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NEW YORK (AP) — Trucking company Yellow Corp. has shut down operations and is headed for a bankruptcy filing, according to the Teamsters Union and multiple media reports.
After years of financial struggles, reports of Yellow preparing for bankruptcy emerged last week — as the Nashville, Tennessee-based trucker saw customers leave in large numbers. Yellow shut down operations on Sunday, according to the Wall Street Journal, following the layoffs of hundreds of nonunion employees on Friday.
In an announcement early Monday, the Teamsters said that the union received legal notice confirming Yellow was ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
“Today’s news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government,” Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry.”
The Associated Press reached out to Yellow for comment on Monday. No bankruptcy filings had gone live as of the early morning.
The bankruptcy reports have renewed attention around Yellow’s ongoing negotiations with unionized workers, a $700 million pandemic-era loan from the government and other bills the trucker has racked up over time. Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The company’s reported closure puts 30,000 jobs at risk.
Here’s what you need to know.
According to Satish Jindel, president of transportation and logistics firm SJ Consulting, Yellow handled an average of 49,000 shipments per day in 2022. Last week, he estimated that number was down to between 10,000 and 15,000 daily shipments.
With customers leaving — as well reports of Yellow stopping freight pickups last week — bankruptcy would “be the end of Yellow,” Jindel told The Associated Press, noting increased risk for liquidation.
“The likelihood of them surviving and remaining solvent diminishes really by the day,” added Bruce Chan, a research director at investment banking firm Stifel.
Yellow declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday. In a Wednesday statement to The Journal, the company said it was continuing “to prepare for a range of contingencies.” On Thursday, Yellow said it was in talks with multiple parties about selling its third-party logistics organization.
Even if Yellow was able to sell its logistics firm, it would “not generate a sufficient amount of cash to keep them operational on any sort of permanent basis,” Chan said. “Without a major equity injection, it would be very difficult for them to survive.”
As of late March, Yellow had an outstanding debt of about $1.5 billion. Of that, $729.2 million was owed to the federal government.
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the Treasury Department granted the company a $700 million pandemic-era loan on national security grounds. Last month, a congressional probe concluded that the Treasury and Defense Departments “made missteps” in this decision — and noted that Yellow’s “precarious financial position at the time of the loan, and continued struggles, expose taxpayers to a significant risk of loss.”
The government loan is due in September 2024. As of March, Yellow had made $54.8 million in interest payments and repaid just $230 million of the principal owed, according to government documents.
Yellow’s current finances and prospect of bankruptcy “is probably two decades in the making,” Chan said, pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back to the early 2000s. “At this point, after each party has bailed them out so many times, there is a limited appetite to do that anymore.”
In May, Yellow reported a loss of $54.6 million, a decline of $1.06 per share, for its first quarter of 2023. Operating revenue was about $1.16 billion in the period.
A Wednesday investors note from financial service firm Stephens estimated that Yellow could be burning between $9 million and $10 million each day. Using a liquidity disclosure from earlier this month, Yellow had roughly $100 million in cash at the end of June, the note added — estimating that the company has been burning through increasing amounts of money through July.
“It is reasonable to believe that the Company could breach its $35 mil. liquidity requirement at any moment,” Stephens analyst Jack Atkins and associate Grant Smith wrote.
Last week’s reports of bankruptcy preparations arrived just days after a strike from the Teamsters, which represents Yellow’s 22,000 unionized workers, was averted.
A series of heated exchanges have built up between the Teamsters and Yellow, who sued the union in June after alleging it was “unjustifiably blocking” restructuring plans needed for the company’s survival. The Teamsters called the litigation “baseless” — with O’Brien pointing to Yellow’s “decades of gross mismanagement,” which included exhausting the $700 million federal loan.
On July 23, a pension fund agreed to extend health benefits for workers at two Yellow Corp. operating companies, averting a strike — and giving Yellow “30 days to pay its bills,” notably $50 million that Yellow failed to pay the Central States Health and Welfare Fund on July 15, the union said. While the strike didn’t occur, talks of a walkout may have caused some Yellow customers to pull back, Chan said.
“The financial struggles of Yellow are not related to the union and the contracts,” Jindel said, pointing to management’s responsibility around its services and prices. He added the union wages from Yellow are “lower than any competitor.”
As Yellow customers take their shipments to other carriers, like FedEx or ABF Freight, prices will go up.
Yellow’s prices have historically been the cheapest compared to other carriers, Jindel said. “That’s why they obviously were not making money,” he added. “And while there is capacity with the other LTL carriers to handle the diversions from Yellow, it will come at a high price for (current shippers and customers) of Yellow.”
Chan adds that we’re in an interesting time for the LTL marketplace — noting that, if Yellow liquidates, “the freight would find a home” with other carriers, which may not have been true in recent years.
“It may take time, but there’s room for it to be absorbed,” he said.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/ap-yellow-is-shutting-down-and-headed-for-bankruptcy-the-teamsters-union-says-heres-what-to-know/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:45
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Here & Now‘s Robin Young speaks with New York Times reporter Corey Kilgannon about Gilgo Beach, New York, and the suspect in a spree of killings there.
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-long-island-beach-town-reacts-to-an-arrest-in-the-gilgo-beach-murders
| 2023-07-31T20:15:48
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https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/a-long-island-beach-town-reacts-to-an-arrest-in-the-gilgo-beach-murders
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Chiefs to rely on new offensive tackles to protect Patrick Mahomes this season
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs need look no further than last season’s playoffs, and the sight of Patrick Mahomes hobbling to the sideline against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a high ankle sprain, to understand the importance in protecting their quarterback.
Yet oddly enough, they were OK watching both of their starting offensive tackles leave in free agency.
The big blow was the departure of left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., for whom the Chiefs paid the Ravens handsomely in a trade, when the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a long-term deal.
But nearly as painful was the loss of right tackle Andrew Wylie, who had gone from an afterthought fighting for a job to one of the more reliable players along the offensive line.
Rarely do the Chiefs make such moves without a plan, though. General manager Brett Veach acted quickly to sign ex-Tampa Bay tackle Donovan Smith to handle the left side and former Jacksonville tackle Jawaan Taylor to handle the right, then Veach used a third-round pick on Oklahoma’s Wanya Morris to create instant competition at both positions.
So far, Chiefs coach Andy Reid — an old offensive line coach — has liked what he’s seen.
“You’re never sure exactly what you’re going to get there,” Reid said, “but they’re competing and that’s important. That’s an important part of this, that you’re able to push through these practices, run and pass. I like the way they work their game.”
The decision to put Mahomes’ health in the hands of Smith and Taylor is a gamble, though. Neither of them graded out particularly well last season, depending on the metric you use, though both of them have shown flashes of high-level play in the past.
Smith, for example, ranked No. 66 among 81 offensive tackles by Pro Football Focus. Taylor was just one spot better.
But the Chiefs have established a track record of unlocking the potential in relatively unheralded players, particularly along the offensive line, where assistant coach Andy Heck is among the best in the business.
Wylie is a prime example: He was undrafted out of Eastern Michigan and wound up earning two Super Bowl rings in Kansas City before signing with Washington.
“All of us have played a lot of football and a lot of big games, tough games,” Taylor said. “We’re all smart mentally, physically. It’s just more so we’re tying in each and every individual aspect of who we are and how we play and tying it together and figuring out what works, what meshes. You know, just the many things we bring to the table per guy I would say is our strength.”
Another strength is having one of the best interior offensive lines in the NFL. Left guard Joe Thuney is considered one of the top five in the league at his position, right guard Trey Smith is likewise considered a top-tier guard, and center Creed Humphrey was picked for the Pro Bowl in just his second season in the league.
It also helps having Mahomes calling out the signals.
“Just a great leader man. He brings that energy every day, you know? He holds everybody accountable,” Donovan Smith said. “You mess up, we are going to redo it. Even in the walk-throughs and the learning periods, we always slow it down and we get to learn the offense. That’s been helping me a lot with the walk-throughs and learning the things they like doing here.”
The Chiefs were fortunate to overcome Mahomes’ ankle injury in the playoffs. He returned in the second half to lead them past Jacksonville in the divisional round, and he hobbled through an AFC title game-thriller against Cincinnati, before hurting the ankle again in the Super Bowl — and then leading the Chiefs past Philadelphia for the Lombardi Trophy.
The pressure is on the Chiefs’ new offensive tackles to prevent the same such stress this season.
NOTES: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire returned to practice Monday after missing the previous two with an illness. … TE Jody Fortson (shoulder), WR Kadarius Toney (knee) and DE Mike Danna (calf) were among those that remained out. P Tommy Townsend also spent time in the medical tent, though no reason was given by the Chiefs. … DT Chris Jones continued his holdout. He has been fined $50,000 for each day missed, which brings the total to $550,000. … The Chiefs had a short practice Monday after three consecutive workouts in pads. They are off Tuesday before resuming camp Wednesday.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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/sports/national-sports/chiefs-to-rely-on-new-offensive-tackles-to-protect-patrick-mahomes-this-season/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:48
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Six Republicans, one Democrat qualify for House District 16 race
Six Republicans and one Democrat have qualified to run in a special election for the vacant District 16 seat in the Alabama House of Representatives.
The winner of the special election will fill the seat previously held by Kyle South. South resigned in the middle of his third term in the Alabama Legislature to become the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama on July 1.
Republicans Bryan Brinyark, a Northport attorney, and Brad Cox, a Fayette County commissioner, were the first two House District 16 candidates to announce their campaigns.
Joining the House District 16 race as qualifying ended on July 25 were Republicans Greg Fanin, Greg Lowery, Floyd "JR" Rodgers Jr., Mike Simpson and Democrat John H. Underwood.
The party primary for the seat is set for Sept. 26 and a runoff, if needed, would be held Oct. 24. The general election for the seat is set for Jan. 9.
The party primary for the seat is set for Sept. 26 and a runoff, if needed, would be held Oct. 24.
The deadline for independent candidates or minority party candidates to qualify for the race is 5 p.m. Sept. 26.
The general election for the seat is set for Jan. 9.
House District 16 includes portions of Fayette, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties.
Here's a look at the four candidates who recently qualified or the House District 16 race:
Greg Fanin
Fanin is a resident of Fayette County and now serves the state Commissioner of Coal Mines, according to a news release. He is also a real estate appraiser and president of Gemini GEM Inc.
Fanin is a wounded combat veteran who started his 26-year military career at Fort Tom Bevill in Fayette and finished at Montgomery. He graduated Samford University in May 1994 on the GI Bill.
“I fought for you as a soldier. Now let me fight for us in Alabama House 16,” Fanin said in the news release. “I will fight for lower taxes, better roads and more state money for our local schools.”
Fanin was a delegate for Donald Trump in the 2020 Republican presidential campaign. He is the father of two daughters.
“If you believe, as I do, that too often our rural area of Alabama is overlooked by state government, please join me to make a change. I will only promise you that I will work for you, not the special interests in Montgomery who have way too much control and influence," Fanin said.
Greg Lowery
Lowery is a studio musician, songwriter, keyboardist and vocalist for Christian and country music acts. He studied at Bevill State Community College. Lowery is the founder of Greg Lowery Productions, LLC, and founding director of BAMA-Bio Tech Corp.
Floyd "JR" Rodgers Jr.
Rodgers is a native of Fayette and serves as associate pastor of Peaceful Rest Missionary Baptist Church. He studied at Southwest Tennessee Community College.
Mike Simpson
Simpson is a native of Hueytown and a former Bessemer police officer. He ran for the House District 16 seat in 2018, but was defeated by South in the Republican primary.
Simpson has served as pastor of Smithville Baptist Church in Bessemer for 12 years.
John H. Underwood
Underwood is a retired police officer who served 27 years with the Fayette Police Department and is a longtime Fayette County commissioner.
Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@gannett.com.
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https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2023/07/31/six-republicans-one-democrat-plan-to-run-for-house-district-16-seat/70476093007/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:50
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https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2023/07/31/six-republicans-one-democrat-plan-to-run-for-house-district-16-seat/70476093007/
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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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/a-call-for-congress-to-end-unpaid-internships
| 2023-07-31T20:15:50
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https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-31/a-call-for-congress-to-end-unpaid-internships
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Awards tracker: Alabama football RB Jase McClellan named to Maxwell Award watchlist
Preseason watchlists for college football's national awards have begun tumbling in, and Alabama football will be heavily represented. Below is a look at each award that has placed a Crimson Tide player on its watchlist:
Maxwell Award: RB Jase McClellan
Annually presented to the nation's most outstanding player, the Maxwell Award named Alabama's top returning running back one of 84 players to watch in 2023. McClellan, a senior, rushed for 655 yard on 112 carries last year for the Crimson Tide, ranking second on the team behind Jahmyr Gibbs. Alabama has dominated the Maxwell Award field over the last decade, producing half its winners over that span, including 2013 (AJ McCarron), 2015 (Derrick Henry), 2018 (Tua Tagovailoa), 2020 (DeVonta Smith) and 2021 (Bryce Young).
GOODBREAD:Tuberville-Manchin NIL bill is dead on arrival, unless it makes one key change
QB RACE:Who will start at quarterback for Alabama football? There’s a better question to ask
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
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https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/sports/college/football/2023/07/31/alabama-football-national-awards-tracker-jase-mcclellan-maxwell-award-watchlist/70458115007/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:54
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https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/sports/college/football/2023/07/31/alabama-football-national-awards-tracker-jase-mcclellan-maxwell-award-watchlist/70458115007/
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Health care providers in Alabama, where abortion is almost entirely illegal, filed a lawsuit Monday against the state’s attorney general that seeks to prevent him from prosecuting people who help women travel outside the state to receive an abortion.
The providers say Attorney General Steve Marshall has made statements suggesting that anti-conspiracy laws could be used against groups that provide assistance for Alabama women to travel to states where abortion is legal. The lawsuit, filed in federal court by two former abortion clinics and an obstetrician, seeks a legal ruling that state laws can’t be used to prosecute people who provide referrals and appointment help.
A similar lawsuit filed Monday by Yellowhammer Fund, a group that once provided financial assistance to women seeking abortions, seeks to clarify it can’t be prosecuted for providing monetary help.
“What the attorney general has tried to do via these threats is to effectively extend Alabama’s abortion ban outside of its borders for Alabama residents,” Meagan Burrows, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the providers in the lawsuit.
The lawsuits seek to block Alabama from using prosecution, or the threat of it, to hinder efforts to help state residents obtain abortions where it remains legal. In a separate case, advocacy groups and an attorney sued Idaho earlier this month over a law that makes it illegal to help minors to travel to another state to get an abortion without their parents’ consent.
Marshall has not prosecuted anyone for providing abortion assistance, but he has made statements saying that his office would “look at” groups that provide help.
“Attorney General Marshall will continue to vigorously enforce Alabama laws protecting unborn life which include the Human Life Protection Act. That includes abortion providers conspiring to violate the Act,” Marshall’s office said in an emailed response to the lawsuit. His office did not respond to an email asking to clarify if actions such as providing financial assistance could be prosecuted.
Those statement have had a chilling effect on abortion rights advocates, who already feel like they live with a legal target on their back, providers said.
The suit was filed by the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, the Alabama Women’s Center in Huntsville, and Dr. Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician. Robinson said she once made referrals for patients seeking abortions, coordinating health history information for medically complex patients, but no longer does so because of the fear of prosecution.
“Tragically, banning abortion in Alabama seems to not have been enough,” Robinson said in a statement. “Those in power want to muzzle providers like me to prevent us from sharing information with our pregnant patients about the options they have.”
The phone rings at least once a day at the former clinic in Tuscaloosa as women — sometimes crying and often desperate — try to find where they can go in other states to end an unwanted pregnancy, the clinic director said.
“We get a lot of the anger — and we know that it’s not us that they are angry at,” said Robin Marty, operations director for the West Alabama Women’s Center. “It’s the situation, but it is very, very hard for my staff. They want to be able to help them.”
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and handed authority on abortion law to the states, the Deep South quickly became an area of limited abortion access.
Alabama bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape and incest. The only exemption is if it’s needed because pregnancy seriously threatens the health of the woman. Nineteen states have enacted restrictions and many southern states have near complete bans. Marty said that means women often have to travel long distances to receive care, which can bring financial and logistical hardship.
Marty said most people who reach out to the clinic know “there is no abortion in Alabama. What they aren’t aware of is how far that extends.”
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/health/ap-alabama-health-care-providers-sue-over-threat-of-prosecution-for-abortion-help/
| 2023-07-31T20:15:53
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/health/ap-alabama-health-care-providers-sue-over-threat-of-prosecution-for-abortion-help/
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Here & Now‘s Robin Young speaks with New York Times reporter Corey Kilgannon about Gilgo Beach, New York, and the suspect in a spree of killings there.
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/a-long-island-beach-town-reacts-to-an-arrest-in-the-gilgo-beach-murders
| 2023-07-31T20:15:54
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https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-31/a-long-island-beach-town-reacts-to-an-arrest-in-the-gilgo-beach-murders
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Elise Hu spent almost four years as NPR’s first Seoul, South Korea, bureau chief. During that time, Hu experienced what she calls an “endless assault of images of the ideal Korean beauty.”
Hu explores the South Korean beauty industry in her new book “Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital.”
“I really started feeling the bodily shame and angst that I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager,” she says. “I think all of us as we’re going through puberty, and then in those teenage years, when we’re confronting ourselves in the mirror have had those moments of bodily angst or bodily shame. I felt like I had largely put that away. It wasn’t until I was about 32 years old and plopped into Seoul where I was confronted by strangers sending me messages like, ‘there’s freckles on your face, you could get rid of those. We have dermatologists for that.’”
Elise Hu. (Courtesy of Emily Cummings)
4 questions about South Korean beauty standards with NPR’s Elise Hu
You’re obviously a foreigner, but women are born into this. Girls are born into this and they wouldn’t get a message like you did. They might just have to go do that.
“I think it’s really crucial to me in terms of my experience, and why I ended up writing this book. I had daughters in Seoul, I have a total of three daughters, that’s notable because they were treated differently than boys.
When South Koreans would compliment girls, they would only be talked about in terms of their appearance.
“So my daughters came back knowing three phrases in Korean: ‘hello, thank you and you’re so pretty.’ That’s really powerful because when we talk to little boys, it’s not, ‘you’re so handsome, great hair, awesome skin.’ It tends to be about their capability or you look strong or that’s brave. And so I do think that gender and the way that girls are seen versus boys are seen ends up getting internalized at very young ages. My daughter was 3 when she was asked whether she had eyelash extensions.”
I found it quite stunning that when you apply for a job, you have to include a headshot, and that’s not applying for a modeling job or an acting job. It seems across the board, which puts a lot of pressure on women, I imagine.
“This is why I think it’s really crucial that I emphasize that I am not coming down on individual Koreans. I loved my time in South Korea and continue to want to go back. What I am coming down on, and I think that we need to really critique, is an entire system that upholds this norm that we need to look better in order to be acceptable professionally or socially. And that it’s a matter of personal responsibility, and that our beauty or our physical beauty is tied to worthiness. I actually think that that can be very harmful and marginalizing. It leads to discrimination.
“I talk about ‘lookism,’ which comes into play when your head shots have to be affixed to resumes. And when your passport photos are photoshopped by default, as I found one time when I went to get a passport photo and my skin was automatically retouched and my jaw line was narrowed down.”
You said in the book, and I’m going to quote you here, “Korea has become a neoliberal dream state, a place of unquenchable consumerism.” How does that tie into the beauty industry and the pressures on women to look a certain way?
“We are not only consumed as women. Women have long been objectified, but we are also consumers. So we are having to spend money in order to look better for the eyes of other people. It is kind of this constant feedback loop of spending and then also being consumed. At the same time, I think beauty ideals have mattered all over the world for several millennia, but often for aristocratic classes.
“So when Chinese women were getting their feet bound, it was aristocratic Chinese women and it wasn’t everybody. Lower class women couldn’t possibly do that, not only because it was expensive, but because it wasn’t practical. But now we’re in this global standard of beauty or we are reaching global standards of beauty that everybody has to chase, and so even lower classes or those who might not be able to afford it are being sold on this notion that you could afford to pass as higher class or get the injectables or get the work done.”
“I think that the industry then wants to creep in into more markets. So you have all these transnational forces that are getting negotiated when it comes to beauty as well that makes it part of this hyper capitalistic moment.”
It’s easy to other the South Korea beauty industry, especially when you’re reading about it from here. Why is it important that we know about it? And how do you think the Korean beauty industry is or will impact us here in the U.S.?
“So many of the things that are now popular in the West among Gen Z, people [who are] my oldest daughter’s age, like dewy skin sheet masks, those pimple patches that you can put over blemishes. Ideals that we see for young people today, are ideals that come from the East, come from South Korea.
“It is the world’s third largest cosmetics and skincare exporter. South Korea is now exporting more in cosmetics than it exports in smartphones. South Korea may seem like it’s far away, a place that people aren’t going to visit, but it influences us and that’s why it’s not only an important place to be looking at but an important influence that shapes all of us.”
Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Julia Corcoran. Catherine Welch adapted it for the web.
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/elis-hus-flawless-examines-the-dark-side-of-south-koreas-beauty-standards
| 2023-07-31T20:15:54
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https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/elis-hus-flawless-examines-the-dark-side-of-south-koreas-beauty-standards
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The deadly heatwave that has hung over south Europe is beginning to cool, but wildfires still persist in southern parts of Italy and Greece. Serious storms are due to hit Italy in the coming weeks.
Financial Times correspondent Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli is in Tuscany and joins host Robin Young to talk about the latest on the heat, the wildfires, and the impact on Italy and its people.
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/as-heat-wave-in-italy-subsides-the-nation-takes-stock-of-the-damage
| 2023-07-31T20:15:55
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https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-31/as-heat-wave-in-italy-subsides-the-nation-takes-stock-of-the-damage
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Gender-affirming care bans are undergoing intense legal scrutiny and testing federal courts in new ways, setting up battles that may go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Morgan Watkins of Louisville Public Media reports.
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/can-gender-affirming-care-bans-hold-up-in-court
| 2023-07-31T20:15:56
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https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-31/can-gender-affirming-care-bans-hold-up-in-court
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Elise Hu spent almost four years as NPR’s first Seoul, South Korea, bureau chief. During that time, Hu experienced what she calls an “endless assault of images of the ideal Korean beauty.”
Hu explores the South Korean beauty industry in her new book “Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital.”
“I really started feeling the bodily shame and angst that I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager,” she says. “I think all of us as we’re going through puberty, and then in those teenage years, when we’re confronting ourselves in the mirror have had those moments of bodily angst or bodily shame. I felt like I had largely put that away. It wasn’t until I was about 32 years old and plopped into Seoul where I was confronted by strangers sending me messages like, ‘there’s freckles on your face, you could get rid of those. We have dermatologists for that.’”
Elise Hu. (Courtesy of Emily Cummings)
4 questions about South Korean beauty standards with NPR’s Elise Hu
You’re obviously a foreigner, but women are born into this. Girls are born into this and they wouldn’t get a message like you did. They might just have to go do that.
“I think it’s really crucial to me in terms of my experience, and why I ended up writing this book. I had daughters in Seoul, I have a total of three daughters, that’s notable because they were treated differently than boys.
When South Koreans would compliment girls, they would only be talked about in terms of their appearance.
“So my daughters came back knowing three phrases in Korean: ‘hello, thank you and you’re so pretty.’ That’s really powerful because when we talk to little boys, it’s not, ‘you’re so handsome, great hair, awesome skin.’ It tends to be about their capability or you look strong or that’s brave. And so I do think that gender and the way that girls are seen versus boys are seen ends up getting internalized at very young ages. My daughter was 3 when she was asked whether she had eyelash extensions.”
I found it quite stunning that when you apply for a job, you have to include a headshot, and that’s not applying for a modeling job or an acting job. It seems across the board, which puts a lot of pressure on women, I imagine.
“This is why I think it’s really crucial that I emphasize that I am not coming down on individual Koreans. I loved my time in South Korea and continue to want to go back. What I am coming down on, and I think that we need to really critique, is an entire system that upholds this norm that we need to look better in order to be acceptable professionally or socially. And that it’s a matter of personal responsibility, and that our beauty or our physical beauty is tied to worthiness. I actually think that that can be very harmful and marginalizing. It leads to discrimination.
“I talk about ‘lookism,’ which comes into play when your head shots have to be affixed to resumes. And when your passport photos are photoshopped by default, as I found one time when I went to get a passport photo and my skin was automatically retouched and my jaw line was narrowed down.”
You said in the book, and I’m going to quote you here, “Korea has become a neoliberal dream state, a place of unquenchable consumerism.” How does that tie into the beauty industry and the pressures on women to look a certain way?
“We are not only consumed as women. Women have long been objectified, but we are also consumers. So we are having to spend money in order to look better for the eyes of other people. It is kind of this constant feedback loop of spending and then also being consumed. At the same time, I think beauty ideals have mattered all over the world for several millennia, but often for aristocratic classes.
“So when Chinese women were getting their feet bound, it was aristocratic Chinese women and it wasn’t everybody. Lower class women couldn’t possibly do that, not only because it was expensive, but because it wasn’t practical. But now we’re in this global standard of beauty or we are reaching global standards of beauty that everybody has to chase, and so even lower classes or those who might not be able to afford it are being sold on this notion that you could afford to pass as higher class or get the injectables or get the work done.”
“I think that the industry then wants to creep in into more markets. So you have all these transnational forces that are getting negotiated when it comes to beauty as well that makes it part of this hyper capitalistic moment.”
It’s easy to other the South Korea beauty industry, especially when you’re reading about it from here. Why is it important that we know about it? And how do you think the Korean beauty industry is or will impact us here in the U.S.?
“So many of the things that are now popular in the West among Gen Z, people [who are] my oldest daughter’s age, like dewy skin sheet masks, those pimple patches that you can put over blemishes. Ideals that we see for young people today, are ideals that come from the East, come from South Korea.
“It is the world’s third largest cosmetics and skincare exporter. South Korea is now exporting more in cosmetics than it exports in smartphones. South Korea may seem like it’s far away, a place that people aren’t going to visit, but it influences us and that’s why it’s not only an important place to be looking at but an important influence that shapes all of us.”
Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Julia Corcoran. Catherine Welch adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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Damar Hamlin puts aside fear and practices in pads for the first time since cardiac arrest
PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — Of the thousands of emotions — trepidation among them — running through Damar Hamlin’s head Monday while he pulled on his pads for practice for the first time at training camp, the one that ultimately won out was joy.
For everything the Buffalo Bills safety has overcome in seven months since going into cardiac arrest during a game and needing to be resuscitated on the field, Hamlin leaned on his faith in God and himself, along with the support from his family and teammates, to take another step toward resume his playing career.
“A super big hurdle as you can imagine. Like, I pretty much lost my life playing this sport,” Hamlin said at a news conference after practice.
“I made the choice to play. But I’m processing a thousand emotions. I’m not afraid to say that it crosses my mind of being a little scared here and there,” he added. “My faith is stronger than any fear. That’s what I want to preach up here. And that’s the message I want to spread on to the world that as long as your faith is stronger than your fear, you can get through anything.”
Though Hamlin was cleared to resume practicing in mid-April, he did so wearing a helmet and shorts with the rest of his teammates through their spring sessions and first four days of training camp, as mandated by NFL rules. The magnitude of the Bills’ first day in pads wasn’t lost on Hamlin, given it marked the first time he was in full uniform since collapsing on the field in Cincinnati on Jan. 2 after making what appeared to be a routine tackle of Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.
“Ah man, it feels amazing. It’s a roller coaster of emotions. I was kind of all over the place just being back for the first time,” Hamlin said. “Just trying to keep everything as normal as possible.”
The normality of football struck him about an hour into practice when Hamlin took the field for the first time during a team red-zone running drill in which tackling was still not allowed.
On his second play, Hamlin showed no hesitation when bursting toward Damien Harris and wrapping him up with both arms. A play later, running back James Cook broke a tackle before Hamlin joined a teammate in wrapping him up just before the goal line.
Hamlin’s biggest contact came on the final play of practice, when he avoided a block to work his way into the backfield and help a teammate stop tight end Quintin Morris for what would have been a loss.
“That first little moment of contact, that was just letting me know. I felt alive, man. I felt like I’m here,” Hamlin said with a wide grin. “So it felt good. It was just that moment of: ‘All right, let’s settle in and let’s just take one play at a time. Let’s just keep going.’”
Hamlin’s only lament was not having any balls thrown in his direction during team drills, though he laughed when saying that might not be a bad thing.
“When the ball’s not coming my way, that makes you think you’re doing your job right,” Hamlin said. “But, you know, I would love some more opportunities to make a big play and turn practice up a bit.”
The 25-year-old from the Pittsburgh area is entering his third NFL season. Selected by Buffalo in the sixth round of the 2021 draft out of Pitt, he opened last season as a backup before starting 13 games after Micah Hyde sustained a season-ending neck injury.
This year, Hamlin is competing with offseason free agent addition Taylor Rapp for a backup role behind Hyde and Jordan Poyer. As for Hamlin’s next hurdle, it’ll come Aug. 12, when the Bills open their preseason schedule at home against Indianapolis.
Rapp, who spent his first four NFL seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, might be new to Buffalo but is impressed with how Hamlin has handled himself.
“How far he’s come and what he’s able to come back from late last season and just seeing how he goes about himself and attacks the rehab at the facility is nothing short of inspiring,” Rapp said.
A day earlier, coach Sean McDermott said he was walking a fine line in treating Hamlin much like any other player, while keeping in mind what he’s gone through.
“I think awareness is important, right? You’ve got X amount of guys out here and then you have Damar in there as well and trying to make it as a normal as possible,” McDermott said. “We’re going to support him through this, and to this point he’s done a phenomenal job.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Leanne Morgan remembers the moment she realized she could make it in comedy: She was at a party, telling jokes, and a woman "peepeed on the couch."
"That was a 'God' moment for me ... " Morgan says. "I thought, 'OK, I can make it in stand-up.'"
Morgan took a roundabout route to professional comedy: She was a young mother living in Bean Station, Tenn., in the 1990s — and she started selling jewelry in women's houses two or three nights a week as a way to make a bit of extra money.
"It was like Mary Kay and Tupperware, those kinds of companies," Morgan says. "Somebody makes a dip, or a pan of brownies, and then I would schlep that big case of jewelry and put all that jewelry out on a kitchen table."
Morgan was supposed to be talking up the jewelry, but instead she found herself making her customers laugh with stories about breastfeeding and hemorrhoids.
Morgan was 32 with three young children at home when she started performing stand-up in clubs on the weekend. Every few years, someone from Hollywood would call to offer her a sitcom deal — but each time the deal would fall through.
In 2018, she nearly gave up, but she decided to make one more push. She hired two brothers in Plano, Texas, to help promote her material on social media. One clip, in which she joked about going to a Def Leppard/Journey concert with her husband, went viral.
"That [video] blew up, and I started selling out all over the United States," Morgan says. "People would see those videos ... and start calling comedy clubs and ask them to book me."
Now 57 with three grown children and two grandchildren, Morgan has her own self-produced Netflix special, Leanne Morgan: I'm Every Woman. In it, she makes fun of everyday life, from marriage and motherhood to menopause and dating apps.
"It took me a long time to find my audience ... but I always knew they were out there," she says. "I think Hollywood forgets us, and I think a lot of comedians that are cool and edgy and all of that, just forget about my demographic and I think we're the best. I think we're the people that make decisions to go buy tickets and want to get out and have a good time."
Interview highlights
On connecting to her audience
I'm nurturing. If I make fun, it's of myself, it's not of anybody else. I'm not confrontational. And so I think people find comfort with me. ... I was in LA doing The Comedy Store, which was a dream of mine, and it was all these edgy comedians that were getting up and talking about all kinds of stuff. And then I got up and talked about how somebody made me a meatloaf at my children's school the day that I got my IUD replaced. And young people came out of The Comedy Store and said, "Can I hug you?" I think that even though ... in my mind I'd have a chip on my shoulder over the years and think, Oh, I'm not edgy enough there. I'm not a cool kid in the business in the industry and all that, I do think that people were enjoying what I did.
On calling herself the "Mrs. Maisel of Appalachia"
Comedy is hard. ... It's a hard business. I resonated with that character because she was fearless and she had those babies and her husband was a ding dong. My husband's not a ding dong, but she overcame so much and kept going and men would say, "Oh, women aren't funny," and all that kind of stuff, and trying to sabotage her. I've been through all that. When young people ask me, "Do you think I should do stand-up?" I don't want to squash somebody's dreams. But it's hard for me as a mother not to say, "Listen, you're going to be driving in a car for 300 miles to make $50 and you won't have a hotel room." I mean, it's a hard, hard business. But when I saw that series, I thought, that's what I did: I had three babies. I was in the Appalachian Mountains. I didn't have a comedy club near me, and I just had to pave out another way than the traditional way that people do stand-up. And I did. I don't know how, but I did.
On the four television sitcom deals over the years that fell through
I would be devastated at the time. But those little nuggets would give me the encouragement to keep going. For one thing, because I was in Knoxville. ... I was not living in LA or New York. I was raising these children and I got to raise them in Knoxville, Tennessee, and they became who they're supposed to be. If I'd have gone to LA, they probably wouldn't be who they are. And I would be devastated [when the series fell through], but then it always kept me encouraged, like, I've got something. I know I'm not crazy. I can do this.
On ignoring her ex-husband when he advised her to get rid of her Tennessee accent
[He] said to me, "Your accent and your diction, you need diction lessons. People are making fun of me. People think you're stupid." And I remember at the time, I don't know how I had the sense to think, "No, you're wrong." And I didn't change anything. I could have. I had pretty low self-esteem and was pretty beat down at the time, but I felt like ... you're not going to change me. This is who I am. And I think now, going forward, 40 years later, that is what has made this happen for me, is I am who I am. .... I'm authentic. I feel like at my age now, it's like this is who I am. You either like it or you don't. It's OK if you don't. ... I do find humor in hard things, but I think a lot of comedians do. That's how we cope.
Lauren Krenzel and Seth Kelley produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.
Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
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Congress expanded work requirements for food assistance during the debt ceiling negotiations, a move that would normally happen in the Farm Bill. But the state of Kansas already tightened its food aid requirements recently, Eva Tesfaye of Harvest Public Media reports/
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/kansas-tough-snap-work-rules-worry-food-advocates-ahead-of-farm-bill-negotiations
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Institutes of Health is beginning a handful of studies to test possible treatments for long COVID, an anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition that afflicts millions.
Monday’s announcement from the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER project comes amid frustration from patients who’ve struggled for months or even years with sometimes-disabling health problems — with no proven treatments and only a smattering of rigorous studies to test potential ones.
“This is a year or two late and smaller in scope than one would hope but nevertheless it’s a step in the right direction,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University in St. Louis, who isn’t involved with NIH’s project but whose own research highlighted long COVID’s toll. Getting answers is critical, he added, because “there’s a lot of people out there exploiting patients’ vulnerability” with unproven therapies.
Scientists don’t yet know what causes long COVID, the catchall term for about 200 widely varying symptoms. Between 10% and 30% of people are estimated to have experienced some form of long COVID after recovering from a coronavirus infection, a risk that has dropped somewhat since early in the pandemic.
“If I get 10 people, I get 10 answers of what long COVID really is,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
That’s why so far the RECOVER initiative has tracked 24,000 patients in observational studies to help define the most common and burdensome symptoms –- findings that now are shaping multipronged treatment trials. The first two will look at:
— Whether taking up to 25 days of Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid could ease long COVID, because of a theory that some live coronavirus, or its remnants, may hide in the body and trigger the disorder. Normally Paxlovid is used when people first get infected and for just five days.
— Treatments for “brain fog” and other cognitive problems. They include Posit Science Corp.’s BrainHQ cognitive training program, another called PASC-Cognitive Recovery by New York City’s Mount Sinai Health System, and a Soterix Medical device that electrically stimulates brain circuits.
Two additional studies will open in the coming months. One will test treatments for sleep problems. The other will target problems with the autonomic nervous system — which controls unconscious functions like breathing and heartbeat — including the disorder called POTS.
A more controversial study of exercise intolerance and fatigue also is planned, with NIH seeking input from some patient groups worried that exercise may do more harm than good for certain long COVID sufferers.
The trials are enrolling 300 to 900 adult participants for now but have the potential to grow. Unlike typical experiments that test one treatment at a time, these more flexible “platform studies” will let NIH add additional potential therapies on a rolling basis.
“We can rapidly pivot,” Dr. Amy Patterson with the NIH explained. A failing treatment can be dropped without ending the entire trial and “if something promising comes on the horizon, we can plug it in.”
The flexibility could be key, according to Dr. Anthony Komaroff, a Harvard researcher who isn’t involved with the NIH program but has long studied a similarly mysterious disorder known as chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/CFS. For example, he said, the Paxlovid study “makes all sorts of sense,” but if a 25-day dose shows only hints of working, researchers could extend the test to a longer course instead of starting from scratch.
Komaroff also said that he understands people’s frustration over the wait for these treatment trials, but believes NIH appropriately waited “until some clues came in about the underlying biology,” adding: “You’ve got to have targets.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Washington tennis tournament offers equal status for women and men but unequal prize money
WASHINGTON (AP) — A poster hanging at the DC Open site shows Frances Tiafoe — a competitor in the field from nearby Maryland — flanked by other men such as Andy Murray and Taylor Fritz and women such as Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.
It is a simple visualization of a complicated change to a tournament that began Monday and has been around for men since 1969, added women via a simultaneous but lower-tier and less-promoted event in 2009 and now is taking a further step by touting itself as the first combined ATP-WTA 500 event. That is two levels below Grand Slams and one level below Masters 1000s and was accomplished by elevating the women’s portion through the lease of what had been a hard-court tourney in San Jose, California, played during the same week.
While ostensibly that puts the men and women on equal footing in Washington — where players both will be trying to win a trophy and to prepare for the U.S. Open, the year’s last Grand Slam tournament — it still is not equal all the way around.
Most notably: The men’s champion receives a check for $353,445; the women’s champion earns $120,150. That is not an anomaly. There are other stops on the professional tennis tours that include female and male players but do not pay them evenly.
“Our main goal is to work toward equal prize money. That is what we want on the WTA side and what we think is fair. Especially at the combined events, we don’t want to see a discrepancy there. We want to see that we’re earning the same at the same event,” said Pegula, an American who is No. 3 in the rankings and seeded No. 1 in Washington and a member of the women’s tour’s player council. “The fans are coming to watch both of us, and we should be making the same.”
All four Grand Slam tournaments offer equal prize money across the board, something the U.S. Open started doing 50 years ago and others as recently as 2007. That won’t happen at the DC Open until 2027 as part of a wider plan the WTA recently announced to get equal paychecks at certain events by that year and at others by 2033.
“That will give everyone a chance to hopefully get revenues to grow to be able to afford it,” said Mark Ein, who has been the tournament chairman since 2019 and is part of the group that recently bought the NFL’s Washington Commanders from Dan Snyder.
“When we took over the tournament, one of my top goals was to secure a women’s event at an equal level as our men’s,” Ein said. “One of the things I love about tennis is it’s really the only sport where athletes of both genders compete on the same playing surface at the same time.”
There are other discrepancies between the men’s and women’s brackets in Washington.
The men’s field is 48 players; the women’s is 28. The rankings points available are nearly the same, but the men’s champion gets 500, the women’s 470.
Like Pegula, three-time major champion Murray, who is seeded 15th in Washington, said that all players “at the same event, on the same courts,” should be vying for the same payouts.
“But I think for it ever to become like truly equal, the WTA and the ATP are actually going to have to come together and work as one before that’s the case, because I don’t think it’s that straightforward just now that both tours have different sponsors, different TV deals and all of that stuff, too,” Murray said. “There is a few things that still need to change, but I feel like things are going in the right direction, like with the move to this event becoming a 500 for both. Can obviously still get better.”
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis 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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Updated July 31, 2023 at 3:06 PM ET
Judge Steven Boyce sentenced Lori Vallow Daybell to multiple fixed life terms in prison with no possibility of parole on Monday, handing down punishment for murdering two of her children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival.
The judge ordered Vallow Daybell to serve the prison terms consecutively rather than concurrently, saying it is important for her to be punished for each death.
Vallow Daybell, 50, was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in May, as a jury agreed with prosecutors who said she wanted to eliminate her youngest children as part of a plan to embark on a new life with Chad Daybell, as well as conspiring to murder Daybell's previous wife.
"You chose the most evil and destructive path possible," despite having a wealth of better, less harmful, options, Boyce told Vallow Daybell. He juxtaposed her enjoyment of a honeymoon in Hawaii with her children lying in shallow graves in Idaho.
Her children — Tylee Ryan and Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow — had been "burned, mutilated and dismembered, and buried like animals," Boyce said.
The judge noted the "disgust" he saw on jurors' faces during the trial. The scene was horrific, Boyce said, adding that while law enforcement, jurors and he himself will be haunted by images of the children's bodies, he saw no sign that Vallow Daybell feels any remorse.
For the first time, Vallow Daybell gave an accounting of her own actions — but she insisted she is not guilty of murder and said that her victims have visited her in spiritual form and are happy and busy in the afterlife.
"Jesus knows me, and Jesus understands me," she said, adding that she mourns those who died. But, she added, "Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case."
The lengthy trial was full of strange and shocking moments. Prosecutors say Vallow Daybell was motivated by arcane religious beliefs about "dark energy" and the "end times," and by her desire to pursue a life with her new husband, Chad Daybell — including conspiring to kill his late wife.
Monday's sentencing hearing included four main phases: five victim impact statements; the prosecution's sentencing recommendation; the defense's sentencing recommendation; and the chance for Vallow to address the court.
Judge Boyce handed down his sentence after hearing victim impact statements from relatives of Tylee Ryan and Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow, Vallow Daybell's children, whose bodies were found in 2020; and from relatives of Tammy Daybell, the previous wife of Chad Daybell — who also faces charges in all three deaths.
Thomas urged Boyce to impose on his client a 20-year fixed term with an "indeterminate" life sentence.
Prosecutor Rob Wood asked for the maximum sentence — several fixed life terms without the possibility of parole — saying Vallow Daybell had betrayed her children's trust in a horrific manner.
The children's bodies were found in 2020
A jury found Vallow Daybell guilty of killing her two youngest children, Tylee Ryan and Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow. Tylee was nearly 17 when she and JJ, 7, were last seen alive in September 2019. The children's bodies were found in June 2020, buried on property in Rexburg, Idaho, owned by Chad Daybell.
Even before the remains were found, Vallow Daybell was charged with felony desertion of a child and obstruction. Prosecutors said she didn't report her children missing so she could keep collecting benefit payments.
Vallow Daybell was also found guilty of conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell, Chad's then-wife, who was found dead in her home in October 2019 — less than one month before he and Vallow got married in Hawaii. He is Vallow Daybell's fifth husband.
'Zombie' beliefs arose during trial
In court documents, Vallow Daybell's close friend Melanie Gibb described hearing her say that Tylee had become a zombie — a concept Vallow Daybell had picked up from Daybell.
Gibb said she heard Vallow Daybell call Tylee a zombie after Tylee had refused to babysit JJ — to which Tylee replied, "Not me, mom," according to a police affidavit. Gibb said Vallow Daybell later concluded that JJ had also become a zombie.
Prosecutors also said Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell portrayed themselves as religious figures called "James and Elaina." And they purported to be able to "rate" people, detecting whether they might be under the thrall of an evil spirit's dark energy.
Tammy Daybell's family speaks out
In a victim impact statement, Samantha Gwilliam, Tammy Daybell's sister, said her family has been "ripped apart," thrust into grief, suspicion and sadness by Tammy's unexpected death at 49. It deepened, she said, when the family learned Chad Daybell was remarrying just weeks later, in a Hawaii ceremony with Lori Vallow.
The more she learned about Vallow, Gwilliam said, she found only "lies" — from Vallow Daybell's claim that her most recent husband had died of a heart attack to her saying she and Chad would be "empty nesters," with no young children.
It was only when Tammy Daybell was disinterred and an autopsy was performed, Gwilliam said, that the family began to "get some answers and some truth, after so many lies." That truth, she added, was that Tammy Daybell was both an obstacle for Vallow Daybell and a way to profit from her death, through an insurance policy.
Weeping in court, Gwilliam described how her family's relationships with Chad and Tammy Daybell's children has become strained. She also read a statement from Tammy's father, recounting the toll Vallow Daybell's actions took on his wife, who died earlier this year.
At one point, Gwilliam compared her sister, a librarian and educator, to Vallow Daybell.
"Because of the choices you made, my family lost a beloved mother, sister, aunt and daughter. She is irreplaceable," she said. "She was 1,000 times the woman you will ever dream of being."
Defense team says Vallow Daybell is 'misunderstood'
"I think Lori Daybell is probably the most hated person in America right now," said Bonneville County Public Defender John Thomas, who is one of Vallow Daybell's attorneys.
But, he said, she is a "very misunderstood person" who is truly "about love" and has been defined by complicated circumstances.
He asked the judge to use his sentence to impart a sense of "hope" that would both punish Vallow Daybell and encourage her to become a model inmate and grow as a person and become "a better version of Lori Daybell."
Thomas urged Boyce to impose on his client a 20-year fixed term with an "indeterminate" life sentence and have terms running concurrently, making her eligible for parole when she is in her 70s.
The case depicted a love affair that turned deadly
Prosecutors say Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell's relationship was entwined in a deadly criminal conspiracy they sought to justify with fantastical beliefs. Rather than simply starting a new life together after they met in October 2018, the prosecution said, the couple plotted to kill their closest relatives and benefit from their deaths through insurance payouts and Social Security benefits.
Vallow Daybell's defense attorney, James Archibald, has said his client was in the thrall of a man she sees as a messiah and her eternal soulmate. He has also argued that the prosecution has produced little direct evidence to tie Vallow Daybell to her children's deaths.
Other criminal cases are still pending
Chad Daybell is expected to undergo his own murder trial for the same three deaths in the spring of 2024.
Other criminal cases are also pending for Vallow Daybell in Arizona, where she previously lived.
She's under indictment there on conspiracy murder charges for allegedly arranging for one of her brothers to shoot and kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in July 2019. That brother, Alex Cox, died in December 2019, of what was determined to be natural causes. She's also accused of conspiring with Alex to murder her niece's ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, who was shot at in 2019 but who survived.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/lori-vallow-daybell-is-sentenced-to-multiple-life-terms-for-killing-her-children
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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian army helicopter that crashed Friday during a multinational exercise hit the water with a “catastrophic impact” and there is no chance its four crew members survived, officials said Monday.
Australia’s fleet of more than 40 of the MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, made by French Airbus, has been grounded since the crash and there are doubts any will fly again.
They will be grounded until crash investigators determine what caused the tragedy. The government announced in January it plans to replace them with 40 U.S. Black Hawks. The Taipans’ retirement date of December 2024 would be 13 years earlier than Australia had initially planned.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said the search and rescue effort changed Monday to a victim recovery operation with no chance that Capt. Danniel Lyon, Lt. Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Joseph Laycock or Cpl. Alexander Naggs had survived.
“There was a catastrophic incident and with every passing hour, it is now clear that any hope of finding (the four crew) alive has been lost,” Marles told reporters.
The helicopter crashed during a nighttime exercise with the United States and other nations near the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef.
Marles had said on Saturday the helicopter “ditched,” which refers to an emergency landing. But on Monday he would not rule our pilot error or disorientation in the dark causing the crash into the water. He urged against speculation about potential causes.
“There was a catastrophic impact on the helicopter when it hit the water,” Marles said.
“We will move through the process of putting the Black Hawks into service as quickly as we can … and we will not be flying MRH90s until we understand what has happened,” Marles added.
The lost Taipan had been taking part in Talisman Sabre, a biennial U.S.-Australian military exercise that is largely based in Queensland state. This year’s exercise involves 13 nations and more than 30,000 military personnel.
The exercise was continuing on Monday with some changes near the recovery operation, Australian Defense Force Chief Gen. Angus Campbell said.
Campbell thanked the United States and Canada for their help in the search and recovery efforts, which he said was “not an easy operation.”
The wreckage lay in the path of strong currents and tidal movements. It was too deep for standard diving operations.
Part of the airframe had been retrieved by Monday but most of the helicopter remained on the seabed, Campbell said.
It was the second emergency involving an Australian Taipan since March. The fleet was grounded after one ditched into the sea off the New South Wales state coast near the naval base at Jervis Bay during a nighttime counterterrorism training exercise. All 10 passengers and crew members were rescued.
Retired Maj. Gen. Fergus McLachlan was involved in integrating the Taipan into the Australian army when they arrived in 2007 and had been responsible for keeping them airworthy. He said the Taipan did not have the proven record of the Lockheed Martin-designed Black Hawks.
“We bought into an unproven system. In real terms, it was a developmental aircraft and it has never really matured,” McLachlan told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“It was always a battle to maintain it and keep it flying,” McLachlan added.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-4-crew-members-on-australian-army-helicopter-that-crashed-off-coast-didnt-survive-officials-say/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:07
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Congress expanded work requirements for food assistance during the debt ceiling negotiations, a move that would normally happen in the Farm Bill. But the state of Kansas already tightened its food aid requirements recently, Eva Tesfaye of Harvest Public Media reports/
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/kansas-tough-snap-work-rules-worry-food-advocates-ahead-of-farm-bill-negotiations
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BUSINESS
Giant Eagle to host hiring day Tuesday
Canton Repository
Giant Eagle will host a hiring day at all locations from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The grocer has 845 positions open throughout Northeast Ohio, according to a Giant Eagle news release. Registration is not required, and walk-ins are encouraged during the event.
"Employment opportunities range from hourly roles to leadership positions and include a variety of skilled positions such as cake decorators, bakers and meat cutters," according to the website.
Wages are described as competitive and benefits include flexible scheduling, paid training and time off, and opportunities to advance within the company.
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/business/2023/07/31/giant-eagle-to-host-hiring-day-tuesday-at-all-locations/70488686007/
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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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For the full story, click here.
We revisit Robin Young’s November 2022 interview with musical icon Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton. The two wrote the kids book, “The First Notes: The Story of Do, Re, Mi” which tells the story of the 11th-century monk who invented a system of musical notation that we use today.
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/music-legend-julie-andrews-and-daughter-emma-walton-hamilton-tell-kids-the-history-of-do-re-mi
| 2023-07-31T20:16:13
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https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/music-legend-julie-andrews-and-daughter-emma-walton-hamilton-tell-kids-the-history-of-do-re-mi
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For the full story, click here.
We revisit Robin Young’s November 2022 interview with musical icon Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton. The two wrote the kids book, “The First Notes: The Story of Do, Re, Mi” which tells the story of the 11th-century monk who invented a system of musical notation that we use today.
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/music-legend-julie-andrews-and-daughter-emma-walton-hamilton-tell-kids-the-history-of-do-re-mi
| 2023-07-31T20:16:16
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https://www.kanw.com/2023-07-31/music-legend-julie-andrews-and-daughter-emma-walton-hamilton-tell-kids-the-history-of-do-re-mi
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Francis made the first foreign trip of his papacy, to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day in 2013, he urged young people to make a “mess” in their local churches, to shake things up even if it ruffled the feathers of their bishops.
As he embarks this week on another edition of World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, Francis in many ways has taken his own advice to heart. After 10 years as pope, Francis is accelerating his reform agenda and making revolutionary changes in personnel and policy that are definitely shaking things up.
Unencumbered by the shadow of Pope Benedict XVI, who died seven months ago, and despite recovering from a second intestinal surgery in as many years, the 86-year-old Francis is opening a frenetic second half of the year with his Portugal visit. He seems aware that he has a limited sweet spot of time to solidify the changes he believes are necessary for the 21st century church, and is looking to the next generation of faithful and leaders to execute them.
“The sense I get is that this is the consolidation phase of the pontificate,” said papal biographer Austen Ivereigh. “He’s laying the basis now, laying the ground, for the future.”
And no better place to put it on display than at a World Youth Day. The international rally, which St. John Paul II launched in 1986 to galvanize young Catholics in their faith, is expected to draw up to 1 million people for the first post-pandemic event of its kind. Francis’ perennial social justice concerns about climate change, social inequality and fraternity, as well as Russia’s war in Ukraine, are expected to be major themes.
Beyond Portugal, though, Francis’ multifold strategy for laying the groundwork for the future is coming together and will hit significant marks in the coming months.
His global canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics about their vision for the future comes to fruition this October with a big synod at the Vatican. The meeting is intended to give direction on such hot-button issues as the place of LGBTQ+ Catholics and women in the church, and for the first time will feature women and young people voting on proposals alongside bishops.
“I really think that for Pope Francis, he felt that ‘OK, now it’s mature’ and it would be good really to involve all the members, all the people in the synod as members” with the right to vote, said Sister Nathalie Becquart, who is one of the key synod organizers.
To then implement the vision that emerges from the synod, Francis has been naming a slew of unusually young bishops for key archdioceses — in his native Buenos Aires, Madrid and Brussels, among others. At the same time, he’s elevated several cardinals in their 50s — and in some cases their 40s — including the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon who is organizing World Youth Day.
Putting such young clerics in such important positions ensures a generation’s worth of likeminded leadership in the Vatican and archdioceses around the world. While not all are cookie-cutter proteges of Francis, many are seen as similarly pastorally minded and thus more game to implement his reforms, especially as the older generation of bishops and cardinals dies out.
After Francis is gone, the youngest of these new cardinals will have some three decades’ worth of local leadership and conclave votes to select future popes, suggesting a generational and ideological shift in the church leadership is very much underway.
Francis’ most important young “legacy” appointment was that of the Vatican’s new doctrinal czar, Argentine Cardinal-elect Victor Manuel Fernandez, 61. Francis’ theological ghostwriter ran into Vatican problems in the past over questions about his doctrinal orthodoxy, and his appointment sent shockwaves through the conservative and traditionalist wings of the church.
Fernandez sees his appointment as part of Francis’ longer-term agenda. “He is proposing a more inclusive church, more respectful of different ways of living, even of thinking,” Fernandez said in an interview.
Portuguese Cardinal-elect Americo Aguiar, who is in charge of World Youth Day, is another young churchman who also understands his appointment as part of a generational turning point for the Catholic hierarchy.
At age 49 he will become the second-youngest member of the College of Cardinals when he is installed Sept. 30. He is just six months older than the current youngest cardinal, whom Francis elevated this time last year: Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, head of the church in Mongolia where Francis will travel at the end of August.
“My reading of it is that this has to do with young people, it has to do with youth, it has to do with Portugal, it has to do with World Youth Day, it has to do with all of that,” Aguiar said in an interview. “I think that his objective and his underlining was exactly to send a signal to the young people, to every young person who is preparing the day, whether in Portugal or in the world, to feel identified with this decision.”
Francis said as much in his monthly prayer intentions for August, this time dedicated to the Lisbon event.
“In Lisbon, I would like to see a seed for the world’s future,” Francis said. “A world where love is at the center, where we can sense that we are sisters and brothers.”
His wish in many ways echoed his words at the 2013 World Youth Day in Rio, which now seem prescient in outlining many of the key pastoral messages Francis has emphasized over the past decade. Delivering a spontaneous, off-the-cuff exhortation to a gathering of Argentine pilgrims that was organized at the last minute, Francis urged the young to get out into the streets, spread their faith and “make a mess.”
“I want to see the church get closer to the people,” Francis said then, speaking in his native Spanish. “I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools or structures.”
Realizing the radical nature of his message, Francis apologized to the bishops for what was about to come, even though in the 10 years since, he has only gone further than anyone could have imagined at the time.
“The true reform of the church, you know, is not a revolution bringing something completely from outside,” said Becquart, the French nun, as she reflected on Francis’ agenda. “It’s a path of change that is a way to unfold tradition, but in a very dynamic way.”
___
AP reporters Helena Alvez in Lisbon, Portugal, and Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires contributed.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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Issue 1: Everything to know about Ohio Issue 1 and the August special election
Voters will decide in an Aug. 8 special election whether they support the measure, which would:
- Require 60% of voters to pass a new constitutional amendment, instead of a simple majority of 50% plus one.
- Require citizens who want to place an amendment on the ballot to collect signatures from at least 5% of voters from the last gubernatorial election in all 88 counties, instead of the current 44.
- Eliminate a 10-day cure period that allows citizens to replace any signatures deemed faulty by the secretary of state's office.
State Issue 1: Read the ballot language
Want to get straight to the point? Here's a look at what the issue would do if passed and you can also read the language on your ballot. Read that here.
Q&A: What Ohioans need to know about the August election on Issue 1
The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau compiled answers to reader questions and other information voters should know about the issue.
Who is behind Issue 1 in Ohio? Donors from Illinois, D.C. and California
The campaigns for and against Issue 1 are relying heavily on donors from California to Washington, D.C. as they blast the influence of special interests on Ohio politics.
What Ohio voters need to know about parental rights and the Issue 1 debate
You've probably seen the ads. A voice on your television claims that Issue 1 is necessary to protect parental rights in Ohio and contends opponents want to let children get transgender medical care without their parents' consent.
So, what exactly does Issue 1 have to do with parental rights? Here's what voters need to know.
Abortion, democracy, special interests: How groups are selling their pitch on Ohio Issue 1
The past month in Ohio felt more like October than July as groups fanned out across the state, either to curry favor for Issue 1 or work against it. Both sides face the same, daunting task: Educating Ohioans about a complicated issue during the summer, when they aren't accustomed to voting.
Watch Issue 1 forum: Ohio elected officials make the case for and against Issue 1
Two Ohio elected officials made their cases for and against Issue 1 during a forum put on by The Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and Spectrum News.
Spectrum News anchor Mike Kallmeyer moderated the half-hour conversation with Rep. Jim Hoops, R-Napoleon, who supports Issue 1, and House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, a staunch critic of the measure.
Over 150,000 Ohioans cast ballots in first week of early voting for August election
Over 150,000 Ohioans have already voted early for the upcoming August election, outpacing past elections that had key races for governor and U.S. Senate on the ballot.
According to data from Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office, 155,183 people returned absentee ballots or voted early in-person through the seventh day of early voting.
Issue 1 poll: Most Ohio voters oppose plan to make it harder to amend constitution
Nearly 60% of Ohio voters oppose an August ballot measure that would make it harder to change the constitution, according to a new poll.
A USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University poll released Thursday found 57% of likely voters are against Issue 1, including some Republicans and opponents of abortion. Twenty-six percent back the issue, while 17% are undecided with just weeks to go before the Aug. 8 election.
What supporters, opponents are saying about Issue 1 on Ohio's August ballot
The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau invited a supporter and opponent to discuss Issue 1 on the Ohio Politics Explained podcast: Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, and Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. Here are some highlights from the interviews.
How Ohio Issue 1 could make it harder to put amendments on the ballot
Ohioans who want to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot must first get buy-in from their fellow voters.
That means citizen groups need to visit at least 44 counties across Ohio to collect signatures for their petitions. As he spoke last year about defending the state constitution, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said raising that signature threshold is one way to make it harder to change Ohio's founding document.
Want to vote in Ohio's August special election? Here are key dates to know
Statewide elections aren't often held in August, and turnout is typically low because Ohioans are preoccupied with summer activities. The last time Ohio voters considered a proposed constitutional amendment in August was 1926, according to the secretary of state's office.
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/2023/07/31/ohio-issue-1-explained-issue-to-change-constitutional-amendment/70500341007/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:18
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/2023/07/31/ohio-issue-1-explained-issue-to-change-constitutional-amendment/70500341007/
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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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| 2023-07-31T20:16:18
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Patrick Braxton became mayor of Newbern, Alabama, in 2020 — but says he has been fighting to hold onto his title after the white former mayor and his council members held a special election and reappointed themselves to their positions.
Now, Braxton is suing in a federal civil rights lawsuit that accuses the town officials of conspiring to deny his civil rights and position due to his race. We hear from Aallyah Wright, a rural issues reporter for Capital B News.
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/power-struggle-unfolds-between-alabama-towns-1st-black-mayor-and-white-officials
| 2023-07-31T20:16:19
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https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/power-struggle-unfolds-between-alabama-towns-1st-black-mayor-and-white-officials
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Here & Now‘s Deepa Fernandes speaks with Kalyn Belsha, a national reporter for Chalkbeat, about her investigation into the online tutoring company Paper.
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/online-tutoring-company-paper-often-fails-to-deliver-one-on-one-expert-help
| 2023-07-31T20:16:22
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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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| 2023-07-31T20:16:23
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BEIJING (AP) — China imposed restrictions Monday on exports of long-range civilian drones, citing Russia’s war in Ukraine and concern that drones might be converted to military use.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government is friendly with Moscow but says it is neutral in the 17-month-old war. It has been stung by reports that both sides might be using Chinese-made drones for reconnaissance and possibly attacks.
Export controls will take effect Tuesday to prevent use of drones for “non-peaceful purposes,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. It said some drone exports still will be allowed.
China is a leading developer and exporter of drones. DJI Technology Co., one of the global industry’s top competitors, announced in April 2022 it was pulling out of Russia and Ukraine to prevent its drones from being used in combat.
“The risk of some high specification and high-performance civilian unmanned aerial vehicles being converted to military use is constantly increasing,” the Ministry of Commerce said.
Restrictions will apply to drones that can fly beyond the natural sight distance of operators or stay aloft more than 30 minutes, have attachments that can throw objects and weigh more than 7 kilograms (15½ pounds), according to the ministry.
“Since the crisis in Ukraine, some Chinese civilian drone companies have voluntarily suspended their operations in conflict areas,” the Ministry of Commerce said. It accused the United States and Western media of spreading “false information” about Chinese drone exports.
The government on Friday defended its dealings with Russia as “normal economic and trade cooperation” after a U.S. intelligence report said Beijing possibly provided equipment used in Ukraine that might have military applications.
The report cited Russian customs data that showed Chinese state-owned military contractors supplied drones, navigation equipment, fighter jet parts and other goods.
The Biden administration has warned Beijing of unspecified consequences if it supports the Kremlin’s war effort. Last week’s report didn’t say whether any of the trade cited might trigger U.S. retaliation.
Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared before the February 2022 invasion that their governments had a “no-limits” friendship. Beijing has blocked efforts to censure Moscow in the United Nations and has repeated Russian justifications for the attack.
China has “always opposed the use of civilian drones for military purposes,” the Ministry of Commerce said. “The moderate expansion of drone control by China this time is an important measure to demonstrate the responsibility of a responsible major country.”
The Ukrainian government appealed to DJI in March 2022 to stop selling drones it said the Russian ministry was using to target missile attacks. DJI rejected claims it leaked data on Ukraine’s military positions to Russia.
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Health regulators in the United States are working to respond to a potential tuberculosis outbreak that's linked to a company's tainted bone graft products.
Three new cases of the highly unusual and deadly disease were identified in the U.S. last week, bringing the total number of cases to five, according to Politico. At least one person has died.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the cases appear to be linked to a single product sold by Aziyo Biologics Inc. that's used in surgical and dental procedures.
Shipments of the product were sent to over a dozen facilities in California, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Texas and Virginia. Regulators said product from the contaminated lot was implanted in at least 36 other people.
"CDC and FDA are working with state and local health departments, hospitals, surgical centers, and dental offices in the affected states to ensure patients are rapidly evaluated and treated, prevent further patient harm, and determine if additional measures can be taken to prevent similar outbreaks in the future," the agency said in a statement.
SEE MORE: Authorities arrest woman refusing tuberculosis treatment
Aziyo issued a voluntary recall notice for the tainted product earlier this month and the CDC says all of the unused units have been removed from inventory.
"We are taking immediate action to safeguard patients by implementing a full product recall as we work with the CDC to investigate this event," Aziyo president and CEO Dr. Randy Mills said in a statement. "The people of Aziyo care deeply about the patients we serve and will continue to work with the medical community, patients, and regulatory authorities as we gather additional information."
However, this isn't the first time the company has been linked to a deadly outbreak of the rare disease. In 2021, a different bone graft product sold by Aziyo was responsible for a tuberculosis outbreak in at least 87 patients, eight of which died.
SEE MORE: Tick bites likely causing thousands to develop meat allergy
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that primarily affects an infected person's lungs, but can also target other parts of the body, such as the brain, spine, or kidneys. It is transmitted through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks, releasing tiny droplets that contain the bacteria.
Tuberculosis is treatable and curable, but requires a specific course of antibiotics taken over several months to ensure all bacteria has been eliminated from the body. Preliminary data from the CDC shows that the number of cases in the U.S. increased by 5% in 2022 to 8,300 cases, specifically among children under 4 years of age, those who are incarcerated, and people who have immigrated from parts of the world with high rates of the disease.
The U.S. has one of the lowest tuberculosis rates in the world, thanks to large investments into domestic programs and control efforts.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
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Woman facing felony charge after pulling gun on first responders in Oak Grove Saturday
LAMAR COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - Charges are being processed after a person pulled a gun on first responders during a medical emergency in Oak Grove Saturday.
Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said a 55-year-old woman is set to be charged with felony simple assault on emergency personnel. He said the woman has not been booked into jail because of medical concerns, but the case will be brought up in the next grand jury hearing.
According to Oak Grove Fire & Rescue, along with Lifeguard Ambulance, they responded to a medical emergency on Chambliss Lane around 5:20 p.m.
While first responders were working, Oak Grove Fire & Rescue said the woman, who is a family member of the person being treated, pulled a gun on responders.
Rigel said the reason the woman pulled a gun on first responders was because she was upset after being told she would not be able to ride in the ambulance to the hospital with her family member.
Emergency personnel left the scene, and the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office responded and brought the situation under control, according to the fire and rescue.
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Copyright 2023 WDAM. All rights reserved.
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Judge: Killer's story had 'more holes than a pool table,' gives Canton man life sentence
- Forchione gives life sentence in Canton murder case.
- Errol G. Frank III sentenced for killing Melvin H. Stevenson.
- Defendant will be eligible for parole in 20 years.
CANTON ‒ A 29-year-old Canton man has been sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 20 years, for killing his wife's ex-husband and related crimes.
Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank Forchione sentenced Errol G. Frank III on Monday on charges of murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gun specifications in connection with the death of Melvin H. Stevenson.
Stevenson's mother told Frank she forgives him for killing her 36-year-old son on March 22, the day the fatal shooting occurred on Peel Place at O'Jays Parkway NE.
'If you don't know God, find Him.'
“I forgive you and I love you," said Ada Stevenson-Ezeanyika. "And I pray that God blesses you.”
The Cleveland woman gave Frank advice for prison.
“It’s my deepest prayer for you, is that when you get there, teach the younger generation that’s coming through there something so that they don’t wind up doing life. Keep your head up. Stay prayerful. If you don’t know God, find Him.
“I sincerely pray for you that when you get in there, that you learn something and find some peace because once you take somebody’s life, you have to deal with that the rest of your life. And that’s going to be the hardest part ... having to deal with that," Stevenson-Ezeanyika said.
An apology to the family
Given the chance to speak in court, Frank apologized to the Stevenson family. He alluded to his own family's prior loss.
"As a parent myself, and watching what my mom went through after losing my brother, I know there’s no easy way to bury your child," the Canton man said. “I wish things could have happened differently to where everybody walked away unharmed.
"Not only did you guys lose a son, a brother, but my mom could ultimately lose another son today. My daughter can grow up fatherless due to the situation. I’m beyond sorry for the hurt that I’ve caused on you and your family. If I could take it back, I would, because I’m not the person that they made me out to be," Frank said.
Nicole Fredd, Melvin Stevenson's first wife, said that while Frank would still be able to talk to his daughter, the child she shared with Stevenson would never get that chance.
“You took her father away. You robbed her. You robbed all of us. And there’s nothing I could say that’s going to bring Melvin back. I’m going to have a hole for the rest of my life that will never be filled.”
Previous wound reopened
Eunique Stevenson, a cousin to the deceased who said she grew up as his sister, said his death forced her to relive the pain suffered in 2011 when his brother Leonte Stevenson died after being shot in a robbery.
“I do pray for you family, that they can find some peace," she told Frank. "I hope that your apology was genuine.”
She said she will no longer receive the birthday greetings she got from her cousin every year.
At his jury trial, Frank said he had been afraid of Stevenson, who was the subject of a protection order obtained by Frank's wife. Frank claimed he shot Stevenson in self-defense.
Story 'had more holes in it than a pool table'
Dennis Barr, who heads the Stark County Prosecutor's Office Criminal Division, said Frank hunted down Stevenson and executed him.
Before pronouncing the sentence, Forchione offered his deepest sympathy to Stevenson's family.
He then addressed Frank, telling him that the story he gave in court sounded like something from Disney.
"It had more holes in it than a pool table," the judge said.
The verdict:Jury finds Canton resident Errol Frank guilty of murder for killing wife's ex-husband
Self defense claimed:Errol Frank takes stand in murder trial, gives new account of fatal shooting in Canton
'Nothing but broken hearts'
“My mom always used to always tell me life is a series of choices," Forchione said. "I just can’t imagine why you, at this young of an age, would want to throw your life away. You made such a bad choice over a ridiculous situation," which, he said, was a violation of a temporary order that was “someone simply politely asking to get his stuff.
"This case, to me, as I watch it, it's just nothing but broken hearts. I mean, the Melvin Stevenson family, they have their hearts broken today. His daughter's heart's broken."
Forchione said Frank's own daughter's heart had been broken, along with those of his other family members.
"These two daughters' hearts are going to be broken every holiday, birthday, father-daughter dance, for nothing. And I see this time and time again in my courtroom," Forchione said. "There's just too many guns, too many killings and I've had enough of it. If I have to pass out life sentences like Halloween candy, I will."
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com.
On Twitter: @nmolnarTR
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Buttigieg touts progress in goal for half of new car sales to be electric vehicles
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Following an announcement of private investment plan for 30,000 new electric vehicle chargers across the United States, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said government investment has paved the way private companies to produce more electric cars.
“Federal investment to try and make up the difference where markets are still getting ready, and then the private sector, private industry, needs to do the rest,” Buttigieg said.
Leading global electric vehicle manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors and BMW have joined together to build 30,000 electric vehicle chargers across the country.
“When you fill up your gas car with gas you’re counting on private companies to set up for that,” Buttigieg said. “We really need private industry to play more of a roll in investing in and running these electric vehicle charging stations.”
The government has set aside $7.5 billion for states to create their own networks of EV chargers, but the Biden administration wants to guarantee things like price transparency, and guaranteeing a charger from one company works for another company’s vehicles.
“They are going to meet standards that we have set, and they’ll have to in order to qualify for federal support.”
Buttigieg said if the U.S. does not take the lead on electric vehicles, someone else will.
“There is a race, whether people realize it or not,” Buttigieg said. “Where in the middle of a heated race to win the future of electric vehicles.”
The federal money for EV charging networks comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.
Copyright 2023 Gray DC. All rights reserved.
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The extreme heat that has been blanketing parts of the country for the last month is just one of the extreme weather events we’ve seen this summer.
In late June, wildfires in Canada sent so much particulate matter to the northeast that parts of New York spent at least one day in virtual darkness. And now, Vermont continues to clean up and rebuild after severe flooding in July destroyed streets and buildings across the state.
While it’s impossible to predict with certainty where the next event will be, it is possible to take precautions to help ensure safety and quick recovery for those in affected areas.
New York Times tech writer J.D. Biersdorfer joins host Robin Young to discuss some of the ideas in her recent article “A Tech Checklist for the Dark Side of Summer Weather” that details how technology, from apps to scanners, can help during crises.
Resources:
- Crank chargers
- Solar chargers
- Weather alerts
- National Hurricane Center
- Air quality index
- Apps for scanning documents
- Apps for creating a digital wallet
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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Patrick Braxton became mayor of Newbern, Alabama, in 2020 — but says he has been fighting to hold onto his title after the white former mayor and his council members held a special election and reappointed themselves to their positions.
Now, Braxton is suing in a federal civil rights lawsuit that accuses the town officials of conspiring to deny his civil rights and position due to his race. We hear from Aallyah Wright, a rural issues reporter for Capital B News.
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/power-struggle-unfolds-between-alabama-towns-1st-black-mayor-and-white-officials
| 2023-07-31T20:16:28
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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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Climate change has been an important issue for President Joe Biden since the beginning of his administration. And while a majority of Americans agree that we need to work to reduce global warming, the partisan divide surrounding climate change is growing.
"I don't think anybody can deny the impact of climate change anymore," Biden said during a press conference on extreme heat.
Amid a sizzling hot summer, Biden announced new actions to combat extreme heat and drought. It comes as Americans across the country are feeling first-hand evidence of the changing climate.
"All of these kinds of events are really starting to literally hit home. And many Americans are starting to go, 'Oh my God, this isn't distant in time and space. This is happening right now. And we need to act,'" said Anthony Leiserowitz, the director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
SEE MORE: Extreme heat expected to be costly, especially in Texas
According to polling from the Pew Research Center,a majority of Americans, 54%, think climate change is a major threat, but there's also a stark partisan divide. Over last 15 years, the percent of Democrats who say climate change is a major threat has gone up, while that answer went down among Republicans.
That partisan impact means politicians aren't the best messengers for climate change. But experts say new voices are stepping up to raise alarm about the warming planet in an impactful way.
"We're now seeing doctors and nurses talking about how climate change is showing up in their emergency room and in the waiting room. We're hearing from faith leaders saying our religion, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, all of these major leaders have said climate change is a fundamental moral issue that we must address as religious people," said Leiserowitz.
Local meteorologists can be some of the most effective messengers for climate change, and the White House appears to recognize that. The vice president's office has reached out to local weather forecasters to start a discussion on best practices for talking about climate change and its impact.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
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Free financial literacy workshop for minority businesses is Aug. 8
NORTH CANTON − The Stark County Minority Business Association, Huntington Bank, PNCBank and KeyBank have partnered for a financial literacy workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Aug. 8.
The workshop is designed to bridge the gap between minority, women and veteran business owners and financial institutions, according to a news release.
This free event will be at the Walsh University Barrette Conference Center (Room C), 2225 E. Maple St. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Light breakfast will be provided. Space is limited, so participants are encouraged to RSVP soon by visiting www.bit.ly/SCMBAFinance.
In collaboration with these banks, SCMBA aims to amplify financial literacy, create healthy bankingrelationships and improve loan approval rates.
During the session, business owners will have discussions on credit (personal and business), banking resources, and building strong banking relationships.
Participants will follow the Money Smart (Module 6) guide, provided by the FDCI. In this module,participants will be educated on credit reports and credit scores. In addition, they will learn how to disputeerrors on a credit report, and build, repair and maintain a productive credit history.
For more information about SCMBA or this workshop, contact Skyler Parks at 330-458-2082.
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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus court on Monday sentenced a British man who killed his ailing wife in their retirement home to two years in prison, rejecting a defense request to hand down a suspended sentence after convicting him earlier of manslaughter.
State prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou said the three-judge bench imposed the prison term as a “deterrent,” although the judges had earlier ruled that David Hunter’s decision to suffocate his wife Janice in December 2021 was made on the spur of the moment because he could no longer stand seeing her weeping in pain.
Hadjikyrou told The Associated Press the court took into account that Hunter, 76, acted “out of love” to save his wife, who was suffering from a blood ailment when he closed her mouth and nose with his hands as she sat in a recliner in their Paphos home.
It also took into consideration Hunter’s advanced age and that he had no previous criminal record.
Justice Abroad, a group that defends Britons facing legal troubles in foreign countries, said in a statement that Hunter could be released by Aug. 18 after already having spent more than 18 months in custody.
“This has been a tragic case and difficult for all of those involved with it, but today’s decision was the right one and allows David and his family to grieve together,” said Michael Polak from Justice Abroad.
Hunter had faced a charge of premeditated murder, but the court found in its July 21 ruling that the prosecution didn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was premeditation in his actions.
The court had accepted witness testimony that Janice feared her blood ailment would develop into full-blown leukemia and had repeatedly pleaded with her husband to take her life because she didn’t want to share the fate of her sister, who died of the disease.
Hunter attempted to take his own life by consuming a large amount of pills after suffocating his wife, but medical staff saved his life.
The court cited expert testimony that Janice Hunter suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of blood cancer which “to a large degree” — as much as 45% — could turn into leukemia, although there was no proof that she had indeed developed the disease because no definitive tests were conducted.
But the court said both husband and wife believed that Janice would develop it because of her sister’s fate.
David Hunter’s earlier assurances to Janice that he would help her fulfill her wish to end her life and not suffer anymore didn’t indicate any premeditation, the court said.
Hadjikyrou said defense lawyers had rejected a plea deal in December 2022 for the defendant to plead guilty to manslaughter because they insisted the facts of the case include an agreement Hunter and his wife allegedly made for him to take her life.
The state prosecutor said the court didn’t accept that such an agreement had indeed been made. He said the Cyprus attorney-general has 10 days to decide whether to appeal the sentence.
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Defective: After recalls, Americans continue to die and get injured as products remain in homes and for sale online
Watchdogs say companies don’t do enough to alert customers to dangerous household goods
Deer Park, New York (InvestigateTV) — P.J. Matzen was only 3 months old when he uttered his first words to his parents. “I love you,” he babbles in a video taken by his mother.
They were the only words he would ever say.
On Oct. 11, 2019, Phillip Matzen found his son blue, lifeless and face down in an inclined sleeper made by Kids2. P.J. died the following day.
His parents had no idea that six months earlier, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the manufacturers of two of these popular baby products had issued recalls for them.
The Matzens also had no idea the CPSC hired an independent doctor to review these products for possible danger. The month before P.J. died, that doctor declared “no inclined sleep products are safe” warning the design has an increased risk for suffocation because babies can roll and aren’t able to “self-correct.”
By then, millions of these sleepers had been sold.
But the April 2019 recalls of Kids2 rocking sleepers and the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play did not stop the deaths. P.J. is one of at least a dozen infants who died in one of those inclined sleepers after the recalls, according to CPSC.
Because of the rising death toll — and the availability of those products on the secondary market — the CPSC and the manufacturers of those sleepers re-announced the recalls this past January.
“Unfortunately, today’s announcement highlights the fact that these products are still in too many homes, and babies continue to be put at risk,” CPSC chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric wrote in a statement accompanying the re-announcement.
However, the re-announcement of the Kids2 rocking sleepers and the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play is not an anomaly.
An InvestigateTV analysis of CPSC data shows that since 2000, the agency has had to re-announce the recall of at least 46 products because the original alert did not reach the ears of consumers and, in many cases, continued to cause harm.
The deaths of at least 16 children or adults were tied to a defective product that had been previously recalled, the analysis of the federal data shows. At least 300 were injured.
Consumer advocates such as Nancy Cowles with Kids in Danger say the government and the manufacturers need to do more to protect Americans — particularly infants and toddlers — from products they know are dangerous.
“Make sure that once you do the recall you actually get them out of homes,” said Cowles, who is the executive director of the Chicago nonprofit that advocates for safer baby products. “Most products — children’s products — that we’ve tracked . . . are still in homes. Nowhere near a majority of products that are recalled are taken out of homes.”
The story of the inclined sleepers epitomizes what consumers advocates say is a flawed recall system that leaves defective and deadly products in American homes and for sale on online marketplaces and at garage sales.
A family was unaware of a recall until it was too late
Kiara Matzen once told her mother — P.J.’s grandmother — that she feels as if her son’s life was nothing but a dream because it was cut so short.
“Every day, I’m still trying to process it,” Kiara said.
Kiara was 19 when she learned that she was pregnant. Friends and relatives showered her with many necessities for the baby, including a Kids2 Ingenuity Rock N’ Soothe Sleeper.
Kids2 began marketing its incline sleepers three years after Fisher-Price designed and launched its Rock ‘n Play in 2009, which was the first incline sleeper to hit the market and became instantly popular.
About 4.7 million Rock ‘n Plays were sold during its 10 years on the market. Kids2 sold nearly 700,000 inclined sleepers that had various different names.
Kiara doesn’t remember who gave her the sleeper, but P.J. slept in it every day from the time he was born.
On the morning of Oct. 11, 2019, Kiara escorted her mother, Lydia Calvacca, to a doctor’s appointment. While waiting to be seen, Kiara pulled up an app on her phone that connected her to cameras in her home.
She wanted to check on P.J.
“I saw something wasn’t right. He was on his stomach,” Kiara said.
Lydia also caught a glimpse of the image on Kiara’s phone.
“I saw the way he was laying in the bassinet. And I was an EMT for seven years and I knew it was not a normal sleeping position,” Lydia said. “I said to her, ‘Call your husband right now. Tell him to wake the baby up.’”
P.J.’s father immediately dialed 911 after finding his son lifeless. Police officers arrived before medics and rushed P.J. to the hospital.
He died the following day.
“That night that he was in the hospital, my whole family came to the hospital, and my sister-in-law said that ... ‘I think I heard that it was recalled,’” Kiara said.
It was the first time she had heard that P.J.’s inclined sleeper had been recalled.
“If they would have spent more time and attention, maybe even money to get that recall product, that it was recalled out, then, you know ... me and probably a bunch of other parents would have stopped using it,” Kiara said.
Both Kids2 and Fisher-Price posted about the original recall on their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds, but neither has since mentioned the re-announcement of the recall made earlier this year on their social media accounts, based on a search of their posts on each platform. They did, however, place the re-announcements of the recalls on their websites.
Neither company responded to InvestigateTV’s requests for comment.
Despite the best efforts of the CPSC to alert consumers to recalls, the agency is largely powerless to force companies to do more.
CPSC publicizes recalls on its websites and social media platforms, but it doesn’t have the budget to launch campaigns about dangerous products.
“It would be much better if the companies actually used the same sort of marketing budget and marketing strategies that they initially used to sell the products to get these defective products off the markets,” said Daniel Mann, a product liability lawyer in Philadelphia who has represented dozens of families harmed by dangerous consumer goods.
After some recalls, Americans still are vulnerable to death and injury
The 46 products that have had re-announced recalls have been linked to at least 150 deaths and at least 800 injuries, with the majority of the harm coming before the recall.
In 2016, the CPSC re-announced the recall of trapeze rings on a backyard play house because so few of the products had been returned, meaning they likely were still in use. The agency received more than 100 reports of the rings breaking, leading to injuries. It did not indicate how many reports of breakage it received after the recall.
In 2012, a 7-month-old Houston baby died in a crib that had been recalled two years earlier.
Months after a 2008 recall of a bassinet that had been linked to strangulation and suffocations deaths, CPSC reported that two more babies had died.
And the problems aren’t just isolated to items for children.
Take the case of a bathrobe that was recalled in 2009 because of flammability failures: In the months after the recall, the CPSC learned that six elderly women died when the robes they were wearing caught fire. Most of them were cooking at the time.
Still, Mann, the Philadelphia attorney, said “the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play is probably the most epic consumer product disaster in United States history.”
In June 2021, a Fisher-Price executive admitted to Congress during a hearing that it was aware of at least 97 infant deaths linked to a Rock ‘n Play.
At least eight more died after that, including a 4-month-old who died in September 2020 and a 2-month-old who died in March 2021.
Mann represents a family whose 4-month-old son died on Feb. 1, 2021 while in a Rock ‘n Play at a babysitter’s home. Neither his parents nor the babysitter were aware of the recall, Mann said.
“For those parents where their deaths occur after the recall,” Mann said, “it’s even more tragic.”
Federal law leaves CPSC without necessary authority to rid households of dangerous products
CPSC chairman Hoehn-Saric admits that his agency is largely powerless to force companies to do more in recalls.
The Consumer Product Safety Act tips the balance of power away from the government regulator and into the hands of the companies that make and market products.
When a defect is discovered, the companies decide when and how a recall will be conducted.
“We can push them,” he said, “but forcing them is a whole different matter.”
The CPSC’s so-called sister agencies — the Food and Drug Administration and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration — which also issue recalls, can alert the public on their own, without a company’s permission.
“We don’t know (of) other federal agencies subject to a law like this. Getting information out to consumers quickly is extremely important to prevent those unnecessary deaths and injuries,” Hoehn-Saric said.
But only Congress has the power to unlock the handcuffs that it has put on an agency that is supposed to regulate more than 15,000 categories of everyday products from appliances to tools to toys.
The CPSC can’t force a company to spend money to advertise a recall. It also can’t dictate what consumers will receive in exchange for returning a defective product.
Fisher-Price, for example, on its website offered consumers the choice of a potty chair, a stuffed Barney the dinosaur or a Thomas & Friends racetrack in exchange for the Rock ‘n Play, which cost between $50 and $150. The recall announcements mention that consumers should contact the company for a voucher or refund.
Kids2 offered a refund for its defective inclined sleepers.
Recalled products can be found on secondary marketplaces and at garage sales
The CPSC’s own reports show that many recalled products remain unaccounted for, leaving consumers at risk.
In its fiscal year 2021 report on its annual performance measures, the CPSC reported that 32% of products recalled during that period had been returned or the defective part had been corrected.
The agency noted that this rate meant that it had met its performance goals.
“The other issue that we have in terms of having hard metrics is some of the recalls, if it’s for a cheap product, that’s a buck, we may never know exactly what happens because a lot of people hear about those recalls and just throw the product away,” Hoehn-Saric said.
More dangerously, however, the products may end up on secondary marketplaces and in garage sales.
Hoehn-Saric has taken a particularly hard stance against Meta and its Facebook Marketplaces.
Rock ‘n Plays continue to show up for sale there.
InvestigateTV bought a Rock ‘n Play on Facebook Marketplace in December and found others for sale in early July. Consumers were also selling the Kids2 rocking sleeper on the platform in that month.
“You should never have seen that product on their marketplace. They’re in a position where they can see what’s going up on the marketplace before it gets to the public,” Hoehn-Saric said. “And that’s the best time to step in and say, ‘You can’t post that. There’s a recall on it.’”
When asked about finding recalled items on its marketplace, a spokeswoman for Meta issued a brief statement: “Like other platforms where people can buy and sell goods, there are instances of people knowingly or unknowingly selling recalled goods on Marketplace. We take this issue seriously and when we find listings that violate our rules, we remove them.”
It is illegal to sell a recalled product. Big box stores and online retailers such as Amazon generally are quick to remove recalled items from their shelves.
In 2022, TJX, the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Homegoods, agreed to pay a $13 million fine to the CPSC for knowingly selling inclined sleepers after the recall.
When the CPSC finds a recalled item on a secondary marketplace, the agency asks the platform to remove it — but it’s often a game of whack-a-mole: as one goes down, another comes up.
Consumers also sometimes disguise the products by failing to mention their specific names in the description. For example, “Rock ‘n Play” won’t return any results on Facebook Marketplace. But the product will turn up if searching for bassinets, sleepers or rockers.
Regarding the secondary marketplaces, Hoehn-Saric said that it is “very difficult for [CPSC] to require or force them to take action. I think that is important. And I think it’s good business for them to be able to protect their own customers.”
Grieving family members become disciples of safe sleeping practices
Since P.J.’s death, Kiara Matzen and Lydia Calvacca have turned their agony into advocacy through their social media channels.
They post about the importance of following safe sleep guidelines, where babies should be on their backs, on a firm surface with no blankets, pillows or stuffed toys in the crib or bassinet.
“There’s a [Facebook] page called safe infant sleep ... It’s a support group for moms that have lost their babies to unsafe sleep practices. And they are just wonderful. They’re wonderful. Every time I see a woman with a new baby, I always tell them about this page,” Calvacca said. “I have pictures of my grandson on my desk and ... I always tell them the story. I don’t just say, ‘Oh, that’s my grandson.’ I let them know what happened because I feel it’s my responsibility to educate people so this doesn’t happen to them.”
Kiara and Phillip now have two daughters. The youngest is just 2 months old.
The family sued Kids2 and reached a confidential settlement last year.
Calvacca said that when she keeps her granddaughters for overnight stays, she’s too afraid to sleep.
“It sucks. Because I want to be able to enjoy them the way I enjoyed P.J. without worrying and being nervous that something’s going to happen. And this incident has taken that away from me,” Calvacca said. “It’s taken some of my joy for my other grandchildren away from me, and that angers me.”
InvestigateTV associate producer Austin Hedgcoth contributed to this story.
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.1011now.com/2023/07/31/defective-after-recalls-americans-continue-die-get-injured-products-remain-homes-sale-online/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:31
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Russia shot down military drones that struck buildings in Moscow Monday. While Ukraine didn’t claim the strikes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday night that “the war is returning to the territory of Russia.”
We get the latest from the Washington Post’s John Hudson.
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/ukrainian-president-claims-war-coming-back-to-russia-after-moscow-drone-attack
| 2023-07-31T20:16:32
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https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/ukrainian-president-claims-war-coming-back-to-russia-after-moscow-drone-attack
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After Democrats performed better than expected in the 2022 midterms, both political parties are looking to rural areas to recruit or retain voters ahead of a crucial presidential election.
NPR’s Ximena Bustillo reports.
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/republicans-and-democrats-look-to-rural-voters-in-2024
| 2023-07-31T20:16:34
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Buttigieg touts progress in goal for half of new car sales to be electric vehicles
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Following an announcement of private investment plan for 30,000 new electric vehicle chargers across the United States, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said government investment has paved the way private companies to produce more electric cars.
“Federal investment to try and make up the difference where markets are still getting ready, and then the private sector, private industry, needs to do the rest,” Buttigieg said.
Leading global electric vehicle manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors and BMW have joined together to build 30,000 electric vehicle chargers across the country.
“When you fill up your gas car with gas you’re counting on private companies to set up for that,” Buttigieg said. “We really need private industry to play more of a roll in investing in and running these electric vehicle charging stations.”
The government has set aside $7.5 billion for states to create their own networks of EV chargers, but the Biden administration wants to guarantee things like price transparency, and guaranteeing a charger from one company works for another company’s vehicles.
“They are going to meet standards that we have set, and they’ll have to in order to qualify for federal support.”
Buttigieg said if the U.S. does not take the lead on electric vehicles, someone else will.
“There is a race, whether people realize it or not,” Buttigieg said. “Where in the middle of a heated race to win the future of electric vehicles.”
The federal money for EV charging networks comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.
Copyright 2023 Gray DC. All rights reserved.
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https://www.weau.com/2023/07/31/buttigieg-touts-progress-goal-half-new-car-sales-be-electric-vehicles/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:35
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As school starts to get underway across the U.S. in the coming weeks, many students and teachers will undergo mass shooting drills.
These types of drills have become more popular in recent years due to a number of notable mass shooting incidents at schools throughout the U.S.
While many experts say it's important to be prepared for such incidents, there are concerns that some drills can also cause psychological harm.
SEE MORE: Back-to-school spending higher as sales of electronics rise
Do drills work?
A study published in 2022 in the Journal of School Violencesaid schools that successfully implemented lockdowns had 60% fewer total casualties, with 79% reductions in victims pronounced dead at the scene, even after controlling for other variables during shooting incidents.
Other studies have shown similar results, reaffirming that successful lockdowns reduce casualties.
"There has never been a case where an armed assailant has, you know, breached a locked classroom door. When they've gotten in, it was either unlocked or they were able to like, shoot through glass, like a glass window and get in," said Franci Crepeau-Hobson, training director with the Colorado School Psychology Internship Consortium. "So knowing that kind of informed this idea in part that standard lockdown procedures are effective."
But experts expressed concerns that higher-intensity drills might lead to more harm than good.
One popular program is ALICE Training, which involves training that reportedly goes beyond lockdown-only drills.
"In the chaos of a violent critical incident, every second counts, and ALICE strategies equip civilians with life-saving options that go beyond the traditional and inadequate lockdown-only response," ALICE Training said in a press release.
Representatives for ALICE Training could not be reached for comment. The company's website said it uses "age-appropriate" training for students. Part of that training includes teaching kids how to distract assailants during incidents.
The training has been used at 5,500 schools across the U.S., Alice Training says.
SEE MORE: Secrets to save on back-to-school clothes and other items
Psychological impacts
It is when drills go beyond preparing for lockouts that concerns some experts. Of particular concern are when drills are done without any advanced warning.
"I guess you can kind of imagine that would be traumatic for a child to go through," said Crepeau-Hobson. "I mean, people thought they were gonna die and there was actual trauma. It was that it was that kind of harm that we were really concerned about and also, you know, engaging in, practices that there's no evidence that says these are actually helpful in terms of increasing school safety."
Dr. David J. Schonfeld, who directs the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, echoes Crepeau-Hobson's concerns. He said oftentimes trainings are done from the perspective of first responders who may not fully understand child development when developing their training.
"Children and sometimes the staff are not informed or aware that it's actually an exercise and feel that it is a real event," Schonfeld said. "This is a kind of extreme way to, to bring realism to the drill and it obviously can have significant emotional distress because the individual feels they're actually under attack."
Schonfeld said some of these drills can become way too realistic for young kids to handle.
"There really are simulations that are meant to mimic the actual advance, but they don't, they don't require deception, but they try and recreate the experience of being in an active shooter drill to varying degrees," he said. "So that might mean that they use actual weapons, they might use the sound of gunshots, hopefully blanks, as opposed to live ammunition. They will have individuals that maybe have makeup, to kind of mimic wounds or to mimic blood, they would have predatory and aggressive acting.
"So they might have someone not just go and check to see if the door knobs are locked in the various classrooms, but act as if they're trying to get into the door in a way that, you know, simulates someone who's actually trying to break in. And so we feel that those kind of exercises and drills are not necessary."
Tips for parents, teachers
With many students going through lockdown and active shooter trainings in the coming weeks, Crepeau-Hobson said there are a few things parents and teachers should be looking for.
For instance, there are questions parents can ask of administrators.
"I would ask, you know, is there a specific program you're using? Have the adults been trained? Is there evidence that this works? Have the kids been informed? Have the staff been informed? I'm assuming they would if the parents know what have you told the kids about it? Have you explained what's going to happen? Have you explained why you do this?" Crepeau-Hobson said.
"Because we know when we have those conversations with kids and explain this is why we do these drills, that actually helps to increase perceptions of safety and security."
Teachers may also have to deal with questions about drills immediately after such trainings.
"We can typically identify kids who might have a harder time, maybe kids who already have special needs or they have some kind of mental health challenge or something going on," Crepeau-Hobson said said. "And so we might be particularly careful with them, but if we do it right and we talk about it ahead of time, then we have a chance to talk about it afterwards, telling teachers it's OK to process it with your kids."
Schonfeld also suggests that educators understand children may not always be forthright with showing their feelings after such drills.
"I do think teachers if they're empathic and supportive can convey a culture or climate in a classroom where kids know they can come forward and talk to them and or talk to others in the school if they have distress from things that have happened or are happening in their lives, but we can't assume that they're going to disclose 100% of those experiences or feelings," he said.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
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Huddle Up for Hunger food drive Friday at Pro Football Hall of Fame
CANTON − A “Huddle Up for Hunger” food drive benefiting the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2121 George Halas Drive NW.
Massillon-based Sugardale and the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be collecting the Super Six, the most-needed nonperishable food items, including boxed cereal, canned beef stew, canned tuna, canned soup, canned vegetables and peanut butter.
Sugardale will give a free ticket to the Aug. 5 Class of 2023 Enshrinement at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium to the first 500 people who bring six nonperishable food items. Contributors may also be entered into a drawing to win VIP tickets to see Zac Brown Band in concert Aug. 5, as well as other prizes.
After dropping off their donations, visitors are encouraged to stay for music, food, and appearances from special guests.
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2023/07/31/huddle-up-for-hunger-food-drive-friday-at-pro-football-hall-of-fame/70485207007/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:36
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HONG KONG (AP) — The discovery of a whale carcass in Hong Kong waters Monday sparked an outpouring of grief on social media, with many comments blaming the mammal’s death on sightseers.
Many residents speculated that the dead mammal was the same whale that had been attracting groups of sightseers since it was first spotted in the city’s waters in mid-July.
Compass Chan, scientific officer of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong, didn’t confirm whether it was the same whale. But he said an initial check of the dead whale found a new wound on its back, in addition to two old wounds.
“It’s a pity,” Chan said at a media briefing. “I think it’s a good opportunity for everyone to think seriously about how we should get along with other species in nature.”
The whale’s cause of death would have to be confirmed by a necropsy, he said.
The carcass was in found in the waters in Sai Kung — a district known for its hiking trails, beaches and islands. Many residents blamed the death on sightseers who have flocked to those waters since a whale was spotted there about two weeks ago. Some posted a Canto-pop song whose title translates as “Whale Eater.”
The foundation had released a statement last week saying that crowds of people had been seen approaching the animal, which was believed to be a Bryde’s whale of about seven meters (23 feet) long. The foundation said at the time that the whale had propeller wounds and that nearby human activity could cause it stress and have life-threatening consequences.
The government said Monday night that the necropsy might take several days and that its results could help shape future policy for how to deal with whales in Hong Kong waters.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-discovery-of-whale-carcass-in-hong-kong-sparks-anger-over-the-potential-damage-done-by-sightseers/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:36
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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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https://www.1011now.com/2023/07/31/doctors-concerned-brain-eating-amoeba-infection-could-increase-due-warmer-water-temperatures/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:37
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The extreme heat that has been blanketing parts of the country for the last month is just one of the extreme weather events we’ve seen this summer.
In late June, wildfires in Canada sent so much particulate matter to the northeast that parts of New York spent at least one day in virtual darkness. And now, Vermont continues to clean up and rebuild after severe flooding in July destroyed streets and buildings across the state.
While it’s impossible to predict with certainty where the next event will be, it is possible to take precautions to help ensure safety and quick recovery for those in affected areas.
New York Times tech writer J.D. Biersdorfer joins host Robin Young to discuss some of the ideas in her recent article “A Tech Checklist for the Dark Side of Summer Weather” that details how technology, from apps to scanners, can help during crises.
Resources:
- Crank chargers
- Solar chargers
- Weather alerts
- National Hurricane Center
- Air quality index
- Apps for scanning documents
- Apps for creating a digital wallet
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.kanw.com/2023-07-31/staying-safe-during-weather-events-theres-an-app-for-that
| 2023-07-31T20:16:40
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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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https://www.weau.com/2023/07/31/doctors-concerned-brain-eating-amoeba-infection-could-increase-due-warmer-water-temperatures/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:41
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After months of warnings from tech executives about the dangers of artificial intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has a new list of concerns.
The agency has issued a stark warning to Americans about cybercriminals using AI tools, like ChatGPT, to create malicious code and launch attacks that had previously required much more effort.
The agency detailed its concerns on a phone call with journalists and explained that AI chatbots have been used to help criminals carry out various types of illicit activity. One FBI official said bad actors are using it as a tool to supplement criminal activities by utilizing things like AI voice generators to impersonate trusted individuals in order to defraud people.
The bottom line is there are fewer people, less expertise, and less time needed for a lot of these threats, ultimately lowering the barrier for entry, according to officials. Furthermore, the agency said it is working with private companies to identify synthetically generated content online that's made with the help of AI.
SEE MORE: Cybersecurity firm finds compromised ChatGPT accounts on dark web
It's not the first time an alarm has been sounded about the potential threats of AI. Cybersecurity firm Group-IB reported that more than 26,000 compromised ChatGPT accounts were detected on the dark web in may and were being offered for sale. According to the firm, more employers are using tools like ChatGPT to optimize their work, but entries into the chatbot could include sensitive or proprietary information that could be exploited by hackers.
However, some companies have been wary to jumping on the chatbot train. Apple has already restricted employees from using ChatGPT. Other companies, like Verizon and JPMorgan Chase, have taken similar measures.
SEE MORE: Musk, tech leaders call for pause on 'out-of-control' AI race
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden hosted seven major tech companies at the White House to discuss ways to protect the public from the potential harms of AI. The companies — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI — all made voluntary commitments to ensure their products are safe for consumers prior to launch.
One of those promises is a commitment to internal and external security testing—meaning allowing third-party, independent experts to review AI cybersecurity.
"I think that's a very important step," said Dr. Arati Prabhakar, lead science adviser to the president. "There are other fields where that happens [where] it's been very helpful, but I think it's going to be very constructive for AI."
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
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LOCAL
Mosquito sample in Canton tests positive for West Nile virus. Tips for protecting yourself
Canton Repository
CANTON − A state lab has notified Canton City Public Health that one of the mosquito samples collected July 12 as part of their mosquito abatement program has tested positive for West Nile virus.
Knowing that mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus are in our community, Canton City Public Health encourages Canton residents to “fight the bite” by following these steps:
- Limit outdoor activities during peak mosquito activity (early morning and late evening).
- Use an approved insect repellant when outdoors.
- Wear lightweight long pants and shirts.
- Remove sources of stagnant water around your home and yard such as buckets, old tires, tarps, andother items that hold water.
- Change water in pet dishes daily.
- Drain and clean bird baths at least weekly.
- Keep swimming pools clean and chlorinated with water circulating (even if not being used).
- Keep gutters clean.
- Repair window and door screens.
- Remove old, unused tires to a legal tire disposal facility. Canton residents can dispose of 10 tires perperson per year for free at the Canton Recycling Center, 742 Schroyer Ave. SW. Schedule anappointment at www.timetorecycle.org/hhw-appointments or call 1-800-678-9839.
For more information on avoiding mosquito bites, visit www.cantonhealth.org.
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2023/07/31/mosquito-sample-in-canton-tests-positive-for-west-nile-virus/70500134007/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:42
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2023/07/31/mosquito-sample-in-canton-tests-positive-for-west-nile-virus/70500134007/
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Maintenance work to begin on N-43, in Lancaster County
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 2:35 PM CDT|Updated: 40 minutes ago
LANCASTER COUNTY, Neb. (KOLN) - An armor coat project will begin Aug. 7 on N-43, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation. Armor coating is an application of an asphalt binder to a roadway surface followed by an aggregate.
State maintenance forces will be performing an armor coat from reference post 23 to reference post 30, south of Eagle. The work is anticipated to take three days.
Traffic will be maintained with a pilot car and flaggers.
NDOT said the work is necessary for maintaining the safety and integrity of the road and preventing further damage.
Copyright 2023 KOLN. All rights reserved.
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https://www.1011now.com/2023/07/31/maintenance-work-begin-n-43-lancaster-county/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:43
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HONG KONG (AP) — A French man is believed to have fallen to his death from a high-rise residential building in Hong Kong last week, police said on Monday, with local media outlets identifying him as daredevil Remi Lucidi.
Police said a 30-year-old man’s body was found on a patio in the city’s upscale Mid-Levels area. He was believed to have engaged in extreme sports, police said, without identifying him.
Officers conducted an initial investigation and said he apparently fell from a rooftop. No suicide note was found at the scene, they said. The cause of his death would have to be verified by an autopsy, they added.
Local media, including the South China Morning Post, said the man was Lucidi, 30. The Post cited an unnamed source saying he was last seen alive knocking on a penthouse window on the 68th floor of a residential tower on Thursday evening. The Associated Press has not been able to verify his identity.
Lucidi, who used the name “Remi Enigma” on social media, last posted a photo of Hong Kong’s night view a week ago on Instagram and tagged the location as Times Square in shopping district Causeway Bay. The photo appeared to be taken from above.
Supporters mourned him on social media.
Lucidi posted to Instagram as he climbed various tall structures around the world and took selfies, including one he captioned, “Above the Sky, 425m” and tagged Dubai as the location.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-french-daredevil-who-climbed-towers-around-world-believed-to-have-fallen-to-his-death-in-hong-kong/
| 2023-07-31T20:16:42
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Russia shot down military drones that struck buildings in Moscow Monday. While Ukraine didn’t claim the strikes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday night that “the war is returning to the territory of Russia.”
We get the latest from the Washington Post’s John Hudson.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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Gov. Evers Condemns Nazi Presence at Watertown LGBTQ Pride Event
MADISON, Wis. (OFFICE OF GOVERNOR TONY EVERS PRESS RELEASE) - Gov. Tony Evers today released a statement condemning Nazis who protested an LGBTQ-focused “Pride in the Park” event in Watertown, Wisconsin, over the weekend. According to the Watertown Daily Times, a “dozen men sporting black tops and khaki pants, face coverings and sunglasses” appeared at an annual Watertown LGBTQ pride event on Saturday and “waved flags bearing the swastika symbol, gave the Nazi salute to onlookers and yelled homophobic rhetoric.”
The governor released the following statement:
“This is a disgusting and direct attack on our state’s LGBTQ community, communities of color, and Jewish Wisconsinites,” said Gov. Evers. “Nazis, swastikas, and any other anti-LGBTQ, white supremacist, or anti-Semitic messages, symbols, or groups are unacceptable and unwelcome in Wisconsin. Period.
“I am especially alarmed that these individuals chose to disrupt, intimidate, and harass kids, people, and families who were attending a local Pride event aimed at celebrating and honoring the LGBTQ community,” Gov. Evers continued. “This is dangerous, hateful behavior, and it should be condemned in all of its forms and by every elected official at every level, and that includes all those who continue to push radical rhetoric, divisive legislation and litigation, and falsehoods and disinformation about the LGBTQ community—those words, those actions, and those policies have real and harmful consequences.
“LGBTQ Wisconsinites deserve to be treated with dignity, decency, kindness, and respect just like every other Wisconsinite, and they deserve to be safe being who they are without fear or threat of shame, harassment, intimidation, or violence. I will continue to support and protect them.”
An online version of this release is available here.
Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved.
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Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday for the murders of her two youngest children and conspiring to kill her husband's first wife, bringing a close to the so-called "Doomsday Cult Mom" case.
This is the maximum sentence possible for Vallow Daybell, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges against her in her five-week trial. It ended in May, when a jury unanimously found the Idaho mom guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The case centered on bizarre claims Vallow Daybell made about her two kids, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow. After meeting her husband at a conference in Oct. 2018, the couple used religious beliefs to justify their killings, saying the two kids were "dark" and she was "light" and that she was God's vessel to rid the world of their kind.
Prosecutors read testimony from representatives of multiple relatives of the kids before the sentencing Monday, including a victim impact statement from Vallow Daybell's estranged oldest 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," the statement said. "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. "I pray for healing for everyone involved, including those who took the lives of everyone we loved."
Vallow Daybell's husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same charges. His trial is expected to begin April 1, 2024.
SEE MORE: Lori Vallow Daybell sentencing: Here's what to expect
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
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The Monday After: Repository retirees recall Bennett's 1994 Canton show
A popular crooner familiar who spent many nights in the Akron-Canton-Cleveland area of Ohio is being mourned.
No doubt the songs of Tony Bennett – the popular jazz and pop singer who died July 21 at age 96 – were playing on many area music systems in recent days. And the memories of local listeners who experienced his voice in person at concerts likely had memories flooding back following his passing.
Two retired journalists for The Canton Repository who reviewed one of those concerts – arts and entertainment editor Dan Kane and staff photographer Scott Heckel – recalled the Monday night of Oct. 3, 1994, when Bennett performed "a superb concert" for an enthusiastic crowd at Umstattd Hall. The large audience had gathered at a price of $75 and $100 per ticket to watch Bennett sing at the concert benefitting for the Boy Scouts of America Buckeye Council.
"I remember the concert, in Umstattd Hall, had the vibe of a nightclub performance, and that the audience was captivated, including me," said Kane. "This Canton show happened at a time when Tony, then 68, was experiencing a rebirth in his career that to my knowledge never stopped. I feel so privileged to have been there."
Bennett played other venues
The Canton concert wasn't Bennett's only visit to Northeast Ohio. The singer had strong personal and professional ties to Ohio, including for a time being married to a Mansfield woman and also obtaining early support of his career from onetime Cleveland comedian and actor Bob Hope.
A news obituary written by Alan Ashworth of the Akron Beacon Journal that was published in The Canton Repository the day after Bennett's death reported that "Bennett was a frequent visitor" to the Akron area, listing appearances at such venues as Blossom Music Center, E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall and Carousel Dinner Theatre.
A decade-old article in The Plain Dealer of Cleveland notes Bennett sang in that city as early as 1951. A search of Repository archives determines that the singer performed at Cleveland's Palace Theatre in 1996 and 2004 and at Playhouse Square in 2014.
And, even the art of Tony Bennett – signed with his real name, Anthony Benedetto – made an appearance in Stark County. Late in the 1990s, the artist and entertainer's "Homage to Hackney," on loan from the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, was displayed in an exhibition of post-World War II paintings at Massillon Museum.
A retrospective of Bennett's art had been offered in a gallery at Butler Institute about the time of his Canton concert in 1994.
Still, memories of Canton-area residents no doubt reach back not to Bennett's paintings, but rather focus on the mental images he fostered with his voice. Those in attendance likely recall Bennett's concert at Umstaddt Hall almost 29 years ago.
Reviewing the Canton concert
"As I approach the prime of my life, I find I have the time of my life," Bennett said at that Canton concert, as quoted by Kane in his review in the Repository the next day.
Kane's review echoed the singer's claim.
"At 68, Bennett is at the top of his form, a saloon singer par excellence and a masterful interpreter of what he likes to call 'the great American songbook,'" Kane wrote in 1994. "His onstage ease and his flair for understatement give him a feel of timelessness.
"That the man loves to entertain is apparent in his every nuance."
The crowd was large and filled Umstattd Hall to its capacity. Bennett sang standards to those in attendance – "That Old Devil Moon" and "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" were among them – and what Kane referred to as "a lengthy medley of his own hits." Think of "Rags to Riches" and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
"Praising Umstattd as 'a great hall,' Bennett demonstrated its fine acoustics," wrote Kane in his review, "by singing a three-song encore – 'Stranger in Paradise,' 'Sunny Side of the Street' and 'Fly Me to the Moon' – with no amplification, his strong voice carrying to the back rows."
Preserving a musical memory
A letter to the editor by Thom Van Dusen of North Canton, published by the Repository following the concert, noted that it was an effort by the late Joseph "Junior" DiPietro and his wife, owners of Papa Bear's restaurant and Skyland Pines golf course, that helped bring Bennett to the area for the Boy Scouts benefit concert.
The Repository photographer Scott Heckel, assigned to the concert, preserved the memory of that appearance in a photograph showing Bennett singing while bassist Douglas Richardson, pianist Ralph Sharon, and drummer David Cameron play along.
"The backing trio performed jazzy and tasteful accompaniment throughout, complementing yet never overpowering the singer," wrote Kane in his review, "and Bennett responded by regularly praising them."
Heckel shared a memory of the night that included his being mistaken as "paparazzi" by a member of Bennett's security team.
"I think he thought I was photographing Tony for the celebrity tabloids," Heckel said.
Nevertheless, Heckel was able to capture Bennett and his three-piece combo on stage, entertaining a grateful crowd. The photograph appeared the next day on the Repository's B-1 "Local" section front.
When Kane posted the portion of that page on which Heckel's photo and the writer's words appeared, Heckel reposted the memory. The page was wrinkled and the memory had faded a bit, admitted the photographer.
"I knew the concert was a long time ago," he said, "but I didn't think it was that long ago!"
Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On Twitter: @gbrownREP.
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More than 60 Nebraska Army National Guard soldiers to be deployed to Texas border
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Governor Jim Pillen will be deploying more than 60 Nebraska Army National Guard soldiers to the Texas border next week in support of Operation Lone Star.
The soldiers are scheduled to leave Wednesday and return sometime in early September. In Texas, the soldiers will be tasked with providing additional observation and reporting near the border, which will assist agencies that are conducting security and law enforcement efforts, Pillen said.
“This mission is critical to the security of Nebraska as well as other states,” Pillen said. “We need to maintain the safety of our citizenry and stem the ongoing influx of illegal drugs, weapons and criminals into our borders.”
Last week, Gov. Abbott updated information relative to ongoing criminal interdiction efforts related to Operation Lone Star:
- 397,900 apprehensions of illegal immigrants (May 2023: 376,000 apprehensions)
- 31,800 criminal arrests (May 2023: 28,000 arrests)
- 29,300 felony charges reported (May 2023: 25,000 felony charges)
- 422 million doses of fentanyl seized (May 2023: 416 doses seized)
The deployment is the result of a request from emergency management officials in Texas. Through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, member states can provide resources and assistance in times of emergency.
According to Pillen, federal funds, directed through the Nebraska National Guard will cover costs associated with this deployment.
“The Nebraska National Guard is always ready to respond when our fellow Americans are in need of assistance, whether the emergency is here within our state, within our nation’s borders or overseas,” Adjutant General Craig W. Strong said. “I am confident that our men and women will make a positive impact serving in support of Operation Lone Star.”
In May, Pillen along with other Republican governors attended a security briefing hosted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Soon after, Pillen sent 10 state troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol to Texas where they assisted with drone surveillance operations for two weeks.
Copyright 2023 KOLN. All rights reserved.
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BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s embattled central bank governor stepped down on Monday under a cloud of investigation and blame for his country’s economic crisis as several European countries are probing his alleged financial crimes.
Riad Salameh, 73, ended his 30-year tenure as tearful employees took photos and a band played celebratory music with drums and trumpets as he left the building.
His four vice governors, led by incoming interim governor Wassim Mansouri, quickly pivoted to urge fiscal reforms for the cash-strapped country.
“We are at a crossroads,” Mansouri said at a news conference. “There is no choice, if we continue previous policy … the funds in the Central Bank will eventually dry up.”
Salameh kicked off his tenure as governor in 1993, three years after Lebanon’s 15-year civil war came to an end. It was a time when reconstruction loans and aid was pouring into the country, and Salameh was widely celebrated for his role in Lebanon’s recovery.
Now, he leaves his post a wanted man in Europe, accused by many in Lebanon of being responsible for the country’s financial downfall since late 2019.
It was a steep fall for a leader whose policies were once hailed for keeping the currency stable. Later, many financial experts saw him as setting up a house of cards that crumbled as the country’s supply of dollars dried up on top of decades of rampant and corruption and mismanagement from Lebanon’s ruling parties.
The crisis has pulverized the Lebanese pound and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese, as the banks ran dry of hard currency.
With the country’s banks crippled and public sector in ruins, Lebanon for years has run on a cash-based economy and relied primarily on tourism and remittances from millions in the diaspora.
Mansouri said previous policies that permitted the central bank to spend large sums on money to prop up the Lebanese state is no longer feasible. He cited years of spending billions of dollars to subsidize fuel, medicine, wheat and more to keep the value of the Lebanese pound stable.
He proposed a six-month reform plan that included passing long awaited reforms such as capital controls, a bank restructuring law, and the 2023 state budget.
“The country cannot continue without passing these laws,” Mansouri explained. “We don’t have time, and we paid a heavy price that we cannot pay anymore.”
The reforms Mansouri mentioned are among those the International Monetary Fund set as conditions on Lebanon in April 2022 for a bailout plan, though he did not mention the IMF. None have been passed.
France, Germany, and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and his associates over myriad financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and the laundering of $330 million. Paris and Berlin issued Interpol notices to the central bank chief in May, though Lebanon does not hand over its citizens to foreign countries.
Salameh has repeatedly denied the allegations and insisted that his wealth comes from his previous job as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, inherited properties, and investments. He has criticized the probe and said it was part of a media and political campaign to scapegoat him.
In his final interview as governor, Salameh said on Lebanese television that the responsibility for reforms lies with the government.
“Everything I did for the past 30 years was to try to serve Lebanon and the Lebanese,” he said. “Some — the majority —- were grateful, even if they don’t want to say so. And there are other people, well, may God forgive them.”
Salameh’s departure adds another gap in crisis-hit Lebanon’s withering and paralyzed institutions. The tiny Mediterranean country has been without a president for nine months, while its government has been running in a limited caretaker capacity for a year. Lebanon has also been without a top spy chief to head its General Security Directorate since March.
Lebanese officials in recent months were divided over whether Salameh should stay in his post or whether he should step down immediately in the remaining months of his tenure.
Caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam wanted an immediate stepdown, given that the central bank chief had a “legal question mark.”
“I cannot explain anyone holding on to a person while a nation is failing unless there is something wrong or hidden,” Salam told The Associated Press.
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When a mysterious object showed up on a beach in Western Australia earlier this month, authorities and the public were left scratching their heads about what it was and where it came from.
For more than two weeks, people speculated about what this metallic cylinder could be and where it came from. Many questioned (with varying levels of sincerity) if it was from outer space and could be proof of alien life.
Others wondered if the debris could be from the Malaysian Airlines plane that vanished in 2014.
However, the Australian Space Agency quickly debunked some of the more out there theories, and determined the object was from another country’s space program.
MORE: Scientists discover a two-faced dwarf star
We have concluded the object located on a beach near Jurien Bay in Western Australia is most likely debris from an expended third-stage of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
The PSLV is a medium-lift launch vehicle operated by @isro.
[More in comments] pic.twitter.com/ivF9Je1Qqy
— Australian Space Agency (@AusSpaceAgency) July 31, 2023
“We have concluded the object located on a beach near Jurian Bay in Western Australia is most likely debris from an expended third-stage of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle […] operated by @isro (Indian Space Research Organization),” the agency shared on its official Twitter account.
The New York Times reported India did launch a rocket intended to go to the moon a few days before the object was found on the remote Australian beach.
The Australian Space Agency disclosed it has now placed the discovered item in storage and plans to work with ISRO to determine what’s next.
A 1968 United Nations agreement outlines guidelines for nations that “requires States Parties [to] return any ‘foreign’ space objects discovered in their territory to their owners and that they notify the [U.N.] Secretary-General of any such discovered objects.”
According to space archeologist Alice Gorman, discoveries such as this will likely become more common with more launches from organizations such as SpaceX and other national space programs.
“There are so many more launches than there used to be that it is likely we’re going to see more fuel tanks and other components ending up on Earth,” Gorman told ABC News Australia.
However, she assured the general public not to worry about stuff falling from space. This latest piece of space debris washed up to the shore from the ocean, and public risk is minimal now.
“Nobody has to walk around looking above their heads in fear that a piece of space junk is going to fall on them and decimate them,” Gorman concluded.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
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Trader Joe’s falafel recalled because it may contain rocks
(Gray News) – Trader Joe’s is recalling a cooked falafel product because it “may contain rocks.”
The grocery chain announced Friday that the supplier of its Fully Cooked Falafel (SKU# 93935) warned it about the product possibly containing rocks.
Trader Joe’s said the recalled falafel is sold in its stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.
“All potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed,” Trader Joe’s said in its announcement.
Customers are urged to discard the falafel and return it to any Trader Joe’s location for a full refund.
Trader Joe’s also announced Friday that it was recalling some of its cookies because they also may contain rocks, and the chain recently recalled its broccoli cheddar soup because it may contain insects.
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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What happened to the Greetings from Canton mural in downtown Canton? Here's what we know
- The Canton Repository sought to find out why the postcard-style mural in downtown Canton was removed.
- The building's new owner plans to have a new, similar mural painted in the same location.
- Separately, local officials are seeking a new location for a postcard-style mural.
CANTON − A popular photo backdrop for locals and visitors of downtown Canton over the past eight years is gone.
The postcard-style Greetings from Canton mural on the side of the former Buzzbin building has been covered with black and dark gray paint.
The repainting, which began July 20, took some residents by surprise, prompting a flurry of angry and perplexed social media posts. Even city leaders lamented the loss, saying they too were caught off guard.
So, what happened? Why was it removed? Will a new postcard mural be created?
The Canton Repository talked with the Buzzbin building’s new owner, the artist who painted the mural and Canton’s planning director to find out.
Here’s what we know:
Postcard mural was among downtown Canton's first large-scale street art
The mural was the brainchild of photographer Lisa Beggs, a 2006 GlenOak High graduate, and her now-husband Victor Ving, a spray paint graffiti artist turned muralist. Together, they own and operate Greetings Tour, which has created more than 50 murals across 25 different states.
The couple, then living in New York, approached ArtsInStark about creating a mural in downtown Canton in December 2014 while they were in Stark County shopping for an RV that they would use to tour the United States as part of their nationwide mural project.
When they returned in April 2015 to pick up the RV, Ving spent roughly three days spray painting the southern-facing wall at 331 Cleveland Ave. NW to create the Greetings from Canton mural, which measures 14 feet by 25 feet.
Using the classic large-letter postcard style, Ving incorporated Canton landmarks and notable people, such as President William McKinley, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton Palace Theatre and the Stark County Courthouse clocktower. He partnered with Canton artist Steve Ehret on the “O” that contains a monster overtop Buzzbin.
Ving and Beggs, who now reside in California, learned of the mural’s removal from Ehret and other friends. Ving said this is the first time one of his Greetings murals has been covered.
“That one in particular was a bit meaningful because it was one of our first outside of New York,” Ving said. “And that’s where we bought the RV.”
New building owner says a new mural is ‘going to be even nicer’
Eric Evans, whose Canton Township-based Dubb Enterprises Unlimited purchased the former Buzzbin in October 2022, said he is working with Ving to create a new mural for the building.
“It was getting old and faded,” Evans said. “… I didn’t want another artist because I loved that mural. If someone else does it, they’re not going to do it like him. I’m glad I got in contact with him because he’s going to do an even better one.”
Evans, who hopes the city of Canton can help with funding for the new mural, would like to have the mural repainted this year, in time for the grand opening of his business, which he declined to publicly identify last week.
“It’s going to be even nicer,” Evans said of the mural. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Local officials are looking for a new mural location
Separately, Canton city officials and representatives from the Downtown Canton Partnership, ArtsInStark and Visit Canton are searching for a new location for the postcard-style mural.
“We are really rallying due to the public’s outcry (over the postcard mural’s removal),” Canton Planning Director Donn Angus said.
Angus prefers that the mural be painted on a publicly owned structure so they don’t have to again worry that a private business owner could choose to remove it.
“The new painting of the (former Buzzbin) building is attractive,” said Angus, who hadn’t talked to Evans as of Thursday. “It’s just a shame we lost the Canton postcard.”
The group plans to meet Tuesday to discuss some possible locations, as well as discuss possible funding options. Angus estimated the mural could cost roughly $20,000 to complete.
Ving said he would prefer to paint the mural in a different location than a wall that faces a parking lot because he worries a building could be constructed on the parking site and the mural would be hidden from view.
No matter the location, Ving said, the earliest he likely could paint the new mural would be next year due to his other upcoming projects and because he can’t paint when the weather turns cold.
New mural likely would be subject to new city regulations
Canton City Council is considering changes to the city’s zoning and planning code regarding murals.
The proposed changes, which are being recommended by the Canton Planning Commission, specify permissible locations for murals, physical design requirements and prohibited types of murals (those resembling traffic signs that could confuse motorists, for example). It also requires applicants to submit a maintenance plan for the mural and states that any mural that is not maintained or that falls into a state of disrepair may be ordered to be removed or covered within 30 days.
Angus said none of the changes would affect a new postcard-style mural from being installed downtown.
“We’ve always had a code for murals,” he said. “This is just updating it so it’s more user friendly and there’s no gray area for applicants.”
A public hearing on the proposed mural code changes will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 7 in Canton City Council chambers.
Reach Repository staff writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.
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Police were calling owner to shut down party when gunfire killed 1, wounded 17, chief says
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A shooting that left one person dead and 17 others wounded early Sunday in a central Indiana city unfolded at an outdoor party attended by hundreds of revelers as police were calling the venue’s owner to shut down the gathering, authorities said Monday.
Muncie Police Chief Nathan Sloan said no arrests have been made in the shooting, which killed 30-year-old Joseph E. Bonner III, whom the chief said was among those attending the large party in the city about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis.
Sloan said police were aware that the owner of a business that periodically rents out space for events was hosting a block party that got “out of control,” with between 500 and up to 1,000 in attendance. Photos of the scene showed police tags marking what appeared to be dozens of bullets on the street.
Sloan said police were not at the scene at the time of the shooting just after 1 a.m. Sunday, but they were trying to get the business owner to end the party.
“We made a phone call to the owner and asked him to get things shut down. The streets were packed. Before we could make contact and get something done, before we could get that shut down, the gunfire erupted,” Sloan said during a news conference.
He said police were asking for any witnesses to the shooting or people with pictures or video of the incident to contact the Muncie Police Department. Sloan said some people at the scene refused to tell officers what had happened.
He declined to provide details of the investigation, including how many people may have fired weapons but described a scene of chaos as officers and first responders arrived at the location on Muncie’s east side.
“Our people were applying tourniquets, administering first aid, providing CPR. And they we were rushing people to the hospital in our police cars because we didn’t have time to wait,” Sloan said.
Mayor Dan Ridenour said one man was killed and 17 other people suffered gunshot wounds in Sunday’s shooting. He said the shooting had left the community “shaken to the core by violence” and choked up repeatedly during the news conference.
After the shooting, police had to separate people in a Muncie hospital’s parking lot who were arguing and officers had to clear a path at the hospital’s entrance for anyone needing medical attention to enter, said Muncie Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell.
She said that among the 17 who survived the shooting, eight remained hospitalized — five at Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, and four others who were taken to Indianapolis hospitals.
She said that among the four taken to Indianapolis, one remains in critical condition, two are listed as stable and the fourth had been discharged from a hospital.
Criswell said that two of the people wounded in Sunday’s shooting were minors, and that a nineteenth person who was injured may have been struck by a car.
IU Health spokesperson Neil Gifford said five people remained hospitalized at the Muncie hospital, down from 13 who were being treated on Sunday morning. He said he could not provide conditions of the five patients without being provided with their names.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Updated July 31, 2023 at 3:06 PM ET
Judge Steven Boyce sentenced Lori Vallow Daybell to multiple fixed life terms in prison with no possibility of parole on Monday, handing down punishment for murdering two of her children and conspiring to murder a romantic rival.
The judge ordered Vallow Daybell to serve the prison terms consecutively rather than concurrently, saying it is important for her to be punished for each death.
Vallow Daybell, 50, was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in May, as a jury agreed with prosecutors who said she wanted to eliminate her youngest children as part of a plan to embark on a new life with Chad Daybell, as well as conspiring to murder Daybell's previous wife.
"You chose the most evil and destructive path possible," despite having a wealth of better, less harmful, options, Boyce told Vallow Daybell. He juxtaposed her enjoyment of a honeymoon in Hawaii with her children lying in shallow graves in Idaho.
Her children — Tylee Ryan and Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow — had been "burned, mutilated and dismembered, and buried like animals," Boyce said.
The judge noted the "disgust" he saw on jurors' faces during the trial. The scene was horrific, Boyce said, adding that while law enforcement, jurors and he himself will be haunted by images of the children's bodies, he saw no sign that Vallow Daybell feels any remorse.
For the first time, Vallow Daybell gave an accounting of her own actions — but she insisted she is not guilty of murder and said that her victims have visited her in spiritual form and are happy and busy in the afterlife.
"Jesus knows me, and Jesus understands me," she said, adding that she mourns those who died. But, she added, "Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case."
The lengthy trial was full of strange and shocking moments. Prosecutors say Vallow Daybell was motivated by arcane religious beliefs about "dark energy" and the "end times," and by her desire to pursue a life with her new husband, Chad Daybell — including conspiring to kill his late wife.
Monday's sentencing hearing included four main phases: five victim impact statements; the prosecution's sentencing recommendation; the defense's sentencing recommendation; and the chance for Vallow to address the court.
Judge Boyce handed down his sentence after hearing victim impact statements from relatives of Tylee Ryan and Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow, Vallow Daybell's children, whose bodies were found in 2020; and from relatives of Tammy Daybell, the previous wife of Chad Daybell — who also faces charges in all three deaths.
Thomas urged Boyce to impose on his client a 20-year fixed term with an "indeterminate" life sentence.
Prosecutor Rob Wood asked for the maximum sentence — several fixed life terms without the possibility of parole — saying Vallow Daybell had betrayed her children's trust in a horrific manner.
The children's bodies were found in 2020
A jury found Vallow Daybell guilty of killing her two youngest children, Tylee Ryan and Joshua Jaxon "JJ" Vallow. Tylee was nearly 17 when she and JJ, 7, were last seen alive in September 2019. The children's bodies were found in June 2020, buried on property in Rexburg, Idaho, owned by Chad Daybell.
Even before the remains were found, Vallow Daybell was charged with felony desertion of a child and obstruction. Prosecutors said she didn't report her children missing so she could keep collecting benefit payments.
Vallow Daybell was also found guilty of conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell, Chad's then-wife, who was found dead in her home in October 2019 — less than one month before he and Vallow got married in Hawaii. He is Vallow Daybell's fifth husband.
'Zombie' beliefs arose during trial
In court documents, Vallow Daybell's close friend Melanie Gibb described hearing her say that Tylee had become a zombie — a concept Vallow Daybell had picked up from Daybell.
Gibb said she heard Vallow Daybell call Tylee a zombie after Tylee had refused to babysit JJ — to which Tylee replied, "Not me, mom," according to a police affidavit. Gibb said Vallow Daybell later concluded that JJ had also become a zombie.
Prosecutors also said Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell portrayed themselves as religious figures called "James and Elaina." And they purported to be able to "rate" people, detecting whether they might be under the thrall of an evil spirit's dark energy.
Tammy Daybell's family speaks out
In a victim impact statement, Samantha Gwilliam, Tammy Daybell's sister, said her family has been "ripped apart," thrust into grief, suspicion and sadness by Tammy's unexpected death at 49. It deepened, she said, when the family learned Chad Daybell was remarrying just weeks later, in a Hawaii ceremony with Lori Vallow.
The more she learned about Vallow, Gwilliam said, she found only "lies" — from Vallow Daybell's claim that her most recent husband had died of a heart attack to her saying she and Chad would be "empty nesters," with no young children.
It was only when Tammy Daybell was disinterred and an autopsy was performed, Gwilliam said, that the family began to "get some answers and some truth, after so many lies." That truth, she added, was that Tammy Daybell was both an obstacle for Vallow Daybell and a way to profit from her death, through an insurance policy.
Weeping in court, Gwilliam described how her family's relationships with Chad and Tammy Daybell's children has become strained. She also read a statement from Tammy's father, recounting the toll Vallow Daybell's actions took on his wife, who died earlier this year.
At one point, Gwilliam compared her sister, a librarian and educator, to Vallow Daybell.
"Because of the choices you made, my family lost a beloved mother, sister, aunt and daughter. She is irreplaceable," she said. "She was 1,000 times the woman you will ever dream of being."
Defense team says Vallow Daybell is 'misunderstood'
"I think Lori Daybell is probably the most hated person in America right now," said Bonneville County Public Defender John Thomas, who is one of Vallow Daybell's attorneys.
But, he said, she is a "very misunderstood person" who is truly "about love" and has been defined by complicated circumstances.
He asked the judge to use his sentence to impart a sense of "hope" that would both punish Vallow Daybell and encourage her to become a model inmate and grow as a person and become "a better version of Lori Daybell."
Thomas urged Boyce to impose on his client a 20-year fixed term with an "indeterminate" life sentence and have terms running concurrently, making her eligible for parole when she is in her 70s.
The case depicted a love affair that turned deadly
Prosecutors say Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell's relationship was entwined in a deadly criminal conspiracy they sought to justify with fantastical beliefs. Rather than simply starting a new life together after they met in October 2018, the prosecution said, the couple plotted to kill their closest relatives and benefit from their deaths through insurance payouts and Social Security benefits.
Vallow Daybell's defense attorney, James Archibald, has said his client was in the thrall of a man she sees as a messiah and her eternal soulmate. He has also argued that the prosecution has produced little direct evidence to tie Vallow Daybell to her children's deaths.
Other criminal cases are still pending
Chad Daybell is expected to undergo his own murder trial for the same three deaths in the spring of 2024.
Other criminal cases are also pending for Vallow Daybell in Arizona, where she previously lived.
She's under indictment there on conspiracy murder charges for allegedly arranging for one of her brothers to shoot and kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in July 2019. That brother, Alex Cox, died in December 2019, of what was determined to be natural causes. She's also accused of conspiring with Alex to murder her niece's ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, who was shot at in 2019 but who survived.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military-controlled government has extended the state of emergency it imposed when the army seized power from an elected government 2 1/2 years ago, state-run media said Monday, forcing a further delay in elections it promised when it took over.
MRTV television said the National Defense and Security Council met Monday in the capital, Naypyitaw, and extended the state of emergency for another six months starting Tuesday because time is needed to prepare for the elections. The NDSC is nominally a constitutional government body, but in practice is controlled by the military.
The announcement amounted to an admission that the army does not exercise enough control to stage the polls and has failed to subdue widespread opposition to military rule, which includes increasingly challenging armed resistance as well as nonviolent protests and civil disobedience, despite the army having a huge advantage in manpower and weapons.
The state of emergency was declared when troops arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and top officials from her government and members of her National League for Democracy party on Feb. 1, 2021. The takeover reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule in Myanmar.
The military said it seized power because of fraud in the last general election held in November 2020, in which Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory while the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party did poorly. Independent election observers said they did not find any major irregularities.
The army takeover was met with widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with lethal force, triggering armed resistance that U.N. experts have described as a civil war.
As of Monday, 3,857 people have been killed by the security forces since the takeover, according to a tally kept by the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The army-enacted 2008 constitution allows the military to rule the country under a state of emergency for one year, with two possible six-month extensions if preparations are not yet completed for new polls, meaning that the time limit expired on Jan. 31 this year.
However, the NDSC allowed the military government to extend emergency rule for another six months in February, saying the country remained in an abnormal situation. The announcement on Monday is the fourth extension.
The state of emergency allows the military to assume all government functions, giving the head of the ruling military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, legislative, judicial and executive powers.
Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the National Unity Government, an underground group that calls itself the country’s legitimate government and serves as an opposition umbrella group, said the extension of emergency rule was expected because the military government hasn’t been able to annihilate the pro-democracy forces.
“The junta extended the state of emergency because the generals have a lust for power and don’t want to lose it. As for the revolutionary groups, we will continue to try to speed up our current revolutionary activities,” Nay Phone Latt said in a message Monday.
The military government labels the NUG and its armed wing, the People’s Defense Forces, as “terrorists.”
Monday’s report did not specify when the polls might be held, saying only that they would occur after the goals of the state of emergency are accomplished.
According to the constitution, the military must transfer government functions to the president, who heads the NDSC, six months before the polls. That would mean Acting President Myint Swe, a retired general.
The military originally announced that new polls would be held a year after its takeover and later said they would take place in August 2023. But the extension of the emergency in February made that timing impossible.
The MRTV report said Myint Swe told members of the NDSC that the government needs to do more to achieve stability and the rule of law to prepare for the election.
Critics say the polls will be neither free nor fair under the military-controlled government, which has shut independent media and arrested most of the leaders of Suu Kyi’s party.
Her party was dissolved along with 39 other parties by the election commission in March for failing to re-apply under a political party registration law enacted by the military government early this year. The law makes it difficult for opposition groups to mount a serious challenge to army-backed candidates.
Suu Kyi, 78, is serving prison sentences totaling 33 years after being convicted in a series of politically tainted cases brought mostly by the military government.
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Trump political committee has spent more than $40 million on lawyers’ fees as his legal peril mounts
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump ‘s mounting legal woes are growing more expensive, leading his campaign to request a refund from a supportive super PAC and launch a new legal defense fund to help cover costs.
His political action committee, Save America, is expected to disclose Monday that it spent more than $40 million on legal fees during the first half of the year for costs related to defending the former president, his aides and other allies, according to a person familiar with the filing who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the deadline. The number was first reported by The Washington Post.
At the same time, Trump’s allies are creating a new legal defense fund that will help pay the soaring legal fees as Trump faces dozens of criminal charges stemming from indictments in New York and Florida, with more expected as soon as this week. The Patriot Legal Defense Fund, as it is called, is intended to raise money to defray costs for those “defending against legal actions arising from an individual or group’s participation in the political process,” according to a filing made last month with the IRS. The group will be run by Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Michael Glassner.
“The weaponized Department of Justice and the deranged Jack Smith have targeted innocent Americans associated with President Trump,” said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. “In order to combat these heinous actions by Joe Biden’s cronies and to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed, a new legal defense fund will help pay for their legal fees.” The fund was first reported by The New York Times.
Smith is the special counsel leading the federal investigations of Trump. His team has expressed interest in the payment of legal fees for Trump-aligned witnesses in the investigations and has sought information about it, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss ongoing criminal probes.
Trump’s PAC has also requested that his super PAC, MAGA Inc., return some of the money that it transferred to seed the group to help cover costs. It is unclear whether money was actually transferred or how much.
A spokesman for the super PAC did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump launched his PAC, Save America, in the days after the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden. For weeks, the group bombarded supporters with a nonstop stream of text messages and emails that purported to raise money for an “election defense fund” that would be used to contest the election’s outcome.
But the $170 million that the effort raised in less than a month was not used to contest the election, records show. Instead, it was used to pay down campaign debt and replenish the coffers of the Republican National Committee, with Trump also stockpiling another large chunk for his future political endeavors. Last year, the Justice Department issued a round of grand jury subpoenas that sought information about the political action committee’s fundraising practices.
Since then, Save America has served as a different sort of “defense fund,” covering the legal expenses for Trump operatives, allies and employees who have been ensnared in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.
Some of Save America’s money has been used to boost other candidates, though it’s a pittance compared to how much Trump has spent on ballooning legal costs.
As the 2022 midterm elections approached, Trump pledged to back congressional candidates loyal to him. But of the roughly $65 million earmarked by Save America for political spending, less than a third — about $20 million — was used to back midterm candidates through campaign contributions or paid advertising.
“Forty million dollars — I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Paul S. Ryan, a longtime campaign finance attorney in Washington, referring to the sum the group spent on legal fees this year. “There’s no legal issue. It’s really just a question for his donors: Do they want to be funding lawyers?”
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Colvin reported 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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SEELEY LAKE — The Colt Fire burning northwest of Seeley Lake grew additional 700 acres due to gusty winds.
The lightning-sparked fire burning 15 miles northwest of Seeley Lake is 6,177 acres and is 8% contained.
Additional acreage increase is expected due to Sunday's intense fire activity.
Crews are working to establish containment lines around the fire.
A night shift of engines and personnel will patrol, monitor fire conditions, and engage in suppression actions.
Helicopters and airplanes will be used to drop water and retardant on the fire as they are available.
WEATHER AND FIRE BEHAVIOR:
The high temperatures in the fire area on Monday will range from 80-91 degrees, with relative humidity levels in the mid to upper teens. Winds will be from the west to southwest at 10 mph.
These warm and dry conditions will again lead to active, intense fire behavior.
Moderate growth is expected with the fire moving through the heavy dead and down surface fuels. Torching and spotting are possible in the subalpine fir and lodgepole pine.
EVACUATIONS AND CLOSURES:
The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office Evacuation Warning and Order summary:
-Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.
-Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.
-Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.
-Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning.
-The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.
If conditions rapidly change an Evacuation Order may be issued with no prior notice or warning.
The Lolo and Flathead National Forests have closed several forest roads, areas, and campgrounds near the fire area for public safety. The list of current closures includes:
-Forest Road 906 (closed at Highway 83) -Rainy Lake Campground access road 4357 (closed at Highway 83)
-Rainy Lake Campground -Alva Lake Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)
-Alva Lake Campground
-Lakeside Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)
-Lakeside Campground -Lake Inez Campground
-Forest Road 646 (closed at the junction of FSR 552; FSR 435
-Forest Road 552 (beyond the turn off to west side Lake Inez access
-Forest Road 5407 and 463 closed beyond the West Side snowmobile trailhead (these roads access the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Marshall Wildlife Management Area and Lake Marshall)
-Temporarily closing the Forest System Road loops of the Clearwater (FSR 4370 and 4353) and Richmond (FSR 667 and 720)
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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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Forever Craft Urban Winery to close Oakwood Square tasting room
PLAIN TWP. – Forever Craft Urban Winery will close its tasting room Aug. 20.
The winery at 2640 Easton St. NE in Oakwood Square announced the closure Monday on its Facebook page.
"This is one of the toughest decisions we have ever had to make. We will be closing our tasting room effective August 20th. We want to thank all of our friends and patrons that have supported us along the way. Be sure to stop in over the next few weeks and stock up," the post states.
Read more:Forever Craft Urban Winery brings casual vibe, curated grapes, Ohio beer to Oakwood Square
Melissa and Matt Smith started their business in downtown Akron and moved to Plain Township in 2021. The winery is open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays, 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, noon to 11 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.
"We will be continuing our wholesale/distribution side of business," the winery's announcement concluded. "We will be sure to share all the places you can get our wine in the future."
A call to the business indicated it was not open Monday.
This story may be updated.
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Trader Joe’s falafel recalled because it may contain rocks
(Gray News) – Trader Joe’s is recalling a cooked falafel product because it “may contain rocks.”
The grocery chain announced Friday that the supplier of its Fully Cooked Falafel (SKU# 93935) warned it about the product possibly containing rocks.
Trader Joe’s said the recalled falafel is sold in its stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.
“All potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed,” Trader Joe’s said in its announcement.
Customers are urged to discard the falafel and return it to any Trader Joe’s location for a full refund.
Trader Joe’s also announced Friday that it was recalling some of its cookies because they also may contain rocks, and the chain recently recalled its broccoli cheddar soup because it may contain insects.
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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BEIJING (AP) — A zoo in eastern China is denying suggestions some of its bears might be people in costumes after photos of the animals standing like humans circulated online.
The sun bears from Malaysia are smaller than other bears and look different but are the real thing, the Hangzhou Zoo said Monday on its social media account.
“Some people think I stand like a person,” said the posting, written from the bear’s point of view. “It seems you don’t understand me very well.”
An employee who answered the phone at the zoo declined to talk about the bears but said visits were being arranged for reporters Monday to see them.
Internet users questioned whether the zoo’s bears were real after photos circulated showing one standing upright on slender hind legs.
“Because of the way they stand, some people online question whether they are ‘humans in disguise,’” the newspaper Hangzhou Daily said.
Sun bears are the size of large dogs, standing at most 1.3 meters (50 inches) tall on their hind legs, compared with up to 2.8 meters (9 feet) for grizzlies and other species, according to the zoo.
Other Chinese zoos have been accused of trying to pass off dogs dyed to look like wolves or African cats, and donkeys painted to look like zebras.
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Paul Reubens, the actor who played Pee-wee Herman, died late Sunday at the age of 70, according to a post from his official Facebook page.
The post revealed that Reubens had been quietly battling cancer for the last six years. Reubens left a message for fans prior to his death.
"Please accept my apology for not going public with what I've been facing the last six years," he said. "I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you."
Although Reubens had a prolific acting career, he was best known for his portrayal of Herman. The character appealed to children and adults alike through shows like "The Pee-wee Herman Show," "Pee-wee's Playhouse," and the movie, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure."
SEE MORE: Biden announces advanced research project to reduce cancer mortality
But his career took a hit in 1991 when he was reportedly arrested for exposing himself while attending a pornographic film.
"It was kind of like a mortifying kind of situation, where I felt like you know people are laughing at me," Reubens said in a 2004 interview with NBC News."I'm a professional comedian. I've never claimed to be able to take it as good as a dish it out, ever. I mean I'm just sensitive.”
Although he never regained his popularity before his arrest, Reubens continued acting in several comedic rules, including occasional portrayals of Herman.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
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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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Heart of Stark: Stark County Imagination Library celebrates enrollment milestone
In partnership with The Repository, every Monday, Stark Community Foundation highlights positive happenings in our community. Here’s to Good News Mondays!
The Stark County Imagination Library recently reached its enrollment goal and celebrated a huge program milestone — more than 50% of the eligible children in our community are now enrolled and receiving free books each month.
To date, nearly 114,000 books have been mailed to more than 11,400 local children.
Through Stark Library’s partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Ohio, any child in Stark and Carroll counties from birth to age 5 is eligible to receive a new, age-appropriate book in the mail each month at no cost to the family, regardless of income.
Studies have shown the more a child reads and interacts with books, the greater their chances are for success. With Imagination Library, children enrolled from birth can develop a love of reading and receive up to 60 books by the time they turn 5.
“Simply having books in the home is proven to help develop those critical early reading skills, with parents more likely to read with their little ones,” said Mary Ellen Icaza, Stark Library CEO and executive director.
Stark Library has also expanded the reach of its Imagination Library by partnering with Aultman and Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospitals to enroll newborns in the program. Through this partnership, our community’s youngest citizens receive their first book on the day they are born.
Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 for children within her home county in Tennessee. Today, her program spans five countries and gifts over 2 million free books each month to children worldwide through funding and assistance from local community partners.
Prior to 2019, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was only available in pockets of Ohio, and only 13% of eligible kids had access to the program in Ohio.
Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine saw the impact the Imagination Library had in her own family’s lives and wanted every child in Ohio to have the same opportunity. In 2019, she established the Ohio Governor’s Imagination Library, which matches funds to help offset the cost of the program for local affiliates, including Stark Library. Since 2020, the Imagination Library has been available in all 88 counties of Ohio.
Learn more about the Stark County Imagination Library at www.starklibrary.org/dolly-parton-imagination-library.
Stark Community Foundation helps individuals, families, businesses and nonprofits achieve their philanthropic goals through a variety of charitable funds and strategic initiatives. Ranked in the top 10% of community foundations in the country, the foundation and its family of donors have granted $230 million to nonprofits since 1963. Learn more at www.starkcf.org.
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/stark-county/2023/07/31/heart-of-stark-stark-county-imagination-library-celebrates-enrollment-milestone/70483901007/
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Aleksandar Kovacevic 2023 Mifel Open Odds
After bowing out in the round of 32 of the Hall of Fame Open in his most recent tournament (losing to Jordan Thompson), Aleksandar Kovacevic will open the Mifel Open versus Omni Kumar (in the round of 32). Kovacevic currently is +3300 to win it all at Cabo Sports Complex.
Find all the latest odds for the 2023 Mifel Open and place your bets with a new user bonus from BetMGM.
Kovacevic at the 2023 Mifel Open
- Next Round: Round of 32
- Tournament Dates: July 28 - August 6
- Venue: Cabo Sports Complex
- Location: Los Cabos, Mexico
- Court Surface: Hard
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Kovacevic's Next Match
In the round of 32 of the Mifel Open, on Monday, July 31 (at 11:40 PM ET), Kovacevic will play Kumar.
Kovacevic currently has odds of -350 to win his next matchup versus Kumar. Check out the latest odds for the entire field at BetMGM.
Want to bet on Kovacevic? Head to BetMGM using our link for a bonus bet special offer for new players!
Kovacevic Stats
- In his last match, Kovacevic came up short 0-6, 1-6 against Thompson in the Round of 32 of the Hall of Fame Open.
- Kovacevic is 9-14 over the past 12 months, with no tournament victories.
- Kovacevic is 7-9 on hard courts over the past 12 months.
- Kovacevic, over the past 12 months, has played 23 matches across all court types, and 25.2 games per match.
- On hard courts, Kovacevic has played 16 matches over the past year, and 25.6 games per match.
- When it comes to serve/return winning percentages over the past 12 months, Kovacevic has won 76.7% of his games on serve, and 17.0% on return.
- On hard courts over the past year, Kovacevic has been victorious in 17.6% of his return games and 78.6% of his service games.
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https://www.1011now.com/sports/betting/2023/07/28/aleksandar-kovacevic-mifel-open-betting-odds/
| 2023-07-31T20:17:08
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PYEONGTAEK, South Korea (AP) — The dogs bark and stare as Kim Jong-kil approaches the rusty cages housing the large, short-haired animals he sells for their meat. Kim opens a door and pets one dog’s neck and chest.
Kim says he’s proud of the dog meat farm that has supported his family for 27 years, but is upset over growing attempts by politicians and activists to outlaw the business, which he is turning over to his children.
“It’s more than just feeling bad. I absolutely oppose these moves, and we’ll mobilize all our means to resist it,” Kim, 57, said in an interview at his farm in Pyeongtaek city, just south of Seoul.
Dog meat consumption is a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula and has long been viewed as a source of stamina on hot summer days. It’s neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea, but more and more people want it prohibited. There’s increasing public awareness of animal rights and worries about South Korea’s international image.
The anti-dog meat campaign recently received a big boost when the country’s first lady expressed her support for a ban and two lawmakers submitted bills to eliminate the dog meat trade.
“Foreigners think South Korea is a cultural powerhouse. But the more K-culture increases its international standing, the bigger shock foreigners experience over our dog meat consumption,” said Han Jeoungae, an opposition lawmaker who submitted legislation to outlaw the dog meat industry last month.
Prospects for passage of an anti-dog meat law are unclear because of protests by farmers, restaurant owners and others involved in the dog meat industry. Surveys suggest that one in three South Koreans opposes such a ban, though most people don’t eat dog meat anymore.
Dogs are also eaten in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, North Korea and some African countries, including Ghana, Cameroon, Congo and Nigeria.
Earlier this month, Indonesian authorities announced the end of dog and cat slaughter at an animal market on the island of Sulawesi following a yearslong campaign by local activists and world celebrities. The Tomohon Extreme Market will become the first such market in Indonesia to go dog and cat meat-free, according to the anti-animal cruelty group Humane Society International.
South Korea’s dog meat industry receives more international attention because of its reputation as a wealthy, ultra-modern democracy. It is also the only nation with industrial-scale farms. Most farms in South Korea have more than 500 dogs, according to a dog farmers’ association.
During a recent visit, Kim’s farm, one of the country’s largest with 7,000 dogs, appeared relatively clean but there was a strong stench in some areas. All dogs are kept in elevated cages and are fed with food waste and ground chicken. They are rarely released for exercise and typically are sold for meat one year after they are born.
Kim said two of his children, age 29 and 31, are running the farm with him, and that business has been going pretty well. He said the dogs bred for their meat are different from pets, an idea opposed by activists.
It’s difficult now to find dog meat restaurants in Seoul’s bustling downtown, though many still exit in the countryside.
“I only earn one-third of the money I used to make. Young people don’t come here. Only ailing old people come for lunch,” said Yoon Chu-wol, 77, the owner of a dog meat restaurant in Seoul’s Kyungdong traditional market. “I tell my elderly customers to come and eat my food more frequently before it’s banned.”
Farmers also face growing scrutiny from officials and increasingly negative public opinion. They complain that officials visit them repeatedly in response to complaints filed by activists and citizens over alleged animal abuse and other wrongdoing. Kim said more than 90 such petitions were filed against his farm during a recent four-month span.
Son Won Hak, general secretary of the dog farmers’ association, said many farms have collapsed in recent years because of falling dog meat prices and weaker demand. He thinks that’s a result of activist campaigns and unfair media reports focusing on farms with inferior conditions. Some observers, however, say consumption of dog meat was already declining, with younger people staying away from it.
“Quite honestly, I’d like to quit my job (as a farmer) tomorrow. We can’t confidently tell our children that we’re raising dogs,” Son said. “When my friends called me, they said ‘Hey, are you still running a dog meat farm? Isn’t it illegal?’”
The number of farms across South Korea has dropped by half from a few years ago to about 3,000 to 4,000, and about 700,000 to 1 million dogs are slaughtered each year, a decline from several million 10 to 20 years ago, according to the dog farmers’ association. Some activists argue that the farmers’ estimates are an exaggeration meant to show their industry is too big to destroy.
In late 2021, South Korea launched a government-civilian task force to consider outlawing dog meat at the suggestion of then-President Moon Jae-in, a pet lover. The committee, whose members include farmers and animal rights activists, has met more than 20 times but hasn’t reached any agreement, apparently because of disputes over compensation issues.
Agriculture officials refused to disclose the discussions in the closed-door meetings. They said the government wants to end dog meat consumption based on a public consensus.
In April, first lady Kim Keon Hee, the wife of current President Yoon Suk Yeol, said in a meeting with activists that she hopes for an end to dog meat consumption. Famers responded with rallies and formal complaints against Kim for allegedly hurting their livelihoods.
Han, the lawmaker, said she “highly positively appraises” influential figures speaking out against dog meat consumption.
Han said her bill offers support programs for farmers who agree to close their farms. They would be entitled to money to dismantle their facilities, vocational training, employment assistance and other benefits, she said.
Ju Yeongbong, an official of the farmers’ association, said farmers want to continue for about 20 more years until older people, their main customers, die, allowing the industry to naturally disappear. Observers say most farmers are also in their 60s to 70s.
Borami Seo, a director of the South Korea office of the Humane Society International, said she opposes the continued killing of millions of dogs for such a prolonged period. “Letting this silent cruelty to (dogs) be committed in South Korea doesn’t make sense,” Seo said.
“(Dog meat consumption) is too anachronistic, has elements of cruelty to animals and hinders our national growth,” said Cheon JinKyung, head of Korea Animal Rights Advocates in Seoul.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/international/ap-south-korean-dog-meat-farmers-push-back-against-growing-moves-to-outlaw-their-industry/
| 2023-07-31T20:17:12
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A woman from New Hampshire who works for a nonprofit organization in Haiti and her young daughter have been reported as kidnapped as the U.S. State Department issued a "do not travel advisory" in the country and ordered nonemergency personnel to leave there amid growing security concerns.
Alix Dorsainvil, a nurse for El Roi Haiti, and her daughter were kidnapped on Thursday, the organization said in a statement Saturday. El Roi, which runs a school and ministry in Port au Prince, said the two were taken from campus. Dorsainvil is the wife of the program's director, Sandro Dorsainvil.
"Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family," El Roi president and co-founder Jason Brown said in the statement. "Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus."
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement Saturday it is "aware of reports of the kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Haiti," adding, "We are in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners."
In its advisory Thursday, the department said that "kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens."
It said kidnappings often involve ransom negotiations and U.S. citizen victims have been physically harmed.
Earlier this month, the National Human Rights Defense Network issued a report warning about an upsurge in killings and kidnappings and the U.N. Security Council met to discuss Haiti's worsening situation.
WMUR-TV reported that Dorsainvil is from Middleton, New Hampshire, and went to Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, which has a program to support nursing education in Haiti.
"It doesn't surprise me that Alex chose to get involved in this type of service work," Regis College president Toni Hays told the station. "She was amazing. She was passionate, she was compassionate."
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
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https://www.kbzk.com/us-mother-and-daughter-kidnapped-in-haiti-people-warned-not-to-go
| 2023-07-31T20:17:12
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https://www.kbzk.com/us-mother-and-daughter-kidnapped-in-haiti-people-warned-not-to-go
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What to know about Ohio's 2023 sales tax-free weekend
The new school year is right around the corner. With it comes back-to-school shopping and Ohio’s annual tax-free weekend.
This year’s holiday will take place this weekend, Aug. 4-6.
Ohio tax rates range from 6.50% to a statewide high of 8% in Cuyahoga County. Thanks to the holiday, back-to-school shoppers will feel slight relief if they purchase tax-free items.
When is Ohio's tax-free weekend?
Ohio’s tax-free weekend takes place during the first weekend of August.
The 2023 tax holiday will begin at 12 a.m. Friday and end at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
What items are tax-free?
These are the items that are tax-free during the holiday:
- Clothing priced at $75 or less
- School supplies priced at $20 or less
- School instructional material priced at $20 or less
The Ohio Department of Taxation defines “clothing” as all human wearing apparel suitable for general use.
Eligible school supplies include:
- Binders
- Book bags
- Calculators
- Cellophane tape
- Blackboard chalk
- Compasses
- Composition books
- Crayons
- Erasers
- Folders
- Glue, paste, and paste sticks
- Highlighters
- Index cards and index card boxes
- Legal pads
- Lunch boxes
- Markers
- Notebooks
- Paper, including ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and construction paper
- Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes
- Pencil sharpeners
- Pencils
- Pens
- Protractors
- Rulers
- Scissors
- Writing tablets
There is no limit on the tax exemption of a total purchase. Qualification is determined item by item.
What items are not included in Ohio’s tax-free weekend?
The following items are subject to tax during the weekend:
- Items purchased for use in a trade or business
- Clothing accessories or equipment
- Protective equipment
- Sewing equipment and supplies
- Sports or recreational equipment
- Belt buckles sold separately
- Costume masks sold separately
- Patches and emblems sold separately
Online shopping, shipping and handling
Qualified items sold to consumers by mail, telephone, email, or internet qualify for the sales tax exemption as long the shopper orders and pays for the item during the weekend. Shipping and handling charges for these items are not taxable.
All vendors must comply with the state law during the weekend. For more information about the upcoming holiday, click here.
Contact Abreanna Blose by email at ablose@gannett.com or by phone at 330-580-8513.
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/stark-county/2023/07/31/ohio-tax-free-weekend-2023-when-is-it-what-is-included/70497290007/
| 2023-07-31T20:17:13
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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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SOURCE BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
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Ben Shelton 2023 Citi Open Odds
After bowing out in the round of 32 of the Truist Atlanta Open in his last tournament (losing to Juncheng Shang), Ben Shelton will start the Citi Open versus Shang (in the round of 32). Shelton has +2800 odds to win this tournament at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.
Find all the latest odds for the 2023 Citi Open and place your bets with a new user bonus from BetMGM.
Shelton at the 2023 Citi Open
- Next Round: Round of 32
- Tournament Dates: July 28 - August 7
- Venue: William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center
- Location: Washington, District of Columbia
- Court Surface: Hard
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Shelton's Next Match
Shelton will play Shang in the round of 32 of the Citi Open on Tuesday, August 1 at 7:00 PM ET.
Want to bet on Shelton? Head to BetMGM using our link for a bonus bet special offer for new players!
Shelton Stats
- In his most recent tournament, the Truist Atlanta Open, Shelton was eliminated in the Round of 32 by No. 156-ranked Shang, 4-6, 4-6.
- Through 20 tournaments over the past 12 months, Shelton has gone 12-20 and has yet to win a title.
- In 10 tournaments on hard courts over the past year, Shelton has gone 8-10.
- Over the past year (across all court surfaces), Shelton has played 32 matches and 29.8 games per match.
- Shelton, in 18 matches over the past year on hard courts, has played 30.1 games per match and won 49.3% of them.
- When it comes to serve/return winning percentages over the past 12 months, Shelton has won 82.1% of his games on serve, and 15.4% on return.
- As far as serve/return winning percentages on hard courts over the past year, Shelton has won 85.2% of his games on serve and 14.8% on return.
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Highland Springs woman was visiting a friend when she woke up Monday morning to her car broken into in Richmond.
Elizabeth Stotts says her friend’s roommate told her the rear passenger door of her car was opened.
Stotts didn’t think anything of it until something told her to look inside.
She found all of her personal belongings ransacked with a part of her steering wheel console torn off and left on the floor of the car.
The glove compartment and middle console were left opened and torn off with a personal memento of her son torn to pieces.
“They just took it out and stomped in on the ground, what was the purpose of that?,” Stotts said. “If you’re going to steal my car, just take the car and go — don’t damage my stuff, you know?”
Stotts tells 8News this isn’t the first time her car has been broken into in the area.
She parked her car a few feet down where she said whoever broke in went through her personal items but didn’t take anything.
Stotts said, the second time, her credit card was taken and used in three different stores on North Avenue.
Stotts’ mechanic said whoever broke into the car jammed a flat-head of a screwdriver into the ignition and then hit it with a hammer. The car currently won’t start and will need a new ignition.
The single mother of two says she just wants whoever broke into her car to stop.
“I’m a hardworking Mom, this is all I got—this piece of whatever Honda. They need to stop.”
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https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/this-is-all-i-got-henrico-woman-in-tears-after-car-broken-into-in-richmond-steering-console-torn-apart/
| 2023-07-31T20:17:16
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Making memories: Readers share favorites from the Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival is about making memories.
Whether it's marching in The Canton Repository Grand Parade.
Or watching the hot air balloons float by.
Or shaking hands with a football great.
Or walking the runway at the Fashion Show.
Or simply hanging out with family.
The festivities are in full swing, with plenty of opportunities remaining to create lifetime memories.
The major activities still on tap include the Hall of Fame Game between the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets on Thursday; Fashion Show Luncheon and Gold Jacket Dinner on Friday; and The Canton Repository Grand Parade and enshrinement ceremony on Saturday — not to mention the Zac Brown Band headlining the Concert for Legends on Saturday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
The Repository asked people to share their favorite memories from the festival so we could share them with you. Here they are:
2023 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival:What's new? Here are 6 things to know.
Pam Cook: Interviewing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw
I’ve covered every Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement since 1989 so I have a lot of wonderful memories.
But, as they say, it’s your first that you’ll never forget. For my first, I had only been with WHBC for six months.
I’m a diehard Steeler fan. The 1989 Class of Enshrinees included Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount. This 27-year-old news/sports reporter wanted to prove her worth.
I found out the NFL was holding a private party at the hotel down the street from the radio station. I got my tape recorder (yes, it’s 1989) and headed to the hotel to grab an interview or two. As I waited at the entrance, I saw Terry Bradshaw.
I swallowed hard and approached him — “A few questions, Mr. Bradshaw?” His huge paw went up in front ofmy face and he said “NO, no interviews please.” And off he went into the ballroom.
You can take the girl out of Pittsburgh but you can’t take the Pittsburgh out of the girl. I parked myself in the bar and waited until Mr. Bradshaw decided to leave the party, 2½ hours later. As he walked out, with a drink in one hand and a stogie in the other, I walked up and said, “Mr. Bradshaw, a few questions please?”
He said, “Well sure young lady, shoot."
He was kind and answered all my questions. I was so proud of what I had accomplished.
My dad was going to be so proud. A moment I will never forget.
Do I remember what I asked him? Nope. Can I listen back to the interview? Nope.
I went back to the station to let our Hall of Fame Sports Director Jim Johnson listen to it. As he played it, he said in his voice of God, "I can’t use this, you giggled through the whole thing."
JJ never let me live it down.
It is still one of the best nights of my life.
Veteran broadcaster Pam Cook anchors Canton's "Morning News Weekdays" on WHBC-AM (1480).
2022 Hall of Fame Enshrinement memories:James Fye, Alex Dowell, Amilah L. Johnson-Williams, Stephanie Haney and others share their favorite memories
Bryan and Tracy Dawn Brewer: Meeting and talking with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
In 2013, my husband and I worked at Fieldcrest Estate in North Canton and Jerry Jones loved the grounds and requested to stay on the entire property with his whole family during enshrinement week.
In fact, as soon as the enshrinees were announced, we were contacted to reserve the property! Not only did we meet them upon arrival, they would call or text any needs directly to us.
We also stayed on the property to ensure no one would stop by and bother them during their stay. It was a working farm back then and when we fed the horses or managed any of the animals, they took a lot of interest.
We had caught some groundhogs in the horse field and the kids had never seen one up close and were taking selfies and pictures of them. The family was very involved with finalizing their stadium upgrades at that time and had their plans with them and it was so neat to hear them make some exciting decisions.
I still have the text messages with their meal requests and his assistant making arrangements for the week. Jerry sat on the porch with us and reminisced about his career for a long time one evening. The whole week was so much work but a lot of fun. It was just a great time getting to know him and his entire family that week.
They were all very kind and very personable.
Tracy Dawn Brewer is a media specialist in health care and artist who owns Brewtifully, a creative service store and business. Her husband Bryan Brewer is a diesel technician and retired Air Force master sergeant with 22 years service. They reside in Plain Township with their four dogs, four cats and dozen Koi.
2021 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival:Stefani Schaefer, Thomas Bernabei, Imani Bush and others share their favorite memories
Deja Givens: 'Everything seems a little more exciting.'
Ihave a lot of fond memories of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Grand Parade, as it has been an important event for me for many, many years.
My experience with the ceremonies began when I was in high school at McKinley, where I had the opportunity to march all four years as part of the flag line.
Every year, it feels like the atmosphere of the city changes when the enshrinement festival draws near. People come in from out of town.
All of a sudden, our humble city may bring possible sightings of celebrities or high-profile individuals you’d probably never see in Canton otherwise, and there are lots of events being celebrated around town. Everything seems a little more exciting.
One of my favorite traditions is going to First Friday, which usually has a record turnout just before the Grand Parade, then waking up early to find a spot on the parade route with my friends and family.
I knew I wanted to continue to be involved in the parade after I graduated, so I looked for other opportunities. Currently, I help organize Aultman’s contribution to the parade, and I’m happy I get to remain connected to this big event every year!
Deja Givens works in human resources at Aultman Hospital.
Lee-Ann DeMeo: 'Proud Mama Moment' highlights my Hall of Fame memories
The Hall of Fame festivities have resulted in many memories I’ll cherish.
When I was younger, my mom, sister and our neighbors would go to the parade every year and camp out the night before. We’d sit in front of St. Peter’s Church to watch the parade. We’d get Mary Ann Donuts and enjoy the fun atmosphere. Sometimes, we’d get lunch and go to Mother Goose Land.
We went from the time we could walk until high school graduation. It was a family tradition. My dad went a few years, but it was my mom who made the plans to camp out and take her girls.
We’d go to the rib burn-off at the Stark County Fairgrounds, the balloon lift-offs early in the morning at Kent State University at Stark, the fireworks at Monument Park, and see the Bluecoats perform.
After college, I got tickets for friends and me to see a few Hall of Fame games and saw Maroon 5 with other friends. I continued the tradition by taking my children, Isabella and Antonio, to the parade and local activities from the time they were small until their high school years. We’d stop to get Mary Ann Donuts, milk, and juice before the parade.
But one memory stands out. My friend, Dave Richard, who’s an AP sports photographer and who I went to McKinley High School with, asked my son, Antonio, to help on the field at the Hall of Fame game. Antonio ran digital files back to the other photographers on staff, downloaded them, and brought the memory cards back to Dave.
Antonio made it on the big screen with Brett Favre. That was a proud mama moment!
As an adult, Antonio has worked on electrical jobs through Hilscher-Clarke at the stadium.
Lee-Ann DeMeo is creative director at Innis Maggiore.
Lydia Lee: Fashion Show 'sparks my memories of growing up in a family that appreciated fine fashion.'
I once aspired to become a fashion designer, so I am naturally drawn to the Hall of Fame Fashion Show.
I love seeing the ladies and gentlemen dressed up in fancy clothing, and the atmosphere of excitement for this spectacular event that blends people in the community with the wives of the enshrinees. The wives and models take the runaway with flare and flavor, step to the rhythm of the music, and shine in the lights.
I served as a hostess for this event for many years and eventually joined in as a guest so that I could also wear my finest like the ladies in the crowd.
The HOF Fashion Show sparks my memories of growing up in a family that appreciated fine fashion. My mother, (Regina Bess) was a sharp dresser and my dad (Carl Bess) had tailored suits. They made sure that my two sisters (Carole and Marguerite) and I wore nice clothing.
Sometimes, they were made by a seamstress, purchased at Stern & Mann, Parisian or Rapports in downtown Canton.
I love fashion, shopping, and putting outfits together and I love how fashion can help to build self-esteem and make you feel beautiful on the runway of life.
In 2009, Betty Smith was chairwoman of the Fashion Show committee and emceed the Top Model Competition. My sister, Marguerite, was a finalist in this competition and had the opportunity to walk the runway at the HOF Fashion Show Luncheon. This was significant to our family and the Canton community because it showed that diversity was being embraced in the boardroom and on the runway.
I continue to enjoy the festivities of the Hall of Fame, but I especially enjoy the HOF Fashion Show.
Lydia Lee is program director at the Stark County Minority Business Association and board chair for ABCD Inc. She grew up in Canton, graduated from Timken Vocational High School and has a bachelor’s degree in business from Malone University. She has been married to Terry Lee for 45 years, and they have three sons, Terry Jr., Korry, and Karl, and six grandchildren.
Todd Porter: Terry Bradshaw lifts up Mike Webster
Coming up with just one favorite memory from the Pro Football Hall of Fame isn’t easy. After all, I spent 29 years working at The Repository providing many of us with a front-row seat to watching history come to life each year.
Easily it could have been some of the behind-the-scene moments such as during the Enshrinees’ Civic Dinner at Memorial Civic Center. About 90 minutes before Chris Berman, or now Rich Eisen, would take the dais, some of the game’s great players would share a cocktail or three in a social hour just for them.
Stories would grow and laughs would grow louder. Each year, some of the same stories would be shared, only this time some aspect was embellished just a little more to squeeze out a loud belly-laugh.
In 1997, Mike Webster was being enshrined on the steps of the Hall. It seemed more intimate back then, like guests on our porch with a block party that spilled onto George Halas Drive.
Certainly, things change and great things grow. We have witnessed that at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which begat Hall of Fame Village. Let us not ever forget which birthed the other, either.
On this sun-splashed day in 1997, it was Webster’s day. Leading up to that day, his life was unraveling for us all to see (it was reported he was homeless). He was battling depression. He was separated from his wife. Clearly, he was struggling. But Terry Bradshaw, enshrined in 1989, delivered a rousing presentation speech for Webster. He sounded part TV personality and part Baptist minister.
“What good is a team if you ain’t got a center? Oh, did I get a center. I just didn’t get any center, I got the best to ever play the game," Bradshaw said. And then he pulled a football from the podium. “What I wouldn’t give to put my hands under Mike Webster’s butt on more time.”
A smile grew on Webster’s tired face that day. It seemed like the pressures on his world had been lifted. He crouched down in cowboy boots, and snapped the ball to Bradshaw. They shared a hug. It had to be one of the happiest days of Webster’s life.
Five years later, Webster died.
In Canton, in 1997, on our porch in our block party, Webster was content as his teammate gave him a hand up. The world needs a lot more of that these days.
Todd Porter worked for nearly 30 years at the Canton Repository. He now serves as director of communications at Jackson Local Schools.
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A state-run oil giant in the United Arab Emirates said Monday it has moved up its target for achieving net zero emissions in its operations to 2045, as the country prepares to host U.N. climate talks later this year.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, known as ADNOC, said it is also committed to acheiving zero methane emissions by 2030. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.
Earlier this year, ADNOC earmarked $15 billion for an array of green initiatives, including the development of hydrogen power, carbon capture facilities and the planting of mangroves.
The company had previously committed to net zero — the balancing of greenhouse gas emissions to the point that the amount removed from the atmosphere is equal to the amount emitted — by 2050.
The UAE, an OPEC member that produces over 3 million barrels of crude oil a day, will host the global climate talks known as COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai. It has appointed Sultan al-Jaber, the head of ADNOC, to chair the meeting, a move that drew criticism from some environmentalists.
Al-Jaber has emphasized the need to cut emissions, rather than end fossil fuel use itself. It’s prompted fears that he might seek loopholes for untested carbon-capture technologies and so-called offsets that experts say distract from the need to end the release of greenhouse gases.
Governments agreed eight years ago in Paris to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) — ideally no more than 1.5C (2.7F). With average global temperatures already about 1.2C (2.2F) above pre-industrial levels, experts say the window to meet the more ambitious target is closing fast and even the less stringent goal would be missed if emissions aren’t slashed sharply soon.
The UAE, a global hub for business and tourism, has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 — a target that remains difficult to assess and one that authorities haven’t fully explained how they’ll reach. Analysts believe the Emirates is trying to maximize its profits as the world turns to renewables.
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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.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE BR Marketing Group
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Ernesto Escobedo 2023 Mifel Open Odds
Ernesto Escobedo will begin the Mifel Open in Los Cabos, Mexico versus Jason Jung in the round of 32. He was knocked off by Brandon Holt in the qualification round 1 of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (his previous tournament). Escobedo has +8000 odds to be crowned champion at Cabo Sports Complex.
Find all the latest odds for the 2023 Mifel Open and place your bets with a new user bonus from BetMGM.
Escobedo at the 2023 Mifel Open
- Next Round: Round of 32
- Tournament Dates: July 28 - August 6
- Venue: Cabo Sports Complex
- Location: Los Cabos, Mexico
- Court Surface: Hard
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Escobedo's Next Match
In his opener at the Mifel Open, on Tuesday, August 1 (at 9:00 PM ET) in the round of 32, Escobedo will play Jung.
Escobedo currently has odds of -120 to win his next contest against Jung. Check out the latest odds for the entire field at BetMGM.
Want to bet on Escobedo? Head to BetMGM using our link for a bonus bet special offer for new players!
Escobedo Stats
- Escobedo came up short in his last match, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6 versus Holt in the qualifying round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC on February 25, 2023.
- In five tournaments over the past 12 months, Escobedo is 4-5 and has yet to win a title.
- Escobedo is 4-5 on hard courts over the past year.
- Through nine matches over the past 12 months (across all court surfaces), Escobedo has played 25.6 games per match. He won 49.1% of them.
- In his nine matches on hard courts over the past year, Escobedo has played 25.6 games per match.
- Escobedo has won 19.7% of his return games and 80.6% of his service games over the past 12 months.
- Escobedo has claimed 80.6% of his service games on hard courts and 19.7% of his return games over the past 12 months.
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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T20:17:22
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Stark County-area high school football Top 5 power poll for 2023 preseason
High School football practice gets underway today in Ohio, and that means it's as good a time as any to start guessing how Stark County-area teams will stack up with each other in 2023.
The Greater Canton-Massillon Preseason Power Poll takes an early snapshot of what the area football scene might look like.
We'll give our top five in the big schools (Divisions I-II) and small schools (Divisions III-VII) here as July turns to August. The small schools follow below. The big schools will be added here Tuesday morning. Then check back every Monday during the regular season for the latest power poll.
Last season's Canton, Massillon poll:Final Stark County-area high school football power poll for 2022 season
Small-School Poll: Divisions III, IV, V, VI and VII
1, Canton South
Led by fourth-year starting QB Poochie Snyder and WR Tavon Castle, the Wildcats are capable of some offensive fireworks (averaging 40.3 points last year). But there is substance in this show. South went 9-4 last year, winning a share of the program's first league title in 59 years and advancing to the third round of the Division IV playoffs.
2, Alliance
Speaking of explosive offenses, the Aviators aren't too shabby either (averaging 39.9 points last year). Northwestern QB commit Brendan Zurbrugg and WR Ramhir Hawkins lead an Alliance team that looks to compete for an EBC championship and gain its first playoff win in almost 20 years.
3, Fairless
Head coach AJ Sarbaugh has the Falcons rolling, with nine wins in each of the past two seasons and shares of the last two PAC-7 championships after a 41-year league title drought. Senior Carson Colucci is back at quarterback after throwing for 2,536 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2022.
4, Canton Central Catholic
The Crusaders have averaged just 4.5 wins a season since their 2016 state championship squad. Of course, Central doesn't typically play the kind of schedule to accumulate easy regular season wins. Once again it lurks as a dangerous team under head coach Jeff Lindesmith in Division VI.
5, Northwest
Northwest has put together a solid three-year run under head coach John DeMarco, with 22 combined wins, one outright PAC-7 championship and a share of another. Junior quarterback Chase Badger returns to lead the Northwest offense.
Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @jweirREP
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https://www.cantonrep.com/story/sports/high-school/fridaynightohio/2023/07/31/canton-massillon-stark-2023-preseason-high-school-football-power-poll-mckinley-lake-hoover-alliance/70491289007/
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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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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment complex and a university building in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown Monday, killing six people and wounding 75 others as the blasts trapped residents beneath rubble, Ukrainian officials said.
One of the two missiles that hit the central city of Kryvyi Rih destroyed part of an apartment building between the fourth and ninth floors, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. Video showed black smoke billowing from corner units and burned out or damaged cars on a tree-lined street.
The dead included a 10-year-old girl and her mother, according to Zelenskyy. More than 350 people were involved in the rescue operation, he said in a Telegram post.
The morning attack also destroyed part of a four-story university building.
The strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown, which has been hit in the past, happened a day after the Ukrainian president seemed to warn of more attacks inside Russia.
“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly video address.
It was not clear whether the missile strikes were in retaliation for his comments.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian artillery strike on the partially occupied Donetsk province killed two people and wounded six others in the regional capital, according to Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed leader of the illegally annexed province.
A bus was also hit as Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Donetsk multiple times Monday, Pushilin said.
Elsewhere, in the Russian-held part of the Zaporizhzhia region, three people were killed and 15 wounded in Ukrainian shelling that hit a store in the village of Basan, according to the Russia-backed acting regional governor Yevgeny Balitsky.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
A recent Ukrainian counteroffensive, deploying weaponry supplied by Kyiv’s Western allies and aimed at driving Russian forces out of occupied areas, intensified last week. At the same time, Ukraine has sought to take the war deep into Russia, reportedly using drones to hit targets as far away as Moscow.
Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia and Moscow-annexed territory, especially Crimea, have become more frequent. The latest strike, on Sunday, damaged two office buildings a few miles (kilometers) from the Kremlin. Ukrainian officials did not acknowledge the attack.
Russia tightened security in the aftermath of that attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, describing the assault as an “act of desperation.”
“The Kyiv regime is in a very, very difficult situation,” Peskov said, “as the counteroffensive is not working out as planned.”
“It’s obvious that the multibillion-dollar resources that have been transferred by NATO countries to the Kyiv regime are actually being spent inefficiently,” Peskov said.
“This raises big questions in Western capitals and great discomfort among taxpayers in Western countries.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, analysts say, is wagering that Western support for Kyiv will wane as the war drags on and costs mount.
Another Ukrainian drone targeted a district police department early Monday in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, but there were no casualties, the local governor said.
Bombarding populated areas with missiles, artillery and drones has been a hallmark of Moscow’s military strategy throughout the war, and that approach has continued during the Ukrainian counteroffensive that started in June.
Russian officials insist they take aim only at legitimate military targets, but Ukraine and its supporters say mass civilian deaths during previous attacks are evidence of war crimes.
“In recent days, the enemy has been stubbornly attacking cities, city centers, shelling civilian objects and housing,” Zelenskyy said. “But this terror will not frighten us or break us.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday that his forces have increased the intensity of attacks on Ukrainian military facilities.
It was not immediately clear which military facilities he was referring to, as Russia’s recent missile strikes have hit civilian infrastructure.
In the southern city of Odesa, Russian strikes in recent weeks targeted port infrastructure and grain silos, after Moscow broke off an export agreement for Ukrainian grain. The Ukrainian foreign ministry estimated Monday that about 180,000 metric tons of grain have been destroyed by Russia in the past nine days.
Russian shelling Monday also killed four civilians and wounded 17 in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. A 70-year-old woman was killed by shelling in her home in a Kharkiv province village near Izyum, authorities said.
In eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province, one person was reported killed and seven people were injured after Russia shelled 12 cities and villages, according to Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.
In other developments Monday, China introduced restrictions on the export of long-range civilian drones. Authorities cited the war in Ukraine and concern that drones could be converted for military purposes.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government is friendly with Moscow, but says it’s neutral in the war. It has been stung by reports that both sides might be using Chinese-made drones for reconnaissance and possibly attacks.
Meanwhile, Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said Monday that his Wagner Group is not currently recruiting fighters.
In an audio message published on a Telegram channel associated with the Wagner chief, Prigozhin said the company had suspended recruitment as there is currently “no shortage of personnel.”
Prigozhin previously agreed with Western estimates that he lost more than 20,000 men in the long battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Prigozhin last month led a short-lived mutiny against Moscow, demanding a leadership change in the Russian military. In an attempt to control him, Russian authorities insisted that Wagner fighters can only return to Ukraine if they join Russia’s regular army.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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John Isner 2023 Mifel Open Odds
John Isner, off a loss in the round of 32 of the Truist Atlanta Open (to Dominik Koepfer) in his previous tournament, will open the Mifel Open in Los Cabos, Mexico versus Rinky Hijikata in the round of 32. Isner's odds are +1400 to win this event at Cabo Sports Complex.
Find all the latest odds for the 2023 Mifel Open and place your bets with a new user bonus from BetMGM.
Isner at the 2023 Mifel Open
- Next Round: Round of 32
- Tournament Dates: July 28 - August 6
- Venue: Cabo Sports Complex
- Location: Los Cabos, Mexico
- Court Surface: Hard
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Isner's Next Match
In the round of 32 of the Mifel Open, on Monday, July 31 (at 10:20 PM ET), Isner will meet Hijikata.
Isner is currently listed at -160 to win his next contest against Hijikata. Check out the latest odds for the entire field at BetMGM.
John Isner Grand Slam Odds
- US Open odds to win: +12500
- Mifel Open odds to win: +1400
Want to bet on Isner? Head to BetMGM using our link for a bonus bet special offer for new players!
Isner Stats
- In his most recent tournament, the Truist Atlanta Open, Isner was eliminated in the Round of 32 by No. 88-ranked Koepfer, 6-3, 6-7, 6-7.
- Isner is 12-14 over the past 12 months, with no tournament titles.
- Isner is 9-10 on hard courts over the past year.
- Isner, over the past year, has played 26 matches across all court surfaces, and 29.2 games per match.
- On hard courts, Isner has played 19 matches over the past year, and 28.3 games per match.
- Isner has won 11.0% of his return games and 88.1% of his service games over the past 12 months.
- On hard courts over the past year, Isner has been victorious in 10.3% of his return games and 89.8% of his service games.
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'Wow!': National High School Football Hall of Fame inducts inaugural class Sunday in Canton
- Lively crowd, big names make for zesty National High School Football Hall of Fame debut.
- Chris Spielman, Mike Doss and Archie Griffin make their way to their induction.
- Marcus Dupree: "I'd give anything to be back in high school."
CANTON — Who are the greatest figures in the history of high school football?
Where does one even begin to address such a question?
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, a million high school players suited up in the USA in 2022. Multitudes have come through since school football began to take root in the era when William McKinley was elected President in 1896.
Whatever the difficulty in identifying "the greatest," the new National High School Football Hall of Fame installed 23 people as charter members Sunday in Umstattd Hall on the campus of McKinley Senior High School.
How the advertised goal of building a home in Canton plays out remains to be seen. Write down Sunday's event as a success.
Archie Griffin, who played at Columbus Eastmoor before winning two Heisman Trophies at Ohio State, gleamed.
"This is tremendous," he said, scanning a crowd of 500 that included Jim Tressel. "There's nothing like high school football."
The Class of 2023, in alphabetical order, includes Jerry Ball, Jim Brown, Lomas Brown, Paul Brown, Greg Cameron, John Crowell, Mike Doss, Marcus Dupree, Ray Freeman, Ted Ginn Sr., Griffin, Greg Kampe, Bernie Kosar, Kevin Mack, Archie Manning, Cooper Manning, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Thom McDaniels, Marion Motley, Don Nehlen, Horace Sheffield and Chris Spielman.
Jim Brown and Paul Brown are deceased. All four Mannings appeared in a thank-you video. Almost everyone else in the charter class showed up.
Emcee Ronnie Duncan, 65, seemed to know everyone. He and Garrett Bush handled introductions as if having too much fun.
Kosar joyously pointed to his 80-something mom and dad and admitted to getting up in the years himself.
"I'm in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter of my life," the former Boardman quarterback said.
McDaniels, in his 70s, nodded to the 87-year-old Nehlen and said, "If he's in the fourth quarter, we're in overtime."
It has been 43 years since McDaniels was an assistant coach on McKinley's first state playoff championship team.
That was 16 years after Nehlen and Earle Bruce entered the McKinley-Massillon game as head coaches of 9-0 teams.
The crowd included a 2023 high school team, McKinley, and a 2023 corps of cheerleaders, Glenville.
One highlight was an uproarious ovation received by longtime Glenville coach Ginn from a surprising number of supporters who made their way to Canton.
Ginn captured the moment in a word.
"Wow!"
Everyone knew Massillon icon Spielman, including, obviously, his former Detroit Lions teammates Lomas Brown and Ball. Now a Lions executive, Spielman joked about wearing one of the red jackets presented to inductees.
He looked to the back of the room where the red-clad 2023 Bulldogs and shared some Massillon-McKinley humor.
The Class of 2023 probably strikes many people as odd.
The land area of the United States consists of 3.1 million square miles. The land area of Canton and Massillon is a combined 39 square miles, .00000125% of the country.
Yet, six of the 23 new National High School Football Hall of Fame members, 26%, made their high school names in Canton or Massillon.
The six are Paul Brown, Doss, McDaniels, Motley, Nehlen and Spielman.
More on Marion Motley:Marion Motley statue perfect near Hall of Fame; now it's time for Browns to retire his number
Yes, Ohio is a populous state, but even at that, the 11.8 million residents make up 3.5% of the nation's 333 million. Eleven of the 23 members of the Classs of 2023, 48%, are from Ohio.
In addition to the Canton-Massillon people, the honorees include Ohioans Cameron, Freeman, Ginn, Griffin, Kampe and Kosar.
Ohio high school football:A Mount Rushmore for Ohio high school football coaches on OHSAA playoffs 50th anniversary in 2022
Other aspects add to the unusual nature of the inaugural class.
Crowell, who played in Jeanette, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s, is the grandfather of LaMont "Showboat" Robinson, founding CEO of the new hall of fame.
Robinson, 62, played for the Harlem Globetrotters and other comedy basketball teams. Perhaps his sense of showmanship translated to the four members of the Manning quarterback family being part of the first class.
Kampe has made a national name as head basketball coach at Oakland University in Michigan. He is the longest tenured Division I men’s basketball coach following the retirement of Jim Boeheim.
His own family barely associates him with football. Sunday took him back.
"I played at Defiance when football was king," he said. "It was during the 10-year war between Michigan and Ohio State. My senior year I was the quarterback, the safety, the punter, the kicker, the punt returner, the kick returner.
"I'm not being honored, so much for me, but for what I represented. On a Friday night, everybody would lock their stores and drive to wherever the game was."
The poetry of the Class of 2023 is in its themes.
McKinley vs. Massillon represents great rivalries.
Paul Brown remains Massillon legend:Stark County Sports Icon No. 1: Paul Brown
Paul Brown coached Massillon to mythical national championships more than 80 years ago. Spielman transferred from Canton Timken to Massillon and got his face on Wheaties boxes. Motley played against Paul Brown at McKinley. Doss won two state championships at McKinley, one with McDaniels as his head coach.
Nehlen played for Canton Lincoln, coached Canton South into its greatest era, and spent a year piloting McKinley against Massillon's Earle Bruce when both teams entered the season finale at 9-0.
Dupree was a huge national name at Oklahoma in the 1980s after he rushed for more than 7,000 yards at Philadelphia High School in Mississippi.
"I would give anything to go back to high school," Dupree said.
Ginn — who led Glenville to its first state title in Canton last December — represents coaches who hammer away in the inner city.
"I didn't coach for a career," he said. "I coached to make a difference.
"Every day I'm coaching, I'm fighting to save a life."
Glenville football wins first title:OHSAA Football Finals Replay: A look back at 2022 state championship weekend in Canton
Special awards were presented to Nehlen for lifetime achievement, to current McKinley coach Antonio Hall for visionary leadership, and to R.J. Van Almen, a Canton supporter of the new hall.
Sunday's event was conducted next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a week before the pro Hall's 2023 enshrinement. Umstattd Hall is surrounded by but not affiliated with Hall of Fame Village.
The National High School Football Hall of Fame is not affiliated with the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP
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Former Perry football star Matt Carrick to coach Panthers o-line before joining XFL in '24
- Matt Carrick's first NFL experience comes with storied franchise
- Carrick signs with D.C. Defenders of the XFL
- Carrick knows what he wants to bring to coaching.
PERRY TWP. − It has been a busy year for former Perry High School football star Matt Carrick. And his schedule just got busier.
After going undrafted as an offensive lineman out of Michigan State, Carrick was invited to the Green Bay Packers rookie minicamp in early May. A month later, he signed with the D.C. Defenders, an XFL team that had just wrapped up its inaugural season. While he waits to report to camp in January, Perry head coach Zach Slates offered Carrick a spot on the Panthers coaching staff. Without hesitation, Carrick accepted.
He will coach the offensive line this coming season and assist in strength and conditioning with Perry’s strength coach John Foster. He’s also working full-time as a sales engineer for Always Better Communications Inc.
“I’m really excited to help those kids at Perry to become better football players and just share my knowledge with them and hopefully help them out," Carrick said. "And that’s what coaches are. The biggest thing for a coach is to be a good mentor.”
More:Pro Football Hall of Fame: Marty Schottenheimer, Ken Anderson among 2024 semifinalists
Matt Carrick's brief stint in Green Bay, being drafted by XFL
Carrick believed he was right where he needed to be after getting an invite from the Packers minicamp. Despite not making the cut, he felt like he belonged there. He embraced the complexity of an NFL playbook, reading his thoroughly. He plans to use all the tools he learned from his first NFL experience.
“I got to learn a lot and be around a lot of good guys,” Carrick said. “It was really cool to see how NFL teams operate inside the doors. I was really happy for the opportunity, especially happy that I got up there and did a good job when I was up there.”
Carrick played 47 games and started 27 in his six seasons at Michigan State. Unfortunately, he’s dealt with multiple long-term injuries during those years. His draft stock took a hit due to his past injuries. Since then, he’s been as healthy as he's ever been.
“I feel like I’m ready to play, and I think that’s one of the most important things that I think hurt me as far as getting drafted or getting picked up right away because of my health history,” Carrick said. “I’m just excited to get into camp and answer some of the questions that those guys have about my health history that I had.”
Carrick received interest from two different XFL teams. Carrick was going to a friend’s wedding when he got the good news in early June that he'd been drafted by the D.C. team. Carrick was with his ex-teammate Jacub Panasiuk, who played for the Defenders this past season and gave him some insight on the new XFL franchise.
“When I got the phone call, he was actually in the car with me, and he’s already playing at D.C," Carrick said. "That was a pretty cool scenario.”
Panasiuk is not his only connection to the Defenders. Jack Plumb, an offensive tackle from Iowa who was at rookie minicamp in Green Bay with Carrick, also signed with the Defenders.
"It’s kind of cool that I already know someone that will be on a team,” Carrick said. “I think the XFL is a good opportunity for guys like me that feels like, 'Hey, I know I can play here like I was in Green Bay.' I saw that I can compete and do well."
Slates knew four days ahead of time that Carrick was heading to the XFL. Slates’ former college teammate from Pittsburgh, Mike McGlynn, scouted Carrick for the Orlando Guardians. It came down between the Guardians and the Defenders grabbing Carrick.
“It’s good to hear that he was going to get drafted in the XFL,” Slates said.
Matt Carrick brings pedigree to Perry's coaching staff
High school football preseason camps begin Monday across the state.
Carrick is just getting reacquainted with the system Slates is using at Perry. He remembers well the wing-T offense he dominated in as a Panther under retired head coach Keith Wakefield. Slates was an assistant for the Panthers then.
Carrick was highly recruited as an offensive lineman. He was a three-time All-Ohioan and led Perry to two straight Division II state championship games in 2015-16 before committing to the Spartans.
Perry went 4-7 last year and opens this season Aug. 17, against Central Catholic. Slates believes Carrick's presence will mean a lot to the current Panthers.
“Just to understand that we do have kids that go D-1 and obviously are making it to the professional level,” Slates said. “Just bringing that dynamic and being a player here. It means a lot as a former player who played here. It’s different when you go back to where you played and coach. He’ll understand what we do because he went through it.”
Carrick looks forward to the opportunity and plans to continue coaching once he's done playing. He wants to bring something different to the table. He wants to remain consistent, which his players can count on. He understands that he has to coach some players differently but will avoid lowering their expectations.
"As a coach, I want to be the same guy every single day, no matter what," Carrick said. "If you have a coach and you don't know what to expect from him every day, you're not going to get as much out of your guys as you could. Just the fact that yeah, we're going to work hard and going to do this and that, but at the same time, I want to be the same person no matter what in any scenario."
More:'I've got to put in more work': McKinley football star Dante McClellan continues to grow
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WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — The final defendant charged in connection to the brutal, fatal beating of Zachary Wood in May 2022 has her pending murder charge dismissed after pleading to a lesser offense.
Ashley Marie Esselborn, 22, of Wichita Falls, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence on Monday morning, July 31, 2023, during a scheduled pre-trial conference in the 30th District Court.
The original indictment on Esselborn only contained the charge of murder. However, a motion to amend the indictment and add a second charge of tampering was filed Monday morning, July 31, 2023, and later signed by Judge Jeff McKnight the same day.
Esselborn was sentenced to eight years in a TDCJ Correctional Institution, receiving 372 days jail credit for time already served after spending over a year behind bars before bonding out in May 2023. As a part of the plea agreement, Esselborn’s pending murder charge was dismissed.
Family members and friends of Wood were present in the gallery during Monday morning’s proceedings, three of whom gave statements following Esselborn’s sentencing. Earle Wood, the father of Zachary Wood, verbally expressed that he objected to the plea bargain and sentence Esselborn received on Monday morning.
Esselborn was originally scheduled to go to trial on the murder charge on July 10, 2023, for her role in Wood’s fatal beating over a year ago. However, that trial was delayed at the request of Esselborn’s attorney, Dustin Nimz
Esselborn’s three co-defendants William Bell, Payton Collier, and Ronnie Lang accepted deals after pleading guilty to Wood’s murder, making Esselborn the only defendant out of the four charged with Wood’s murder who was not found guilty.
Esselborn’s alleged role in Wood’s murder
According to police, when Collier gave her statement confessing to the murder and identifying Lang and Bell as suspects, she was asked about a second female who was at the house.
Authorities said Collier identified the second female as Ashley but did not know her last name, and said she was Bell’s girlfriend. According to the affidavit, Collier told them Esselborn did not assault Wood, but said she cheered them on while they were attacking him.
Collier also told police Esselborn was yelling at Wood, asking where her stuff was. The affidavit said Esselborn gave a statement to police on May 23, 2022, admitting she was at the house when Wood was assaulted.
Authorities said Esselborn told them she had been sleeping in the same room as Wood, and that when she woke up, she was missing some drugs from her purse.
According to the affidavit, Esselborn also said Collier was missing money, so they began questioning Wood about taking it. Esselborn then told police Lang came into the room and began assaulting Wood, then she and Bell left the house but later returned due to Bell leaving his shirt.
The affidavit said Esselborn told them later, she and Bell drove toward Burkburnett and discarded bloody items they were in possession of.
Following Esselborn’s statement, on Tuesday, May 24, a cooperating witness came to the police department and said she was scared because of things she overheard Esselborn say on the phone following her statement to the police.
According to the affidavit, the cooperating witness said she overheard Esselborn bragging that she didn’t go to jail and had also put her hands on Wood that night.
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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.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/chris-thompson-announces-retirement-president-ceo-brand-usa/
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Rockies vs. Padres Predictions & Picks: Odds, Moneyline, Spread - July 31
Monday's contest between the San Diego Padres (52-54) and Colorado Rockies (41-64) matching up at Coors Field has a projected final score of 6-4 (based on our computer prediction) in favor of the Padres, so expect a tight matchup. The game will start at 8:40 PM ET on July 31.
The Padres will give the ball to Seth Lugo (4-5, 3.62 ERA), who is eyeing win No. 5 on the season, and the Rockies will counter with Austin Gomber (8-8, 5.83 ERA).
Rockies vs. Padres Game Info & Odds
- When: Monday, July 31, 2023 at 8:40 PM ET
- Where: Coors Field in Denver, Colorado
- How to Watch on TV: SportsNet RM
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
Bet on this matchup with BetMGM Sportsbook and use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Rockies vs. Padres Score Prediction
Our prediction for this game is Padres 6, Rockies 5.
Total Prediction for Rockies vs. Padres
- Total Prediction: Under 11.5 runs
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Rockies Performance Insights
- In seven games as the underdog over the last 10 matchups, the Rockies have a record of 3-4.
- In its last 10 matchups with a total posted by oddsmakers, Colorado and its foes are 4-6-0 when it comes to hitting the over.
- The Rockies' previous 10 contests have not had a runline posted by sportsbooks.
- The Rockies have come away with 37 wins in the 90 contests they have been listed as the underdogs in this season.
- Colorado has a win-loss record of 11-26 when favored by +165 or worse by oddsmakers this year.
- The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Rockies have a 37.7% chance of coming away with a victory in the contest.
- Colorado scores the 20th-most runs in baseball (457 total, 4.4 per game).
- The Rockies have the 29th-ranked ERA (5.48) in the majors this season.
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Rockies Schedule
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T20:17:35
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'He would be very proud': Don Coryell to be enshrined posthumously into Hall of Fame
It’s a passing league. That is today’s NFL.
Setting the NFL on its path to being a pass-happy league was the late Don Coryell and his “Air Coryell” offense in the 1970s and '80s.
It’s been 13 years since his death, but his name and accomplishments continue to live on. He is set to be enshrined Aug. 5 into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2023.
Coryell was a finalist seven times in his 36 years of eligibility. His chance of getting inducted improved once the Hall separated the senior ballot and put together a coaches/contributor category as one ballot.
“Historically, coaches would always lump in with the players, and the players always took precedence, and I think that’s why Coryell kept coming up short,” said Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, who is also a member of the Hall's selection committee. "And once they moved him to the coaches/contributors category, it was kind of a new ballgame."
Mindy Coryell Lewis, Don’s daughter, was overjoyed after receiving the good news. She looks forward to representing her late father in Canton. She also acknowledged his former coaches and players who helped pave the way for his success.
“I broke down and cried,” Mindy said. “You couldn’t even understand what I was saying. It was just so emotional and I was at a street corner with my coffee group when I got the phone call. I had to walk away and try to compose myself before I came back, and that was hard because it was a secret.”
According to Mindy, Don likely would have hidden his emotions after discovering he is being enshrined into the Hall of Fame. He was known for being humble and showing humility. But Mindy also knows deep down, he would be ecstatic about going to Canton.
“Hot damn! That’ll be my dad,” Mindy said. “Another expression of his is he will swell up like a toad. He is also so humble that he probably wouldn’t admit that to many people, but I know he would be very proud.”
Before Don began his coaching career, he served in the United States Army as he worked his way from platoon sergeant to first lieutenant. After being discharged at 21, he enrolled at the University of Washington, where he played defensive back for the Huskies and later became an assistant coach.
Before he became an NFL coach, he led the San Diego State Aztecs for 12 seasons. He compiled a 104-19-2 record with the Aztecs, including undefeated seasons in 1966 and 1969. His teams went 55-1-1 from October 1965 to November 1970.
Coryell became a hot name for bigger coaching opportunities from both college and pro teams. He eventually took the opportunity to become the head coach for the St. Louis Cardinals for five seasons (1973-77). His Cardinals set a franchise record for most wins in a season and claimed two division titles.
After his departure from St. Louis, he returned to San Diego to become the head coach of the San Diego Chargers (1978-86). That’s where the "Air Coryell" offense took flight, with Fouts at quarterback. During the 1979 season, the Chargers' offense became pass-first, producing 541 pass plays.
“I think the best way to describe him is that he was fearless and obviously, all sorts of genius,” Fouts said. “He’s very innovative and willing to try things, so I think he was fearless. He always felt that as an offense, we have to force the defense to cover the entire field. The 100 yards to the length and the 50 yards to the width, and he designed plays that we have to attack the entire field.”
Fouts said the offense was not hard to comprehend. The playing calling and protections were straightforward. It involves motioning skill players and allowing the QB to identify the defense pre-snap. There were no specific sets of formations, and wide receivers were free to line up anywhere with any route options as long as the receiver ran to the exact spot the quarterback would be throwing to.
The concept of "Air Coryell" was to have at least two men downfield while the quarterback stayed clean in the pocket. It also opened the doors for tight ends such as Kellen Winslow to run wide receiver routes.
The Chargers led the NFL in passing yardage four straight years (1979-82). Fouts became the first player in history to throw for 4,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. While there were adjustments throughout every game, Fouts recalled rarely experiencing flaws in Coryell's scheme, leaving not much to be corrected.
“First of all, I think he had faith in me and confidence,” Fouts said. “Also, he gave me a system that fit my skills and something we could build off every year and for like every game, we can just keep changing things.”
Despite Coryell's military background, he was a player’s coach first, and his system was more of a democracy. He took suggestions from his players and assistants, including Joe Gibbs, who was his offensive coordinator before carving out his own Hall of Fame career as head coach in Washington.
“I think that was really some of the keys to his success,” Fouts said. “It’s because once you, as a player, give input, then you have ownership of your idea. It makes you try harder to make that idea work.”
In seven of nine seasons, the Chargers led the league in passing yards. Coryell became the first head coach to win more than 100 games in college and in the NFL. "Air Coryell" changed the dynamics of the NFL and remains relevant to this day.
“I know he would be extremely happy, but his humility might mask that a little bit, but he knew what he did and how he contributed through the way the game is played today,” Fouts said. “I think that was his greatest satisfaction.”
More:Browns icon Joe Thomas chooses wife, Annie, their four children as Hall of Fame presenters
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MONTAGUE COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL) — A burn ban is now in place for seven days across Montague County.
The order, issued from the presiding judge of the Montague County Commissioners Courts, went into effect at 10 a.m. Monday, July 31.
The directive prohibits outdoor burning, including the burning of trash, domestic waste, maintenance or land clearing, brush, campfires and trees.
It does allow for firefighter training, public utility operations, natural gas pipeline and mining operations, harvesting of agricultural crops and welding.
However, welding can only be done if there’s a clear area of 15 feet or more on the welding site.
There also must be 55 gallons of water on-site, with the ability to pressurize and spray the welding site.
An additional person must be present with the welder to act as a spotter.
If the burn ban is not extended, it will expire after Monday, August 7.
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/local-news/montague-county-enacts-emergency-burn-ban/
| 2023-07-31T20:17:39
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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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SOURCE Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
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| 2023-07-31T20:17:39
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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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© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved.
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