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Puppy rescued by fire department fostered by firefighter and pit bull advocate
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KOVR) – A puppy in California is ready to play after a pretty rough day.
Sacramento fire crews rescued the little guy, covered in burned plastic and with his fur singed, during a debris fire Tuesday.
The captain on the scene knew the puppy needed a good friend, so he called Mike Thawley at Station 19.
“He said ‘Do you want him?’ and I said ‘Yes,’” Thawley said.
Thawley is fostering the pup while Front Street Animal Shelter finds him a forever home. The puppy is already making himself comfortable.
“He perked up pretty good when we gave him water, a bath, some food, started picking off some of the plastic and then yesterday personality started coming out, tail wagging, following us around chewing,” Thawley said.
This isn’t the first time Thawley has fostered a dog the fire crews had rescued. Five years ago, he took in Chunk, an abandoned pit bull found chained to a fence.
Thawley is an advocate for pit bulls. He said knew right away the dog was home. And that’s where she’s been ever since. He had documented her journey on social media.
“We had well over 30 million people following Chunk,” Thawley said. “Donations into Front Street, donations to the bully rescues, Chunk had a two-page article in Women’s World magazine and an award from PETA.”
Thawley said its a doggone shame someone would leave a puppy in such bad conditions. But he said he hopes the rescue tells a tale of how people can help other rescue and shelter animals.
Copyright 2022 KOVR via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/14/puppy-rescued-by-fire-department-fostered-by-firefighter-pit-bull-advocate/ | 2022-04-14T18:31:57 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/14/puppy-rescued-by-fire-department-fostered-by-firefighter-pit-bull-advocate/ |
Strong winds and wintry temps today; remaining March-like for Easter weekend
Wind chill values will be in the teens and 20s for the next few days
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The same storm system that has been producing clouds, rough winds, and showers in the area over the past couple of days continues to keep our weather blustery and rather cold. In fact, as it slowly migrates eastward from northern Minnesota toward the Great Lakes today, the strongest winds of the week will impact our area. Expect strong west winds with gray skies throughout the day and a few snow showers and sprinkles in the afternoon hours. High temperatures will be in the upper 30s with wind chill values only in the teens to low 20s. A Wind Advisory will be in effect for Rochester and the eastern part of our local area until 7 PM as gusts will reach 50 miles per hour at times, causing debris to become airborne and creating problems for high-profile vehicles. A High Wind Warning has been added for our western counties, including Alber Lea and Mason City effective until 7 PM as gusts will reach 65 miles per hour at times.
Winds will remain rather gusty through the overnight hours tonight while skies clear off a bit. Temperatures will drop to the mid-20s late tonight with wind chill values falling into the single digits at times.
We’ll enjoy a little more sunshine throughout our Friday, but Good Friday’s weather will only be marginally better than the past few days. Expect occasional sunshine and clouds with raw, gusty west winds that will reach 25 miles per hour at times and high temperatures will be in the upper 30s. Wind chill levels tomorrow will be in the teens and 20s.
After a bright and chilly Saturday, Easter Sunday will feature increasing cloud cover during the late morning with a few light snow showers and sprinkles in the afternoon. High temperatures for both weekend days will be around 40 degrees, which is more than 15 degrees colder than the seasonal average.
There will be a chance of brief snow and rain showers next Monday, mainly in the morning with rain chances returning late Tuesday and for a portion of next Wednesday. High temperatures will be in the low 40s Monday with mid and then upper 40s expected toward the middle of the week.
Sunshine will become more prominent later next week while temperatures finally warm a bit. Look for high temperatures in the low 50s next Thursday and then upper 50s to low 60s for Friday and the following weekend.
Copyright 2022 KTTC. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/14/strong-winds-wintry-temps-today-remaining-march-like-easter-weekend/ | 2022-04-14T18:32:04 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/14/strong-winds-wintry-temps-today-remaining-march-like-easter-weekend/ |
Two more Assembly Democrats announce retirements
Two more Democrats have decided to give up their seats in the state Assembly
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two more Democrats have decided to give up their seats in the state Assembly.
Rep. Nick Milroy of South Range announced Thursday that he won’t seek reelection in November. He said that he has spent too many days and nights in Madison away from his wife and he’s looking forward to spending more time with her and their three children. Milroy was first elected to the Assembly in 2008.
Sondy Pope of Mount Horeb also announced her retirement Thursday. She was first elected to the Assembly in 2002. She said in her announcement that she wants to spend more time with loved ones and travel.
Nine Democrats and 13 Republicans have now announced they won’t seek reelection. Three Democratic and three Republican senators have said they’re not running again. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/14/two-more-assembly-democrats-announce-retirements/ | 2022-04-14T18:32:10 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/14/two-more-assembly-democrats-announce-retirements/ |
Wisconsin crime labs’ turnaround times slowed last year
A new report shows that Wisconsin’s crime labs’ testing turnaround times dipped across a number of disciplines last year
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin crime labs took longer to deliver test results last year across a number of disciplines, as analysts continued to face the added difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and spent more time testifying in court than the previous year, according to a state Justice Department report released Thursday.
The average turnaround time to develop a DNA profile jumped from three months to four; the time to analyze evidence for the presence of an illegal drug increased from 44 days to 61; and time to analyze bodily fluids or tissue for alcohol or drugs increased from 39 days to 48, according to the department's annual lab performance report.
The only areas where turnaround times improved were ballistics, tool mark and footwear analysis. The labs shaved almost 100 days off their ballistics turnaround time, from 247 days in 2020 to 157 days last year, although they handled 14 fewer cases. The time for tool mark analysis dropped from 1,164 days to 763. The number of tool mark cases, however, dropped from 23 to seven. Turnaround time for footwear analysis fell from 140 days to 12, with the labs handling two fewer of such cases than in 2020.
Delays have plagued crime labs across the nation for years, driven largely by prosecutors and police flooding labs with evidence submissions in the hopes of developing DNA profiles to determine suspects' identifies and build air-tight cases.
Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said in an interview with The Associated Press that analysts spent much of 2021 doing what they could from home and working staggered shifts as the pandemic dragged on. They also spent more time testifying in court as judges worked to eliminate a backlog of trials that built up after the pandemic forced courts to close in 2020, before vaccines were widely available.
He also pointed out that Republican legislators have refused to fund all the lab positions he requested in the last two state budgets. He asked for 20 positions across both spending plans but got only 7.4, he said.
Still, the labs' performance could be a major headache for Kaul on the campaign trail this summer. Kaul hammered his predecessor, Republican Brad Schimel, over slow turnaround times in 2018 to the point that Schimel hired a consultant to find ways to speed things up. Turnaround times for DNA analysis, drug identification and toxicology tests were faster in 2018 than in 2021 even though the labs handled hundreds more DNA and drug submissions, according to the two years' reports, which don't account for the severe disruptions that the pandemic inflicted on virtually every sector over the past two years.
Two Republicans, former state Rep. Adam Jarchow and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, are set to face off in an Aug. 9 primary for the chance to challenge Kaul in the Nov. 8 general election.
Toney called Kaul's failure to improve the labs' performance “staggering.”
“Kaul is testing significantly less items than former AG Brad Schimel and is still taking longer to test many categories of key items in comparison to Schimel, including DNA,” Toney said in a statement. "Wisconsin can’t afford another 4 years of Kaul’s failures.”
Jarchow chastised Kaul for blaming the delays on the pandemic.
“There is no more important core function of government than keeping citizens safe and solving crimes, so blaming COVID for longer turn-around times of DNA testing is unconscionable," Jarchow said in a statement.
Kaul insisted the labs are trending in the right direction. The number of pieces of evidence submitted to the labs for DNA analysis has dropped considerably since early 2021 — as of March 31, the labs had only 600 cases in their queue compared with almost 1,200 a year earlier. That means police are gaining a better understanding of what submissions might yield the best results, he said.
“What that shows is what we've been doing is working,” Kaul said. “You can see over time the downward trend. That to me is the sign that for the long-term we're moving in the right direction.”
Gov. Tony Evers has allocated $5 million in federal pandemic relief funds to the crime labs, Kaul added. That money will be used to outsource testing to private labs and perhaps hire more analysts, he said.
“Anybody can cherry-pick the numbers in a report like this and spin them the way they want, and I don't doubt that people will,” Kaul said.
___
Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter: https://twitter.com/trichmond1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/14/wisconsin-crime-labs-turnaround-times-slowed-last-year/ | 2022-04-14T18:32:20 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/14/wisconsin-crime-labs-turnaround-times-slowed-last-year/ |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana physician won’t serve any jail time after being convicted of criminal recklessness for driving through a crowd of people in 2020 as they were protesting racial injustice.
A St. Joseph County judge sentenced Glenn Wheet to one year of probation Wednesday and fined him $1,000.
The South Bend Tribune reports prosecutors said Wheet caused a substantial risk of injury by knowingly driving at slow speed over traffic cones set up by police and into a crowd on July 4, 2020, in Mishawaka during a protest that followed George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer. | https://www.wane.com/news/crime/south-bend-doctor-gets-probation-for-driving-through-protesters/ | 2022-04-14T18:33:21 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/crime/south-bend-doctor-gets-probation-for-driving-through-protesters/ |
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — A family of eagles was left without a nest on Tuesday. There wasn’t much left of it after it fell to the ground. The bird you see in the nest is the only one that stayed. A second bird safely made it to the ground – and it’s being cared for at the raptor center in Decatur. The third eagle broke both wings after falling and is being treated at U of I’s animal clinic. The raptor center built a new nest for the birds. They said they build nests all the time, but they’ve never made one for a bald eagle.
Raptor Center Program Director Jacques Nuzzo said, “We’ve done it with gray horned owls we’ve done it with barred owls and red tail hawks. This would be the first time we’ve done it with an eagle. I know other people have done it and it works so we had to build a temporary nest, but there are no plans for temporary bald eagle nests so we had to invent it as we went along.”
The nest they made is 6-feet in diameter which is about the size of a starter nest for a bald eagle. Nuzzo said the nest that fell was probably close to 8-feet long. The new nest will go up on Thursday. | https://www.wane.com/news/5-year-old-bald-eagle-nest-destroyed/ | 2022-04-14T18:37:42 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/5-year-old-bald-eagle-nest-destroyed/ |
Faith-based adoption and foster care agencies in the state who make decisions based on their religious views are now free to do so without any threat of lawsuits thanks to a new law signed this week, and opponents say that could hurt foster kids across the state.
The new law, which Gov. Doug Ducey signed April 6, 2022, protects foster and adoption agencies from religious discrimination, absolving them of how they provide — or deny — services in line with their religious beliefs, and establishes the right of foster parents to use their own religion to raise children in their care.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1399, was championed by a powerful Christian anti-LGBTQ organization as a preemptive shield for faith-based agencies in Arizona after agencies in other states had been forced to abide by non-discrimination statutes.
Critics argue that faith-based agencies in Arizona don’t currently deal with any repercussions for operating in ways consistent with their religious views — and instead of protecting them, the measure gives them broad license to discriminate against sorely needed foster care applicants.
The Anti-Defamation League, an international civil rights organization, expressed concern that the law could have a chilling effect in the Jewish community.
“We need more foster families in Arizona, and Jewish families who previously were interested in being foster parents may be discouraged now from signing up, for fear of being denied service because of their religion,” said Tammy Gillies, director of the ADL’s San Diego Regional Office.
There are as many as four kids in the state’s foster care system for every licensed family. Gillies noted this shortage won’t be helped by enacting legislation that causes families not to seek licensure because of fears they will be turned away, as has resulted from similar laws in other states. In Tennessee, a Jewish couple was rejected from the necessary foster parent training required to adopt, and a Catholic mother in South Carolina was told she couldn’t be a foster because she isn’t Protestant.
Prospective parents from minority religions aren’t the only ones likely to be discriminated against. The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights advocacy group, warned that LGBTQ applicants also stand to lose, to the detriment of LGBTQ kids seeking affirming homes.
“In Arizona, #SB1399 would impose barriers to LGBTQ families looking to foster or adopt…The governor, who was adopted as a child, has said he doesn’t want to make it harder for kids to find forever families,” the group tweeted, just two days before Ducey signed the bill.
Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative Christian lobbying group with a long history of advancing anti-LGBTQ legislation, was in staunch support of the bill. It described the law on its website as protecting organizations with a “historical or religious view of human sexuality” from being forced to consent to modern views. The group celebrated the bill’s success on Twitter and thanked Ducey for signing it.
“Arizona will protect the interest of children and faith-based foster care & adoption agencies by prohibiting discrimination based on religious views. Thank you, @DougDucey,” CAP tweeted.
A provision in the new law also protects foster parents who use their own religion to raise children placed in their care, but state law already prohibits discriminating against foster parents for their religion. Adding to that protection, children advocacy groups say, only opens the door for them to force their religion on foster kids — nearly half of whom will be reunited with biological families.
“A long held tenet of foster care is support, encouragement and respect for biological families’ cultures and religious practices,” said Virginia Watahomigie, in an email to the Arizona Mirror.
Watahomigie, executive director of the Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth, said she is concerned the provision will introduce further trauma in foster children’s already difficult experience.
Children’s Action Alliance Policy Director Molly Dunn echoed this, saying that foster kids themselves have legal protections for their own religious practices in place that would be violated by the new law.
“We shouldn’t have the foster parent’s rights trumping the rights of the children who are temporarily in their care,” she said.
Dunn said the alliance will work to ensure foster children are being placed with families that are safe and affirming of their religion, gender identity and sexual orientation through administrative advocacy with the Department of Child Safety, and will make sure to document instances where children’s rights aren’t being respected by foster parents. JN
SB1399 goes into effect 90 days after the close of the legislative session.
The following was a Jewish community opposition letter sent to the legislature on March 23, 2022.
Dear President Fann, Speaker Bowers, and Members of the Arizona State Legislature,
On behalf of the listed Arizona Jewish community organizations, we write to express our strong opposition to Arizona Senate Bill 1399, which would allow child-welfare agencies that administer foster care or adoptions to deny services to a family based on a religious belief or exercise of religion. This includes permitting adoption or foster care agencies to deny services based on the prospective adoptive families’ religious beliefs.
If passed, SB 1399 would allow taxpayer-funded child placement agencies to discriminate against the Jewish community, and other faith communities. This is not an exaggeration. After Tennessee passed a similar law, a Jewish family in Tennessee was denied the opportunity to adopt a child simply because they are Jewish. After finding out they could not have biological children, Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ran decided they wanted to foster and adopt a child. To their horror, their local adoption agency refused to serve the couple because they were Jewish. We cannot allow similar treatment to happen in our state.
Arizona is experiencing a shortage of licensed foster homes for children in foster care. Jewish families who previously may have been interested in serving as foster parents will now be discouraged from serving as foster parents for fear of being turned away because of their religion.
Additionally, many Jewish families choose to adopt. If SB 1399 is passed, adoption agencies would be permitted to refuse to assist Jewish families with adopting a child, simply because of their religious beliefs.
A child welfare agency should make decisions based on what is in the best interests of a child, not based on religious beliefs. This bill is overt and undeniable discrimination.
No child should be denied a foster or adoptive home simply because of a prospective parent’s religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other personal characteristics. We urge you to oppose this shameful piece of legislation.
Sincerely,
ADL (Anti-Defamation League)
Arizona American Jewish Committee, Pacific Southwest Region
Arizona Jews for Justice
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix
Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern Arizona
Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Arizona
Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Southern Arizona
National Council of Jewish Women, Arizona
Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center
YATOM: The Jewish Foster & Adoption Network | https://www.jewishaz.com/community/new-law-shields-religious-foster-adoption-agencies-from-discrimination/article_f8fe2c38-bb4a-11ec-b77b-17c52fd5c172.html | 2022-04-14T18:37:42 | 1 | https://www.jewishaz.com/community/new-law-shields-religious-foster-adoption-agencies-from-discrimination/article_f8fe2c38-bb4a-11ec-b77b-17c52fd5c172.html |
(NEXSTAR) – Thursday is the new Friday at 38 companies in the U.S. and Canada that are testing out a shorter workweek in hopes of boosting productivity while keeping employees happy.
The companies are participating in a six-month trial working with the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global and researchers at Boston College.
“We establish their baseline before the trial,” explained Joe O’Connor, 4 Day Week Global’s CEO. “So we figure out what their company performance looks like under a range of different metrics like revenue, productivity, energy use, staff turnover, levels of absenteeism and sick leave, and then also their employees’ wellbeing.”
Those baseline levels under the five-day workweek will be compared with levels after testing out the reduced workweek.
Exactly what the schedule looks like at each company may vary a bit, O’Connor said. “Our prerequisite is that it must be genuine work time reduction. So it cannot be four 10-hour days. It can’t be the same hours compressed into four days,” he said.
Most employees will opt for a four-day workweek – and therefore a three-day weekend – when given the chance, O’Connor said. But he noted a minority of employees like to spread out their 32 hours of work across five days, giving them a chance to spend more time with their kids in the morning and after school.
No matter how they cut down their workweek, employers are not cutting back on pay; everyone gets the same salary and same benefits they had before.
The 38 participating organizations employ about 2,200 to 2,300 people, O’Connor said.
Not all 38 companies have decided to go public just yet, explained O’Connor. There are 20 companies and nonprofit organizations who have decided to disclose their participation in the pilot program. They are:
- Advanced RV
- Blue Sky Philanthropies
- CULTIQUE
- Floodlight Invest
- Fresh Squeezed Ideas
- GillespieHall Strategic Communications and PR
- GLIDE Design
- Healthwise
- IPR Denver
- Kickstarter
- Mental Health Advocacy Services
- Montana Nonprofit Association
- M’tucci’s Restaurants
- Own Trail
- Public Policy Lab
- Run for Something
- Seed&Spark
- simPRO
- USENIX Association
- WYNDR
While a four-day week is still rare in the United States, it’s gained popularity in other parts of the world. A study in Iceland involved moving about 1% of the country’s workforce to a 35- or 36-hour week, reports the Washington Post. They found employees loved the shorter week, and productivity either remained the same or improved.
“There is actually a fairly large amount – and growing – of current literature on the four-day workweek,” Timothy P. Munyon, associate professor of management at the University of Tennessee, told Nexstar’s WATE. “The general consensus is that it improves productivity, reduces burnout, and increases respite.”
O’Connor – who works a four-day week, by the way – is confident the participants will see similarly positive results from their trials. | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/looking-for-a-new-job-these-companies-are-piloting-a-4-day-workweek/ | 2022-04-14T18:37:48 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/looking-for-a-new-job-these-companies-are-piloting-a-4-day-workweek/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Miller, who served as a top aide to President Donald Trump, will appear Thursday before the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Miller was a senior adviser for policy during the Trump administration and a central figure in many of the Republican’s policy decisions. He had resisted previous efforts by the committee, filing a lawsuit last month seeking to quash a committee subpoena for his phone records.
The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private testimony. It’s unclear whether Miller will appear in person or virtually. A spokesperson for the committee said the panel had no comment, and Miller did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Miller is the latest in a series of sit-downs the committee has scored with those in Trump’s inner circle — signaling that lawmakers are closing in on the former president by going around him to those who were present on the day of the attack or were his confidants in the weeks leading up to it.
His scheduled testimony before the committee comes weeks after Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, also agreed to sit down with congressional investigators, months after the committee had first reached out.
Members of the panel said Kushner’s testimony in late March, which went on for more than six hours, was helpful. Ivanka Trump, who was with her father in the White House on Jan. 6, was questioned for eight hours last week as congressional investigators tried to piece together her father’s failed effort to delay the certification of the 2020 election results.
The nine-member panel subpoenaed the former Trump adviser in November along with Steve Bannon and former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the panel, said in a statement at the time that Miller had “participated in efforts to spread false information about alleged voter fraud” and to encourage state legislatures to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election by appointing alternate electors.
Thompson has also said that Miller helped prepare Trump’s remarks for a rally on the Ellipse that preceded the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and was with Trump when he spoke.
The House voted last week to hold former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt for their monthlong refusal to comply with subpoenas. The move was the third time the panel has referred people in the former president’s orbit to the Justice Department for potential prosecution for contempt. The first two referrals, sent late last year, were for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Bannon.
The contempt referral against Bannon resulted in an indictment, with a trial set to start in July. The Justice Department has been slower to decide whether to prosecute Meadows, much to the committee’s frustration.
By agreeing to testify, Miller is looking to avoid the fate of the other former advisers and members of the Trump administration. For the committee, comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, the central facts of the Jan. 6 insurrection are known, but what members are hoping to do with the more than 850 interviews and over 100,000 documents is fill in the remaining gaps about the attack on the Capitol. Lawmakers say they are committed to presenting a full accounting to make sure it never happens again.
The panel is looking into every aspect of the riot, including what Trump was doing while it unfolded and any connections between the White House and the Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol building.
Members plan to release information in the coming months as the committee begins to hold public hearings and eventually release a series of reports on the insurrection. While there have been discussions about the possibility of pursuing a criminal referral against Trump at the end of all of this, lawmakers have not made a final decision. | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/trump-aide-stephen-miller-to-speak-to-1-6-panel/ | 2022-04-14T18:37:54 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/trump-aide-stephen-miller-to-speak-to-1-6-panel/ |
(The Hill) – Russia is warning of new nuclear deployments in the Baltics if Finland and Sweden join NATO, as the two countries inch closer to becoming part of the military alliance.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and former president of Russia, wrote in a Telegram post on Thursday that “there can be no talk of non-nuclear status for the Baltic” if Finland and Sweden join NATO.
He said that should Finland and Sweden join NATO, Moscow would need to “seriously strengthen the grouping of land forces and air defense, deploy significant naval forces in the waters of the Gulf of Finland.”
“In this case, it will no longer be possible to talk about any nuclear-free status of the Baltic — the balance must be restored,” he added, according to CNBC.
Medvedev said that previously “Russia has not taken such measures and was not going to,” according to Reuters.
“If our hand is forced well … take note it wasn’t us who proposed this,” he added.
The cautionary statement from one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies comes after Finland and Sweden made progress in their paths to joining NATO. Lawmakers in Finland were issued a security report by the country’s government, and the ruling party in Sweden started a review of options for security policy, according to The Associated Press.
Finland borders Russia. Sweden, however, does not share a border with Russia. Norway, which borders Sweden and shares a small border with Russia in its far northeast, joined the military alliance in 1949.
Lithuania said that the warning from Russia is not new, stating that Moscow has positioned nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, the Russian province between Poland and Lithuania, since before the conflict with Ukraine began, according to Reuters.
Medvedev on Thursday said that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, Russia’s borders with alliance members will have to be bolstered.
“If Sweden and Finland join NATO, the length of the alliance’s land borders with the Russian Federation will more than double. Naturally, these borders will have to be strengthened,” he said, according to CNBC.
He noted that the addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO would give Russia “more officially registered opponents,” according to CNBC.
Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, when Putin ordered a “special military operation” in the country. The conflict entered its seventh week on Thursday. | https://www.wane.com/news/russia-warns-of-new-nuclear-deployments-in-baltics-if-finland-sweden-join-nato/ | 2022-04-14T18:38:00 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/russia-warns-of-new-nuclear-deployments-in-baltics-if-finland-sweden-join-nato/ |
(NewsNation) — Inflation, supply chain issues and product recalls have caused a baby formula shortage affecting families across the U.S.
Recently, federal regulators warned consumers to stop using powdered infant formula from Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Michigan, facility after it was linked to a cluster of illnesses and two deaths. Abbott recalled the formula and was later found to have failed to maintain sanitary conditions and procedures at its manufacturing plant.
While some stores are rationing stock, manufacturers are ramping up production to make up the difference — but it could take weeks for them to catch up.
If parents can’t find the brand of baby formula they typically use, Dr. Payal D. Adhikari, a Chicago-based pediatrician, said it is OK to switch between brands if the baby is healthy.
“I really do recommend parents do that from the beginning because of this issue. If you run out of formula, if you’re traveling, you can’t get that same formula, you want your babies to be flexible and not be particularly stuck to a specific brand of formula,” Adhikari said. “The younger they are, the easier it is to just introduce multiple types of formula to make them flexible.”
Adhikari recommends that parents who are worried they won’t get their original formula start mixing the formula they already have with another brand so finicky babies can get the same flavor.
“If your baby has a digestive issue, that’s something you should really discuss with your pediatrician to see what other brands could be comparable,” Adhikari said.
What parents should never do, Adhikari said, is make their own formula from scratch.
“This is a very medical school no-no,” Adhikari said. “Formulas are very, very specific in what nutrients they have. So I absolutely do not recommend making your own formula at home.”
When it gets to the point where shelves are empty, Adhikari said, there are plenty of online brands people can buy. | https://www.wane.com/news/what-do-parents-need-to-know-about-formula-shortage/ | 2022-04-14T18:38:06 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/what-do-parents-need-to-know-about-formula-shortage/ |
(The Hill) — The Republican National Committee (RNC) voted Thursday to withdraw from the commission responsible for organizing presidential debates, taking a line from former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly leveled accusations of anti-Republican bias against the group.
The unanimous vote by the RNC effectively bars its presidential nominees from participating in events organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has run such debates since 1988.
In a statement released shortly after the vote, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that the GOP would “find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people.”
“Debates are an important part of the democratic process, and the RNC is committed to free and fair debates,” she said. “The Commission on Presidential Debates is biased and has refused to enact simple and commonsense reforms to help ensure fair debates including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage.”
Thursday’s vote makes good on a threat that the RNC has been holding over the CPD for months. In another escalatory step, the RNC warned the commission last month against fundraising off the idea that the next GOP nominee will participate in the 2024 debates.
The CPD was founded in 1987 with the sponsorship of both major political parties. And while both Democrats and Republicans have complained occasionally over the years about how the commission handles debates, antipathy toward the group has grown among Republicans in recent years amid Trump’s criticism of the commission.
Should Trump mount another bid for the White House in 2024 and secure the GOP nomination, the RNC rule change virtually guarantees that he won’t participate in the traditional debate calendar.
Of course, if Republicans tap someone else for the nomination, the party could always change its rules again, and the eventual nominee will likely have the ultimate say on whether to participate. | https://www.wane.com/news/your-local-election-hq/gop-votes-to-withdraw-from-presidential-debate-panel/ | 2022-04-14T18:38:12 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/your-local-election-hq/gop-votes-to-withdraw-from-presidential-debate-panel/ |
RISON, Ark. (KARK) – A 20-year-old Arkansas woman is dead after a tree fell on her home Wednesday as severe storms tore through Cleveland County, officials said.
According to the Cleveland County Department of Emergency Management, the woman was pinned to a couch under the tree, which had fallen onto a mobile home in Rison, which is about 55 miles south of Little Rock.
Crews attempted to rescue the woman around 4:45 p.m., but she died from her injuries at the scene. The woman’s name had not been released pending notification of relatives.
Two other people were inside the home but were not hurt. So far, there have been no other reports of injury from Wednesday’s storms.
The woman’s death occurred during what was part of a multi-day severe weather outbreak that caused tornadoes, powerful winds and huge hail in parts of the central United States.
Damage was reported in the Central and Northwest portions of Arkansas, with several tornado warnings issued on Wednesday.
A day earlier, 23 people were injured in the central Texas town of Salado. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth said Wednesday that the twister was rated an EF3 with peak wind speeds of 165 mph (265 kph).
Tornadoes were also reported Tuesday in parts of Iowa and Minnesota. And a blizzard struck North Dakota this week, closing the state Capitol, schools, government offices and interstates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.wane.com/weather/20-year-old-woman-killed-when-tree-falls-on-home-during-arkansas-storms/ | 2022-04-14T18:38:18 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/weather/20-year-old-woman-killed-when-tree-falls-on-home-during-arkansas-storms/ |
Big Surf Waterpark in Tempe has a new owner, but any hopes of the iconic local attraction ever reopening to the public look like they’re drying up.
According to Maricopa County records, the 35.5-acre site that’s hosted Big Surf for the past five decades has been sold to Souther California-based real estate developer Overton Moore Properties by its previous owner, Texas-based company Inland Oceans, for more than $49 million.
The property, which is located on McClintock Drive in Tempe north of the Loop 202 freeway, also includes the neighboring Oceanside Ice Arena.
Big Surf Waterpark, which first opened in 1969 and featured the first wave pool in the U.S., was a celebrated summertime destination for Valley residents for decades. It was last open to the public in 2019 and had been closed the past two summers because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Phoenix New Times first reported in February, Inland Oceans had put the property up for sale and auctioned off all of the water park’s assets.
According to a statement from Velocity Retail Group, the local real estate agency that helped broker the deal, Inland Oceans reportedly received more than 30 offers ranging from $30 to $50 million for the property.
Overton Moore Properties hasn’t responded to a request for comment by New Times on their future plans for the property. The company is described as having “an extensive background in developing quality industrial projects throughout the southwest.” OMP’s website touts the company’s track record with such projects as industrial parks, storage facilities, and warehouses.
In other words, you probably shouldn’t expect Big Surf’s property to ever function as a water park ever again. | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/big-surf-waterpark-in-tempe-has-been-sold-to-california-based-developers-13424756 | 2022-04-14T18:38:47 | 0 | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/big-surf-waterpark-in-tempe-has-been-sold-to-california-based-developers-13424756 |
Joseph Verdone, a 63-year-old Scottsdale father, thought he was going to lose a kidney in April 2015.
That's when he was diagnosed with cancer. But when his doctors opened him up seven months later, they were amazed, he recalled. Instead of a malignant tumor, the cancer that surgeons removed was gray and dead.
He credits his invention, a way to dissolve in water CBDA, THCA, and an entire host of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other beneficial compounds found in marijuana and hemp. Many are largely misunderstood and poorly studied.
Right now, Verdone claims no one else can do this in the way that he creates his product, C2W (Cannabis to Water), and the longtime fixture in the local and national auto industry is in no hurry to share how. All he'll say is he's built a machine to process hemp and cannabis oil into the water solution.
His cancer diagnosis forced the issue.
"I am highly allergic to everything, including almost every pain medication. So when I got cancer, I had no choice but to figure out how I was going to fix myself. The doctor tells me to go home and drink what I made because it would go right to the kidney and possibly get rid of my pain. I continued drinking the 'water' all the way up until November, when I had kidney surgery," he recalled.
"I went in thinking I was going to lose a kidney and I still have one and a half of my kidneys. C2W killed the cancer," Verdone said.
No science backs up his conviction. The research is spotty at best, and his conclusions are purely anecdotal, theoretical, and untested. If Verdone's claims sound too good to be true, consider how much we just don't know about the medicinal benefits of cannabis and hemp.
Dr. Vershalee Shukla, who works for HonorHealth and is a radiation oncologist, remains skeptical.
"(Cannabis) is really good at treating symptoms. It helps with nausea. Some people use it for skin reactions and inflammation," she said. "As a treatment of a cancer, I wouldn't trust it. There's very little data. I wouldn't recommend anyone going that route, but I've recommended it to my patients for nausea, skin reactions, and burns."
Shukla added, "I treat a lot of cancer and I know what it takes. I know how to monitor responses. Even with some of the best treatment, cancer gets the best of some people. It takes a lot of skill and clinical trials before I recommend something for a patient."
CBDA wasn't even discovered until Raphael Mechoulam, a professor of medical chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, was able to isolate it during research in the mid-1960s. He began looking at how CBDA could help those suffering from epilepsy, and much of that research was done abroad.
"We badly need well-established clinical trials with almost all cannabinoids," Mechoulam said.
Mechoulam noted during a recent episode of the Cannabis Conversation podcast that "THCA is not psychoactive, contrary to THC. CBD is a very interesting compound. It acts on a long list of things that are of major importance in terms of therapeutics: anxiety, pain, depression, schizophrenia, and inflammation. Chances are, when using a new compound (such as in its acid form, CBDA), we can use lower doses. CBD has been approved for use in epilepsy."
Lacking more hard science, Verdone points to stories from friends and relatives to conclude, "The water goes to where it's needed."
Andrea Light's son Devin, now almost 11, was suffering from cortical dysplasia, a devastating form of epilepsy. It's caused when the cerebral cortex does not form properly, and it results in frequent severe seizures.
Light needed a new way to help ease those seizures. Devin's case is extreme and, for his family, devastating. The hardest-hit part of his brain was the area that governs vision.
"I remember standing in the hall with his neurologist listening to her explain all of this to me. Looking at the MRI on her computer and feeling like my world was crashing in. I couldn't believe it — my sweet little baby was having seizures, I was looking at this image and could actually see the difference from his left and right brain. I was terrified for him," Light said.
The scariest parts were yet to come.
The doctors at Phoenix Children's Hospital immediately put Devin on phenobarbital, an extremely addictive medication that is supposed to work well for babies who have seizures. Light noticed her boy had adverse reactions and developed addictive behavior.
One of Devin's doctors, Matthew Troester, vividly recalls the boy's situation when he saw him.
"At that time, I was one of the few doctors in town that was willing to allow families to have their experience with some of the things that aren't traditional Western medications," Troester said, recalling he was happy to do anything to help.
"He was as close to dying from epilepsy as anyone I have ever seen. There were days where I was like, 'Oh my God, I just hope he makes it through the day.' He had so many seizures and when he had them, he wouldn't breathe properly, he would turn blue, and it was awful," Troester said.
Troester was open to the family experimenting with C2W, especially after listening to Dr. Sanjay Gupta in his 2015 documentary, Weed, explain how cannabis was helping children with epilepsy.
Devin underwent major surgery in June 2020, and Troester has not seen him since November 2021.
"If you put a gun to my head and asked what made (Devin) seizure-free, I would have said it was the surgery. Was that contributed to because of the other products he was taking? I don't know. I can tell you that everything we were throwing at him from a traditional medical standpoint, almost of the medicines that are out there, they weren't touching anything he was having. The only thing the family thought was helping was the THC and CBD products," Troester said.
Prior to meeting Verdone, Light had tried Charlotte's Web, a CBD product inspired by Charlotte Figi, a Colorado girl who had a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome.
It didn't help.
When Light did find a strain of cannabis or a CBD product that helped with Devin's symptoms, the benefit was often short-lived. The dispensaries would either run out of it or the strain would become difficult to find.
It was often back to the drawing board. This is how Verdone heard about Devin on a Facebook group. He met the Lights at an International House of Pancakes just north of Phoenix in summer 2016.
His mother "said that he wasn't doing too well, and she thought he was going to die," Verdone said.
He recalled thinking, "Well, God had some new mission for me." That mission became helping Devin realize his dream of returning to school. A close relationship developed, Light said.
"I was on the phone with [Verdone] for like two or three hours that first night we talked. He had so much information about what you can do with cannabis, like how he could give Devin THCA, which would not get him high," she recalled.
"It was like nothing I had seen before and I think that is what intrigued me the most at first, but I was skeptical," she said.
"C2W was different than anything we had ever used before because they were making the cannabis and CBDA into a water-soluble solution that could be further diluted. Devin was now absorbing more of the (THCA) and CBDA than he was able to with the oil-based tinctures," Light said. "This was a game changer for Devin."
The infused water enables Devin to need less THCA and CBDA than people may imagine. Verdone does not disclose Devin's exact dosage because it's unique to every patient. But Devin is currently taking a fraction of one dose for each full day.
He doesn't take any other products using THC or CBD because the concentration in the water is about 1,000 times stronger than typical cannabis or hemp-derived products. That's consistent with recent statements by Mechoulam that THCA and CBDA are much stronger than their more stable counterparts, THC and CBD.
Said Verdone, "Devin also gets the benefits of all the terpenes in the plant, which are just as important as all of the cannabinoids." This is often referred to as the "entourage effect."
There is simply no way to validate Verdone's claims. The research isn't there.
Mechoulam talks about how the entourage effect could provide additional benefits because "some of the terpenes are not active by themselves."
Light looks no further than the quality of her son's life for proof.
"To be completely honest, I am not sure my son would be alive today without the C2W," Light said.
"It is giving him a chance to be a kid and have a life. We have made more progress toward seizure freedom than with anything we have tried before. Devin completed kindergarten, first, and second grade with only reading and writing deficits. Mathematically, he is at or beyond his peers. I believe with my whole heart my son is alive today because of this amazing medicine," she said.
Last June 19, Verdone joined the Light family and members of their church at the family home in Cottonwood to celebrate a year of Devin being free of seizures. Devin remains seizure free and continues to thrive. He leads a relatively normal life while feeling none of the usual disorientation, drowsiness, or high a person might feel if they were using THC to treat pain.
Verdone never says that he can cure anyone of anything or make promises he can't keep. But he thinks he's found something special. The magic is the water. You can put water in anything, which makes the possibilities endless.
"What about ice cream?" Verdone asked with a smile. "I could put CBDA into ice cream and everyone would enjoy getting a consistent dose of medicine while eating their favorite flavor." | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/marijuana/scottsdale-man-aims-to-ease-pain-with-cannabis-to-water-product-13423737 | 2022-04-14T18:38:59 | 0 | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/marijuana/scottsdale-man-aims-to-ease-pain-with-cannabis-to-water-product-13423737 |
With 4/20 upon us, it's a new year for cannabis. While you make merry this weed holiday, it's a good time to reflect on the last momentous 12 months for the Arizona pot scene and to peer through the haze to anticipate more changes in the year to come.
The 4/20 celebration lands at a time when market disruption is imminent and a year where several cannabis-related bills in Congress would seem to make federal legalization closer to reality than ever before.
The party begins days after the Arizona Department of Health Services doled out the last remaining dispensary licenses. Voters created these social equity licenses to right some of the wrongs of excessive enforcement during the war on drugs. The state granted 26 of them on Friday after a widely criticized process.
Around two-thirds of the licenses went to applicants who had the backing of some of the state's biggest cannabis companies, as predicted. Our initial analysis found that 18 winning applicants worked with big cannabis companies like Mohave Cannabis Co., Copperstate Farms, or major investors. Five were backed jointly by two shell companies registered in Wyoming, whose true owners are unknown.
This year's 4/20 also arrives when access to cannabis is as important to consumers as the quality of their product, and where cannabis events have shifted from fringe occurrences to mainstream yearly celebrations.
With upcoming events like Buds-A-Palooza and Cannival this month, the Phoenix Cannabis Awards Music Festival in May, and the much-celebrated Errl Camp in September, marijuana enthusiasts have much to look forward to this year.
It's all part of the mainstreaming of pot in Arizona. So too is expunging the criminal records of low-level offenders. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office reported that it so far has expunged around 10,000 minor pot convictions. But many thousands more await.
While expungements are on the rise, prosecutions are down. In 2019, Maricopa County prosecutors filed 2,700 marijuana possession charges. Last year, they filed such charges in 57 cases, according to MCAO's data dashboard.
And even while possession is now legal, some law enforcement agencies are getting creative about finding legal loopholes. Courts in Mohave and Pinal counties heard cases about commercial drivers being pulled over on federal highways and busted for possession. Because pot remains illegal federally, local prosecutors tried to pin the drivers with violations of U.S. transportation laws.
Tom Dean, the self-styled "Attorney for Cannabis" who represented the defendants, says these cases show how Arizona pot users have "a false sense of confidence that what they're doing is either legal" or that "law enforcement isn't going to bother anybody." And, he quickly adds, "That's a problem."
On the tech side, the game is shifting. There's new cutting-edge technology that upends the extraction process, along with new synthetically processed cannabis blowing the minds of politicians and cannabis cultivators that debate them. That doesn't even include pot-lovers who consume the product.
Nano-emulsification technology has taken over the edibles market by force, reducing the size of the THC molecules, getting consumers higher faster, and working to create the best-tasting edibles the cannabis community has ever sampled.
Companies like Sweet Dreams Vinyards in Phoenix are using nanotechnology to make nonalcoholic pot-laced wine and margaritas. They, along with a number of other cannabis beverage makers, have jumped on the growing trend of cannabis-infused beverages fueled by consumer demand for wellness drinks and alternative ways to consume cannabis.
The global cannabis beverage market size was valued at $901.8 million in 2018 and is expected to expand to a whopping $2.48 billion in 2025.
As these new brands enter the Arizona market in droves, many are finding ways to differentiate themselves.
Arizona-based companies like Aeriz use aeroponics, which suspend plants in the air and spray their roots with precise amounts of nutrients and water to produce healthier growth and reduce soil and nutrient waste.
With demand for vegan-friendly products at an all-time high, more brands are taking notice. Companies like Good Things Coming, Haze & Main, and RR Brothers have focused attention on creating quality vegan products that not only taste good but are also eco-friendly.
Companies like Grön, which makes THC-infused gummies and chocolates, are marketing to Arizona consumers who prefer top-shelf cannabis. Using hand-harvested, fair trade cacao beans, the ingredients are organic, local, and sustainably sourced whenever possible.
Other brands are focusing on consistency, like Oklahoma's Country Cannabis. It is gearing up to enter the Arizona cannabis market with a Starbucks mentality. Consumers know they'll get essentially the same product every time in every state, as long as it's legal there.
With all these incoming brands, Arizona managed to generate $1.9 billion in overall cannabis sales last year, higher than the $1.2 billion estimate and second only to California in the size of the market.
Arizona experienced the most demand for cannabis than any other state in the first year of recreational adult-use legislation, and the fastest recreational adult-use rollout of any state where recreational weed is legal.
Despite these successes, many obstacles still stand in the way of the future of the Arizona cannabis industry.
Take, for example, the notion of helping our stressed-out kids with a bit of nature's love.
"We're still hesitant to advise or suggest that CBD should be used in children," says Dr. Andrew Carroll, a family practice physician who runs a medical behavioral clinic in Chandler. Over the last few years, he has seen a rise in COVID-related mental health concerns in children.
"When they're forced to stay at home due to illness or forced to stay at home due to school shutdowns, it obviously disrupts that social part of growing up," says Carroll.
Overall, his top recommendation for children showing these types of behavior is cognitive behavioral therapy. "We know that cognitive behavioral therapy has a big role to play in children, especially in conditions like ADD, or ADHD," says Carroll. "Cognitive behavioral therapy is first and foremost the No. 1 treatment study across study."
He says natural substances like CBD often work to help calm people mentally, but consulting with a physician about its benefits, side effects, and dosage is the best practice before trying these things on your own.
"When you knee-jerk and start using any type of substance whether it be homeopathic, naturopathic, CBD, or even prescribed medications, you have to be careful," he says.
Careful, indeed. Since adult recreational use became legal in Arizona, kids are winding up in emergency rooms in unsettling numbers. On a national level, edibles account for nearly half of all child poisoning cases related to pot, according to a study published in Pediatrics.
Currently, the only FDA-approved prescription medicine containing CBD is Epidiolex, an oral solution that has been shown to significantly reduce the frequency of seizures in patients.
Despite the fact that the weed stash is too easy for kids to find, pets have been wagging their tails in gratitude for helping their joint pain, inflammation, and firework anxiety, as researchers predict pet CBD sales to reach $910 million in 2026.
Lack of knowledge and data about marijuana and hemp are critical concerns in Arizona and across the nation, but another issue facing the cannabis industry is the lack of regulation on quality and product testing.
"This is the only industry I've ever seen where the consumer doesn't dictate the business," says Jim Morrison, co-founder of the Errl Cup in Arizona.
As a consumer himself, Morrison created a secret shopper program that visits local dispensaries to submit their cannabis to rigorous laboratory testing for quality, potency, and dangerous substances like pesticides and mold.
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) awarded Arizona a grade of C-minus this year on its medical cannabis report card, citing an overemphasis on recreational over medical cannabis, rising cost to consumers, and low accessibility, especially for residents in rural areas.
ASA recommends Arizona policymakers seek third-party patient-focused certification programs to meet regulatory standards for cannabis, and ensure the recreational cannabis program doesn't stifle the needs of medical marijuana patients.
The push for access to quality cannabis is in part due to the lack of testing regulation in Arizona and federal law. But that may change after the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. A Senate vote still remains a major hurdle before it would legalize marijuana in the U.S. and decriminalize marijuana as a Schedule I substance.
"There's probably about 15,000 people who are employed by the industry in Arizona, and they have a hard time renting, buying a house, and doing all sorts of things because of the industry's inability to use proper banks," Raul Molina, co-founder and chief operating officer at Mint Cannabis, told Phoenix New Times.
In a similar fashion, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York proposed a draft legislation last summer to tax, regulate, and remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances.
Last November, Republican U.S. Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced her own bill to federally decriminalize marijuana and let states choose whether to legalize marijuana.
"Between the previously passed MORE Act, the recent Senate proposal by Leader Schumer, and this new bill, it is truly a race to the top for the best ideas and smartest approaches to responsible reform," former NORML Political Director Justin Strekal said in a November blog post.
It's hard to argue with Strekal. Working through and presenting multiple iterations of the process of legalization will only result in a more precise and thorough outcome.
A 2019 study by The British Medical Journal showed that to develop a better approach to decision-making, researchers taking an iterative approach by involving stakeholders, collecting data, and drawing on past information is important to solve any problem.
Musicians, fashion designers, and software developers alike use this method to move from conception to production. Now cannabis policymakers are using it to find the best possible outcome for cannabis' future.
"The federal classification of marijuana has gotten in the way of people doing legitimate and really necessary research on marijuana," says Sarah J. Clark, a research scientist in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
Clark believes the lack of data is stifling industry innovation, saying, "We're behind because people have been prohibited from studying it."
Right on cue, last month Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz, and California Senator Dianne Feinstein worked together to pass new legislation to expand scientific and medical research on marijuana and its compounds, including CBD.
"The medical community agrees that we need more research to learn about marijuana's potential health benefits, but our federal laws today are standing in the way of us finding those answers," Schatz said in a press release.
Some bills have fallen flat, like Arizona Speaker of the House Russell "Rusty" Bowers' attempt to create a new department of marijuana regulation. It stalled without a hearing, raising questions about why it was even introduced.
Another bill, sponsored by Republican State Representative Joanne Osborne, is attempting to curtail marijuana advertising near schools, among other provisions. This is the second time the bill has been proposed in the legislature after receiving only 18 of the necessary 23 votes in the 30-member Senate last year.
The newest version of the bill would require three-quarters of the House and Senate's approval to become law, which is an unlikely outcome.
Last Friday, 26 social equity license holder names were called to fulfill an opportunity of a lifetime. These determined few represent the future of an industry with growing pains, eager for improvement and opportunity.
"For Arizona, I would like us to have one thousand manufacturers and one thousand cultivators employing one hundred thousand people, producing all kinds of products across the state," says Downing, founder of the Marijuana Industry Trade Association. He believes that growth is accomplished when everyone who cares about the future of cannabis tries to make a difference in their own circles and communities.
"Is it functioning? Absolutely," Downing says, "but there's so much more to be done." | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/marijuana/where-arizonas-booming-pot-scene-is-and-where-its-headed-on-4-20-13416039 | 2022-04-14T18:39:05 | 1 | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/marijuana/where-arizonas-booming-pot-scene-is-and-where-its-headed-on-4-20-13416039 |
The charm of the Lost Leaf has always been its sense of proximity. In a town of so many varied bar formats, its downhome, hipster-esque take on Cheers has made Lost Leaf a local treasure since 2006.
But all that great music and tasty beer hasn't protected the venue from hardships in recent years. Like many other clubs, Lost Leaf closed down amid COVID between January and July 2021. And while it's maintained a presence ever since, it's clear that the little venue that could was still struggling. Which is why it was shocking, but not entirely surprising, when owners Eric and Lauren Dahl announced recently that the venue was set to close (via The Arizona Republic).
But, perhaps in a singular example of the venue's staying power, fate was averted as the club was sold to another party in late March. While that means there's still life left in this quaint little dive, the future of Lost Leaf nonetheless remains in flux.
A lot of that has to do with the venue's new owner, local real estate developer David Cameron, who just recently bought and overhauled Char's Live. As Cameron told Phoenix New Times, his experience is in real estate acquisition and disposition, and he's still fairly new to food and beverage enterprises.
"I'm a new kid on the block," he says. "I'm a rookie. I maybe don't know what I'm doing. But I'm smart enough to figure it out."
In fact, he was only a recent convert to Lost Leaf itself.
"When I walked into Lost Leaf for the first time six months ago, I was enamored by how cool this little house felt and the vibe behind it," he says. "It was amazing, but what could this be one day?"
His young-blood status hasn't stopped Cameron from seeing the value of a Lost Leaf (and by extension Char's) for both his bottom line and the shape of Phoenix at-large.
"They're either iconic businesses that are either threatened to close or they're in historical types of situations or their locations are just sort of epic," he says of his acquisitions.
He's not entirely unprepared, though, as Cameron also owns an unnamed bar in Tempe (as well as a startup and local advertising group). But he's taken to the food and beverage sector in what he called a natural development for his larger real estate portfolio. He's recognized that inexperience, and has spent time developing his skills as owner/operator.
"I went through the motions of learning everything that I needed to learn about operating a food and beverage and hospitality property," he says. "And I learned the business aspects of it and I hired consultants to come in and train me and teach me and learn how to build SOPs and a hospitality platform."
So, what does all of this mean for the bigger picture at Lost Leaf? As Cameron tells it, he wanted to hit the ground running with a series of what he deemed improvements.
"We've already done a ton of tweaks in just 10 days or so," he says. "We're getting a new P.O.S. system and a bunch of things that are going to upgrade that overall experience dramatically for the end user and for the operator itself. And that is something that's important."
He adds, "Visually, when you walk to the threshold of the door, it's this kind of dusty old house that you can play music from and drink beer and wine. When you walk in, in the future, you may see the elevated lighting package on the inside, and you might see that we have things fitted on the tables, candles or a menu potentially with QR codes."
For Cameron, these shifts aren't about doing away with what Lost Leaf did right, but trying to take it all one step further.
"The things that are for sale are going to be displayed in a higher quality fashion rather than scribbled on a chalkboard, which was okay for that for that period of time," he says. "It will just feel like an elevated experience when you walk in, and it'll still feel like Lost Leaf because that's never going to change. That energy has been, like, injected into that property. But you will walk in and have a slightly elevated experience."
But elevated doesn't mean that Cameron's changed everything. Much of the staff at Lost Leaf, including long-time booker Tato Caraveo, have remained on payroll. (Cameron says Caraveo will help him with expanding the artists Lost Leaf sells and features.) He also wants to take a more hands-on approach with Lost Leaf.
"I want to run it differently," he says. "[The Dahls] are great; they're just sort of absentee owners. There's nothing wrong with the operation. It was 100 percent clear to me that I had to save that business from closing and inject the resources and capital to grow it into something that one day wasn't the same but still the same overall. Maybe graduate it along a path of longevity."
Cameron says he's the kind of owner who "puts my kids out at night at 8 p.m. and then [goes] back out till 2 in the morning, driving around making sure that everything's good." Lost Leaf, then, is another opportunity for a long-term objective for Cameron: reinvigorating the arts and culture scene in metro Phoenix.
"I think that what happened to the food and beverage industry and the music industry since COVID has decimated a lot of morale and the community in general," he says. "I feel like people are totally frightened and disenfranchised. I believe they've been forgotten and they deserve a voice. I watched these people, who are musicians and bartenders, lose all of their jobs. These are guys that are my friends."
He adds, "So my plan is to build, organically, several different hospitality concepts throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area, and connect them all together with similarly like-minded people who are wanting something more long-term, people that who are what I call lifers.
Those people that want to show up and work their butts off and give 150% and know that they're going to be taken care. Folks that know they can take care of expenses like rent and putting food on the table. So they have an opportunity to weather any future storm that's coming, because we're all worried about what tomorrow may bring."
And much of Cameron's subsequent plans for Lost Leaf extend around that very notion of emphasizing sustainability and giving his staff and collaborators more opportunities. That includes extending the shared musical talent between Lost Leaf and Char's.
"It's almost like the talent that you put out will also draw some future amount of talent," he says. "So if we're putting out a good curated set of physical entertainment through multiple venues, then we know that we're going to start drawing attraction and attention from not just other musicians but also from the community."
Cameron noted that he wants "relationships with all musical talents in the city." To help with that goal, he's playing around with a First Monday program, a kind of local talent competition, either at Char's or Lost Leaf, where the winner gets cash prizes and collects the door. Cameron adds, "So if I have three or four or five locations, then groups can book multiple days in a month and secure their ability to feed their families. That's, again, teaching a person how to fish, right?"
The art presence at Lost Leaf is also another significant element. Cameron sees both music and art together as vital parts of his portfolio's ability to shape the city.
"We have to expand mediums of cultural arts, and we have to teach children about music and writing and expressionism and artistic things," he says. "If we don't do that, culture will die and creativity will die. And I will not stand for that."
He adds, "But more importantly, we think it expands not just food and beverage, and not just entertainment, but just bohemian life and culturalism here in Phoenix, which is what we need. We need to be able to create culture for all of the millions of people that have settled and moved here."
The arts portion includes several, as-yet unrevealed programs that Cameron has cooked up.
And his others plans, while still mostly unrevealed, go even further still.
"We have really grandiose ideas for entertainment beyond live music," he says. "One day I'll share some of those details, but the production and entertainment aspects of some of the things that you might see come out of our camp will be things that will be wildly talked about in the future."
That mostly culture-centric approach isn't just about being good for business. Cameron seems to genuinely believe in the power of Phoenix's artistic contributions.
"I had this very weird premonition that one of the most amazing music talents ever would come out of Phoenix one day," he says. "Whether that's tomorrow or in 10 years or 20 years from now. Like, literally, the next Michael Jackson or the next Elvis Presley. And I've seen so many cool underground local talents that suggest that I'm exactly right."
They're not entirely pipe dreams, either, and Cameron thinks a prospect like that is another sign for the health of Phoenix at-large.
"This is a sign that the city is growing up culturally, and that is really great for me," he says. "As a person that's not leaving here, somebody who's built roots, we intend to live here forever. I want to make sure that this place grows...its population at the same pace as it grows culturally."
Still, it's not enough that Cameron guides his clubs to success. He's already looking forward to partnering with other venues and operators. He mentioned The Nash specifically as a place "with the success that I want," and thinks some mutual admiration can go a long way to help every venue flourish.
"So I can't disclose my big plans, but I have a very large plan," he says. "One that sort of galvanizes and, in a sense, unionizes musicians and bartenders to work in these locations that are all sort of tied together. I think that if we build it as a core unit, as opposed to disenfranchised operators that do one thing versus the other, then it's got a lot of value in the future."
Cameron doesn't "want to be the tip of the spear," but does hope he can help lead the charge.
"Maybe one day I would be a regional operator of small- to medium-sized media venues throughout the southwestern United States, with aspirations to go nationally and globally," he says. "But you've got to crawl then walk then run, right? I'm in my crawl phase."
Cameron is already making progress toward that much larger goal, adding, "I have three other [properties] in escrow right now, all of which have a similar style and components to what you've seen as far as my other acquisitions." But one of the more positive developments is the level of support Cameron's earned among other stakeholders.
"There's been both the naysayers and the supporters," he says. "There's so much positive energy in the world right here, and that outweighs the negative. As a state, we're behind some of these other sort of metropolitan areas. There's no reason why we can't grow up to [their level] ... this is a much better place to live than most of the metro cities in the Southwestern region."
There are more changes and additions and the like to come at Lost Leaf. Cameron will also reveal his other properties and projects in the coming weeks. He's clearly a businessman, and all of the decisions emanate from that experience. Yet Cameron doesn't see why he can't make a difference in people's lives as an added bonus. In the case of Lost Leaf at least, his heart appears to be in the right place.
"Will we still have the same demographics of people that come into [Lost Leaf]? Absolutely," he says. "There's a whole myriad of different demographics of people now surrounding downtown — you have your hipsters, you have your college students, you have your business people, you have your local crew. You have a lot of different [groups] intermixing. We're just going to grow organically; one venue at a time, one experience at a time."
But all that great music and tasty beer hasn't protected the venue from hardships in recent years. Like many other clubs, Lost Leaf closed down amid COVID between January and July 2021. And while it's maintained a presence ever since, it's clear that the little venue that could was still struggling. Which is why it was shocking, but not entirely surprising, when owners Eric and Lauren Dahl announced recently that the venue was set to close (via The Arizona Republic).
But, perhaps in a singular example of the venue's staying power, fate was averted as the club was sold to another party in late March. While that means there's still life left in this quaint little dive, the future of Lost Leaf nonetheless remains in flux.
A lot of that has to do with the venue's new owner, local real estate developer David Cameron, who just recently bought and overhauled Char's Live. As Cameron told Phoenix New Times, his experience is in real estate acquisition and disposition, and he's still fairly new to food and beverage enterprises.
"I'm a new kid on the block," he says. "I'm a rookie. I maybe don't know what I'm doing. But I'm smart enough to figure it out."
In fact, he was only a recent convert to Lost Leaf itself.
"When I walked into Lost Leaf for the first time six months ago, I was enamored by how cool this little house felt and the vibe behind it," he says. "It was amazing, but what could this be one day?"
His young-blood status hasn't stopped Cameron from seeing the value of a Lost Leaf (and by extension Char's) for both his bottom line and the shape of Phoenix at-large.
"They're either iconic businesses that are either threatened to close or they're in historical types of situations or their locations are just sort of epic," he says of his acquisitions.
He's not entirely unprepared, though, as Cameron also owns an unnamed bar in Tempe (as well as a startup and local advertising group). But he's taken to the food and beverage sector in what he called a natural development for his larger real estate portfolio. He's recognized that inexperience, and has spent time developing his skills as owner/operator.
"I went through the motions of learning everything that I needed to learn about operating a food and beverage and hospitality property," he says. "And I learned the business aspects of it and I hired consultants to come in and train me and teach me and learn how to build SOPs and a hospitality platform."
So, what does all of this mean for the bigger picture at Lost Leaf? As Cameron tells it, he wanted to hit the ground running with a series of what he deemed improvements.
"We've already done a ton of tweaks in just 10 days or so," he says. "We're getting a new P.O.S. system and a bunch of things that are going to upgrade that overall experience dramatically for the end user and for the operator itself. And that is something that's important."
He adds, "Visually, when you walk to the threshold of the door, it's this kind of dusty old house that you can play music from and drink beer and wine. When you walk in, in the future, you may see the elevated lighting package on the inside, and you might see that we have things fitted on the tables, candles or a menu potentially with QR codes."
For Cameron, these shifts aren't about doing away with what Lost Leaf did right, but trying to take it all one step further.
"The things that are for sale are going to be displayed in a higher quality fashion rather than scribbled on a chalkboard, which was okay for that for that period of time," he says. "It will just feel like an elevated experience when you walk in, and it'll still feel like Lost Leaf because that's never going to change. That energy has been, like, injected into that property. But you will walk in and have a slightly elevated experience."
But elevated doesn't mean that Cameron's changed everything. Much of the staff at Lost Leaf, including long-time booker Tato Caraveo, have remained on payroll. (Cameron says Caraveo will help him with expanding the artists Lost Leaf sells and features.) He also wants to take a more hands-on approach with Lost Leaf.
"I want to run it differently," he says. "[The Dahls] are great; they're just sort of absentee owners. There's nothing wrong with the operation. It was 100 percent clear to me that I had to save that business from closing and inject the resources and capital to grow it into something that one day wasn't the same but still the same overall. Maybe graduate it along a path of longevity."
Cameron says he's the kind of owner who "puts my kids out at night at 8 p.m. and then [goes] back out till 2 in the morning, driving around making sure that everything's good." Lost Leaf, then, is another opportunity for a long-term objective for Cameron: reinvigorating the arts and culture scene in metro Phoenix.
"I think that what happened to the food and beverage industry and the music industry since COVID has decimated a lot of morale and the community in general," he says. "I feel like people are totally frightened and disenfranchised. I believe they've been forgotten and they deserve a voice. I watched these people, who are musicians and bartenders, lose all of their jobs. These are guys that are my friends."
He adds, "So my plan is to build, organically, several different hospitality concepts throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area, and connect them all together with similarly like-minded people who are wanting something more long-term, people that who are what I call lifers.
Those people that want to show up and work their butts off and give 150% and know that they're going to be taken care. Folks that know they can take care of expenses like rent and putting food on the table. So they have an opportunity to weather any future storm that's coming, because we're all worried about what tomorrow may bring."
And much of Cameron's subsequent plans for Lost Leaf extend around that very notion of emphasizing sustainability and giving his staff and collaborators more opportunities. That includes extending the shared musical talent between Lost Leaf and Char's.
"It's almost like the talent that you put out will also draw some future amount of talent," he says. "So if we're putting out a good curated set of physical entertainment through multiple venues, then we know that we're going to start drawing attraction and attention from not just other musicians but also from the community."
Cameron noted that he wants "relationships with all musical talents in the city." To help with that goal, he's playing around with a First Monday program, a kind of local talent competition, either at Char's or Lost Leaf, where the winner gets cash prizes and collects the door. Cameron adds, "So if I have three or four or five locations, then groups can book multiple days in a month and secure their ability to feed their families. That's, again, teaching a person how to fish, right?"
The art presence at Lost Leaf is also another significant element. Cameron sees both music and art together as vital parts of his portfolio's ability to shape the city.
"We have to expand mediums of cultural arts, and we have to teach children about music and writing and expressionism and artistic things," he says. "If we don't do that, culture will die and creativity will die. And I will not stand for that."
He adds, "But more importantly, we think it expands not just food and beverage, and not just entertainment, but just bohemian life and culturalism here in Phoenix, which is what we need. We need to be able to create culture for all of the millions of people that have settled and moved here."
The arts portion includes several, as-yet unrevealed programs that Cameron has cooked up.
And his others plans, while still mostly unrevealed, go even further still.
"We have really grandiose ideas for entertainment beyond live music," he says. "One day I'll share some of those details, but the production and entertainment aspects of some of the things that you might see come out of our camp will be things that will be wildly talked about in the future."
That mostly culture-centric approach isn't just about being good for business. Cameron seems to genuinely believe in the power of Phoenix's artistic contributions.
"I had this very weird premonition that one of the most amazing music talents ever would come out of Phoenix one day," he says. "Whether that's tomorrow or in 10 years or 20 years from now. Like, literally, the next Michael Jackson or the next Elvis Presley. And I've seen so many cool underground local talents that suggest that I'm exactly right."
They're not entirely pipe dreams, either, and Cameron thinks a prospect like that is another sign for the health of Phoenix at-large.
"This is a sign that the city is growing up culturally, and that is really great for me," he says. "As a person that's not leaving here, somebody who's built roots, we intend to live here forever. I want to make sure that this place grows...its population at the same pace as it grows culturally."
Still, it's not enough that Cameron guides his clubs to success. He's already looking forward to partnering with other venues and operators. He mentioned The Nash specifically as a place "with the success that I want," and thinks some mutual admiration can go a long way to help every venue flourish.
"So I can't disclose my big plans, but I have a very large plan," he says. "One that sort of galvanizes and, in a sense, unionizes musicians and bartenders to work in these locations that are all sort of tied together. I think that if we build it as a core unit, as opposed to disenfranchised operators that do one thing versus the other, then it's got a lot of value in the future."
Cameron doesn't "want to be the tip of the spear," but does hope he can help lead the charge.
"Maybe one day I would be a regional operator of small- to medium-sized media venues throughout the southwestern United States, with aspirations to go nationally and globally," he says. "But you've got to crawl then walk then run, right? I'm in my crawl phase."
Cameron is already making progress toward that much larger goal, adding, "I have three other [properties] in escrow right now, all of which have a similar style and components to what you've seen as far as my other acquisitions." But one of the more positive developments is the level of support Cameron's earned among other stakeholders.
"There's been both the naysayers and the supporters," he says. "There's so much positive energy in the world right here, and that outweighs the negative. As a state, we're behind some of these other sort of metropolitan areas. There's no reason why we can't grow up to [their level] ... this is a much better place to live than most of the metro cities in the Southwestern region."
There are more changes and additions and the like to come at Lost Leaf. Cameron will also reveal his other properties and projects in the coming weeks. He's clearly a businessman, and all of the decisions emanate from that experience. Yet Cameron doesn't see why he can't make a difference in people's lives as an added bonus. In the case of Lost Leaf at least, his heart appears to be in the right place.
"Will we still have the same demographics of people that come into [Lost Leaf]? Absolutely," he says. "There's a whole myriad of different demographics of people now surrounding downtown — you have your hipsters, you have your college students, you have your business people, you have your local crew. You have a lot of different [groups] intermixing. We're just going to grow organically; one venue at a time, one experience at a time." | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/david-cameron-wants-the-new-lost-leaf-to-drive-a-phoenix-cultural-renaissance-13396768 | 2022-04-14T18:39:11 | 0 | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/david-cameron-wants-the-new-lost-leaf-to-drive-a-phoenix-cultural-renaissance-13396768 |
The best way to describe Gemini Pizza, the new incubator restaurant at downtown Phoenix cocktail bar Bitter & Twisted, is by stating what it’s not. For starters, Gemini — created by chef Racan Alhoch, owner of Saint Pasta — is not pasta. You won't find a single rigatoni on the 13-item menu. It’s not try-hard food, either, with wordy menu descriptions that require a dictionary or a food snob to translate. It’s also not your typical highbrow cocktail bar fare, crafty finger foods that take a back seat to crafty cocktails.
So what is it? It’s a neighborhood pizza joint, yes, but it’s also Alhoch on a plate, a straight shooter who knows himself and where he came from — namely, New Jersey by way of Syrian immigrant parents.
“Because my parents are Syrian immigrants, food was a really important tool for them to help my siblings and I remain close to our culture,” says Alhoch. “On the other hand, I was born and raised in New Jersey, so I was constantly steeped in American Italian food because it’s so ubiquitous. So I think the inspiration comes from wanting to bridge the gap between my two identities as a third-culture kid.”
The result of that inspiration is first and foremost pizza, the ultimate vehicle of taste and texture that simultaneously delivers culture and comfort. Alhoch’s menu features five New York-style pies. All start with two-day proofed dough made with local Hayden Mills flour and finish with toppers like garlic, basil, ricotta, and spicy sausage; there's even a vodka pizza with Saint Pasta's famous vodka sauce. It all goes into a deck oven and comes out as the New York-style pizza Alhoch ate growing up.
“New York style to me is a crispy yet pliable thin-crust pizza with a slightly puffed crust that's topped with uncooked tomatoes, low-moisture mozzarella, and cooked at a lower temp for a longer period than Neapolitan-style pizza,” says Alhoch, who didn't even know other types of pizza existed until he was in his late teens and working at a pizzeria.
The first question here: Does Phoenix even need another pizza place? The easy answer is that you can never have too many slice options, but it’s more than that. Alhoch isn't trying to reinvent, reimagine, or elevate pizza — or make it anything it’s not. He just wants to give you the good stuff, re-create what he loved as a kid. “Phoenix needs another pizza option because there are more Domino's than Biancos,” says the chef. “Jokes aside, Phoenix needs more of literally every type of cuisine. Competition breeds quality. I want Phoenix to become a food battle dome where only the best survive.”
The second question: What’s a pizza joint doing in an upscale cocktail bar? The pairing may seem like the Jersey Shore landed on the Vegas strip, but Bitter & Twisted owner Ross Simon has long been a fan of Alhoch, and the admiration is mutual. “I remember during the pandemic, Bitter & Twisted did to-go cocktails, but they weren’t just your regular to-go cocktails,” says Alhoch, who was impressed with Simon’s attention to detail. “They came with a paper explaining the drink and a stir stick.” So when Simon reached out to Alhoch to be a kitchen partner, he gave him carte blanche, with one stipulation: Keep Bitter & Twisted’s signature Hurricane Popcorn on the menu.
Like the pizza and popcorn, the rest of the menu is straightforward yet sublime: snacks that invite finger-licking, such as sumac-and-garlic-marinated chicken wings with housemade bleu cheese dressing; straight-up salads like fattoush and Caesar; and a single dessert, a simple sweet that combines tea biscuits and chocolate with shredded coconut and pistachios.
“When it comes to cooking, I like simplicity instead of flexing,” says Alhoch. “Syrian food, like Italian food, is so simple and delicious, so I think being a Syrian born and raised in New Jersey means I've absorbed the philosophy of simplicity through osmosis.”
He comes by that osmosis honestly. Alhoch grew up in a home obsessed with food, his mother being his biggest influence. “When I was a little kid, I would climb on a step stool while she was cooking and just watch her the entire time,” he remembers. “Her father was a well-known restaurateur in Damascus. Even though he’s long since passed, some of the restaurants he started in the ’50s and ’60s are still open and popular, so my mom has some serious cooking chops.”
Just don’t get too attached to any one dish at Gemini Pizza. Alhoch has been known to take runaway hits off the menu without warning, like the mac and cheese at Saint Pasta. “Vodka sauce is everywhere in New Jersey, and it’s been my favorite pasta since I was in middle school. I wanted Saint Pasta to be known for our vodka sauce for those reasons, so when the mac and cheese became our top seller, I got rid of it,” he says. “I still get a few DMs a year about it from people who had it in those first few months.”
Not that Alhoch is trying to piss anyone off. His ultimate goal with food is to elicit a feeling of contentment. “My favorite thing during a busy night at Saint Pasta is looking around the dining area and catching people bobbing their heads to the music while eating their pasta, sometimes with their eyes closed,” he says. “I think everyone knows what it’s like when sound, smell and taste are all hitting just right. You're totally sucked into the moment. I look at those people and I know that at least for those few seconds, they're probably not thinking about anything else. They're just enjoying life.”
With Bitter & Twisted as Alhoch’s buzzy new backdrop, there are sure to be many more moments of head-bobbing bliss.
Gemini Pizza, inside Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour
1 West Jefferson Street
602-340-1924
Hours: 4 p.m. to midnight Tuesday to Thursday (kitchen closes at 11 p.m.); 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday to Saturday (kitchen closes at midnight) | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/gemini-pizza-brings-ny-style-pizza-to-a-cocktail-bar-setting-13403641 | 2022-04-14T18:39:17 | 1 | https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/gemini-pizza-brings-ny-style-pizza-to-a-cocktail-bar-setting-13403641 |
In a world where social media is everywhere and the news cycle runs around the clock, it’s a challenge for celebrities to keep things quiet. However, a group of musicians from various classic grunge-rock bands managed to keep an entirely new supergroup secret from the world — and announced it by suddenly dropping its debut album.
The new group, appropriately called 3rd Secret, features Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and Soundgarden/Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, as well as Void guitarist Bubba Dupree and singers Jennifer Johnson and Jillian Raye.
The group quietly released the self-titled album on Monday, April 11 only to streaming services, and shared the news on its official website.
“Get in on the secret!” the band announced on the website. “New album on your favorite streaming service.”
While fans can listen to the new 3rd Secret album easily on Spotify, they might have trouble finding it on Apple Music. The band addressed the issue on its website, as well.
“Reports coming over 3rd Secret hotline that album is still not on Apple Music,” the update confirmed. “Please be patient as work was uploaded Saturday night and needs time to get to streaming platforms.”
The band also recommended listening to “I Choose Me” on YouTube (along with other songs from the 11-track album) to get a preview of what to expect from the supergroup. Check out “I Choose Me” via YouTube below.
According to the music website NME, the album “leans heavily on classic grunge and alt-rock flavors, but adds diversity with hints of laid-back folk and indie-rock, swampy blues and stomping hard-rock.”
While news of 3rd Secret was largely kept under wraps, a few details leaked along the way and some people began piecing them together. First, NME reported that Novoselic posted a mysterious tweet in February.
“I am really busy trying to finish a record. In the middle of some hangups – looking for a mid-March release,” the tweet read. “But it’s a secret, so don’t tell anybody!!!” That tweet was deleted a short time later, though.
Then, on April 10, Cameron posted on his Instagram account and shared a photo of the group performing at the Museum of Pop Culture with the caption, “3rd Secret coming soon!”
That photo is now one of the centerpiece photos on the group’s website.
No word yet on whether or not 3rd Secret will play any live gigs in the coming months. People magazine reported Cameron will hit the road with Pearl Jam as part of a North American tour that had to be rescheduled following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. So, stay tuned for updates on the newest group to emerge from a combination of ’90s grunge legends.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.wrtv.com/members-nirvana-pearl-jam-soundgarden-form-new-band-3rd-secret | 2022-04-14T18:41:36 | 0 | https://www.wrtv.com/members-nirvana-pearl-jam-soundgarden-form-new-band-3rd-secret |
INDIANAPOLIS — A man accused in a string of armed robberies is back in custody after being mistakenly freed from the Marion County Jail on Wednesday.
Records show Lance McGee, 29, was not in custody Wednesday, the same day he was scheduled to appear for an initial hearing on nine felony charges stemming from his role in a series of armed robberies.
Marion Superior Court Magistrate Anne Flannelly issued a warrant for McGee's arrest, court records show. Capt. Mitch Gore, a spokesman for the Marion County Sheriff's Office, said McGee was arrested again on Wednesday night, just hours later.
Gore told WRTV he was researching the circumstances that led to McGee's release and capture.
Judge Cynthia L. Oetjen ordered McGee to be held without bond until April 20, when bond would be set at $200,000, records show.
McGee and Donta Allen, 24, were arrested April 8 after prosecutors say they tried to rob a south-side Game Stop, 6905 S. Emerson Avenue. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department SWAT officers found both men, along with evidence connected to the robbery, in a vehicle near the scene.
It's still unclear how long after his initial arrest on April 8 McGee was released and why.
Mcgee and Allen are both charged in the following 2022 robberies:
- Disc Replay at 8210 Rockville Road on March 25
- Game Stop at 3269 W. 86th Street on March 27
- Auto Zone at 4606 E. County Line Road on March 27
- Game Stop at 4525 Lafayette Road on April 2
- Auto Zone at 7455 Michigan Road on April 2
- Disc Replay at 7317 US 31 South on April 5
- Auto Zone at 8525 Southeastern Avenue on April 5
- Auto Zone at 6055 E. 82nd Street on April 5
- Game Stop at 6905 S. Emerson Avenue on April 8
Allen is also charged in the robbery of the Disc Replay at 9739 E. Washington Street on April 3. He faces a total of 10 counts of armed robbery, 10 counts of criminal confinement, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and escape.
Rick Snyder, president of the Indianapolis chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, has been a vocal critic of what he calls the county's "revolving door" criminal justice system.
"Here again is another example where we have more questions than answers, and we have violent offenders who have been recycled back in our neighborhoods," Snyder said.
This developing story will be updated.
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc. | https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/armed-robbery-suspect-mistakenly-released-from-marion-co-jail-re-arrested-on-warrant-hours-later | 2022-04-14T18:41:42 | 0 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/armed-robbery-suspect-mistakenly-released-from-marion-co-jail-re-arrested-on-warrant-hours-later |
2 New Jersey Italian subs picked among America’s best
With New Jersey being something of a mecca for Italian food, it’s no surprise that it would be well represented on a list of best Italian subs, but you might be surprised to find that the two sandwiches that made the list are both from South Jersey.
The list was put together by food site Mashed.com of “The 15 Absolute Best Italian Subs in the US.” The two New Jersey shops to make the cut are the Sugar Hill Sub Shop in Mays Landing and the White House Sub Shop in Atlantic City.
Of the unassuming Sugar Hill Sub Shop’s Italian Stallion sub, Mashed.com wrote: “Starting with half of an Atlantic City roll (your basic white Italian bread), meats like black pepper ham and imported cold cuts mingle with hearty slices of provolone and a refreshing mix of lettuce, tomato, onion, and one's choice of oil and vinegar or mayo.”
They were also lauded for their “dizzying array of sandwiches, all big enough to feed a whole party without the hefty costs of other hero shops.”
Atlantic City’s iconic White House Sub Shop was lavished with heavy praise by Mashed.com:
For almost 80 years, the roadside deli's constructed massive heroes out of finely-sourced ingredients, with a lineup large enough to make your head spin. They've fed actors and politicians, and in 2000 they joined the ranks of the nation's best when the James Beard Foundation named them an American Classic.
The White House Special is the sandwich they put in the spotlight, praising it for having,
“triple the meats — salami, ham, and capicola — and a fresh layer of lettuce and tomato. Condiments like sweet peppers and onion come on the side, letting you dress it to preference."
The number one sub on their list was from a store in California. The complete list is here.
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.
You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now: | https://nj1015.com/2-new-jersey-italian-subs-picked-among-americas-best/ | 2022-04-14T18:41:46 | 1 | https://nj1015.com/2-new-jersey-italian-subs-picked-among-americas-best/ |
Five charged, 100 pounds of pot and $243K seized in Lumberton, NJ raid
LUMBERTON — More than 100 pounds of raw marijuana and edible products, nearly 50 packets of heroin, over a pound of psychedelic mushrooms, and close to a quarter-million dollars in cash were seized as the result of an investigation into what the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said was an illegal marijuana dispensary located in a Route 38 strip mall.
The prosecutor's office on Wednesday also disclosed the arrests of and charges against five people, identified as two owners and three employees of the retail store operating as Skraptyques, adjacent to a pizzeria, dance studio, and other businesses.
The marijuana edibles were sold in counterfeit packages, according to the prosecutor's office, resembling snack foods like Cheetos, Life Savers, Nerds, and Skittles.
Prosecutor Scott Coffina said such packaging makes those cannabis products attractive and dangerous to children when brought into a home, and that the operations conducted inside Skraptyques breached the limits of what will eventually be New Jersey's legal recreational marijuana marketplace.
According to the prosecutor's office, the investigation found that customers entering Skraptyques would be scanned in by an armed guard and have their cell phones taken before being allowed access into a secure back room where the marijuana, edibles, and mushrooms were available via cash transaction.
Materials were seized from the business, the Mount Holly home of owners Mathew Quinn and Crystal Cain, a Mount Laurel storage facility, and four vehicles.
Quinn, 44, was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, second-degree possession of psilocybin mushrooms with intent to distribute, second-degree conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, and third-degree fortifying a controlled dangerous substance manufacturing or distribution facility.
Cain, 30, was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, second-degree possession of psilocybin mushrooms with intent to distribute, second-degree conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, third-degree possession of heroin, third-degree fortifying a controlled dangerous substance manufacturing or distribution facility, and a disorderly persons offense of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Marion Huff, 26, of Florence was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and second-degree conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance.
Nicole Colley, 31, of Mount Holly was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, second-degree possession of psilocybin mushrooms, and second-degree conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance.
Perry Brown, 55, of Morrisville, Pa., who prosecutors said provided security at the business, was in possession of a firearm at the time of his arrest and was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, second-degree conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, second-degree possession of a firearm while committing a controlled dangerous substance crime, and fourth-degree possession of large capacity magazines.
All five people were taken into custody, then released following their initial court appearances.
Patrick Lavery is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com
Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story. | https://nj1015.com/five-charged-100-pounds-of-pot-and-243k-seized-in-lumberton-nj-raid/ | 2022-04-14T18:41:46 | 0 | https://nj1015.com/five-charged-100-pounds-of-pot-and-243k-seized-in-lumberton-nj-raid/ |
Here’s what to expect at this year’s Brick Summerfest
The Brick Summerfest will be returning to Windward Beach for four consecutive Thursdays this summer, June 30 through July 21.
It’s one of the most popular Shore events every year (well, not in 2020 when it was canceled due to the pandemic, but usually). All four nights will feature a concert, a fireworks display, a beer/wine garden, food vendors, and more.
According to Brick Shorebeat, the town council gave approval for the fireworks and food and drink vendors for the festival. The fireworks will be supplied by a PA company, Ronks Fireworks.
The food vendors approved for the weekly series are:
Highway 2 Ohana (Food truck by the Ohana Grill restaurant, Lavallette)
Dellano’s Food Service (Long Valley, N.J.)
John and Debbie O’s Concessions (Toms River)
You Scream Ice Cream (Brick)
Woodshed Pizza (Brick)
The musical acts were announced previously; https://943thepoint.com/2022-brick-summerfest/ they are:
June 30: Super Trans Am (’70s Concert Experience)
July 7: Stiffler’s Mom (’90s Hits)
July 14: The Benjamins (Current Hits, ’90s)
July 21: Jessie’s Girl (’80s Hits)
Although it hasn’t been officially announced yet, typically there is a complimentary shuttle bus to take people to the festival from area schools, to relieve parking issues. Again, it hasn’t been announced yet, but there is also usually a pretty big classic car show as part of the festivities in Aug.
Last year, there was a series of movies on the beach through August, too.
Of course, since this is an outdoor event, all activities are subject to the weather cooperating.
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.
You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now: | https://nj1015.com/heres-what-to-expect-at-this-years-brick-summerfest/ | 2022-04-14T18:41:48 | 1 | https://nj1015.com/heres-what-to-expect-at-this-years-brick-summerfest/ |
Letters detail pregnancies by transgender inmates at NJ women’s prison
CLINTON — Two women are pregnant by a transgender inmate at New Jersey's only women's prison, according to letters sent to New Jersey 101.5 and confirmed by the state Department of Corrections.
More than 800 women are currently incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Hunterdon County. And 27 are transgender.
DOC external affairs executive director Dan Sperrazza told NJ.com the relationships that led to the pregnancies were "consensual." The outlet stated NJ Advance Media received letters from prisoners "discussing the pregnancies."
New Jersey 101.5 also received letters from one inmate at Edna Mahan. The messages addressed to host Bill Spadea detail complaints about housing pre-op transgender inmates who identify as women at the prison.
One letter, dated April 7, 2022, stated one female prisoner is five months pregnant by a transgender inmate. These inmates had a history of sex acts in public areas and had to be separated, according to the letter.
It notes this pregnant inmate is not eligible for parole until 2104. The letter does not mention the woman's name and New Jersey 101.5 could not confirm this date.
While the letter mentions rumors of two other pregnancies, the state DOC confirmed only one other pregnancy. The DOC did not respond to inquiries from New Jersey 101.5 regarding its policies for pregnant inmates.
Transgender inmates in NJ prisons
New Jersey prisons began housing transgender inmates who identify as women at Edna Mahan last year as a result of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. The lawsuit followed claims from a transgender woman who said she was abused at a male prison.
However, the largest union for state corrections officers has taken issue with moving transgender women into Edna Mahan.
“We opposed this policy change believing it would be detrimental to the general population of female inmates being housed at Edna Mahan and also bring added stress to our correctional police officers assigned to this institution,” NJ PBA Local 105 President William Sullivan told NJ.com.
Rape scandal at women's prison
Gov. Phil Murphy announced last June that his administration would permanently close Edna Mahan. He said it was the only way to address the prison's "long history of abusive incidents."
Murphy's decision followed the recommendation of an investigative report by former State Comptroller Matt Boxer and the law firm Lowenstein Sandler. It found the prison's infrastructure needs significant repairs and its location makes recruiting female staff a challenge.
"A different, more centrally located facility has the potential to address these issues," the report states.
It's not clear when the state plans to close Edna Mahan, or what will happen to the female inmates. In the meantime, a federal monitor is providing oversight at the prison. | https://nj1015.com/letters-detail-pregnancies-by-transgender-inmates-at-nj-womens-prison/ | 2022-04-14T18:41:48 | 0 | https://nj1015.com/letters-detail-pregnancies-by-transgender-inmates-at-nj-womens-prison/ |
NJ adds 17,800 jobs, with unemployment and labor force down
TRENTON – Employers in New Jersey added 17,800 jobs in March, helping push the state’s unemployment rate down by 0.4 percentage points to 4.2%.
Eight of the nine major private industry sectors recorded gains, all except for information, according to monthly data issued Thursday by the state labor department. The top increases were 4,900 in leisure and hospitality, 4,300 in professional and business services and 4,200 in trade, transportation and utilities.
New Jersey’s economy has gained jobs in 16 straight months. It has added back 679,400 jobs in the last 23 months, since bottoming out in April 2020 when lockdowns were being imposed at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
That amounts to 92.7% of the 732,600 jobs lost in March and April of 2020, a rate slightly ahead of the 91.5% of lost jobs that have been recovered nationally.
State-by-state data will be released by federal government Friday. As of one month ago, when New Jersey had regained 89.9% of the jobs lost through the initial February report, the state’s recovery rate ranked 21st highest among the 50 states.
The February jobs numbers were increased to show an increase of 29,200, which is 3,300 more than originally estimated.
At a New Jersey Chamber of Commerce conference in Atlantic City, where the focus was on strategizing on ways to push the state to become more hospitable to businesses, Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday said “New Jersey has a good story to tell” that includes the nation’s ninth-highest rate of economic growth in the second half of 2021, an annualized rate of 5.4%. It was 7.4% in the fourth quarter.
“This growth becomes even more impressive given that it came against the headwinds of national inflationary pressures, huge mental health stress and learning, and the onset of the Omicron tsunami, any one of which could have stopped our forward motion,” Murphy said.
Former state chief economist Charles Steindel, who analyzes the monthly jobs reports for the Garden State Initiative, noted that the unemployment rate remains higher than the nation’s 3.6% rate. He also noted the labor force dropped by 4,000 to its lowest level since November 2020.
“This is in contrast to recent reasonably strong increases in the nation’s labor force,” Steindel said. “The difference with the nation is due to more than slower population growth here: our labor force participation rate has been dropping, while the nation’s has been rising. At this time, it is very hard to understand the slackness in New Jersey’s labor force participation, especially in light of the strong job environment.”
Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story. | https://nj1015.com/nj-adds-17800-jobs-with-unemployment-and-labor-force-down/ | 2022-04-14T18:41:48 | 0 | https://nj1015.com/nj-adds-17800-jobs-with-unemployment-and-labor-force-down/ |
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A British militant accused of being part of an ISIS hostage-taking scheme was convicted on Thursday.
A jury in Virginia found El Shafee Elsheikh guilty on eight charges, including four counts of hostage-taking resulting in death, murder conspiracy and conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
As part of an extradition negotiation with the UK, Elsheikh will not face the death penalty.
Instead, he will face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Four Americans, including James Foley, Peter Kassig, Kayla Mueller and Steven Sotloff, died after being captured.
Prosecutors said the Americans were beheaded by one of Elsheikh’s associates in 2014.
Elsheikh was part of an Islamic cell known as the “Beatles” for their British accents.
Another member of the cell said Elsheikh played a critical role in the kidnapping and negotiations of Western prisoners. | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/british-militant-convicted-in-islamic-state-beheadings-trial | 2022-04-14T18:41:48 | 1 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/british-militant-convicted-in-islamic-state-beheadings-trial |
Autism is often diagnosed at a young age.
The average age listed by the CDC is 4.5 years old.
Because of that, many people in the autism community feel it is viewed as a children's condition.
It's something that has contributed to challenges and bias in the workplace.
“The majority of autistic adults are either unemployed or underemployed in the United States today. So, we definitely need to do a better job because there's so many talented autistic adults out there if given the opportunity they'll really succeed in the workforce,” said Kerry Magro.
He has been diagnosed with autism and has built a career in public speaking, advocating for autism acceptance.
“We need to change the narrative from what a company can do for an autistic person and instead say what an autistic person can do for that company,” he said.
Magro says one of the biggest challenges can be saying the right things in an interview. He’s encouraging more companies to forgo that process and instead give people with autism a one-day work trial. But for those with autism who are non-verbal, there is another set of challenges.
Kellie Roberts’ son, Chad is 30 years old and is non-verbal and splits his time working four jobs.
“He was always considered the worst, the hardest, any label you could put on him to make him sound as bad as they could make him sound. Chad’s a really active person, so sitting in a day program somewhere just that wouldn't be something that Chad would enjoy,” Roberts said.
Chad communicates at work and at home using a device called Tobii Dynavox, which Kellie says has helped eliminate some of the negative labels.
“They see Chad as a person, they see Chad as a co-worker, and then they might see Chad as somebody with autism but it's really given him a voice and puts him at an equal platform with other people,” said Roberts.
Marleah Herman-Umpleby is a speech language pathologist at Tobii Dynavox.
She says, “I think that everyone wins when we have a more diverse workplace and the kind of color and variety of people that come together in a workplace makes everyone have a better experience there.”
Tobii Dynavox offers a number of services for people with disabilities to help navigate work and school.
Kellie says another resource Chad has had success with is Briggs and Associates.
The company helps match people with disabilities to jobs. | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/device-helps-people-with-autism-navigate-and-communicate-in-the-workplace | 2022-04-14T18:41:54 | 1 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/device-helps-people-with-autism-navigate-and-communicate-in-the-workplace |
An owlet that fell from its nest is safely back home thanks to the help of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
On Tuesday, the department shared on its Facebook page about a firefighter at Station No. 84 coming to rescue a baby owl that had fallen from its nest in Woodland Hills.
According to CBS News and People, the cute ball of fuzz was found by a family who called to report it had fallen out of its nest on their roof.
The media outlets reported that the family had done "everything to protect the owls," including using the back entrance to their residence, so they didn't disturb the nest above their front entrance.
The family first reached out to animal services and the humane society, but since they were unable to get help, they contacted the LAFD.
To reach the nest, the department used a ladder. Then Probationary firefighter Hailey Denny, who wore personal protective equipment, picked up the owlet and placed it back into the nest. | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/lafd-rescues-owlet-that-fell-from-a-nest | 2022-04-14T18:42:01 | 1 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/lafd-rescues-owlet-that-fell-from-a-nest |
MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (WDHN) — The Dothan Police Department has released new details on the abduction of a Dothan two-month-old Wednesday afternoon.
On April 13 around 12 p.m., two-month-old Messiah Richards was taken from his temporary residence in the 400 block of South Appletree Street in Dothan by his mother, Alexis Richards, and her companion, MarQuec Banks, according to the Dothan Police Department.
The child had been placed at a temporary address as part of a safety plan made by the Department of Human Resources.
Alexis Richards was only allowed supervised visits with her child. Police say Alexis Richards and Banks went to the home where the child had been placed, without planning or announcing ahead of time, and took the child without the knowledge of the child’s current custodian. When the DPD was told about the situation, an Amber Alert was issued. Around an hour after the Amber Alert was made, the child was located with Alexis Richards and another family member in Midland City, Alabama.
The child was safe and had not been harmed, according to DPD.
Currently, Alexis Richards, 22, of Dothan, has been charged with one count of interference with custody. Dothan Police say Banks could be facing charges in the future.
Alexis Richards was arrested within the last week on two third-degree domestic violence charges.
Banks has a previous history of charges, including driving without insurance, failure to register his vehicle, and minor alcohol possession. | https://www.cbs42.com/alabama-news/new-details-released-on-dothan-child-abduction/ | 2022-04-14T18:42:03 | 0 | https://www.cbs42.com/alabama-news/new-details-released-on-dothan-child-abduction/ |
Perkins on Route 9 in Freehold, New Jersey closed for good
This one’s a tough loss for us Freehold residents.
The Perkins Restaurant and Bakery on Route 9 north in Freehold, New Jersey has officially shut its doors after it was announced that the owners, the Petrou family, were retiring. The restaurant had been providing the Garden State with breakfast for three decades.
Per the restaurant’s Facebook:
What are you thanking us for, Perkins? Thank YOU for the memories. You were a staple for me during my junior and senior years of high school.
Context for non-Freeholders: Perkins is super close to Freehold Township High School, so when a delayed opening was declared for snow, it became tradition to have breakfast with friends before heading to school.
Does that entirely dismiss the idea of having a delayed opening to avoid driving on snowy roads? Yes! Did we care? Absolutely not, our stomachs were filled with warm pancakes covered in syrup.
So thank you, Perkins, for your time in the Freehold community, you will be missed.
The owners of the restaurant, the Petrou family, will still be around to serve you a delicious breakfast. They will now be focusing on their other business, the Marlboro Diner further down route 9.
The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5's Kylie Moore. Any opinions expressed are Kylie's own. You can follow Kylie on Instagram. | https://nj1015.com/perkins-on-route-9-in-freehold-new-jersey-closed-for-good/ | 2022-04-14T18:42:06 | 1 | https://nj1015.com/perkins-on-route-9-in-freehold-new-jersey-closed-for-good/ |
A recently released report shows that Latino men between the ages of 18 and 35 may be “easy targets for racialized disinformation about the role of immigrants in this country.”
United We Dream partnered with nonprofit media research group Harmony Labs to analyze the content Latinos consume on tv and digital platforms.
Researchers found Latina women under the age of 35 are more likely to consume human interest stories about immigrants, not just content regarding policy and law.
When it came to Latino men in the age same group, they didn’t consume as much media regarding immigration.
Researchers said these media consumption habits put young Latino men “at risk of passively consuming anti-immigrant content as bystanders."
The report also found that older Latino audiences were more likely to consume anti-immigrant content.
Latino men over the age of 36 were more likely to watch or read stories from right-wing stories, such as Fox News and OAN News, the report found.
The new report comes less than one year after Nielsen released a separate report showing that Latinos are more likely to consume share misinformation online than the general population.
United We Dream said its research shows that it is important to “fight back against racialized disinformation and the radicalization of young Latinx men.” | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/new-report-shows-younger-latino-men-more-susceptible-to-consuming-misinformation-about-immigration | 2022-04-14T18:42:07 | 0 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/new-report-shows-younger-latino-men-more-susceptible-to-consuming-misinformation-about-immigration |
Through the One Class at a Time program, CBS 42 has been able to present local teachers with one thousand dollar grants! This year marks 19 years of honoring teachers who make a big difference in Central Alabama.
This weeks winner is Terri Jones, a special education teacher at Thompson Intermediate School. She says that flexibility in the classroom can help her students get the most from their learning time.
“They need an opportunity to stretch and move around while they are learning. They really benefit from the seats that provide them with some flexibility and movement.” Says Jones.
With this grant, Ms. Jones plans to purchase wobble seats for her students.
“The wobble seats are like balance balls made into a stool. It allows them to have movement to expend some energy while still learning on task.” Says Jones.
Congratulations, Ms. Jones…from CBS 42, Chick-fil-A Birmingham, and Medical Properties Trust! Together, we’re giving back to the community, supporting our local schools, and making a difference One Class at a Time. | https://www.cbs42.com/birmingham-community/one-class-at-a-time/special-education-teacher-wins-one-classroom-at-a-time-1000-grant/ | 2022-04-14T18:42:09 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/birmingham-community/one-class-at-a-time/special-education-teacher-wins-one-classroom-at-a-time-1000-grant/ |
This NJ attorney general is complicit in auto theft (Opinion)
I want you to take a look at a post the Jackson Police Department put on their Facebook page. It was about a nice car being stolen right out of a woman’s driveway by brazen thieves. But there’s part of this story that ought to grab your attention most.
Yes, the police department did its normal urging of residents to keep their cars locked and not leave fobs inside. But what really stood out to me was this part:
“Newark Police Officers observed the vehicle in their jurisdiction and attempted to stop it. The vehicle failed to stop for the officers and as per the updated New Jersey Attorney General Pursuit Guidelines, they did not pursue it further.
Shortly after that time, the New Jersey State Police advised our agency that the vehicle was observed on Interstate 280 and they were also unable to pursue it when it failed to stop for them.”
Police had them twice and could do nothing about it. Let that sink in.
These guidelines changed at the end of last year and you can bet car thieves are now well aware that when police pull them over for operating a vehicle reported stolen as soon as they hit the gas and refuse to stop there will be no chase. No pursuit. No attempt to stop and arrest a criminal. No justice.
Think about it. Why on earth WOULD they pull over? What’s more, word of these new guidelines is encouraging even more dangerous criminals to steal cars to get away with those crimes. Let’s say a gang member is going to do a payback hit on a rival. Or someone is going to commit an armed robbery.
By stealing a car that they know cannot be traced back to their name, they now also know after the murder or robbery is committed the police, only knowing about the stolen vehicle, will be legally helpless to pursue them in a chase.
Obviously, all this is an effort to spare some innocent third party from being harmed in a high-speed pursuit. But we already had guidelines for that such as taking into consideration time of day and traffic conditions, how many pedestrians are nearby, how recklessly the suspect is driving, weather conditions, etc. Chases that were allowed were still called off all the time.
This new policy guts the authority of the police and figuratively handcuffs them in pursuing certain criminals. Like car thieves. They literally are not allowed to even begin a pursuit the moment the suspect flees.
And suspects don’t flee in an orderly manner. They gun it. They drive recklessly to get away. This policy encourages this type of criminal to always do that. Doesn’t this alone put the public at risk? It’s telling criminals hitting the gas is your get-out-of-jail-free card.
The attorney general who oversaw these changes was Gurbir Grewal, not the newly appointed Matt Platkin. Then-Attorney General Grewal in my opinion is complicit in the rise of auto theft in New Jersey. Platkin is only responsible for not working to reverse the awful policy.
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.
You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now: | https://nj1015.com/this-nj-attorney-general-is-complicit-in-auto-theft-opinion/ | 2022-04-14T18:42:12 | 1 | https://nj1015.com/this-nj-attorney-general-is-complicit-in-auto-theft-opinion/ |
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The City of Maple Heights only has about 20,000 people, but it is making headlines by taking on two multi-billion dollar companies in the Ohio Supreme Court.
The town argued Wednesday morning that Netflix and Hulu must pay franchise fees to municipalities, the same as cable companies.
As more and more people are "cutting the cord" with their cable providers, the city's attorney Justin Hawal said it is only fair that streaming services pay up since municipalities are losing money from the telecommunications fees.
"The fees that go to the municipalities and townships to invest in this infrastructure are being pulled away from the cities because there are not as many subscribers to the cable companies," Hawal said. "They're going towards Netflix and Hulu, who are using the exact same infrastructure but aren't being required to pay any fee."
This is just one of the latest dozen of lawsuits from across the country against the companies.
Maple Heights filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in 2020 on behalf of all Ohio local governments receiving franchise fees. The city claimed Netflix and Hulu are now required to receive video service authorization.
The 2007 video service authorization law states companies deemed "video service providers" must pay a fee to local governments.
Maple Heights' argument is that the streaming services should fall under the same statute that regulates cable providers because they provide content that reaches customers through fiber optic cable lines along with public rights of way.
Counsel for Netflix and Hulu says that Hawal is misinterpreting the statute.
"They're fundamentally unlike the cable operator operators, which are the paradigm example of the video service provider for which this act was intended, which actually own, operate, and install wires and cables in the public rights of way," said Netflix's attorney Gregory Garre. "In the case of Netflix, Netflix doesn't provide video programming under the Act, which is defined in reference to programming that is like a television program. Netflix is programming which is available anywhere, any time and any place — is not scheduled or channelized."
The companies can't be video service providers, like cable, because they are not internet service providers, he added. They simply exist on the internet, and people can access them through WiFi.
"There's nothing in that definition of video service that requires Netflix and Hulu to operate facilities in the rights of way, nothing that requires them to construct facilities in the rights of way," Hawal said. "They only must provide their programming over wires and cables, and there's no dispute."
But the core principle that animates the law is delivery, according to Ohio Deputy Solicitor General Mathura Sridharan.
"It's about those entities that are physically intruding in Maple Heights as public rights of way, those who are digging up their roads and they pay for the right to do that, and that's what the authorization does," she said. "The statute is very clear — this is about those who dig. They must pay. If they don't dig, then they don't pay."
Sridharan said that another program under the statute would be to even get authorization from the municipalities.
"Under the statute, and there's only one person who's authorized to call the shots, that is, to declare an entity, a video service provider, and compel them to get an authorization — and that person is the director of commerce, who is not only the franchising authority, but the sole franchising authority under the statute," Sridharan said. "And that really ends the case here because Maple Heights cannot sue to compel entities like Netflix and Hulu to get authorizations."
This argument of what falls under the 2007 law was the primary debate and back-and-forth between Maple Heights, the streaming services, and the Supreme Court, who seemed to find humor in the whole ordeal.
Justice Pat Fischer posed a hypothetical: if governments are taxing streaming services, does that mean that Columbus should tax the Ohio Government channel, where anyone can stream most state government hearings if they have access to the internet?
Hawal said no.
"Video programming is defined in the statute as being comparable to that of broadcast television, and so our allegations are such that an entity like this, I mean—" Hawal started, getting cut off.
"These are pretty good broadcasts," Fischer said, chuckling at his comment.
"I agree, your honor, but they don't provide the same content, quality, genre, entertainment that Netflix and Hulu—" Hawal responded, getting cut off again.
"Woah, Woah, wait," Justice Melody Stewart said. "How do you know we don't?"
Laughs erupted from the Court and each of the parties.
"No, but seriously, I imagine that there are some citizens across the state who might tune in to government programming regularly, be at this court's hearings, be it legislative sessions, be it of meetings of the governor, whatever," Stewart continued. "And if they are entertained by that, I mean, isn't that a subjective standard?"
It's not about the standard of entertainment per se, Hawal responded.
"I think the fact that makes Netflix and Hulu video programmers is the fact that their content is virtually indistinguishable from broadcast television," the attorney said. "They provide the same shows, the same movies. They're competing with broadcast television. They produce their own content."
The questions-and-answers continued until Victor Jih, attorney for Hulu, rebutted Hawal's points. He brought up the fact that ISPs are not controlled by the services.
"The person is providing over the wires and cables as the ISP, not Hulu, not Netflix — we don't control it, we don't dictate it," he added. "We simply make it available on the internet, just like this court does this session."
The Supreme Court will now decide whose interpretation is correct.
Similar lawsuits are being heard around the country, according to the Associated Press.
Already, Netflix and Hulu won their arguments in Arkansas, Nevada, California and Texas. The Supreme Court in Tennessee will hear arguments next month. The city of Knoxville also sued Netflix and Hulu. There's also a case pending in Missouri.
Four cities in Indiana sued not just Netflix and Hulu, but also Disney+, DIRECTV, and DISH.
Morgan Trau at WEWS first reported this story. | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/ohio-city-sues-netflix-hulu-for-cable-fees | 2022-04-14T18:42:13 | 1 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/ohio-city-sues-netflix-hulu-for-cable-fees |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — An Alabama man has been charged with defrauding a Jefferson County retirement plan by collecting benefits that weren’t his.
According to a press release from the US Department of Justice, Gary Dean Gibbs Jr. is accused of receiving money from the General Retirement System for Employees of Jefferson County that was intended to go to his father, who was a retired, former employee of the county. The only problem was that his father had died in 2017.
Authorities believe Gibbs, 52, had hidden his father’s death and from September 2017 to February 2022, he forged his father’s signature and used his personal identifiers to continue to get paid by the retirement plan. Gibbs is said to have collected approximately $132,646.12 from GRS.
According to a plea agreement filed Thursday, Gibbs agreed to plead guilty to the charge of wire fraud. The maximum penalty for the charge is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 bond. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/man-charged-with-hiding-fathers-death-receiving-his-retirement-benefits-from-jefferson-county/ | 2022-04-14T18:42:15 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/man-charged-with-hiding-fathers-death-receiving-his-retirement-benefits-from-jefferson-county/ |
The Republican National Committee (RNC) voted unanimously Thursday to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).
The RNC claims the commission is biased and "refused to enact simple and commonsense reforms to help ensure fair debates."
"We are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
In the same statement, McDaniel said, "We are not walking away from debates. We are walking away from the CPD."
Former President Donald Trump was a vocal critic of the Commission on Presidential Debates, claiming they were unfair. He threatened to not participate in the debates but ultimately showed up.
The CPD has run all presidential debates since 1988. | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/republican-national-committee-votes-to-withdraw-from-commission-on-presidential-debates | 2022-04-14T18:42:19 | 0 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/republican-national-committee-votes-to-withdraw-from-commission-on-presidential-debates |
NEW YORK (PIX11) — Frank R. James, the man accused of shooting 10 subway riders in Brooklyn on Tuesday, appeared in court on Thursday and was ordered held without bail.
During his arraignment, prosecutors alleged James, 62, terrified the “entire city” when he allegedly put on a gas mask, set off smoke bombs and fired a gun 33 times onboard an N train in Sunset Park during Tuesday morning’s rush-hour commute.
James was arrested Wednesday on the Lower East Side after he called the NYPD CrimeStoppers tip line on himself, according to law enforcement sources. Investigators were still examining the possible motive in the attack.
James spoke only to answer “yes” to standard questions during the brief proceeding in a federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday He faces federal terrorism charges. The specific charge applies to attacks on mass transit systems, but there’s currently no evidence linking James to terror organizations, officials said.
“The defendant terrifyingly opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning commute in a way the city hasn’t seen in more than 20 years,” Assistant U.S. attorney Sara K. Winik said. “The defendant’s attack was premeditated, was carefully planned, and it caused terror among the victims and our entire city.”
James’ lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, agreed to his being held without bail, at least for now. His attorneys could seek bail later on.
“What happened in the New York City subway system on Tuesday was a tragedy. It is a blessing that it was not worse,” James’ lawyer said. “We are all still learning about what happened on that train and we caution against a rush to judgment. What we do know is this: Yesterday, Mr. James saw his photograph on the news. He called CrimeStoppers to help. He told them where he was. Initial press and police reports in cases like this one are often inaccurate. Mr. James is entitled to a fair trial and we will ensure that he receives one.”
At the request of James’ lawyers, Magistrate Roanne Mann said she would ask the federal Bureau of Prisons to provide James with “psychiatric attention,” as well as magnesium tablets for leg cramps, at the federal lockup in Brooklyn where he’s being held.
Durning the investigation, police and agents searched homes connected to James in Philadelphia and a storage unit in Wisconsin.
James faces up to life in prison if he’s convicted, prosecutors said.
He allegedly put on a gas mask on a northbound N train just before 8:25 a.m. Tuesday, then pulled out two canisters and opened fire as smoke filled the train, police said. Seven men and three women were shot. James allegedly fired 33 times.
Police said James has a criminal history. He was arrested multiple times from 1992-1998, including multiple times in New York and three times in New Jersey | https://www.cbs42.com/news/national/brooklyn-subway-attack-suspect-frank-james-held-without-bail/ | 2022-04-14T18:42:21 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/national/brooklyn-subway-attack-suspect-frank-james-held-without-bail/ |
The United Nations said the recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic could be slowed by Russia’s war with Ukraine, especially for the developing nations.
The UN says that despite the economic effects posed by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, it is “no excuse for inaction.” The UN also cites a drop in aid from developed nations to developing nations.
“There is no excuse for inaction at this defining moment of collective responsibility to ensure hundreds of millions of people are lifted out of hunger and poverty. We must invest in access to decent and green jobs, social protection, healthcare, and education, leaving no one behind,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said.
“The Ukraine crisis risks tipping up to 1.7 billion people — over one-fifth of humanity — into poverty, destitution, and hunger,” the UN said. The organization said Russia has 30% of the world’s wheat and barley supply, one-fifth of its maize, and over half of its sunflower oil.
Earlier in the week, the UN released a report indicating the COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate the divide between developed and developing nations. The organization estimates the pandemic pushed 77 million people globally into poverty.
The report estimates that 1 in 5 developing countries’ GDP per capita would not return to 2019 levels by the end of 2023, even before absorbing the impacts of the Ukraine war, the UN said.
Adding insult to injury, 13 developed nations have decreased support for developing countries.
“The developed world proved in the last two years that millions can be lifted out of poverty by the right kind of investment – in resilient and clean infrastructure, social protection or public services,” said UN Under Secretary-General Liu Zhenmin, head of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which produced the report. “The international community must build on that progress and ensure developing countries can invest at similar levels while reducing inequality and securing a sustainable energy transition.”
In a separate report, the UN indicated that 30% of the world’s grain. | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/russia-ukraine-conflict/un-ukraine-war-could-pose-challenges-for-developing-nations | 2022-04-14T18:42:25 | 1 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/russia-ukraine-conflict/un-ukraine-war-could-pose-challenges-for-developing-nations |
Trump aide Stephen Miller will appear before the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. That's according to two people familiar with the matter.
It’s unclear whether Miller will appear Thursday in person or virtually. Miller hasn’t returned a message seeking comment.
Miller was a senior adviser for policy during President Donald Trump's administration and a central figure in many of the Republican's policy decisions. Miller had resisted previous efforts by the committee, filing a lawsuit last month seeking to quash a committee subpoena for his phone records.
The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private testimony.
The committee has sought testimony from a number of members of the Trump administration. A week ago, the House voted to hold advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress. The matter was referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution. | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/sources-trump-aide-stephen-miller-to-speak-to-1-6-panel | 2022-04-14T18:42:31 | 0 | https://www.wrtv.com/news/national/sources-trump-aide-stephen-miller-to-speak-to-1-6-panel |
Fenway Park in Boston will be home to the 2023 NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2 as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Boston Bruins.
Both teams announced the news on Wednesday on social media.
Gonna be a Classic. ❄️
🗓 1.2.23
🆚 🐻 | 🐧
📺 @NHL_On_TNT
📰 https://t.co/HWsZfKaYwb pic.twitter.com/gpGZfU6tyA— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 13, 2022
Winter Classic, here we come!
We'll see you on January 2, 2023, @NHLBruins.
Details: https://t.co/A4bFKaSdpC pic.twitter.com/Y2CRnSPG0I
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 14, 2022
The game will be shown on TNT in the U.S. and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada, the league said in a press release.
This marks the second time the historic ballpark will play host to the Winter Classic, with the first one taking place in 2010 when the Bruins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in overtime.
The January 2023 game will be the 15th NHL Winter Classic and the 35th NHL regular-season outdoor game overall.
This will be the Bruins' fifth time participating in an NHL regular-season outdoor game and the Penguins' sixth regular-season outdoor game.
Boston is 3-1-0 in their previous regular-season outdoor appearances, and Pittsburgh is 2-2-1. | https://www.wrtv.com/sports/bruins-to-host-penguins-for-2023-nhl-winter-classic-at-fenway-park | 2022-04-14T18:42:37 | 1 | https://www.wrtv.com/sports/bruins-to-host-penguins-for-2023-nhl-winter-classic-at-fenway-park |
On the third Monday in April— known as Patriots' Day in Massachusetts— thousands of runners take off from a starting line in Hopkinton for the 26.2-mile journey that is the Boston Marathon.
For Steve and Mark Godale, brothers from Aurora, Ohio, running in the race is more than just a tradition. It's a downright streak.
"It's the greatest foot race in the world. Nothing compares to it," Mark Godale said.
Steve and Mark, who are 53-years-old and 52-years-old respectively, have started and finished the Boston Marathon 28 consecutive times, racking up a countless number of training and racing miles and earning the coveted unicorn medal for each marathon.
Boston Marathon officials don't keep specific records on the number of marathons completed by siblings, but to their knowledge, no sibling duo has received more Boston medals in a row than the Godale brothers.
This weekend, they will head to Boston once again. They'll lace up their shoes for the 29th time and participate in the oldest marathon in the world. The 126th edition of the race gets underway on the morning of April 18.
"When you think about it, the number of people that can run a marathon is only .5%, and to have the two of us running together is just phenomenal," Steve Godale said.
"I think it's incredible, both of us starting exactly the same year," Mark Godale said.
In addition to many medals, the brothers have several racing bibs, pictures, and iconic Boston Marathon Jackets.
Steve Godale showed off his first jacket from 1994, which was noticeably heavier than recent versions.
"Some people want this jacket," he said with a laugh. "It's just cool to walk around and people are asking what year is that?"
What the siblings have done on their feet is truly an amazing feat when you consider they had to meet challenging time qualification standards just to get the chance to run Boston. After doing the race for 25 consecutive years, they are able to enter without qualifying.
"But I'm still qualifying," Godale said.
They both have impressive PRs (personal records) at the Boston Marathon. Steve Godale has finished in 2 hours and 43 minutes and Mark Godale's best time is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
"One time, he actually kicked me down the last 200 meters and I think he was just sitting on my butt because he saw me ahead of him and just passed me," Godale said.
The atmosphere and crowd support during the Boston Marathon are unmatched, the brothers said. Most of their memories are joyful with the exception of the bombings in 2013 that left three spectators dead and injured dozens of others.
"It was pretty shocking. It was a sad day for everyone," Godale said.
The younger Godale said injuries in recent years have made it challenging to make it back to Boston, but he's excited to give it his all on Patriots' Day.
"I will run it until I can't run anymore," he said with a smile.
Steve Godale said he would like to keep the streak going for 50 years, which would put him in his 70s.
"You just got to do one at a time," he said.
This article was written by Bob Jones for WEWS. | https://www.wrtv.com/sports/running-streak-ohio-brothers-prepare-for-29th-boston-marathon-in-a-row | 2022-04-14T18:42:43 | 0 | https://www.wrtv.com/sports/running-streak-ohio-brothers-prepare-for-29th-boston-marathon-in-a-row |
WOODLAND, Wash. — A Washington man was killed after a tree fell on top of his truck Wednesday morning, according to Washington State Patrol (WSP).
The truck was traveling northbound on State Route 503, also known as Lewis River Road, at milepost 50 in Cowlitz County when a large tree from a nearby hill fell and hit the truck, WSP said. Edward Norton, 53, died.
Earlier this week, an April snowstorm brought between a dusting and several inches of snow to parts of Southwest Washington and the valley floor in Oregon. WSP did not say whether the severe weather contributed to the man's death.
At least two record low temperatures for April were tied or set Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Sea-Tac Airport recorded a low of 32 degrees on April 13, which tied the coldest April day on record, set on April 4, 1975. Olympia recorded a low of 28 degrees and broke the previous coldest April day record of 30 degrees set on April 19, 2008.
Hazel Dell reported two inches of snow Monday morning while Ridgefield saw 5.5 inches and Skamania had 7.5 inches.
In Oregon, the snow on Monday caused multiple road closures throughout Portland's West Hills area. All lanes of Highway 26 were also closed for a period of time between Interstate 405 and the State Highway 217 interchange due to downed trees.
School districts, including large districts like Portland, Beaverton, Tigard-Tualatin and Vancouver, announced closures and delays due to the snow.
Thousands of Portland General Electric (PGE) and Pacific Power customers went without power in Portland and surrounding areas. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/woodland-man-killed-downed-tree/283-48979cd6-3d97-4c10-86ca-86c225ba4ab3 | 2022-04-14T18:48:40 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/woodland-man-killed-downed-tree/283-48979cd6-3d97-4c10-86ca-86c225ba4ab3 |
WASHINGTON — The man accused of opening fire on a crowded subway train in Brooklyn was ordered held without bail as prosecutors told a judge Thursday he terrified all of New York City.
Frank James, 62, spoke only to answer “yes” to standard questions during the brief proceeding in a federal court in Brooklyn.
He was arrested in Manhattan on Wednesday, a day after authorities say he unleashed smoke bombs and dozens of bullets in a train full of morning commuters, shooting 10 people. He's charged with a federal terrorism offense that applies to attacks on mass transit systems — authorities say there's currently no evidence linking him to terror organizations.
“The defendant terrifyingly opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning commute in a way the city hasn’t seen in more than 20 years," Assistant U.S. attorney Sara K. Winik said. "The defendant’s attack was premeditated, was carefully planned, and it caused terror among the victims and our entire city.”
The victims, who range in age from 16 to 60, are all expected to survive.
In court papers, prosecutors called the shooting calculated, saying that James wore a hard hat and construction worker-style jacket as a disguise and then shed them after the gunfire to avoid recognition. Prosecutors suggested James had the means to carry out more more attacks, noting that he had ammunition and other gun-related items in a Philadelphia storage unit.
His lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, agreed to his being held without bail, at least for now. His attorneys could seek bail later on.
At the request of James’ lawyers, Magistrate Roanne Mann said she would ask the federal Bureau of Prisons to provide James with “psychiatric attention,” as well as magnesium tablets for leg cramps, at the federal lockup in Brooklyn where he's being held.
James didn’t respond to shouted questions from reporters Wednesday as he was led from a police precinct into a car headed for a federal detention center.
Authorities say a trove of evidence connects James to the attack. His bank card, his cell phone and a key to a van he had rented were found at the shooting scene. Officers also found the handgun they said was used in the shooting; tracing records show James purchased the gun from a licensed gun dealer in Ohio in 2011.
Investigators were examining many hours of videos that James posted on social media, including one a day before the attack, in which he delivered profanity-laced diatribes about racism, society's treatment of Black people, homelessness and violence. He also talked about his history of psychiatric treatment, and he complained about how New York's mayor is dealing with homeless people on subways and with gun violence.
He also talked about shooting people, prosecutors noted in court papers.
James was born and raised in New York City but had moved to Milwaukee. He'd recently left Wisconsin and had briefly lived in Philadelphia. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/nation-world/subway-attack-suspect-ordered-to-be-held-without-bail/507-dad5b576-ac79-484f-aa3e-50d0ebd2a1e3 | 2022-04-14T18:48:46 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/nation-world/subway-attack-suspect-ordered-to-be-held-without-bail/507-dad5b576-ac79-484f-aa3e-50d0ebd2a1e3 |
As the comedy world mourns Gilbert Gottfried, Kelly Rizzo is paying tribute on behalf of her late husband Bob Saget.
Just one day after Gottfried passed away at the age of 67, Rizzo, who recently lost Saget, reflected on the two comics' bond.
"Bob loved Gilbert so dearly," Rizzo wrote on Twitter April 13.
She reshared a photo from Gottfried's Instagram that showed the pals sitting in a restaurant booth along with Norm Macdonald, who died in September after a private cancer battle, and Jeff Ross. Rizzo wrote that Saget "had a special friendship" with Gottfried, adding, "As he did with everyone in this photo."
Rizzo then sent her love to her "wonderful friend Jeff," noting "Gilbert's loss is beyond painful for him," and expressed how she was thinking of Gottfried's "amazing &strong wife" Dara Kravitz, concluding her message by writing "Much love &support to his family."
Gottfried's friend and publicist Glenn Schwartz told People the "beloved and iconic comedian," who was also an actor and provided voices for several characters including Iago in Aladdin, "passed away at 2:35 p.m. ET on April 12, 2022, from Recurrent Ventricular Tachycardia due to Myotonic Dystrophy type II." He was 67 years old. Gottfried's family described him as a "wonderful husband, brother, friend, and father to his two young children" Lily, 14, and Max, 12.
In a statement posted to Instagram, Ross shared how he "got to say goodbye to Gil" before Gottfried's passing. "He went quietly (surprising, I know) in his sleep from a rare muscle disease that's been bugging him for awhile," he wrote. "He handled it all like a champ - performing until the end. Nobody made me laugh so hard. He was a wonderful pal and a great dad to young Max and Lily. My heart goes out to Dara who took such great care of him. Although today is a sad day, please keep laughing as loud as possible so Gil and Bob and Norm can hear it. Xo."
Gottfried's death comes three months after Saget's passing. The Full House alum, who played Danny Tanner on the series and its spinoff, was found dead inside a hotel room in Florida, where he'd been on tour, on Jan. 9. His family announced that "authorities have determined that Bob passed from head trauma," noting, "They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep."
After Saget's passing, Gottfried paid tribute to his friend on social media. "Still in shock," he wrote on Instagram Jan. 9. "I just spoke with Bob a few days ago. We stayed on the phone as usual making each other laugh. RIP to friend, comedian & fellow Aristocrat Bob Saget."
Just a few weeks later, he posted a throwback photo of the duo with Louie Anderson, whose death was confirmed on Jan. 21 days after he'd had been hospitalized for Diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
"This photo is very sad now," Gottfried wrote at the time. "RIP Bob Saget and RIP Louie Anderson. Both good friends that will be missed." | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/kelly-rizzo-reflects-on-husband-bob-sagets-friendship-with-gilbert-gottfried/3646733/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:22 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/kelly-rizzo-reflects-on-husband-bob-sagets-friendship-with-gilbert-gottfried/3646733/ |
Seven-time Olympic champion Allyson Felix announces plans to retire after 2022 season
Allyson Felix — the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete in Olympics history — announced that she plans to retire following the conclusion of the 2022 season.
During her illustrious career, she won 11 Olympic medals — seven of them gold — and 13 world championship titles.
"As a little girl they called chicken legs, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I'd have a career like this," Felix said in an Instagram post Wednesday.
"I have so much gratitude for this sport that has changed my life. I have given everything I have to running and for the first time I'm not sure if I have anything left to give."
The 36-year-old began her career specializing in the 200 meters, winning an Olympic silver at Athens 2004 and becoming the youngest ever world champion in the discipline in 2005 at age 19.
At the 2008 Beijing Games she guided the U.S. women's 4x400m relay team to a gold medal.
This was the first of six relay Olympic gold medals — four as part of the 4x400m relay and two in the 4x100m relay. Felix was also crowned the individual 200m champion in 2012.
"I want to say goodbye and thank you to the sport and people who have helped shape me the only way I know how — with one last run. This season isn't about the time on the clock, it's simply about joy," her Instagram post continued.
Outside of athletics, Felix has highlighted the issue of maternal mortality among Black women, testifying before the House Committee on Ways and Means, after she gave birth to her daughter Camryn via emergency C-section at 32 weeks in November 2018.
In a New York Times op-ed, she accused her long-term sponsor Nike of penalizing her and other pregnant athletes in contract negotiations. She soon left Nike and signed with Athleta while Nike have since expanded their protections for pregnant women and new mothers.
Felix won two world championship gold medals less than a year after giving birth — her 12th and 13th overall — and surpassed Usain Bolt's record for the most world championship titles won by any track and field athlete.
"If you see me on the track this year I hope to share a moment, a memory and my appreciation with you," Felix said. "This season I'm running for women. I'm running for a better future for my daughter. I'm running for you." | https://www.koat.com/article/allyson-felix-announces-plans-to-retire/39726407 | 2022-04-14T18:51:22 | 1 | https://www.koat.com/article/allyson-felix-announces-plans-to-retire/39726407 |
$80 million ‘Field of Dreams’ movie site expansion unveiled
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (KCRG/Gray News) - The “Field of Dreams” movie site will soon feature more baseball fields, team dormitories, a hotel and an outdoor concert amphitheater.
The new owners of the “Field of Dreams” movie site, Go the Distance Baseball, LLC, unveiled their master plan to expand the site after buying it in September.
The $80 million expansion will add nearly 100 acres to the original 190-acre site. That additional land will provide space for nine new baseball fields, dormitories for youth teams, and a hotel to be completed in phases by the end of 2023.
Other additions include a 100,000-square-foot field house, an outdoor concert amphitheater, an RV park, jogging trails and a large park inclusive for children and adults with disabilities. These additions will be completed in phases through 2025.
In a news release, Go the Distance Baseball said the plan will create a youth baseball and softball oasis while maintaining the property as a working farm.
“I am grateful for all that the game of baseball gave me throughout my career, and now I am proud and excited to lead a team that is building opportunities for players, fans and families to enjoy our national pastime and for teams to train and compete,” said Frank Thomas, CEO of Go the Distance Baseball and a first-ballot member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Go the Distance Baseball also said the development will create about 170 new full-time equivalent jobs.
Copyright 2022 KCRG via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/80-million-field-dreams-movie-site-expansion-unveiled/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:27 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/80-million-field-dreams-movie-site-expansion-unveiled/ |
Maisie Williams starred as the third child and youngest daughter of Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn Stark of Winterfell over the course of "Game of Thrones'" eight-year run. But the now-24-year-old revealed in a recent interview that as the show continued, she began to "resent" her character.
"I think that when I started becoming a woman," Williams told GQ UK, "I resented Arya because I couldn't express who I was becoming."
At the beginning of the series, Williams' character was 9 years old. But by the finale in 2019 the actress herself was 22-years-old.
"Then I also resented my body," she continued, "because it wasn't aligned with the piece of me that the world celebrated."
This isn't the first time Williams has spoken out about the issue. Back in 2019, she shared a similar sentiment with Vogue, saying that "around season 2 or 3" her body "started to mature."
"[They] put this strap across my chest to flatten any growth that had started," she said. "I don't know, that just felt horrible for six months of the year, and I felt kind of ashamed for a while."
Does she wish she could go back to her "Game of Thrones" days? Well, the answer is complicated.
When asked by GQ what part she misses the most about her time on the show, Williams replied: "Can I say none of it?"
But just because Williams doesn't miss the show, doesn't mean she didn't appreciate her time on the HBO hit.
"I don't think it's healthy [to miss it], because I loved it," she explained. "I look at it so fondly, and I look at it with such pride. But why would I want to make myself feel sad about the greatest thing that ever happened to me? I don't want to associate that with feelings of pain."Maisie Williams, who starred as Arya Stark on Game of Thrones, shared how her feelings about the character changed over the HBO hit’s eight-year run. Find out why here! | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/why-maisie-williams-began-to-resent-her-game-of-thrones-character/3646672/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:28 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/why-maisie-williams-began-to-resent-her-game-of-thrones-character/3646672/ |
A jury convicted a British national Thursday for his role in an Islamic State group hostage-taking scheme that took roughly two dozen Westerners captive a decade ago, resulting in the deaths of four Americans, three of whom were beheaded.The jury deliberated for four hours before finding El Shafee Elsheikh guilty on all counts. Elsheikh stood motionless and gave no visible reaction as the verdict was read. He now faces up to a life sentence in prison.In convicting Elsheikh, the jury concluded that he was one of the notorious "Beatles," Islamic State captors nicknamed for their accents and known for their cruelty — torturing and beating prisoners, forcing them to fight each other until they collapsed and even making them sing cruel song parodies. Surviving hostages testified that the Beatles delighted themselves rewriting "Hotel California" as "Hotel Osama" and making them sing the refrain "You will never leave."The guilty finding came even though none of the surviving hostages could identify Elsheikh as one of their captors. Although the Beatles had distinctive accents, they always took great care to hide their faces behind masks and ordered hostages to avoid eye contact or risk a beating.Prosecutors suggested in opening statements that Elsheikh was the Beatle nicknamed "Ringo" but only had to prove that Elshiekh was one of the Beatles because testimony showed that all three were major players in the scheme.Elsheikh, who was captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian defense Forces in 2018, eventually confessed his role in the scheme to interrogators as well as media interviewers, acknowledging that he helped collect email addresses and provided proof of life to the hostages' families as part of ransom negotiations.But testimony showed that he and the other Beatles were far more than paper pushers. The surviving hostages, all of whom were European — the American and British hostages were all killed — testified that they dreaded the Beatles' appearance at the various prisons to which they constantly shuttled and relocated.Surviving witness Federico Motka recounted a time in the summer of 2013 when he and cellmate David Haines were put in a room with American hostage James Foley and British hostage John Cantlie for what they called a "Royal Rumble." The losers were told they'd be waterboarded. Weak from hunger, two of the four passed out during the hourlong battle.The convictions on all eight counts in U.S. District Court in Alexandria revolved around the deaths of four American hostages: Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. All but Mueller were executed in videotaped beheadings circulated online. Mueller was forced into slavery and raped multiple times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.They were among 26 hostages taken captive between 2012 and 2015, when the Islamic State group controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria.Defense lawyers acknowledged that Elsheikh joined the Islamic State group but said prosecutors failed to prove he was a Beatle. They cited a lack of clarity about which Beatle was which, and back in the trial's opening statement cited the confusion about whether there were three or four Beatles.Prosecutors said there were three — Elsheikh and his friends Alexenda Kotey and Mohammed Emwazi, who all knew each other in England before joining the Islamic State.Emwazi, who as known as "Jihadi John" and carried out the executions, was later killed in a drone strike. Kotey and Elsheikh were captured together in 2018 and brought to Virginia in 2020 to face trial after the U.S. promised not to seek the death penalty. Kotey pleaded guilty last year in a plea bargain that calls for a life sentence but leaves open the possibility that he could serve out his sentence in the United Kingdom after 15 years in the U.S.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A jury convicted a British national Thursday for his role in an Islamic State group hostage-taking scheme that took roughly two dozen Westerners captive a decade ago, resulting in the deaths of four Americans, three of whom were beheaded.
The jury deliberated for four hours before finding El Shafee Elsheikh guilty on all counts. Elsheikh stood motionless and gave no visible reaction as the verdict was read. He now faces up to a life sentence in prison.
In convicting Elsheikh, the jury concluded that he was one of the notorious "Beatles," Islamic State captors nicknamed for their accents and known for their cruelty — torturing and beating prisoners, forcing them to fight each other until they collapsed and even making them sing cruel song parodies. Surviving hostages testified that the Beatles delighted themselves rewriting "Hotel California" as "Hotel Osama" and making them sing the refrain "You will never leave."
The guilty finding came even though none of the surviving hostages could identify Elsheikh as one of their captors. Although the Beatles had distinctive accents, they always took great care to hide their faces behind masks and ordered hostages to avoid eye contact or risk a beating.
Prosecutors suggested in opening statements that Elsheikh was the Beatle nicknamed "Ringo" but only had to prove that Elshiekh was one of the Beatles because testimony showed that all three were major players in the scheme.
Elsheikh, who was captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian defense Forces in 2018, eventually confessed his role in the scheme to interrogators as well as media interviewers, acknowledging that he helped collect email addresses and provided proof of life to the hostages' families as part of ransom negotiations.
Alexandria Sheriff's Office via AP
In this photo provided by the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office is El Shafee Elsheikh who is in custody at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, in Alexandria, Va.
But testimony showed that he and the other Beatles were far more than paper pushers. The surviving hostages, all of whom were European — the American and British hostages were all killed — testified that they dreaded the Beatles' appearance at the various prisons to which they constantly shuttled and relocated.
Surviving witness Federico Motka recounted a time in the summer of 2013 when he and cellmate David Haines were put in a room with American hostage James Foley and British hostage John Cantlie for what they called a "Royal Rumble." The losers were told they'd be waterboarded. Weak from hunger, two of the four passed out during the hourlong battle.
The convictions on all eight counts in U.S. District Court in Alexandria revolved around the deaths of four American hostages: Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. All but Mueller were executed in videotaped beheadings circulated online. Mueller was forced into slavery and raped multiple times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.
They were among 26 hostages taken captive between 2012 and 2015, when the Islamic State group controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Defense lawyers acknowledged that Elsheikh joined the Islamic State group but said prosecutors failed to prove he was a Beatle. They cited a lack of clarity about which Beatle was which, and back in the trial's opening statement cited the confusion about whether there were three or four Beatles.
Prosecutors said there were three — Elsheikh and his friends Alexenda Kotey and Mohammed Emwazi, who all knew each other in England before joining the Islamic State.
Emwazi, who as known as "Jihadi John" and carried out the executions, was later killed in a drone strike. Kotey and Elsheikh were captured together in 2018 and brought to Virginia in 2020 to face trial after the U.S. promised not to seek the death penalty. Kotey pleaded guilty last year in a plea bargain that calls for a life sentence but leaves open the possibility that he could serve out his sentence in the United Kingdom after 15 years in the U.S. | https://www.koat.com/article/islamic-state-fighter-convicted-deaths-4-american-hostages/39727714 | 2022-04-14T18:51:32 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/islamic-state-fighter-convicted-deaths-4-american-hostages/39727714 |
COVID relief is stalled in the Senate with lawmakers on a two-week recess
The Senate is debating a $10 billion package that would provide funding to handle another potential surge in COVID-19 cases as the BA.2 subvariant causes cases to rise.
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The omicron BA.2 subvariant is causing a rise in COVID-19 cases in certain areas of the country. The uptick has lawmakers on Capitol Hill working on another relief funding package.
The Senate is debating a $10 billion package that would provide funding to help handle another possible nationwide surge in COVID cases. Reps. Susie Lee (D-NV) and Dina Titus (D-NV) argue the bill needs to pass immediately. The package stalled before lawmakers left for a two week recess a week ago.
As parts of the northeast are seeing a surge in cases, lawmakers moved toward passing the bill that would bolster funding for things like therapeutics, testing, and vaccines. The stalemate occurred when Republicans tried to add in language in the bill that would prevent the Biden administration from ending a restrictive immigration policy enacted under President Donald Trump for national health reasons.
In response to the Biden administration’s decision to end the public health order under Title 42, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “This White House is using the pandemic as a pretext to shamelessly pick and choose liberal policies to advance. The effects will be functionally open borders while a state of emergency continues for Americans. Completely unacceptable.”
Lee and Titus said the funding package needs to pass before another nationwide crisis.
“The problem with government is too often it’s reactive as opposed to proactive. So we often wait until something becomes a disaster before we get involved in trying to fix it,” said Titus.
“Make these types of what I call a smart investment in preparedness ahead of the curve. I think it’s incredibly important,” said Lee.
Lawmakers will not return to Capitol Hill until the week of April 25, which means picking back up debate on the package is still more than 10 days away, and passing a final bill is even further off.
Copyright 2022 Gray DC. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/covid-relief-is-stalled-senate-with-lawmakers-two-week-recess/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:34 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/covid-relief-is-stalled-senate-with-lawmakers-two-week-recess/ |
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New York LiveDaily lifestyle show giving viewers the best in all things New York -- 11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday and 7:15 p.m. Fridays | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/new-york-live/keeping-it-real-with-garcelle-beauvais/3646526/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:40 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/new-york-live/keeping-it-real-with-garcelle-beauvais/3646526/ |
Migrants bused from Texas arrive in Washington, DC
Published: Apr. 14, 2022 at 12:55 PM CDT|Updated: 55 minutes ago
(CNN) - The first round of migrants bused from Texas to Washington, D.C. arrived at Union Station on Wednesday, with a second arriving early Thursday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started this voluntary transfer of immigrants as a way to blast the Biden administration’s border policies.
Abbott, a Republican, issued a statement saying his state shouldn’t have to “bear the burden of the Biden administration’s failure to secure our border.”
Officials from Catholic Charities D.C. were on hand to meet the migrants and offered assistance, including food and medical care.
So far, there’s been no comment from either the Department of Homeland Security or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/migrants-bused-texas-arrive-washington-dc/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:40 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/migrants-bused-texas-arrive-washington-dc/ |
'I let my temper get the best of me': NBA star apologizes for throwing mouthguard at a fan
NBA player Miles Bridges has apologized for accidentally hitting a young fan with his mouthguard after he was ejected against the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday.
"I let my temper get the best of me," Bridges told reporters in a post-match press conference after the 132-103 loss for his team, the Charlotte Hornets.
"That was definitely the wrong thing to do by throwing my mouthpiece."
He said he was targeting an Atlanta Hawks fan, adding: "I was aiming for the guy that was screaming at me and ... it hit a little girl.
"That's definitely unacceptable on my part, and I take full responsibility. I'm ready for any consequence that the NBA gives me.
"That's on me. That's out of character for me. You've been around me, you know I don't act like that or never flash out like that. So that was definitely wrong, a lot of emotions.
"Hopefully I can get in contact with the young girl and sincerely apologize to her."
A sore defeat
The Hornets forward amassed two technical fouls and was eventually ejected in the fourth quarter after he passionately protested a goaltending call.
While Bridges was walking off the court and towards the locker room, a Hawks fan appeared to yell in his direction and the player responded by throwing his mouthguard, which reportedly landed on a young spectator.
Bridges could face additional penalties for his behavior, according to the official NBA website.
The Hornets haven't made the playoffs since 2016. They showed promise at the end of the first half, earning 29 points against their opponents' 28. But Hawks forward De'Andre Hunter wrapped up his team's victory by smashing a third quarter surge, after rising point guard star Trae Young netted 24 points.
By the end of the game Hunter had achieved 22 points, while Danilo Gallinari and Clint Capela finished with 18 points and 15 points respectively. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter also made sizeable contributions to the Hawks' win, scoring 13 points each. | https://www.koat.com/article/nba-star-apologizes-throwing-mouthguard-at-fan/39727089 | 2022-04-14T18:51:42 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/nba-star-apologizes-throwing-mouthguard-at-fan/39727089 |
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Puppy rescued by fire department fostered by firefighter and pit bull advocate
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KOVR) – A puppy in California is ready to play after a pretty rough day.
Sacramento fire crews rescued the little guy, covered in burned plastic and with his fur singed, during a debris fire Tuesday.
The captain on the scene knew the puppy needed a good friend, so he called Mike Thawley at Station 19.
“He said ‘Do you want him?’ and I said ‘Yes,’” Thawley said.
Thawley is fostering the pup while Front Street Animal Shelter finds him a forever home. The puppy is already making himself comfortable.
“He perked up pretty good when we gave him water, a bath, some food, started picking off some of the plastic and then yesterday personality started coming out, tail wagging, following us around chewing,” Thawley said.
This isn’t the first time Thawley has fostered a dog the fire crews had rescued. Five years ago, he took in Chunk, an abandoned pit bull found chained to a fence.
Thawley is an advocate for pit bulls. He said knew right away the dog was home. And that’s where she’s been ever since. He had documented her journey on social media.
“We had well over 30 million people following Chunk,” Thawley said. “Donations into Front Street, donations to the bully rescues, Chunk had a two-page article in Women’s World magazine and an award from PETA.”
Thawley said its a doggone shame someone would leave a puppy in such bad conditions. But he said he hopes the rescue tells a tale of how people can help other rescue and shelter animals.
Copyright 2022 KOVR via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/puppy-rescued-by-fire-department-fostered-by-firefighter-pit-bull-advocate/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:47 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/puppy-rescued-by-fire-department-fostered-by-firefighter-pit-bull-advocate/ |
The 62-year-old man accused of shooting 10 people and injuring more than a dozen others committed a "premeditated" rush-hour transit attack that triggered the worst commute disruption the city has seen in 20 years, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Suspect Frank James, wearing a beige prison uniform, nodded when a judge asked him if he understood the federal charge against him. He waived his rights to a preliminary hearing and was ordered detained at his arraignment in Brooklyn federal court Thursday. James has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
"The defendant’s attack was entirely premeditated. The day before the shooting,
the defendant picked up a U-Haul in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which he drove over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and into Brooklyn in the early morning hours of April 12," prosecutors said in the detention memo. "The defendant came to Brooklyn prepared with all of the weapons and tools he needed to carry out the mass attack."
Those items, according to court papers, included a Glock 17 pistol bought by the suspect, a container with gasoline, a torch and fireworks with explosive powder. All were later found on the platform at the 36th Street and Fourth Avenue subway station.
James allegedly also disguised himself during the attack and tossed the costume in the chaos that followed in order to flee the subway station undetected, prosecutors said. He was traveling the trains after the attack with a second card that investigators didn't know he had, according to a senior law enforcement official. James also had a second phone, the other was recovered at the crime scene, and authorities on Thursday are working to get into the device.
Law enforcement officers recovered a stockpile of weapons and ammunition from other locations allegedly controlled by James, prosecutors said. They found an empty magazine for a Glock handgun, a taser, a high-capacity rifle magazine, and a blue smoke canister in the apartment where he stayed before traveling to Brooklyn. They also found a propane tank, pillow and chair in the U-Haul linked to the scene. The propane was being used with a heater, according to a senior law enforcement official.
From James' storage unit, investigators recovered 9mm ammunition, a threaded 9mm pistol barrel that allows for a silencer or suppresser to be attached, targets, and .223 caliber ammunition, used with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
Read the full detention memo below.
James' attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg cautioned against a rush to judgment, noting he was the one to call Crime Stoppers and report his own location. Even if he didn't, a senior law enforcement official says police were already working off a Twitter report of a sighting in the Lower East Side.
No follow-up court date was immediately set.
With the suspected shooter behind bars, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are turning their attention to motive as they comb through details of the 62-year-old Black man’s life.
An erratic work history. Arrests for a string of mostly low-level crimes. A storage locker with more ammo. And hours of rambling, bigoted, profanity-laced videos on his YouTube channel that point to a deep, simmering anger.
James posted dozens of videos ranting about race, violence and his struggles with mental illness. One stands out for its relative calm: A silent shot of a packed New York City subway car in which he raises his finger to point out passengers, one by one.
"This nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof, and it’s going to die a violent death," says James in a video where he takes on the moniker "Prophet of Doom."
After a 30-hour manhunt, James was arrested without incident after a tipster — thought by police to be James himself — said he could be found near a McDonald’s on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Mayor Eric Adams triumphantly proclaimed "We got him!" after the arrest.
Police said their top priority was getting the suspect, who has since been charged, off the streets as they investigate their biggest unanswered question: Why?
A prime trove of evidence, they said, is his YouTube videos. He seems to have opinions about nearly everything — racism in America, New York City’s new mayor, the state of mental health services, 9/11, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Black women.
A federal criminal complaint cited one in which James ranted about too many homeless people on the subway and put the blame on New York City’s mayor.
"What are you doing, brother?" he said in the video posted March 27. "Every car I went to was loaded with homeless people. It was so bad, I couldn’t even stand."
James then railed about the treatment of Black people in an April 6 video cited in the complaint, saying, "And so the message to me is: I should have gotten a gun, and just started shooting."
In a video posted a day before the attack, James criticizes crime against Black people and says things would only change if certain people were "stomped, kicked and tortured" out of their "comfort zone."
Surveillance cameras spotted James entering the subway system turnstiles Tuesday morning, dressed as a maintenance or construction worker in a yellow hard hat and orange working jacket with reflective tape.
Police say fellow riders heard him say only “oops” as he set off one smoke grenade in a crowded subway car as it rolled into a station. He then set off a second smoke grenade and started firing, police said. In the smoke and chaos that ensued, police say James made his getaway by slipping into a R-train going the opposite direction and exited after the first stop.
Left behind at the scene was the gun – which a senior law enforcement official confirmed was jammed after 33 shots were fired – extended magazines, a hatchet, detonated and undetonated smoke grenades, a black garbage can, a rolling cart, gasoline and the key to a U-Haul van, police said.
That key led investigators to James, and clues to a life of setbacks and anger as he bounced among factory and maintenance jobs, got fired at least twice, moved among Milwaukee, Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York.
Investigators said James had 12 prior arrests in New York and New Jersey from 1990 to 2007. The nine prior NYC arrests from 1992 to 1998 include possession of burglary, criminal sex act, and theft of service.
In New Jersey, James has three other arrests in 1991, 1992, and 2007, including for trespass, larceny, and disorderly conduct, police said during Wednesday's press conference.
James had no felony convictions and was not prohibited from purchasing or owning a firearm. Police said the gun used in the attack was legally purchased at an Ohio pawn shop in 2011. A close up image of that gun he purchased showed that he tried to obliterate the serial number on it, investigators said. But agents used that number to trace the purchase back to him.
A search of James' Philadelphia storage unit and apartment turned up at least two types of ammunition, including the kind used with an AR-15 assault-style rifle, a taser and a blue smoke cannister.
Police said James was born and raised in New York City. In his videos, he said he finished a machine shop course in 1983 then worked as a gear machinist at Curtiss-Wright, an aerospace manufacturer in New Jersey, until 1991 when he was he was hit by a one-two punch of bad news: He was fired from his job and, soon after, his father whom he had lived with in New Jersey died.
Records show James filed a complaint against the aerospace company in federal court soon after he lost his job alleging racial discrimination, but it was dismissed a year later by a judge. He says in one video, without offering specifics, that he "couldn’t get any justice for what I went through."
A spokesperson for Curtiss-Wright didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
James describes going in and out of several mental health facilities, including two in the Bronx in the 1970s.
"Mr. Mayor, let me say to you I’m a victim of your mental health program in New York City," James says in a video earlier this year, adding he is "full of hate, full anger and bitterness."
Pictures: Multiple People Hurt in Brooklyn Subway Shooting
James says he later was a patient at Bridgeway House, a mental health facility in New Jersey, although that could not be immediately confirmed. Messages left with the facility were not returned.
"My goal at Bridgeway in 1997 was to get off Social Security and go back to f------ work," he says in a video, adding that he enrolled in a college and took a course in computer-aided design and manufacturing.
James says he eventually got a job at telecommunications giant Lucent Technologies in Parsippany, New Jersey, but says he ended up getting fired and returned to Bridgeway House, this time not as a patient but as an employee on the maintenance staff. A message seeking comment was sent to Lucent Technologies.
"I just want to work. I want to be a person that’s productive," he said.
Touches of that earnest, struggling man showed up after James’ parked car was hit in Milwaukee. Eugene Yarbrough, pastor of Mt. Zion Wings of Glory Church of God in Christ next door to James’ apartment, said James was impressed that the pastor owned up to hitting the car. Neither James nor anyone else was there to see the accident. And James called him up to say so.
"I just couldn’t believe it would be him," Yarbrough said. "But who knows what people will do?"
Police and federal agents said that James has had no steady job or fixed address for the past few years. After renting the U-Haul van Monday afternoon in Philadelphia, using his own name, he apparently slept in it — as police later removed bedding, pillows and chairs in the hours after the shooting. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/accused-nyc-subway-gunman-had-3-weapons-stockpiles-for-entirely-premeditated-attack-feds/3646650/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:53 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/accused-nyc-subway-gunman-had-3-weapons-stockpiles-for-entirely-premeditated-attack-feds/3646650/ |
Russian navy warship badly damaged after Ukrainians claim it was hit with missiles
The Russian military sustained a major blow Thursday when the flagship of the country's Black Sea fleet was badly damaged and its crew evacuated. Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the vessel with missiles, while Russia acknowledged a fire aboard the Moskva but no attack.
Related video above: White House stands by Biden calling Ukraine war 'genocide'
The warship named for the Russian capital was 60 to 65 nautical miles south of Odesa when the fire ignited, and the vessel was still battling flames hours later while heading east, according to a Pentagon official. The loss of the ship would be a major military setback and a devastating symbolic defeat for Moscow as its troops regroup for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine after retreating from much of the north, including the capital.
Despite an early report from one Ukrainian official saying the ship had sunk, the Moskva was still moving on its own power, at least for now, a senior U.S defense official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal U.S. military assessments, said the Pentagon could not confirm what caused the fire.
Russia said the fire aboard the ship, which would typically have 500 sailors on board, forced the entire crew to evacuate. It later said the fire had been contained and that the ship would be towed to port with its guided missile launchers intact.
The ship can carry 16 long-range cruise missiles, and its removal from combat would greatly reduce Russia's firepower in the Black Sea. Regardless of the extent of the damage, any attack would represent a huge blow to Russian prestige in a war already widely seen as a historic blunder. Now entering its eighth week, Russia's invasion has stalled because of resistance from Ukrainian fighters bolstered by weapons and other aid sent by Western nations.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC show the Moskva steaming out of the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday. But cloud cover on Thursday made it impossible to use satellite images to locate the ship or determine its condition.
The news of the flagship's damage overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, where they have been battling the Ukrainians since the early days of the invasion in some of the heaviest fighting of the war — at a horrific cost to civilians.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday that 1,026 Ukrainian troops surrendered at a metals factory in the city. But Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, rejected the claim, telling Current Time TV that "the battle over the seaport is still ongoing today."
It was unclear how many forces were still defending Mariupol.
Russian state television broadcast footage that it said was from Mariupol showing dozens of men in camouflage walking with their hands up and carrying others on stretchers. One man held a white flag.
Mariupol's capture is critical for Russia because it would allow its forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the eastern Donbas region, Ukraine's industrial heartland and the target of the coming offensive.
Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukraine in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea. Russia has recognized the independence of the rebel regions in the Donbas.
The loss of the Moskva could delay any new, wide-ranging offensive.
Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the Odesa region, across the Black Sea to the northwest of Sevastopol, said the Ukrainians struck the ship with two Neptune missiles and caused "serious damage."
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine's president, then said the ship sank, calling it an event of "colossal significance." But Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's defense minister, later said he was unable to confirm that the ship was sunk or even hit by Ukrainian forces. He said he was aware of the comments by other Ukrainian officials but "could neither confirm nor deny" what happened.
"If or when this is confirmed, if it is confirmed, we can only have a sigh of relief because this means that fewer missiles will reach Ukrainian cities," he told The Associated Press.
Russia's Defense Ministry said ammunition on board detonated as a result of a fire, without saying what caused the blaze. It later said the ship was afloat and would be towed in for repairs. It said its "main missile weapons" were not damaged. In addition to the cruise missiles, the warship also had air-defense missiles and other guns.
The Neptune is an anti-ship missile that was recently developed by Ukraine and based on an earlier Soviet design. The launchers are mounted on trucks stationed near the coast, and, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the missiles can hit targets up to 175 miles away.
The U.S. was not able to confirm Ukraine's claims of striking the warship, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday. Still, he called it "a big blow to Russia."
"They've had to kind of choose between two stories: One story is that it was just incompetence, and the other was that they came under attack, and neither is a particular the good outcome for them," Sullivan told the Economic Club of Washington.
During the first days of the war, The Moskva was reportedly the warship that called on Ukrainian soldiers stationed on Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender in a standoff. In a widely circulated recording, the soldier responds: "Russian warship, go (expletive) yourself."
The AP could not independently verify the incident, but Ukraine and its supporters consider it an iconic moment of defiance. The country recently unveiled a postage stamp commemorating it.
Russia invaded on Feb. 24, but its ground advance stalled in the face of strong Ukrainian resistance with the help of Western arms, and Russia has lost potentially thousands of fighters. The conflict has killed untold numbers of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions more to flee. It's also threatened the global economy and further inflated already high prices at grocery stores and gasoline pumps around the world.
Russian authorities on Thursday accused Ukraine of sending two low-flying military helicopters across the border and firing on residential buildings in the village of Klimovo in Russia's Bryansk region, some 7 miles from the frontier. Russia's Investigative Committee said seven people, including a toddler, were wounded.
Russia's state security service had earlier said Ukrainian forces fired mortar rounds at a border post in Bryansk as refugees were crossing, forcing them to flee.
The reports could not be independently verified. Earlier this month, Ukrainian security officials denied that Kyiv was behind an airstrike on an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, some 35 miles from the border. | https://www.koat.com/article/russia-warship-ukraine-claims-neptune-missiles/39727257 | 2022-04-14T18:51:53 | 1 | https://www.koat.com/article/russia-warship-ukraine-claims-neptune-missiles/39727257 |
Team of lawyers work to prove innocence of 14-year-old convicted in mother’s murder
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) – Michael Politte was 14 years old when his mother died.
Rita Politte was beaten, then set on fire in December of 1998. Politte and a friend were sleeping in the next room and say they woke up to smoke.
Despite swearing his innocence, Politte was convicted of killing his mother.
“This kid never had a chance,” Politte’s attorney Megan Crane told KCTV.
He’s now 38 years old and will be released from prison at the end of April due to new sentencing guidelines for juveniles.
The crime
“I remember the hair on the back of my neck rising up – I didn’t know what to do,” said Politte. “What’s a 14-year-old kid supposed to do in that moment?”
After he woke up to smoke, he tried to put the fire out himself with a garden hose, but the hose wouldn’t stretch that far.
Politte remembers kneeling down to see what he could see and saw his mother’s legs covered in blood.
“She was on fire from her waist up,” he recalled.
Police expected Politte to be more emotional at the crime scene, maybe even shed tears. But he didn’t. He was quiet – and angry.
“I mean, I can still hear it – I can hear the fire crackling,” said Politte. “There are times I wake up in the morning that I can smell (it). It’s with me forever.”
Politte was defiant throughout the investigation. A police dog alerted investigators to his shoes – three times. Testing revealed gasoline on them.
When the case went to trial, Politte had a public defender. He believed in the system and that the truth would come out.
But with no explanation for gasoline on the shoes, a jury convicted Politte and the judge sentenced him to life in prison.
He’s lived more than half of his life behind bars.
“I can’t describe the feeling of helplessness,” said Politte. “There’s no reason to exist anymore.”
Nagging questions
In the years since Politte’s conviction, many people question whether the court got it right.
His case attracted the attention of the Midwest Innocence Project, the MacArthur Justice Institute and a Kansas City law firm, Langdon & Emison, in part, because of his age.
“According to law enforcement, he just wasn’t acting right. He wasn’t emotional. He wasn’t crying. He wasn’t upset. But psychologists tell us that’s what trauma often looks like, especially in a kid,” Crane explained.
Politte’s attorneys point the court to another possible motive for the murder.
The week of Rita Politte’s murder she was granted alimony, child support and part of her ex-husband’s pension and 401K.
They also argue that her ex-husband, Ed Politte, responded, “You will never see the day when you’ll get the money.”
Investigators found a boot print behind the burning trailer, but Ed Politte was quickly dismissed as a suspect in the case. He had an alibi. He was at work at the time of the murder.
Politte’s current lawyers sent investigators back to Hopewell to conduct new interviews.
That investigation turned up witnesses who place one of Ed’s cousins near the scene of the crime the morning of the fire. Circumstantial evidence suggests he had a financial windfall shortly after the murder. They argue the evidence implicates the cousins in a murder-for-hire scheme.
Ed released the following statement in response to the accusation:
I’m grateful and happy Mike is being released. Now about me, I did a dozen or so interviews with the law. I did a lie detector test, a blood test, a DNA test and fingerprints. I cooperated 100% with the law. I don’t know what else I could have done. My place of work was checked out. My coworkers were interviewed, I have a couple dozen witnesses that placed me 85 miles from my ex…. That’s all I have to say. Your (sic) a reporter I’m sure you can verify what I’ve said. I will discuss this no further. Thank you for atleast(sic) getting my side.
New evidence supports Michael’s innocence claim
More than 20 years after the murder, evidence is now on Politte’s side.
A new test revealed there is no gasoline on the shoes that helped convict him. The newer test can tell the difference between accelerants. The earlier test was positive for the adhesive in the shoes – information that was revealed six years ago.
The majority of jurors who are still alive and even a former member of the sheriff’s office are now advocating for Michael Politte’s release.
“It shouldn’t be this hard. We’re the greatest country in the world, but yet here I am, after six years of discovering that I was wrongfully convicted with false science, my jury was lied to, and I’m still sitting in a prison cell,” Politte said. “I don’t want to be angry – I just want to live.”
Release is not “The End”
As it turns out, Politte will be released from prison at the end of April. Not because a judge ruled in his favor, but because the parole board granted his release due to new sentencing guidelines for juveniles.
Politte plans to visit his mother’s grave soon after his release.
“She can probably finally rest,” he said. “I don’t think she’s been resting since she passed away knowing what happened in the aftermath.”
Politte said he will fight to clear his name. He hopes the local prosecutor will reopen the case and look at new evidence.
Copyright 2022 KCTV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/team-lawyers-work-prove-innocence-14-year-old-convicted-mothers-murder/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:56 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/14/team-lawyers-work-prove-innocence-14-year-old-convicted-mothers-murder/ |
A New Jersey man accused of violently attacking three Jewish men in a string of crimes that started with a carjacking last week will also be charged with terrorism, prosecutors announced Thursday.
The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office initially charged Dion Marsh, 27, on Wednesday with attempted murder, attempted carjacking, attempting kidnapping, unlawful possession of a weapon and bias intimidation but Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkinis approved the terrorism charge as a result of further investigation.
Police said Marsh's crime spree began in Lakewood Township shortly after 1 p.m. on April 8 when he carjacked the Toyota Camry from its driver in the vicinity of Martin Luther King Drive and Pine Street.
The violence escalated when police said Marsh hit a pedestrian around 6 p.m. at Central Avenue and Carlton Avenue.
Before the hour was over, Marsh allegedly stabbed a man over at Pine Circle Drive and Lakewood New Egypt Road. Lakewood officers found the victim with a stab wound to his chest. The 27-year-old would strike again before his eventual arrest, according to police. Marsh ran over another pedestrian, this time in Galassi Court in Jackson Township.
"A thorough review of the totality of the circumstances surrounding his intent, conduct and behavior lead us to the charge of Terrorism," Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a news release. "We are prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that Marsh intended to terrorize the Jewish community in Lakewood and Jackson on April 8, 2022."
Attorney information for Marsh was not immediately known. Police said he was arrested at his home in Manchester Township late Friday. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/alleged-carjacker-in-nj-antisemitic-attacks-faces-terrorism-charge/3646642/ | 2022-04-14T18:51:59 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/alleged-carjacker-in-nj-antisemitic-attacks-faces-terrorism-charge/3646642/ |
Sikhs are suing the US Marine Corps for the right to wear their turbans and beards
Four Sikhs are suing the U.S. Marine Corps over restrictions that effectively force them to choose between their career and their faith.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, attorneys for Capt. Sukhbir Singh Toor and three prospective recruits allege that the Marine Corps refuses to allow the men to keep their beards during most deployments abroad and requires them to remove their turbans and beards during recruit training. Many Sikhs wear a turban and do not cut their hair or shave their beards as an outward commitment to their faith.
The Marine Corps has said its strict grooming standards are in place to ensure uniformity and safety. But lawyers for Toor, Milaap Singh Chahal, Aekash Singh and Jaskirat Singh argue that the standards are unevenly applied and violate the men's religious rights, saying that accommodations granted by other branches of the U.S. military have shown that Sikhs can serve and maintain their articles of faith without issue.
"Assertions that recruits can prove their fidelity to country and comrades only by betraying sacred promises they have made to God are precisely what the First Amendment's Religion Clauses were designed to avert," the attorneys state in the lawsuit.
The Marine Corps directed questions about the lawsuit to the Department of Justice, which declined to comment for this story.
'He basically can't deploy'
Toor, who is currently serving as a field artillery officer in Twentynine Palms, California, made the decision to cut his hair and shave his beard when he joined the Marine Corps in 2017 in order to comply with the force's policies, according to the lawsuit. Once he was selected for a promotion in 2021, he requested a religious accommodation that would allow him to keep his turban and beard.
The Marine Corps responded to Toor's request "'sometimes,' but with exceptions and caveats that render the accommodations meaningless," the lawsuit said. Initially, he was allowed to keep his hair, but prohibited from wearing a turban while serving in ceremonial duties or combat zones. He was allowed to keep a beard only when he wasn't deployed or "subject to deployment on short notice."
Toor appealed that decision, and the Marine Corps ultimately allowed him to wear his articles of faith during ceremonial duties. Still, as it stands, he cannot wear a turban and beard while deployed in areas where he could face hostile fire or imminent danger pay, according to the lawsuit — a list of 39 countries that includes Israel, Uganda and Turkey.
"When you think about the restrictions that are still placed on his accommodation right now, he basically can't deploy," Giselle Klapper, senior staff attorney for The Sikh Coalition, told CNN. "He's a field artillery officer — the nature of what he was trained to do is to deploy, so that's extremely career limiting. He's left on the bench right now."
Milaap Singh Chahal, Aekash Singh and Jaskirat Singh, the three prospective recruits, all requested religious accommodations last year, according to the lawsuit. They were granted a partial accommodation similar to Toor, and were also told that they would have to shave their beards and remove their turbans during boot camp.
"There's this perception that you can pack up your Sikh faith in a suitcase and then pull it out after basic training and quite frankly, that's just not the way it works," Amandeep Sidhu, a partner at the law firm of Winston & Strawn also representing the four men, told CNN. "That's not the way the Sikh faith works. It's not the way that the laws that apply to the Marine Corps work."
The four men declined to be interviewed for the story, but Milaap Singh Chahal, Aekash Singh and Jaskirat Singh said in a joint statement that they "remain ready to meet the high mental and physical standards of the Marine Corps because we want to serve our country alongside the best."
They continued, "We cannot, however, give up our right to our religious faith while doing so — not least of all because that is one of the core American values that we will fight to protect at all costs as proud U.S. Marines."
Advocates dispute the Marine Corps' concerns
The Marine Corps has previously justified its grooming and dress standards by citing an interest in maintaining uniformity in its ranks.
In explaining why it denied Jaskirat Singh's request for accommodation during boot camp, the Marine Corps said "breaking down individuality and training recruits to think of their team first" was a key part of recruit training, according to the lawsuit.
But in recent years, the Sikh Coalition and its legal partners argue, the Marine Corps has relaxed some standards and embraced diversity in ways that contradict that reasoning. The force currently allows some natural hairstyles for women, and in a memo last year, the Marine Corps updated a policy to allow tattoos on any area of the body besides the head, neck and hands.
"The tattoo policy over the years has attempted to balance the individual desires of Marines with the need to maintain the disciplined appearance expected of our profession," U.S. Marine Corps Commandant David H. Berger wrote in the October 2021 bulletin. "This Bulletin ensures that the Marine Corps maintains its ties to the society it represents and removes all barriers to entry for those members of society wishing to join its ranks."
Another concern that the Marine Corps has raised is the question of whether gas masks would fit properly with a beard. But earlier this year, the attorneys argued, the Marine Corps eased restrictions on Marines who aren't able to shave because of certain medical conditions, raising questions about why Sikhs weren't granted full accommodations.
Attorneys for Toor and the three recruits also pointed to how the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force have recently streamlined their processes for religious accommodations and allowed Sikhs serve while maintaining their articles of faith, provided that they conform to certain grooming standards.
"These are guys who just graduated from high school a few years ago, who very specifically want to join the Marines," Sidhu said, referring to the three recruits. "They could have taken the comparatively easy route and decided to join the Army where dozens and dozens of Sikhs are serving and there's a track record, but they wanted to be Marines."
After a similar lawsuit alleging a violation of religious rights was filed against the Navy, the Navy secretary directed the Navy and the Marine Corps last November to study how facial hair affects the function of gas masks, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported. That review is ongoing. | https://www.koat.com/article/sikhs-suing-marine-corps-for-right-to-wear-turbans-beards/39725313 | 2022-04-14T18:52:03 | 1 | https://www.koat.com/article/sikhs-suing-marine-corps-for-right-to-wear-turbans-beards/39725313 |
A Southern California shoe store owner opened fire at two shoplifters, police said, but mistakenly shot a 9-year-old girl about to get her picture with a mall Easter Bunny. The store owner fled the state and was arrested in Nevada, authorities said Wednesday.
Marqel Cockrell, 20, was chasing the shoplifters out of the store Tuesday evening at the Mall of Victor Valley in the small city of Victorville when he “fired multiple shots at the shoplifters,” Victorville police said in a statement.
"Cockrell’s shots missed the shoplifters and instead hit the 9-year-old female victim,” the statement said.
The girl, identified by family members as Ava Chruniak, had been getting ready for pictures with the Easter Bunny in the mall when the shots were fired, said her grandmother, Robin Moraga-Saldarelli. The girl was left with three gunshot wounds, including two in her arm, Moraga-Saldarelli said.
One bullet fractured a bone.
“It’ll be awhile before the bone heals and then we will see the extent of the nerve damage, but she’s a trooper. She really is a tough little kid,” Moraga-Saldarelli told KNBC-TV.
Deputies responding to the reports of gunfire found Ava wounded at about 6:30 p.m., the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.
U.S. & World
She was airlifted to a hospital in stable condition, officials said. The mall’s stores were locked down and customers sheltered inside as deputies searched for the shooter.
Cockrell, a co-owner of the shoe store Sole Addicts, was arrested in his car at about 9 p.m. in Clark County by the Nevada Highway Patrol, Victorville police said.
He was being held Wednesday for lack of $1 million bail at the Clark County Detention Center “on an extraditable warrant, for attempted murder,” Victorville police said. An extradition hearing was scheduled for Thursday and jail and court records did not indicate whether Cockrell had an attorney representing him who could comment on his behalf.
“I’m glad they caught him and he will definitely pay for this. I really hope they throw the book at him," Moraga-Saldarelli told KNBC-TV.
The mall was closed Tuesday after the shooting and reopened on Wednesday. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/girl-mistakenly-shot-waiting-in-line-for-easter-bunny-when-shop-owner-fired-at-shoplifters/3646692/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:06 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/girl-mistakenly-shot-waiting-in-line-for-easter-bunny-when-shop-owner-fired-at-shoplifters/3646692/ |
$80 million ‘Field of Dreams’ movie site expansion unveiled
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (KCRG/Gray News) - The “Field of Dreams” movie site will soon feature more baseball fields, team dormitories, a hotel and an outdoor concert amphitheater.
The new owners of the “Field of Dreams” movie site, Go the Distance Baseball, LLC, unveiled their master plan to expand the site after buying it in September.
The $80 million expansion will add nearly 100 acres to the original 190-acre site. That additional land will provide space for nine new baseball fields, dormitories for youth teams, and a hotel to be completed in phases by the end of 2023.
Other additions include a 100,000-square-foot field house, an outdoor concert amphitheater, an RV park, jogging trails and a large park inclusive for children and adults with disabilities. These additions will be completed in phases through 2025.
In a news release, Go the Distance Baseball said the plan will create a youth baseball and softball oasis while maintaining the property as a working farm.
“I am grateful for all that the game of baseball gave me throughout my career, and now I am proud and excited to lead a team that is building opportunities for players, fans and families to enjoy our national pastime and for teams to train and compete,” said Frank Thomas, CEO of Go the Distance Baseball and a first-ballot member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Go the Distance Baseball also said the development will create about 170 new full-time equivalent jobs.
Copyright 2022 KCRG via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/80-million-field-dreams-movie-site-expansion-unveiled/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:06 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/80-million-field-dreams-movie-site-expansion-unveiled/ |
BOSTON (AP) — A California-based finance company has agreed to pay more than $900,000 to settle allegations that it was illegally leasing dogs in Massachusetts, the state attorney general’s office said.
As part of the agreement entered in Suffolk Superior Court on Wednesday, Monterey Financial Services LLC will stop collecting on active leases, cancel about $700,000 in outstanding consumer debt on the leases, and transfer full ownership of the dogs to Massachusetts residents, authorities said.
The company will also provide $175,000 in restitution to consumers and pay $50,000 to the state.
Leasing dogs is illegal in Massachusetts, and can often be an expensive way to own a pet because of high finance charges, according to the attorney general.
Authorities had alleged that the Oceanside, California, firm violated Massachusetts consumer protection laws by purchasing and collecting on leases for dogs, and also engaging in illegal practices to collect outstanding balances on those leases.
A voicemail seeking comment was left with Monterey.
“Families in Massachusetts looking to get a dog should not be trapped in leasing agreements that are harmful, expensive, and illegal,” Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.
Leasing a dog is much like leasing a car, the attorney general’s office said. The consumer must make monthly payments for the duration of the lease, plus an additional payment at the end of the lease to ultimately own the dog. Missed payments can result in the dog being repossessed, the office said.
The attorney general’s office learned of Monterey’s dog leasing practices while it was investigating another financial company, Nevada-based Credova Financial, which agreed to waive more than $126,000 in consumer debt. | https://www.cenlanow.com/ap-strange-news/company-settles-dog-leasing-allegations-for-more-than-900k/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:11 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/ap-strange-news/company-settles-dog-leasing-allegations-for-more-than-900k/ |
The international Red Cross says it’s rolling out its largest-ever cash assistance program to help more than 2 million people in Ukraine or who have fled abroad cope with the fallout from Russia’s invasion.
Nicole Robicheau, spokeswoman of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said Thursday the organization plans to distribute “well over 100 million” Swiss francs — about $106 million –- to people affected by Russia’s seven-week-old war in Ukraine.
Humanitarian groups like the IFRC have recently touted the effectiveness of cash assistance programs for people in places hit by events like natural disasters, drought, famine and conflict, as a way to “allow people to decide what they need” and “put money back into the local economy,” Robicheau said by phone.
The program aims to help some 360,000 people inside Ukraine and many more in countries of refuge.
IFRC says it and national Red Cross organizations have already helped over 1 million people with items like blankets, food, mats and kitchen equipment.
This is a live update. Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/red-cross-rolling-out-largest-ever-cash-assistance-program-to-help-ukrainians/3646813/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:12 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/red-cross-rolling-out-largest-ever-cash-assistance-program-to-help-ukrainians/3646813/ |
Trump aide Stephen Miller to testify to Jan. 6 committee, AP source says
Stephen Miller, who served as a top aide to President Donald Trump, will appear Thursday before the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Miller was a senior adviser for policy during the Trump administration and a central figure in many of the Republican's policy decisions. He had resisted previous efforts by the committee, filing a lawsuit last month seeking to quash a committee subpoena for his phone records.
The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private testimony. It's unclear whether Miller will appear in person or virtually. A spokesperson for the committee said the panel had no comment, and Miller did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Miller’s scheduled testimony before the committee comes weeks after Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, also agreed to sit down with congressional investigators, months after the committee had reached out.
The nine-member panel subpoenaed the former Trump adviser in November along with Steve Bannon and former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the panel, said in a statement at the time that Miller had “participated in efforts to spread false information about alleged voter fraud" and to encourage state legislatures to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election by appointing alternate electors.
Thompson has also said that Miller helped prepare Trump's remarks for a rally on the Ellipse that preceded the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and was with Trump when he spoke.
The House voted last week to hold former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt for their monthlong refusal to comply with subpoenas. The move was the third time the panel has referred people in the former president's orbit to the Justice Department for potential prosecution for contempt. The first two referrals, sent late last year, were for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Bannon.
The contempt referral against Bannon resulted in an indictment, with a trial set to start in July. The Justice Department has been slower to decide whether to prosecute Meadows, much to the committee's frustration.
By agreeing to testify, Miller is looking to avoid the fate of the other former advisers and members of the Trump administration. The central facts of the Jan. 6 insurrection are known, but what the committee is hoping to do is fill in the remaining gaps about the attack on the Capitol. Lawmakers say they are committed to presenting a full accounting to make sure it never happens again.
The panel is looking into every aspect of the riot, including what Trump was doing while it unfolded and any connections between the White House and the Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol building.
____
Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report. | https://www.koat.com/article/stephen-miller-to-testify-to-jan-6/39724817 | 2022-04-14T18:52:13 | 1 | https://www.koat.com/article/stephen-miller-to-testify-to-jan-6/39724817 |
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — As a casino dealer, Shamikah Townsend knows when the odds are in her favor.
And they definitely are right now.
While working at one Atlantic City casino last year, she went to a job fair held by a different one, and was surprised at how instantly in-demand she was when the recruiter wanted to hire her as a craps dealer.
“She said, ‘I’ll pay you to move to Florida in two weeks,'” Townsend said. “I didn’t know craps, so I had to be honest and tell her, but I went out and I learned it.”
On Monday, Townsend made her move, getting hired on the spot at a job fair held by the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City.
Townsend is part of a great hiring wave taking place at casinos across the nation as the gambling halls compete to add staff while recovering from the coronavirus pandemic that drove customers away and led to staff reductions.
But casinos are just one of many industries struggling to add new workers, and they find themselves competing with each other not only for casino workers, but for people with experience in the hotel, restaurant and tourism industries, to name just a few.
“Gaming is facing the same labor issues that we see across the broader economy,” said Casey Clark, senior vice president of the American Gaming Association, the casino industry’s national trade group. “In our recent CEO survey, the labor shortage is a top concern across the country.
“Competition for talent is a huge impediment for growth, and we’re also experiencing an expansion of gaming with customer demand increasing,” he said. “Those things are problematic when they happen together.”
That has led to some innovative tactics, including the use of virtual reality goggles at some MGM Resorts International job fairs to let applicants experience what the job will be like before signing on the dotted line.
Atlantic City’s casinos are also talking with state government agencies about funding new transit options to get people to jobs at casinos from farther-out places. One possibility: something like the contract the Borgata had with a state transit agency in 2008 for a daily shuttle bus between its Atlantic City casino and Camden — an hour-long trip reaching clear across the state.
In Clark County, Nevada, home to Las Vegas, an economic development official said last month more than 40,000 jobs have gone unfilled since the state’s casinos reopened after a temporary closure in 2020. During one job fair in February, Caesars Entertainment was looking to hire 500 people.
Nationwide, there were about 1.65 million workers employed in the gambling, amusement and recreation sectors of the U.S. economy in March, representing about 91% of the pre-pandemic workforce, Clark said. The AGA said it does not have a figure for casino employment alone.
Joe Lupo, president of Atlantic City’s Hard Rock casino, is also president of the Casino Association of New Jersey. He estimates there are 2,000 full and part-time casino jobs open in Atlantic City right now, where the overall workforce of 22,000 is down from 49,000 in 2003.
“Coming out of COVID, especially last year, after the restrictions were lifted, the workforce supply just has not been available,” he said. “It’s been difficult for all of us to find enough people. I certainly know after meeting with everyone last week that every property is hiring.”
That has very practical effects in casino resorts, which might not be able to open all their hotel rooms, or open all the craps or roulette tables they have. Restaurants that used to serve 700 tables a night may only be able to do 300, executives said.
As they are in other industries, workers are reaping the benefits of switching jobs, or taking a new one after being unemployed for a time. Casinos are increasing wages and benefits, and are offering to train workers without the type of experience that was once required just to get a foot in the door for an interview.
“Everybody’s looking to hire the same person,” said Bill Callahan, general manager of the Ocean casino in Atlantic City. “We always need people.”
In some departments, “people that made $14 an hour a year ago might now be making $16 or $17,” Callahan said.
Ocean is starting an in-house training program to teach people how to become dealers, something most applicants had to learn on their own before, Callahan added.
The Morongo casino in Cabazon, California, has been regularly holding job fairs since December, and has at least four more scheduled for this month.
In North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians said last month it needed nearly 900 additional workers for its two casinos in the state. Tribal leaders are considering recruiting workers from other countries and housing them in dormitories.
And in West Virginia, racetrack casinos told state regulators last month that a shortage of workers is preventing them from operating at full strength for a third year in a row.
Townsend, the newly hired dealer in Atlantic City, says circumstances are coming together nicely for her.
“I wanted to move up and improve my situation,” she said. “These places have to compete with everybody else for workers now, and there’s money to be had.”
___
Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/a-safe-bet-if-you-want-a-casino-job-odds-are-on-your-side/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:18 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/a-safe-bet-if-you-want-a-casino-job-odds-are-on-your-side/ |
COVID relief is stalled in the Senate with lawmakers on a two-week recess
The Senate is debating a $10 billion package that would provide funding to handle another potential surge in COVID-19 cases as the BA.2 subvariant causes cases to rise.
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The omicron BA.2 subvariant is causing a rise in COVID-19 cases in certain areas of the country. The uptick has lawmakers on Capitol Hill working on another relief funding package.
The Senate is debating a $10 billion package that would provide funding to help handle another possible nationwide surge in COVID cases. Reps. Susie Lee (D-NV) and Dina Titus (D-NV) argue the bill needs to pass immediately. The package stalled before lawmakers left for a two week recess a week ago.
As parts of the northeast are seeing a surge in cases, lawmakers moved toward passing the bill that would bolster funding for things like therapeutics, testing, and vaccines. The stalemate occurred when Republicans tried to add in language in the bill that would prevent the Biden administration from ending a restrictive immigration policy enacted under President Donald Trump for national health reasons.
In response to the Biden administration’s decision to end the public health order under Title 42, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “This White House is using the pandemic as a pretext to shamelessly pick and choose liberal policies to advance. The effects will be functionally open borders while a state of emergency continues for Americans. Completely unacceptable.”
Lee and Titus said the funding package needs to pass before another nationwide crisis.
“The problem with government is too often it’s reactive as opposed to proactive. So we often wait until something becomes a disaster before we get involved in trying to fix it,” said Titus.
“Make these types of what I call a smart investment in preparedness ahead of the curve. I think it’s incredibly important,” said Lee.
Lawmakers will not return to Capitol Hill until the week of April 25, which means picking back up debate on the package is still more than 10 days away, and passing a final bill is even further off.
Copyright 2022 Gray DC. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/covid-relief-is-stalled-senate-with-lawmakers-two-week-recess/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:12 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/covid-relief-is-stalled-senate-with-lawmakers-two-week-recess/ |
In his first letter to Amazon shareholders, CEO Andy Jassy offered a defense of the wages and benefits the company gives its warehouse workers while also vowing to improve injury rates inside the facilities.
Jassy, who took over from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as CEO last July, wrote the company has researched and created a list of the top 100 “employee experience pain points” and is working to solve them.
“We’re also passionate about further improving safety in our fulfillment network, with a focus on reducing strains, sprains, falls, and repetitive stress injuries,” he wrote.
The company is set to face two shareholder votes next month tied to workplace injuries. One calls for an independent audit into the working conditions and treatment of its warehouse workers, while the other seeks to assess whether Amazon’s policies give rise to racial and gender disparities in its workplace injury rates. The retailer had argued against both proposals, but U.S. securities regulators disagreed and allowed the resolutions to stand.
A report released this week by Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of four labor unions, found Amazon employed 33% of all U.S. warehouse workers in 2021, but was responsible for 49% of all injuries in the industry. Jassy pushed back on the report during an interview with CNBC Thursday morning, saying it was not accurate.
He further wrote in theshareholder letter that the company’s injury rates can sometimes be misunderstood, saying it has operations jobs that fit both the “warehousing” and “courier and delivery” categories.
Offering his own data, Jassy acknowledged the company’s warehouse injury rates “were a little higher than the average” compared to other warehouses, but lower than average compared to Amazon’s courier and delivery peers.
“This makes us about average relative to peers, but we don’t seek to be average,” Jassy wrote. “We want to be best in class.”
Union organizers in Staten Island, New York and Bessemer, Alabama have often rallied workers while pointing to the company’s injury rates. The nascent Amazon Labor Union, which won the union election in Staten Island earlier this month, is now seeking to negotiate with the retailer for a union contract. But Amazon has rebuffed those attempts and is seeking to re-do the election.
Jassy didn’t mention the union push in his letter, but said the company offers “robust” benefits, and has increased hourly wages in the past few years. When asked about the union win during the interview, he said it was employee’s choice whether they want to join a union but believes they’re better off not doing so.
He argued unions could slow down change, and believes workers are better off having direct relationships with their managers, an argument the company has made in the lead-up to the union elections to persuade its employees not to unionize. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/amazon-ceo-jassy-says-he-wants-to-improve-warehouse-safety/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:25 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/amazon-ceo-jassy-says-he-wants-to-improve-warehouse-safety/ |
Man targeted Treasure Coast girls for sex using Snapchat, sheriff's office says
A man who authorities said targeted underage Treasure Coast girls for sex using the social media app Snapchat has been arrested on the west coast of Florida.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office said Blaine Korbin Hulten, 21, was captured by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Pinellas County on Thursday morning.
The sheriff's office said Hulten — whose address is listed as Largo, Florida — fled Martin County after learning that detectives were investigating his social media activity.
According to the sheriff's office, a Martin County school resource deputy learned that Hulten was taking underage girls to the mall to buy underwear. That deputy alerted the Martin County Sheriff's Office's Criminal Investigations Division, which started looking into the claims.
Detectives believe Hulten targeted multiple Treasure Coast girls using Snapchat going as far back as January using the profile names Blainefirerx, firex1, and cstripe623.
In addition, the sheriff's office said Hulten had sexual contact with two Treasure Coast girls, one as young as 13.
Hulten is under arrest for lewd and lascivious battery, as well as at least 40 more charges including transmitting harmful material, production of child pornography, solicitation, and traveling to meet a minor.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office said it's possible there may be more victims. If you or your children have had any contact with Hulten, call the MCSO's Criminal Investigations Division at 772-220-7060.
The Martin County School District shared word of Hulten's arrest on Facebook, urging families to "continue speaking with your children about practicing safe habits when using social media."
Hulten is currently in the Pinellas County Jail on $5 million bond, but is expected to be brought back to Martin County later Thursday night.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/man-targeted-treasure-coast-girls-sex-using-snapchat-sheriffs-office-says/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:26 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/man-targeted-treasure-coast-girls-sex-using-snapchat-sheriffs-office-says/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks edged lower in afternoon trading on Wall Street Thursday as investors reviewed the latest economic data and corporate earnings amid lingering concerns about inflation and rising interest rates.
The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 2:14 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 110 points, or 0.3%, to 34,675 and the Nasdaq fell 1.3%.
Industrial stocks and companies that make household and personal goods gained ground. Caterpillar rose 4.8% and Delta Air Lines gained 2.9%.
Technology stocks fell and offset gains elsewhere in the market. Pricey valuations for many of the bigger technology companies give them more sway in directing the broader market higher or lower. Microsoft slipped 1.6%.
Investors again turned their attention to the drama surrounding Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk and Twitter. Musk offered to buy the social media company for $54.20 a share, two weeks after revealing he’d accumulated a 9% stake.
Musk has criticized Twitter for not living up to free speech principles and said, in a regulatory filing, that it needs to be transformed as a private company. Twitter’s stock was up 0.2% at $45.92, well below Musk’s offering price.
Wall Street had mixed economic data to review following several hot inflation reports earlier in the week. The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.5% in March, boosted by higher prices for gasoline, as consumers continue to spend despite high inflation.
Inflation remains at its highest levels in 40 years in the U.S. and that has economists and analysts closely watching how consumers react to higher prices on everything from food to clothing and gasoline. Concerns about inflation have worsened amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has made for more volatile energy prices and contributed to rising oil and wheat prices globally.
U.S. crude oil prices reversed an early decline Thursday and were up 2.6% in afternoon trading.
The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday that Russia’s war against Ukraine was weakening the economic prospects for most of the world’s countries and reaffirmed the danger high inflation presents to the global economy.
Rising prices are driving the Federal Reserve and many other central banks to tighten monetary policy by raising interest rates, among other measures, to help cool the surging demand that is contributing to the problem.
Bond yields have been mostly on the rise as Wall Street prepares for higher interest rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.83% from 2.72% late Wednesday.
Investors received another update on the recovery in the jobs market. The number of people seeking unemployment benefits ticked up last week, according to the Labor Department, but remained at a historically low level. The data reflect a robust U.S. labor market with near record-high job openings and few layoffs.
Earnings season is underway and Thursday featured reports from insurer UnitedHealth Group and several banks.
UnitedHealth rose 0.4% after reporting solid first-quarter results and raising its 2022 forecasts.
Investors had mixed reactions to results from four of the nation’s largest banks, all of which reported noticeable declines in their first-quarter profits as the volatile markets and war in Ukraine caused deal-making to dry up while a slowdown in the housing market meant fewer people sought mortgages.
Citigroup rose 1.6% while Wells Fargo fell 5.1%. Morgan Stanley rose 0.9% and Goldman Sachs rose 0.1%.
Investors are closely watching the latest round of corporate earnings to determine how companies have been dealing with rising costs and whether consumers have pulled back their spending.
___
Veiga reported from Los Angeles. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/asian-shares-track-wall-street-higher-oil-prices-retreat/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:32 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/asian-shares-track-wall-street-higher-oil-prices-retreat/ |
Migrants bused from Texas arrive in Washington, DC
Published: Apr. 14, 2022 at 1:55 PM EDT|Updated: 56 minutes ago
(CNN) - The first round of migrants bused from Texas to Washington, D.C. arrived at Union Station on Wednesday, with a second arriving early Thursday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started this voluntary transfer of immigrants as a way to blast the Biden administration’s border policies.
Abbott, a Republican, issued a statement saying his state shouldn’t have to “bear the burden of the Biden administration’s failure to secure our border.”
Officials from Catholic Charities D.C. were on hand to meet the migrants and offered assistance, including food and medical care.
So far, there’s been no comment from either the Department of Homeland Security or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/migrants-bused-texas-arrive-washington-dc/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:32 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/migrants-bused-texas-arrive-washington-dc/ |
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NEW YORK (AP) — Four big banks reported noticeable declines in their first-quarter profits Thursday, as the volatile markets and war in Ukraine caused deal-making to dry up while a slowdown in the housing market meant fewer people sought to get a new mortgage or refinance.
The results from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo were similar to the results out of JPMorgan Chase, which on Wednesday reported a double-digit decline in profits.
At Goldman Sachs, profits fell 43% to $3.63 billion. Citigroup posted a 47% decline in profits to $4 billion, Wells Fargo’s profits fell 21% and Morgan Stanley’s earnings dropped 11%.
In some ways, comparing this quarter to a year ago doesn’t tell an accurate story of how well Wall Street is doing. The first quarter of 2021 was helped by the start of widespread vaccination campaigns for COVID-19, as well as recovery in the economy from the pandemic. Banks also released large portions of their loan-loss reserves — money they sock away to cover potentially bad loans in a rough economy — last year. Those were a one-time boost to profits.
But banks are often seen as a proxy for the overall economy, and the first quarter of 2022 has been considerably rougher than a year earlier. Markets have struggled with high inflation, as well as a run up in oil prices largely caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Interest rates have also risen sharply in response to the Federal Reserve signaling that it plans to raise interest rates multiple times this year, which in turn has caused mortgage rates to rise.
Outside of the slowdown in deal-making, the war in Ukraine plus the broad international sanctions placed on Russia weighed on the results of at least two banks, Citigroup and to a lesser extent, Goldman Sachs. Citi said it had to set aside $1.9 billion in potential loan losses due to its exposure to Russia, where the bank operates a consumer banking franchise as well as a modest investment bank. Meanwhile Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said the bank had $300 million in losses this quarter tied to Russia.
That’s on top of the $1.5 billion that JPMorgan set aside on Wednesday to cover higher inflation costs as well as its exposure to Russia.
But where the banks really took a hit this quarter was in investment banking. Goldman Sachs said investment banking revenues fell 40% from a year earlier, while Morgan Stanley reported a 38% decline in investment banking fees. Citigroup reported a 43% drop in investment banking revenues.
The drop in investment banking revenues largely has to do with companies sitting on the sidelines in the quarter due to the volatility.
Wells Fargo, which has a smaller investment bank, was more heavily impacted by the slowdown in the housing market. Revenues from mortgage originations at Wells were down 33% from a year earlier. Freddie Mac said the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 5% last week, nearly double where it was less than a year ago.
“Rising rates drove a significant slowdown in mortgage banking, especially refinance activity,” said Kyle Sanders, an analyst with Edward Jones, who covers Wells Fargo, in an email. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/big-bank-profits-decline-as-deal-making-mortgages-slow/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:39 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/big-bank-profits-decline-as-deal-making-mortgages-slow/ |
Puppy rescued by fire department fostered by firefighter and pit bull advocate
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KOVR) – A puppy in California is ready to play after a pretty rough day.
Sacramento fire crews rescued the little guy, covered in burned plastic and with his fur singed, during a debris fire Tuesday.
The captain on the scene knew the puppy needed a good friend, so he called Mike Thawley at Station 19.
“He said ‘Do you want him?’ and I said ‘Yes,’” Thawley said.
Thawley is fostering the pup while Front Street Animal Shelter finds him a forever home. The puppy is already making himself comfortable.
“He perked up pretty good when we gave him water, a bath, some food, started picking off some of the plastic and then yesterday personality started coming out, tail wagging, following us around chewing,” Thawley said.
This isn’t the first time Thawley has fostered a dog the fire crews had rescued. Five years ago, he took in Chunk, an abandoned pit bull found chained to a fence.
Thawley is an advocate for pit bulls. He said knew right away the dog was home. And that’s where she’s been ever since. He had documented her journey on social media.
“We had well over 30 million people following Chunk,” Thawley said. “Donations into Front Street, donations to the bully rescues, Chunk had a two-page article in Women’s World magazine and an award from PETA.”
Thawley said its a doggone shame someone would leave a puppy in such bad conditions. But he said he hopes the rescue tells a tale of how people can help other rescue and shelter animals.
Copyright 2022 KOVR via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/puppy-rescued-by-fire-department-fostered-by-firefighter-pit-bull-advocate/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:39 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/puppy-rescued-by-fire-department-fostered-by-firefighter-pit-bull-advocate/ |
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SALINAS, Calif. (AP) — A massive fire at a Northern California food processing plant prompted authorities to tell thousands of nearby residents to evacuate Thursday and to order tens of thousands more to stay inside their homes.
The fire at the Taylor Farms packaged salad plant in Salinas, about 110 miles (177 kilometers) south of San Francisco, started Wednesday night and was still burning Thursday morning.
Authorities initially said they feared the fire could generate an explosion and a plume of hazardous ammonia, but the Salinas Fire Department said later that those threats appeared to be minimal.
About 2,700 people living closest to the plant were told that they should evacuate while 35,000 more were ordered to shelter inside their homes, the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services said in a statement.
Those staying home were told to shut windows and to turn off ventilation systems “until further notice,” the statement said.
Officials said some people evacuated after the fire was reported at 7:15 p.m. Officials did not say what caused the fire.
A woman who answered the phone at Taylor Farms in Salinas told a reporter seeking comment to call back later for information.
Salinas has a population of about 160,000 people and is in a key agricultural region. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/california-food-plant-fire-prompts-evacuations-for-thousands/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:46 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/california-food-plant-fire-prompts-evacuations-for-thousands/ |
Team of lawyers work to prove innocence of 14-year-old convicted in mother’s murder
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) – Michael Politte was 14 years old when his mother died.
Rita Politte was beaten, then set on fire in December of 1998. Politte and a friend were sleeping in the next room and say they woke up to smoke.
Despite swearing his innocence, Politte was convicted of killing his mother.
“This kid never had a chance,” Politte’s attorney Megan Crane told KCTV.
He’s now 38 years old and will be released from prison at the end of April due to new sentencing guidelines for juveniles.
The crime
“I remember the hair on the back of my neck rising up – I didn’t know what to do,” said Politte. “What’s a 14-year-old kid supposed to do in that moment?”
After he woke up to smoke, he tried to put the fire out himself with a garden hose, but the hose wouldn’t stretch that far.
Politte remembers kneeling down to see what he could see and saw his mother’s legs covered in blood.
“She was on fire from her waist up,” he recalled.
Police expected Politte to be more emotional at the crime scene, maybe even shed tears. But he didn’t. He was quiet – and angry.
“I mean, I can still hear it – I can hear the fire crackling,” said Politte. “There are times I wake up in the morning that I can smell (it). It’s with me forever.”
Politte was defiant throughout the investigation. A police dog alerted investigators to his shoes – three times. Testing revealed gasoline on them.
When the case went to trial, Politte had a public defender. He believed in the system and that the truth would come out.
But with no explanation for gasoline on the shoes, a jury convicted Politte and the judge sentenced him to life in prison.
He’s lived more than half of his life behind bars.
“I can’t describe the feeling of helplessness,” said Politte. “There’s no reason to exist anymore.”
Nagging questions
In the years since Politte’s conviction, many people question whether the court got it right.
His case attracted the attention of the Midwest Innocence Project, the MacArthur Justice Institute and a Kansas City law firm, Langdon & Emison, in part, because of his age.
“According to law enforcement, he just wasn’t acting right. He wasn’t emotional. He wasn’t crying. He wasn’t upset. But psychologists tell us that’s what trauma often looks like, especially in a kid,” Crane explained.
Politte’s attorneys point the court to another possible motive for the murder.
The week of Rita Politte’s murder she was granted alimony, child support and part of her ex-husband’s pension and 401K.
They also argue that her ex-husband, Ed Politte, responded, “You will never see the day when you’ll get the money.”
Investigators found a boot print behind the burning trailer, but Ed Politte was quickly dismissed as a suspect in the case. He had an alibi. He was at work at the time of the murder.
Politte’s current lawyers sent investigators back to Hopewell to conduct new interviews.
That investigation turned up witnesses who place one of Ed’s cousins near the scene of the crime the morning of the fire. Circumstantial evidence suggests he had a financial windfall shortly after the murder. They argue the evidence implicates the cousins in a murder-for-hire scheme.
Ed released the following statement in response to the accusation:
I’m grateful and happy Mike is being released. Now about me, I did a dozen or so interviews with the law. I did a lie detector test, a blood test, a DNA test and fingerprints. I cooperated 100% with the law. I don’t know what else I could have done. My place of work was checked out. My coworkers were interviewed, I have a couple dozen witnesses that placed me 85 miles from my ex…. That’s all I have to say. Your (sic) a reporter I’m sure you can verify what I’ve said. I will discuss this no further. Thank you for atleast(sic) getting my side.
New evidence supports Michael’s innocence claim
More than 20 years after the murder, evidence is now on Politte’s side.
A new test revealed there is no gasoline on the shoes that helped convict him. The newer test can tell the difference between accelerants. The earlier test was positive for the adhesive in the shoes – information that was revealed six years ago.
The majority of jurors who are still alive and even a former member of the sheriff’s office are now advocating for Michael Politte’s release.
“It shouldn’t be this hard. We’re the greatest country in the world, but yet here I am, after six years of discovering that I was wrongfully convicted with false science, my jury was lied to, and I’m still sitting in a prison cell,” Politte said. “I don’t want to be angry – I just want to live.”
Release is not “The End”
As it turns out, Politte will be released from prison at the end of April. Not because a judge ruled in his favor, but because the parole board granted his release due to new sentencing guidelines for juveniles.
Politte plans to visit his mother’s grave soon after his release.
“She can probably finally rest,” he said. “I don’t think she’s been resting since she passed away knowing what happened in the aftermath.”
Politte said he will fight to clear his name. He hopes the local prosecutor will reopen the case and look at new evidence.
Copyright 2022 KCTV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/team-lawyers-work-prove-innocence-14-year-old-convicted-mothers-murder/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:47 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/14/team-lawyers-work-prove-innocence-14-year-old-convicted-mothers-murder/ |
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If you feel your login credentials are being used by a second party, contact customer service at 877-615-9536 for assistance in changing your password.Already a paid subscriber but not registered for online access yet? For instructions on how to get premium web access, click here. | https://djcoregon.com/news/2022/04/14/sizable-citys-core-reeling-after-tragic-event/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:51 | 1 | https://djcoregon.com/news/2022/04/14/sizable-citys-core-reeling-after-tragic-event/ |
The head of the European Central Bank reiterated Thursday that the bank would raise interest rates “some time after” ending its pandemic stimulus efforts later this year, sticking to a gradual path even as the United States, United Kingdom and other countries take a harder line to combat soaring consumer prices.
People in the 19 countries that use the euro currency have seen costs increase for everything from food to fuel as inflation rose to an annual rate of 7.5% last month, the highest since statistics began in 1997.
Driven by energy prices that have soared ever higher since Russia invaded Ukraine, record inflation has sharpened attention on when the European Central Bank will take more drastic steps to control excessive price increases for consumers.
The bank said recent economic data confirmed its expectations of ending its pandemic stimulus efforts later this year and that the exact timing would depend on the economic situation.
Bank President Christine Lagarde, who previously opened the door a crack for an interest rate increase this year, said “we are sticking to our sequence,” with any rate hike following the end of the bond purchases meant to support the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. That could mean “anywhere between a week to several months,” Lagarde said, before the bank could decide on “an interest rate hike and subsequent hikes.”
Speaking by video news conference after testing positive for COVID-19 last week, Lagarde stressed the uncertainty over the war and the bank’s willingness to stay flexible in adjusting its policies, saying the experience with pandemic stimulus purchases showed “flexibility served us well.”
She noted that inflation “will stay high in the near term and then moderate to some extent” amid uncertainty from the war. While higher energy prices were fueling inflation, weaker growth could lower the price pressures in the economy, Lagarde said.
Her comments suggest the bond purchases will end in July followed by a first interest rate increase in September, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING bank. He called it “normalization at a snail’s pace” after large doses of stimulus applied during the depths of the pandemic.
The war has sent inflation surging to unexpectedly high levels. Prices for oil and gas have been rising on fears of a cutoff from Russia, which is the world’s largest oil exporter, and as the recovery from the pandemic increases demand for fuel.
As inflation grows worldwide, the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark short-term rate last month and indicated it will continue raising it sharply this year. The Bank of England has raised raised its key interest rate three times since December.
Lagarde said the European and U.S. economies were not comparable. One reason is that “the euro area is going to be more exposed and will suffer more consequences as a result of the war by Russia against Ukraine … comparing our respective monetary polices is comparing apples and oranges.”
Economists say much of the U.S. inflation is homegrown — a side effect of massive federal stimulus and support spending during the pandemic. Europe’s inflation, on the other hand, is largely imported through higher oil prices, which are generally beyond the reach of interest rate policy that central banks control.
On top of that, higher inflation and supply bottlenecks are weighing on economic growth, leading to what some are calling “stagflation.” A combination of slow growth and high inflation, the phenomenon poses central banks with a dilemma: that the rate hikes needed to combat inflation could also hurt growth and jobs.
Stressing consumer purchasing power has helped French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, a far-right nationalist, narrow the polling gap against centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron in the campaign ahead of the runoff April 24.
The ECB’s benchmark rates are at record lows: zero for lending to banks and minus 0.5% on deposits from banks, a penalty rate aimed at pushing them to lend the money instead. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/european-central-bank-faces-pressure-from-record-inflation/ | 2022-04-14T18:52:53 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/european-central-bank-faces-pressure-from-record-inflation/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Retail sales rose modestly in March, but higher prices for food, gasoline and other basics took a big share of consumers’ wallets.
Retail sales increased 0.5% after registering a revised 0.8% increase from January to February, reported the U.S. Commerce Department Thursday. Spending has been fueled by wage gains, solid hiring and more money in banking accounts. January’s increase of 4.9% was the biggest jump in spending since March 2021, when American households received a final federal stimulus check of $1,400. But soaring prices on everything, particularly at the gas pump, are making shoppers choosier about how they spend their money.
Excluding an 8.9% increase at gas stations, overall retail sales slipped 0.3% last month.
Overall, the retail sales picture was mixed, but shoppers still showed resilience in spending, economists said. Business at general merchandise stores was up 5.4%, while sales at clothing stores rose 2.6%. Restaurants had a 1% increase. But online sales dropped 6.4%, while auto sales were down 1.9% as auto companies faced a vehicle shortage. Major retailers will be issuing quarterly earnings reports next month, which will give a fuller picture of the state of the consumer.
“They are spending selectively this month, and the gasoline price spike from the Russian-Ukraine war was where most of the expenditures were made,” said Christopher S. Rupkey, chief economist at research firm FWDBONDS LLC.
But he added, “Inflation is not going away, but it will likely stop getting worse and that means less of a headwind for spending.”
Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail, agreed that shoppers are nervous about inflation. He added that online purchases are taking a hit because he believes they’re more discretionary and easy to cut back. He also thinks the pullback online could be a consequence of shoppers assessing higher delivery charges.
The retail report covers only about a third of overall consumer spending and doesn’t include services such as haircuts, hotel stays and plane tickets, areas that have been rebounding from the depths of the pandemic.
Retailers are closely monitoring Russia’s war with Ukraine and how it could weigh on shoppers’ confidence but also worsen inflation. The conflict has already limited supplies of wheat, vegetable oils, and electronic components like chips. It’s pushed up fertilizer prices that were already high, made scarce supplies even harder to find and squeezed farmers, especially those in the developing world. In addition to the Russian invasion, rising COVID-19 cases and renewed restrictions in China could worsen supply chain issues.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that its consumer price index jumped 8.5% in March from 12 months earlier, the sharpest year-over-year increase since 1981. Prices have been pushed up by bottlenecked supply chains, robust consumer demand and disruptions to global food and energy markets worsened by the war. From February to March, inflation rose 1.2%, the biggest month-to-month jump since 2005. Gasoline prices drove more than half that increase.
According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gasoline — $4.07 — is up 42% from a year ago, though it’s dipped in the past couple of weeks.
The March inflation numbers were the first to fully capture the surge in gasoline prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Moscow’s attacks have triggered far-reaching Western sanctions against the Russian economy.
The acceleration of inflation is happening in an otherwise strong economy. In March, employers added a robust 431,000 jobs — the 11th straight month in which they’ve added at least 400,000. For 2021, they added 6.7 million jobs, the most in any year on record. In addition, job openings are near record highs, layoffs are at their lowest point since 1968 and the unemployment rate is just above a half-century low.
Matt Shay, CEO of National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, said that “consumers are adapting and shopping smarter for themselves and their families.” He believes the strength of the consumer can carry the economy through this economic uncertainty if policy makers implement measured policies and “don’t overreact to current conditions.”
NRF said the challenge for the Federal Reserve is to cool off demand without pushing the economy into a dramatic slowdown.
To protect themselves against any consumer spending downturn, retailers are cutting back on expenses, while taking a measured approach to ordering merchandise as well as adding surcharges.
Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will add a 5% “ fuel and inflation surcharge ” to fees it charges third-party sellers who use the e-commerce giant’s fulfillment services. The Seattle-based company said on its website that the added fees, which take effect April 28, are “subject to change” and will apply to both apparel and non-apparel items.
Gary Friedman, CEO of upscale furniture chain RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, told analysts in late March that the company has seen consumer demand weakening in the company’s first quarter, which started in late January, that coincided with Russia’s war with Ukraine.
“I don’t think anybody really understands how high prices are going to go everywhere, in restaurants, in cars, in everything,” Friedman said. “If you’re going into a very difficult unpredictable time, you just got to be super flexible. You’ve got to be able to improvise, adapt, overcome, and kind of be ready for anything.”
___
AP Economics Writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.
_____
Follow Anne D’Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/retail-sales-up-0-5-in-march-despite-soaring-inflation/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:00 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/retail-sales-up-0-5-in-march-despite-soaring-inflation/ |
Elon Musk is offering to buy Twitter, just days after the Tesla CEO said he would no longer be joining the social media company’s board of directors.
Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Musk, who currently owns slightly more than 9% of its stock and is the company’s biggest shareholder, provided a letter to the company on Wednesday that contained a proposal to buy the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn’t already own. Musk offered $54.20 per share of Twitter’s stock.
He called that price his best and final offer, although the billionaire provided no details on financing. The offer is non-binding and subject to financing and other conditions.
“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk says in the filing. “However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”
The buyout offer from Musk is just the latest development in his relationship with Twitter. The billionaire revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31. Only Vanguard Group’s suite of mutual funds and ETFs controls more Twitter shares.
Musk has been a vocal critic of of Twitter in recent weeks, mostly over his belief that it falls short on free speech principles. The social media platform has angered followers of Donald Trump and other far-right political figures who’ve had their accounts suspended for violating its content standards on violence, hate or harmful misinformation. Musk also has a history of his own tweets causing legal problems.
Musk said last week that he informed Twitter he wouldn’t be joining its board of directors five days after he was invited. He didn’t explain why, but the decision coincided with a barrage of now-deleted tweets from Musk proposing major changes to the company, such as dropping ads — its chief source of revenue — and transforming its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter. Musk left a few clues on Twitter about his thinking, such as by “liking” a tweet that summarized the events as Musk going from “largest shareholder for Free Speech” to being “told to play nice and not speak freely.”
After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly gave Musk a seat on its board on the condition that he not own more than 14.9% of the company’s outstanding stock, according to a filing. But Musk backed out of the deal.
Musk’s 81 million Twitter followers make him one of the most popular figures on the platform, rivaling pop stars like Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga. But his prolific tweeting has sometimes gotten him into trouble with the SEC and others.
Musk and Tesla in 2018 agreed to pay $40 million in civil fines and for Musk to have his tweets approved by a corporate lawyer after he tweeted about having the money to take Tesla private at $420 per share. That didn’t happen but the tweet caused Tesla’s stock price to jump. Musk’s latest trouble with the SEC could be his delay in notifying regulators of his growing stake in Twitter.
Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” and has said he doesn’t think Twitter is living up to free speech principles — an opinion shared by followers of Donald Trump and a number of other right-wing political figures who’ve had their accounts suspended for violating Twitter content rules.
Shares of Twitter jumped 11% before the market open. The stock is still down from its 52-week high of about $73. Shares of Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer that Musk heads, slipped about 0.9%. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-offers-to-buy-twitter/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:07 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-offers-to-buy-twitter/ |
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank on Thursday kept its main interest rate unchanged for a fourth month even as surging inflation has hit a 20-year high and eroded people’s purchasing power.
In a statement following a monetary policy committee meeting, the bank said it was keeping its policy rate “constant” at 14%.
The decision was in line with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s opposition to high borrowing costs in a bid to boost growth, investment and exports. The Turkish leader insists that raising interest rates cause inflation — a position that contradicts established economic thinking.
Turkey’s central bank has cut rates by 5 percentage points since September despite high inflation, then has paused them since January. The series of rate cuts last year triggered a currency crisis and rising consumer pricesthat have been aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and soaring energy costs.
Yearly inflation hit 61.14% in March, deepening the squeeze on households that were already struggling to purchase basic goods. The Turkish lira lost 44% of its value against the U.S. dollar last year.
In an effort to soften the blow on households, the government has implemented tax cuts on basic goods and has adjusted electricity tariffs.
In comparison, the United States, United Kingdom and the 19 countries that use the euro currency have seen decades-high levels of inflation — 8.5%, 7% and 7.5%, respectively — but are nowhere close to Turkey’s eye-watering rate. Central banks in the U.S. and U.K. have raised interest rates to combat inflation. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/turkeys-central-bank-keeps-rate-steady-amid-high-inflation/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:13 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/turkeys-central-bank-keeps-rate-steady-amid-high-inflation/ |
UnitedHealth Group delivered a better-than-expected first quarter and raised its 2022 forecast, as growth in Medicare Advantage and care delivery once again helped the health care giant.
The nation’s largest health insurance provider said Thursday that enrollment in its Medicare Advantage plans grew nearly 9% to about 6.9 million people, and the company also booked growth in other government-funded coverage. Its larger commercial enrollment stayed nearly flat.
UnitedHealth is the biggest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the federally funded Medicare program.
The company runs UnitedHealthcare, a health insurance business that covers more than 50 million people mostly in the United States. It also has been squeezing more growth out of its Optum segment, which runs one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers and a growing number of clinics and urgent care and surgery centers.
First-quarter operating earnings, which don’t count interest expense and taxes, slid for the company’s health insurance business but jumped almost 20% to $3.2 billion for Optum compared to last year.
UnitedHealth said the revenue it drew per customer from its care-providing Optum Health business grew by 33% as the company expanded deeper into value-based care. That involves reimbursing doctors based more on the patient’s health instead of for each service provided.
UnitedHealth and competitors like the drugstore chains CVS Health and Walgreens are all trying to become regular sources of care for more customers, especially those with Medicare Advantage plans.
The idea is that regular care will keep patients with chronic health problems like diabetes healthy and out of expensive hospitals. It’s an approach gaining favor with bill payers like insurers and employers.
Overall, UnitedHealth earnings grew more than 3% to $5.03 billion in the first quarter, even though the company’s largest expense, medical costs, climbed 17%.
Company leaders told analysts Thursday morning that UnitedHealth started the quarter with about 40,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations in January. That marked the highest total of any month since the pandemic started more than two years ago.
That total then dwindled to about 2,000 hospitalizations by March, as the omicron surge of virus faded.
UnitedHealth’s adjusted results totaled $5.49 per share in the first quarter, and total revenue jumped more than 14% to $80.1 billion.
Analysts expected, on average, earnings of $5.36 per share on $78.73 billion in revenue in the second quarter, according to FactSet.
For the full year, UnitedHealth now expects adjusted earnings of $21.20 to $21.70 per share. That’s an increase of 10 cents on both ends of the range from a forecast it laid out late last year.
FactSet says analysts expect earnings of $21.61 per share for 2022.
UnitedHealth’s forecast hike was conservative compared to how much the company beat first-quarter expectations, Jefferies analyst David Windley said in a research note. But he added that this was expected given the unknown nature of the pandemic.
Shares of Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. climbed slightly to $538.09 in Thursday afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, of which UnitedHealth is a component, also rose slightly.
UnitedHealth’s share price has more than doubled over the past couple years.
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Follow Tom Murphy on Twitter. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/unitedhealth-tops-q1-forecasts-raises-2022-outlook/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:20 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/unitedhealth-tops-q1-forecasts-raises-2022-outlook/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates continued to climb this week as the key 30-year loan rate reached 5% for the first time in more than a decade amid persistent high inflation.
The average 5% rate on the 30-year mortgage was up from 4.72% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday. The average rates in recent months have been showing the fastest pace of increases since 1994. By contrast, a year ago the 30-year rate stood at 3.04%.
The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those refinancing their homes, jumped to 4.17% from 3.91% last week.
With inflation at a four-decade high, rising mortgage rates, elevated home prices and tight supply of homes available for sale, the goal of homeownership has become the most expensive in a generation, Freddie Mac says. And this comes as the spring homebuying season begins.
Home prices are up about 15% over the past year and as much as 30% in some cities. Available homes had been in short supply even before the coronavirus pandemic started just over two years ago.
A government report Wednesday showed that the surging cost of energy pushed up wholesale prices a record 11.2% last month from a year earlier — another sign that inflationary pressure is widespread in the U.S. economy. Energy prices, which soared worldwide after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, were up 36.7% from March 2021. The wholesale inflation report was issued a day after the Labor Department disclosed that consumer prices in March jumped 8.5% from a year earlier, the fastest annual clip since December 1981. | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/us-long-term-mortgage-rates-rise-30-year-loan-reaches-5/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:27 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/business/us-long-term-mortgage-rates-rise-30-year-loan-reaches-5/ |
NEW DELHI (AP) — Popular Bollywood stars Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt were married Thursday in a private ceremony at their Mumbai residence.
The couple wore ivory outfits as they came out and waved to photographers from their apartment building. Kapoor picked Bhatt up and walked back into the apartment with her in his arms.
The wedding ceremony was attended by close relatives, Bollywood stars and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and his wife.
Kapoor, 39, belongs to Bollywood’s popular Kapoor clan which has dominated the Hindi film industry since the 1940s. His parents, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor, were prominent Bollywood stars in the 1970-80s.
He is the grandson of veteran actor-director Raj Kapoor, who was rated as Bollywood’s best showman. Raj Kapoor’s father, Prithviraj Kapoor, was an actor who ran a theater company and acted in Hindi classics in the 1940s.
Bhatt, 29, also belongs to a Bollywood family. Her father, Mahesh Bhatt, is a well-known filmmaker, and her mother, Soni Razdan, is a former actress. Bhatt made her debut in Karan Johar’s teen drama “Student of the Year” in 2012. She won an award for playing a kidnapping victim in the road drama ”Highway” in 2014.
Ranbir Kapoor began his film career by assisting producer-director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in the film “Black” in 2005. He made his acting debut in Bhansali’s ”Saawariya” in 2007. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/bollywood-stars-ranbir-kapoor-alia-bhatt-marry-in-mumbai/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:34 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/bollywood-stars-ranbir-kapoor-alia-bhatt-marry-in-mumbai/ |
A former personal assistant to Amber Heard said she never saw the actress suffer any physical abuse at the hands of then-husband Johnny Depp — but she said Heard once spit in her face when she asked for a higher salary.
Heard descended into screaming fits of blind rage, sent incoherent text messages at 4 a.m. and was often drunk and high on illegal drugs, Kate James testified in a video deposition that was played in court Thursday during the trial for Depp’s libel suit against Heard.
Depp, on the other hand, was very calm, almost shy, “like a total Southern gentleman,” James said.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor has accused Heard of indirectly defaming him in a 2018 opinion piece that she wrote for The Washington Post. Heard refers to herself in the article as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” The piece doesn’t name Depp. But his attorneys argue that it clearly references a restraining order that Heard sought in May 2016, right after Depp told her he wanted a divorce.
Depp denies abusing Heard, but Heard’s lawyers say evidence will prove that he did. The actor’s denials, they argue, lack credibility because he frequently drank and used drugs to the point of blacking out and failing to remember anything he did.
The video testimony from James offered an inverse view: Depp was the peaceful one, she said, while Heard was frequently intoxicated and verbally abusive, including to her own mother and sister.
“Her poor sister was treated like a dog that you kicked, basically,” James said.
James, who worked for Heard from 2012 to 2015, said she was paid “very poorly.” She said she was hired with an initial salary of $25 an hour and that her duties ranged from picking up Heard’s dry cleaning to talking with the actress’ Hollywood agents.
James said she also was tasked with picking up two copies of any magazine that featured Heard and storing them in the garage to prevent Depp from seeing them. Heard went into a “blind rage” when James failed to place the magazines in the garage, James said.
Regarding Heard and Depp’s time together, James said Heard was a “very dramatic person” who was deeply insecure in the relationship. Heard often called James to cry and complain about Depp, she said.
“I remember one time she called me when she was alone in New York City, and she was crying and walking around the streets,” James said. She said she told Heard to go inside: “I was worried that the paparazzi might take a photo of her.”
Some of the deposition focused on a text message that Depp had sent to James after he and Heard split up. Depp’s text read: “Come over for a spot of purple and we’ll fix her flabby ass nice and good.”
A lawyer asked if “spot of purple” meant wine and whether “her” meant Heard. James said she didn’t want to speculate.
“This is the way he writes,” James said of Depp. “It’s very random and you don’t sort of question it. … He writes in a very abstract way.”
Both Depp and Heard are expected to testify at the trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court, scheduled for six weeks, along with actors Paul Bettany and James Franco and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/depp-witness-actor-was-southern-gentleman-heard-was-mean/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:41 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/depp-witness-actor-was-southern-gentleman-heard-was-mean/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — A coalition of arts organizations is distributing more than $4 million in aid to nonprofits around the U.S. that have sustained losses during the pandemic.
The Literary Arts Emergency Fund, established in 2020, includes the Academy of American Poets, the Community of Literary Magazine & Presses and the National Book Foundation. It will distribute $4.3 million in funding to 313 literary arts organizations and publishers around the country.
Beneficiaries range from the Asian American Writers’ Workshop to the Texas Book Festival. The emergency fund, which allotted $3.5 million in 2020, was made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
“These grants remain vital because the impact of the emergency of COVID-19 remains very present in our lives,” Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation, said in a statement Thursday.
“Throughout the United States, readers, writers, poets, students, and teachers rely on our country’s vibrant ecosystem of literary magazines, presses, and organizations— one that reveals the power and the possibility of the literary arts to the broader public. We are proud to continue our support for this emergency fund and look forward to the remarkable poetry and literature it will help cultivate.”
But the grants will not cover all, or even most of the losses of its recipients. According to the Literary Fund, those being supported project a cumulative deficit of more than $18 million.
“In some ways, this year was even more challenging than last year for literary organizations and publishers as there were fewer opportunities to receive emergency funding but also increased costs including producing hybrid events,” Ruth Dickey, executive director of the National Book Foundation, said in a statement.
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Online: poets.org/literary-arts-emergency-fund-awards-43-million-historically-under-funded-literary-arts-field-it | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/hundreds-of-arts-organizations-to-receive-emergency-funding/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:47 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/hundreds-of-arts-organizations-to-receive-emergency-funding/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Journalists are sounding an alarm about the spread of disinformation in society and how it affects their jobs on a daily basis, along with skepticism on whether traditional methods to combat it really work.
The free speech advocates PEN America found in a survey of journalists released Thursday that 90% said their jobs have been affected by false content created with the intent to deceive.
Disinformation takes many forms: former President Donald Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 presidential election, unproven COVID-19 treatments spreading online and wild QAnon theories about pedophilia. It could be as simple as a local politician lying about an opponent’s record or this week’s debate over whether video showed bird poop landing on President Joe Biden’s jacket during a speech.
When more than 1,000 journalists returned the survey, PEN America was struck at how images in written responses “kept coming up with people being flooded with disinformation,” said Dru Menaker, the organization’s chief operating officer.
“Clearly, we have touched a nerve,” she said.
Four in five respondents labeled it a serious problem and most say they deal with it regularly, either through sources passing along false information or the need to debunk something spreading online.
False information can be spread through bots, or in doctored photos and video that needs to be verified, Menaker said. It has spread in large part because its purveyors find it effective.
Luke O’Brien, a journalist and fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, is now an expert on a beat that hardly existed a decade ago. He said he’s been stunned at how fast misinformation spreads into the media.
“It just gets worse and worse,” he said.
While most journalists work to combat it, 11% of those surveyed admitted that they had unwittingly passed along false information, and 17% said they avoided doing a story because they feared being subject to a “fake news” backlash that would seek to discredit their reporting.
Asked by PEN America about sources of the most egregious misinformation they’ve encountered, 76% of the journalists cited right-wing conspiracy theorists (35% said left-wing conspiracy theorists). Seventy percent said government officials or politicians, 65% said advocacy groups and 54% mentioned organizations specifically designed to create disinformation.
Public hostility toward journalists and a business climate that has reduced ranks in the field, particularly outside of big cities and among those who cover minority communities, has amplified the issue.
One Los Angeles Times reporter who returned the survey told about reporting on a militia-backed group that was using disinformation to gain power in local government. The group’s leader went on a podcast to call the reporter and a colleague Nazis who needed to be “taken care of,” and she now keeps a bulletproof vest in her closet.
O’Brien said he first became aware of bad actors operating online in the mid-2010s when covering the harassment of women in the video game industry.
Several news organizations have strengthened their efforts to root out disinformation in recent years. The Associated Press, for example, has a 12-person verification unit that investigates claims spread online, along with a separate fact-check operation and reporters that cover disinformation as a news beat.
AP has a weekly column, “Not Real News,” that dissects the most popular but completely untrue stories circulating online.
Many don’t have the capacity, though. “We need more journalists,” one survey respondent said. “The ones who are left are overwhelmed and do not have the time to take on the entire world of disinformation.”
Many of the journalists don’t think enough is being done to train people on how to deal with these issues. Yet there’s also little unanimity in how to do this.
While some believe it’s important to report on false claims, others believe that only gives them greater circulation. O’Brien said there are ways to report them without amplification, by not including links, for example.
It’s important to report on what is going on for the historical record, he said. Journalists should also devote resources to reporting on who is behind disinformation, both bankrolling and executing it.
Fact-checkers are often met with resentment, and have to guard against readers who feel they are being talked down to, Menaker said. Some of those surveyed concede that journalists have to do a better job showing to readers or viewers that they’re not remote, that they are part of the community.
Frighteningly, there may be no way to combat this effectively. And some people simply won’t accept it if presented with facts contrary to what they believe.
“Some people are despairing that people have just become unmoored from facts, that there is a substantial part of the audience that may be unreachable,” she said. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/journalists-despair-over-toll-of-disinformation-on-jobs/ | 2022-04-14T18:53:54 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/journalists-despair-over-toll-of-disinformation-on-jobs/ |
ROME (AP) — Letizia Battaglia, an Italian photographer who documented the arrests of Mafia bosses and the bodies of their victims, has died in her native Sicilian city of Palermo. She was 87.
Among the authorities announcing her death was Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando, who stood vigil next to her coffin during her wake in city hall on Thursday, a day after her death. No cause of death was cited, but Battaglia had been in frail health for some time.
Much of her work, predominantly in black-and-white, explored the everyday lives of those who lived in Palermo’s poor neighborhoods, where Cosa Nostra bosses held sway. Battaglia photographed ordinary Sicilians in moments of grief and joy.
Among her noted photos was that of the body of Sicily’s assassinated governor being held by his brother, who 35 years later would be elected Italy’s president.
Battaglia recounted how, on Jan. 6, 1980, she raced to the scene of a fatal shooting of a man in a car and began photographing it, before she knew who the victim was.
Only shortly later would she learn that the deceased was the governor, Piersanti Mattarella, and that one of the men rushing to hold his body as it was removed from the car was his brother, Sergio, who 35 years later would become Italy’s president.
Asked frequently about that photograph, Battaglia would say that while she captured a scene of death, for her it represented a moment of hope as Sergio Mattarella would have the resolve and courage to follow a political career and later hold Italy’s highest office.
Besides death in Palermo’s streets, Battaglia photographed their life. The cover photo of a book of her photographs, “Palermo amore amaro” (Palermo bitter love) features a thin young girl, almost an adolescent, holding a soccer ball in one hand and giving the camera a hard look as she leans against a graffiti-marred door in 1982 in Kalsa, a tough Palermo neighborhood.
Another photo captures a girl, washing dishes in a home so poor, there’s a toilet bowl in the kitchen. Other photographs show couples embracing at the beach or kissing in the countryside.
Other photos by Battaglia capture scenes all too familiar to Palermo’s people, especially in the 1980s, when Mafia clan turf wars bloodied the city. One 1983 photo shows three bodies — one slumped on the ceramic floor, another on a couch and the third in an armchair — in a triple homicide in an apartment.
There there’s the photo of a mother, advanced in years, holding the photo of her son, a radio journalist who dared denounce the local mobsters by name on the air — and who was killed, tied to a railroad track and blown apart by sticks of dynamite stuffed into his clothes.
“Letizia Battaglia with her snapshots captured the souls of Palermo,” Sen. Pietro Grasso, who formerly was Italy’s top anti-Mafia prosecutor, wrote on Facebook in a condolence tribute. ”Those of the women and of the girls that she took photos of for all of her life, and the crime photos, of the Mafia, often arriving at the scene of the crime before the police forces.”
She captured the “sorrow of the victims the arrogance of the mob bosses, the blood on the street, the protagonists in the fight against Cosa Nostra,” Grasso said.
Born in Palermo on March 5, 1935, she married when she was 16 and had three daughters. In her 30s, she began to take photographs, working in Milan but then hired by a Sicilian newspaper to work in Palermo. Battaglia’s work was also published by major Italian newsweekly magazines L’Espresso and Panorama.
Battaglia also spent several years in politics, serving as Palermo culture commissioner during one of Orlando’s earlier administrations and as a representative in Sicily’s regional legislature.
Volcanic in personality, forever young in outlook, Battaglia, whose surname means “battle” in Italian, worked through her last months of failing health. One of her last assignments was the cover for 7, a weekly magazine of Corriere della Sera daily. The photo portrayed a 19-year-old Italian singer-songwriter, Ariete,
In an interview in the “Palermo amore amaro” book, the interviewer notes at the end that the two of them in their conversation never spoke about the Mafia.
“Well, better,” Battaglia replied. “Why always talk about them. Let’s step over them.”
Her family said her remains would be cremated and scattered in the sea near Palermo at her request. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/letizia-battaglia-who-shot-life-and-death-in-palermo-dies/ | 2022-04-14T18:54:00 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/letizia-battaglia-who-shot-life-and-death-in-palermo-dies/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Before he was working with Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse and many others, Mark Ronson was a teen DJ in 1990s downtown New York, a place and time he will look back on in an upcoming book.
The Oscar and Grammy-winning producer and songwriter has a deal with Grand Central Publishing for “93 ‘Til Infinity,” scheduled for 2023. Ronson says he will write a combination memoir-DJ study-New York celebration, centering the narrative on favorite venues and events.
“Before smartphones hit the dancefloor and bottle service & VIP banquettes shrunk the club, in the 90’s people stayed all night in the same place to dance, hustle, politic, and party like no one was watching — ascending hip hop moguls, artists, hustlers, models, posers, dancers and hard-working 9 to 5’ers all rubbing shoulders with each other,” Ronson said in a statement Thursday.
“At that moment, New York was still the center of the music game and in the land of Biggie, Wu-Tang and Tribe, we celebrated them every night. More importantly, this era also happened to be the most exciting time in my life. “ | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/mark-ronson-will-remember-the-dj-life-in-upcoming-book/ | 2022-04-14T18:54:07 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/mark-ronson-will-remember-the-dj-life-in-upcoming-book/ |
PARIS (AP) — Films by David Cronenberg, Park Chan-wook and Kelly Reichardt will vie for the coveted Palme d’Or at a Cannes Film Festival set to unspool against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
Cannes film festival artist director Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure announced the lineup to this year’s festival, Cannes’ 75th, in a press conference Thursday in Paris. After cancelling the 2020 event and hosting a slightly scaled down 2021 edition, the French Riviera festival is looking to reclaim its pre-pandemic allure with some 35,000 accredited attendees expected next month.
The 18 films announced in Cannes’ prestigious competition lineup feature new works by several former Palme winners, including Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda (“Broker”), Swedish social satirist Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (“Tori and Lokita”).
Also in competition: Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future,” starring Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen; Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” which reunites her with “Wendy and Lucy” star Michelle Williams; Chan-wook’s Korean mystery thriller “Decision to Leave”; and French filmmaker Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon” with Margaret Qualley.
The 75th anniversary of the French Riviera film extravaganza “is happening in special circumstances: the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, a world that has changed and will keep changing,” Fremaux said.
The biggest Hollywood splashes expected at Cannes had already been announced, including a screening of “Top Gun: Maverick,” which will be accompanied by a tribute to star Tom Cruise. The “Top Gun” sequel will play out of competition, as will Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic “Elvis,” starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.
Organizers will announce the jury at a later date.
Cannes’ international village of flag-waving pavilions annually hosts more than 80 countries from around the world. But organizers earlier said no Russian delegations would be welcome at the this year because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian director, Kirill Serebrennikov, who recently fled Russia for Berlin after several years banned from travel, will premiere his latest film, about composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky
As usual, most of the directors in the competition are men. Only three of the 18 films competing for the Palme d’Or were directed by women. Last year, Julia Ducournau became only the second woman in Cannes history to win the top prize, for her film “Titane,” the body-horror thriller.
The festival will open on May 17 with the premiere of the zombie comedy “Final Cut,” by “The Artist” director Michel Hazanvicius. The film had earlier been scheduled to debut in January at the Sundance Film Festival but was pulled when the festival shifted to a virtual edition amid a virus surge.
Ethan Coen will debut his first feature without his brother, Joel, in the out-of-competition documentary “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind.” Other highlights include George Miller’s first film since 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road”: “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” a fantasy romance with Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. And Brett Morgan will premiere “Moonage Daydream,” a David Bowie documentary.
As has been the case since 2017, no Netflix films are in competition at Cannes. The streamer and the festival have been an impasse due to the country’s rigid windowing rules. Once a film plays in cinemas in France, it can’t stream for 15 months. Earlier this year, though, Netflix signed a three-year agreement with French film guilds to spend a minimum of $45 million financing French and European films to play theatrically in France.
The Cannes Film Festival runs May 17-28. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/top-gun-to-star-at-cannes-film-fest-under-ukraine-shadow/ | 2022-04-14T18:54:14 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/top-gun-to-star-at-cannes-film-fest-under-ukraine-shadow/ |
(The Hill) – New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that more Americans died in 2021 than in any other year in the nation’s history, as the coronavirus pandemic raged and death rates attributed to cancer, diabetes and strokes rose..
The data published through the end of the third quarter of the year shows a death rate of 1,058.8 per 100,000 Americans, a nearly 10 percent increase over the 12-month period the prior year and a 21 percent jump from 2019.
The rising-rate meant nearly 3.5 million Americans died in the 12 months that ended in September 2021, the highest number of deaths ever recorded in the U.S. in a single year.
Much of the rising death toll was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which cost 415,000 American lives in 2021, a higher figure than during the first year of the outbreak, even though vaccines were widely available for most of the year. The coronavirus was responsible for more than 1 in 10 deaths in the U.S. last year, the CDC data shows.
Other causes of mortality rose slightly. Chronic liver disease claimed more lives, while deaths from diabetes, heart disease and strokes increased.
The data is not complete, but early signs suggest that deaths related to drug overdoses spiked substantially as well. Provisional data shows more than 105,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, up more than 10 percent from the year before.
The unprecedented death toll has meant the average life expectancy for an American likely continued to decline in the last year, a string of decreases not seen since the Spanish Flu pandemic more than a century ago.
A study by researchers at the Urban Institute, the University of Colorado and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) estimated that the U.S. life expectancy dropped last year to 76.6 years, down more than two years from the rate in 2019. At the same time, life expectancy rates in other wealthy countries increased between 2020 and 2021, after registering a smaller decrease the year before.
“While other high-income countries saw their life expectancy increase in 2021, recovering about half their losses, U.S. life expectancy continued to fall,” VCU sociologist Steven Woolf, one of the study’s authors, said in a statement. “This speaks volumes about the life consequences of how the U.S. handled the pandemic, and in a country where the U.S. Constitution and the 10th Amendment grant public health authority to the states, I believe the U.S. catastrophe speaks volumes about the policies and behaviors of U.S. governors — at least some of them.”
Life expectancy has dropped the most in recent years among Hispanic and Black populations, which researchers attributed to “the legacy of systemic racism and inadequacies in the U.S. handling of the pandemic.”
Ryan Masters, a sociologist at the University of Colorado and the study’s lead author, said high rates of obesity and heart disease made the U.S. population more vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic than populations in other wealthy countries. | https://www.cenlanow.com/health-2/2021-was-americas-deadliest-year-ever-cdc/ | 2022-04-14T18:54:21 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health-2/2021-was-americas-deadliest-year-ever-cdc/ |
BEIJING (AP) — Anti-virus controls that have shut down some of China’s biggest cities and fueled public irritation are spreading as infections rise, hurting a weak economy and prompting warnings of possible global shockwaves.
Shanghai is easing rules that confined most of its 25 million people to their homes after complaints they had trouble getting food. But most of its businesses still are closed. Access to Guangzhou, an industrial center of 19 million people near Hong Kong, was suspended this week. Other cities are cutting off access or closing factories and schools.
Spring planting by Chinese farmers who feed 1.4 billion people might be disrupted, Nomura economists warned Thursday. That could boost demand for imported wheat and other food, pushing up already high global prices.
The closures are an embarrassment to the ruling Communist Party and a setback for official efforts to shore up slumping growth in the world’s second-largest economy. They come during a sensitive year when President Xi Jinping is expected to try to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as leader.
Beijing has promised to reduce the human and economic cost of its “zero-COVID” strategy, but Xi on Wednesday ruled out joining the United States and other governments that are dropping restrictions and trying to live with the virus.
“Prevention and control work cannot be relaxed,” Xi said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. “Persistence is victory.”
The risk that China might tumble into recession is increasing, Ting Lu, Jing Wang and Harrison Zhang of Nomura warned in a report.
“The logistics crunch is worsening,” they said. “The markets should also be concerned about the delayed spring planting of grain in China.”
The government reported 29,411 new cases Thursday, all but 3,020 with no symptoms. Shanghai accounted for 95% of that total, or 27,719 cases. All but 2,573 had no symptoms.
A health official warned Wednesday that Shanghai didn’t have the virus under control despite its easing restrictions.
Some 6.6 million people were allowed to leave their homes in areas that had no new cases for at least a week. But at least 15 million others still are barred from going outdoors.
Most people have obeyed despite grumbling about shortages of food, medicine and access to elderly relatives who need help. But videos on the popular Sina Weibo social media service show some trading punches with police.
Grape Chen, a data analyst in Shanghai, said she was panicking about getting medicines for her father, who is recovering from a stroke. She called police after getting no response from an official hotline but was told quarantine rules bar officers from helping.
“We are willing to cooperate with the country,” Chen said. “But we also hope that our lives can be respected.”
The city government of Suzhou, a center for smartphone manufacturing and other high-tech industry west of Shanghai, told its 18 million people to stay home when possible.
Taiyuan, a blue-collar city of 4 million in central China, suspended inter-city bus service, according to the official China News Service. Ningde in the southeast barred residents from leaving.
A restaurant cook in Taiyuan said his family has been confined to their apartment compound since April 3 after cases were found in neighboring compounds.
“Our lives will be seriously affected if the restrictions last long,” said the cook, who would give only his surname, Chen.
“My wife and I are earning nothing,” Chen said. “We have three children to support.”
All but 13 of China’s 100 biggest cities by economic output are under some form of restrictions, according to Gavekal Dragonomics, a research firm.
“The intensity is increasing,” Gavekal said in a report this week.
The volume of cargo handled by the Shanghai port, the world’s busiest, has fallen 40%, according to an estimate by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. Automakers have suspended production due to disruption in deliveries of supplies.
Restrictions on areas that produce the world’s smartphones, consumer electronics and other goods are prompting forecasters to cut expectations for this year’s economic growth to as low as 5%, down sharply from last year’s 8.1% expansion.
The ruling party’s target is 5.5%. Growth slid to 4% over a year earlier in the final quarter of 2021 after tighter official controls on debt triggered a collapse in home sales and construction, industries that support millions of jobs.
Even before the latest shutdowns, the ruling party was promising tax refunds and other help for entrepreneurs who generate wealth and jobs.
Premier Li Keqiang, the No. 2 leader and top economic official, called this week for “quicker rollout” of aid for businesses that face a “key juncture for survival,” China News Service reported.
Under a strategy dubbed “dynamic clearing,” authorities are trying to use more targeted measures to isolate neighborhoods instead of whole cities with populations bigger than some countries. But some local leaders are imposing more sweeping controls.
Shanghai leaders were criticized for trying to minimize economic damage by ordering testing but no shutdown once cases were found last month. A citywide shutdown was ordered with only a few hours’ warning after case numbers soared.
That was in contrast to Shenzhen, a tech and finance center of 17.5 million people near Hong Kong that closed the city March 13 after an outbreak and ordered mass testing. It reopened a week later and business returned to normal.
Guangzhou has imitated Shenzhen. Most access to the city of 19 million was suspended Monday and mass testing ordered after 27 infections were found.
Li Guanyu, a 31-year-old woman in Guangzhou, said residents can leave her apartment compound only once every other day to buy food but stores are well-stocked.
“This happened a bit suddenly,” said Li. “Maybe the Shanghai situation is so bad that Guangzhou started mass testing and lockdowns as soon as cases were discovered.”
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AP researchers Yu Bing in Beijing and Chen Si in Shanghai and video producer Olivia Zhang in Beijing contributed. | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/anti-virus-shutdowns-in-china-spread-as-infections-rise/ | 2022-04-14T18:54:27 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/anti-virus-shutdowns-in-china-spread-as-infections-rise/ |
BATON ROUGE, La. (KTVE/KARD)— The Louisiana Department of Health reported 504 new cases and 3 new deaths on Thursday, April 14, 2022, bringing the total number of cases to 1,234,650 and the total number of deaths to 17,194.
As stated on the LDH website, the new case increase may not match the difference between today’s total cases and the previous update because of the daily removal of newly identified duplicates and out-of-state cases.
Hospitalizations decreased by 3 and the number of patients on ventilators remained the same as of Thursday; coming to a total of 60 hospitalized patients with 7 on ventilators. | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-in-louisiana-state-reports-504-new-cases-3-new-deaths-on-april-14/ | 2022-04-14T18:54:35 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-in-louisiana-state-reports-504-new-cases-3-new-deaths-on-april-14/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators will soon begin cracking down on vaping companies using a now-closed loophole, including a line of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes that have become teenagers’ top choice.
Under a law taking effect Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration can regulate e-cigarettes and similar products that use synthetic nicotine.
The action targets Puff Bar and several other vaping companies that recently switched their formulas to laboratory-made nicotine to skirt FDA oversight.
The change “allows FDA to protect the public health from the harms of tobacco products, regardless of the source of nicotine,” the agency said in a statement Wednesday. Companies must register with the FDA and submit their products for review within 30 days.
Puff Bar did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The FDA’s action does not automatically ban Puff Bar and similar products. Instead it brings them under the same regulatory scheme as older e-cigarettes that derived their nicotine from tobacco.
“The synthetic nicotine products do not necessarily just disappear on their own,” Robin Koval, chief executive of the Truth Initiative, an advocacy group that runs anti-tobacco ads. “The FDA will have to decide how they want to enforce the law and hopefully they will.”
The FDA has been reviewing applications for an array of vaping devices, formulas and flavors — rejecting more than 1 million, usually because of their potential appeal to youngsters. Anti-tobacco advocates hope the agency will quickly do the same for any applications submitted by Puff Bar and other manufacturers.
Nicotine, the chemical the makes smoking and vaping addictive, occurs naturally in tobacco plants.
The 2009 law that first gave the FDA oversight of cigarettes and related products only referred to tobacco-based nicotine. That left an opening for artificial nicotine, which is being used in e-cigarette liquids, nicotine pouches and other products.
Last month, Congress passed language clarifying that the FDA can regulate any form of nicotine, regardless of the source.
After appearing in 2019, Puff Bar has grown to become the most popular e-cigarette among teenagers, by far, sold in flavors like blueberry, strawberry banana and mango. Under FDA pressure, the company said it was halting sales in 2020, pulling its disposable vaping devices out of convenience stores, gas stations and vape shops.
Last February, the company announced a “fresh launch” of its colorful devices using synthetic nicotine. In marketing language, the company said its products “do not contain tobacco or anything derived from tobacco.” That put Puff Bar in a legal gray area, because federal, state and local restrictions nearly always apply to tobacco-based products, not nicotine itself.
Stanford researchers last year found synthetic nicotine products for sale via online platforms that prohibit tobacco sales, such as Amazon, eBay and Target. Under the new law, synthetic nicotine will be subject to the same federal age limit and sales restrictions as other tobacco products.
Using synthetic nicotine is not a new idea. Tobacco companies experimented with chemically derived nicotine as early as the 1960s, but deemed it too expensive for mass production. Manufacturing advances in recent years finally made it a viable alternative to tobacco-derived nicotine.
A large government survey last year showed Puff Bar had leapfrogged over better-known brands to become the top choice among high schoolers who vape. Juul — which is widely blamed for initially sparking the teen vaping trend — was the fourth most popular brand.
In 2020, the FDA restricted flavors in cartridge-based e-cigarettes like Juul to just menthol and tobacco, which are generally preferred by adults. But the flavor ban didn’t apply to disposable e-cigarettes like Puff Bar and other types of vaping devices.
Anti-tobacco groups worry that the FDA is always one or two steps behind whichever products are making inroads among kids.
“The lesson we can all take away from this is that when the FDA’s actions are incomplete and happen after the fact — which has often been the case with e-cigarettes — you will always be playing whack-a-mole and catch-up,” said Koval.
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Follow Matthew Perrone on Twitter: @AP_FDAwriter
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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/e-cigs-using-synthetic-nicotine-come-under-fda-oversight/ | 2022-04-14T18:54:42 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/e-cigs-using-synthetic-nicotine-come-under-fda-oversight/ |
A Maine family is suing online retail giant Amazon after a delivery driver fatally struck a man standing alongside I-295 in Topsham two years ago.
The lawsuit accuses Amazon of negligence in its hiring of the Massachusetts contractor that employed the driver. The driver, Nasser Tibaijuka, and his employer are also defendants.
Joe Fisher, a 41-year-old fisherman from Woolwich, was driving his family to a camping vacation when the crash happened on July 3, 2020. He had pulled over to check his boat trailer when the box truck struck him, throwing him onto the highway. He died 10 days later.
He’s survived by a widow and three children who all saw the crash. They're plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit.
The family says that Tibaijuka was tired and distracted by his cell phone at the time of the crash.
The Times Record reports that he’s serving a 10-month sentence after pleading guilty last fall to a felony charge of driving to endanger.
Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. | https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2022-04-14/maine-family-sues-amazon-after-delivery-driver-causes-fatal-crash | 2022-04-14T18:54:48 | 0 | https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2022-04-14/maine-family-sues-amazon-after-delivery-driver-causes-fatal-crash |
Updated April 14, 2022 at 2:18 PM ET
Frank James, the suspect arrested in the Brooklyn subway attack, made his first court appearance on Thursday.
James, 62, will be held without bail after arraignment on federal charges of conducting a violent attack against a mass transportation system. His lawyers have requested that he be given a psychiatric evaluation. They also requested magnesium pills for cramps he experiences in his legs.
James' court-appointed lawyers accepted the detention order, but asked that bail be made available at a later date if possible.
Prosecutors said that James "terrifyingly" fired on passengers in the subway.
"The defendant's attack was premeditated, was carefully planned, and it caused terror among the victims and our entire city," Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Winik told the court.
James made no remarks during his in-person court appearance, except to acknowledge that he understood the charges against him. If found guilty, he faces life in prison.
Law enforcement officials arrested James on Wednesday. His alleged attack on the subway system Tuesday left 10 people shot. No one died in the attack, but at least 23 people were injured in the rampage.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-14/brooklyn-subway-shooting-suspect-frank-james-makes-his-first-court-appearance | 2022-04-14T18:54:49 | 0 | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-14/brooklyn-subway-shooting-suspect-frank-james-makes-his-first-court-appearance |
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic ushered in what may be the most rapid rise in homeschooling the U.S. has ever seen. Two years later, even after schools reopened and vaccines became widely available, many parents have chosen to continue directing their children’s educations themselves.
Homeschooling numbers this year dipped from last year’s all-time high, but are still significantly above pre-pandemic levels, according to data obtained and analyzed by The Associated Press.
Families that may have turned to homeschooling as an alternative to hastily assembled remote learning plans have stuck with it — reasons include health concerns, disagreement with school policies and a desire to keep what has worked for their children.
In 18 states that shared data through the current school year, the number of homeschooling students increased by 63% in the 2020-2021 school year, then fell by only 17% in the 2021-2022 school year.
Around 3% of U.S. students were homeschooled before the pandemic-induced surge, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The rising numbers have cut into public school enrollment in ways that affect future funding and renewed debates over how closely homeschooling should be regulated. What remains unknown is whether this year’s small decrease signals a step toward pre-pandemic levels — or a sign that homeschooling is becoming more mainstream.
Linda McCarthy, a suburban Buffalo mother of two, says her children are never going back to traditional school.
Unimpressed with the lessons offered remotely when schools abruptly closed their doors in spring 2020, she began homeschooling her then fifth- and seventh-grade children that fall. McCarthy, who had been working as a teacher’s aide, said she knew she could do better herself. She said her children have thrived with lessons tailored to their interests, learning styles and schedules.
“There’s no more homework ’til the wee hours of the morning, no more tears because we couldn’t get things done,” McCarthy said.
Once a relatively rare practice chosen most often for reasons related to instruction on religion, homeschooling grew rapidly in popularity following the turn of the century before leveled off at around 3.3%, or about 2 million students, in the years before the pandemic, according to the Census. Surveys have indicated factors including dissatisfaction with neighborhood schools, concerns about school environment and the appeal of customizing an education.
In the absence of federal guidelines, there is little uniformity in reporting requirements. Some states, including Connecticut and Nevada, require little or no information from parents, while New York, Massachusetts and some others require parents to submit instruction plans and comply with assessment rules.
The new surge in homeschooling numbers has led state legislatures around the country to consider measures either to ease regulations on homeschool families or impose new ones — debates have gone on for years. Proponents of more oversight point to the potential for undetected cases of child abuse and neglect while others argue for less in the name of parental rights.
All of the 28 state education departments that provided homeschooling data to the AP reported that homeschooling spiked in 2020-21, when fears of infection kept many school buildings closed. Of the 18 states whose enrollment data included the current school year, all but one state said homeschooling declined from the previous year but remained well above pre-pandemic levels. (The exception, South Dakota, recently changed the way it collects data).
Minnesota, for example, reported that 27,801 students are being homeschooled now, compared to 30,955 during the last school year. Before the pandemic, homeschool figures were around 20,000 or less.
Black families make up many of the homeschool converts. The proportion of Black families homeschooling their children increased by five times, from 3.3% to 16.1%, from spring 2020 to the fall, while the proportion about doubled across other groups, according to U.S. Census surveys.
Raleigh, North Carolina, mother Laine Bradley said the school system’s shortcomings became more evident to families like hers when remote learning began.
“I think a lot of Black families realized that when we had to go to remote learning, they realized exactly what was being taught. And a lot of that doesn’t involve us,” said Bradley, who decided to homeschool her 7-, 10- and 11-year-old children. “My kids have a lot of questions about different things. I’m like, ‘Didn’t you learn that in school?’ They’re like, ‘No.’”
Bradley, who works in financial services, converted her dining room into a classroom and rearranged her work schedule to take over her children’s education, adding lessons on financial literacy, Black history and Caribbean history important to her heritage.
“I can incorporate things that I feel like they should know,” she said. Her husband, Vince, who retired from the Air Force last year, steps in at times. The couple also have a 14-month-old. They plan to continue homeschooling for as long as their children want it. Her social media posts about her experience have drawn so much interest that Bradley recently created an online community called Black Moms Do Homeschool to share resources and experiences.
Boston University researcher Andrew Bacher-Hicks said data showed that while homeschool rates rose across the board during the last school year, the increase was greater in school districts that reverted to in-person learning, perhaps before some parents were ready to send their children back.
He said the same health concerns that drove those increases are likely behind the continued elevated rates, despite additional upheaval in schools as parents and policy-makers debate issues surrounding race and gender and which books should be in libraries.
“It’s really hard to disentangle those two things because all of this is kind of happening at the same time,” he said. “But my my guess would be that a large part of the decisions to exit from the system do have to do with COVID-related issues as opposed to political issues, because those things come up frequently and we’ve never seen an increase in homeschooling rates like this before.”
He said parents also may be concerned about the quality of education delivered by schools that have had to rely heavily on substitute teachers amid pandemic-caused staffing shortages.
McCarthy, the mom from suburban Buffalo, said it was a combination of everything, with the pandemic compounding the misgivings she had already held about the public school system, including her philosophical differences over the need for vaccine and mask mandates and academic priorities.
The pandemic, she said, “was kind of — they say the straw that broke the camel’s back — but the camel’s back was probably already broken.”
“There are kids that don’t know basic English structure but they want to push other things on children, and it can be blatant but it can be, and mostly is, very subtle, very, very subtle,” McCarthy said. “So we were ready to pull them and will never send them back to traditional school. It’s just not a fit for us.”
“It’s just a whole new world that is a much better world for us,” she said. | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/homeschooling-surge-continues-despite-schools-reopening/ | 2022-04-14T18:54:49 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/health/homeschooling-surge-continues-despite-schools-reopening/ |
Worker organizing at Starbucks is on fire. What started with one store in Buffalo has swiftly spread to other locations across the country.
Twenty stores have now unionized, including four so far this week in unanimous votes. The union has lost only once, when one of the first three stores in Buffalo to organize voted down the union back in December. More than 200 Starbucks stores have sought elections, with more added every day.
The return of Howard Schultz to Starbucks as interim CEO on April 4 hasn't slowed the movement, despite his appeal to employees, known as partners at Starbucks, to trust him — not a union — to make things right for them.
"My job in coming back to Starbucks is to ensure the fact that we... reimagine a new Starbucks with our partners at the center of it all, as a pro-partner company, as a company that does not need someone in between us and our people," Schultz told employees at a town-hall style meeting on his first day back.
But more and more workers at Starbucks believe otherwise. They say a worker-led union is exactly what they need to have a seat at the table.
Starbucks workers were originally drawn to the company because of its culture
Starbucks has long prided itself on being a standout employer. Indeed, the generous benefits and socially progressive culture are a big part of what drew Tim Swicord, Gailyn Berg, Megan Gaydos and Claire Picciano to find jobs with the company in Springfield, Virginia. Their Starbucks store is voting this week on whether to organize.
"The way that they treated their employees and also the work environment that I witnessed — it seemed very engaging and fun," says Swicord, a high school senior who sought out Starbucks for a part-time job last year.
"I wanted to go to college for free," says Picciano, a barista trainer who has worked at Starbucks part-time for three-and-a half years while also working toward a bachelor's degree in health sciences, thanks to Starbucks. The company offers free college tuition through an online program at Arizona State University, a perk Berg and Gaydos have also enjoyed.
Berg, who joined four years ago and is now a shift supervisor, says they love Starbucks, or at least, loved it before.
"Definitely, I felt that they had lived up to the culture, the promises of the culture that they had made," they say.
But in the pandemic, the goodwill faded fast. And all four of the Springfield workers eventually became convinced that they would be better off with a union. It started in January, a month after a Starbucks store in Buffalo won a successful union drive. What started out as a casual, almost jokey conversation quickly turned serious, says Swicord. "We just started to think, 'Hey, this is something we should really do as a store.'"
Starbucks' anti-union campaign has riled the workers
Swicord became one of the organizers. He also became a target of Starbucks' anti-union campaign. At a closed-door meeting with his store manager and the district manager, he says he was warned that unionizing was a gamble, that the employees risked losing their benefits and that he in particular risked losing out on a promotion.
"To me, it did not feel like a conversation," he says.
Swicord says Starbucks has carried out other union-busting activities as well. After their store filed for a union vote, their schedule was taken down from the wall in the back room, and when it was reposted, their hours had been cut. Five new employees were suddenly brought on, but Picciano, the store's barista trainer, says she was not allowed to train the new hires.
"Those partners were shipped to other stores to be trained," she says.
Starbucks denies engaging in illegal anti-union activities, including at other stores where worker organizers have been fired. Starbucks says the workers in question were fired for violating company policies.
Tensions at the Springfield store date to early in the pandemic
The mistrust the four Springfield workers feel toward Starbucks dates to the onset of the pandemic. In those scary first days, Berg felt Starbucks was slow to respond, but soon after, their store was among those Starbucks closed for six weeks, with pay. During that time, the staff got together on Zoom to brainstorm ideas for how to keep safe. Along with their store manager, they decided to place a table and a tent at the door. Customers could place orders on the Starbucks app and pick up their drinks outside.
They were quickly overruled.
Citing food safety issues, their district manager told them their plan was inappropriate, and that customers had to be able to come into the store.
"That was definitely a rough first couple of weeks when we were first getting used to what Starbucks corporate wanted us to look like and deciding if it was actually safe enough," says Berg.
In fact, Starbucks took a number of steps to help employees through that time. For 30 days, they paid workers regardless of whether they went to work or not, for whatever reason. They gave 14 days of paid time off to workers exposed to or diagnosed with COVID. They expanded child care benefits and, for a couple of months, paid workers $3 more per hour in hazard pay.
But increasingly, the employees felt voiceless over the challenges they faced at work. Confrontations with customers over masks. Coworkers calling out sick, with no one to replace them.
"'I'm just so stressed out. We need more help,'" Picciano remembers telling her manager at the time.
Pandemic benefits were cut as company reported record sales
For Gaydos, a barista, a low point came last fall when Starbucks phased out one of its pandemic benefits. Employees had been allowed one free food item and one beverage every day, from any store, even if they weren't working that day. Gaydos says they were told the company couldn't afford the benefit anymore.
"And then it came out that we had record-breaking sales, and that the CEO at the time, Kevin Johnson, was going to receive a 40% raise," says Gaydos.
Starbucks notes that it has replaced some pandemic benefits with others as the pandemic has evolved. For example, twice a quarter, workers can now take five days' paid leave if they need to isolate due to COVID.
The company also points to raises it has announced for store employees. By summer 2022, Starbucks says all workers will earn at least $15 an hour.
The Springfield workers are not impressed.
"Starbucks is boasting about raising everyone to $15 an hour, but that was ten years ago that we needed that," says shift supervisor Berg.
What workers want: more money and more of a say
If their store votes to unionize this week, the Springfield workers have a long list of demands they will bring to the bargaining table.
"Of course a raise — that's our very first one," says Berg.
They also want consistency in their schedules and in how many hours they are allotted each week.
The baristas want customers to be able to tip on the credit card readers in the stores and to be able to tip more easily on the mobile app. They also want Starbucks to supplement the tips, seeing as many people don't tip because the prices are so high.
"It is not our fault that Starbucks keeps increasing the cost of everything to the point where it's the most expensive cup of coffee you've ever had," says Picciano.
Berg has a bigger ask in mind: a larger store. The store now is too small for the amount of traffic they get, Berg says, and workers have suffered injuries while restocking because many items are high up on shelves.
Above all, the workers want a say in how things are done at their store. They want their voices heard.
"All of us would be happy to give this company everything we had if we were also treated the same way back," says Picciano.
On Thursday, the workers hope to become the 21st Starbucks store to join the national union Workers United.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-14/starbucks-workers-win-streak-of-union-elections-with-no-sign-of-slowing | 2022-04-14T18:54:51 | 1 | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-14/starbucks-workers-win-streak-of-union-elections-with-no-sign-of-slowing |
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown little sign of slowing in the face of intense sanctions, and as the war drags on the goal of the punitive measure is becoming less clear, according to one foreign policy expert.
The United States and allies imposed strict sanctions on Russia in the early days of the war, and then last week enacted new measures in response to the civilian death toll in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
But, with little evidence of de-escalation so far, some are left wondering what the West can hope to achieve from the sanctions campaign in the future.
Emma Ashford is a foreign policy expert at the Atlantic Council and spoke with All Things Considered about the goal of sanctions going forward, whether they can effectively target Russian leaders, and whether they will hurt regular people
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
On what is the goal of sanctions on Russia
It depends who you ask, to be perfectly honest.
These sanctions were initially intended as a deterrent. The Biden administration said to Russia, "If you invade Ukraine, we will slap the sanctions on you," in the hopes that would deter the Russians from invading. That obviously didn't work.
So now the sanctions are in place, at least in theory they are supposed to be putting pressure on the Russian government to end the war. That doesn't appear to be happening so far. And it's not clear whether even more sanctions would necessarily do that.
So then you get into this question that often arises in cases of sanctions implementation of — and again, Iran, Venezuela, we've seen this in lots of other places — how long do you leave the sanctions on? And over time, does the goal just shift from being concrete policy change like ending the war, over to something more akin to weakening the Russian government over the long term. And I fear that that's where we're sliding into with the Russian sanctions.
On whether current sanctions can be maintained or increased
The sanctions that we have already imposed, those can be maintained for quite a long time, I would think.
The interesting question is about the sanctions that we have not yet imposed. I think it's very doubtful that we're going to see Europe impose large scale energy sanctions, blocking imports to Europe of Russian energy, simply because European economies are so dependent on that gas, that it would almost certainly cause a recession.
On how sanctions affect regular people
In theory, modern sanctions — targeted financial sanctions — are meant to hit a government and not the people within a country. But in practice, that's very difficult to do.
And so some of the sanctions that we've seen put on Russia ... [which block] a lot of banks from the international system, have an impact on the government that can't borrow abroad, but it also means that ordinary citizens of that country might find themselves unable to pay for things online. So Visa or Mastercard will cancel all the cards in Russia, for example.
Then there are the knock-on effects in terms of government spending. So if the Russian government is suddenly unable to maintain its spending obligations, that will also have an impact on ordinary people.
On how effective sanctions are in targeting Russian leadership and influencing policy change
This is one of the biggest problems with sanctions more generally. What we actually see in much of the studies that have been done on sanctions is that government officials, leaders, particularly in authoritarian states, are very good at insulating themselves from the effects of sanctions.
And so this is one of those big problems: How do you translate economic pain into policy change? And unfortunately, the history of sanctions suggests that we're good at causing the economic pain, but we're not good at getting policy changes out of it.
On whether lifting some sanctions could incentivize Russia to change course
This is the other big lesson that scholars who have studied sanctions have pointed to in recent years, that it's not enough to simply put sanctions in place if you want them to actually yield policy changes in the targeted country. You have to have a way to lift them at some point.
So in effect, you have to have a way to reward the state or remove the punishment, if want them to actually change their behavior.
So if we wanted to get something out of the sanctions with Russia, one of the best things that we could do is be specific about the ways in which those sanctions could be raised in exchange for Russia stopping conflict, or withdrawing some of its forces. A phased approach to lifting them that could help to end the conflict.
Unfortunately, as we've seen, in many previous cases, that can be politically problematic. You can imagine how difficult it would be even here in the U.S. to talk about lifting sanctions on Russia after everything that has happened in the last month and a bit.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-14/where-do-sanctions-on-russia-go-from-here-a-foreign-policy-expert-weighs-in | 2022-04-14T18:54:51 | 1 | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-14/where-do-sanctions-on-russia-go-from-here-a-foreign-policy-expert-weighs-in |