shared passion for fitness and has grown into more than 300,000 square feet of office and distribution space and a team of more than 150 dedicated fitness enthusiasts. That shared passion for fitness is what drives REP's innovative spirit, where creating class-leading fitness equipment, with an emphasis on incredible home gyms, is paramount.
REP has been listed twice on the Inc. 5,000 fastest-growing companies — in 2018 and in 2021. REP products are frequently listed as top choices in many fitness publications, such as Men's Health.
For more information, visit repfitness.com. Connect with REP on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
ABOUT FITNESS SUPERSTORE
Fitness Superstore, founded in 1994, is the largest supplier of specialist fitness equipment in the UK and is proud to feature the largest fitness equipment showrooms in the UK.
Learn more at fitness-superstore.co.uk. You can also connect with Fitness Superstore on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
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SOURCE Rep Fitness
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:45
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Biden has decided to keep Space Command in Colorado, rejecting move to Alabama, officials tell AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has decided to keep U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado, overturning a last-ditch decision by the Trump administration to move it to Alabama and ending months of politically fueled debate, according to senior U.S. officials.
The officials said Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. Dickinson’s view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, who studied the issue at length and determined that relocating to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the decision ahead of the announcement.
The president, they said, believes that keeping the command in Colorado Springs would avoid a disruption in readiness that the move would cause, particularly as the U.S. races to compete with China in space. And they said Biden firmly believes that maintaining stability will help the military be better able to respond in space over the next decade.
Biden’s decision is sure to enrage Alabama lawmakers and fuel accusations that abortion politics played a role in the choice. The location debate has become entangled in the ongoing battle between Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville and the Defense Department over the move to provide travel for troops seeking reproductive health care. Tuberville opposed the policy is blocking hundreds of military promotions in protest.
Formally created in August 2019, the command was temporarily based in Colorado, and Air Force and Space Force leaders initially recommended it stay there. In the final days of his presidency Donald Trump decided it should be based in Huntsville.
The change triggered a number of reviews.
Proponents of keeping the command in Colorado have argued that moving it to Huntsville and creating a new headquarters would set back its progress at a time it needs to move quickly to be positioned to match China’s military space rise. And Colorado Springs is also home to the Air Force Academy, which now graduates Space Force guardians, and more than 24 military space missions, including three Space Force bases.
Huntsville, however, scored higher than Colorado Springs in a Government Accountability Office assessment of potential locations and has long been a home to some of earliest missiles used in the nation’s space programs, including the Saturn V rocket. It is home to the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command.
According to officials, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who ordered his own review of the matter, leaned toward Huntsville, while Dickinson was staunchly in favor of staying put. The officials said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin presented both options to Biden.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:46
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Colorado teen pleads not guilty to trying to join Islamic State group
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado teenager pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of attempting to support a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State group.
Davin Meyer, 18, sat handcuffed at his arraignment in a federal courtroom in Denver and didn’t say anything about the allegations. Earlier this month, Meyer was arrested when he tried to board a plane to Turkey, where prosecutors say he planned to become a fighter for IS.
David Kaplan, Meyer’s attorney, declined to comment on the case. The trial is not yet scheduled.
In November, after he turned 18, Meyer began communicating over the internet with someone he believed was an IS facilitator, and another who presented themselves as an ISIS travel facilitator, according to the arrest affidavit, but both were actually undercover informants.
In a previous court hearing, Meyer’s mother, Deanna Meyer, testified that her son wouldn’t have tried traveling to the Middle East if not for the support of people he met who shared his views, including the FBI informants.
This was in response to a judge’s question about whether her son — who was diagnosed with autism — understood the gravity of the situation, given his condition.
The prosecutor, assistant U.S. attorney Melissa Hindman, argued that the young man was already committed to radical Islam before the informants spoke with him.
During Monday’s hearing, prosecutors didn’t speak about the allegations and the U.S. Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment after the hearing.
Deanna Meyer had reached out to law enforcement when Davin was 17 over concerns about his escalating “radical Islamic beliefs” and openly expressing violent intentions, according to court documents. The FBI was later notified, it said.
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Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:14:58
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SAN JOSE, Calif., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanmina Corporation ("Sanmina" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SANM), a leading integrated manufacturing solutions company, today reported financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended July 1, 2023 and outlook for its fiscal fourth quarter ending September 30, 2023.
"Our third quarter results were in line with our outlook. We continue to execute well and deliver consistent operating margins and solid cash generation," stated Jure Sola, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our strong performance in the first nine months and achievement of our outlook for the fourth quarter would result in fiscal 2023 revenue growth of approximately 14 percent and non-GAAP EPS growth of approximately 35 percent. The team remains focused on excellence in quality, delivery and consistently meeting the needs of our customers. We have a strong foundation and promising future," Sola concluded.
Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2023 Outlook
The following outlook is for the fiscal fourth quarter ending September 30, 2023. These statements are forward-looking and actual results may differ materially.
- Revenue between $2.1 billion to $2.2 billion
- GAAP diluted earnings per share between $1.24 to $1.34
- Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share between $1.47 to $1.57
Safe Harbor Statement
The statements above concerning our financial outlook for the fourth quarter fiscal 2023 and our expectations for growth in revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share in fiscal 2023 should such outlook be achieved, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in these statements as a result of a number of factors, most notably ongoing supply chain constraints and geopolitical uncertainty, including from the conflict in Ukraine. Other factors that could cause our results to differ from our forward-looking statements include adverse changes to the key markets we target; significant uncertainties that can cause our future sales and net income to be variable; reliance on a small number of customers for a substantial portion of our sales; risks arising from our international operations; and the other risk factors set forth in the Company's annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities Exchange Commission.
The Company is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter any of the forward-looking statements made in this earnings release, the conference call or the Investor Relations section of our website whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless otherwise required by law.
Company Conference Call Information
Sanmina will hold a conference call to review its financial results for the third quarter and outlook for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 on Monday, July 31, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT). The access numbers are: domestic 833-816-1390 and international 412-317-0483. The conference will also be webcast live over the Internet. You can log on to the live webcast at Q3 Webcast Link. Additional information in the form of a slide presentation is available on Sanmina's website at www.sanmina.com. A replay of the conference call will be available for 48-hours. The access numbers are: domestic 877-344-7529 and international 412-317-0088, access code is 1520057.
About Sanmina
Sanmina Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading integrated manufacturing solutions provider serving the fastest growing segments of the global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) market. Recognized as a technology leader, Sanmina provides end-to-end manufacturing solutions, delivering superior quality and support to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) primarily in the industrial, medical, defense and aerospace, automotive, communications networks and cloud infrastructure markets. Sanmina has facilities strategically located in key regions throughout the world. More information about the Company is available at www.sanmina.com.
Sanmina Contact
Paige Melching
SVP, Investor Communications
408-964-3610
Schedule 1
The statements above and financial information provided in this earnings release include non-GAAP measures of operating income, operating margin, net income, diluted earnings per share and pre-tax return on invested capital (ROIC). Management excludes from these measures stock-based compensation, restructuring, acquisition and integration expenses, impairment charges, amortization charges and other unusual or infrequent items, as adjusted for taxes, as more fully described below.
Management excludes these items principally because such charges or benefits are not directly related to the Company's ongoing core business operations. We use such non-GAAP measures in order to (1) make more meaningful period-to-period comparisons of the Company's operations, both internally and externally, (2) guide management in assessing the performance of the business, internally allocating resources and making decisions in furtherance of Company's strategic plan, (3) provide investors with a better understanding of how management plans and measures the business and (4) provide investors with a better understanding of our ongoing, core business. The material limitations to management's approach include the fact that the charges, benefits and expenses excluded are nonetheless charges, benefits and expenses required to be recognized under GAAP and, in some cases, consume cash which reduces the Company's liquidity. Management compensates for these limitations primarily by reviewing GAAP results to obtain a complete picture of the Company's performance and by including a reconciliation of non-GAAP results to GAAP results in its earnings releases.
Additional information regarding the economic substance of each exclusion, management's use of the resultant non-GAAP measures, the material limitations of management's approach and management's methods for compensating for such limitations is provided below.
Stock-based Compensation Expense, which consists of non-cash charges for the estimated fair value of equity awards granted to employees and directors, is excluded in order to permit more meaningful period-to-period comparisons of the Company's results since the Company grants different amounts and value of equity awards each quarter. In addition, given the fact that competitors grant different amounts and types of equity awards and may use different valuation assumptions, excluding stock-based compensation permits more accurate comparisons of the Company's core results with those of its competitors.
Restructuring, Acquisition and Integration Expenses, which consist of severance, lease termination costs, exit costs, environmental investigation, remediation and related costs and other charges primarily related to closing and consolidating manufacturing facilities and those associated with the acquisition and integration of acquired businesses, are excluded because such charges (1) can be driven by the timing of acquisitions and exit activities which are difficult to predict, (2) are not directly related to ongoing business results and (3) generally do not reflect expected future operating expenses. In addition, given the fact that the Company's competitors complete acquisitions and adopt restructuring plans at different times and in different amounts than the Company, excluding these charges or benefits permits more accurate comparisons of the Company's core results with those of its competitors. Items excluded by the Company may be different from those excluded by the Company's competitors and restructuring and integration expenses include both cash and non-cash expenses. Cash expenses reduce the Company's liquidity. Therefore, management also reviews GAAP results including these amounts.
Impairment Charges, which consist of non-cash charges, are excluded because such charges are non-recurring and do not reduce the Company's liquidity. In addition, given the fact that the Company's competitors may record impairment charges at different times, excluding these charges permits more accurate comparisons of the Company's core results with those of its competitors.
Amortization Charges, which consist of non-cash charges impacted by the timing and magnitude of acquisitions of businesses or assets, are also excluded because such charges do not reduce the Company's liquidity. In addition, such charges can be driven by the timing of acquisitions, which is difficult to predict. Excluding these charges permits more accurate comparisons of the Company's core results with those of its competitors because the Company's competitors complete acquisitions at different times and for different amounts than the Company.
Other Unusual or Infrequent Items, such as charges or benefits associated with distressed customers, expenses, charges and recoveries relating to certain legal matters, gains and losses on sales of assets, deferred tax adjustments and discrete tax items, are excluded because such items are typically non-recurring, difficult to predict or not directly related to the Company's ongoing or core operations and are therefore not considered by management in assessing the current operating performance of the Company and forecasting earnings trends. However, items excluded by the Company may be different from those excluded by the Company's competitors. In addition, these items include both cash and non-cash expenses. Cash expenses reduce the Company's liquidity. Management compensates for these limitations by reviewing GAAP results including these amounts.
Adjustments for Taxes, which consist of the tax effects of the various adjustments that we exclude from our non-GAAP measures, and adjustments related to deferred tax and discrete tax items. Including these adjustments permits more accurate comparisons of the Company's core results with those of its competitors. We determine the tax adjustments based upon the various applicable effective tax rates. In those jurisdictions in which we do not expect to realize a tax cost or benefit (due to a history of operating losses or other factors), a reduced tax rate is applied.
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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Greece’s prime minister said Monday that his government wants to take full advantage of a developing positive political climate with neighboring Turkey in order to improve bilateral relations despite a string of decades-old disputes.
But Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that doesn’t mean Turkey has “substantially changed” its stance on key differences between the two countries and needs to “decisively abandon its aggressive and unlawful conduct” against Greece’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Turkey and Greece remain at odds over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, a dispute that affects irregular migration into the European Union, mineral rights and the projection of military power.
Mitsotakis said that he agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12 to initiate new “lines of communication” and to maintain “a period of calm.”
High-level talks between the the two countries are expected to take place in the Greek city of Thessaloniki later this year.
However, the Greek prime minister said that Erdogan’s outreach to the EU can’t come at the expense of efforts to heal Cyprus’ nearly half-century ethnic division.
Speaking after talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Mitsotakis said that he told Erdogan that improved European-Turkish ties can’t exclude a Cyprus peace accord and that the issue can’t be “left by the wayside.”
Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriots have insisted on a two-state solution since July 2017 when the most recent round of U.N.-facilitated peace talks collapsed.
That position overturned a long-standing agreement sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council in numerous resolutions that any peace deal would aim for a reunified Cyprus as a federation made up of Greek and Turkish speaking zones.
Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the island’s northern third, where more than 35,000 Turkish troops are stationed.
On Friday, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar repeated that peace talks could resume only if Greek Cypriots recognize the Turkish Cypriots’ “sovereign equality.”
Christodoulides said Monday that any improvement in European-Turkish relations should be based on reciprocal action by Turkey, adding that the EU prioritizes a Cyprus peace deal in line with U.N. resolutions.
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| 2023-07-31T20:15:03
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Crews are battling ‘fire whirls’ in California’s Mojave Desert
MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. (AP) — Crews battled “fire whirls” in California’s Mojave National Preserve this weekend as a massive wildfire crossed into Nevada amid dangerously high temperatures and raging winds.
The York Fire was mapped at roughly 120 square miles (284 square kilometers) on Monday with no containment. The blaze erupted Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the vast wildland preserve, crossed the state line into Nevada on Sunday and sent smoke further east into the Las Vegas Valley.
A fire whirl — sometimes called a fire tornado — is a “spinning column of fire” that forms when intense heat and turbulent winds combine, according to the National Park Service.
The vortexes — which can be anywhere from a few feet tall to several hundred feet high, with varying rotational speeds — were spotted Sunday on the north end of the York Fire.
“While these can be fascinating to observe they are a very dangerous natural phenomena that can occur during wildfires,” the park service wrote.
Wind-driven flames 20 feet (6 meters) high in some spots charred tens of thousands of acres of blackbrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands and the famous Joshua trees in the New York Mountains in San Bernardino County.
It could take the pinyon-juniper woodlands 200 to 300 years to become “a functional community again,” while the blackbrush scrub and Joshua trees are unlikely to regrow after this catastrophic blaze, which erupted without human intervention.
“It will change the habitat possibly permanently,” said Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Even more, deer and bighorn sheep could become trapped by the flames, she said. If any manage to survive the blaze, their resources in the newly scorched landscape would be severely limited.
In 2020, the Dome Fire ripped through the preserve, ravaging one of the world’s largest Joshua tree forests. Conservationists, including Anderson, are trying to revitalize the land by planting new trees since the species usually isn’t able to make a comeback naturally after a wildfire.
The desert hasn’t adapted to fires; such blazes are rare because there are few ignition points in the harsh terrain. Generally, most fires in the desert are caused by humans, Anderson said.
The cause of the York Fire remains under investigation, though authorities say it started on private land within the preserve. Other details were not available Monday.
To the southwest, the Bonny Fire burned about 3.6 square miles (9.3 square kilometers) in the rugged hills of Riverside County. The blaze was about 20% contained on Monday.
More than 1,300 people were ordered to evacuate their homes Saturday near the community of Aguanga that is home to horse ranches and wineries.
One firefighter was injured in the blaze.
Gusty winds and the chance of thunderstorms into Tuesday will heighten the risk of renewed growth, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a statement.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:15:05
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SEATTLE, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Seabourn, the leader in ultra-luxury voyages and expedition travel, took delivery of its second expedition ship, Seabourn Pursuit, today during an official handover maritime ceremony at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy. Seabourn Pursuit is the company's second purpose-built, ultra-luxury expedition ship and the newest expedition ship in the industry.
"I am honored to share this incredible moment with the entire Seabourn family as we welcome Seabourn Pursuit, our highly anticipated second ultra-luxury expedition ship, into our fleet," expressed Natalya Leahy, Seabourn President. "With remarkable craftsmanship by the Mariotti team, an abundance of space, and the breathtaking style of Tihany Design, Seabourn Pursuit raises the bar for ultra-luxury expedition travel. We are grateful to Mariotti and Tihany Design for their expertise in shaping and making our dream come true for our guests."
Leahy added that the state-of-the-art Seabourn Pursuit will provide the perfect combination of luxury and expedition. "Seabourn Pursuit offers the best of both worlds: our well-known signature luxury and elegance with the world of exploration and adventure. The ship is masterfully designed for our guests, who are extraordinary people looking for out of the ordinary experiences. Our guests will indulge in Seabourn's ultra-luxury style and enjoy our intuitive, personalized service, while the ship takes them to awe-inspiring destinations around the world that only few will ever visit in a lifetime."
"Today, one year after the delivery of Seabourn Venture, we are very happy to have completed and delivered her sister ship, Seabourn Pursuit," said Marco Ghiglione, Managing Director of T. Mariotti. "We are truly proud to have built the most outstanding ultra-luxury expedition ship for Seabourn, one of the leading cruise lines in the luxury market. This is another important masterpiece for Italian shipbuilding coming out of T. Mariotti shipyard, demonstrating again that our leadership in this sector is well consolidated. Thanks to Seabourn, all people involved in this journey, Lloyd's Register and the pencil of Adam Tihany, here is the new expedition jewel."
Seabourn Pursuit offers the same luxurious "yacht like" small ship experience that travelers have come to expect from Seabourn, enhanced by world-class equipment that allows the line to offer its widest range of expedition activities led by an expert 24-person expedition team of scientists, scholars, naturalists, and more. Seabourn Pursuit is designed and built for remote, diverse environments to PC6 Polar Class standards and will include a plethora of modern hardware and technology that will extend the ship's global deployment and capabilities. Seabourn Pursuit has close to 30,000 square feet of deck space and special touches at every turn. Those include indoor and outdoor guest areas with nearly 270-degree views, and a 4K GSS Cineflex Camera mounted on the mast of the Constellation Lounge capable of broadcasting imagery from miles ahead on monitors located throughout the ship and in guest suites.
In addition, Seabourn Pursuit, like the rest of the ships in the Seabourn fleet, offers an abundance of space and elegance, eight dining facilities serving gourmet cuisine, and luxurious all-suite accommodations, including a pair of two-level Wintergarden suites.
Seabourn Pursuit is scheduled to enter service August 12, 2023, and will sail five voyages in the Mediterranean before embarking on two voyages across the Atlantic and through the Caribbean. On October 10, 2023, the ship will arrive in Barbados to begin its expedition journeys, taking guests to remote corners of the globe. Seabourn Pursuit will head south for expeditions exploring coastal South America, the Amazon, and Antarctica into late March 2024.
Following its inaugural Antarctic season, the ship will head across the islands of the South Pacific and eventually to Australia, which will be the start of the line's first exploration of the Kimberley region in the Northern Territory and Western Australia between June and August 2024. The iconic Kimberley, with its red sandstone gorges, rivers, waterfalls, wildlife, and Aboriginal life and history, is the ideal setting for a truly, world-class expedition experience. In addition to the Kimberley, Seabourn Pursuit will visit Papua New Guinea, West Papua, Indonesia, and sail across the South Pacific between Chile and Melanesia between March and October 2024.
For more details about Seabourn, or to explore the worldwide selection of Seabourn cruising options, contact a professional travel advisor, call Seabourn at 1-800-929-9391 or visit www.seabourn.com.
About Seabourn:
Seabourn represents the pinnacle of ultra-luxury ocean and expedition travel and operates a suite of six modern ships with one under construction. The all-inclusive, boutique ships offer all-suite accommodations with oceanfront views; award-winning dining; complimentary premium spirits and fine wines available at all times; renowned service provided by an industry-leading crew; a relaxed, sociable atmosphere that makes guests feel at home; a pedigree in expedition travel through the Ventures by Seabourn program and two new ultra-luxury purpose-built expedition ships, including Seabourn Venture that launched in 2022 and Seabourn Pursuit scheduled to enter service in 2023. Seabourn takes travelers to every continent on the globe, visiting more than 400 ports including marquee cities and lesser-known ports and hideaways. Guests of Seabourn experience extraordinary offerings and programs, including partnerships with leading entertainers, dining, personal health and wellbeing, and engaging speakers.
For more details about Seabourn, or to explore the worldwide selection of Seabourn cruising options, contact a professional travel advisor, call Seabourn at 1-800-929-9391 or visit www.seabourn.com.
Seabourn is a brand of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL and NYSE: CUK).
Find Seabourn on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.
Notes to Editors:
Seabourn is consistently ranked among the world's top travel choices by professional critics and the discerning readers of prestigious travel publications such as Departures, Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler. Its stylish, distinctive cruising vacations are renowned for:
- Purpose-built expedition ships, PC6 ice-strengthened hull, with advanced maneuvering technology for superior stability, safety, and comfort
- World-class Expedition Team, delivering immersive experiences
- All veranda, all ocean-front suites luxuriously appointed
- Handcrafted itineraries developed for the expedition traveler to the most coveted and familiar remote destinations in the world
- Intimate ships with a private club atmosphere
- Intuitive, personalized service provided by staff passionate about exceeding guests' expectations
- Inclusive expedition experiences with Zodiacs, scuba diving and snorkeling
- Optional expedition experiences with kayaks and custom-built, 6-guest submarines giving the option to extend your expedition further for greater ocean exploration**
- Welcome toast and complimentary in-suite bar stocked with your preferences
- Hosted bridge policy* with Expedition team members providing firsthand access to the ship's command center and officers navigating your journey
- World-class dining venues are all complimentary, dine where, when and with whom you wish
- Tipping is neither required, nor expected
- Complimentary premium spirits and fine wines available on board at all times
- Meticulous and purposeful adventurers' resort at sea designed for the luxury traveler with unique attributes and spaces to enhance your experience
- Spa & Wellness with Dr. Andrew Weil, featuring an exclusive mindful living program**
- Committed to environmental stewardship and sustainability
*At the Captain's discretion
** Optional programs, for additional charge
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ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — Idaho judge sentences Lori Vallow Daybell to life without parole in killings of her two children and a romantic rival.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:15:11
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WASHINGTON (AP) — For more than a year, the U.S. economy has defied predictions of a forthcoming recession. It has withstood 10 interest rate hikes in 16 months from an inflation-fighting Federal Reserve. In June, America’s employers added a healthy 209,000 jobs.
Will the economy remain resilient? Can the Fed achieve a notoriously difficult “soft landing” — slowing growth just enough to tame inflation without causing a recession?
The Associated Press spoke recently with Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: The job market is cooling but remains strong. Does that suggest a soft landing?
A: What we have seen in the job market so far in 2023 is consistent with a soft landing. Over the past three months, we’ve added 244,000 jobs per month. That’s still too high from the Fed’s perspective but much better than what we had at the end of last year. Although it’s consistent with a soft landing, it’s also consistent with a story where job growth continues to slow, the economy continues to weaken and we get a recession at the end of 2023. We don’t know what the outcome will be. It’s more likely than not that we get a recession.
Q: When would a downturn begin?
A: A few months ago, we were seeing it starting in the second half of 2023. Now we’re seeing late 2023 or early 2024. The labor market is still holding up. Consumers are still in decent shape. But I do think we will continue to feel the impact of the Fed’s monetary tightening. By the end of this year or sometime early next year, those higher rates will be a significant drag on economic activity and lead to recession. But the economy has held up somewhat better than we were expecting.
The economy just can’t continue to add this many jobs per month. We just don’t have the labor force out there.
Q: Where is inflation headed?
A: We will see slowing inflation. If you go back to 2021, 2022, a lot of that inflation was coming on the goods side. Now, the inflation is coming on the services side. Services inflation tends to be stickier, and it tends to be more driven by what’s going on in the labor market. So the tight labor market is contributing to high services inflation. That will contribute to inflation remaining higher than the Fed would like in the near term. By the end of this year, early next year, we will see a significant softening in the labor market that will help bring inflation down to the Fed’s 2% target.
Q: Will the job market continue to favor workers over the longer term?
A: We have seen structural changes. The pandemic pushed forward a lot of retirements. You had people who were close to retirement in 2020 and planning on working a few more years. But when the pandemic came along, they decided to retire. The remaining workers have more bargaining power. Businesses are going to need to rethink a lot of things about pay, about benefits, about workplace flexibility.
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SoftwareReviews' latest Data Quadrant report highlights the top-rated CRM software solutions in the current market that are successfully harnessing the technological trends.
TORONTO, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - SoftwareReviews, a leading source for insights on the software provider landscape, has revealed its new 2023 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Data Quadrant Report, which highlights the top ten CRM solutions in the enterprise, midmarket, and small business spaces for the year.
In an era defined by digital transformation, organizations are strategically adapting to fortify their customer relationships, as corroborated by the recent 2023 Data Quadrant report from SoftwareReviews. The report and its list of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software points to the substantial expansion of the CRM industry as organizations strive to consolidate their customer experiences across various sectors, such as sales, marketing, and customer service.
"As digital technology and transformation further embed themselves into our personal and professional lives, our expectations for quality customer experience increase," says Robert Fayle, research advisory lead at Info-Tech Research Group. "With the advent of generative AI and other AI and machine learning technologies, customers now demand a personalized experience. To meet these demands, organizations need to procure CRM platforms that enable personal interactions and that are also heavily investing in the adoption of these new technologies."
Although CRM adoption has its challenges, including the need for organizational cultural shifts, extensive employee training, and stringent data privacy measures, the potential benefits are substantial. From improved customer service to streamlined marketing efforts and increased sales, well-executed CRM systems can be transformative.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is introducing a new dimension to CRM systems, automating routine tasks, predicting customer behaviors, and identifying potential sales leads. As the CRM industry continues to evolve rapidly, driven by technological advancements and the rising relevance of mobile and social CRM platforms, it underscores the importance of overcoming implementation challenges to fully harness the power of CRM in the digital economy.
The 2023 Enterprise Customer Relationship Management Software Gold Medalists are as follows:
- Zoho CRM, 8.6 CS, ranked high for ease of customization.
- Oracle PeopleSoft CRM, 8.4 CS, ranked high for business value creation.
The 2023 Midmarket Customer Relationship Management Software Gold Medalists are as follows:
- NetSuite CRM, 8.9 CS, ranked high for lead management.
- ActiveCampaign, 8.8 CS, ranked high for quality of features.
- Salesforce Sales Cloud Professional, 8.6 CS, ranked high for its breadth of features.
- Agile CRM, 8.6 CS, ranked high for ease of implementation.
- Sage CRM, 8.6 CS, ranked high for sales management.
The 2023 Small Business Customer Relationship Management Software Gold Medalists are as follows:
- ConvergeHub, 9.0 CS, ranked high for lead management.
- Less Annoying CRM, 8.9 CS, ranked high for usability and intuitiveness.
- Pipeliner CRM, 8.8, ranked high for ease of data integration.
Cloud-based CRM systems now offer the flexibility of remote access and management, while advanced analytics tools empower organizations to derive actionable insights from the overwhelming influx of customer data. Concurrently, mobile and social CRM platforms are gaining prominence as essential tools for successful customer engagement. As the digital landscape evolves, these innovative platforms will continue to redefine customer interaction and shape the future of customer relationship management.
The full report is now accessible on the firm's website, which is updated in real time to reflect new reviews and ratings.
User assessments of software categories on SoftwareReviews provide an accurate and detailed view of the constantly changing market. SoftwareReviews' reports are informed by data from users and IT professionals who have intimate experience with the software throughout the procurement, implementation, and maintenance processes.
For more information about SoftwareReviews, the Emotional Footprint, or the Data Quadrant, or to access resources to support the software selection process, visit softwarereviews.com
SoftwareReviews empowers organizations with the best data, insights, and advice to improve the software buying and selling experience.
For buyers, SoftwareReviews' proven software selection methodologies, customer insights, and technology advisors help maximize success with technology decisions. For providers, the firm helps build more effective marketing, product, and sales processes with expert analysts, how-to research, customer-centric marketing content, and comprehensive analysis of the buyer landscape.
SoftwareReviews is a division of Info-Tech Research Group, a world-class information technology research and advisory firm.
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Idaho mom Lori Vallow Daybell sentenced in deaths of 2 children and her romantic rival
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.
Vallow Daybell was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife. Vallow Daybell will serve three life sentences one after the other, the judge said.
The husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same murder charges. Vallow Daybell also faces two other cases in Arizona — one on a charge of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and one of conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband. Charles Vallow was shot and killed in 2019, but her niece’s ex survived an attempt later that year.
At the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, Judge Steven W. Boyce said the search for the missing children, the discovery of their bodies and the evidence photos shown in court left law enforcement and jurors traumatized, and he would never be able to get images of the slain children out of his head.
A parent killing their own children “is the most shocking thing really that I can imagine,” Boyce said.
Vallow Daybell justified the murders by “going down a bizarre religious rabbit hole, and clearly you are still down there,” the judge said.
“I don’t think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused,” he said.
Boyce heard testimony from several representatives of the victims, including Vallow Daybell’s only surviving son, Colby Ryan.
“Tylee will never have the opportunity to become a mother, wife or have the career she was destined to have. JJ will never be able to grow and spread his light with the world the way he did,” Ryan wrote in a statement read by prosecuting attorney Rob Wood. “My siblings and father deserve so much more than this. I want them to be remembered for who they were, not just a spectacle.”
Ryan also wrote about his own grief.
“I’ve lost the opportunity to share life with the people I love the most. I have lost my sister, father, brother and my mother,” he wrote. “I pray for healing for everyone involved, including those who took the lives of everyone we loved.”
The murder scheme and Tammy Daybell’s death left a deep rift in her family, Tammy’s sister Samantha Gwilliam told the court.
“Why? Why plan something so heinous? You are not exalted beings, and your behavior makes you ineligible to be one,” Gwilliam said, referring to the unusual religious claims. “Because of the choices you made, my family lost a beloved mother, sister and daughter.”
Tammy Daybell’s mother was fighting cancer, and spent the last months of her life watching the murder trial, Gwilliam said. The family has also been hounded by media and others drawn by “all of the salacious scandal you stirred up,” Gwilliam told Vallow Daybell, who looked down as she sat between her defense attorneys.
“I miss my sister every day. I will grieve her, and the loss of my mother, every single day of my life,” Gwilliam said. “As for you, I choose to forget you and as I leave the courtroom here today, I choose to never think of you again.”
Boyce also heard from Vallow Daybell before handing down the sentence. She quoted Bible verses about how people should not judge each other. She said she too mourned the deaths of her children and Tammy Daybell but knew they would be together in the afterlife.
She claimed she is regularly visited by the spirits of her dead children, as well as the spirit of her “eternal friend,” Tammy Daybell, and suggested that the three weren’t murdered at all.
“Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case,” she said. “Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medication happen.”
Wood pointed to the two Arizona cases as well as the three murders in six weeks in Idaho.
“A defendant who is willing to murder her own children is willing to murder anyone,” Wood said. “Society can only be protected from this defendant by a sentence of life in prison without parole.”
Vallow Daybell was committed multiple times for treatment to make her mentally competent for the court proceedings. But Wood said there is no evidence that her crimes were impacted by her “alleged mental illness” — which includes delusional disorder with grandiose features, according to reports referenced in court.
“The evidence is overwhelming that she did know right from wrong,” Wood said, noting testimony from several people who said she lied to them about the deaths.
In July 2019, Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in a suburban Phoenix home. Cox told police he acted in self-defense. He was never charged and later died of what authorities determined were natural causes.
Vallow Daybell was already in a relationship with Chad Daybell, a self-published writer of doomsday-focused fiction loosely based on Mormon teachings. She moved to Idaho with her kids and brother to be closer to him.
The children were last seen alive in September 2019. Police discovered they were missing a month later after an extended family member became worried. Their bodies were found buried in Chad Daybell’s yard the following summer.
During the trial, experts said Tylee appeared to have been stabbed and her body burned before it was buried in a pet cemetery, Wood said.
JJ’s head was wrapped in tape and plastic, asphyxiating him, Wood said, speculating that his last thoughts must have “been filled with fear and betrayal.”
Tammy Daybell’s body was bruised, suggesting she fought back as she was asphyxiated in her bed, Wood said.
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow married in November 2019, about two weeks after Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy, was killed. Tammy Daybell initially was described as having died of natural causes, but an autopsy later showed she had been asphyxiated, authorities said.
Defense attorney Jim Archibald argued during the trial that there was no evidence tying Vallow Daybell to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met Chad Daybell and fell for his “weird” apocalyptic religious claims. He suggested that Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.
Daybell told her they had been married in several previous lives and she was a “sexual goddess” who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Archibald said.
Vallow Daybell’s former friend Melanie Gibb testified during the trial that Vallow Daybell believed people in her life had been taken over by evil spirits and turned into “zombies,” including JJ and Tylee.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s journalists on Monday protested against the government’s decision to suspend a private television station’s operations.
Authorities made the move last week because they said there were irregularities concerning the registration of Klan Kosova’s business license that violated the country’s constitution.
Scores of journalists and members of civil society organizations gathered in downtown Pristina in front of the main government building to protest the suspension of the broadcaster’s operations.
The demonstrators said it was a “politically motivated” action taken by the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti. It was the first closure of a media outlet since the end of Kosovo’s 1998-1999 war, they said, holding a banner that read “Democracy dies in darkness.”
Last week, Kosovo’s Ministry of Industry and Trade suspended Klan Kosova’s license, after the documentation of its business registration in neighboring North Macedonia showed that its owners had named Kosovo’s municipalities as if belonging to Serbia, “which is a violation of our constitution,” according to a statement released Monday.
The journalist accused the government’s decision as “an open and unprecedented war … against the media,” urging owners of Klan Kosova to continue its legal fight at the court.
Klan Kosova’s editor-in-chief, Gazmend, Syla called the suspension “unfair.”
“We consider this a kind of pressure to stop us doing of what we are doing,” he told The Associated Press, adding they would challenge the government’s decision in court.
Last month, Kosovo’s Agency of Business Registration found the alleged fault and decided to suspend the operations of the television station, a move supported last week by the ministry.
The station has said it had already fixed the problems as requested.
Klan Kosova was launched in 2009 to become the country’s biggest private television station.
The embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, and the European Union in Kosovo, expressed “their deep concern” about the suspension of Klan Kosova’s business license considering it “a disproportionate decision that will have repercussions on media plurality in Kosovo.”
Kosovo is a former province in Serbia, which doesn’t recognize Pristina’s 2008 declaration of independence. Kosovo’s sovereignty is backed by the U.S. and most EU nations, but not by Russia and China.
Serbia pulled out of Kosovo in 1999 after NATO bombed the country to stop the onslaught against ethnic Albanian separatists. At least 10,000 civilians, most of them ethnic Albanians, were killed in the conflict.
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Llazar Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.
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MESA, Ariz., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ: VRRM), a leading provider of smart mobility technology solutions, announced today that it will report financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023, after market close on August 9, 2023.
Verra Mobility's Chief Executive Officer, David Roberts, and Chief Financial Officer, Craig Conti, will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss financial results for investors and analysts at 5:00 p.m. ET on August 9, 2023.
To access the conference call, dial 1-888-886-7786 (U.S. toll-free) or 1-416-764-8658 (International) with conference ID 11014275 or click on the following link and request a return call: callme.viavid.com. A live webcast will be available on the Company's Investor Relations website at ir.verramobility.com.
An audio replay of the call will also be available until 11:59 p.m. ET on August 23, 2023, by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (U.S. toll-free), or 1-412-317-6671 (International) and entering passcode 11014275.
In addition, an archived webcast will be available in the "News & Events" section of Verra Mobility's Investor Relations website at ir.verramobility.com.
About Verra Mobility
Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ: VRRM) is a leading provider of smart mobility technology solutions that make transportation safer, smarter and more connected. The company sits at the center of the mobility ecosystem, bringing together vehicles, hardware, software, data and people to enable safe, efficient solutions for customers globally. Verra Mobility's transportation safety systems and parking management solutions protect lives, improve urban and motorway mobility and support healthier communities. The company also solves complex payment, utilization and compliance challenges for fleet owners and rental car companies. Headquartered in Arizona, Verra Mobility operates in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information, please visit www.verramobility.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Verra Mobility's plans, objectives, expectations, beliefs and intentions and other statements including words such as "hope," "anticipate," "may," "believe," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "plan," "estimate," "predict," "continue" and "potential" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. The forward-looking statements herein represent the judgment of the Verra Mobility, as of the date of this release, and Verra Mobility disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. This press release should be read in conjunction with the information included in Verra Mobility's other press releases, reports and other filings with the SEC and on the SEC website, www.sec.gov. Understanding the information contained in these filings is important in order to fully understand Verra Mobility's reported financial results and our business outlook for future periods. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions and estimates used as a basis for the forward-looking statements.
Additional Information
We periodically provide information for investors on our corporate website, www.verramobility.com, and our investor relations website, ir.verramobility.com. We intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor our website, in addition to following the Company's press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts.
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Alonna Allison, Kevin Nguyen, Lashonda Eldridge, Adam Tadeo, Nicholaus Scroggins, Maria Del Socorro Maldonado Ambriz, Daelon Locke, Marlon Davis.
The list goes on for 54 names, the names and faces of local homicides and missing persons, printed on playing cards.
Fort Wayne homicide detective Brian Martin, in charge of cold cases, printed 500 decks of cards to distribute to local jails and state prisons.
It’s not new, it’s just new here.
“We’re trying a new method or tactic to help us solve some of the cold cases that we have out there as well some missing persons that have been going on for quite a while and we suspect suspicious activity around the missing person,” Martin said.
The cards have contact information of the Fort Wayne Police Department, Allen County Sheriff’s Department and CrimeStoppers and the P3 tipline.
“We have 52 different cases featured and we used two of the jokers to get two more cases. The other two jokers (are) informational cards that tell a little bit about the project and why we’re doing it,” Martin explained in a sit-down interview Monday with WANE 15.
Three of the cold cases are from Allen County and the rest are the city of Fort Wayne, Martin added.
“Sheriff (Troy) Hershberger was extremely helpful with this project and even more so in getting these cards in the Allen County Jail,” Martin said.
Inmates at Indiana prisons and county jails, including Allen County, have time on their hands and often play cards to pass the hours.
When similar playing cards were dealt at Florida state prisons, the net result was “two or three cases per deck of cards,” Martin said. Indiana Department of Corrections is on their third edition of playing cards, he added.
Martin will take those odds any day.
“They are getting a lot of information. They’re getting feedback,” Martin said. “My thought is if I could get two or three of these cold cases or missing persons cases solved, one case would be fantastic. But if we could get two, three, four cases solved out of a deck of cards, I think that would be amazing and it would show us that we need to do a second edition with an additional 52 cases. “
Martin hopes to get them at jails in the surrounding counties because inmates often find themselves at various nearby facilities, he said.
To choose the 54 cases, Martin sat down with the rest of the homicide team and worked through the cases, choosing more of the most recent ones.
Someone like Adam Tadeo, shot in an alley off Creighton Avenue in March 2009, is one of the older cases for the deck.
The killing of Lashonda Eldridge, just 23 when she was shot to death in her own driveway off South Anthony Boulevard seated in her car with her two children, dates to August, 2019.
“This project is relatively expensive, not outrageous,” Martin said, thanking CrimeStoppers and former sheriff Ken Fries, for picking up the costs. The decks are not available to the general public.
“I think if we can get a couple of decks on each cell block that will allow the different inmates when they’re in the day rooms, when they’re outside their cell to have some visibility and maybe generate conversations or somebody who knows something will come forward and share that with us.”
Martin didn’t want to pick any cases over other ones to discuss out of respect for the victim and the families, but there are certain cases that affect him more than others.
“There’s definitely some cases you look at and you think, man we were so close. We’re so close to solving this. If we could get that one more piece over the wall so we could have prosecution. And obviously, some of our younger people in particular, not to take away from anybody, some of our younger folks who were 15 years old, 17, 18 years old, just beginning their lives. Those cases are, I guess, what you say near and dear to our heart,” Martin said.
Choosing the cases for the cards was “very much a team effort with the homicide division.
“We all sat and went through the cases and just to make it fair, we started with the most recent cases and worked backwards. There are one or two cases that are outside of that scope that we felt we needed to get in, definitely in the first edition.
“For the most part we just went by year and worked backwards to keep it fair and consistent.”
Martin believes Fort Wayne has around 200 cold cases. The cards are in boxes and ready to be dropped off.
“I just think it’s very important and we wanted to relay from the homicide division that this is one of many steps that we take. We’re always looking for new investigative techniques and different ways to get the word out to make our cases better and to solve cases,” Martin said.
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https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/shuffling-the-deck-may-lead-to-solving-cold-cases-playing-cards-with-local-homicides-are-coming-to-jails-and-prisons/
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Happy Monday, we are ending July and beginning a new work week today but we are still seeing and feeling warm. Temperatures are slightly cooler than we have been, but we are still warming into the mid 90s. A few passing clouds today but most will see plenty of sunshine. We are still sticky for the afternoon but not as humid as we could be.
Tuesday late morning into the early afternoon some rain could move through the area and slightly cool those temperatures down. Now if you don't get any of the rain it is still going to be hot, but closer to average for this time of year. We will be mostly sunny with some clouds tomorrow.
Towards the rest of the week, we will see bits of low pressure systems that will bring those usual summer afternoon thunderstorms. As of now, we don't expect any of these to reach severe potential, but we will continue to monitor if there are changes in the long term forecast. Temperatures do pick back up into the upper 90s, maybe even triple digits for a few of us by the time we get to the end of our work week. Low temperatures will pick back up into the upper 70s around that same time frame. The last couple days of summer break are not going away without a fight from the heat so make sure we stay hydrated and take frequent breaks from the outdoors.
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https://www.wtva.com/mostly-sunny-skies-for-most-today/article_ed016a84-2f9e-11ee-a3c3-b77110b16ad5.html
| 2023-07-31T20:15:22
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IS claims responsibility for the bombing that killed 54 at a pro-Taliban election rally in Pakistan
KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — An Afghan branch of Islamic State on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed at least 54 people at a pro-Taliban party’s election rally, in one of the region’s worst attacks in recent years.
Islamic State in Khorasan Province made the claim in a statement posted on its Amaq website. It said the attacker detonated an explosive vest, and that the bombing in the northwestern town of Bajur was part of the group’s continuing war against forms of democracy it deems to be against Islam.
Hours earlier, hundreds of mourners in Bajur carried caskets draped in colorful cloths to burial sites following the previous day’s attack at the election rally for the Jamiat Ulema Islam party. Officials said Sunday’s bombing killed 54 people, including at least five children, and wounded nearly 200.
The attack appeared to reflect divisions between Islamist groups, which have a strong presence in the district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan. The Jamiat Ulema Islam party has ties to the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.
At least 1,000 people were crowded into a tent near a market for the rally ahead of fall elections, according to police.
“People were chanting God is Great as the leaders arrived,” said Khan Mohammad, a local resident who said he was standing outside the tent, “and that was when I heard the deafening sound of the bomb.”
Mohammad said he heard people crying for help, and minutes later ambulances arrived and began taking the wounded away.
Police had suggested in their initial investigation that Islamic State in Khorasan Province was a suspect. The group is based in neighboring Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida.
Pakistan security analyst Mahmood Shah also previously had said that breakaway factions of the Pakistani Taliban could be possible suspects, though the group distanced itself from the attack.
The Pakistani military spent years fighting the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, in Bajur before declaring the district clear of militants in 2016. But the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman, has remained a potent political force.
On Monday, police recorded statements from some of the wounded at a hospital in Khar, the district’s principal town.
Female relatives and children wailed and beat their chests at family homes Monday as the dead were taken for funerals, following local customs. Hundreds of men followed the caskets to mosques and open areas for special funeral prayers and then into the hills for burial.
As condolences continued to pour in from across the country, dozens of people who had lesser injuries were discharged from hospital, while the critically wounded were taken to the provincial capital of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll continued to rise as some critically wounded people died in hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Gul Akbar, the father of an 11-year-old boy who was wounded in the attack, told The Associated Press that his entire family was in a state of shock after hearing about the bombing Sunday. He said he first went to the scene of the attack, and later found his son Taslim Khan being treated in a hospital in Khar.
“What would I have done if he had also been martyred? Five children died in this barbaric attack, and we want to know what our children did wrong,” he said.
Rehman’s party is preparing to contest elections, which are expected in October or November. Abdul Rasheed, one of the party’s senior leaders, said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that “such attacks cannot deter our resolve.”
Rehman’s party is part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. Khan condemned the bombing Sunday, as did the U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad.
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the bombing, saying that it was intended to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, wrote in a tweet that “such crimes cannot be justified in any way.”
The bombing came hours before Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng arrived in Islamabad, where he signed new agreements to boost trade and economic ties to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which China has invested $10 billion in Pakistan over 10 years, according to Sharif.
“We will not tolerate any obstacles in the way of friendship with China,” Sharif said, as he stood next to He.
But the government canceled a cultural event that had been arranged in honor of He, according to Sharif, while the nation mourns.
Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Rehman, who has long supported Afghanistan’s Taliban government, survived at least two known bomb attacks in 2011 and 2014, when bombings damaged his car at rallies.
Sunday’s bombing was one of the worst in northwestern Pakistan in the last decade. In 2014, 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
___
Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this story from Islamabad.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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DETROIT (AP) — Major changes in Michigan’s car insurance system don’t apply to people who were catastrophically injured before a 2019 law kicked in, the state Supreme Court said Monday in a decision that delivers critical relief to thousands of people counting on long-term benefits.
But the 5-2 opinion didn’t come soon enough for Brian Woodward, who was paralyzed in the 1980s and had frequently talked about the law’s drastic impact on his care. He died Monday at age 64, his family said.
For decades, crash survivors were entitled to lifetime payment for “all reasonable charges” related to care and rehabilitation. But a new state law set a fee schedule and a cap on reimbursements. Suddenly, 18,000 people already receiving benefits were forced to scramble as some health providers dropped out.
The Supreme Court, however, said a “vested contractual right” to ongoing benefits “cannot be stripped away or diminished,” especially when lawmakers failed to declare an intent to do so when they changed the law.
The decision was written by Justice Elizabeth Welch, a Democrat, and joined by other Democratic justices and by Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement, a Republican.
In an effort to lower Michigan’s insurance rates, which were among the highest in the U.S., the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer agreed to sweeping changes in 2019. Drivers can save money by choosing certain injury-coverage options. But payments for certain care were also slashed.
The catastrophically injured include hockey star Vladimir Konstantinov, a former member of the Detroit Red Wings, who requires 24/7 care. He suffered severe brain damage in 1997 when a drunken limousine driver crashed the car he was traveling in, following the team’s NHL championship.
Woodward suffered devastating spinal injuries in a crash but was able to get in-home care and even hold a job through insurance. When the law changed, and care rates were reduced, he said he lost caregivers and was shuttled from facility to facility.
“I’m dying,” Woodward told The Detroit News last week. “My body is breaking down because I’m not getting enough exercise.”
Tim Hoste, president of CPAN, a coalition of medical organizations and consumer groups, said the law led to the “spiritual, emotional and physical decline of many people, including Brian.”
An industry trade group, the Insurance Alliance of Michigan, said the Supreme Court decision will open the door to overcharging for medical care. The lower reimbursement schedule, however, remains intact for injuries since the law was overhauled.
In a dissent, Justice David Viviano said the Supreme Court majority crafted an opinion based on “vague and disputed concepts” to provide cover for those who simply believe it would be unfair to reduce future benefits for the long-term injured.
“As a result, the efforts of the Legislature and the governor to reduce costs and make insurance more affordable for all the residents of our state will not come to fruition for many decades,” said Viviano, who was joined by fellow Republican Justice Brian Zahra.
“If courts cannot be trusted to faithfully interpret and apply the laws, especially those involving such significant and contested topics, then the democratic process is in peril,” Viviano said.
___
Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
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(WJHL) – The Tri-Cities is huge on community, and diners are places that exemplify and represent their communities regularly.
Whether it’s breakfast or homecooked style meals, Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia are home to a bounty of diners serving up delicious food and fun experiences.
News Channel 11 is looking to see which diner the Tri-Cities loves the most. You can throw your favorite diner’s name in the ring by filling out the nomination form below. Nominations end at 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 6, after which the four diners with the most nominations will be named finalists.
The winning diner will receive an exclusive story highlighting what makes it unique and beloved.
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- WOW! Internet, TV & Phone (NYSE: WOW), a leading broadband provider in the United States, announced today it will host a webcast and conference call on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. ET to discuss financial and operating results for the second quarter 2023. WOW! will issue a news release reporting its results earlier that morning.
The conference call will be broadcast live on the company's investor relations website at ir.wowway.com. Those parties interested in participating via telephone should dial (888) 330-3556 with the conference ID number 4844814. International callers should dial (646) 960-0826 and use the same conference ID number.
A replay of the call will be available August 8, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. ET, on the investor relations website or by telephone. To access the telephone replay, which will be available until August 22, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. ET, please dial (800) 770-2030 or (647) 362-9199 and use conference ID 4844814.
About WOW! Internet, TV & Phone
WOW! is one of the nation's leading broadband providers, with an efficient and high-performing network that passes nearly 2 million residential, business and wholesale consumers. WOW! provides services in 15 markets, primarily in the Midwest and Southeast, including Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, including the new all-fiber network in Central Florida. With an expansive portfolio of advanced services, including high-speed Internet services, cable TV, home phone, mobile phone, business data, voice, and cloud services, the company is dedicated to providing outstanding service at affordable prices. WOW! also serves as a leader in exceptional human resources practices, having been recognized 10 times by the National Association for Business Resources as a Best & Brightest Company to Work For in the Nation, winning the award for the last six consecutive years and making the 2022 Top 101 National Winners list. Visit wowway.com for more information.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE WideOpenWest, Inc.
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| 2023-07-31T20:15:26
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JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) — Mississippians shouldn’t expect a permanent state superintendent of education until at least December.
The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) published its search timeline on Monday, July 31.
The application period begins on Aug. 14 and candidate interviews and selection are scheduled for December.
The search process initially began when former State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright announced her retirement in April 2022. She departed that summer.
MDE appointed Robert Taylor as her replacement in November but the Mississippi Senate voted against his confirmation in March of this year.
Some senators questioned his resume and some senators blamed racism for his rejection.
Taylor has since been appointed the superintendent of North Carolina’s largest school district.
Read More - Short-term Mississippi schools chief hired back in North Carolina to lead largest district
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| 2023-07-31T20:15:28
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New Hampshire beachgoers witness small plane crash into surf, flip in water
HAMPTON BEACH, N.H. (AP) — A small plane that crashed into the ocean just off a New Hampshire beach over the weekend flipped upside down when it hit the water before slowly rolling back into an upright position.
The pilot of the single-engine Piper PA-18 plane that had been pulling a banner advertising a concert made his own way out of the aircraft after Saturday’s noontime crash and was assisted ashore by Hampton Beach lifeguards who moments before had been keeping a close eye on swimmers.
The pilot was evaluated at the scene but was not hurt, police said.
The plane had been buzzing over the crowded beach all morning dragging a banner for an Eagles tribute band playing Saturday night at a local venue, said Tammy Nowlan of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, who was at the beach with her boyfriend and caught video of the crash on her phone.
When the plane dropped the banner, she knew something was wrong.
“I remember my boyfriend saying, ‘Looks like something fell off that plane,'” Nowlan said on Monday.
She grabbed her phone and captured the plane hitting the water about 30 yards (27 meters) off the shore and somersaulting over.
“It was the craziest thing,” she said. “It just slowly glided in like something from a movie. I saw the pilot get out and he was safe, and I said, ‘Thank goodness.’”
Authorities did not release the pilot’s name but the aircraft is registered to the owner of Sky Lines Aerial Advertising, based at nearby Hampton Airfield, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. Voicemail messages were left with the company on Monday.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
According to preliminary information released by the FAA on Monday, the aircraft crashed “for unknown reasons.”
The plane was hauled onto the sand and eventually turned over to the owner.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — An Iowa man wanted on multiple child sexual abuse charges was arrested in Carter County on Monday.
According to the Carter County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), authorities were notified that Wayne Wickenkamp, 36, was seen in the area Sunday, driving a gold minivan.
On Sunday around 7 p.m., deputies saw Wickenkamp traveling on Highway 321 near Watauga Lake. Wickenkamp allegedly fled deputies and a police pursuit ensued, eventually ending on Nanny Smith Road in Hampton.
The CCSO states that after Wickenkamp turned onto the road, he left the vehicle with a firearm and fled on foot, across a creek and into the woods.
The CCSO SWAT Team, officers with the Tennessee Department of Corrections, two K-9 dogs and Carter County constables aided in the search for Wickenkamp. The vehicle Wickenkamp abandoned was towed by investigators to be processed.
Iowa authorities reported that Wickenkamp failed to appear for trial on multiple child sexual abuse charges.
The search for Wickenkamp continued on Monday morning. According to Sheriff Mike Fraley, Wickencamp was considered armed and dangerous.
The CCSO informed News Channel 11 at 2:28 p.m. Monday that Wickenkamp had been located and taken into custody. A CCSO lieutenant on patrol saw Wickenkamp walking along a road in Hampton near where he had last been seen.
He was reportedly arrested without incident and charged with felony evading arrest. According to the CCSO, additional local charges against Wickenkamp are pending.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is closing out its latest winning month with another lift. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Monday to cap its fifth straight month of gains. It’s at a 16-month high after rallying on hopes cooling inflation will mean the economy can avoid a long-predicted recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 100 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite finished 0.2% higher. Critics have said the rally has come too quickly. Several reports this week could back them up, including updates on the job market and profits at the market’s most influential companies.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting Monday as Wall Street rolls toward the end of another winning month.
The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged in afternoon trading, on track for a fifth straight month of gains, which would be its longest winning streak in nearly two years. The index is near a 16-month high after rallying on hopes cooling inflation will mean the economy can avoid a long-predicted recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 45 points, or 0.1%, at 35,506 as of 1:43 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.
To be sure, critics have been saying Wall Street’s seemingly growing consensus for a soft landing for the economy has come too quickly. Several reports this upcoming week could poke holes in the theory that inflation will keep coming down enough for the Federal Reserve to not only stop hiking interest rates but to begin cutting them by early next year.
Big names in the market, such as Rob Arnott at Research Affiliates, are warning not to be “overly hasty in popping the champagne corks.” Arnott sees the possibility of inflation rebounding again later this year, even though it’s cooled considerably recently.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell himself has pointed to Friday’s upcoming report on the overall U.S. job market as an important datapoint. Growth needs to be strong enough to keep a lid on worries about a possible recession. But a reading that’s too hot could also mean upward pressure on inflation, which could push the Fed to get more aggressive about rates.
High rates undercut inflation by slowing the overall economy and dragging on prices for stocks and other investments. The Fed has already hiked its main rate to its highest level in more than two decades, a jolting shock after the rate began last year at virtually zero.
Two of Wall Street’s most influential stocks are also set to report their earnings for the spring. Amazon and Apple are both scheduled to release their latest quarterly results on Thursday. Because they’re two of the most massive stocks on Wall Street, their stock movements pack much more punch for the S&P 500 and other indexes than other stocks.
Both stocks have soared this year, in part on expectations for strong continued growth, and they’ll need to deliver to justify the big moves. Both Apple and Amazon are up more than 50% so far this year.
Roughly halfway through the earnings reporting season, more companies than usual have topped analysts’ profit expectations, according to FactSet. Companies also seem to be more optimistic about their upcoming results, giving better-than-expected profit forecasts more often than usual, according to strategists at Bank of America.
“While economic uncertainty remains, we believe the profit cycle is inflecting higher,” the strategists wrote in a BofA Global Research report.
ON Semiconductor rose 3% for one of the larger gains in the S&P 500 after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. The company, known as onsemi, also gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that topped analysts’ expectations.
On the losing end was Tempur Sealy International. The mattress company said it discovered a cybersecurity event last week, which pushed it to shut down some of its technology systems. It has resumed operations after what it called a temporary interruption and is working to determine the incident’s full impact. Its stock fell 4%.
In stock markets abroad, indexes in Europe were a bit higher higher after data showed Europe’s economy has grown modestly after months of stagnation.
In Asia, stocks rose in Hong Kong and Shanghai amid hopes Beijing will deliver more stimulus for the sluggish Chinese economy.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields slipped after a report suggested manufacturing in the Chicago region is weakening a bit more than economists expected. Manufacturing has been one of the hardest-hit areas in the economy by high interest rates, which work with a notoriously long lag effect.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 3.94% from 3.96% late Friday.
___
AP Business Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Joe McDonald contributed.
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How to Watch the Rockies vs. Padres Game: Streaming & TV Channel Info for July 31
Ryan McMahon and the Colorado Rockies will look to knock off Ha-Seong Kim and the San Diego Padres on Monday at 8:40 PM ET at Coors Field.
Sign up for Fubo to watch this game and make sure you don't miss any of the action all season long!
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Rockies vs. Padres Live Stream, TV Channel and Game Info:
- Date: Monday, July 31, 2023
- Time: 8:40 PM ET
- TV Channel: SportsNet RM
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Venue: Coors Field
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
Bet on this matchup with BetMGM Sportsbook and use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Explore More About This Game
Rockies Batting & Pitching Performance
- The Rockies rank 23rd in Major League Baseball with 105 home runs.
- Colorado ranks 17th in the majors with a .405 team slugging percentage.
- The Rockies rank 13th in MLB with a .253 team batting average.
- Colorado ranks 20th in the majors with 457 total runs scored this season.
- The Rockies have an OBP of .313 this season, which ranks 22nd in MLB.
- The Rockies rank 22nd in strikeouts per game (9.2) among MLB offenses.
- Colorado averages just 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings as a pitching staff, worst in the majors.
- Colorado has pitched to a 5.48 ERA this season, which ranks 29th in baseball.
- Rockies pitchers have a 1.514 WHIP this season, second-worst in the majors.
Rockies Probable Starting Pitcher
- The Rockies will hand the ball to Austin Gomber (8-8) for his 22nd start of the season.
- The left-hander gave up no earned runs in six innings pitched on Tuesday in his last outing, a matchup with the Washington Nationals.
- He has nine quality starts in 21 chances this season.
- Gomber has pitched five or more innings in eight straight games and will look to extend that streak.
- He has made 21 appearances and finished two of them without allowing an earned run.
Rockies Schedule
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Paul Ruebens, Iconic Pee-wee Herman Actor, Dies at 70
Paul Reubens, the actor best known for the role of Pee-wee Herman, has died following a private battle with cancer. He was 70 years ago.
A statement was posted to Pee-wee's social media accounts that he appeared to write in advance of his death.
“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” he wrote in the statement which was posted on Instagram after his death. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans, and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”
The post said that Reubens passed away over the weekend.
“Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer, and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy, and belief in the importance of kindness,” it read.
Pee-wee Herman was a character Rubens launched alongside Tim Burton in 1985 for 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure':
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(CNN) — Paul Reubens, who found fame as the quirky man-child character Pee-wee Herman, has died, his publicist announced.
He was 70.
“Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy and belief in the importance of kindness,” a post on his verified social media reads. “Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. A gifted and prolific talent, he will forever live in the comedy pantheon and in our hearts as a treasured friend and man of remarkable character and generosity of spirit.”
Reubens left a statement with his team to share with the public after his death.
“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” Reubens wrote. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”
Born in Peekskill, New York, Reubens grew up in Sarasota, Florida, and developed an affinity for comedy early on in his life that he attributed in part to Sarasota being the winter home of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum Circus.
In sixth grade, while attending Southside Elementary, Reubens stepped onto a stage for the first time as Nick Burns in “A Thousand Clown”s at The Players Theatre. While at Brookside Junior High, he appeared at The Players in “The Riot Act”, “Camelot” and “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.”
He led his high school drama club and appeared in starring roles in productions of “The Comedy of Errors,” “My Fair Lady” and “Guys and Dolls.” He was also voted “Most Talented” during his senior year.
After high school graduation, Reubens enrolled in Boston University’s theatre department before moving to Los Angeles to attend the acting program at California Institute of the Arts, the new school founded by Walt Disney.
It was after college that Reubens created the iconic character Pee-wee Herman while a member of the famed Los Angeles improv group, The Groundlings.
“The Pee-wee Herman Show” premiered at The Groundlings Theatre in 1981 before moving to The Roxy on Sunset Strip, where it ran for an unprecedented five months.
The HBO broadcast of the show introduced the Pee-wee Herman character to a national audience.
The character was later brought to the big screen in the 1985 comedy, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” which Reubens co-wrote.
Reubens went on to create, co-write and co-direct the series “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” on CBS, where the series earned 22 Emmy Awards during its run from 1986 to 1991. Reubens was nominated for 14 Emmy Awards during his career, winning twice.
In 2010, he produced, co-wrote and starred in an updated revival of “The Pee-wee Herman Show” in Los Angeles. The production later traveled to Broadway, opening to rave reviews at The Stephen Sondheim Theater.
Five years later, he teamed with director Judd Apatow for the Netflix film “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.”
His success as Pee-wee Herman also helped Reubens usher other actors into the spotlight on their road to fame. Some of his “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” costar included Laurence Fishburne, Natasha Lyonne, Jimmy Smits, Sandra Bernhard and S. Epatha Merkerson.
Away from the cameras, Reubens faced legal trouble over the years.
He was arrested for indecent exposure in 1991 at a theater showing X-rated films, for which he later entered a plea of no contest.
In 2002, Reubens was charged with one misdemeanor count of possessing material depicting children engaged in sexual conduct, a charge that was later dropped with the actor pleading guilty to a charge of obscenity instead.
“I probably have become more infamous from two misdemeanors than probably anyone I could think of,” Reubens told NBC in 2004.
Some of his more recent acting credits include roles on “Gotham,” “What We Do In The Shadows,” “The Blacklist,” “Portlandia,” “30 Rock,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Reno 911” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
Friend and colleagues paid tribute to Reubens on social media on Monday.
“My heart is broken into a billion pieces. Then I looked at the text you sent me last week: a meme of a person in giant hair getting a pie in the face and I burst out laughing,” director Adam Shankman wrote. “Laughing and crying. This my friend says everything about you and what you gave the world.”
The-CNN-Wire
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Pee-wee Herman actor and creator Paul Reubens dies from cancer at 70
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose Pee-wee Herman character — an overgrown child with a tight gray suit and an unforgettable laugh — became a 1980s pop cultural phenomenon, has died at 70.
Reubens, who’s character delighted fans in the film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and on the TV series “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” died Sunday night after a six-year struggle with cancer that he kept private, his publicist said in a statement.
“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” Reubens said in a statement released Monday with the announcement of his death. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”
Created for the stage, Pee-wee with his white chunky loafers and red bow tie would become a cultural constant in both adult and children’s entertainment for much of the 1980s, though an indecent exposure arrest in 1991 would send the character into entertainment exile for years.
The laugh that punctuated every sentence, catch phrases like “I know you are but what am I” and a tabletop dance to the Champs’ song “Tequila” in a biker bar in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” were often imitated by fans, to the joy of some and the annoyance of others.
Reubens created Pee-wee when he was part of the Los Angeles improv group The Groundlings in the late 1970s. The live “Pee-wee Herman Show” debuted at a Los Angeles theater in 1981 and was a success with both kids during matinees and adults at a midnight show.
The show closely resembled the format the Saturday morning TV “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” would follow years later, with Herman living in a wild and wacky home with a series of stock-character visitors, including one, Captain Karl, played by the late “Saturday Night Live” star Phil Hartman. In its story, Pee-wee secretly longs to fly, but turns over a wish granted by the genie character Jambi to a friend instead.
HBO would air the show as a special.
“Pee Wee got his wish to fly,” Steve Martin tweeted after his death. “Thanks Paul Reubens for the brilliant off the wall comedy.”
Reubens took Pee-wee to the big screen with 1985’s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” which takes the character outside for a nationwide escapade. The film, in which Pee-wee’s cherished bike is stolen, was said to be loosely based on Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neo-realist classic, “The Bicycle Thief.” Directed by Tim Burton and co-written by Hartman, the movie was a success, grossing $40 million, and continued to spawn a cult following for its oddball whimsy.
A sequel followed three years later in the less well-received “Big Top Pee-wee,” in which Pee-wee seeks to join a circus. Reubens’ character wouldn’t get another movie starring role until 2016’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday,” for Netflix. Judd Apatow produced Pee-wee’s big-screen revival.
His television series, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” ran for five seasons, earned 22 Emmys and attracted not only children but adults to Saturday-morning TV.
Both silly and subversive and championing nonconformity, the Pee-wee universe was a trippy place, populated by things like a talking armchair and a friendly pterodactyl. The host, who is fond of secret words and loves fruit salad so much he once married it, is prone to lines like, “Why don’t you take a picture; it’ll last longer?” The act was a hit because it worked on multiple levels, even though Reubens insists that wasn’t the plan.
“It’s for kids,” Reubens told The Associated Press in 2010. “People have tried to get me for years to go, ‘It wasn’t really for kids, right?’ Even the original show was for kids. I always censored myself to have it be kid-friendly.
“The whole thing has been just a gut feeling from the beginning,” Reubens told the AP. “That’s all it ever is and I think always ever be. Much as people want me to dissect it and explain it, I can’t. One, I don’t know, and two, I don’t want to know, and three, I feel like I’ll hex myself if I know.”
Jimmy Kimmel posted on Instagram that “Paul Reubens was like no one else — a brilliant and original comedian who made kids and their parents laugh at the same time. He never forgot a birthday and shared his genuine delight for silliness with everyone he met.”
Reubens’ career was derailed when he was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult movie theater in Sarasota, Florida, the city where he grew up. He was handed a small fine but the damage was incalculable.
He became the frequent butt of late-night talk show jokes and the perception of Reubens immediately changed.
“The moment that I realized my name was going to be said in the same sentence as children and sex, that’s really intense,” Reubens told NBC in 2004. “That’s something I knew from that very moment, whatever happens past that point, something’s out there in the air that is really bad.”
Reubens said he got plenty of offers to work, but told the AP that most of them wanted to take “advantage of the luridness of my situation”,” and he didn’t want to do them.
“It just changed,” he said. “Everything changed.”
He did take advantage of one chance to poke fun at his tarnished image. Just weeks after his arrest, he would open the MTV Video Music Awards, walking on to the stage alone and saying, “Heard any good jokes lately?” (Herman appearances on MTV had fueled Pee-wee’s popularity in the early 1980s.)
In 2001, Reubens was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography after police seized images from his computer and photography collection, but the allegation was reduced to an obscenity charge and he was given three years probation.
Born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, in 1952, the eldest of three kids, he grew up in Sarasota where his parents ran a lamp store and he put on comedy shows for neighbor kids.
After high school he sought to study acting. He spent a year at Boston University, and was then turned down by the Juilliard School and Carnegie-Mellon University. So he enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts. That would lead to appearances at local comedy clubs and theaters and joining the Groundlings.
After the 1991 arrest, he would spend the decade playing primarily non-Pee-wee characters, including roles in Burton’s 1992 movie “Batman Returns,” the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” film and a guest-star run on the TV series “Murphy Brown.”
He also appeared in the 1999 comedy film “Mystery Men” and Johnny Depp’s 2001 drug-dealer drama “Blow.”
Reubens — who never lost his boyish appearance even in his 60s, would slowly re-introduce Pee-wee, eventually doing a Broadway adaptation of “The Pee-wee Herman Show” in 2010, and the 2016 Netflix movie.
Reubens was beloved by his fellow comedians, and fans of Pee-wee spanned the culture.
Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted Monday that he was “one of the patron saints of all misfitted, weird, maladjusted, wonderful, miraculous oddities.”
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Associated Press Writer Alicia Rancilio and Film Writer Jake Coyle contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.kaaltv.com/news/us-world-news/pee-wee-herman-actor-and-creator-paul-reubens-dies-from-cancer-at-70/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:36
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https://www.kaaltv.com/news/us-world-news/pee-wee-herman-actor-and-creator-paul-reubens-dies-from-cancer-at-70/
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UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Unicoi County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting that occurred Monday afternoon.
It happened around 2 p.m. at the intersection of Old Asheville Highway and River Road, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies arrived at the scene to find a man with an apparent gunshot wound and another person who was identified as the shooter, according to Frank Rogers with the sheriff’s office.
“I have one side of the story, but there’s two sides to every story,” Rogers said. “So we’re not willing to make a conclusion or a determination just yet. But as more information is available, we’ll be happy to share it with you.”
The victim was flown to Johnson City Medical Center, Rogers said.
The unnamed suspect is still in custody.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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https://www.wjhl.com/news/crime/unicoi-co-sheriffs-office-investigating-shooting/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:37
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Rockies vs. Padres: Odds, spread, over/under - July 31
On Monday, July 31 at 8:40 PM ET, the San Diego Padres (52-54) visit the Colorado Rockies (41-64) at Coors Field in the series opener. Seth Lugo will get the nod for the Padres, while Austin Gomber will take the mound for the Rockies.
The favored Padres have -200 moneyline odds against the underdog Rockies, who are listed at +165. San Diego is the favorite on the run line (-2.5). An 11.5-run over/under has been set in this contest.
Rockies vs. Padres Time and TV Channel
- Date: Monday, July 31, 2023
- Time: 8:40 PM ET
- TV: SportsNet RM
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Venue: Coors Field
- Probable Pitchers: Lugo - SD (4-5, 3.62 ERA) vs Gomber - COL (8-8, 5.83 ERA)
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Rockies vs. Padres Betting Odds, Run Line and Total
Here's a look at the odds, run line and over/under for this matchup across different sportsbooks.
Wanting to wager on the Rockies and Padres game but aren't sure how to get started? Here's a quick primer. Some of the most common betting types include the moneyline, run line, and total. A moneyline bet means that you think one of the teams -- the Rockies (+165), for example -- will win. It's that simple! If the Rockies win, and you bet $10, you'd get $26.50 back.
There are tons of other ways to bet, including on player props (will Jurickson Profar hit a home run?), parlays (combining picks from multiple games to multiply your winnings), and more. Check out the BetMGM website and app for more details on the multitude of ways you can play.
Ready to place your bet? Click here and enter bonus code "GNPLAY" to claim your BetMGM promo today.
Read More About This Game
Rockies vs. Padres Betting Trends and Insights
- The Padres have won 42, or 53.8%, of the 78 games they've played as favorites this season.
- The Padres have a record of 10-8 when playing as moneyline favorites with odds of -200 or shorter (55.6% winning percentage).
- Oddsmakers have implied with the moneyline set for this matchup that San Diego has a 66.7% chance to win.
- The Padres went 6-4 across the 10 games they were favored on the moneyline in their last 10 matchups.
- Over its last 10 matchups (all 10 of them had set totals), San Diego and its opponents combined to go over the run total two times.
- The Rockies have come away with 37 wins in the 90 contests they have been listed as the underdogs in this season.
- The Rockies have a win-loss record of 11-26 when favored by +165 or worse by oddsmakers this year.
- In seven games as underdogs over the last 10 matchups, the Rockies have a record of 3-4.
- Colorado and its opponents have combined to hit the over four times in the last 10 games with a total.
Rockies vs. Padres Player Props
Check out all the player prop markets available for this game, including betting on players to get a hit, go deep, or pick up a bunch of strikeouts. Head to BetMGM for the latest odds available for the , and place your bets. New depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Want a different way to play? Put together your best lineup of players and you could win cash prizes! Sign up for FanDuel Fantasy using our link for the best first-time player offer.
Rockies Futures Odds
Think the Rockies can win it all? Check out the latest futures odds for Colorado and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook! Be sure to use our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers.
Not all offers available in all states, please visit sportsbook websites for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T20:15:39
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NEW YORK (AP) — Troubled trucking company Yellow Corp. is shutting down and headed for a bankruptcy, the Teamsters said Monday.
An official bankruptcy filing is expected any day for Yellow, after years of financial struggles and growing debt. Its expected liquidation would mark a significant shift for the U.S. transportation industry and shippers nationwide.
“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,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry.”
Yellow did not have a comment when reached by The Associated Press Monday. As of Monday afternoon, no bankruptcy filings from the company could be found on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website, but the union confirmed that it had been served legal notice.
The company’s collapse arrives just three years after Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., received $700 million in pandemic-era loans from the federal government. But the company was in financial trouble long before that — with industry analysts pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back decades.
Former Yellow customers and shippers will face higher prices as they take their business to competitors, including FedEx or ABF Freight, experts say — noting that Yellow historically offered the cheapest price points in the industry.
Yellow is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The closure of the 99-year-old Nashville, Tennessee-based company risks a loss of 30,000 jobs.
Safety vests that appeared to belong to former Yellow workers were zip-tied to the fence of a closed YRC Freight terminal in St. Louis, Missouri on Monday. Names and years worked at the company were written on them.
“Ron Fisher 2017-2023 was here,” one vest read.
Reports of Yellow preparing for bankruptcy emerged last week — as the Nashville, Tennessee-based trucker saw customers leave in large numbers, per The Wall Street Journal and FreightWaves. And the company reportedly stopped freight pickups earlier in the week.
Yellow shut down operations on Sunday, according to The Journal, following the layoffs of hundreds of nonunion employees on Friday.
The bankruptcy preparation reports arrived just days after Yellow averted a strike from the Teamsters, which represents Yellow’s 22,000 unionized workers, amid heated contract negotiations. On July 23, a pension fund agreed to extend health benefits for workers at two Yellow Corp. operating companies, avoiding a planned walkout. The fund gave Yellow “30 days to pay its bills,” notably $50 million that Yellow failed to pay the Central States Health and Welfare Fund earlier in the month.
Yellow has racked up hefty bills over the years. 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.
The current financial chaos at Yellow “is probably two decades in the making,” said Stifel research director Bruce Chan, 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.”
A Wednesday investors note from financial service firm Stephens estimated that Yellow was burning daily amounts of $9 million to $10 million in recent days.
Yellow handled an average of 49,000 shipments per day in 2022 according to Satish Jindel, president of transportation and logistics firm SJ Consulting. On Friday, he estimated that number was down to between 10,000 and 15,000 daily shipments.
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.”
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AP Business Writer Matt Ott contributed to this report.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-teamsters-say-yellow-corp-is-ceasing-operations-filing-for-bankruptcy/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:38
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Temperatures are in the upper 80s and quickly approaching the 90s at noon here on the last day of the month. July is ending on a bright note with mostly sunny skies in the forecast for the rest of this day. Our afternoon high temperatures will be in the mid 90s which is normal for this time of year. While the air is still humid, it is not as sticky as it was this past weekend, keeping the heat index value below heat index criteria for this afternoon and the next couple of days. That will not be the case towards the end of the week though.
For tonight, we will see mostly clear skies and temperatures cooling into the lower 70s as we head out the door on the first day of August. While Tuesday is expected to start off with mostly dry conditions, showers will move across the area throughout the day. Rain chances remain a part of the forecast for the rest of the week along with increasing temperatures. We are expected to be back into the upper 90s by the end of this week. Coupled with the increasing humidity, this means we will likely see excessive heat advisories/ warnings return before the weekend.
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https://www.wtva.com/news/top-stories/july-is-ending-on-a-sunny-note-before-rain-tomorrow/article_dbe290d4-2fc6-11ee-9fef-1f540d11db7c.html
| 2023-07-31T20:15:40
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More students are taking on paid internships, but new numbers show there’s still a gender gap when it comes to interns who are in roles that are unpaid.
Now, the National Association of Colleges and Employers is calling for federal action to ensure all interns are compensated for their time.
Here & Now‘s Deepa Fernandes learns more with Mary Gatta, NACE’s director of research and public policy.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/a-call-for-congress-to-end-unpaid-internships
| 2023-07-31T20:15:42
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UN chief welcomes Kenya’s offer to `positively consider’ leading police force to combat Haiti gangs
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief on Monday welcomed Kenya’s offer to “positively consider” leading a multinational police force to help combat Haiti’s gangs and improve security in the violence-wracked Caribbean nation.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry sent an urgent appeal last October for “the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity” to stop the gangs. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has been appealing unsuccessfully since then for a lead nation to help restore order to Latin America’s most impoverished country.
Kenya’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday said its offer includes a commitment to send 1,000 police to help train and assist the Haitian National Police “restore normalcy in the country and protect strategic installations.” The ministry said it was responding to a request from the Friends of Haiti group of nations.
“Kenya stands with persons of African descent across the world, including those in the Caribbean, and aligns with the African Union’s diaspora policy and our own commitment to Pan Africanism, and in this case to `reclaiming of the Atlantic crossing,’” the ministry said.
Haiti’s gangs have grown in power since the July 7, 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and are now estimated to control up to 80% of the capital. The surge in killings, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent uprising by civilian vigilante groups.
U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Guterres “welcomes Kenya’s positive response to his call” and expresses gratitude to Kenya for its “solidarity.”
The secretary-general calls on the U.N. Security Council to support a non-U.N. multinational operation in Haiti “and encourages member states, particularly from the region, to join forces from Kenya” in supporting the country’s police, Haq said.
Kenya’s Foreign Ministry said its proposed deployment will crystalize once the Security Council adopts a resolution giving a mandate for the force, and other Kenyan constitutional processes are undertaken.
A Kenyan task force plans to undertake an assessment mission to Haiti within the next few weeks which “will inform and guide the mandate and operational requirements of the mission,” it said.
Guterres, who visited Haiti in early July, called afterward for a robust international force to help the Haitian National Police “defeat and dismantle the gangs.”
He said the estimate by the U.N. independent expert for Haiti, William O’Neill, that up to 2,000 additional anti-gang police officers are needed is no exaggeration. O’Neill, who concluded a 10-day trip to Haiti in July, is an American lawyer who has been working on Haiti for over 30 years and helped establish the Haitian National Police in 1995.
The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on July 14 asking Guterres to come up with “a full range of options” within 30 days to help combat Haiti’s armed gangs, including a non-U.N. multinational force, a possible U.N. peacekeeping force, additional training for the Haitian National Police and providing support to combat illegal arms trafficking to the country.
Compounding the gang warfare, which has spread outside the capital, is the country’s political crisis: Haiti was stripped of all democratically elected institutions when the terms of the country’s remaining 10 senators expired in early January.
The Security Council resolution, co-sponsored by the United States and Ecuador, “strongly urges” all countries to prohibit the supply, sale or transfer of weapons to anyone supporting gang violence and criminal activities.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday including about Kenya’s positive consideration to leading a multinational force in Haiti, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
The United States takes over the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council for August on Tuesday, and Miller said the U.S. and Ecuador, as a first step, are going to introduce a resolution to authorize a non-U.N. multinational mission.
The second step is an assessment mission by Kenya, “which they plan to do in the coming days,” and then there will be talks with other countries about what additional assistance is needed, he said.
“We are committed to finding the resources to support this multinational force,” Miller said. “We’ve been a large humanitarian donor to relief efforts in Haiti for some time, and we have worked behind the scenes to find the lead nation to run this multinational force and are pleased that that has been successful.”
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Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report from Washington and Evelyne Musambi from Nairobi
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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| 2023-07-31T20:15:42
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BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) — The City of Bristol, Virginia said the railroad crossing on Spurgeon Lane near Commonwealth Avenue will be closed for reconstruction beginning on Wednesday.
A release from the city said the Norfolk Southern Railway crossing will undergo a reconstruction that requires the closure of that portion of Spurgeon Lane.
The closure begins on Aug. 2 and is estimated to last for at least three days, according to the release.
The city asks drivers to avoid the area and use alternate routes while the work takes place.
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https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/railroad-crossing-in-bristol-closed-for-reconstruction-starting-wednesday/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:43
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Sunday is seeing a similar temperature forecast to what we had for Saturday. We are starting off in the mid to upper 70s with partly cloudy skies and muggy conditions, and high temperatures will reach into the upper 90s with heat index values reaching around 105-108. A heat advisory is in effect from noon to 7 p.m. on Sunday as a result of these hot conditions.
On top of the heat, a cold front moving in from our north will provide a line of showers and thunderstorms in our area during the first half of the day. Later on in the afternoon, we will see more thunderstorms appearing in the southern portion of the viewing area. A few of these storms will pack a punch with heavy rainfall and strong wind gusts being the main threats. Because of this, we are under a level one out of five risk for severe weather today.
We will get a brief break from the heat advisories during the start of our work week. Temperatures will drop into the mid 90s. The air will still be muggy so it will only be slightly less miserable. Isolated showers and thunderstorms will remain a possibility throughout the work week, but we will still see lots of sunshine. This will allow those temperatures to pick back up through the week. Triple digits will be back in the picture by Friday.
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https://www.wtva.com/weather/forecast/sunday-is-going-to-see-excessive-heat-and-a-chance-for-storms/article_33a059f2-2ebc-11ee-9cfb-17d5093d25c7.html
| 2023-07-31T20:15:46
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