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Paul George out vs. Pelicans due to health and safety protocols originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George will miss Friday night's NBA Play-In Tournament game against the New Orleans Pelicans after entering health and safety protocols due to a positive COVID-19 test, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank announced.
George wasn't feeling well on Thursday and tested positive on Friday morning.
"This is another challenge for our group," Frank told reporters Friday (h/t ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk). "The group has dealt with challenges all year. We've had guys in and out of the lineup and dealt with overcoming large deficits and yet this group has always responded. A very resilient group. We have a great deal of faith and a talented and deep roster and have a great coach in Ty Lue."
The winner of the Clippers-Pelicans matchup will earn the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Should the Clippers beat the Pelicans, their first-round series versus the No. 1-seeded Phoenix Suns would start on Sunday evening.
George had just returned to the court in late March following a three-month absence due to an elbow injury. In 31 games this season, he averaged 24.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. He put up a game-high 34 points, along with seven rebounds and five assists, in Los Angeles' 109-104 play-in loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Sports
Including that loss to Minnesota, the Clippers are 18-14 with the seven-time All-Star in the lineup this season and are 24-27 without him. The Clippers have been without superstar Kawhi Leonard all season as well.
Los Angeles dropped three of four against New Orleans in the regular season, with their lone victory coming in the final matchup on April 3. George chipped in 15 points, five rebounds and seven assists in the 119-100 win.
Tipoff for Clippers-Pelicans on Friday night is set for 7 p.m. PT at Crypto.com Arena. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/report-paul-george-out-vs-pelicans-due-to-health-and-safety-protocols/3648066/ | 2022-04-15T17:41:20 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/report-paul-george-out-vs-pelicans-due-to-health-and-safety-protocols/3648066/ |
(The Hill) – Russia has sent a formal letter to the U.S. warning that shipments of sensitive weapons from the United States and NATO were exacerbating tensions in Ukraine and could lead to “unpredictable consequences,” The Washington Post reported.
The letter, which was viewed by the Post, added that the U.S. has flouted the rules governing the transfer of weapons to conflict zones.
According to the letter, dated Tuesday, Russia accused NATO of impeding early peace negotiations with Ukraine “in order to continue the bloodshed.”
The State Department declined to confirm any private diplomatic correspondence.
However, a spokesperson added that it can confirm that along with allies and partners, “we are providing Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of security assistance, which our Ukrainian partners are using to extraordinary effect to defend their country against Russia’s unprovoked aggression and horrific acts of violence.”
The news of the diplomatic letter comes as President Biden announced an additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine this week, which for the first time included advanced munitions that the war-torn country has requested.
“The Ukrainian military has used the weapons we are providing to devastating effect. As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself,” Biden said.
The most recent round of U.S. security assistance includes a mixture of arms and other supplies that Washington has already provided Kyiv, as well as new capabilities that had not previously been sent over.
According to the Pentagon, the aid package includes 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 300 Switchblade drones, 200 M113 armored personnel carriers, 18 howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds, 10 counter-artillery radars, 500 Javelin missiles, unmanned coastal defense vessels and protective equipment in the event of a chemical or biological weapons attack.
The president has also imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion.
The Russians have withdrawn forces from around the Ukrainian capital after weeks of trying to capture Kyiv unsuccessfully and are expected to focus attacks on the south and east, including the Donbas region. | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/russia-sends-formal-letter-warning-us-to-stop-arming-ukraine-report/ | 2022-04-15T17:42:10 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/russia-sends-formal-letter-warning-us-to-stop-arming-ukraine-report/ |
(NewsNation) — When Peter Cottontail hops down the bunny trail this year, he’ll be carrying pricier gifts than ever before.
From chocolate bunnies to jelly beans, the average cost of an Easter basket is now $61.83 — a more than 22% increase from spring 2019.
This is due to the 8.5% inflation rate causing a rise in the cost of raw materials such as the ingredients to make candy, higher gas prices to transport the candy to stores, and supply chain issues compounding the problem.
Most Easter treats, including a 6-ounce chocolate bunny, a 10-pack of Peeps, or a pound of jelly beans, are seeing a $1 increase.
If you’re looking to save, stick to candies such as Kit Kats — their prices have only risen by about a quarter.
According to the National Retail Federation, total Easter spending is expected to be about $20.8 billion. | https://www.wane.com/news/top-picks/bunny-money-average-price-of-easter-basket-nearing-62/ | 2022-04-15T17:42:16 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/top-picks/bunny-money-average-price-of-easter-basket-nearing-62/ |
This story is part of our series "Climate Driven: A deep dive into Maine's response, one county at a time."
Sean O’Donnell started growing grains about 10 years ago at Rusted Rooster Farm, 45 minutes north of Skowhegan on the border of Somerset and Piscataquis counties. He began on a small scale, using grains as a cover crop planted in rotation with other crops to improve the health of the soil.
He and his wife now grow about 150 acres of organic grains including Red Fife Wheat, Winter Rye, oats, and barley. That’s up from around 40 acres just five years ago. O’Donnell credits this growth, in part, to Maine’s burgeoning grain economy.
“It's growing more and more. I don't think I could do what I was doing 10 years ago, and that credit goes to the grain economy,” O’Donnell said.
But that regional grain economy is also providing a buffer to extreme fluctuations in prices, crop failures and supply chain issues linked to climate change.
“As we get thrown more and more severe weather, we need to learn how to have a successful crop in all conditions, and having that guaranteed market and decent profitability is huge to have that resilience,” O’Donnell said.
In fact, it’s already been put to the test by another global crisis. During the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, many consumers in Maine turned to a local Skowhegan grist mill, Maine Grains, to meet their flour needs.
“Flour ran out of the shelves at grocery stores from industrial milling locations because there was a lag in big mills’ ability to keep up with consumer need and demand. That was a resilient moment for us, even just having the regional supply chain and infrastructure,” said Amber Lambke, co-founder and owner of Maine Grains. Lambke and her business partner Michael Scholz started the operation in 2012 after purchasing the old jail in Skowhegan and converting it to a grist mill.
Maine Grains processes flour, oats, wheat berries, rye, cornmeal, buckwheat and more, and the products are sold throughout the state and northeast. The grains are also used for local malting and distilling, animal feed, and seed markets.
“Maine was considered the breadbasket of New England in the 19th century,” Lambke said. And, she said, Somerset County’s grain economy has deep historical roots.
Somerset County was producing 239,000 bushels of wheat per year at its peak in 1837, which was enough to feed more than 100,000 people, Lambke said.
“If you go back to the late 1800s in Somerset County and central Maine, you had all kinds of grist mills dotting the countryside that were taking locally grown grain and milling them for [local use],” said Tristan Noyes, executive director of the Maine Grain Alliance, a nonprofit focused on building the regional grain economy across the state.
Grain farmers in Aroostook County have continued to grow grain for hundreds of years, mostly as cover crops to support their more lucrative potato fields, but grain production in Somerset County and central Maine mostly disappeared as the industry centralized around large-scale production in the Midwest. The milling infrastructure was also lost over time, along with much of the knowledge of how to grow grains, which the Maine Grain Alliance is now trying to restore.
Lambke and others formed the Alliance in 2007 by starting the Kneading Conference, an annual gathering of grain farmers, bakers, brewers, millers and the public each summer in Skowhegan.
The Somerset Grist Mill at Maine Grains is one of two local grist mills in the state which focus on processing organic grains; the other is Aurora Mills in Aroostook County
All told, Maine grows about 50,000 acres of oats, barley and common wheat annually, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s most recent census figures. A small, but increasing, portion of that is grown organically, Noyes said. That’s helped create new markets and an increasing demand for sustainable, locally grown grains.
“What has been enabled by mills like Aurora Mills and Maine Grains in central Maine is that there is no longer just the one commodity market to which those grains can be sold, they can be sold into these local markets,” Noyes said.
“People really like the idea of eating local. If you develop a local grain economy, with relationships between farmers and processors, then you can stabilize prices and provide some predictability for farmers in terms of a price and in terms of volume [that they can sell],” said Ellen Mallory, a University of Maine Extension professor in the School of Food and Agriculture. She’s also on the board of Maine Grain Alliance and works with farmers to help them meet the new economic opportunities with grain production.
While large agriculture production is more efficient than some smaller scale operations, it tends to lack the ability to adapt quickly to major global crises in the same way local markets can. For instance, the war in Ukraine has impacted gasoline and fertilizer prices, disrupting food supply chains.
“That’s part of the downfall of modern ag and the supply chain problems we're seeing. You’re getting a lot more value by staying local because you're supporting that resilience,” O’Donnell said. “The larger supply chain is gonna have its problems when it has its problems, which has been very apparent these last few years.”
Increasingly economic resiliency, biodiversity, ecological health and strength in rural communities are more critical as severe weather events related to climate change become commonplace.
There are already examples of how Maine’s regional grain economy can support farmers amid uncertainty from a warming climate, Noyes said. He points to winter grains, which are planted in the fall, go dormant during the winter under a layer of snowpack, until they grow again early in the spring. Several years ago there was an uncharacteristic thaw in the middle of the winter that killed a farmer’s entire grain crop. Better storage equipment could have helped in that situation, Noyes said.
“If you have the infrastructure and you have some good years, then during the bad years you may be able to keep your grain for longer periods of time and help to mitigate that,” Noyes said.
So, for the last two years, the Maine Grain Alliance has been part of a $200,000 effort to help the post-harvest grain handling needs of seven major farms across the state, including Rusted Rooster Farm, by providing the necessary equipment to properly store and manage grains.
The Alliance is also thinking ahead about what varieties of grains may be best suited for Maine’s future climate through its Seed Restoration Program.
Richard Roberts of Soland, Maine leads the program. He plants small half or quarter acre plots around Somerset County and across the state.
“Last year we had 40 different varieties of grain growing in about 4.5 acres around Maine,” Roberts said. He doesn’t need much space – he works with local farmers, utilizing small plots on their land to grow out the varieties and see how they do in Maine’s climate. Noyes said creating a biodiverse seed supply in Maine will better safeguard the food system against climate change.
“The grain we're getting from Scandinavia and Northern Europe has a climate more suited toward what looks like ours is going to become. It looks like it's going to be wetter here,” Roberts said.
He grows out the seed to commercially viable quantities, and passes it along to larger grain operations, like Rusted Rooster Farm, which allows Sean O’Donnell to diversify his businesses.
“When you're diversified enough, [money] just it manages to trickle in one way or another,” O’Donnell said.
“From an economic perspective of farms and farming, having a diversified operation buffers you against extremes,” Mallory said.
She said building out Maine’s grain varieties has also had a positive impact on increasing organic grain production in the state and creating consumer interest and demand.
“The thing that the local food movement has done for sustainable agriculture and the role of agriculture in climate change is that it's really raised people's interest levels and their knowledge,” Mallory said.
The power of Maine’s regional grain economy, lies in community, connection and value, Noyes said. When the focus of purchasing grain is shifted from price alone to a range of factors, including flavor, sustainability, soil health, and community wellbeing, consumer loyalty and engagement is strengthened. The greater the interest and engagement in Maine’s grain economy, the greater the possibilities for adaptation.
“There’s the environmental and economic sustainability, but there's a community sustainability to this whole thing that's probably the most important part,” Noyes said. “The people who are part of the regional grain economy know one another, they've learned from one another, they talk to one another about the challenges that they face. When things change for the good or the bad, having those strong networks of people in place are one of the foundational aspects of what will make the future of the food system sustainable.” | https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2022-04-15/climate-change-impacts-farmers-and-global-supply-chains-maines-growing-grain-economy-could-help | 2022-04-15T17:43:47 | 0 | https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2022-04-15/climate-change-impacts-farmers-and-global-supply-chains-maines-growing-grain-economy-could-help |
Updated April 15, 2022 at 1:07 PM ET
The Russian missile cruiser that was damaged in a fire on Thursday was hit and ultimately sunk by Ukrainian missile strikes, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed on Friday. Russia and Ukraine had offered differing accounts of what happened to the vessel.
The defense source confirmed the ship was hit by two Neptune missiles, and told NPR there are likely casualties.
Experts say the loss of the Moskva — the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet — is significant both symbolically and militarily, even if it doesn't deal a decisive blow to Russia's overall operations.
Russia's Defense Ministry has said that a fire broke out on board, causing munitions to explode and prompting the evacuation of its crew, which is believed to number about 500. Ukraine claims responsibility, saying it hit the vessel with two Neptune anti-ship missiles about 60 miles off the coast of Odesa.
The defense source confirmed the ship was hit by two Neptune missiles, and told NPR there are "likely casualties."
Russian defense officials said later that the vessel sank while being towed to shore in stormy weather – though weather reports indicate that conditions in the Black Sea were mild.
While losing one vessel isn't going to immobilize the Russian navy, it reinforces the narrative that Ukrainian troops can still deliver powerful blows by being more agile and creative, as NPR's Greg Myre reports. This is the second major vessel Russia has lost off the coast of Ukraine in recent weeks.
The Pentagon previously noted that other Russian warships in the northern Black Sea moved further away from the coast following Thursday's episode, which raised questions about Russia's claim that it was an accident.
Ret. Admiral James Foggo, who commanded U.S. Naval forces for Europe and Africa, said earlier on Thursday that while the forensics of what happened took time to be determined, the significance of the loss was clear – especially since the flagship of any navy is "the biggest and the best and the brightest."
"This is a terribly humiliating blow to the Russian navy, and it's rather astonishing that they can allow this to happen to themselves," Foggo told Morning Edition.
Here's what we know about the history and significance of the sunken ship.
The Cold War-era ship played roles in conflicts in Georgia and Syria
The star of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has a legacy dating back to the Cold War.
The ship was built in then-Soviet Ukraine – in the southern city of Mykolaiv, which has been heavily bombarded by Russian forces in recent days – and launched in 1979. It originally bore the name "Slava" (which means "glory") but was renamed for Russia's capital after the fall of the Soviet Union, according to Reuters.
The vessel, which carried nuclear weapons during the Cold War, has also served as the site of meetings between heads of state, with Russian President Vladimir Putin inviting world leaders on board for talks. It also helped conduct peacetime scientific research with the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
The Moskva was involved in operations in the Black Sea during Russia's war in Georgia in 2008, and Al Jazeera reports that Georgian authorities say the ship took part in an attack on the country.
It later briefly participated in a blockade of the Ukrainian navy as part of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the following year provided air defense for Russian forces operating in Syria.
Ukrainian officials say it's the same ship that gained renewed notoriety at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, when its crew called on Ukrainian border troops defending the strategic Snake Island to surrender – only to be memorably refused with profanity. (The troops were originally believed to have been killed, but were actually taken captive and released in a prisoner swap in early March.)
The defiance at Snake Island has become a defining moment of the war and a rallying cry for Ukraine, which recently unveiled a commemorative postage stamp in the soldiers' honor.
The loss of the vessel is a win for Ukraine, but won't devastate the Russian operation
The loss of the Moskva constitutes a major propaganda victory for Ukraine, especially given its perceived involvement in the Snake Island incident, according to U.S.-based think tank The Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
ISW says the ship's sinking provides a boon to Ukrainian morale as a symbol of its capabilities to strike back at the Russian navy. And, on the other side, it says the Kremlin will struggle to explain what happened.
"Both explanations for the sinking of the Moskva indicate possible Russian deficiencies — either poor air defenses or incredibly lax safety procedures and damage control on the Black Sea Fleet's flagship," it says.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made similar comments on Thursday, saying Russia's potential narratives are either that it came under attack or was incompetent, and neither offers a particularly good outcome.
But while the loss of the Moskva may be embarrassing for Russia, it's not likely to significantly hurt its overall military operations.
The ship had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles (as well as air defense missiles and other guns), so its absence will somewhat shrink Russia's firepower in the Black Sea. It had recently undergone an extensive refit to improve its capability and had only returned to operational status in 2021, the U.K. defense ministry tweeted.
The ISW says the loss of the Moskva is unlikely to "deal a decisive blow to Russian operations as a whole."
Still, that doesn't mean Russia won't change its strategy in light of the incident.
"Ukraine's possibly demonstrated ability to target Russian warships in the Black Sea may change Russian operating patterns, however, forcing them to either deploy additional air and point-defense assets to the Black Sea battlegroup or withdraw vessels from positions near the Ukrainian coast," it added.
Foggo, the retired admiral, said that the Moskva incident serves as a wake-up call that the war isn't only taking place on land. He added that if Ukrainians do actually have Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles like the ones they claimed they used on Thursday, Russian forces are likely worried that any of their ships could be in jeopardy when they get close to the shoreline.
It joins a list of other Russian warships lost during conflict
News outlets had previously noted how significant Ukraine's claims would be, if verified.
Reuters said that if Ukraine's claims of missile strikes are true, the attack on the Moskva could take its place as one of the highest-profile naval attacks of the century.
Citing military analysts, it reported this would be the biggest Russian warship damaged by enemy fire since German dive bombers hit a Soviet battleship in Kronshtadt harbor in St. Petersburg in 1941.
And this isn't the first time that an onboard explosion took a flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet out of action — it says the Imperatritsa Maria dreadnought battleship sank in 1916 after an explosion involving ammunition.
The AP reported that if Ukraine did in fact hit the cruiser with missiles, it likely represents the largest warship to be sunk in combat since a similarly-sized cruiser was torpedoed by a British submarine in the 1982 Falklands War.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-15/a-russian-warship-in-the-black-sea-was-sunk-by-ukrainian-missiles-u-s-official-says | 2022-04-15T17:43:53 | 1 | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-04-15/a-russian-warship-in-the-black-sea-was-sunk-by-ukrainian-missiles-u-s-official-says |
The Penobscot, Passamaquoddy and Maliseet tribes could soon control a lucrative online sports betting market under a bill that received initial approval Friday in the Maine House.
The House approved the proposal 81-53 despite opposition from Hollywood Casino in Bangor and lawmakers who philosophically oppose the expansion of gaming in the state.
The bill has been framed as a compromise between Gov. Janet Mills and the Wabanaki tribes, who continue to be at odds over a 40-year-old settlement act.
The tribes have said the sports betting bill is no substitute for the sovereignty bill that Thursday cleared the House, but they say it will allow them some measure of economic self-determination.
Under the proposal, the tribes would gain access to the mobile sports betting market. Hollywood Casino could run sports wagering at its nearby harness racing track, while and Oxford Casino could do so at its gaming facility.
The proposal now moves to the Senate. | https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2022-04-15/house-oks-bill-to-give-maine-tribes-exclusive-rights-to-online-sports-betting-market | 2022-04-15T17:43:59 | 1 | https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2022-04-15/house-oks-bill-to-give-maine-tribes-exclusive-rights-to-online-sports-betting-market |
Our tour through the kitchens of ABC11 continues. This week, we head to Elaina Athan's house to make an old Roman dish called Cacio E Pepe, or butter and pepper.
For as simple as this recipe is, it blew me away how good it was. Elaina comes from restaurant family and talks about it in the video. Let's get to it!
Ingredients
1 T of Salt
1/2 Box of Spaghetti (use the noodles with rough edges if you can)
3/4 stick of butter
1 T of coarse cracked pepper
1 Cup of grated Parmesan and Romano Cheese
Preparation
1. Boil a pot of water and add salt
2. Cook Pasta according to instructions on the box, until 3 minutes shy of 'done'
3. Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta water, then drain pasta and spray with cold water to stop cooking
4. In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Do not let it brown or burn.
5. Add the pepper to butter as it's melting, and heat until you hear the pepper start to pop
6. Slowly add the reserved pasta water to the butter, careful not to splash
7. Add the noodles to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly
8. Add the cheese over medium low heat and continue to stir
9. Pasta is ready when the cheese starts to get 'stringy'
10. Pro-tip - Watch how she spins it as she puts in the plate. It's not in the video, but she adds a little fresh pepper and a little more parm to make it a feast for the eyes.
This was amazing and you can change it up SO easily. Want some protein? Throw in some grilled chicken or steamed shrimp with the parmesan. Need Gluten-Free, they make that pasta so sub it out. You could even throw a little parsley on it right before serving to 'green' it up a bit. It was so simple, maybe that's why it surprised me so much. Thank you Elaina for a great recipe!
Also, if you have a great recipe that you want me to try, send me an email and I may feature it in this Big Recipe segment. Email Don.
RELATED: Hungry for more Big Recipes? Click here!
Sponsored Content
Big Weather's Big Recipe: Elaina Athans' Cacio E Pepe
Sponsored Content | https://abc11.com/big-weathers-recipe-cacio-e-pepe-elaina-athans-cheese-and-pepper/11744256/ | 2022-04-15T17:44:48 | 1 | https://abc11.com/big-weathers-recipe-cacio-e-pepe-elaina-athans-cheese-and-pepper/11744256/ |
The call came in around noon about a shooting at Cadence At RTP, an apartment complex popular among NC Central students that is located off East Cornwallis Road.
Multiple @TheDurhamPolice cruisers are blocking the entrance to the Cadence At RTP apartments. Two people have been shot and one person has died #abc11 @CityofDurhamNC pic.twitter.com/Py0y08miGS
— Josh Chapin (@JoshChapinABC11) April 15, 2022
ABC11 sources said a man and woman were shot at the apartment complex. One of them died from their injuries.
Durham Police Department has not released any information about the victims or any possible suspects.
WATCH: Durham police chief announces new measures amid soaring gun violence
Stay with ABC11.com as we work to gather more information. | https://abc11.com/durham-shooting-cadence-at-rtp-1-killed-in-deadly/11751753/ | 2022-04-15T17:44:55 | 0 | https://abc11.com/durham-shooting-cadence-at-rtp-1-killed-in-deadly/11751753/ |
6-year-old in critical condition after being thrown by tornado, dangling from tree
Family of four, including baby, hospitalized; pregnant mother suffered miscarriage
SALADO, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) - An entire Central Texas family is in the hospital with critical injuries after an EF-3 tornado destroyed their mobile home Tuesday and flung them hundreds of feet away.
The most critically injured is Miriam Rios, 6, a girl found unconscious and dangling upside-down from a tree where the wind had tossed her hundreds of yards from her house. Her pregnant mother, Vanessa Rios, suffered a miscarriage.
The Rios family – including the mom, dad and their two children – were in their mobile home Tuesday night when the tornado warnings came in. The children’s uncle, Stephen Perez, said the family first tried to drive off, but when hail began to fall, they retreated back to their mobile home.
The situation quickly worsened. The tornado with peak winds of 165 mph tore the family’s home to shreds and flung each member of the family in a different direction.
Father Joel Rios was thrown to one side, and the mother landed on the other side. The couple’s 1-year-old, Ezra, landed somewhere in the fields nearby. Six-year-old Miriam was flung into a tree.
“(Their mom) remembers waking up, rolling over on her side, and seeing her daughter in a tree and she can’t get up or do anything. She just rolled over and cried,” Perez said.
After the entire family was rushed to the hospital, they learned the mother had miscarried.
Since then, Perez said members of the family have been in and out of various surgeries meant to repair broken pelvic bones and address spinal cord injuries.
Perez said baby Ezra miraculously suffered the mildest injuries and should be released from the hospital soon.
While the family is grateful for the baby’s health, they are still in awe of just how much they’ve lost. Miriam, a first grader, was set to celebrate her seventh birthday on Saturday.
The Rios family also lost their house and everything in it.
“It’s just the foundation that’s left. There’s absolutely nothing,” Perez said. “And (my sister) was really proud about that home.”
Community members have begun various efforts to help the family with medical bills and with their needs once they are released from the hospital. Perez has created a GoFundMe page to help his family rebuild.
In total, 23 people were injured and 12 hospitalized after the storm, according to Bell County Judge David Blackburn.
Copyright 2022 KWTX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/6-year-old-critical-condition-after-being-thrown-by-tornado-dangling-tree/ | 2022-04-15T17:46:46 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/6-year-old-critical-condition-after-being-thrown-by-tornado-dangling-tree/ |
Alex Jones to recoup $75,000 in fines in Sandy Hook lawsuit
Published: Apr. 15, 2022 at 11:53 AM CDT|Updated: 53 minutes ago
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be getting back the $75,000 in fines he paid to a Connecticut court for missing a deposition last month in a lawsuit over his assertions that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
A Connecticut judge on Thursday ordered the return of the money because Jones eventually appeared at a deposition in Bridgeport last week.
The escalating fines had been aimed at making sure Jones did appear for questioning.
Jones is being sued for defamation by relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, massacre.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/alex-jones-recoup-75000-fines-sandy-hook-lawsuit/ | 2022-04-15T17:46:53 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/alex-jones-recoup-75000-fines-sandy-hook-lawsuit/ |
DPS stresses road safety ahead of Spring Flood Run
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) is asking everyone to be careful on the roads this weekend, as motorcyclists will be out in numbers for the 57th annual Spring Flood Run.
Thousands of bikers are expected to take part in the ride on Saturday, April 16, traveling between the Twin Cities and Winona.
The event marks the beginning of motorcycle season in Minnesota.
“This weekend, no matter the temperature, we will see hundreds of motorcycles on the road,” Sgt. Troy Christianson with the Minnesota State Patrol said. “We typically see more crashes coming into the warmer months.”
Riders should be on the lookout for loose sand and gravel, snow runoff, and uneven pavement. Officials also urge bikers to wear helmets and other protective gear while out riding.
Drivers should watch out for motorcycles and look twice before entering a road or changing lanes.
Christianson added, “So far this year, we haven’t had any fatal crashes on motorcycles, but after this weekend when the temperature warms up, we will see an increase in injury crashes and fatal crashes.”
According to the DPS, there are close to 400,000 licensed motorcyclists in the state.
For more information about the Flood Run, click here.
Copyright 2022 KTTC. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/dps-stresses-road-safety-ahead-spring-flood-run/ | 2022-04-15T17:46:54 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/dps-stresses-road-safety-ahead-spring-flood-run/ |
K-9 shot, killed during standoff with armed suspect
OXFORD, N.C. (Gray News) – A police K-9 in North Carolina was shot and killed Sunday.
K-9 Major with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office was killed during a standoff with an armed robbery suspect.
According to the Granville County Sheriff’s Department, officers responded to a report of an armed robbery involving the theft of a vehicle on Saturday. Police could not locate the suspect Saturday, but the following day, officers responded to a report of a suspicious fire at a residence.
During the investigation of the fire, officers determined the armed robbery suspect was possibly hiding under the crawl space of the home. As police tried to clear the crawl space, they were met with gunfire from the suspect and returned fire.
During that time, K-9 Major was struck by gunfire and died. The dog was shot twice with an AK-47 rifle.
Police requested further assistance from other law enforcement agencies, including a crisis negotiator. The crisis negotiator made contact with the suspect and convinced the man to come out from under the crawl space and surrender to authorities.
Aside from K-9 Major, no law enforcement officers were injured.
The suspect, identified as William Darius Eichelberger, 21, was transported to the hospital with minor injuries and released a short time later. He was then taken to the Granville County Magistrate where he was placed under a $250,000 bond.
According to police, Eichelberger was charged with seven felonies, and more charges are forthcoming.
K-9 Major was a 3-year-old German Shepherd and the beloved partner of Corporal Jamie Lariviere. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is holding a celebration of life for Major on Monday.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/k-9-shot-killed-during-standoff-with-armed-suspect/ | 2022-04-15T17:46:54 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/k-9-shot-killed-during-standoff-with-armed-suspect/ |
Police: Man fatally pushed woman into California train
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A man accused of fatally pushing a woman in front of a freight train in Southern California has been arrested, authorities said.
The woman, whose name has not yet been made public, was hit by the train Monday morning in the city of Riverside, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) from downtown Los Angeles, police said Thursday.
Riverside police said in a statement that the woman and the man, Kevin Errol Lewis, were in an argument next to the railroad tracks that turned physical.
During the altercation, Lewis allegedly shoved the woman he was in a dating relationship with into the path of the train, killing her, police said.
Officers found Lewis, 41, nearby and detained him, police said. He is being held in jail without bail on suspicion of murder and domestic violence, as well as several outstanding warrants for theft and narcotics violations.
Lewis, whom police described as a transient man, is scheduled to appear in court on April 25, online jail records showed. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
The killing was similar to a death in New York City in January that shocked the city after after a woman was pushed to her death in front of a subway train beneath Times Square in an apparently unprovoked attack. Police charged Martial Simon, whom authorities said was homeless, in the slaying of Michelle Alyssa Go.
Simon is being held in a hospital prison ward and is scheduled to return to court on Tuesday, online jail and court records show.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/police-man-fatally-pushed-woman-into-california-train/ | 2022-04-15T17:47:00 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/police-man-fatally-pushed-woman-into-california-train/ |
Sen. Feinstein pushes back against reports of health concerns
(CNN) - “I’d put my record up against anyone’s” is what Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had to say after recent reports that other lawmakers are worried about her health, especially after losing her husband to cancer in February.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported four unnamed senators, three former Feinstein aides and a California Democratic member of Congress said her mental health has gotten worse recently, and they’re worried about her memory and ability to lead.
But Feinstein defended herself, calling the newspaper Thursday to say she’s committed to her work, meets regularly with leaders and puts in the hours.
She explained that the whole thing is puzzling to her.
Feinstein has faced questions about her ability to serve for a few years now and lost her post as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee after her Democratic colleagues privately complained about her performance during the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/sen-feinstein-pushes-back-against-health-concerns/ | 2022-04-15T17:47:06 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/sen-feinstein-pushes-back-against-health-concerns/ |
Stuffed animal containing father’s ashes returned to daughter after donation mix-up
AGAWAM, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM/Gray News) – A very special stuffed animal that was accidentally donated to Savers in Massachusetts was returned to its owner after a monthlong search.
Mary Kirk said the toy, an orange tabby cat from Build-A-Bear, contains her father’s ashes.
The cat was given to Kirk’s son by her father in 2001. When Kirk’s father died four years ago, the family decided to put some of his ashes in a plastic pouch and place it inside the stuffed animal so her son would always have a piece of his grandfather.
However, when the family was getting ready to move last month, Kirk’s husband accidentally donated the stuffed animal to Savers.
Unfortunately, the stuffed animal was no longer at the store when the family went to retrieve it.
After pleading with the public for weeks on social media and hanging signs up at the Savers store, the cat turned up on Kirk’s doorstep. The stuffed animal was shipped in a box, addressed to Kirk, but had no return address.
Kirk said the Build-A-Bear is “much dirtier” than when she last saw him, but she is deeply grateful for its return.
The family is now searching for the anonymous sender so they can properly thank them. Kirk is also offering a $350 reward plus a new stuffed cat.
Copyright 2022 WGGB/WSHM via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/stuffed-animal-containing-fathers-ashes-returned-daughter-after-donation-mix-up/ | 2022-04-15T17:47:13 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/stuffed-animal-containing-fathers-ashes-returned-daughter-after-donation-mix-up/ |
Twitter adopts ‘poison pill’ defense to thwart Elon Musk’s takeover bid
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Twitter said Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private.
Twitter said the move, formally called a “limited duration shareholder rights plan,” aims to enable its investors to “realize the full value of their investment” by reducing the likelihood that any one person can gain control of the company without either paying shareholders a premium or giving the board more time. Poison pills are often used to defend against hostile takeovers.
Twitter’s plan would take effect if Musk’s roughly 9% stake grows to 15% or more. Even then, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors. Twitter said the plan doesn’t prevent the board from engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal if it’s in the company’s “best interests.”
Twitter had revealed in a securities filing Thursday that Musk offered to buy the company outright for more than $43 billion, saying the social media platform “needs to be transformed as a private company” in order to build trust with its users.
“I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.”
Later on Thursday, during an onstage interview at the TED 2022 conference, he went even broader: “Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
Musk revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying Twitter shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31, ending up with a stake of about 9%. Only Vanguard Group controls more Twitter shares. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York federal court alleged that Musk illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices.
After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly offered him a seat on its board on the condition that he would limit his purchases to no more than 14.9% of the company’s outstanding stock. But the company said five days later that Musk had declined.
A poison pill path is a “predictable” defensive maneuver, although it could be seen as a “sign of weakness” and viewed unfavorably on Wall Street, Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said in an emailed note.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-defense-thwart-elon-musks-takeover-bid/ | 2022-04-15T17:47:20 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-defense-thwart-elon-musks-takeover-bid/ |
Ukraine war weighs on pope’s Good Friday Colosseum ritual
ROME (AP) — The war in Ukraine loomed over the traditional Good Friday Colosseum procession in Rome, after the Vatican’s choice of a Russian woman to be among the cross-bearers angered Ukrainians.
For the first time since before the pandemic, the solemn torchlit procession at the ancient arena in Rome was to resume on Friday night. Thousands of pilgrims and tourists flocked to the site hours earlier, in hope of catching a glimpse of Pope Francis, who presides over the service from an elevated point near the Roman Forum.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See and the archbishop of Kyiv denounced the Vatican’s plan to have a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman carry the cross together during the procession. They objected to projecting what they saw as the idea of reconciliation while Ukraine is ravaged by war unleashed by Russia.
The Vatican didn’t respond to the protests or announce any program changes.
While Francis has denounced the Feb. 24 invasion and attacks on Ukraine as a “sacrilege,’’ he has refrained from naming Russia as the aggressor, although his references to Russian Vladimir Putin have been clear. The pope is pressing for negotiations to cease the fighting and bring peace, and has offered to go to Ukraine if his presence could further the cause of peace.
But other faithful in the world applauded the decision to pair the two women, who work together at a Rome hospital and are friends, to carry the cross during part of the procession, which recalls Jesus’ suffering as he was being brought to his crucifixion and death.
In Paris, hundreds of Catholics gathered for Good Friday prayers on the forecourt of Notre Dame cathedral, and followed its rector on a procession around the island on the Seine River that houses the medieval landmark.
“Well, you know today the pope has a woman from Ukraine and a woman from Russia holding the cross together at one of the Stations of the Cross,” Jennifer Kilgore-Caradec told The AP at Notre Dame. She called that a “very moving and meaningful symbol.” She added: “I think that real people in the real world are concerned about peace. We want peace, we don’t want war,” which brings suffering and pain. That is “not the message of the Christ on the cross.”
The faithful were not allowed inside the Paris cathedral, since it is still under reconstruction after a 2019 blaze collapsed its spire and destroyed its roof. French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting the cathedral Friday to mark the third anniversary of the fire.
In St. Peter’s Basilica, hours ahead of the Colosseum event, Pope Francis, wearing red vestments to symbolize the blood of Jesus, limped up the central aisle to take his place for an early evening prayer service. Francis, 85, has been suffering from a knee ligament problem.
Usually at the Good Friday basilica service at the Vatican, the pontiff would prostrate himself in prayer. But this time Francis, hobbled by pain for weeks, didn’t do so.
Francis dispatched his official almsgiver, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, to Kyiv to lead a Good Friday procession in the capital city of war-ravaged Ukraine. Italian Rai state TV said Krajewski on Friday visited two of Ukraine’s hardest-hit locations, Bucha and Borodyanka, both in ruins. At one point, Krajewski prayed over some of the bodies and leaned over to touch one, partially covered, body.
Throughout his papacy, Francis has repeatedly denounced armaments accumulated by nations as unjustified. In an interview broadcast on Italian state TV on Friday, the pope elaborated on his view.
“I understand those governments that buy arms, I understand them. I do not justify them, but I understand them, because we have to defend ourselves,” Francis said. But, he added: “If there were a pattern of peace, this would not be necessary. But we live with this diabolical pattern of killing one another out of the desire for power, the desire for security, the desire for many things.”
Good Friday is one of the main days for Christians during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter, on Sunday.
In Jerusalem, where tens of thousands of faithful traditionally converge on the Israeli city’s Old City to visit sacred sites during Holy Week, Palestinians on Friday clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque. The site is sacred to Jews and Muslims. This year, Ramadan coincides with Passover, as well as Holy Week.
Medics in Jerusalem said that more than 150 Palestinians were injured, in the most serious violence at the site in nearly a year.
___
John Leicester and Oleg Cetinic contributed from Paris.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/ukraine-war-weighs-popes-good-friday-colosseum-ritual/ | 2022-04-15T17:47:26 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/15/ukraine-war-weighs-popes-good-friday-colosseum-ritual/ |
The deals on these 4K televisions are as good as Black Friday deals
Updated: 11:24 AM CDT Apr 15, 2022
These deals are better than what was seen on Black Friday.Yes, you read that above line correctly. There are highly-rated 4K televisions being marked down right now — as high as 35% off — and some of the deals are actually better than what was listed on Black Friday in 2021. The deals on these televisions are not the only savings you can take advantage of as there are other products that are being listed on Amazon at up to 60% off. Can't see the below deals? Click here.Save 34% on the Amazon Fire TV 50-inch 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV when you order today through Amazon. Bring movies and shows to life with support for vivid 4K Ultra HD, HDR 10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Plus. This TV is now marked down to $319.99, slashed from its original price of $469.99.Looking for a bigger screen? No problem. You can also save $30 on the Amazon Fire TV 55-inch 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV, now listed at $349.99.You can save more than $300 on this giant Amazon Fire TV 75-inch Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV with Dolby Vision. Amazon is now offering discounts of 29% off — marked down to $749.99 from its original $1,054.17.Size down with this 43-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV, now listed at only $299.99.Can't find what you're looking for? There are hundreds of additional deals today on Amazon that you can find by clicking here.
These deals are better than what was seen on Black Friday.
Yes, you read that above line correctly. There are highly-rated 4K televisions being marked down right now — as high as 35% off — and some of the deals are actually better than what was listed on Black Friday in 2021.
The deals on these televisions are not the only savings you can take advantage of as there are other products that are being listed on Amazon at up to 60% off.
Can't see the below deals? Click here.
Save 34% on the Amazon Fire TV 50-inch 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV when you order today through Amazon. Bring movies and shows to life with support for vivid 4K Ultra HD, HDR 10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Plus. This TV is now marked down to $319.99, slashed from its original price of $469.99.
Looking for a bigger screen? No problem. You can also save $30 on the Amazon Fire TV 55-inch 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV, now listed at $349.99.
You can save more than $300 on this giant Amazon Fire TV 75-inch Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV with Dolby Vision. Amazon is now offering discounts of 29% off — marked down to $749.99 from its original $1,054.17.
Size down with this 43-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV, now listed at only $299.99.
Amazon Fire TV 43
Amazon
amazon.com
$299.99
Can't find what you're looking for? There are hundreds of additional deals today on Amazon that you can find by clicking here. | https://www.wisn.com/article/amazon-fire-tv-deals/39729500 | 2022-04-15T17:50:04 | 1 | https://www.wisn.com/article/amazon-fire-tv-deals/39729500 |
911 dispatcher error blamed for double fatal Waukesha fire
Kevin and Kim McQuade died last month after the fire broke out at their apartment building on Lambeth Road near Oakdale Drive.
Kevin and Kim McQuade died last month after the fire broke out at their apartment building on Lambeth Road near Oakdale Drive.
Kevin and Kim McQuade died last month after the fire broke out at their apartment building on Lambeth Road near Oakdale Drive.
Investigators have determined that 911 dispatcher error lead to the deaths of a husband and wife in Waukesha.
Kevin and Kim McQuade died last month after the fire broke out at their apartment building on Lambeth Road near Oakdale Drive.
Officials initially investigated a software malfunction for delaying the firefighters' response.
They said the delay was due to human error in the Waukesha City Communications Center.
Investigators released their findings Friday in a 284-page report.
The investigators showed an initial 911 call was made at 1:25:06 a.m. on March 8.
The first fire engine arrived on the scene 11 minutes after that call.
Officials said their response time goal is six minutes.
"A technical failure in the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software occurred that caused the Fire Department alerting system to fail to automatically activate. This failure caused a response delay of over 5 minutes," the report stated. "While the initial information revealed a possible technical issue with our Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software, the direction of this comprehensive review was to examine all possible issues that may have contributed to the delayed response."
Investigators said they examined technical aspects, personnel performance and policies and procedures.
"While the review concluded a technical issue was what precipitated the failure to notify the Waukesha Fire Department of the active structure fire, this review concluded multiple protocols were either improperly performed or omitted entirely, but one stands out as the most notable, the 911/Fire dispatcher failed to manually activate station alerting within one minute of the fire call being entered in the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system," the report said. "Ensuring fire department personnel have acknowledged the call and are responding is the primary base function for this dispatching position."
Officials concluded there was no error in the alerting software.
"The error stemmed from the ProPhoenix CAD software," the report said. "In addition to the technical aspects, there were protocol failures that exacerbated the delay of dispatching fire personnel. Accountability will be addressed based on training and reasonable expectations of information known."
Ensuring fire department personnel have acknowledged the call and are responding is the primary base function for this dispatching position, investigators noted.
Three dispatchers were on duty the night of the fire.
They were not publicly identified but had a combined experience of 20 years.
The dispatcher in question had five years of experience.
That person entered the call code into a police dispatching field rather than a fire dispatching field, investigators determined.
"According to ProPhoenix, this was the reason the station alerting did not working properly. It was a known issue with CAD that the link between police and fire was one way, but it was not known that this link would generate four separate calls for service and fail to send an alert packet to station alerting," the report said.
The dispatcher never got confirmation from firefighters that it was received and didn't activate the manual alert until five minutes later.
That should have been done within one minute of the failure, the report noted.
The dispatcher also then manually activated each of the five fire stations individually rather than all at once.
"Seconds are precious during an emergency," the report stated.
The dispatcher also did not immediately upgrade the fire when requested.
The technical failure was reported to the supervisor on duty at 6:30 a.m.
Two other residents had to jump from the second floor to escape the fire.
Another woman in her 20s also suffered life-threatening injuries.
Four other residents were in the building when the fire started and was uninjured.
The computer system has been in place since 2007.
The McQuades left behind a son and daughter.
Police said nothing in their review of the case rose to a criminal level so no charges will be filed.
An internal investigation is ongoing.
That could result in disciplinary action against the dispatcher.
That person was placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.
Police said they would be speaking to the families of the victims about their findings.
WISN 12 continues to gather additional information on this developing story. | https://www.wisn.com/article/double-fatal-waukesha-fire-911-dispatcher-error-blamed/39735629 | 2022-04-15T17:50:14 | 0 | https://www.wisn.com/article/double-fatal-waukesha-fire-911-dispatcher-error-blamed/39735629 |
These home renovation projects get the best return on investment
Home prices have gone up so much that many homeowners have decided to stay put and make their own homes better.
But even if you're renovating a home to live in it, it's still important to know what you can expect to recoup from those upgrades and improvements and what will eventually pay off when it comes time to sell. Homeowners who over-renovate a home may not get the cost of the improvement back.
For example, it's not the spa-like bathroom or the magazine-worthy custom kitchen that provide the best return on investment, according to a new report on the impact of home remodeling from the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
Instead, the interior projects that recoup the most are refinishing hardwood floors and installing new hardwood flooring.
The report estimates the cost of refinishing floors at $3,400 with an estimated return on investment of $5,000, for a 147% recovery of costs. The estimated cost of installing hardwood floors is higher at $5,000, but with a $6,500 return on investment, 118% of the cost is recovered, according to the research.
Meanwhile, the cost of a dream project -- like the addition of a new primary bedroom suite -- can be an estimated $182,000, with only about $100,000 of that cost recovered, making the return on investment the lowest of the projects evaluated at 56%.
Best ROI on projects
After refinishing floors and new hardwood, the next best return on investment was another decidedly unsexy project: an insulation upgrade. Priced at an estimated $2,500, all of that cost is expected to be recovered for a 100% return.
Homeowners who do complete kitchen and bath renovations can expect to recoup around 75% of those costs, according to the report. With an estimated cost of about $80,000, a total kitchen renovation recoups about $60,000, and homeowners can expect to recover about $25,000 of a $35,000 bathroom renovation, about 71% of the project's cost.
Renovating a basement into a living space offers a bit better rate of return. At an estimated cost of $57,500, homeowners can recoup 86% of that project's cost.
As for exterior home improvements, the projects with the best return on investment are replacing the roof and the garage doors, with both recouping all their costs.
Homeowners can expect to get back about 86% of the costs of installing vinyl siding and 67% of vinyl windows, but only 63% of wood windows.
The actual cost of each remodeling project and cost recovery is influenced by many factors, including project design, quality of materials, location, age and condition of the home, and homeowner preferences.
"Quite often, an added benefit to home renovations is the possibility of an increase in the home's value, which is a reason why some people remodel," said Lautz. "This is especially advantageous to a homeowner who may be considering selling their house or converting the home to a rental property."
Who is remodeling and why
While the pandemic put much of the economy on pause, residential renovations boomed as homeowners reconfigured their homes for new uses like work and school, even as the cost of materials and labor rose.
Americans spent $420 billion in 2020 on remodeling their homes and nearly all NARI members found a greater demand for contracting in remodeling work that year.
Of homeowners surveyed, 35% hired professionals for the entire job, 28% hired the labor but purchased the materials and 22% did the entire project themselves.
"Homeowners tend to undertake a remodeling project for any number of reasons," said Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics and behavioral insights at NAR. "In some instances, homeowners were content with sprucing up a room with a simple paint job, while in other cases, families decided to take on the task of renovating an entire attic or basement to add additional living space to their home."
About 35% of those surveyed said the most important result from their remodel was better functionality and livability. Around 22% said they had durable and long-lasting results, materials and appliances, and 14% reported beauty and aesthetics as a result of their remodel.
"The pandemic has changed the way we use our homes, and many of those changes are here to stay," said Lautz. "As a result, homeowners needed to reconfigure or remodel how they use their home and maximize space." | https://www.wisn.com/article/home-renovation-projects-investment/39735725 | 2022-04-15T17:50:24 | 1 | https://www.wisn.com/article/home-renovation-projects-investment/39735725 |
Police: More than 900 civilian bodies found in Kyiv region
More than 900 civilian bodies have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following the withdrawal of Russian forces — most of them fatally shot, police said Friday, an indication that many people were "simply executed."
Related video above: Chernihiv residents return to destroyed homes
The number of dead is double that was announced by Ukrainian authorities almost two weeks ago.
Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said the bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% died from gunshot wounds.
"Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets," Nebytov said.
More bodies are being found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added.
The largest number of victims were found in Bucha, where there were more than 350, he said.
According to Nebytov, utilities workers in Bucha gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, were "tracking down" people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry promised to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow's stinging loss of its flagship in the Black Sea. | https://www.wisn.com/article/hundreds-of-civilian-bodies-found-in-kyiv-region/39737505 | 2022-04-15T17:50:35 | 1 | https://www.wisn.com/article/hundreds-of-civilian-bodies-found-in-kyiv-region/39737505 |
Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs like a woman possessed. And in a way, she is: The amputee athlete is trying to run at least 102 marathons in 102 days.Last month, a little more than two-thirds toward her goal of setting a new world record for back-to-back marathons, the South Africa native posted something on Twitter that got people talking."The first thing I did after my run today was take off my leg. Felt so good," she tweeted. "Marathon 69 done. 31 marathons to go."That was last month, and she's still running — covering the classic 26.2-mile marathon distance day in, day out, rain or shine, occasionally on a treadmill but mostly on roads and trails near her home in Gilbert, Arizona. If her streak remains intact heading into the Boston Marathon on April 18, it'll be marathon No. 92.Unlike the 30,000 others running the storied course, Hunt-Broersma, 46, will have done a marathon the day before. Somehow, she'll have to rally body and soul to run another the day after. And another after that. And then eight more.All on a carbon-fiber blade that's been her left leg ever since she lost the real thing below the knee to a rare cancer."You make peace with pain," she said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think my pain threshold is probably quite high at the moment. It's one step at a time."Boston is the only certified marathon she's including in her quest. The others she's running on one of two loops near her home or indoors on a treadmill — a monotonous machine many runners derisively call the "treadmill."In 2001, while she and her Dutch husband were living in the Netherlands, Hunt-Broersma was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer more typically seen in children. Overnight, a golf ball-sized bulge appeared on an old scar that had become tender. A biopsy confirmed the worst, and within weeks, her leg was amputated below the knee."The biggest struggle was accepting that part of my body was gone," she said. (She's since made peace with that: A favorite T-shirt reads, "A Zombie Chewed It Off.")Until five years ago, she wasn't at all athletic, but getting started was expensive. Carbon-fiber blades designed for running cost around $10,000 and aren't covered by health insurance. Survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three spectators and wounded 260 others, ran into the same problem when they sought to reclaim their lives."Running really changed my life," she said. "It helped me accept myself as an amputee. It gave me a sense of freedom. I fell in love with the process of pushing my body further just to see what I could do."Subsequent marathons led to ultrarunning over extended distances, including a 100-mile race. So when Hunt-Broersma learned that Alyssa Amos Clark,a nondisabledrunner from Bennington, Vermont, covered the marathon distance 95 days in a row in 2000, an idea was born: She’d do 100. That plan got foiled this week when British runner Kate Jayden completed 101 marathons in as many days, so Hunt-Broersma has a new goal: "Now I'm going for at least 102.""I hoped it would inspire a lot of people to get out of their comfort zone and push a little bit farther," she said.She worried her stump would become raw and painful, and the first two weeks were rough. Since then, though, she's gotten into a sustainable rhythm, taking care to ice and massage the stump. When it became swollen, she switched to a running prosthesis with a little more room.But there have been mental challenges as well on the road to 102, which began on Jan. 17. On a recent outing, Hunt-Broersma — who's been averaging a little over five hours per marathon — felt near collapse at 15 miles and burst into tears. Suddenly the entire odyssey was in doubt."I had a total emotional breakdown. I was like, 'I just can't do this. What was I thinking?'" she said. "The trick for me is just to break it down into little goals. Just get to the next mile. And then the next one."Her support team is her husband and their two young children, but she's also gained a large social media following.This week, after logging marathon No. 85, well-wishers offered virtual applause. "You just seem to eat marathons for breakfast," one person tweeted. "In such bleak times, thank you for serving as an inspiration," commented another.As she nears the end of her epic quest, Hunt-Broersma hopes she inspires a singular thought in others, regardless of their own physical challenges:"You’re stronger than you think — and you're capable of so much more."
Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs like a woman possessed. And in a way, she is: The amputee athlete is trying to run at least 102 marathons in 102 days.
Last month, a little more than two-thirds toward her goal of setting a new world record for back-to-back marathons, the South Africa native posted something on Twitter that got people talking.
"The first thing I did after my run today was take off my leg. Felt so good," she tweeted. "Marathon 69 done. 31 marathons to go."
That was last month, and she's still running — covering the classic 26.2-mile marathon distance day in, day out, rain or shine, occasionally on a treadmill but mostly on roads and trails near her home in Gilbert, Arizona. If her streak remains intact heading into the Boston Marathon on April 18, it'll be marathon No. 92.
Unlike the 30,000 others running the storied course, Hunt-Broersma, 46, will have done a marathon the day before. Somehow, she'll have to rally body and soul to run another the day after. And another after that. And then eight more.
All on a carbon-fiber blade that's been her left leg ever since she lost the real thing below the knee to a rare cancer.
"You make peace with pain," she said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think my pain threshold is probably quite high at the moment. It's one step at a time."
Boston is the only certified marathon she's including in her quest. The others she's running on one of two loops near her home or indoors on a treadmill — a monotonous machine many runners derisively call the "treadmill."
In 2001, while she and her Dutch husband were living in the Netherlands, Hunt-Broersma was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer more typically seen in children. Overnight, a golf ball-sized bulge appeared on an old scar that had become tender. A biopsy confirmed the worst, and within weeks, her leg was amputated below the knee.
Edwin Broersma
In this image provided by Edwin Broersma, marathoner Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs her 80th consecutive marathon on March 27, 2022, near her home in Gilbert, Az.
"The biggest struggle was accepting that part of my body was gone," she said. (She's since made peace with that: A favorite T-shirt reads, "A Zombie Chewed It Off.")
Until five years ago, she wasn't at all athletic, but getting started was expensive. Carbon-fiber blades designed for running cost around $10,000 and aren't covered by health insurance. Survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three spectators and wounded 260 others, ran into the same problem when they sought to reclaim their lives.
"Running really changed my life," she said. "It helped me accept myself as an amputee. It gave me a sense of freedom. I fell in love with the process of pushing my body further just to see what I could do."
Subsequent marathons led to ultrarunning over extended distances, including a 100-mile race. So when Hunt-Broersma learned that Alyssa Amos Clark,a nondisabledrunner from Bennington, Vermont, covered the marathon distance 95 days in a row in 2000, an idea was born: She’d do 100. That plan got foiled this week when British runner Kate Jayden completed 101 marathons in as many days, so Hunt-Broersma has a new goal: "Now I'm going for at least 102."
"I hoped it would inspire a lot of people to get out of their comfort zone and push a little bit farther," she said.
She worried her stump would become raw and painful, and the first two weeks were rough. Since then, though, she's gotten into a sustainable rhythm, taking care to ice and massage the stump. When it became swollen, she switched to a running prosthesis with a little more room.
But there have been mental challenges as well on the road to 102, which began on Jan. 17. On a recent outing, Hunt-Broersma — who's been averaging a little over five hours per marathon — felt near collapse at 15 miles and burst into tears. Suddenly the entire odyssey was in doubt.
Edwin Broersma
In this image provided by Edwin Broersma, marathoner Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs her 82nd consecutive marathon on April 8, 2022, near her home in Gilbert, Az.
"I had a total emotional breakdown. I was like, 'I just can't do this. What was I thinking?'" she said. "The trick for me is just to break it down into little goals. Just get to the next mile. And then the next one."
Her support team is her husband and their two young children, but she's also gained a large social media following.
This week, after logging marathon No. 85, well-wishers offered virtual applause. "You just seem to eat marathons for breakfast," one person tweeted. "In such bleak times, thank you for serving as an inspiration," commented another.
As she nears the end of her epic quest, Hunt-Broersma hopes she inspires a singular thought in others, regardless of their own physical challenges:
"You’re stronger than you think — and you're capable of so much more." | https://www.wisn.com/article/jackys-quest-102-marathons-102-days/39735521 | 2022-04-15T17:50:45 | 1 | https://www.wisn.com/article/jackys-quest-102-marathons-102-days/39735521 |
24-year-old Milwaukee man shot and killed
The shooting happened near West Fond du Lac Avenue and West Locust Street around 11:30 p.m. Thursday
The shooting happened near West Fond du Lac Avenue and West Locust Street around 11:30 p.m. Thursday
The shooting happened near West Fond du Lac Avenue and West Locust Street around 11:30 p.m. Thursday
Milwaukee police are investigating a deadly shooting in the city on Thursday night.
Police said a 24-year-old man was shot and killed near West Fond du Lac Avenue and West Locust Street around 11:30 p.m.
Officers are still investigating the circumstances that led to the shooting and are looking for suspects.
The man's name was not released.
No other details were available.
Milwaukee police are asking anyone with information on this shooting to contact them at 414-935-7232 or Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS. | https://www.wisn.com/article/police-investigate-deadly-shooting-milwaukee/39735630 | 2022-04-15T17:50:55 | 0 | https://www.wisn.com/article/police-investigate-deadly-shooting-milwaukee/39735630 |
Mackey & Judd By skornorth | April 14, 2022 Minnesota Wild beat Dallas Stars in overtime! Share: Minnesota Wild beat Dallas Stars in overtime! Marc-Andre Fleury with an amazing pass to Frederick Gaudreau for the … | https://www.skornorth.com/minnesota-wild-beat-dallas-stars-in-overtime/ | 2022-04-15T17:51:05 | 1 | https://www.skornorth.com/minnesota-wild-beat-dallas-stars-in-overtime/ |
LA political donor gets 30 years in prison for fetish deaths
Even after two men were found dead in his California apartment, Ed Buck did not stop injecting gay men with walloping doses of methamphetamine.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced him to 30 years in prison in the deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean. Another man, Dane Brown, was repeatedly injected by Buck but survived and his harrowing account of being revived twice finally led to Buck's arrest in 2019.
Buck, 67, a big dollar donor to Democratic, LGBTQ and animal rights causes, appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for providing fatal doses of drugs, operating a drug den and enticing men to travel for prostitution. He was convicted last summer.
Judge Christina A. Snyder said the sentencing decision was difficult because she had to balance the good Buck did in his life with the "horrific crimes" that she called "more than just an accident."
Prosecutors asked for a life sentence, saying that they couldn't take the risk that Buck might be released and that he has shown he is capable of re-offending.
But Buck's defense attorneys sought a decade behind bars — below the federal sentencing guidelines — saying he was sexually abused as a child and health problems led to his drug addiction.
Federal prosecutors said Buck's unrelenting fervor to satisfy a fetish by preying on vulnerable men, often young and Black, is reason enough to keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. Buck's attorneys said any sentence of more than 25 years would essentially mean a life sentence because he is 67.
Buck told the judge on Thursday that he had loved the men and said he wished he could have turned back time but insisted he was not responsible.
"Their deaths were tragic but I did not cause their deaths," Buck said.
"Buck used his money and privilege to exploit the wealth and power imbalances between himself and his victims, who were unhoused, destitute, and/or struggling with addiction," Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Norell said in a court filing. "He spent thousands of dollars on drugs and party and play sessions that destroyed lives and bred insidious addictions."
Norell objected to the 30-year sentence, saying anything below 40 years in prison did not account for the severity of Buck's crimes.
Defense lawyers asked the judge to be more lenient because Buck was sexually abused as a child and developed his drug addiction as the result of a medical condition.
Attorneys Mark Werksman and Elizabeth Little said the judge should go below the 25-year sentence recommended by probation officials that would allow rehabilitation and treatment and "would be much preferable to relegating him to death in prison."
Probation officials also recommended a $1 million fine, though prosecutors said it should be $400,000 to leave money for lawsuits filed by the families of his survivors.
Buck, a wealthy white man who worked as a male model and then made a small fortune selling an Arizona company he rescued from bankruptcy, helped lead a 1987 campaign to recall Republican Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham, who was ultimately convicted in an impeachment trial and kicked out of office.
Buck retired at 32 to the city of West Hollywood, known for its large LGBTQ community, where he lived in a rent-controlled apartment and donated over $500,000 to mostly Democratic causes since 2000.
His troubles began when Gemmel Moore was found dead in his apartment on July 27, 2017. Buck had flown Moore from Texas that morning for drug use and he was dead by sunset.
Moore's mother, LaTisha Nixon, said in a letter to the court that she hoped Buck would get the maximum term for ruining her life and the hurt it has caused her family. Nixon, a certified nursing assistant, said she could not comfort her son the way she has for countless dying people.
"All I can think about is how my son died naked on a mattress with no love around him," Nixon said. "No one to hold his hand or tell him good things."
Community members and activists rallied outside Buck's apartment, calling for his arrest, but he remained free. Family members and Jasmyne Cannick, a political strategist, complained that Buck escaped prosecution because of wealth, political ties and race.
While he was under investigation in Moore's death, Buck continued to pay men so he could inject them. He texted one man, Timothy Dean, to express his annoyance over the investigation.
About 18 months after Moore's death, deputies were called to Buck's apartment on Jan. 7, 2019, to investigate Dean's death.
Even after Dean's death, Buck was not arrested.
"Buck's lack of remorse is aptly captured in one image: As he was hiding out in a hotel, evading arrest for Gemmel Moore's death, he was injecting Dane Brown, another young Black man, with back-to-back slams of methamphetamine," Norell said.
Brown was homeless and later moved into Buck's apartment, where he was injected with meth most days and often several times a day.
He was hospitalized Sept. 4, 2019, after Buck shot him up three times with back-to-back doses. He had five times the meth in his system that Moore and Dean had when they died, prosecutors said.
Brown returned less than a week later and felt himself overdosing after Buck injected him three times with meth. Like other victims who testified against Buck at trial last summer, Brown was nearly immobilized. He said Buck wouldn't help him.
"Brown sat on the couch, resigned to the same fate as Moore and Dean, when he heard his deceased mother cry out to him, 'Get up, Dane,'" Norell said.
Brown managed to get out of the apartment and made it to a nearby gas station, where he called for help and was taken to a hospital. | https://www.wisn.com/article/political-donor-gets-30-years-in-prison-for-deaths/39729353 | 2022-04-15T17:51:05 | 0 | https://www.wisn.com/article/political-donor-gets-30-years-in-prison-for-deaths/39729353 |
Russia loses warship, says attacks on Kyiv will increase
Russia's Defense Ministry promised Friday to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow's stinging symbolic loss of its navy's flagship in the Black Sea.
The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes on Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.
"The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
A renewed bombardment could return Kyiv's residents to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of Russia's invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations. The capital has displayed tentative signs of pre-war life after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes.
Russia previously accused Ukraine of shelling or attacking its border regions. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.
However, Ukrainian officials insist their forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles. If true, the reported Wednesday attack on the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, named for the Russian capital, would represent an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.
The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet sank while being towed to port Thursday after suffering heavy damage under circumstances that remained in dispute. Moscow acknowledged a fire on board but not any attack. U.S. and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze.
The Moskva had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles. If Ukrainian forces took out the vessel, it was likely the largest warship to be sunk in combat since the Falklands War. A British submarine torpedoed an Argentine navy cruiser called the ARA General Belgrano during the 1982 conflict, killing over 300 sailors.
The sinking of the Russian warship reduces Russia's firepower in the Black Sea, although military analysts disagreed on the event's significance to the course of the war. Either way, the loss was viewed as emblematic of Moscow's fortunes in a seven-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.
"A 'flagship' Russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted Friday in a likely apocryphal boast.
Related video: Battles destroy historic city center of Mariupol
In his nightly address Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians they should be proud of having survived 50 days under Russian attack when the invaders "gave us a maximum of five."
Russia's warning of renewed airstrikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring day as the weekend approached. More people than usual were out on the streets Friday, walking their dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand.
In one central park, a small group of young people, one draped in a Ukrainian flag, danced to the music of a portable speaker.
News about the Moskva overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, which Moscow's forces have blockaded since the early days of the invasion. Dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders have held out against a siege that has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians.
Mariupol's mayor said this week that more than 10,000 civilians had died and the death toll could surpass 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials have said they expect to find evidence of atrocities against civilians like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv.
The Mariupol City Council said Friday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies that were buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials "of people killed by them."
"Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown," the council said on the Telegram messaging app.
Mariupol's capture would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland and the target of the looming offensive.
Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Russia has recognized the independence of two rebel-held areas of the region.
Although it's not certain when Russia will launch the full-scale campaign, a regional Ukrainian official said Friday that seven people died and 27 were injured after Russian forces opened fire on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya, near the northeastern city of Kharkiv. The claim could not be independently verified.
Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor’s office, told Ukraine’s Suspilne news website, that Ukrainian authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected "violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder."
A large explosion also struck the eastern city of Kramatorsk, where a missile strike on a train station a week earlier killed more than 50 people as thousands heeding warnings to evacuate the Donbas area waited to leave.
Associated Press journalists in Kramatorsk heard the sound of a rocket or missile and then the blast, followed by sirens wailing Friday. It was not immediately clear what was hit or whether there were casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that Russian strikes in the Kharkiv region "liquidated a squad of mercenaries from a Polish private military company" of up to 30 people and "liberated" an iron and steel factor in Mariupol. The claims could not be independently verified.
On Thursday, the Defense Ministry explained the damage to Russia's Black Sea flagship by a fire had caused ammunition on board to detonate. Apart from the cruise missiles, the Moskva also carried air-defense missiles and other guns.
The ministry did not say what might have caused the blaze but reported that the crew, which usually numbers about 500, abandoned the vessel. It wasn't clear if there were any casualties.
Maksym Marchenko, governor of Ukraine's Black Sea region of Odesa, said Ukrainian forces struck the Moskva with two Neptune missiles and caused "serious damage." The Neptune is an anti-ship missile recently developed by Ukraine based on an earlier Soviet design.
According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the missile system can hit targets up to 175 miles away. That would have put the Moskva within range, based on where the ship was when the fire began.
Other Russian ships in the northern Black Sea moved farther south after the Moskva incident, a senior U.S. defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal military assessments.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and has suffered thousands of military casualties. The conflict has killed untold numbers of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions more to flee.
It has also further inflated prices at grocery stores and gasoline pumps, while dragging on the global economy. The head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the war helped push the organization to downgrade economic forecasts for 143 countries.
___
Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report. | https://www.wisn.com/article/russia-loses-warship/39735892 | 2022-04-15T17:51:16 | 1 | https://www.wisn.com/article/russia-loses-warship/39735892 |
First inmate facing execution in South Carolina since 2011 picks firing squad over electric chair
A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday.
Richard Bernard Moore, 57, is also the first state prisoner to face the choice of execution methods after a law went into effect last year making electrocution the default and giving inmates the option to face three prison workers with rifles instead.
Moore has spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted of the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk James Mahoney in Spartanburg. If executed as scheduled on April 29, he would be the first person put to death in the state since 2011.
The new law was prompted by the decadelong break, which corrections officials attribute to an inability to procure the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections.
In a written statement, Moore said he didn’t concede that either method was legal or constitutional, but that he more strongly opposed death by electrocution and only chose the firing squad because he was required to make a choice.
"I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election," Moore said in the statement.
Moore's attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to delay his death while another court determines if either available method is cruel and unusual punishment. The attorneys argue prisons officials aren’t trying hard enough to get the lethal injection drugs, instead of forcing prisoners to choose between two more barbaric methods.
His lawyers are also asking the state Supreme Court to delay the execution so the U.S. Supreme Court can review whether Moore’s death sentence was a disproportionate punishment compared with similar crimes. The state justices denied a similar appeal last week.
The state corrections agency said last month that it finished developing protocols for firing squad executions and completed $53,600 in renovations on the death chamber in Columbia, installing a metal chair with restraints that face a wall with a rectangular opening 15 feet away. In the case of a firing squad execution, three volunteer prison workers will train their rifles on the condemned prisoner's heart.
South Carolina is one of eight states to still use the electric chair and one of four to allow a firing squad, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
Moore is one of 35 men on South Carolina's death row. The state last scheduled an execution for Moore in 2020, which was then delayed after prison officials said they couldn’t obtain lethal injection drugs.
During Moore's 2001 trial, prosecutors said Moore entered the store looking for money to support his cocaine habit and got into a dispute with Mahoney, who drew a pistol that Moore wrestled away from him.
Mahoney pulled a second gun, and a gunfight ensued. Mahoney shot Moore in the arm, and Moore shot Mahoney in the chest. Prosecutors said Moore left a trail of blood through the store as he looked for cash, stepping twice over Mahoney.
At the time, Moore claimed that he acted in self-defense after Mahoney drew the first gun.
Moore's supporters have argued that his crime doesn't rise to the level of a death penalty offense. His appeals lawyers have said that because Moore didn't bring a gun into store, he couldn't have intended to kill someone when he walked in.
The last person executed in South Carolina was Jeffrey Motts, who was on death row for strangling a cellmate while serving a life sentence for another murder.
___
Liu is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. | https://www.wisn.com/article/south-carolina-inmate-richard-moore-firing-squad-execution/39736891 | 2022-04-15T17:51:26 | 0 | https://www.wisn.com/article/south-carolina-inmate-richard-moore-firing-squad-execution/39736891 |
The White House is hoping to stir up some "egg-citement" when the Easter Egg Roll returns on Monday after a two-year, coronavirus-induced hiatus.Related video above from 2021: White House celebrates Easter virtuallyPresident Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden expect to welcome some 30,000 kids and their adult chaperones for the egg roll, an egg hunt and other activities.The first lady, who is a teacher, is calling it the "Egg-ucation Roll," aides said, and is turning the South Lawn into a school community with a variety of educational stations.It's the first Easter Egg Roll to be hosted by the Bidens, who are expected to address the crowd and join in some of the activities, although rain was in Monday's weather forecast.The COVID-19 pandemic led the White House to cancel the event in 2020 and 2021.Besides the egg roll and hunt, the all-day event will include a schoolhouse activity area, a reading nook, a talent show, a place to teach children how farmers supply food, a photo-taking station, a physical "egg-ucation" zone with an obstacle course and other exercise stations, and a "cafetorium" where children and their families will learn to make and eat treats.The "egg-stravaganza" will get a celebrity splash through the participation of "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon, singer Ciara and actor-singer Kristin Chenoweth.More than two dozen costumed characters will roam the grounds, including Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, the Racing Presidents mascots for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball, Rosita and Cookie Monster from "Sesame Street" and Snoopy and Charlie Brown, among others.Military families will be among the 30,000 participants, including crew members of the USS Delaware and their families. The first lady serves as sponsor of the nuclear attack submarine, which the president commissioned during a ceremony this month in Wilmington, Delaware.Members of the general public received their tickets through an online lottery.The egg roll will be the largest event to date at the Biden White House and will unfold in five waves beginning at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 6:30 p.m.Resumption of this Easter tradition is a sign that the White House is opening up again, despite a recent spurt of COVID-19 cases among members of the Cabinet, the White House staff, Vice President Kamala Harris' husband and members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Some of those cases stemmed from the return this month of the Gridiron Club's spring dinner.Self-guided, public tours of the executive mansion are set to resume on Friday in a limited fashion, after they also were halted in 2020 because of the pandemic.The White House Easter Egg Roll dates to 1878.
The White House is hoping to stir up some "egg-citement" when the Easter Egg Roll returns on Monday after a two-year, coronavirus-induced hiatus.
Related video above from 2021: White House celebrates Easter virtually
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden expect to welcome some 30,000 kids and their adult chaperones for the egg roll, an egg hunt and other activities.
The first lady, who is a teacher, is calling it the "Egg-ucation Roll," aides said, and is turning the South Lawn into a school community with a variety of educational stations.
It's the first Easter Egg Roll to be hosted by the Bidens, who are expected to address the crowd and join in some of the activities, although rain was in Monday's weather forecast.
The COVID-19 pandemic led the White House to cancel the event in 2020 and 2021.
Besides the egg roll and hunt, the all-day event will include a schoolhouse activity area, a reading nook, a talent show, a place to teach children how farmers supply food, a photo-taking station, a physical "egg-ucation" zone with an obstacle course and other exercise stations, and a "cafetorium" where children and their families will learn to make and eat treats.
Evan Vucci / AP File Photo
President Joe Biden appears with first lady Jill Biden and the Easter Bunny on the Blue Room balcony at the White House April 5, 2021, in Washington.
The "egg-stravaganza" will get a celebrity splash through the participation of "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon, singer Ciara and actor-singer Kristin Chenoweth.
More than two dozen costumed characters will roam the grounds, including Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, the Racing Presidents mascots for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball, Rosita and Cookie Monster from "Sesame Street" and Snoopy and Charlie Brown, among others.
Military families will be among the 30,000 participants, including crew members of the USS Delaware and their families. The first lady serves as sponsor of the nuclear attack submarine, which the president commissioned during a ceremony this month in Wilmington, Delaware.
Members of the general public received their tickets through an online lottery.
The egg roll will be the largest event to date at the Biden White House and will unfold in five waves beginning at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 6:30 p.m.
Resumption of this Easter tradition is a sign that the White House is opening up again, despite a recent spurt of COVID-19 cases among members of the Cabinet, the White House staff, Vice President Kamala Harris' husband and members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Some of those cases stemmed from the return this month of the Gridiron Club's spring dinner.
Self-guided, public tours of the executive mansion are set to resume on Friday in a limited fashion, after they also were halted in 2020 because of the pandemic.
The White House Easter Egg Roll dates to 1878. | https://www.wisn.com/article/white-house-easter-egg-roll-returns-2022/39737152 | 2022-04-15T17:51:36 | 1 | https://www.wisn.com/article/white-house-easter-egg-roll-returns-2022/39737152 |
6-year-old in critical condition after being thrown by tornado, dangling from tree
Family of four, including baby, hospitalized; pregnant mother suffered miscarriage
SALADO, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) - An entire Central Texas family is in the hospital with critical injuries after an EF-3 tornado destroyed their mobile home Tuesday and flung them hundreds of feet away.
The most critically injured is Miriam Rios, 6, a girl found unconscious and dangling upside-down from a tree where the wind had tossed her hundreds of yards from her house. Her pregnant mother, Vanessa Rios, suffered a miscarriage.
The Rios family – including the mom, dad and their two children – were in their mobile home Tuesday night when the tornado warnings came in. The children’s uncle, Stephen Perez, said the family first tried to drive off, but when hail began to fall, they retreated back to their mobile home.
The situation quickly worsened. The tornado with peak winds of 165 mph tore the family’s home to shreds and flung each member of the family in a different direction.
Father Joel Rios was thrown to one side, and the mother landed on the other side. The couple’s 1-year-old, Ezra, landed somewhere in the fields nearby. Six-year-old Miriam was flung into a tree.
“(Their mom) remembers waking up, rolling over on her side, and seeing her daughter in a tree and she can’t get up or do anything. She just rolled over and cried,” Perez said.
After the entire family was rushed to the hospital, they learned the mother had miscarried.
Since then, Perez said members of the family have been in and out of various surgeries meant to repair broken pelvic bones and address spinal cord injuries.
Perez said baby Ezra miraculously suffered the mildest injuries and should be released from the hospital soon.
While the family is grateful for the baby’s health, they are still in awe of just how much they’ve lost. Miriam, a first grader, was set to celebrate her seventh birthday on Saturday.
The Rios family also lost their house and everything in it.
“It’s just the foundation that’s left. There’s absolutely nothing,” Perez said. “And (my sister) was really proud about that home.”
Community members have begun various efforts to help the family with medical bills and with their needs once they are released from the hospital. Perez has created a GoFundMe page to help his family rebuild.
In total, 23 people were injured and 12 hospitalized after the storm, according to Bell County Judge David Blackburn.
Copyright 2022 KWTX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/6-year-old-critical-condition-after-being-thrown-by-tornado-dangling-tree/ | 2022-04-15T17:53:34 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/6-year-old-critical-condition-after-being-thrown-by-tornado-dangling-tree/ |
Alex Jones to recoup $75,000 in fines in Sandy Hook lawsuit
Published: Apr. 15, 2022 at 12:53 PM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be getting back the $75,000 in fines he paid to a Connecticut court for missing a deposition last month in a lawsuit over his assertions that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
A Connecticut judge on Thursday ordered the return of the money because Jones eventually appeared at a deposition in Bridgeport last week.
The escalating fines had been aimed at making sure Jones did appear for questioning.
Jones is being sued for defamation by relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, massacre.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/alex-jones-recoup-75000-fines-sandy-hook-lawsuit/ | 2022-04-15T17:53:43 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/alex-jones-recoup-75000-fines-sandy-hook-lawsuit/ |
Boynton Beach police chief leaving position
The chief of the Boynton Beach Police Department is leaving his position later this month after nearly four years on the job.
Police Chief Michael G. Gregory announced Friday he will be leaving the department effective April 22.
Gregory said his decision is the result of wanting to take time to increase attention and focus on other areas of his life.
"I am very proud of the many accomplishments achieved with the outstanding women and men in the Boynton Beach Police Department during my nearly four-year tenure," Gregory said in a written statement. "I greatly appreciate the opportunity provided to me to lead the department and the leadership of City Manager Lori LaVerriere."
Gregory was sworn in July 9, 2018, as the 30th Boynton Beach police chief.
The city released the following accomplishments during Gregory's tenure:
- Reducing Part 1 Crime in the City of Boynton Beach to a historical 20 year low
- Building stronger relationships with community partners
- Building the newest and most state-of-the-art Police Headquarters in Palm Beach County
- Modernizing the technology we use to 21st Century standards
- Implementing Mental Health programs and initiatives for employees
- Increasing the professionalism and accountability of the department
- Maintaining the department's Excelsior status for the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation
Gregory's departure comes as the city manages the fallout following the death of a Stanley Davis III, a 13-year-old boy who died in December after the Florida Highway Patrol said the boy was driving a dirt bike recklessly while fleeing an attempted traffic stop.
LaVerriere appointed Deputy Chief Vanessa Snow as the interim police chief once Gregory leaves his post.
Gregory has been candid about his health, which included heart stent surgery in 2020 after doctors discovered a 75 percent blockage in a major artery.
Scripps Only Content 2022 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/boynton-beach-police-chief-leaving-position/ | 2022-04-15T17:53:50 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/boynton-beach-police-chief-leaving-position/ |
Eat breakfast with the Easter Bunny at the South Florida Fairgrounds
Meet and greet the bunny in Yesteryear Village
Published: Apr. 15, 2022 at 12:38 PM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WFLX) - Families can have breakfast with the Easter Bunny and partake in an egg hunt in Yesteryear Village on Saturday.
Breakfast is served from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Admission is $25 for individuals age 11 and up and $12 for children 10 and under. Admission includes entry into the park, breakfast, meet and greet with the Easter Bunny, egg hunt and other activities.
After 10:30 a.m. admission is $10 for activities.
Other activities include decorated Easter bonnet or cap contest, hula hoop, jump rope, crafts, and Easter bowling.
For more information, click here.
Copyright 2022 WFLX. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/eat-breakfast-with-the-easter-bunny-at-south-florida-fairgrounds/ | 2022-04-15T17:53:56 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/eat-breakfast-with-the-easter-bunny-at-south-florida-fairgrounds/ |
Police: Man fatally pushed woman into California train
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A man accused of fatally pushing a woman in front of a freight train in Southern California has been arrested, authorities said.
The woman, whose name has not yet been made public, was hit by the train Monday morning in the city of Riverside, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) from downtown Los Angeles, police said Thursday.
Riverside police said in a statement that the woman and the man, Kevin Errol Lewis, were in an argument next to the railroad tracks that turned physical.
During the altercation, Lewis allegedly shoved the woman he was in a dating relationship with into the path of the train, killing her, police said.
Officers found Lewis, 41, nearby and detained him, police said. He is being held in jail without bail on suspicion of murder and domestic violence, as well as several outstanding warrants for theft and narcotics violations.
Lewis, whom police described as a transient man, is scheduled to appear in court on April 25, online jail records showed. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
The killing was similar to a death in New York City in January that shocked the city after after a woman was pushed to her death in front of a subway train beneath Times Square in an apparently unprovoked attack. Police charged Martial Simon, whom authorities said was homeless, in the slaying of Michelle Alyssa Go.
Simon is being held in a hospital prison ward and is scheduled to return to court on Tuesday, online jail and court records show.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/police-man-fatally-pushed-woman-into-california-train/ | 2022-04-15T17:54:02 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/police-man-fatally-pushed-woman-into-california-train/ |
Sen. Feinstein pushes back against reports of health concerns
(CNN) - “I’d put my record up against anyone’s” is what Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had to say after recent reports that other lawmakers are worried about her health, especially after losing her husband to cancer in February.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported four unnamed senators, three former Feinstein aides and a California Democratic member of Congress said her mental health has gotten worse recently, and they’re worried about her memory and ability to lead.
But Feinstein defended herself, calling the newspaper Thursday to say she’s committed to her work, meets regularly with leaders and puts in the hours.
She explained that the whole thing is puzzling to her.
Feinstein has faced questions about her ability to serve for a few years now and lost her post as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee after her Democratic colleagues privately complained about her performance during the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/sen-feinstein-pushes-back-against-health-concerns/ | 2022-04-15T17:54:09 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/sen-feinstein-pushes-back-against-health-concerns/ |
Shaquille O’Neal will pay funeral expenses for 3-year-old killed by stray bullet, family says
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - Hall-of-fame basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is going to pay for the funeral expenses for a 3-year-old Louisiana boy who was killed by a stray bullet while in bed on Wednesday.
Baton Rouge police said Devin Page Jr. was sleeping inside a home in Baton Rouge.when the bullet hit him.
Family members confirmed to WAFB that O’Neal, a collegiate star at LSU, would take care of the costs.
Devin had just started preschool and loved playing with his siblings, his family said.
“Until it happens to you, until the gun is shot at your house, you know, until the bullets come through your window, you don’t get involved. You have nothing to say,” his grandmother, Cathy Toliver, said. “But you don’t want this feeling that we have right now. You don’t want the feeling of knowing that you’ll never see your grandbaby or your son again. You don’t want that feeling.”
Family members said they tried leaving the home after hearing gunshots nearby several nights in a row, but the mother was told she would have to pay thousands of dollars to move.
“I try to stick it out. Now that I stick it out, this is the outcome of what happened. My son got killed,” Devin’s mother Tye Toliver said.
Police have not announced any arrests, and investigators are continuing to work on the case.
Copyright 2022 WAFB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/shaquille-oneal-will-pay-funeral-expenses-3-year-old-killed-by-stray-bullet-family-says/ | 2022-04-15T17:54:18 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/shaquille-oneal-will-pay-funeral-expenses-3-year-old-killed-by-stray-bullet-family-says/ |
Stuffed animal containing father’s ashes returned to daughter after donation mix-up
AGAWAM, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM/Gray News) – A very special stuffed animal that was accidentally donated to Savers in Massachusetts was returned to its owner after a monthlong search.
Mary Kirk said the toy, an orange tabby cat from Build-A-Bear, contains her father’s ashes.
The cat was given to Kirk’s son by her father in 2001. When Kirk’s father died four years ago, the family decided to put some of his ashes in a plastic pouch and place it inside the stuffed animal so her son would always have a piece of his grandfather.
However, when the family was getting ready to move last month, Kirk’s husband accidentally donated the stuffed animal to Savers.
Unfortunately, the stuffed animal was no longer at the store when the family went to retrieve it.
After pleading with the public for weeks on social media and hanging signs up at the Savers store, the cat turned up on Kirk’s doorstep. The stuffed animal was shipped in a box, addressed to Kirk, but had no return address.
Kirk said the Build-A-Bear is “much dirtier” than when she last saw him, but she is deeply grateful for its return.
The family is now searching for the anonymous sender so they can properly thank them. Kirk is also offering a $350 reward plus a new stuffed cat.
Copyright 2022 WGGB/WSHM via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/stuffed-animal-containing-fathers-ashes-returned-daughter-after-donation-mix-up/ | 2022-04-15T17:54:24 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/stuffed-animal-containing-fathers-ashes-returned-daughter-after-donation-mix-up/ |
Twitter adopts ‘poison pill’ defense to thwart Elon Musk’s takeover bid
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Twitter said Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private.
Twitter said the move, formally called a “limited duration shareholder rights plan,” aims to enable its investors to “realize the full value of their investment” by reducing the likelihood that any one person can gain control of the company without either paying shareholders a premium or giving the board more time. Poison pills are often used to defend against hostile takeovers.
Twitter’s plan would take effect if Musk’s roughly 9% stake grows to 15% or more. Even then, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors. Twitter said the plan doesn’t prevent the board from engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal if it’s in the company’s “best interests.”
Twitter had revealed in a securities filing Thursday that Musk offered to buy the company outright for more than $43 billion, saying the social media platform “needs to be transformed as a private company” in order to build trust with its users.
“I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.”
Later on Thursday, during an onstage interview at the TED 2022 conference, he went even broader: “Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
Musk revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying Twitter shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31, ending up with a stake of about 9%. Only Vanguard Group controls more Twitter shares. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York federal court alleged that Musk illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices.
After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly offered him a seat on its board on the condition that he would limit his purchases to no more than 14.9% of the company’s outstanding stock. But the company said five days later that Musk had declined.
A poison pill path is a “predictable” defensive maneuver, although it could be seen as a “sign of weakness” and viewed unfavorably on Wall Street, Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said in an emailed note.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-defense-thwart-elon-musks-takeover-bid/ | 2022-04-15T17:54:31 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-defense-thwart-elon-musks-takeover-bid/ |
Ukraine war weighs on pope’s Good Friday Colosseum ritual
ROME (AP) — The war in Ukraine loomed over the traditional Good Friday Colosseum procession in Rome, after the Vatican’s choice of a Russian woman to be among the cross-bearers angered Ukrainians.
For the first time since before the pandemic, the solemn torchlit procession at the ancient arena in Rome was to resume on Friday night. Thousands of pilgrims and tourists flocked to the site hours earlier, in hope of catching a glimpse of Pope Francis, who presides over the service from an elevated point near the Roman Forum.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See and the archbishop of Kyiv denounced the Vatican’s plan to have a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman carry the cross together during the procession. They objected to projecting what they saw as the idea of reconciliation while Ukraine is ravaged by war unleashed by Russia.
The Vatican didn’t respond to the protests or announce any program changes.
While Francis has denounced the Feb. 24 invasion and attacks on Ukraine as a “sacrilege,’’ he has refrained from naming Russia as the aggressor, although his references to Russian Vladimir Putin have been clear. The pope is pressing for negotiations to cease the fighting and bring peace, and has offered to go to Ukraine if his presence could further the cause of peace.
But other faithful in the world applauded the decision to pair the two women, who work together at a Rome hospital and are friends, to carry the cross during part of the procession, which recalls Jesus’ suffering as he was being brought to his crucifixion and death.
In Paris, hundreds of Catholics gathered for Good Friday prayers on the forecourt of Notre Dame cathedral, and followed its rector on a procession around the island on the Seine River that houses the medieval landmark.
“Well, you know today the pope has a woman from Ukraine and a woman from Russia holding the cross together at one of the Stations of the Cross,” Jennifer Kilgore-Caradec told The AP at Notre Dame. She called that a “very moving and meaningful symbol.” She added: “I think that real people in the real world are concerned about peace. We want peace, we don’t want war,” which brings suffering and pain. That is “not the message of the Christ on the cross.”
The faithful were not allowed inside the Paris cathedral, since it is still under reconstruction after a 2019 blaze collapsed its spire and destroyed its roof. French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting the cathedral Friday to mark the third anniversary of the fire.
In St. Peter’s Basilica, hours ahead of the Colosseum event, Pope Francis, wearing red vestments to symbolize the blood of Jesus, limped up the central aisle to take his place for an early evening prayer service. Francis, 85, has been suffering from a knee ligament problem.
Usually at the Good Friday basilica service at the Vatican, the pontiff would prostrate himself in prayer. But this time Francis, hobbled by pain for weeks, didn’t do so.
Francis dispatched his official almsgiver, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, to Kyiv to lead a Good Friday procession in the capital city of war-ravaged Ukraine. Italian Rai state TV said Krajewski on Friday visited two of Ukraine’s hardest-hit locations, Bucha and Borodyanka, both in ruins. At one point, Krajewski prayed over some of the bodies and leaned over to touch one, partially covered, body.
Throughout his papacy, Francis has repeatedly denounced armaments accumulated by nations as unjustified. In an interview broadcast on Italian state TV on Friday, the pope elaborated on his view.
“I understand those governments that buy arms, I understand them. I do not justify them, but I understand them, because we have to defend ourselves,” Francis said. But, he added: “If there were a pattern of peace, this would not be necessary. But we live with this diabolical pattern of killing one another out of the desire for power, the desire for security, the desire for many things.”
Good Friday is one of the main days for Christians during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter, on Sunday.
In Jerusalem, where tens of thousands of faithful traditionally converge on the Israeli city’s Old City to visit sacred sites during Holy Week, Palestinians on Friday clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque. The site is sacred to Jews and Muslims. This year, Ramadan coincides with Passover, as well as Holy Week.
Medics in Jerusalem said that more than 150 Palestinians were injured, in the most serious violence at the site in nearly a year.
___
John Leicester and Oleg Cetinic contributed from Paris.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/ukraine-war-weighs-popes-good-friday-colosseum-ritual/ | 2022-04-15T17:54:37 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/15/ukraine-war-weighs-popes-good-friday-colosseum-ritual/ |
The tax deadline is fast approaching and if you haven’t filed yet, you’re not alone.
But what happens if you need more time to file your tax return beyond the April 18 deadline? You can electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension.
Over the years, though, some people have claimed that filing a tax extension increases a person’s risk of being audited – that’s when the IRS reviews a person’s filings to be sure they were done accurately. But one Twitter user says that isn’t true – and filing an extension can actually decrease the chance of an audit.
THE QUESTION
Does filing a tax extension increase your risk of being audited?
THE SOURCES
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center
- Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt Tax Service
THE ANSWER
No, filing a tax extension doesn’t increase your risk of being audited.
WHAT WE FOUND
About 1 in 10 tax filers get extensions each year for a variety of reasons, a spokesperson for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) told VERIFY. Some people are missing a key piece of information, like a W-2 or 1099 form, when they need to file their return.
You don’t need a reason to file an extension, as they are available on a “no-excuse basis,” the IRS spokesperson said. If you qualify and file for an extension, you get one automatically.
But will filing that extension increase your risk of being audited? The IRS says “that’s one of the oldest urban myths in the books.”
The IRS looks at what people report on their tax returns and isn’t concerned with when a taxpayer files, whether it’s before the deadline, on time or after.
Other tax professionals agree.
Howard Gleckman, who is a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said filing for an extension doesn’t make any difference at all in your audit risk.
Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt, said the urban legends about an increased audit risk for those who have filed tax extensions “could not be more untrue.”
“There is no data. There is no official position. There's no correspondence, there's no relational factoid that you can point to that indicates time of filing with IRS audit…ratio or risk or percentage,” Steber said.
Though it can happen to anyone, many people who are audited are high income earners, Steber said. Other flags for an audit include failure to report income from self-employment, cash or cryptocurrency, among other sources.
There is one major misconception about filing for a tax extension. It doesn’t give you more time to pay taxes you owe without incurring late fees. Those who get an extension should still estimate and pay any owed taxes by the April 18 deadline to avoid possible penalties, the IRS says.
Taxpayers must also file their extension request no later than the regular due date of their return.
Steber says there’s “no real taxpayer benefit” in the extension process, other than giving people more time to file their paperwork.
Whether you file on time or ask for an extension, the IRS says the best thing you can do to avoid an audit is file a return that’s correct and complete. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/taxes-verify/tax-extension-doesnt-increase-audit-risk/536-81360507-8793-41b0-838c-ce369b8282a1 | 2022-04-15T17:56:49 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/taxes-verify/tax-extension-doesnt-increase-audit-risk/536-81360507-8793-41b0-838c-ce369b8282a1 |
A Russian warship sank on April 14, one day after Ukraine said its forces launched an attack off the coast of Ukrainian port city Odessa in the Black Sea. The Moskva, a guided-missile cruiser, was the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles.
Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the Moskva with missiles, and following the attack, Russia acknowledged the ship was on fire, but denied claims the ship had been attacked. The Russian Defense Ministry later said the ship sank in a storm while being towed to a port.
After the ship sank on April 14, videos and images appeared on social media claiming to show the exact moment Ukraine’s missiles allegedly hit the Russian warship.
This video claims to show the ship being attacked through the lens of night-vision goggles. The video has more than 300,000 views on YouTube.
Another video shows a ship completely engulfed in flames, with black smoke billowing from the sea. At the time of publication, the video was still on Twitter and had over 182,000 views.
THE QUESTION
Do those videos show the attack on the Moskva?
THE SOURCES
- Kerch.fm, via the Associated Press
- Agencia EFE, via CCTV Video News Agency
- Military.com
- Footage from SWNS, a British news agency
THE ANSWER
No, those videos do not show the attack on the Moskva.
The video claiming to show the Moskva through night vision goggles is doctored footage from a ship fire in 2019.
The video showing a ship in flames is a Norwegian navy missile strike test from 2013.
WHAT WE FOUND
The YouTube video appearing to show the Moskva has a green filter applied to make it look like the footage was filmed through night vision goggles. But, using reverse image searches VERIFY was able to trace the video to an Associated Press report from 2019. The viral video was doctored from its original form.
According to the Associated Press report from 2019, two Tanzanian vessels caught fire in the Black Sea while fuel was being pumped from one vessel to the other. The report included a photo from the ship fire credited to Russian radio station Kerch.fm. This photo matched what can be seen in the footage claiming to show the Moskva.
A video posted by CCTV, China’s state-owned news agency, also shows the same Tanzanian ships on fire. The video was posted in 2019.
The doctored footage posted on April 13, 2022, claiming to show the Moskva is a manipulated version of the video CCTV posted, flipped to appear as though the ship on fire is pointing in a different direction. A green filter was also added to give the impression that the video was taken through the lens of night vision goggles.
This graphic shows how this doctored video originates from a 2019 clip of Tanzanian boats on fire. It is not from 2022 and does not show the Moskva.
The second video VERIFY analyzed claims that a ship engulfed in flames with billowing black smoke is the Moskva.
The video claiming to show the Moskva is actually a clip taken from a full video posted in June 2013 that shows the Norwegian Navy testing out its missile system on one of its own ships. VERIFY was able to trace the video using a reverse image search.
The full video from the 2013 Norwegian missile testing was posted to Military.com and also to the YouTube channel of SWNS, a British news agency. The videos were both posted on June 6, 2013.
According to the Military.com article, the video shows the bombing of the Norwegian ship KNM Trondheim. A subsonic missile hits the side of the ship, causing it to erupt into a massive fireball, the article said.
At 39 seconds in the original footage from 2013, the ship can be seen from afar being hit by a missile, resulting in the large explosion. That matches the clip claiming to show the Moskva explosion.
We can VERIFY this footage was posted in 2013 and does not show the Moskva being hit by a missile in 2022.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/world-verify/ukraine-verify/fact-checking-footage-attack-on-russian-warship-moskva/536-3bd27676-110f-4db7-b5b6-86f4b1a61f33 | 2022-04-15T17:56:55 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/world-verify/ukraine-verify/fact-checking-footage-attack-on-russian-warship-moskva/536-3bd27676-110f-4db7-b5b6-86f4b1a61f33 |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — NBC Sports president Jon Miller knows the perils of starting a spring football league. He was with NBC when the network teamed with Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment during the XFL’s first launch in 2001 and has seen other leagues crash and burn.
Miller is optimistic that a new version of the USFL could have some staying power.
“Hopefully, the fifth time is a charm. I think the timing is right, the partnership is right, and the model is bred for success,” Miller said. “We’re optimistic, hopeful, and excited at the same time.”
The USFL kicks off Saturday night in Birmingham, Alabama, when the New Jersey Generals face the Birmingham Stallions.
Fox and NBC Sports will each carry 22 games, including Saturday’s opener. It is the first time since the 2007 regular-season finale between the New England Patriots and New York Giants that a game will air on multiple broadcast networks.
Fox Sports owns the USFL and is making a $150 million investment over three years. The only similarity between the USFL of 1983-85 and this one is the team names.
Fox Sports executive vice president Michael Mulvihill thinks the XFL would have made it if it wasn’t for the coronavirus pandemic. The league suspended operations in April 2020 during the pandemic. It played five weeks before COVID-19 halted sports a month earlier.
In 2019, the Alliance of American Football shut down after eight weeks after running out of money.
“I think the viewership figures for spring football are good enough to give us a high level of confidence that the interest among fans is there,” Mulvihill said. “It just becomes a matter of can we develop a business model that’s more effective than the leagues that have tried and haven’t succeeded. Because we’re structured the way we are, we have a pretty good chance of doing just that.”
There are two significant differences with the USFL before it kicks off. It has waited until April to begin the season. The XFL and AAF immediately started their seasons after the Super Bowl and eventually had to go against the NCAA basketball tournament and the Masters.
The USFL’s most significant competition for viewers will be the NBA and NHL playoffs through the end of May. The XFL averaged 1.5 million viewers on Fox and ABC during its final week of games while AAF ratings for games on NFL Network were similar to preseason NFL games.
The other difference is that the season will take place in two cities. The regular season will occur in Birmingham, with the playoffs slated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
“It’s beneficial for us to get on solid financial footing and then year two start to kind of dial it in. Our goal is year two. Nobody’s done that in a while,” said former Dallas Cowboys standout and Fox NFL commentator Daryl Johnston, the USFL’s executive vice president of football operations.
Johnston also had front-office roles in the XFL and AAF. Brian Woods, the founder The Spring League, is the USFL’s president of football operations, while Fox NFL and college football rules analyst Mike Pereira will act as the head of officiating.
The eight teams will play a 10-game schedule during the regular season, with the top two in the North and South divisions advancing to the playoffs. The championship game will be a matchup of division winners.
Among other things to watch with the new league:
CLOSER TO THE GAME
Fox and NBC will use drones in football game coverage for the first time. During last week’s scrimmages, the drone followed a player through the hole during one play to show his running path.
Two players from each team will also have cameras in their helmets. During the scrimmages, the helmet cams captured a player blocking a punt and a defensive back intercepting a pass in the end zone.
Telecasts will also have access to all the audio feeds of coaches and 32 players on both teams wearing mics.
“The technology will grow throughout the season because there are things that have never been tried before,” said Fox Sports producer Chuck McDonald. “The biggest learning curve will be figuring out what’s great.”
RULES CHANGES
The technology won’t just extend to broadcasts. Instead, the USFL will not use chain gangs, relying on a chip inside the football to spot the ball. On close plays for first downs, Hawkeye technology — used in tennis to tell if a ball is inbounds — will be utilized to see if a player got the necessary yards.
Besides the extra point and 2-point conversion after touchdowns, teams can attempt a 3-point conversion from the 10-yard line. That means an 18-point deficit theoretically remains a two-possession game.
Teams will also have the option of running a fourth-and-12 play from the 33-yard line to make a first down and retain possession instead of attempting an onside kick.
Most defensive pass interference calls will be 15 yards. It would be a spot foul if a defender intentionally tackles a receiver beyond 15 yards.
TEAMS, PLAYERS AND COACHES OF NOTE
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Michigan Panthers and Tampa Bay Bandits are the co-favorites at 4.5-1.
Former Titans and Rams coach Jeff Fisher is directing the Panthers, while Todd Haley leads the Bandits.
Michigan also has two of the more recognizable names at quarterback. Former University of Michigan standout Shea Patterson is in line to start, with Paxton Lynch serving as the backup. Lynch used to play for the Broncos and Seahawks. | https://www.kgw.com/article/sports/football/usfl-football-season-starts/507-116dec66-1f8a-403b-97b6-d0a930c7288d | 2022-04-15T17:57:01 | 1 | https://www.kgw.com/article/sports/football/usfl-football-season-starts/507-116dec66-1f8a-403b-97b6-d0a930c7288d |
Orange County deputies arrested three suspects in connection with a shooting at Tildenville Park last week that killed a 20-year-old man and wounded a man in his 30s, the Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
Zachary Staffine, 18, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Elijuah Peterson, whom deputies found with a gunshot wound to his head on April 9 at the west Orange County park on Shongi Ave, according to the agency. Peterson later died at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Staffine’s arrest report was not immediately available, but the agency said the shooting happened during a community event at the park.
David Manuel, 35 of Winter Garden, faces an attempted first-degree murder charge for allegedly shooting a man he knew after an argument over Manuel’s ex-girlfriend, according to an arrest report.
Jason Owens, 38 of Orlando, allegedly separated Manuel and the victim during the fight, then held the victim down on the ground as Manuel punched him in the head, an arrest report said.
After the victim stood up, Owens allegedly pointed a gun at him twice, which shocked him “because Owens was a close childhood friend from the neighborhood,” the affidavit said.
The victim told investigators that Manuel went to his vehicle then returned and fired multiple gunshots, including one that struck the victim in his leg as he dove behind a car for cover, the report said. The affidavit does not detail Staffine’s actions.
Staffine and Manuel are being held without bond at the Orange County Jail, records show. Owens is being held on a $4,000 bond.
lgarza@orlandosentinel.com | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-ne-tildenville-park-deadly-shooting-20220415-hggyot7o5feavdpxdujan5xm44-story.html | 2022-04-15T17:59:17 | 1 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-ne-tildenville-park-deadly-shooting-20220415-hggyot7o5feavdpxdujan5xm44-story.html |
BENTONVILLE, Ark — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a judge's decision to block a school district's mask mandate that was implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Justices reversed the temporary restraining order issued against the Bentonville School District's mask requirement. Bentonville was among dozens of districts that imposed a mask requirement last year after a state law banning such mandates was blocked in a separate case. A group of parents had sued challenging the mandate.
The court said that Arkansas' laws give schools broad authority to determine their policies.
“Based on this precedent, we conclude that the district properly authorized its policy," Chief Justice Dan Kemp wrote in the court's ruling.
A spokeswoman said the district has no plans to reinstate the mask requirement at this time.
“From the outset of our appeal, we’ve maintained the lower court’s ruling puts school boards and school administrators in a position to face litigation each time a family doesn’t agree with a policy affecting their child," Spokeswoman Leslee Wright said in a statement. “The Arkansas Supreme Court’s ruling reaffirms a school board’s authority to create an environment that protects students, to the best of their ability, while at school.”
In a separate opinion, Special Justice Howard Brill said parents have a right to be informed and to be heard on issues such as whether masks should be worn. But, Brill wrote, that doesn't mean they have the right to “micromanage" schools.
“If parents are dissatisfied with the school board decisions, they have a remedy," wrote Brill, who was appointed to hear the case after Justice Rhonda Wood recused. “It is the ballot box."
An attorney for the parents who sued over mandate said he was disappointed in the decision.
“The court’s effectively decided against parental rights in the state of Arkansas and that’s something we’re really disappointed in," Travis Story said.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Barbara Webb wrote that the court was giving school boards “unlimited control of children in public school."
“Using this broad interpretation of the statute, decisions about a child’s health care, medication, and gender identity will fall under the school board’s power to mandate in the name of an ‘efficient' and ‘free' education," Webb wrote.
A Pulaski County judge in December struck down an Arkansas law banning schools and other government entities from requiring masks. The state's appeal of that decision is pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court.
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To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/arkansas-court-reverses-ruling-against-bentonville-schools-mask-policy/527-9cb360f6-885b-4c95-920c-260566b60500 | 2022-04-15T18:03:51 | 1 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/arkansas-court-reverses-ruling-against-bentonville-schools-mask-policy/527-9cb360f6-885b-4c95-920c-260566b60500 |
Benner named interim president/CEO of Solidarity
Vince Holt, chairman of the Solidarity Community Federal Credit Union Board of Directors, recently announce Amy Benner as interim president/CEO of Solidarity Community Federal Credit Union.
Benner, a Hoosier native, earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business management from Ball State University in 1994. She began her career at Solidarity as a part-time float in 1998 and has continued to build upon her education and financial service experience throughout her 24 years at Solidarity.
“Amy has been a vital member of the Solidarity team for many years, and the Solidarity Board of Directors is confident she will continue to build on the strong, community-focused reputation you have always been able to count on from Solidarity," Holt said in a statement.
Benner lives in Howard County with her husband, Scott. They have two children, Brooke and Chase, and their dog, Wrigley.
City of Kokomo receives safety grant
The Indiana Public Employers’ Plan Inc. recently announced the city of Kokomo as a recipient of its 2022 safety grant award. IPEP partnered with operations coordinator David Trine, along with Ryan Hartzler of Patriot Insurance, to maximize opportunities to promote a safe work environment and assist with stretching their risk management resources.
The grant funds will be used to purchase safety equipment or safety training programs that will reduce or limit workers’ compensation exposure.
IPEP was created in 1989 as a risk-sharing pool for public entities in response to the need for public employers to find affordable workers’ compensation coverage. IPEP has grown to provide workers’ compensation claims administration for more than 700 public entities, including cities, towns, counties and schools. | https://www.kokomotribune.com/news/business-briefs-april-16-2022/article_af98e144-bc32-11ec-a102-d749d9ec2337.html | 2022-04-15T18:03:52 | 0 | https://www.kokomotribune.com/news/business-briefs-april-16-2022/article_af98e144-bc32-11ec-a102-d749d9ec2337.html |
The tax deadline is fast approaching and if you haven’t filed yet, you’re not alone.
But what happens if you need more time to file your tax return beyond the April 18 deadline? You can electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension.
Over the years, though, some people have claimed that filing a tax extension increases a person’s risk of being audited – that’s when the IRS reviews a person’s filings to be sure they were done accurately. But one Twitter user says that isn’t true – and filing an extension can actually decrease the chance of an audit.
THE QUESTION
Does filing a tax extension increase your risk of being audited?
THE SOURCES
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center
- Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt Tax Service
THE ANSWER
No, filing a tax extension doesn’t increase your risk of being audited.
WHAT WE FOUND
About 1 in 10 tax filers get extensions each year for a variety of reasons, a spokesperson for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) told VERIFY. Some people are missing a key piece of information, like a W-2 or 1099 form, when they need to file their return.
You don’t need a reason to file an extension, as they are available on a “no-excuse basis,” the IRS spokesperson said. If you qualify and file for an extension, you get one automatically.
But will filing that extension increase your risk of being audited? The IRS says “that’s one of the oldest urban myths in the books.”
The IRS looks at what people report on their tax returns and isn’t concerned with when a taxpayer files, whether it’s before the deadline, on time or after.
Other tax professionals agree.
Howard Gleckman, who is a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said filing for an extension doesn’t make any difference at all in your audit risk.
Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt, said the urban legends about an increased audit risk for those who have filed tax extensions “could not be more untrue.”
“There is no data. There is no official position. There's no correspondence, there's no relational factoid that you can point to that indicates time of filing with IRS audit…ratio or risk or percentage,” Steber said.
Though it can happen to anyone, many people who are audited are high income earners, Steber said. Other flags for an audit include failure to report income from self-employment, cash or cryptocurrency, among other sources.
There is one major misconception about filing for a tax extension. It doesn’t give you more time to pay taxes you owe without incurring late fees. Those who get an extension should still estimate and pay any owed taxes by the April 18 deadline to avoid possible penalties, the IRS says.
Taxpayers must also file their extension request no later than the regular due date of their return.
Steber says there’s “no real taxpayer benefit” in the extension process, other than giving people more time to file their paperwork.
Whether you file on time or ask for an extension, the IRS says the best thing you can do to avoid an audit is file a return that’s correct and complete. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/verify/taxes-verify/tax-extension-doesnt-increase-audit-risk/536-81360507-8793-41b0-838c-ce369b8282a1 | 2022-04-15T18:03:57 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/verify/taxes-verify/tax-extension-doesnt-increase-audit-risk/536-81360507-8793-41b0-838c-ce369b8282a1 |
A Russian warship sank on April 14, one day after Ukraine said its forces launched an attack off the coast of Ukrainian port city Odessa in the Black Sea. The Moskva, a guided-missile cruiser, was the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles.
Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the Moskva with missiles, and following the attack, Russia acknowledged the ship was on fire, but denied claims the ship had been attacked. The Russian Defense Ministry later said the ship sank in a storm while being towed to a port.
After the ship sank on April 14, videos and images appeared on social media claiming to show the exact moment Ukraine’s missiles allegedly hit the Russian warship.
This video claims to show the ship being attacked through the lens of night-vision goggles. The video has more than 300,000 views on YouTube.
Another video shows a ship completely engulfed in flames, with black smoke billowing from the sea. At the time of publication, the video was still on Twitter and had over 182,000 views.
THE QUESTION
Do those videos show the attack on the Moskva?
THE SOURCES
- Kerch.fm, via the Associated Press
- Agencia EFE, via CCTV Video News Agency
- Military.com
- Footage from SWNS, a British news agency
THE ANSWER
No, those videos do not show the attack on the Moskva.
The video claiming to show the Moskva through night vision goggles is doctored footage from a ship fire in 2019.
The video showing a ship in flames is a Norwegian navy missile strike test from 2013.
WHAT WE FOUND
The YouTube video appearing to show the Moskva has a green filter applied to make it look like the footage was filmed through night vision goggles. But, using reverse image searches VERIFY was able to trace the video to an Associated Press report from 2019. The viral video was doctored from its original form.
According to the Associated Press report from 2019, two Tanzanian vessels caught fire in the Black Sea while fuel was being pumped from one vessel to the other. The report included a photo from the ship fire credited to Russian radio station Kerch.fm. This photo matched what can be seen in the footage claiming to show the Moskva.
A video posted by CCTV, China’s state-owned news agency, also shows the same Tanzanian ships on fire. The video was posted in 2019.
The doctored footage posted on April 13, 2022, claiming to show the Moskva is a manipulated version of the video CCTV posted, flipped to appear as though the ship on fire is pointing in a different direction. A green filter was also added to give the impression that the video was taken through the lens of night vision goggles.
This graphic shows how this doctored video originates from a 2019 clip of Tanzanian boats on fire. It is not from 2022 and does not show the Moskva.
The second video VERIFY analyzed claims that a ship engulfed in flames with billowing black smoke is the Moskva.
The video claiming to show the Moskva is actually a clip taken from a full video posted in June 2013 that shows the Norwegian Navy testing out its missile system on one of its own ships. VERIFY was able to trace the video using a reverse image search.
The full video from the 2013 Norwegian missile testing was posted to Military.com and also to the YouTube channel of SWNS, a British news agency. The videos were both posted on June 6, 2013.
According to the Military.com article, the video shows the bombing of the Norwegian ship KNM Trondheim. A subsonic missile hits the side of the ship, causing it to erupt into a massive fireball, the article said.
At 39 seconds in the original footage from 2013, the ship can be seen from afar being hit by a missile, resulting in the large explosion. That matches the clip claiming to show the Moskva explosion.
We can VERIFY this footage was posted in 2013 and does not show the Moskva being hit by a missile in 2022.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/verify/world-verify/ukraine-verify/fact-checking-footage-attack-on-russian-warship-moskva/536-3bd27676-110f-4db7-b5b6-86f4b1a61f33 | 2022-04-15T18:04:03 | 1 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/verify/world-verify/ukraine-verify/fact-checking-footage-attack-on-russian-warship-moskva/536-3bd27676-110f-4db7-b5b6-86f4b1a61f33 |
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The first pitch for the second game of the Arkansas vs. LSU series has been moved up due to the threat of rain.
The Hogs will take the field at Baum-Walker Stadium at 5 p.m. Friday, April 15. The game was originally scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
The game will still air on SEC Network.
The Razorbacks won last night’s series opener, 5-4, and are now one win away from clinching their third straight series win over the Tigers as well as extending their SEC-leading consecutive home series win streak to 11.
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To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/sports/ncaa/university-of-arkansas/razorback-baseball/game-time-changed-for-arkansas-friday-night-game/527-a470e0bb-156e-4add-aa51-621b752c7e2e | 2022-04-15T18:04:10 | 1 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/sports/ncaa/university-of-arkansas/razorback-baseball/game-time-changed-for-arkansas-friday-night-game/527-a470e0bb-156e-4add-aa51-621b752c7e2e |
6-year-old in critical condition after being thrown by tornado, dangling from tree
Family of four, including baby, hospitalized; pregnant mother suffered miscarriage
SALADO, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) - An entire Central Texas family is in the hospital with critical injuries after an EF-3 tornado destroyed their mobile home Tuesday and flung them hundreds of feet away.
The most critically injured is Miriam Rios, 6, a girl found unconscious and dangling upside-down from a tree where the wind had tossed her hundreds of yards from her house. Her pregnant mother, Vanessa Rios, suffered a miscarriage.
The Rios family – including the mom, dad and their two children – were in their mobile home Tuesday night when the tornado warnings came in. The children’s uncle, Stephen Perez, said the family first tried to drive off, but when hail began to fall, they retreated back to their mobile home.
The situation quickly worsened. The tornado with peak winds of 165 mph tore the family’s home to shreds and flung each member of the family in a different direction.
Father Joel Rios was thrown to one side, and the mother landed on the other side. The couple’s 1-year-old, Ezra, landed somewhere in the fields nearby. Six-year-old Miriam was flung into a tree.
“(Their mom) remembers waking up, rolling over on her side, and seeing her daughter in a tree and she can’t get up or do anything. She just rolled over and cried,” Perez said.
After the entire family was rushed to the hospital, they learned the mother had miscarried.
Since then, Perez said members of the family have been in and out of various surgeries meant to repair broken pelvic bones and address spinal cord injuries.
Perez said baby Ezra miraculously suffered the mildest injuries and should be released from the hospital soon.
While the family is grateful for the baby’s health, they are still in awe of just how much they’ve lost. Miriam, a first grader, was set to celebrate her seventh birthday on Saturday.
The Rios family also lost their house and everything in it.
“It’s just the foundation that’s left. There’s absolutely nothing,” Perez said. “And (my sister) was really proud about that home.”
Community members have begun various efforts to help the family with medical bills and with their needs once they are released from the hospital. Perez has created a GoFundMe page to help his family rebuild.
In total, 23 people were injured and 12 hospitalized after the storm, according to Bell County Judge David Blackburn.
Copyright 2022 KWTX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/6-year-old-critical-condition-after-being-thrown-by-tornado-dangling-tree/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:01 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/6-year-old-critical-condition-after-being-thrown-by-tornado-dangling-tree/ |
Alex Jones to recoup $75,000 in fines in Sandy Hook lawsuit
Published: Apr. 15, 2022 at 11:53 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be getting back the $75,000 in fines he paid to a Connecticut court for missing a deposition last month in a lawsuit over his assertions that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
A Connecticut judge on Thursday ordered the return of the money because Jones eventually appeared at a deposition in Bridgeport last week.
The escalating fines had been aimed at making sure Jones did appear for questioning.
Jones is being sued for defamation by relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, massacre.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/alex-jones-recoup-75000-fines-sandy-hook-lawsuit/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:05 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/alex-jones-recoup-75000-fines-sandy-hook-lawsuit/ |
Sen. Feinstein pushes back against reports of health concerns
(CNN) - “I’d put my record up against anyone’s” is what Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had to say after recent reports that other lawmakers are worried about her health, especially after losing her husband to cancer in February.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported four unnamed senators, three former Feinstein aides and a California Democratic member of Congress said her mental health has gotten worse recently, and they’re worried about her memory and ability to lead.
But Feinstein defended herself, calling the newspaper Thursday to say she’s committed to her work, meets regularly with leaders and puts in the hours.
She explained that the whole thing is puzzling to her.
Feinstein has faced questions about her ability to serve for a few years now and lost her post as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee after her Democratic colleagues privately complained about her performance during the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/sen-feinstein-pushes-back-against-health-concerns/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:06 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/sen-feinstein-pushes-back-against-health-concerns/ |
Shaquille O’Neal will pay funeral expenses for 3-year-old killed by stray bullet, family says
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - Hall-of-fame basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is going to pay for the funeral expenses for a 3-year-old Louisiana boy who was killed by a stray bullet while in bed on Wednesday.
Baton Rouge police said Devin Page Jr. was sleeping inside a home in Baton Rouge.when the bullet hit him.
Family members confirmed to WAFB that O’Neal, a collegiate star at LSU, would take care of the costs.
Devin had just started preschool and loved playing with his siblings, his family said.
“Until it happens to you, until the gun is shot at your house, you know, until the bullets come through your window, you don’t get involved. You have nothing to say,” his grandmother, Cathy Toliver, said. “But you don’t want this feeling that we have right now. You don’t want the feeling of knowing that you’ll never see your grandbaby or your son again. You don’t want that feeling.”
Family members said they tried leaving the home after hearing gunshots nearby several nights in a row, but the mother was told she would have to pay thousands of dollars to move.
“I try to stick it out. Now that I stick it out, this is the outcome of what happened. My son got killed,” Devin’s mother Tye Toliver said.
Police have not announced any arrests, and investigators are continuing to work on the case.
Copyright 2022 WAFB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/shaquille-oneal-will-pay-funeral-expenses-3-year-old-killed-by-stray-bullet-family-says/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:13 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/shaquille-oneal-will-pay-funeral-expenses-3-year-old-killed-by-stray-bullet-family-says/ |
States scale back food stamp benefits even as prices soar
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Month by month, more of the roughly 40 million Americans who get help buying groceries through the federal food stamp program are seeing their benefits plunge even as the nation struggles with the biggest increase in food costs in decades.
The payments to low-income individuals and families are dropping as governors end COVID-19 disaster declarations and opt out of an ongoing federal program that made their states eligible for dramatic increases in SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture began offering the increased benefit in April 2020 in response to surging unemployment after the COVID-19 pandemic swept over the country.
The result is that depending on the politics of a state, individuals and families in need find themselves eligible for significantly different levels of help buying food.
Nebraska took the most aggressive action anywhere in the country, ending the emergency benefits four months into the pandemic in July 2020 in a move Republican Gov. Pete Rickett said was necessary to “show the rest of the country how to get back to normal.”
Since then, nearly a dozen states with Republican leadership have taken similar action, with Iowa this month being the most recent place to slash the benefits. Benefits also will be cut in Wyoming and Kentucky in the next month. Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Tennessee have also scaled back the benefits.
Republican leaders argue that the extra benefits were intended to only temporarily help people forced out of work by the pandemic. Now that the virus has eased, they maintain, there is no longer a need to offer the higher payments at a time when businesses in most states are struggling to find enough workers.
But the extra benefits also help out families in need at a time of skyrocketing prices for food. Recipients receive at least $95 per month under the program, but some individuals and families typically eligible for only small benefits can get hundreds of dollars in extra payments each month.
The entire program would come to a halt if the federal government decides to end its public health emergency, though the Biden administration so far hasn’t signaled an intention to do so.
For Tara Kramer, 45, of Des Moines, the decision by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to end the emergency payments starting April 1 meant her monthly SNAP benefit plunged from $250 in March to $20 in April. Kramer, who has a genetic disorder that can cause intense pain, said the extra money enabled her to buy healthier food that made her feel better and help her to live a more active life.
“My heart sank,” Kramer said. “All the memories from before the emergency allotment came rushing back.”
Alex Murphy, a spokesman for Reynolds, noted the extra benefits were always intended to help people who lost jobs because of the pandemic and said, “we have to return to pre-pandemic life.” Murphy pointed out that Iowa has over 86,000 job openings listed on a state unemployment website.
But Kramer said she’s not able to work and that even getting out of her apartment can be a struggle at times.
Vince Hall, who oversees public policy for the nationwide food bank network Feeding America, said ending the extra benefits ignores the reality that even as the pandemic wanes there hasn’t been a decline in demand at food banks.
Wages have been increasing in the United States, and the national unemployment rate in March dropped to 3.6%,. But those gains have been offset by an 8.5% increase in inflation compared to a year ago. Food is among items rising the fastest, leaving many families unable to buy enough groceries.
“The COVID pandemic is giving way to a hunger pandemic,” Hall said. “We’re in a real, real struggle.”
Feeding America, which represents 200 food banks, reports that demand for food has increased just as these organizations are seeing individual donations dwindle and food costs rise. The organization estimates the nation’s food banks will spend 40% more to buy food in the fiscal year ending June 2022 as in the previous year.
For people like Annie Ballan, 51, of Omaha, Nebraska, the decision by Ricketts to stop participating in the program reduced the SNAP payments she and her son receive from nearly $500 a month to $41. Both have health problems and can’t work.
“From the middle of the month to the end of the month, people have no food,” Ballan said, her voice rising in anger. “This is all the governor’s fault. He says he loves Nebraskans, that Nebraskans are wonderful, but he’s cut off our food.”
The demand on food banks will only grow as more states reduce their SNAP payments, which typically provide nine meals for every one meal offered by food banks, Hall said.
Valerie Andrews, 59, of St. Charles, Missouri, said the SNAP benefits that she and her husband rely on fell from $430 a month to $219 when Missouri ended the extra payments in August 2021. Andrews, who is disabled, said she tries to budget carefully and gets food regularly from a food pantry but it’s difficult.
“We’re barely making it from paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “It gets pretty rough most of the time.”
Officials at food banks and pantries said they will do their best to meet increased demand, but there is no way they can fully offset the drop in SNAP benefits.
Matt Unger, director of the Des Moines Area Religious Council network of food pantries in Iowa’s capital city, noted the pantry’s cost for a 5-ounce can of chicken as jumped from 54 cents in March 2019 to a current price of $1.05.
“Costs are just going through the roof,” he said.
___
AP writer Grant Schulte contributed to this story from Omaha, Nebraska.
___
Follow Scott McFetridge on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcfetridge
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/states-scale-back-food-stamp-benefits-even-prices-soar/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:19 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/states-scale-back-food-stamp-benefits-even-prices-soar/ |
Stuffed animal containing father’s ashes returned to daughter after donation mix-up
AGAWAM, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM/Gray News) – A very special stuffed animal that was accidentally donated to Savers in Massachusetts was returned to its owner after a monthlong search.
Mary Kirk said the toy, an orange tabby cat from Build-A-Bear, contains her father’s ashes.
The cat was given to Kirk’s son by her father in 2001. When Kirk’s father died four years ago, the family decided to put some of his ashes in a plastic pouch and place it inside the stuffed animal so her son would always have a piece of his grandfather.
However, when the family was getting ready to move last month, Kirk’s husband accidentally donated the stuffed animal to Savers.
Unfortunately, the stuffed animal was no longer at the store when the family went to retrieve it.
After pleading with the public for weeks on social media and hanging signs up at the Savers store, the cat turned up on Kirk’s doorstep. The stuffed animal was shipped in a box, addressed to Kirk, but had no return address.
Kirk said the Build-A-Bear is “much dirtier” than when she last saw him, but she is deeply grateful for its return.
The family is now searching for the anonymous sender so they can properly thank them. Kirk is also offering a $350 reward plus a new stuffed cat.
Copyright 2022 WGGB/WSHM via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/stuffed-animal-containing-fathers-ashes-returned-daughter-after-donation-mix-up/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:21 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/stuffed-animal-containing-fathers-ashes-returned-daughter-after-donation-mix-up/ |
Trump adviser Miller grilled about Trump’s speech on Jan. 6
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers pressed Stephen Miller, a top aide to former President Donald Trump, during a daylong closed-door interview about Trump’s speech at a rally that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, according to two people familiar with Miller’s testimony.
Miller was questioned for roughly eight hours Thursday by the House committee investigating the riot, which occurred when large crowds of Trump supporters stormed the building in hopes of preventing Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Miller’s appearance grew contentious at times, particularly as he pushed back against claims that Trump’s speech contained incendiary, coded language that had spurred his supporters to act, according to two people familiar with the questioning. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the back-and-forth during the closed interview.
That language included Trump’s repeated of the word “we” to address his supporters. At one point during the speech, Trump said: “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Miller rejected the significance of that language, the people said, arguing that personal rhetoric like that has been used in American politics going back to the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address.
Lawyers for Miller, who served as Trump’s domestic policy adviser and speechwriter, also asserted executive privilege multiple times during the session.
A committee spokesperson declined to comment Friday. The New York Times earlier reported on the contents of Miller’s testimony.
Miller is the latest in a series of sit-downs the committee has scored with those in Trump’s inner circle as lawmakers move closer to the former president by questioning people who were with him on the day of the attack or were his confidants in the weeks leading up to it.
In demanding his testimony last November, the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Miller was aware of and had participated in “efforts to spread false information about alleged voter fraud” and had encouraged state legislatures to alter the outcome of the 2020 election by appointing alternate electors.
Thompson has also said that Miller helped prepare Trump’s remarks at the Ellipse.
___
Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/trump-adviser-miller-grilled-about-trumps-speech-jan-6/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:28 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/trump-adviser-miller-grilled-about-trumps-speech-jan-6/ |
Football fans, get ready to celebrate.
The 2022 United States Football League kicks off its inaugural season this weekend with four games at the Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.
Here is everything you need to know about this history-making weekend, including schedules, teams, rules, and how to watch.
Week 1 Schedule
Saturday, April 16
- New Jersey Generals vs. Birmingham Stallions at 7:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, April 17
- Houston Gamblers vs. Michigan Panthers at 12:00 p.m. ET
- Philadelphia Stars vs. New Orleans Breakers at 4:00 p.m. ET
- Tampa Bay Bandits vs. Pittsburgh Maulers at 8 p.m. ET
Click here for the complete 2022 season schedule.
Local
How to watch USFL games?
Saturday’s game between the New Jersey Generals and Birmingham Stallions can be seen on NBC and Peacock at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Sunday’s game between the Houston Gamblers and Michigan Panthers can be seen on NBC and Peacock at noon ET. The Philadelphia Stars versus New Orleans Breakers matchup can be seen on USA Network at 4:00 p.m. ET.
Click here for the full schedule.
How many teams are in the USFL?
A total of eight teams makes up the North and South divisions of the USFL.
The North Division includes the Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars, and Pittsburgh Maulers.
The South Division includes the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers, and Tampa Bay Bandits.
USFL Rule Changes
The USFL follow traditional football rules, with what the league calls a modern twist.
"The overwhelming majority of rules that govern gameplay in the USFL are standard at the professional or collegiate level,” USFL Head of Officiating Mike Pereira said in a release. “But we are incorporating a few unconventional ideas that we're convinced will add offense, alter some coaching decisions and strategy for the better, and make it easier to get major penalty calls correct.”
League officials said the primary rule changes affect extra-point conversions after touchdowns, onside kicks, overtime, and passing plays. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/usfl-kicks-off-its-inaugural-2022-season-this-weekend/3648082/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:32 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/usfl-kicks-off-its-inaugural-2022-season-this-weekend/3648082/ |
Twitter adopts ‘poison pill’ defense to thwart Elon Musk’s takeover bid
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Twitter said Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private.
Twitter said the move, formally called a “limited duration shareholder rights plan,” aims to enable its investors to “realize the full value of their investment” by reducing the likelihood that any one person can gain control of the company without either paying shareholders a premium or giving the board more time. Poison pills are often used to defend against hostile takeovers.
Twitter’s plan would take effect if Musk’s roughly 9% stake grows to 15% or more. Even then, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors. Twitter said the plan doesn’t prevent the board from engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal if it’s in the company’s “best interests.”
Twitter had revealed in a securities filing Thursday that Musk offered to buy the company outright for more than $43 billion, saying the social media platform “needs to be transformed as a private company” in order to build trust with its users.
“I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.”
Later on Thursday, during an onstage interview at the TED 2022 conference, he went even broader: “Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
Musk revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying Twitter shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31, ending up with a stake of about 9%. Only Vanguard Group controls more Twitter shares. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York federal court alleged that Musk illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices.
After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly offered him a seat on its board on the condition that he would limit his purchases to no more than 14.9% of the company’s outstanding stock. But the company said five days later that Musk had declined.
A poison pill path is a “predictable” defensive maneuver, although it could be seen as a “sign of weakness” and viewed unfavorably on Wall Street, Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said in an emailed note.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-defense-thwart-elon-musks-takeover-bid/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:35 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-defense-thwart-elon-musks-takeover-bid/ |
Ukraine war weighs on pope’s Good Friday Colosseum ritual
ROME (AP) — The war in Ukraine loomed over the traditional Good Friday Colosseum procession in Rome, after the Vatican’s choice of a Russian woman to be among the cross-bearers angered Ukrainians.
For the first time since before the pandemic, the solemn torchlit procession at the ancient arena in Rome was to resume on Friday night. Thousands of pilgrims and tourists flocked to the site hours earlier, in hope of catching a glimpse of Pope Francis, who presides over the service from an elevated point near the Roman Forum.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See and the archbishop of Kyiv denounced the Vatican’s plan to have a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman carry the cross together during the procession. They objected to projecting what they saw as the idea of reconciliation while Ukraine is ravaged by war unleashed by Russia.
The Vatican didn’t respond to the protests or announce any program changes.
While Francis has denounced the Feb. 24 invasion and attacks on Ukraine as a “sacrilege,’’ he has refrained from naming Russia as the aggressor, although his references to Russian Vladimir Putin have been clear. The pope is pressing for negotiations to cease the fighting and bring peace, and has offered to go to Ukraine if his presence could further the cause of peace.
But other faithful in the world applauded the decision to pair the two women, who work together at a Rome hospital and are friends, to carry the cross during part of the procession, which recalls Jesus’ suffering as he was being brought to his crucifixion and death.
In Paris, hundreds of Catholics gathered for Good Friday prayers on the forecourt of Notre Dame cathedral, and followed its rector on a procession around the island on the Seine River that houses the medieval landmark.
“Well, you know today the pope has a woman from Ukraine and a woman from Russia holding the cross together at one of the Stations of the Cross,” Jennifer Kilgore-Caradec told The AP at Notre Dame. She called that a “very moving and meaningful symbol.” She added: “I think that real people in the real world are concerned about peace. We want peace, we don’t want war,” which brings suffering and pain. That is “not the message of the Christ on the cross.”
The faithful were not allowed inside the Paris cathedral, since it is still under reconstruction after a 2019 blaze collapsed its spire and destroyed its roof. French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting the cathedral Friday to mark the third anniversary of the fire.
In St. Peter’s Basilica, hours ahead of the Colosseum event, Pope Francis, wearing red vestments to symbolize the blood of Jesus, limped up the central aisle to take his place for an early evening prayer service. Francis, 85, has been suffering from a knee ligament problem.
Usually at the Good Friday basilica service at the Vatican, the pontiff would prostrate himself in prayer. But this time Francis, hobbled by pain for weeks, didn’t do so.
Francis dispatched his official almsgiver, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, to Kyiv to lead a Good Friday procession in the capital city of war-ravaged Ukraine. Italian Rai state TV said Krajewski on Friday visited two of Ukraine’s hardest-hit locations, Bucha and Borodyanka, both in ruins. At one point, Krajewski prayed over some of the bodies and leaned over to touch one, partially covered, body.
Throughout his papacy, Francis has repeatedly denounced armaments accumulated by nations as unjustified. In an interview broadcast on Italian state TV on Friday, the pope elaborated on his view.
“I understand those governments that buy arms, I understand them. I do not justify them, but I understand them, because we have to defend ourselves,” Francis said. But, he added: “If there were a pattern of peace, this would not be necessary. But we live with this diabolical pattern of killing one another out of the desire for power, the desire for security, the desire for many things.”
Good Friday is one of the main days for Christians during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter, on Sunday.
In Jerusalem, where tens of thousands of faithful traditionally converge on the Israeli city’s Old City to visit sacred sites during Holy Week, Palestinians on Friday clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque. The site is sacred to Jews and Muslims. This year, Ramadan coincides with Passover, as well as Holy Week.
Medics in Jerusalem said that more than 150 Palestinians were injured, in the most serious violence at the site in nearly a year.
___
John Leicester and Oleg Cetinic contributed from Paris.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/ukraine-war-weighs-popes-good-friday-colosseum-ritual/ | 2022-04-15T18:06:41 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/15/ukraine-war-weighs-popes-good-friday-colosseum-ritual/ |
The International Cryptozoology Museum just opened its new Bangor outpost on Hammond Street this week, after first announcing the bookstore and gift shop last fall, and Bigfoot hunters, paranormal enthusiasts and the merely curious have already stopped by to visit.
Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, executive director of the nonprofit that runs the flagship museum in Portland and now the Bangor location, has packed the shop with artifacts, specimens and curiosities, alongside books and gifts and an archive full of Coleman's thousands of books on cryptozoology and associated topics, which people will be able to visit by appointment and which will open later this year.
"We'd hoped to have been open by Halloween of last year, but we really wanted to get things right and find some really unique items for Bangor," Coleman said. "We wanted to find artifacts that really spoke to this area."
Some of the more eye-popping things on display at the shop include Frosty, a huge sculpture of a Yeti head that's mounted on the wall, and a replica of the Minnesota Iceman — a six-foot, hairy hominid originally believed to have been found in Vietnam — whose supposedly frozen body was displayed around the country throughout the 1960s.
There's also a Fiji Mermaid, a hoax cryptid popularized by P.T. Barnum, a selection of taxidermied animals, and many smaller items, like casts of supposed footprints from Bigfoot, and even a tiny version of the Cherryfield Goatman, a half-human, half-goat wearing a flannel shirt, who was supposedly spotted in the Washington County town in the 1950s.
Coleman has studied cryptids, the term for an animal whose existence is unsubstantiated, for close to five decades. He's written more than 40 books on various cryptozoological topics, and has served as a consultant and been interviewed for movies, TV shows and documentaries.
He opened his first museum in Portland in 2003. Since then, it has expanded twice, first onto Congress Street and then to a much larger space at the Thompson's Point development on the Fore River in 2016. Last year, Coleman purchased the building at 585 Hammond St. in Bangor, and also bought a house on Bangor's West Side, where he and his wife moved earlier this year after selling their Portland house.
Now that Coleman and his wife, Jennifer, are newly minted Bangor residents, he's eager to get more involved in the community. The shop has already partnered with Bangor's SK Tours, the Stephen King-themed tours of Bangor run by Jamie Tinker, to bring tour guests to the shop when it's open.
"We've already seen a lot of folks who are interested in what we do here come out of the woodwork," he said. "I'm excited to meet more people in the community."
The shop will only be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Fridays for the month of April so staff have time to add a few more details to the space, but starting in May Coleman plans to extend the hours throughout the weekend.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. | https://www.unionleader.com/news/back_page/a-yeti-head-and-bigfoots-prints-will-be-on-display-at-new-bangor-shop/article_2c706bf7-16d8-5aec-b811-ab42f819c5c4.html | 2022-04-15T18:10:22 | 1 | https://www.unionleader.com/news/back_page/a-yeti-head-and-bigfoots-prints-will-be-on-display-at-new-bangor-shop/article_2c706bf7-16d8-5aec-b811-ab42f819c5c4.html |
Whether you’re thinking about a full-scale remodel or just basic maintenance, make 2022 the year you go green for good.
When you’re wrapped up in the excitement of flashier changes like picking out paint colors and flooring, it’s easy to not want to dive deep into the VOC rating of that gallon of paint you just bought or find out if that new hardwood is from ethically sourced materials.
But the truth is, just like that perfect shade of greige, going green can greatly improve your everyday life at home. Renewable resources and alternative energy are part and parcel of an entire approach to your home that can increase your comfort, lower your energy bills, and protect the environment all at once.
Sustainable living isn’t just about the energy sources and materials you use — you can incorporate these elements into every aspect of home improvement projects.
Here are seven tips for incorporating Earth-friendly strategies into your home decisions:
1. Don’t overlook simple energy-saving steps
Go through your home and identify points where you’re leaking air. Door and window edges are common culprits. Weather stripping, caulking and minimizing leaks can increase your home’s energy efficiency at a minimal cost.
2. Repurpose what you have
Be mindful of what you’re using when you renovate, and look for ways to upcycle or repurpose what you already own.
For example, do you really need new cabinets, or will refacing them get the results you want while using far fewer materials for the work?
3. Put a premium on lifespan
When it’s time to replace things, think about the next replacement down the road. The longer a material or appliance lasts, the longer it takes before it reaches the landfill, which lowers your project’s potential negative environmental impact. A metal roof, for instance, will last longer than almost any other material.
4. Go for lower flow
Your water fixtures make a big difference. For instance, nearly a third of your water usage comes from toilet flushing. Install low-flow faucets, showers and toilets to bring down your water consumption — and your bill.
5. Pick alternative materials
With many home services, you can specifically request eco-friendly materials. For example, household cleaning solutions can use plant-based cleaning supplies that gently break down stains. Look for the EPA Safer Choice logo when shopping for your own goods.
6. Protect the south side of your house
The south side of your home gets the most direct and harsh sunlight. Heavy drapes and high-efficiency windows can help deal with this extra load.
Planting trees and large shrubs in that area will also help create a shady oasis.
7. Plan for green replacements
Sooner or later, you’ll be making big-ticket purchases such as new heating, roofing or appliances. Start planning now for renewable options when you make these bigger investments. You probably won’t install a geothermal HVAC system on a whim, but you might do so if you’re replacing your system anyway. | https://www.unionleader.com/news/homes/ask-angi-how-to-go-green-in-2022/article_ad1aaf17-b08e-5e47-a9c4-777e6c6e2025.html | 2022-04-15T18:10:29 | 1 | https://www.unionleader.com/news/homes/ask-angi-how-to-go-green-in-2022/article_ad1aaf17-b08e-5e47-a9c4-777e6c6e2025.html |
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden is facing a growing mutiny from Democratic candidates - including five vulnerable senators - who are questioning his administration's decision to lift a pandemic health order that has drastically curtailed migrants' ability to seek asylum at the southern border.
The internal dissension is an early acknowledgment from many Democrats that worries about border security and immigration could become a major obstacle for them in this year's midterm elections. Polls show the topic to be a leading concern for voters, and one on which Biden has received low marks. Now, candidates are openly warning that the Biden administration's decision to stop using the public health order, known as Title 42, could lead to chaotic conditions at the border and refocus public attention on an issue that has challenged president after president.
Democratic senators from Nevada to Georgia to New Hampshire have distanced themselves from the move, charging that the administration has yet to present a satisfactory plan to prepare for the expected increase in attempted border crossings. The decision also threatens to create friction between these Democrats and liberal voters demanding more protections for migrants.
Leon Fresco, an immigration attorney and former aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats are in desperate need of a "reframing" of the border issue. "Because this debate, the way it's currently structured, is very bad for Democrats," he said. "Either we have Title 42 and no chaos, or Title 42 and chaos. That's just not a good look for anybody right now."
The Trump administration used Title 42 to expel tens of thousands of migrants, and until recently the Biden administration continued renewing the policy. Republicans have signaled they are eager to make the border a centerpiece of their political message, tying it to a larger argument that Democrats have been ineffective in fighting crime and drugs, and have struggled to rein in chaos at home and abroad.
In a signal of how much attention the issue haw drawn from this year's candidates, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, is requiring secondary inspections of many commercial trucks and other vehicles crossing the border, and he sent a busload of migrants to Washington this week, after accusing Biden of turning a "blind eye" the situation on the border. His likely Democratic rival, former congressman Beto O'Rourke, criticized Abbott's inspection policy, but O'Rourke also voiced disapproval of the Biden's administration's position on Title 42.
The border could create broader political implications in the battle for the Senate, where Democrats' narrow majority is at risk this fall. One key Democrat who has raised alarms is Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, the Senate's first Latina. Cortez Masto has broken with some fellow senators of Hispanic descent who have pushed Biden to lift the pandemic-related border policy. She is seeking reelection in a swing state - one where, polls suggest, Republicans are well positioned to take advantage of deteriorating public approval for Biden and increasing anxiety about the economy, crime and the border.
Cortez Masto said in a statement after the April 1 announcement that "the administration is acting without a detailed plan" in allowing the Trump-era policy to expire at the end of May. "This is the wrong way to do this and it will leave the administration unprepared for a surge at the border," she said, calling instead for a more comprehensive approach to immigration.
Similar accusations have come from four other Democratic senators facing competitive races this fall - Michael Bennet of Colorado, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Raphael Warnock of Georgia - who have all suggested that the administration is acting too rashly. Kelly and Hassan are co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation that would delay the scheduled May 23 removal of the Title 42 policy for at least 60 days beyond the sunset of the COVID national emergency declaration, which was recently renewed into July. Hassan and Kelly also recently visited the southern border.
Addressing reporters Wednesday after touring a border checkpoint in his home state, Kelly said proceeding to lift the policy next month would create a "crisis on top of a crisis."
"It shouldn't be around forever," Kelly said of Title 42. "But right now, this administration does not have a plan."
But there is also risk for some Democrats in opposing the end of Title 42 too aggressively. Some are already facing dismay from immigrant advocates who see calls for delay as a warning sign. They include Cortez Masto, who was swept into office in 2016 thanks in part to Nevada's sizable Latino electorate.
"If now is not the time, when is the right time?" said Rico Ocampo, an immigrant organizer with Make the Road Nevada, who called Cortez Masto's calls "disappointing" and said advocates would "keep a close eye" on how she and other Nevada politicians vote on Title 42 in the coming months.
Democrats facing reelection this year, Fresco said, are "100% justified" in airing frustration with the Biden administration's border moves so long as the choice is binary. "But what is not justified at all is doing nothing about it," he added, calling on the frustrated lawmakers to offer a third option and show voters they are at least pursuing it.
The backlash has repercussions that reach beyond the campaign trail. Already it has complicated the Biden administration's request for billions of dollars in additional pandemic funding to pay for more doses of vaccine and therapeutic drugs. After congressional negotiators struck a tentative $10 billion deal earlier this month, the agreement fell apart when Senate Republicans insisted on an amendment vote that could keep Title 42 in place.
According to Senate aides, at least a half-dozen Democrats were at risk of joining Republicans on such a vote - in what would have been an embarrassing setback to Biden and a stinging defeat to immigrant activists who had pushed him for months to restore the asylum system to some semblance of its pre-pandemic state.
Republicans are signaling confidence that talking about the border will be a potent line of attack ahead of November, second only to economic messages attacking Democrats for rising inflation. They say they believe Democratic incumbents will be hard-pressed to inoculate themselves against their records of voting against Trump-era immigration measures such as a border wall and the "remain in Mexico" policy that sought to keep asylum seekers out of the United States while their claims are adjudicated.
"The situation at the border today is the culmination of the policies that they've supported," said Jack Pandol, a spokesman for the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that is expected to spend heavily on ads targeting the Democratic incumbents. "You are seeing them changing course and trying to sidestep political blame for the situation they helped create, and voters aren't going to buy that."
Republicans have paid close attention to the rising Democratic discontent. On Thursday, GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee called for a hearing on the Biden administration's move, citing statements from Cortez Masto, Kelly, Warnock and others. "We share the concerns raised by our Democratic colleagues and are troubled by the potential consequences," they wrote.
Non-incumbent Democrats are starting to speak out as well. Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination against Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday that he was against lifting the policy "simply because there's not a detailed plan in place so that we can keep asylum seekers and people in the country safe."
The Biden administration has sought to counter the notion that the government is unprepared for a post-Title 42 rush at the border, which some fear could bring an additional 10,000 migrants to the southern border each day. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Eduardo Silva on Wednesday pointed to a "comprehensive, whole-of-government plan to manage any potential increase" - including establishing a new coordination center, increasing processing capacity and redeploying hundreds of personnel.
The department has produced a 13-page "Strategic Concept of Operations" that has been provided to lawmakers, along with briefings with key officials. But that has been far from sufficient to the Democrats who are now faulting the administration.
"It's eight pages of what a plan might look like," Kelly said Wednesday, adding that he has personally spoken to Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about border issues but has found their response to be, "so far, unacceptable."
"They understand that they might have an impending problem," he said. "I don't think they've come to the realization of what level it will be and that it could be a humanitarian crisis."
The embattled in-cycle lawmakers are getting little cover from top Democratic leaders, who like Biden have been under immense pressure from immigrant and civil rights advocates to lift the Trump-era restrictions.
Schumer said in a joint statement earlier this month with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., that it was "long overdue for Title 42 to end" and that "its misguided implementation put countless people in danger and wreaked havoc on our asylum system that desperately needs repair."
Some lawmakers who have long advocated for comprehensive immigration legislation have sought to walk a finer line, keeping their criticism more measured than Kelly's. They include Bennet, who is up for reelection this year and has echoed some the rhetoric of his more vulnerable colleagues. He "believes the administration has failed to articulate a plausible plan to ensure the country is prepared for the surge," according to his spokeswoman, Olivia Bercow, and is urging the administration to develop such a plan before the May 23 effective date.
Cortez Masto, who vowed to fight on behalf of the tens of thousands of Nevada immigrants who powered her to victory, as well as the young undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers," also appears to be seeking a political equilibrium.
"They came here for an opportunity to succeed, to work hard so that they can provide a roof over their head, food on the table for their kids and give their kids every opportunity that they may not have," she said in her 2016 victory speech. "That is no different than all of our stories, and that is what we are fighting for."
Cortez Masto has long advocated for a broad bipartisan immigration deal that would include both stronger border security and a path to citizenship for dreamers. But in 2020, as the pandemic took hold, she joined dozens of other lawmakers in decrying a Trump administration crackdown on those seeking asylum at the southern border, including the use of Title 42, and last year she joined every other Democrat opposing a budget amendment endorsing the measure.
That history now has her facing attacks from both left and right. Her likely Republican opponent, former state attorney general Adam Laxalt, said Cortez Masto is "desperately trying to fool Nevadans into thinking she cares about protecting our border" by breaking with Biden.
"Her claims on Title 42 are nothing but election-year rhetoric," said Laxalt, who cited her past votes against some border security measures and taking action against "sanctuary cities" that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Ocampo, the immigrant organizer, issued an equally blunt warning - from the opposite end of the political spectrum.
"When you talk about being a champion for immigration, this is one of those situations where elected officials have to show up," Ocampo said. "They have to show up for communities that put them into office." | https://www.unionleader.com/news/politics/national/democrats-in-tough-races-revolt-over-biden-administration-border-move/article_0e29b51a-ddbe-5f4c-afe9-e565a5637733.html | 2022-04-15T18:10:35 | 1 | https://www.unionleader.com/news/politics/national/democrats-in-tough-races-revolt-over-biden-administration-border-move/article_0e29b51a-ddbe-5f4c-afe9-e565a5637733.html |
The Boston Bruins want what the Pittsburgh Penguins just got.
The Penguins (43-22-11, 97 points) clinched a playoff spot Thursday, and Saturday afternoon the Bruins (45-24-5, 95 points) can join them if they can just break a concerning three-game losing streak when they host Pittsburgh.
Boston needs just one more point to clinch a wild-card spot, missing a chance Thursday in losing 3-2 to Ottawa, a non-playoff team. Third place in the Atlantic Division remains within reach for the Bruins, but not if the losses keep piling up.
The Bruins' three consecutive losses -- their longest losing streak of the season -- comes at a crucial time.
The Penguins had been scuffling, too, lately, but beat the New York Islanders 6-3 to advance to the postseason for the 16th straight year. That's not only the longest active streak in the NHL, but the longest in all major North American pro sports leagues, including the NFL (Kansas City, seven years), MLB (Los Angeles Dodgers, nine years) and NBA (Boston Celtics, eight years).
The Penguins have appreciation for that.
"The fact that this organization has been able to sustain the level of excellence that it has, year in and year out, for as long as it has, in my mind, is a remarkable accomplishment," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said.
The Penguins have won three Stanley Cups during their run.
The flip side is that the current edition of Penguins, despite a solidly played win Thursday, are 4-6-2 in their past 12 games, with six games left in the regular season. Sliding back from third place in the Metropolitan Division into a wild-card spot remains a possibility.
Considering that the Penguins have bowed out against their first opponent in each of the past three playoffs, and work remains to be done in preparing a deeper run.
"We want to get as far as possible, win another Stanley Cup," said Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang, who scored Thursday and is one of three key core players who have been around for all three Cups (2009, 2016, 2017).
Another is team captain Sidney Crosby, who hit 80 points Thursday.
The third is center Evgeni Malkin, who will miss Saturday's game as he serves the third game of a four-game suspension for a cross-checking incident.
The Penguins offense has come alive, with 13 goals in the past three games, while Boston has just 11 goals over its past five and is 0 for 23 on the power play over six games.
"I think maybe guys are just thinking a little too much," Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk said. "It's something we've addressed in video (sessions) quite a lot in these last few days, last few weeks."
Boston coach Bruce Cassidy hopes things aren't piling up too much for his team.
"Frustration is a useless emotion," Cassidy said. "I'm not frustrated. We want to correct things. ... Some guys that are typically used to putting up goals and points, when it doesn't go in, they get frustrated."
Already without David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo, Boston lost goaltender Linus Ullmark on Thursday in the first period after he took a shot to the helmet. His status is unclear. | https://www.unionleader.com/sports/bruins/bruins-still-trying-to-clinch-spot-host-playoff-bound-penguins/article_c47e640e-6d52-5350-b0b9-5bd5b977ff2b.html | 2022-04-15T18:10:41 | 0 | https://www.unionleader.com/sports/bruins/bruins-still-trying-to-clinch-spot-host-playoff-bound-penguins/article_c47e640e-6d52-5350-b0b9-5bd5b977ff2b.html |
The deals on these 4K televisions are as good as Black Friday deals
Updated: 10:24 AM MDT Apr 15, 2022
These deals are better than what was seen on Black Friday.Yes, you read that above line correctly. There are highly-rated 4K televisions being marked down right now — as high as 35% off — and some of the deals are actually better than what was listed on Black Friday in 2021. The deals on these televisions are not the only savings you can take advantage of as there are other products that are being listed on Amazon at up to 60% off. Can't see the below deals? Click here.Save 34% on the Amazon Fire TV 50-inch 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV when you order today through Amazon. Bring movies and shows to life with support for vivid 4K Ultra HD, HDR 10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Plus. This TV is now marked down to $319.99, slashed from its original price of $469.99.Looking for a bigger screen? No problem. You can also save $30 on the Amazon Fire TV 55-inch 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV, now listed at $349.99.You can save more than $300 on this giant Amazon Fire TV 75-inch Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV with Dolby Vision. Amazon is now offering discounts of 29% off — marked down to $749.99 from its original $1,054.17.Size down with this 43-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV, now listed at only $299.99.Can't find what you're looking for? There are hundreds of additional deals today on Amazon that you can find by clicking here.
These deals are better than what was seen on Black Friday.
Yes, you read that above line correctly. There are highly-rated 4K televisions being marked down right now — as high as 35% off — and some of the deals are actually better than what was listed on Black Friday in 2021.
The deals on these televisions are not the only savings you can take advantage of as there are other products that are being listed on Amazon at up to 60% off.
Can't see the below deals? Click here.
Save 34% on the Amazon Fire TV 50-inch 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV when you order today through Amazon. Bring movies and shows to life with support for vivid 4K Ultra HD, HDR 10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Plus. This TV is now marked down to $319.99, slashed from its original price of $469.99.
Looking for a bigger screen? No problem. You can also save $30 on the Amazon Fire TV 55-inch 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV, now listed at $349.99.
You can save more than $300 on this giant Amazon Fire TV 75-inch Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV with Dolby Vision. Amazon is now offering discounts of 29% off — marked down to $749.99 from its original $1,054.17.
Size down with this 43-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV, now listed at only $299.99.
Amazon Fire TV 43
Amazon
amazon.com
$299.99
Can't find what you're looking for? There are hundreds of additional deals today on Amazon that you can find by clicking here. | https://www.koat.com/article/amazon-fire-tv-deals/39729500 | 2022-04-15T18:10:53 | 1 | https://www.koat.com/article/amazon-fire-tv-deals/39729500 |
Fire crews responding to brush fire near Placitas
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Fire crews responding to brush fire near Placitas
Fire crews with Sandoval County Fire & Rescue are responding to a report of a brush fire near Placitas. Video from Sky 7 shows the fire an area near homes. KOAT is working to get more information from fire crews. Stay with KOAT for the latest information.
PLACITAS, N.M. —
Fire crews with Sandoval County Fire & Rescue are responding to a report of a brush fire near Placitas.
Video from Sky 7 shows the fire an area near homes.
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KOAT is working to get more information from fire crews.
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These home renovation projects get the best return on investment
Home prices have gone up so much that many homeowners have decided to stay put and make their own homes better.
But even if you're renovating a home to live in it, it's still important to know what you can expect to recoup from those upgrades and improvements and what will eventually pay off when it comes time to sell. Homeowners who over-renovate a home may not get the cost of the improvement back.
For example, it's not the spa-like bathroom or the magazine-worthy custom kitchen that provide the best return on investment, according to a new report on the impact of home remodeling from the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
Instead, the interior projects that recoup the most are refinishing hardwood floors and installing new hardwood flooring.
The report estimates the cost of refinishing floors at $3,400 with an estimated return on investment of $5,000, for a 147% recovery of costs. The estimated cost of installing hardwood floors is higher at $5,000, but with a $6,500 return on investment, 118% of the cost is recovered, according to the research.
Meanwhile, the cost of a dream project -- like the addition of a new primary bedroom suite -- can be an estimated $182,000, with only about $100,000 of that cost recovered, making the return on investment the lowest of the projects evaluated at 56%.
Best ROI on projects
After refinishing floors and new hardwood, the next best return on investment was another decidedly unsexy project: an insulation upgrade. Priced at an estimated $2,500, all of that cost is expected to be recovered for a 100% return.
Homeowners who do complete kitchen and bath renovations can expect to recoup around 75% of those costs, according to the report. With an estimated cost of about $80,000, a total kitchen renovation recoups about $60,000, and homeowners can expect to recover about $25,000 of a $35,000 bathroom renovation, about 71% of the project's cost.
Renovating a basement into a living space offers a bit better rate of return. At an estimated cost of $57,500, homeowners can recoup 86% of that project's cost.
As for exterior home improvements, the projects with the best return on investment are replacing the roof and the garage doors, with both recouping all their costs.
Homeowners can expect to get back about 86% of the costs of installing vinyl siding and 67% of vinyl windows, but only 63% of wood windows.
The actual cost of each remodeling project and cost recovery is influenced by many factors, including project design, quality of materials, location, age and condition of the home, and homeowner preferences.
"Quite often, an added benefit to home renovations is the possibility of an increase in the home's value, which is a reason why some people remodel," said Lautz. "This is especially advantageous to a homeowner who may be considering selling their house or converting the home to a rental property."
Who is remodeling and why
While the pandemic put much of the economy on pause, residential renovations boomed as homeowners reconfigured their homes for new uses like work and school, even as the cost of materials and labor rose.
Americans spent $420 billion in 2020 on remodeling their homes and nearly all NARI members found a greater demand for contracting in remodeling work that year.
Of homeowners surveyed, 35% hired professionals for the entire job, 28% hired the labor but purchased the materials and 22% did the entire project themselves.
"Homeowners tend to undertake a remodeling project for any number of reasons," said Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics and behavioral insights at NAR. "In some instances, homeowners were content with sprucing up a room with a simple paint job, while in other cases, families decided to take on the task of renovating an entire attic or basement to add additional living space to their home."
About 35% of those surveyed said the most important result from their remodel was better functionality and livability. Around 22% said they had durable and long-lasting results, materials and appliances, and 14% reported beauty and aesthetics as a result of their remodel.
"The pandemic has changed the way we use our homes, and many of those changes are here to stay," said Lautz. "As a result, homeowners needed to reconfigure or remodel how they use their home and maximize space." | https://www.koat.com/article/home-renovation-projects-investment/39735725 | 2022-04-15T18:10:57 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/home-renovation-projects-investment/39735725 |
Police: More than 900 civilian bodies found in Kyiv region
More than 900 civilian bodies have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following the withdrawal of Russian forces — most of them fatally shot, police said Friday, an indication that many people were "simply executed."
Related video above: Chernihiv residents return to destroyed homes
The number of dead is double that was announced by Ukrainian authorities almost two weeks ago.
Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said the bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% died from gunshot wounds.
"Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets," Nebytov said.
More bodies are being found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added.
The largest number of victims were found in Bucha, where there were more than 350, he said.
According to Nebytov, utilities workers in Bucha gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, were "tracking down" people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry promised to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow's stinging loss of its flagship in the Black Sea. | https://www.koat.com/article/hundreds-of-civilian-bodies-found-in-kyiv-region/39737505 | 2022-04-15T18:10:58 | 1 | https://www.koat.com/article/hundreds-of-civilian-bodies-found-in-kyiv-region/39737505 |
Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs like a woman possessed. And in a way, she is: The amputee athlete is trying to run at least 102 marathons in 102 days.Last month, a little more than two-thirds toward her goal of setting a new world record for back-to-back marathons, the South Africa native posted something on Twitter that got people talking."The first thing I did after my run today was take off my leg. Felt so good," she tweeted. "Marathon 69 done. 31 marathons to go."That was last month, and she's still running — covering the classic 26.2-mile marathon distance day in, day out, rain or shine, occasionally on a treadmill but mostly on roads and trails near her home in Gilbert, Arizona. If her streak remains intact heading into the Boston Marathon on April 18, it'll be marathon No. 92.Unlike the 30,000 others running the storied course, Hunt-Broersma, 46, will have done a marathon the day before. Somehow, she'll have to rally body and soul to run another the day after. And another after that. And then eight more.All on a carbon-fiber blade that's been her left leg ever since she lost the real thing below the knee to a rare cancer."You make peace with pain," she said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think my pain threshold is probably quite high at the moment. It's one step at a time."Boston is the only certified marathon she's including in her quest. The others she's running on one of two loops near her home or indoors on a treadmill — a monotonous machine many runners derisively call the "treadmill."In 2001, while she and her Dutch husband were living in the Netherlands, Hunt-Broersma was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer more typically seen in children. Overnight, a golf ball-sized bulge appeared on an old scar that had become tender. A biopsy confirmed the worst, and within weeks, her leg was amputated below the knee."The biggest struggle was accepting that part of my body was gone," she said. (She's since made peace with that: A favorite T-shirt reads, "A Zombie Chewed It Off.")Until five years ago, she wasn't at all athletic, but getting started was expensive. Carbon-fiber blades designed for running cost around $10,000 and aren't covered by health insurance. Survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three spectators and wounded 260 others, ran into the same problem when they sought to reclaim their lives."Running really changed my life," she said. "It helped me accept myself as an amputee. It gave me a sense of freedom. I fell in love with the process of pushing my body further just to see what I could do."Subsequent marathons led to ultrarunning over extended distances, including a 100-mile race. So when Hunt-Broersma learned that Alyssa Amos Clark,a nondisabledrunner from Bennington, Vermont, covered the marathon distance 95 days in a row in 2000, an idea was born: She’d do 100. That plan got foiled this week when British runner Kate Jayden completed 101 marathons in as many days, so Hunt-Broersma has a new goal: "Now I'm going for at least 102.""I hoped it would inspire a lot of people to get out of their comfort zone and push a little bit farther," she said.She worried her stump would become raw and painful, and the first two weeks were rough. Since then, though, she's gotten into a sustainable rhythm, taking care to ice and massage the stump. When it became swollen, she switched to a running prosthesis with a little more room.But there have been mental challenges as well on the road to 102, which began on Jan. 17. On a recent outing, Hunt-Broersma — who's been averaging a little over five hours per marathon — felt near collapse at 15 miles and burst into tears. Suddenly the entire odyssey was in doubt."I had a total emotional breakdown. I was like, 'I just can't do this. What was I thinking?'" she said. "The trick for me is just to break it down into little goals. Just get to the next mile. And then the next one."Her support team is her husband and their two young children, but she's also gained a large social media following.This week, after logging marathon No. 85, well-wishers offered virtual applause. "You just seem to eat marathons for breakfast," one person tweeted. "In such bleak times, thank you for serving as an inspiration," commented another.As she nears the end of her epic quest, Hunt-Broersma hopes she inspires a singular thought in others, regardless of their own physical challenges:"You’re stronger than you think — and you're capable of so much more."
Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs like a woman possessed. And in a way, she is: The amputee athlete is trying to run at least 102 marathons in 102 days.
Last month, a little more than two-thirds toward her goal of setting a new world record for back-to-back marathons, the South Africa native posted something on Twitter that got people talking.
"The first thing I did after my run today was take off my leg. Felt so good," she tweeted. "Marathon 69 done. 31 marathons to go."
That was last month, and she's still running — covering the classic 26.2-mile marathon distance day in, day out, rain or shine, occasionally on a treadmill but mostly on roads and trails near her home in Gilbert, Arizona. If her streak remains intact heading into the Boston Marathon on April 18, it'll be marathon No. 92.
Unlike the 30,000 others running the storied course, Hunt-Broersma, 46, will have done a marathon the day before. Somehow, she'll have to rally body and soul to run another the day after. And another after that. And then eight more.
All on a carbon-fiber blade that's been her left leg ever since she lost the real thing below the knee to a rare cancer.
"You make peace with pain," she said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think my pain threshold is probably quite high at the moment. It's one step at a time."
Boston is the only certified marathon she's including in her quest. The others she's running on one of two loops near her home or indoors on a treadmill — a monotonous machine many runners derisively call the "treadmill."
In 2001, while she and her Dutch husband were living in the Netherlands, Hunt-Broersma was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer more typically seen in children. Overnight, a golf ball-sized bulge appeared on an old scar that had become tender. A biopsy confirmed the worst, and within weeks, her leg was amputated below the knee.
Edwin Broersma
In this image provided by Edwin Broersma, marathoner Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs her 80th consecutive marathon on March 27, 2022, near her home in Gilbert, Az.
"The biggest struggle was accepting that part of my body was gone," she said. (She's since made peace with that: A favorite T-shirt reads, "A Zombie Chewed It Off.")
Until five years ago, she wasn't at all athletic, but getting started was expensive. Carbon-fiber blades designed for running cost around $10,000 and aren't covered by health insurance. Survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three spectators and wounded 260 others, ran into the same problem when they sought to reclaim their lives.
"Running really changed my life," she said. "It helped me accept myself as an amputee. It gave me a sense of freedom. I fell in love with the process of pushing my body further just to see what I could do."
Subsequent marathons led to ultrarunning over extended distances, including a 100-mile race. So when Hunt-Broersma learned that Alyssa Amos Clark,a nondisabledrunner from Bennington, Vermont, covered the marathon distance 95 days in a row in 2000, an idea was born: She’d do 100. That plan got foiled this week when British runner Kate Jayden completed 101 marathons in as many days, so Hunt-Broersma has a new goal: "Now I'm going for at least 102."
"I hoped it would inspire a lot of people to get out of their comfort zone and push a little bit farther," she said.
She worried her stump would become raw and painful, and the first two weeks were rough. Since then, though, she's gotten into a sustainable rhythm, taking care to ice and massage the stump. When it became swollen, she switched to a running prosthesis with a little more room.
But there have been mental challenges as well on the road to 102, which began on Jan. 17. On a recent outing, Hunt-Broersma — who's been averaging a little over five hours per marathon — felt near collapse at 15 miles and burst into tears. Suddenly the entire odyssey was in doubt.
Edwin Broersma
In this image provided by Edwin Broersma, marathoner Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs her 82nd consecutive marathon on April 8, 2022, near her home in Gilbert, Az.
"I had a total emotional breakdown. I was like, 'I just can't do this. What was I thinking?'" she said. "The trick for me is just to break it down into little goals. Just get to the next mile. And then the next one."
Her support team is her husband and their two young children, but she's also gained a large social media following.
This week, after logging marathon No. 85, well-wishers offered virtual applause. "You just seem to eat marathons for breakfast," one person tweeted. "In such bleak times, thank you for serving as an inspiration," commented another.
As she nears the end of her epic quest, Hunt-Broersma hopes she inspires a singular thought in others, regardless of their own physical challenges:
"You’re stronger than you think — and you're capable of so much more." | https://www.koat.com/article/jackys-quest-102-marathons-102-days/39735521 | 2022-04-15T18:11:00 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/jackys-quest-102-marathons-102-days/39735521 |
The pilgrimage to El Sanctuario de Chimayó is back
The Chimayó village in northern New Mexico may be small, but its influence is anything but.
Every year during Holy Week, an average of 300,000 people make their way to El Sanctuario de Chimayó. The church is known to have healing properties and bring blessings to those that seek them.
"It was always just to get back to God," Nina Steffen, from Rio Rancho, said.
The annual tradition involves a pilgrimage to the small Catholic church from people around the world.
The event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and health concerns.
"It feels good. We need to see the people walking again. It was so sad for two whole years. It was really, like depressing not to see any of the people walking," Sylvia Montoya, an early trekker, said.
Montoya added the pilgrimage is an annual tradition for her family.
Despite driving this year, she said she made the walk several years ago, along with her mother, sister, and brother.
"My mom did it two years ago, and she did it from Galisteo," Montoya said. "Her and my sister and my brother."
A similar experience for Steffen.
She said she's been visiting the holy sanctuary for the past 22 years, joined by a group of local military moms.
"What really started it was our sons. I'm [with] a group of Blue Star Moms that have sons and daughters in the military," Steffen said. "We've just done it every year to ask God to protect our kids."
Steffen added she often spends her time praying for her son, Howard.
He's currently stationed in Jerusalem.
"I got my dirt from the hole. I got the holy water," Steffen said. "They talk about God's country. This is the ultimate God's country, right here. It's just so peaceful."
Some people, like Nicole Guzman, started their trek a day before Good Friday, in order to beat the crowds.
"This is the first time in like the past three years that I have done it. I would normally do it every year," she said.
Guzman started around 11 a.m. in Truchas, an almost three-hour walking journey to Chimayó.
Like many, she embarks on the journey for a special reason.
From praying for good health to fulfilling religious promises.
"A lot of people pray. A lot of people meditate. We met a lady back there that was meditating on her way this way carrying the cross," Guzman said. "This year, I kind of just did it for my family. I have my stepmother's mom, that was really sick. And in the process, we found out that she had passed, so this was for her more than anything."
Despite her personal loss, Guzman continued to walk on.
Not just for her own family, but for others in need of prayer and guidance.
"I know a lot of us carry a lot of burdens, and this gives us time to meditate and to think about it. At the end of the day, God has us and he's going to push us the rest of the way," Guzman said.
The pilgrimage dates back hundreds of years.
El Sanctuario de Chimayó is one of the most-visited holy sites in the United States. The sanctuary sees the most visitors during Holy Week but is open year-round. | https://www.koat.com/article/pilgrimage-el-sanctuario-de-chimayo-tradition/39735841 | 2022-04-15T18:11:13 | 1 | https://www.koat.com/article/pilgrimage-el-sanctuario-de-chimayo-tradition/39735841 |
LA political donor gets 30 years in prison for fetish deaths
Even after two men were found dead in his California apartment, Ed Buck did not stop injecting gay men with walloping doses of methamphetamine.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced him to 30 years in prison in the deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean. Another man, Dane Brown, was repeatedly injected by Buck but survived and his harrowing account of being revived twice finally led to Buck's arrest in 2019.
Buck, 67, a big dollar donor to Democratic, LGBTQ and animal rights causes, appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for providing fatal doses of drugs, operating a drug den and enticing men to travel for prostitution. He was convicted last summer.
Judge Christina A. Snyder said the sentencing decision was difficult because she had to balance the good Buck did in his life with the "horrific crimes" that she called "more than just an accident."
Prosecutors asked for a life sentence, saying that they couldn't take the risk that Buck might be released and that he has shown he is capable of re-offending.
But Buck's defense attorneys sought a decade behind bars — below the federal sentencing guidelines — saying he was sexually abused as a child and health problems led to his drug addiction.
Federal prosecutors said Buck's unrelenting fervor to satisfy a fetish by preying on vulnerable men, often young and Black, is reason enough to keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. Buck's attorneys said any sentence of more than 25 years would essentially mean a life sentence because he is 67.
Buck told the judge on Thursday that he had loved the men and said he wished he could have turned back time but insisted he was not responsible.
"Their deaths were tragic but I did not cause their deaths," Buck said.
"Buck used his money and privilege to exploit the wealth and power imbalances between himself and his victims, who were unhoused, destitute, and/or struggling with addiction," Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Norell said in a court filing. "He spent thousands of dollars on drugs and party and play sessions that destroyed lives and bred insidious addictions."
Norell objected to the 30-year sentence, saying anything below 40 years in prison did not account for the severity of Buck's crimes.
Defense lawyers asked the judge to be more lenient because Buck was sexually abused as a child and developed his drug addiction as the result of a medical condition.
Attorneys Mark Werksman and Elizabeth Little said the judge should go below the 25-year sentence recommended by probation officials that would allow rehabilitation and treatment and "would be much preferable to relegating him to death in prison."
Probation officials also recommended a $1 million fine, though prosecutors said it should be $400,000 to leave money for lawsuits filed by the families of his survivors.
Buck, a wealthy white man who worked as a male model and then made a small fortune selling an Arizona company he rescued from bankruptcy, helped lead a 1987 campaign to recall Republican Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham, who was ultimately convicted in an impeachment trial and kicked out of office.
Buck retired at 32 to the city of West Hollywood, known for its large LGBTQ community, where he lived in a rent-controlled apartment and donated over $500,000 to mostly Democratic causes since 2000.
His troubles began when Gemmel Moore was found dead in his apartment on July 27, 2017. Buck had flown Moore from Texas that morning for drug use and he was dead by sunset.
Moore's mother, LaTisha Nixon, said in a letter to the court that she hoped Buck would get the maximum term for ruining her life and the hurt it has caused her family. Nixon, a certified nursing assistant, said she could not comfort her son the way she has for countless dying people.
"All I can think about is how my son died naked on a mattress with no love around him," Nixon said. "No one to hold his hand or tell him good things."
Community members and activists rallied outside Buck's apartment, calling for his arrest, but he remained free. Family members and Jasmyne Cannick, a political strategist, complained that Buck escaped prosecution because of wealth, political ties and race.
While he was under investigation in Moore's death, Buck continued to pay men so he could inject them. He texted one man, Timothy Dean, to express his annoyance over the investigation.
About 18 months after Moore's death, deputies were called to Buck's apartment on Jan. 7, 2019, to investigate Dean's death.
Even after Dean's death, Buck was not arrested.
"Buck's lack of remorse is aptly captured in one image: As he was hiding out in a hotel, evading arrest for Gemmel Moore's death, he was injecting Dane Brown, another young Black man, with back-to-back slams of methamphetamine," Norell said.
Brown was homeless and later moved into Buck's apartment, where he was injected with meth most days and often several times a day.
He was hospitalized Sept. 4, 2019, after Buck shot him up three times with back-to-back doses. He had five times the meth in his system that Moore and Dean had when they died, prosecutors said.
Brown returned less than a week later and felt himself overdosing after Buck injected him three times with meth. Like other victims who testified against Buck at trial last summer, Brown was nearly immobilized. He said Buck wouldn't help him.
"Brown sat on the couch, resigned to the same fate as Moore and Dean, when he heard his deceased mother cry out to him, 'Get up, Dane,'" Norell said.
Brown managed to get out of the apartment and made it to a nearby gas station, where he called for help and was taken to a hospital. | https://www.koat.com/article/political-donor-gets-30-years-in-prison-for-deaths/39729353 | 2022-04-15T18:11:23 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/political-donor-gets-30-years-in-prison-for-deaths/39729353 |
Noisy Water Winery helps raise money for people impacted by McBride Fire
In Albuquerque, people are coming together to show their support for people impacted by the McBride Fire.
Noisy water winery is rooted in Ruidoso, the McBride Fire has left several of the people who work there without a home.
Noisy water is raising money and accepting donations to help them out.
The Programs Director at Noisy Water Winery said “Everyone's in shock for sure and unfortunately there are families that have lost their homes and have very young children so it's heartbreaking to think about what that means for the children. That stability is gone.”
The McBride Fire has already swept through more than 5,000 thousand acres of the Lincoln National Forest.
Noisy Water Winery is based in Ruidoso and immediately saw the force of the fire.
“Unfortunately, that's the game of fire you really don't have time to prepare. Our first priority was to make sure our employees could get home and get to their families,” said Condon.
Since Wednesday, the winery's Albuquerque location has been collecting money and donations for those families.
Condon said, “We've seen a lot of people that I think might not have come had it not been to give donations. So we have felt the love from Albuquerque and hope we can get just a little bit more to help those families.”
The winery will also be giving tasting cards to people who make a donation.
“Whatever you can provide, everyone is in a different spot. Monetary donations are incredible because that gives families the opportunity to buy whatever they need,” Condon said.
She says making sure people are taken care of is a priority, saying it's “important to know this is going to be a problem for months if not years, to come to figure out the impact that it's going to be for these families.”
Donations can be dropped off at Noisy Water Old Town location at 301 Romero St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104. | https://www.koat.com/article/ruidoso-winery-helps-mcbride-fire-victims/39729776 | 2022-04-15T18:11:33 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/ruidoso-winery-helps-mcbride-fire-victims/39729776 |
Russia loses warship, says attacks on Kyiv will increase
Russia's Defense Ministry promised Friday to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow's stinging symbolic loss of its navy's flagship in the Black Sea.
The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes on Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.
"The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
A renewed bombardment could return Kyiv's residents to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of Russia's invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations. The capital has displayed tentative signs of pre-war life after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes.
Russia previously accused Ukraine of shelling or attacking its border regions. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.
However, Ukrainian officials insist their forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles. If true, the reported Wednesday attack on the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, named for the Russian capital, would represent an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.
The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet sank while being towed to port Thursday after suffering heavy damage under circumstances that remained in dispute. Moscow acknowledged a fire on board but not any attack. U.S. and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze.
The Moskva had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles. If Ukrainian forces took out the vessel, it was likely the largest warship to be sunk in combat since the Falklands War. A British submarine torpedoed an Argentine navy cruiser called the ARA General Belgrano during the 1982 conflict, killing over 300 sailors.
The sinking of the Russian warship reduces Russia's firepower in the Black Sea, although military analysts disagreed on the event's significance to the course of the war. Either way, the loss was viewed as emblematic of Moscow's fortunes in a seven-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.
"A 'flagship' Russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted Friday in a likely apocryphal boast.
Related video: Battles destroy historic city center of Mariupol
In his nightly address Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians they should be proud of having survived 50 days under Russian attack when the invaders "gave us a maximum of five."
Russia's warning of renewed airstrikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring day as the weekend approached. More people than usual were out on the streets Friday, walking their dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand.
In one central park, a small group of young people, one draped in a Ukrainian flag, danced to the music of a portable speaker.
News about the Moskva overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, which Moscow's forces have blockaded since the early days of the invasion. Dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders have held out against a siege that has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians.
Mariupol's mayor said this week that more than 10,000 civilians had died and the death toll could surpass 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials have said they expect to find evidence of atrocities against civilians like the ones discovered in Bucha and other towns outside Kyiv.
The Mariupol City Council said Friday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies that were buried in residential courtyards and not allowing new burials "of people killed by them."
"Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown," the council said on the Telegram messaging app.
Mariupol's capture would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland and the target of the looming offensive.
Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Russia has recognized the independence of two rebel-held areas of the region.
Although it's not certain when Russia will launch the full-scale campaign, a regional Ukrainian official said Friday that seven people died and 27 were injured after Russian forces opened fire on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya, near the northeastern city of Kharkiv. The claim could not be independently verified.
Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor’s office, told Ukraine’s Suspilne news website, that Ukrainian authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected "violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder."
A large explosion also struck the eastern city of Kramatorsk, where a missile strike on a train station a week earlier killed more than 50 people as thousands heeding warnings to evacuate the Donbas area waited to leave.
Associated Press journalists in Kramatorsk heard the sound of a rocket or missile and then the blast, followed by sirens wailing Friday. It was not immediately clear what was hit or whether there were casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that Russian strikes in the Kharkiv region "liquidated a squad of mercenaries from a Polish private military company" of up to 30 people and "liberated" an iron and steel factor in Mariupol. The claims could not be independently verified.
On Thursday, the Defense Ministry explained the damage to Russia's Black Sea flagship by a fire had caused ammunition on board to detonate. Apart from the cruise missiles, the Moskva also carried air-defense missiles and other guns.
The ministry did not say what might have caused the blaze but reported that the crew, which usually numbers about 500, abandoned the vessel. It wasn't clear if there were any casualties.
Maksym Marchenko, governor of Ukraine's Black Sea region of Odesa, said Ukrainian forces struck the Moskva with two Neptune missiles and caused "serious damage." The Neptune is an anti-ship missile recently developed by Ukraine based on an earlier Soviet design.
According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the missile system can hit targets up to 175 miles away. That would have put the Moskva within range, based on where the ship was when the fire began.
Other Russian ships in the northern Black Sea moved farther south after the Moskva incident, a senior U.S. defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal military assessments.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and has suffered thousands of military casualties. The conflict has killed untold numbers of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions more to flee.
It has also further inflated prices at grocery stores and gasoline pumps, while dragging on the global economy. The head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the war helped push the organization to downgrade economic forecasts for 143 countries.
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Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report. | https://www.koat.com/article/russia-loses-warship/39735892 | 2022-04-15T18:11:43 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/russia-loses-warship/39735892 |
First inmate facing execution in South Carolina since 2011 picks firing squad over electric chair
A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday.
Richard Bernard Moore, 57, is also the first state prisoner to face the choice of execution methods after a law went into effect last year making electrocution the default and giving inmates the option to face three prison workers with rifles instead.
Moore has spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted of the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk James Mahoney in Spartanburg. If executed as scheduled on April 29, he would be the first person put to death in the state since 2011.
The new law was prompted by the decadelong break, which corrections officials attribute to an inability to procure the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections.
In a written statement, Moore said he didn’t concede that either method was legal or constitutional, but that he more strongly opposed death by electrocution and only chose the firing squad because he was required to make a choice.
"I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election," Moore said in the statement.
Moore's attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to delay his death while another court determines if either available method is cruel and unusual punishment. The attorneys argue prisons officials aren’t trying hard enough to get the lethal injection drugs, instead of forcing prisoners to choose between two more barbaric methods.
His lawyers are also asking the state Supreme Court to delay the execution so the U.S. Supreme Court can review whether Moore’s death sentence was a disproportionate punishment compared with similar crimes. The state justices denied a similar appeal last week.
The state corrections agency said last month that it finished developing protocols for firing squad executions and completed $53,600 in renovations on the death chamber in Columbia, installing a metal chair with restraints that face a wall with a rectangular opening 15 feet away. In the case of a firing squad execution, three volunteer prison workers will train their rifles on the condemned prisoner's heart.
South Carolina is one of eight states to still use the electric chair and one of four to allow a firing squad, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
Moore is one of 35 men on South Carolina's death row. The state last scheduled an execution for Moore in 2020, which was then delayed after prison officials said they couldn’t obtain lethal injection drugs.
During Moore's 2001 trial, prosecutors said Moore entered the store looking for money to support his cocaine habit and got into a dispute with Mahoney, who drew a pistol that Moore wrestled away from him.
Mahoney pulled a second gun, and a gunfight ensued. Mahoney shot Moore in the arm, and Moore shot Mahoney in the chest. Prosecutors said Moore left a trail of blood through the store as he looked for cash, stepping twice over Mahoney.
At the time, Moore claimed that he acted in self-defense after Mahoney drew the first gun.
Moore's supporters have argued that his crime doesn't rise to the level of a death penalty offense. His appeals lawyers have said that because Moore didn't bring a gun into store, he couldn't have intended to kill someone when he walked in.
The last person executed in South Carolina was Jeffrey Motts, who was on death row for strangling a cellmate while serving a life sentence for another murder.
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Liu is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. | https://www.koat.com/article/south-carolina-inmate-richard-moore-firing-squad-execution/39736891 | 2022-04-15T18:11:54 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/south-carolina-inmate-richard-moore-firing-squad-execution/39736891 |
Vets say they are going to have to drive hours to get health care
Four of NM's 15 VA clinics are on chopping block
Four of NM's 15 VA clinics are on chopping block
Four of NM's 15 VA clinics are on chopping block
There are more than 140,000 veterans living in our state and nearly half of them rely on the government for health care.
But a new report is calling for the federal government to close four of the state’s 15 clinics forcing some to travel hours to get health care.
"It's not like the government's taken away the benefit, but it's the same thing is if it's not accessible, it's like losing it,” Marine Corps veteran Paul Caputo said. “You put these people in a car and tell them to go travel four or five or six hours just to get medical care. You're going to kill them. A lot of these people are sick with they can't do the distance or do the travel well."
Veterans who are honorably discharged are entitled to free health care for life and this is offered at VA clinics. For the past few years, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs has been conducting a study in an attempt to modernize health care.
That study called for clinics in Farmington, Gallup, Raton and Las Vegas to close and for the clinic in Rio Rancho to relocate and expand somewhere in Albuquerque.
“You go there for major medical stuff,” Caputo said. “If you get a bad heart or your lungs or addictions or major medical problems.”
The recommendation says with the exception of Rio Rancho the number of vets using these clinics have declined in the past five years. There are about 69,000 vets that use the VA health system and the report says the majority of them would still be within a 60-minute drive of health care.
New Mexico's congressional delegation is trying to fight back
Last week Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-New Mexico, gave an address on the house floor calling for the VA not to close the clinics. All of the clinics are in Northern New Mexico — her district.
"This is not right,” Leger Fernandez said. “We know that New Mexico does not have sufficient health care providers in our rural areas. We cannot expect that when you close a VA clinic, there is going to be available care in the community.”
Democrat Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, also sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling for his administration not to close the clinics.
The recommendation will go before a senate committee and will ultimately land on President Joe Biden's desk. Leger Fernandez says she plans to visit four of the clinics in the next two weeks. Sen. Heinrich's office says he plans to go to one of the clinics as well. In a statement, he said in part, “closing down community-based outpatient clinics that New Mexico veterans rely on is not an option – and it will not happen without a fight.”
Caputo was in the Marine Corps for four years. There is a clinic not far from his home.
His son who was injured in combat is still in the Corp and his grandson just started serving our country. He says he is worried about what is going to be left for future generations who make the decision to serve.
"We get up and go fight a war just because that's what they tell us we need,” Caputo said. “And at the same time, when we come home, where are they?” | https://www.koat.com/article/vets-say-they-are-going-to-have-to-drive-hours-to-get-health-care/39736323 | 2022-04-15T18:12:04 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/vets-say-they-are-going-to-have-to-drive-hours-to-get-health-care/39736323 |
The White House is hoping to stir up some "egg-citement" when the Easter Egg Roll returns on Monday after a two-year, coronavirus-induced hiatus.Related video above from 2021: White House celebrates Easter virtuallyPresident Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden expect to welcome some 30,000 kids and their adult chaperones for the egg roll, an egg hunt and other activities.The first lady, who is a teacher, is calling it the "Egg-ucation Roll," aides said, and is turning the South Lawn into a school community with a variety of educational stations.It's the first Easter Egg Roll to be hosted by the Bidens, who are expected to address the crowd and join in some of the activities, although rain was in Monday's weather forecast.The COVID-19 pandemic led the White House to cancel the event in 2020 and 2021.Besides the egg roll and hunt, the all-day event will include a schoolhouse activity area, a reading nook, a talent show, a place to teach children how farmers supply food, a photo-taking station, a physical "egg-ucation" zone with an obstacle course and other exercise stations, and a "cafetorium" where children and their families will learn to make and eat treats.The "egg-stravaganza" will get a celebrity splash through the participation of "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon, singer Ciara and actor-singer Kristin Chenoweth.More than two dozen costumed characters will roam the grounds, including Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, the Racing Presidents mascots for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball, Rosita and Cookie Monster from "Sesame Street" and Snoopy and Charlie Brown, among others.Military families will be among the 30,000 participants, including crew members of the USS Delaware and their families. The first lady serves as sponsor of the nuclear attack submarine, which the president commissioned during a ceremony this month in Wilmington, Delaware.Members of the general public received their tickets through an online lottery.The egg roll will be the largest event to date at the Biden White House and will unfold in five waves beginning at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 6:30 p.m.Resumption of this Easter tradition is a sign that the White House is opening up again, despite a recent spurt of COVID-19 cases among members of the Cabinet, the White House staff, Vice President Kamala Harris' husband and members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Some of those cases stemmed from the return this month of the Gridiron Club's spring dinner.Self-guided, public tours of the executive mansion are set to resume on Friday in a limited fashion, after they also were halted in 2020 because of the pandemic.The White House Easter Egg Roll dates to 1878.
The White House is hoping to stir up some "egg-citement" when the Easter Egg Roll returns on Monday after a two-year, coronavirus-induced hiatus.
Related video above from 2021: White House celebrates Easter virtually
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden expect to welcome some 30,000 kids and their adult chaperones for the egg roll, an egg hunt and other activities.
The first lady, who is a teacher, is calling it the "Egg-ucation Roll," aides said, and is turning the South Lawn into a school community with a variety of educational stations.
It's the first Easter Egg Roll to be hosted by the Bidens, who are expected to address the crowd and join in some of the activities, although rain was in Monday's weather forecast.
The COVID-19 pandemic led the White House to cancel the event in 2020 and 2021.
Besides the egg roll and hunt, the all-day event will include a schoolhouse activity area, a reading nook, a talent show, a place to teach children how farmers supply food, a photo-taking station, a physical "egg-ucation" zone with an obstacle course and other exercise stations, and a "cafetorium" where children and their families will learn to make and eat treats.
Evan Vucci / AP File Photo
President Joe Biden appears with first lady Jill Biden and the Easter Bunny on the Blue Room balcony at the White House April 5, 2021, in Washington.
The "egg-stravaganza" will get a celebrity splash through the participation of "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon, singer Ciara and actor-singer Kristin Chenoweth.
More than two dozen costumed characters will roam the grounds, including Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, the Racing Presidents mascots for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball, Rosita and Cookie Monster from "Sesame Street" and Snoopy and Charlie Brown, among others.
Military families will be among the 30,000 participants, including crew members of the USS Delaware and their families. The first lady serves as sponsor of the nuclear attack submarine, which the president commissioned during a ceremony this month in Wilmington, Delaware.
Members of the general public received their tickets through an online lottery.
The egg roll will be the largest event to date at the Biden White House and will unfold in five waves beginning at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 6:30 p.m.
Resumption of this Easter tradition is a sign that the White House is opening up again, despite a recent spurt of COVID-19 cases among members of the Cabinet, the White House staff, Vice President Kamala Harris' husband and members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Some of those cases stemmed from the return this month of the Gridiron Club's spring dinner.
Self-guided, public tours of the executive mansion are set to resume on Friday in a limited fashion, after they also were halted in 2020 because of the pandemic.
The White House Easter Egg Roll dates to 1878. | https://www.koat.com/article/white-house-easter-egg-roll-returns-2022/39737152 | 2022-04-15T18:12:14 | 0 | https://www.koat.com/article/white-house-easter-egg-roll-returns-2022/39737152 |
6-year-old in critical condition after being thrown by tornado, dangling from tree
Family of four, including baby, hospitalized; pregnant mother suffered miscarriage
SALADO, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) - An entire Central Texas family is in the hospital with critical injuries after an EF-3 tornado destroyed their mobile home Tuesday and flung them hundreds of feet away.
The most critically injured is Miriam Rios, 6, a girl found unconscious and dangling upside-down from a tree where the wind had tossed her hundreds of yards from her house. Her pregnant mother, Vanessa Rios, suffered a miscarriage.
The Rios family – including the mom, dad and their two children – were in their mobile home Tuesday night when the tornado warnings came in. The children’s uncle, Stephen Perez, said the family first tried to drive off, but when hail began to fall, they retreated back to their mobile home.
The situation quickly worsened. The tornado with peak winds of 165 mph tore the family’s home to shreds and flung each member of the family in a different direction.
Father Joel Rios was thrown to one side, and the mother landed on the other side. The couple’s 1-year-old, Ezra, landed somewhere in the fields nearby. Six-year-old Miriam was flung into a tree.
“(Their mom) remembers waking up, rolling over on her side, and seeing her daughter in a tree and she can’t get up or do anything. She just rolled over and cried,” Perez said.
After the entire family was rushed to the hospital, they learned the mother had miscarried.
Since then, Perez said members of the family have been in and out of various surgeries meant to repair broken pelvic bones and address spinal cord injuries.
Perez said baby Ezra miraculously suffered the mildest injuries and should be released from the hospital soon.
While the family is grateful for the baby’s health, they are still in awe of just how much they’ve lost. Miriam, a first grader, was set to celebrate her seventh birthday on Saturday.
The Rios family also lost their house and everything in it.
“It’s just the foundation that’s left. There’s absolutely nothing,” Perez said. “And (my sister) was really proud about that home.”
Community members have begun various efforts to help the family with medical bills and with their needs once they are released from the hospital. Perez has created a GoFundMe page to help his family rebuild.
In total, 23 people were injured and 12 hospitalized after the storm, according to Bell County Judge David Blackburn.
Copyright 2022 KWTX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/6-year-old-critical-condition-after-being-thrown-by-tornado-dangling-tree/ | 2022-04-15T18:12:33 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/6-year-old-critical-condition-after-being-thrown-by-tornado-dangling-tree/ |
Alex Jones to recoup $75,000 in fines in Sandy Hook lawsuit
Published: Apr. 15, 2022 at 12:53 PM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be getting back the $75,000 in fines he paid to a Connecticut court for missing a deposition last month in a lawsuit over his assertions that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
A Connecticut judge on Thursday ordered the return of the money because Jones eventually appeared at a deposition in Bridgeport last week.
The escalating fines had been aimed at making sure Jones did appear for questioning.
Jones is being sued for defamation by relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, massacre.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/alex-jones-recoup-75000-fines-sandy-hook-lawsuit/ | 2022-04-15T18:12:39 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/alex-jones-recoup-75000-fines-sandy-hook-lawsuit/ |
Grand Blanc HS announces new head football coach
GRAND BLANC, Mich. (WNEM) - Grand Blanc High School announced Kaleb Forr will be its next head football coach.
Forr is a 2014 graduate from Saginaw Valley State University where he was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter at center.
Forr served as the Head Strength Coach for Holland Christian High School in Holland as well as Southwest Florida Christian Academy in Fort Myers, Florida.
During the 2021 season, Forr was the Assistant Head Football Coach/Offensive Coordinator at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School in Alabama where he worked with six Division 1 collegiate signees.
Before working at Montgomery Catholic, Forr led the Hornets to the school’s first district championship in the school’s history. During his final two seasons at Kearsley, Forr led the team to four playoff victories and compiled a 14-7 record.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/grand-blanc-hs-announces-new-head-football-coach/ | 2022-04-15T18:12:46 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/grand-blanc-hs-announces-new-head-football-coach/ |
Michigan State University dropping mask mandate, still requiring vaccines
EAST LANSING, Mich. (WNEM) - Michigan State University students will soon no longer have to wear masks.
In a letter to students, MSU President Samuel Stanley Jr. said the university will no longer require students, faculty and staff to wear masks in the classroom and in research labs.
However, Stanley said there may still be unique situations where masks may be required, such as in campus health care facilities, or due to state or federal regulations or contract requirements.
“Even as much of society returns to a more normal environment, we must remember the significant impact that COVID-19 has had, and is still having, on many members of our community,” Stanley said. “Now, more than ever, is a time for civility, empathy, and respect.”
The change will take effect starting with the beginning of the summer sessions on May 16. While the college is dropping the mask mandate, it is still keeping its vaccine mandate.
All students, faculty, and staff will still be required to be vaccinated and boosted for the 2022-2023 academic year, or have received an approved exemption.
“Many in our community will continue to take preventive measures, such as masking, to protect themselves and their loved ones,” Stanley said. “Members of the MSU community need to respect others’ personal health decisions, which should not be the basis for assumptions about those individuals’ personal views or vaccination status.”
According to Stanley, 94 percent of students, staff and faculty are vaccinated, and 86 percent are boosted.
Students who do not submit their vaccine information will not be able to enroll in the school for the 2022-2023 school year.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/michigan-state-university-dropping-mask-mandate-still-requiring-vaccines/ | 2022-04-15T18:12:52 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/michigan-state-university-dropping-mask-mandate-still-requiring-vaccines/ |
Sen. Feinstein pushes back against reports of health concerns
(CNN) - “I’d put my record up against anyone’s” is what Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had to say after recent reports that other lawmakers are worried about her health, especially after losing her husband to cancer in February.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported four unnamed senators, three former Feinstein aides and a California Democratic member of Congress said her mental health has gotten worse recently, and they’re worried about her memory and ability to lead.
But Feinstein defended herself, calling the newspaper Thursday to say she’s committed to her work, meets regularly with leaders and puts in the hours.
She explained that the whole thing is puzzling to her.
Feinstein has faced questions about her ability to serve for a few years now and lost her post as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee after her Democratic colleagues privately complained about her performance during the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/sen-feinstein-pushes-back-against-health-concerns/ | 2022-04-15T18:12:59 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/sen-feinstein-pushes-back-against-health-concerns/ |
Shaquille O’Neal will pay funeral expenses for 3-year-old killed by stray bullet, family says
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - Hall-of-fame basketball player Shaquille O’Neal is going to pay for the funeral expenses for a 3-year-old Louisiana boy who was killed by a stray bullet while in bed on Wednesday.
Baton Rouge police said Devin Page Jr. was sleeping inside a home in Baton Rouge.when the bullet hit him.
Family members confirmed to WAFB that O’Neal, a collegiate star at LSU, would take care of the costs.
Devin had just started preschool and loved playing with his siblings, his family said.
“Until it happens to you, until the gun is shot at your house, you know, until the bullets come through your window, you don’t get involved. You have nothing to say,” his grandmother, Cathy Toliver, said. “But you don’t want this feeling that we have right now. You don’t want the feeling of knowing that you’ll never see your grandbaby or your son again. You don’t want that feeling.”
Family members said they tried leaving the home after hearing gunshots nearby several nights in a row, but the mother was told she would have to pay thousands of dollars to move.
“I try to stick it out. Now that I stick it out, this is the outcome of what happened. My son got killed,” Devin’s mother Tye Toliver said.
Police have not announced any arrests, and investigators are continuing to work on the case.
Copyright 2022 WAFB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/shaquille-oneal-will-pay-funeral-expenses-3-year-old-killed-by-stray-bullet-family-says/ | 2022-04-15T18:13:06 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/shaquille-oneal-will-pay-funeral-expenses-3-year-old-killed-by-stray-bullet-family-says/ |
States scale back food stamp benefits even as prices soar
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Month by month, more of the roughly 40 million Americans who get help buying groceries through the federal food stamp program are seeing their benefits plunge even as the nation struggles with the biggest increase in food costs in decades.
The payments to low-income individuals and families are dropping as governors end COVID-19 disaster declarations and opt out of an ongoing federal program that made their states eligible for dramatic increases in SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture began offering the increased benefit in April 2020 in response to surging unemployment after the COVID-19 pandemic swept over the country.
The result is that depending on the politics of a state, individuals and families in need find themselves eligible for significantly different levels of help buying food.
Nebraska took the most aggressive action anywhere in the country, ending the emergency benefits four months into the pandemic in July 2020 in a move Republican Gov. Pete Rickett said was necessary to “show the rest of the country how to get back to normal.”
Since then, nearly a dozen states with Republican leadership have taken similar action, with Iowa this month being the most recent place to slash the benefits. Benefits also will be cut in Wyoming and Kentucky in the next month. Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Tennessee have also scaled back the benefits.
Republican leaders argue that the extra benefits were intended to only temporarily help people forced out of work by the pandemic. Now that the virus has eased, they maintain, there is no longer a need to offer the higher payments at a time when businesses in most states are struggling to find enough workers.
But the extra benefits also help out families in need at a time of skyrocketing prices for food. Recipients receive at least $95 per month under the program, but some individuals and families typically eligible for only small benefits can get hundreds of dollars in extra payments each month.
The entire program would come to a halt if the federal government decides to end its public health emergency, though the Biden administration so far hasn’t signaled an intention to do so.
For Tara Kramer, 45, of Des Moines, the decision by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to end the emergency payments starting April 1 meant her monthly SNAP benefit plunged from $250 in March to $20 in April. Kramer, who has a genetic disorder that can cause intense pain, said the extra money enabled her to buy healthier food that made her feel better and help her to live a more active life.
“My heart sank,” Kramer said. “All the memories from before the emergency allotment came rushing back.”
Alex Murphy, a spokesman for Reynolds, noted the extra benefits were always intended to help people who lost jobs because of the pandemic and said, “we have to return to pre-pandemic life.” Murphy pointed out that Iowa has over 86,000 job openings listed on a state unemployment website.
But Kramer said she’s not able to work and that even getting out of her apartment can be a struggle at times.
Vince Hall, who oversees public policy for the nationwide food bank network Feeding America, said ending the extra benefits ignores the reality that even as the pandemic wanes there hasn’t been a decline in demand at food banks.
Wages have been increasing in the United States, and the national unemployment rate in March dropped to 3.6%,. But those gains have been offset by an 8.5% increase in inflation compared to a year ago. Food is among items rising the fastest, leaving many families unable to buy enough groceries.
“The COVID pandemic is giving way to a hunger pandemic,” Hall said. “We’re in a real, real struggle.”
Feeding America, which represents 200 food banks, reports that demand for food has increased just as these organizations are seeing individual donations dwindle and food costs rise. The organization estimates the nation’s food banks will spend 40% more to buy food in the fiscal year ending June 2022 as in the previous year.
For people like Annie Ballan, 51, of Omaha, Nebraska, the decision by Ricketts to stop participating in the program reduced the SNAP payments she and her son receive from nearly $500 a month to $41. Both have health problems and can’t work.
“From the middle of the month to the end of the month, people have no food,” Ballan said, her voice rising in anger. “This is all the governor’s fault. He says he loves Nebraskans, that Nebraskans are wonderful, but he’s cut off our food.”
The demand on food banks will only grow as more states reduce their SNAP payments, which typically provide nine meals for every one meal offered by food banks, Hall said.
Valerie Andrews, 59, of St. Charles, Missouri, said the SNAP benefits that she and her husband rely on fell from $430 a month to $219 when Missouri ended the extra payments in August 2021. Andrews, who is disabled, said she tries to budget carefully and gets food regularly from a food pantry but it’s difficult.
“We’re barely making it from paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “It gets pretty rough most of the time.”
Officials at food banks and pantries said they will do their best to meet increased demand, but there is no way they can fully offset the drop in SNAP benefits.
Matt Unger, director of the Des Moines Area Religious Council network of food pantries in Iowa’s capital city, noted the pantry’s cost for a 5-ounce can of chicken as jumped from 54 cents in March 2019 to a current price of $1.05.
“Costs are just going through the roof,” he said.
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AP writer Grant Schulte contributed to this story from Omaha, Nebraska.
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Follow Scott McFetridge on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcfetridge
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/states-scale-back-food-stamp-benefits-even-prices-soar/ | 2022-04-15T18:13:12 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/states-scale-back-food-stamp-benefits-even-prices-soar/ |
Stuffed animal containing father’s ashes returned to daughter after donation mix-up
AGAWAM, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM/Gray News) – A very special stuffed animal that was accidentally donated to Savers in Massachusetts was returned to its owner after a monthlong search.
Mary Kirk said the toy, an orange tabby cat from Build-A-Bear, contains her father’s ashes.
The cat was given to Kirk’s son by her father in 2001. When Kirk’s father died four years ago, the family decided to put some of his ashes in a plastic pouch and place it inside the stuffed animal so her son would always have a piece of his grandfather.
However, when the family was getting ready to move last month, Kirk’s husband accidentally donated the stuffed animal to Savers.
Unfortunately, the stuffed animal was no longer at the store when the family went to retrieve it.
After pleading with the public for weeks on social media and hanging signs up at the Savers store, the cat turned up on Kirk’s doorstep. The stuffed animal was shipped in a box, addressed to Kirk, but had no return address.
Kirk said the Build-A-Bear is “much dirtier” than when she last saw him, but she is deeply grateful for its return.
The family is now searching for the anonymous sender so they can properly thank them. Kirk is also offering a $350 reward plus a new stuffed cat.
Copyright 2022 WGGB/WSHM via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/stuffed-animal-containing-fathers-ashes-returned-daughter-after-donation-mix-up/ | 2022-04-15T18:13:19 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/stuffed-animal-containing-fathers-ashes-returned-daughter-after-donation-mix-up/ |
Trump adviser Miller grilled about Trump’s speech on Jan. 6
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers pressed Stephen Miller, a top aide to former President Donald Trump, during a daylong closed-door interview about Trump’s speech at a rally that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, according to two people familiar with Miller’s testimony.
Miller was questioned for roughly eight hours Thursday by the House committee investigating the riot, which occurred when large crowds of Trump supporters stormed the building in hopes of preventing Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Miller’s appearance grew contentious at times, particularly as he pushed back against claims that Trump’s speech contained incendiary, coded language that had spurred his supporters to act, according to two people familiar with the questioning. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the back-and-forth during the closed interview.
That language included Trump’s repeated use of the word “we” to address his supporters. At one point during the speech, Trump said: “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Miller rejected the significance of that language, the people said, arguing that personal rhetoric like that has been used in American politics going back to the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address.
Lawyers for Miller, who served as Trump’s domestic policy adviser and speechwriter, also asserted executive privilege multiple times during the session.
A committee spokesperson declined to comment Friday. The New York Times earlier reported on Miller’s testimony.
Miller is the latest in a series of sit-downs the committee has scored with those in Trump’s inner circle as lawmakers move closer to the former president by questioning people who were with him on the day of the attack or were his confidants in the weeks leading up to it.
In demanding his testimony last November, the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Miller was aware of and had participated in “efforts to spread false information about alleged voter fraud” and had encouraged state legislatures to alter the outcome of the 2020 election by appointing alternate electors.
Thompson has also said that Miller helped prepare Trump’s remarks at the Ellipse.
___
Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/trump-adviser-miller-grilled-about-trumps-speech-jan-6/ | 2022-04-15T18:13:26 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/trump-adviser-miller-grilled-about-trumps-speech-jan-6/ |
Twitter adopts ‘poison pill’ defense to thwart Elon Musk’s takeover bid
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Twitter said Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private.
Twitter said the move, formally called a “limited duration shareholder rights plan,” aims to enable its investors to “realize the full value of their investment” by reducing the likelihood that any one person can gain control of the company without either paying shareholders a premium or giving the board more time. Poison pills are often used to defend against hostile takeovers.
Twitter’s plan would take effect if Musk’s roughly 9% stake grows to 15% or more. Even then, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors. Twitter said the plan doesn’t prevent the board from engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal if it’s in the company’s “best interests.”
Twitter had revealed in a securities filing Thursday that Musk offered to buy the company outright for more than $43 billion, saying the social media platform “needs to be transformed as a private company” in order to build trust with its users.
“I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.”
Later on Thursday, during an onstage interview at the TED 2022 conference, he went even broader: “Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
Musk revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying Twitter shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31, ending up with a stake of about 9%. Only Vanguard Group controls more Twitter shares. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York federal court alleged that Musk illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices.
After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly offered him a seat on its board on the condition that he would limit his purchases to no more than 14.9% of the company’s outstanding stock. But the company said five days later that Musk had declined.
A poison pill path is a “predictable” defensive maneuver, although it could be seen as a “sign of weakness” and viewed unfavorably on Wall Street, Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said in an emailed note.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-defense-thwart-elon-musks-takeover-bid/ | 2022-04-15T18:13:34 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-defense-thwart-elon-musks-takeover-bid/ |
Ukraine war weighs on pope’s Good Friday Colosseum ritual
ROME (AP) — The war in Ukraine loomed over the traditional Good Friday Colosseum procession in Rome, after the Vatican’s choice of a Russian woman to be among the cross-bearers angered Ukrainians.
For the first time since before the pandemic, the solemn torchlit procession at the ancient arena in Rome was to resume on Friday night. Thousands of pilgrims and tourists flocked to the site hours earlier, in hope of catching a glimpse of Pope Francis, who presides over the service from an elevated point near the Roman Forum.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See and the archbishop of Kyiv denounced the Vatican’s plan to have a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman carry the cross together during the procession. They objected to projecting what they saw as the idea of reconciliation while Ukraine is ravaged by war unleashed by Russia.
The Vatican didn’t respond to the protests or announce any program changes.
While Francis has denounced the Feb. 24 invasion and attacks on Ukraine as a “sacrilege,’’ he has refrained from naming Russia as the aggressor, although his references to Russian Vladimir Putin have been clear. The pope is pressing for negotiations to cease the fighting and bring peace, and has offered to go to Ukraine if his presence could further the cause of peace.
But other faithful in the world applauded the decision to pair the two women, who work together at a Rome hospital and are friends, to carry the cross during part of the procession, which recalls Jesus’ suffering as he was being brought to his crucifixion and death.
In Paris, hundreds of Catholics gathered for Good Friday prayers on the forecourt of Notre Dame cathedral, and followed its rector on a procession around the island on the Seine River that houses the medieval landmark.
“Well, you know today the pope has a woman from Ukraine and a woman from Russia holding the cross together at one of the Stations of the Cross,” Jennifer Kilgore-Caradec told The AP at Notre Dame. She called that a “very moving and meaningful symbol.” She added: “I think that real people in the real world are concerned about peace. We want peace, we don’t want war,” which brings suffering and pain. That is “not the message of the Christ on the cross.”
The faithful were not allowed inside the Paris cathedral, since it is still under reconstruction after a 2019 blaze collapsed its spire and destroyed its roof. French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting the cathedral Friday to mark the third anniversary of the fire.
In St. Peter’s Basilica, hours ahead of the Colosseum event, Pope Francis, wearing red vestments to symbolize the blood of Jesus, limped up the central aisle to take his place for an early evening prayer service. Francis, 85, has been suffering from a knee ligament problem.
Usually at the Good Friday basilica service at the Vatican, the pontiff would prostrate himself in prayer. But this time Francis, hobbled by pain for weeks, didn’t do so.
Francis dispatched his official almsgiver, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, to Kyiv to lead a Good Friday procession in the capital city of war-ravaged Ukraine. Italian Rai state TV said Krajewski on Friday visited two of Ukraine’s hardest-hit locations, Bucha and Borodyanka, both in ruins. At one point, Krajewski prayed over some of the bodies and leaned over to touch one, partially covered, body.
Throughout his papacy, Francis has repeatedly denounced armaments accumulated by nations as unjustified. In an interview broadcast on Italian state TV on Friday, the pope elaborated on his view.
“I understand those governments that buy arms, I understand them. I do not justify them, but I understand them, because we have to defend ourselves,” Francis said. But, he added: “If there were a pattern of peace, this would not be necessary. But we live with this diabolical pattern of killing one another out of the desire for power, the desire for security, the desire for many things.”
Good Friday is one of the main days for Christians during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter, on Sunday.
In Jerusalem, where tens of thousands of faithful traditionally converge on the Israeli city’s Old City to visit sacred sites during Holy Week, Palestinians on Friday clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque. The site is sacred to Jews and Muslims. This year, Ramadan coincides with Passover, as well as Holy Week.
Medics in Jerusalem said that more than 150 Palestinians were injured, in the most serious violence at the site in nearly a year.
___
John Leicester and Oleg Cetinic contributed from Paris.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/ukraine-war-weighs-popes-good-friday-colosseum-ritual/ | 2022-04-15T18:13:41 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/15/ukraine-war-weighs-popes-good-friday-colosseum-ritual/ |
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Durham Rescue Mission held its annual Easter celebration Friday during a time when inflation has some families struggling more than usual.
"When stuff like this (is) happening and you don't have (any) money--I don't care; I'm going to go get it, because it's an Easter basket. (The children) are going to have a smile on their face," Monique Small said. She's a Durham mother who was first in line at the Durham Rescue Mission on Friday morning.
Small has been bringing her kids to the celebration for years and even though they couldn't come today she was not going to miss an opportunity to make her kids happy.
"I don't like to see my kids cry; I don't care how old they are. From babies to like the 21 years old, I don't like my kids to cry for (anything)," she said.
This year has been particularly hard for Small and many other families. With prices going up on everything, the same amount of money does not buy as many things these days.
"We use to spend $200 on groceries. Now we're spending like $400 on groceries. Because we've got five kids...it just takes a toll," said Small's partner Michael Davis.
Volunteers worked all night to prepare the food and the baskets for families in need.
CEO Rob Tart says this event is special every year but especially this year when inflation has some families making hard decisions.
"The price of everything has gone up, the price of fuel everything it's just like everyone else we've got to adjust and deal with it," said Tart.
Durham Rescue Mission holds annual Easter celebration
By Tamara Scott | https://abc11.com/easter-celebration-durham-rescue-mission-drm-homeless/11751856/ | 2022-04-15T18:15:14 | 0 | https://abc11.com/easter-celebration-durham-rescue-mission-drm-homeless/11751856/ |
Twitter said the move, formally called a "limited duration shareholder rights plan," aims to enable its investors to "realize the full value of their investment" by reducing the likelihood that any one person can gain control of the company without either paying shareholders a premium or giving the board more time. Poison pills are often used to defend against hostile takeovers.
VIDEO: Is Elon Musk the next Thomas Edison or PT Barnum?
Twitter's plan would take effect if Musk's roughly 9% stake grows to 15% or more. Even then, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors. Twitter said the plan doesn't prevent the board from engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal if it's in the company's "best interests."
The video in the media player above is from a previous report.
VIDEO: Elon Musk suggests turning SF headquarters into homeless shelter | https://abc11.com/elon-musk-twitter-poison-pill-tweets-defense/11751929/ | 2022-04-15T18:15:15 | 0 | https://abc11.com/elon-musk-twitter-poison-pill-tweets-defense/11751929/ |
Roger Williamson, the CEO and founder of Kent Mortgage Corporation, Roger Williamson, said in a Zoom interview with Eyewitness News that he expects this trend to continue.
"If we don't see an end to this inflationary period, we're gonna have it for a while. Inflation is a killer to interest rates. We're going to see higher rates. They're going to go into the fives. They're gonna possibly go as high as six, six-and-a-half, I expect in the sixes," Williamson said.
According to Freddie Mac, rates are increasing at the fastest pace since 1994. Just last week, they were at 4.72%.
Williamson said these hikes aren't having much of an effect on the buyers coming to his office.
"The reason, basically, is that the buyers today have really solid income, a good enough down payment, good enough credit and they are first-time buyers. The majority of our buyers are first-time buyers," he added.
This is a trend Williamson has seen for at least the last year- first-time home buyers eating inventory.
As demand continues with low supply, he expects the housing market to remain hot - at least in California - with mortgage loan rates not dropping any time soon.
"Four years from now, three years from now, the economic policies will change, the fed will succeed in bringing down inflation over time and we'll get back down under four again. Probably in three to four years, and that's the expectation that I have," Williamson said.
The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages also went up to 4.17% from 3.91% last week. | https://abc11.com/mortgage-rates-inflation-home-buyers-interest/11748913/ | 2022-04-15T18:15:15 | 1 | https://abc11.com/mortgage-rates-inflation-home-buyers-interest/11748913/ |
Fans aren’t pleased with the way Ellen treated Kim Kardashian on her latest visit for the final season of her show.
Ellen simply wanted to help Kim get over her fear of spiders, but Kim wasn’t open to any type of arachnid therapy.
Despite Ellen showing Kim that the spider wasn’t really Kim kindly left the stage saying, “I don’t care to get over my fear. I. don’t. care.” | https://www.kfrxfm.com/ellen-scares-kim-k-away-from-interview/ | 2022-04-15T18:16:54 | 0 | https://www.kfrxfm.com/ellen-scares-kim-k-away-from-interview/ |
If casting for another Wolverine film was up to Sandra Bullock she’d cash in all her chips to have Daniel Radcliffe play the role.
During an interview, she did alongside Radcliffe with It’s Gone Viral Sandra made the suggestion and wondered why Marvel wasn’t calling the former Harry Potter.
“Wolverine people can you please just f’n cast him?…Stop tiptoeing around and having people ask at press junkets. Just cast the man.”
Hugh Jackman ended his run as the popular mutant in 2017. | https://www.kfrxfm.com/sandra-bullock-wants-this-person-to-play-wolverine/ | 2022-04-15T18:17:14 | 0 | https://www.kfrxfm.com/sandra-bullock-wants-this-person-to-play-wolverine/ |
READING, Pa. | United Way in Berks County is making use of a multi-million dollar grant from a philanthropist.
The organization said in a release Friday it will use the $10 million received from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to help it tackle key community and systemic issues.
To date, $4.2 million of the MacKenzie Scott gift has been invested in community grant opportunities. Additional grants supporting workforce development, early learning and community building programs and initiatives are under development and will be announced later this year, the organization said.
United Way said it put the gift to work through three different grant opportunities to expand community impact work beyond the organization's annual program investments. COVID response-related grants supported immediate and increased essential needs brought on by the pandemic.
Earlier this year, United Way’s first Focused Grants were announced and centered on narrowing health inequities, with grants supporting programs delivered by Berks Counseling Center and the LGBT Center of Reading. Most recently, a workforce development Focused Grant was awarded to BCPS. The organization received $299,788 for the first year of a three-year funding plan, totaling more than $1.2 million. The grant will support Reentry Works (RW), a case-managed approach to delivering employment support services to marginalized populations of underemployed and unemployed individuals reentering the community from incarceration, and not currently eligible for other agency services.
The RW program draws on the strengths and successes of the agency’s county reentry program and creates employment plans for individuals. An evidence informed curriculum will be utilized and the program includes varied elements, including skill/education/experience assessment, financial literacy, employment preparedness, computer labs and employer recruitment.
“This grant is critical for BCPS to expand reentry workforce services designed to help clients become reliable and successful employees. BCPS will also work to serve the needs of employers willing to provide second chance employment opportunities. Reentry Works provides a triple win - - individuals become financially independent, open jobs are filled in our county and recidivism is reduced, which is good for the community,” said Tammy White, President of United Way of Berks County. | https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/berks/united-way-announces-focused-grants-for-reentry-services/article_2c7ae2e8-bcdd-11ec-aebf-03ede459efe7.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:18 | 1 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/berks/united-way-announces-focused-grants-for-reentry-services/article_2c7ae2e8-bcdd-11ec-aebf-03ede459efe7.html |
PHILADELPHIA – A former union representative has learned his sentence after pleading guilty to devising a scheme to defraud fellow union members out of rightfully earned overtime compensation at the Allentown Post Office.
Joseph Whitbeck, 56, of Tamaqua, was sentenced to two years in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
In November 2021, Whitbeck pleaded guilty to multiple charges of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud.
While serving as the Vice President for the Local 274 branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers in the Lehigh Valley area, Whitbeck operated a kickback scheme involving certain letter carriers at the Allentown Post Office, authorities said. As the Vice President, he filed numerous grievances on behalf of groups of letter carriers, claiming that U.S. Postal Service managers violated overtime rules, the Justice Department said.
Whitbeck then settled the class-action grievances for total lump sums, without designating the specific individuals to whom overtime grievance payments were owed, so that he could select the payees at a later time, according to the news release. Meanwhile, Whitbeck offered to secure extra overtime grievance payouts for some letter carriers who agreed to kick back a portion directly to him, generally in cash, according to the Department of Justice.
The Justice Department said the kickback scheme prevented non-participating letter carriers from receiving overtime grievance funds to which they were entitled. Whitbeck often made false and misleading statements to convince letter carriers to participate in his scheme; for example, he frequently told letter carriers that he would use the kick-backed funds to assist other letter carriers who were out of work, according to the Justice Department.
His covert kickback scheme lasted more than a decade and was uncovered only when a concerned letter carrier raised the issue at a union Executive Board meeting in March 2018. | https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/ex-union-representative-sentenced-for-operating-overtime-kickback-scheme-at-allentown-post-office/article_84e5a32c-bce3-11ec-b3f4-ffe67e7b5338.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:21 | 1 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/ex-union-representative-sentenced-for-operating-overtime-kickback-scheme-at-allentown-post-office/article_84e5a32c-bce3-11ec-b3f4-ffe67e7b5338.html |
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Shoppers were out Friday picking up last-minute items at the grocery store ahead of Easter.
But, frustration sets in as inflation on food continues to go up.
"Eggs are higher. So that's something that we're seeing in the Easter brunches," said Cindie Feldman, owner and executive chef of 29 Cooks Catering in Emmaus. "And then of course, you know, the pork situation."
She knows the situation all too well.
"It's not just our food, it's the packaging. It's the shipping. It's the product availability," Feldman said. "The manufacturers during COVID released a lot of product into the grocery stores and retail. So now there's a shortage."
People who are used to celebrating traditions are having to move away from what they're used to.
"It is very frustrating. The money's gone," said Wanda Ayala, who was grocery shopping at Redner's in Allentown Friday morning. "You get the money in one hand, and the other hand has to spend it."
Ayala says her Puerto Rican family is needing to change things up this year.
"We like to eat seafood on Sunday," she said. "But now I had to put back half of my groceries because I couldn't afford it."
Feldman says there are ways around the cost increases. She recommends getting out of your comfort zone with processed or prepared foods.
She says food can be exciting and fun without breaking the bank.
"Looking at new recipes, finding those cookbooks, maybe some different cooking applications and just being aware of what you can get and what is going to go up and down," she said.
But while prices soar, it's not stopping people from hitting the grocery store for the holiday this weekend.
"That's it, I have to feed myself and my family. That's how it is. That's life," Ayala said. | https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/rising-food-prices-put-a-damper-on-easter-meals/article_db000f24-bcd7-11ec-980e-5b8ec3f9b216.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:22 | 1 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/rising-food-prices-put-a-damper-on-easter-meals/article_db000f24-bcd7-11ec-980e-5b8ec3f9b216.html |
Car buyers in the Waukesha and surrounding areas can take advantage of easy car buying from the comfort of their homes
WAUKESHA, Wis., April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Busy car buyers take note – you can now go through the full purchasing process from the comfort of your own home. Boucher Nissan of Waukesha provides the Express Sales Process that can be completed in a unique fashion. The process is handled in seven easy steps. These steps are:
1. Shop online. Visit http://www.waukeshanissan.com and view the new and used inventory of vehicles.
2. Schedule and take a test drive. No need to go to the car – the car comes to you. If you prefer to go to the dealership, you can do that as well.
3. Value your trade-in. Schedule an at-home visit from a Sales Manager to secure the best possible price for your trade-in vehicle.
4. Apply for financing. This simple process takes place on the "request financing" page of the website. Once you're qualified, you can work on your final purchase decision.
5. Review your price and payment options. Sales Managers can meet in person, via video conference, text, phone, and email.
6. Review the options and protection available. The Boucher Finance and Insurance Manager will walk you through this quickly and efficiently.
7. Schedule delivery. The final step means you can have your new car delivered to your home.
For anyone that needs more time back in their day, the Express Sales Process can be of help. To learn more about the Express Sales Process or the Nissan lineup, prospective buyers can visit the Boucher Nissan of Waukesha dealership at 1451 E Moreland Blvd, Waukesha, WI 53186, United States. Or log on to the dealership's website at https://www.waukeshanissan.com/.
Media Contact
Gordie Boucher, Boucher Nissan Waukesha, 800-504-6619, gordie.boucher@boucher.com
SOURCE Boucher Nissan Waukesha | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_automotive/boucher-nissan-of-waukesha-is-now-providing-a-buy-from-home-experience/article_4d250310-af4a-556b-825c-e234af5e6767.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:22 | 1 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_automotive/boucher-nissan-of-waukesha-is-now-providing-a-buy-from-home-experience/article_4d250310-af4a-556b-825c-e234af5e6767.html |
TULSA, Okla., April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BLVK officially enters the cannabis market with BLVK Label and its unique collection of disposable cannabis vapes.
Teaming up with MJHI Distribution, a vertically-integrated network that specializes in seed-to-sale manufacturing and multi-state distribution, BLVK's legacy continues on, this time with a cannabis spin to its name, likeness, and attention-to-detail. Through this partnership, BLVK Label hits the ground running by immediately opening manufacturing and distribution to the state of Oklahoma, with further plans on expanding into California, Arizona, and South Dakota in the coming months.
BLVK dominates the market as one of the top 5 e-liquid manufacturers worldwide. Their branding, assortment of products, and powerful marketing have helped grow the brand not just in terms of worldwide accessibility, but with a cult-like following both on and off social media. Their goal is simple: to provide adult smokers with a pleasurable vaping experience in a variety of nicotine strengths. With a mission as simple and concise as their products, one can only hope the same for their new cannabis operation.
BLVK Label enters the market with six flavors featuring indica, hybrid, and sativa strains. Instead of calling out these strain classifications, however, the brand adopts the categories Balanced, Chill, and Hype, akin to the type of effects the user will experience. Cooks Ahoy!, for example, lies in the Balanced category, crossing the strain GMO Cookies with Biscotti. The psychoactive high delivers a one-two punch of physical relaxation mixed with cerebral euphoria, effectively giving users a balanced high from beginning to end.
Much like their e-liquid, BLVK Label stands apart from the rest when it comes to their flavor-making abilities. While it's not a new fad to add flavoring to distillate, BLVK Label goes above and beyond by adding complex flavor profiles to their products. Look at Cooks Ahoy again, you have dominant notes reminiscent of chocolate chip cookies that are finished with subtle notes of diesel and garlic, both of which are already present in the terpene makeup of the exotic strains used to create the flavor.
In addition to delivering premium flavors on the cannabis market, BLVK Label also advances the technological aspect of the industry with their use of forward-thinking disposable vape devices. Using ALD Vapor, an industry-standard in the hemp and Delta-8 markets, BLVK Label disposables are rechargeable, allowing users to enjoy their cannabis on their own time and not at the mercy of the device losing its charge. The device also boasts a proprietary ceramic coil, effectively retaining both vapor production and flavor to provide a virtually leak-free experience. Couple that with a half-gram of THC-rich, flavored distillate, and you've got yourself one amazing vaping experience.
With over five years of operation under their belt, a dedicated team that consistently pushes the company forward to new industries and ideas, and a knack for elevating the vaping experience regardless of the method, BLVK Label stands to follow in its parent company's footsteps by becoming the hottest cannabis brand to enter the space. We look forward to their continued success in whichever state they look to dominate.
Looking to try these new disposables for yourself? Explore BLVK Label's selection to discover flavors like Cooks Ahoy!, Hakuna Mimosa, Nana Split, Scoop'd, Suge Kush, and SunKissed.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blvk-officially-enters-the-cannabis-space-as-blvk-label-301526661.html
SOURCE BLVK Label | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/blvk-officially-enters-the-cannabis-space-as-blvk-label/article_eec301d1-189a-50be-92d9-f0111718341a.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:23 | 0 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/blvk-officially-enters-the-cannabis-space-as-blvk-label/article_eec301d1-189a-50be-92d9-f0111718341a.html |
MIDDLETOWN, Md., April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Heritage Financial, Inc. (the "Company") (OTCPK: CMHF), the holding company for Middletown Valley Bank (the "Bank") announced the appointment of Frankie Corsi, III to the Company and the Bank's Board of Directors.
Mr. Corsi is the president of Beachley Furniture Company, a furniture and millwork company in Hagerstown, Maryland. Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Ridgecrest Investments, a Frederick, Maryland based private investment firm. Mr. Corsi is a graduate of Mount St. Mary's University and became a licensed CPA in 1997 while employed at Linton Shafer Warfield & Garrett, P.A., a tax, accounting, and business consulting firm with offices in Frederick and Rockville, Maryland.
"We are very pleased to welcome Frankie to our Boards," said James G. Pierne, Chairman of the Board for both entities. "He is well-respected in the business community, and his financial and business expertise will be a tremendous asset to the Company."
Mr. Corsi also serves on the Executive Board of St. Mary's Catholic Church as a Corporator.
President and Chief Executive Officer Robert E. (BJ) Goetz, Jr. commented, "Frankie's experience leading a nationally established organization, in addition to his time spent in accounting and investment banking, brings added knowledge and diversity to our board room. He will be a great resource for the Company."
Community Heritage Financial, Inc. is the parent company of Middletown Valley Bank and its subsidiary, Millennium Financial Group, Inc (Mlend). Middletown Valley Bank is a full-service commercial and retail bank with locations in the Maryland counties of Frederick, Garrett, and Washington, and in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit https://www.mvbbank.com/.
Mlend is a full-service mortgage lender with offices in Middletown, Crofton, and Oakland, Maryland. For more information visit https://www.mlend.com/.
Investor Relations Contact:
Community Heritage Financial, Inc.
Robert E. (BJ) Goetz, Jr.
President & Chief Executive Officer
301-371-3055
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/community-heritage-financial-inc-welcomes-frankie-corsi-iii-to-its-board-of-directors-301526673.html
SOURCE Community Heritage Financial, Inc. | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/community-heritage-financial-inc-welcomes-frankie-corsi-iii-to-its-board-of-directors/article_db92db08-49ba-5b24-9b31-b8de169d23c7.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:38 | 0 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/community-heritage-financial-inc-welcomes-frankie-corsi-iii-to-its-board-of-directors/article_db92db08-49ba-5b24-9b31-b8de169d23c7.html |
The Connect, powered by Tri-County Electric Cooperative, fiber network represents Florida's first electric cooperative fiber-to-the-home project; will deliver high-speed internet access to approximately 12,000 to 15,000 homes and businesses across four counties
MADISON, Fla., April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Conexon Connect, the internet service provider formed by rural fiber-optic network design and construction management leader Conexon, has been selected by Tri-County Electric Cooperative to deliver high-speed fiber internet access for rural Floridians living and working in the cooperative's service territory.
The cooperative is partnering with Connect to launch and deploy a nearly 2,400-mile fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, a project representing Florida's first FTTH project launched by an electric cooperative.
The Connect, powered by Tri-County Electric Cooperative, network will deliver world-class internet service to approximately 12,000 to 15,000 homes and businesses across Jefferson, Madison, Taylor and Dixie counties. Upon the project's completion, 100 percent of Tri-County Electric members will have access to the service.
"We're proud to partner with Tri-County Electric on Florida's first electric cooperative FTTH network project, and deliver to its members the highest quality internet available," Conexon Founding Partner and Conexon Connect CEO, Randy Klindt said. "Like many rural areas, these north Florida communities have been disadvantaged for too long by the lack of vital high-speed broadband services. Today's announcement marks our shared commitment with Tri-County Electric to change that, and improve the lives and communities of those served by the co-op."
Tri-County Electric's nearly $65 million network is expected to be completed within two-to-four years. The lightning-fast fiber-optic network will offer members access to symmetrical (same upload and download speeds) gigabit internet capabilities – among the fastest and most robust in the nation. Additionally, it will provide reliable, clear phone service and enable the benefits of smart grid capabilities to the electrical infrastructure, including improved power outage response times, better load balancing, more efficient electricity delivery and others.
"We're so excited to get started and we can't wait for our members to experience some of the same benefits that their urban and city counterparts experience, while pairing it with living in rural settings and enjoying the natural beauty our counties offer," Julius Hackett, Tri-County Electric Cooperative CEO said. "I think it's going to be one of the key pieces to attract additional residents to our communities and allow our existing residents to thrive. Everyone will have access to this network – we're not leaving anyone behind."
Conexon and Conexon Connect work with electric cooperatives committed to serving their members with fiber broadband. With its clients, the company has designed more than 200,000 miles of fiber, builds more than 50,000 miles of fiber annually, and has connected more than 500,000 rural Americans to fiber to the home.
"Tri-County Electric's service territory is one of the most unserved areas in the state, if not the country, when it comes to broadband," Conexon Partner Jonathan Chambers said. "There are two key ingredients that will make possible first-class broadband where it was once thought impossible. First, the state is preparing a broadband fund for areas like this and we intend to participate. I can think of no area more in need of, and deserving of public support. Second, any endeavor such as this requires leadership. Julius Hackett is just that leader. We're proud to be working with him, his team and the board at Tri-County."
About Conexon Connect
Conexon Connect is the internet service provider (ISP) arm of rural fiber broadband design and construction management leader Conexon. The subsidiary was formed to operate and manage cooperative fiber-to-the-home networks. Connect leverages Conexon's decades of co-op operations, fiber-optic design and construction, telecommunications, federal and state lobbying and customer experience management expertise to successfully launch and operate projects. The Connect approach is to work with electric cooperatives to launch and deploy high-speed fiber-optic networks – the gold standard of communications transmission – enabling them to offer world-class fiber broadband to their members. Connect today is partnering with multiple cooperatives in Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Missouri.
About Conexon
Conexon works with Rural Electric Cooperatives to bring fiber to the home in rural communities. The company is comprised of professionals who have worked in electric cooperatives and the telecommunications industry, and offer decades of individual experience in business planning, building networks, marketing and selling telecommunications. Conexon offers its electric cooperative clients end-to-end broadband deployment and operations support, from a project's conception all the way through to its long-term sustainability. It works with clients to analyze economic feasibility, secure financing, design the network, manage construction, provide operational support, optimize business performance and determine optimal partnerships. To date, Conexon has assisted more than 200 electric cooperatives, 60 of which are deploying fiber networks, with more than 500,000 rural Americans connected to fiber to the home. The company has secured nearly $2 billion in federal, state and local grants and subsidies for its clients.
Cindy Parks
913-526-6912
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SOURCE Conexon Connect | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/floridas-tri-county-electric-cooperative-partners-with-internet-service-provider-conexon-connect-to-bring-world/article_32d92042-3196-564b-9bb9-c6460efe5b35.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:44 | 1 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/floridas-tri-county-electric-cooperative-partners-with-internet-service-provider-conexon-connect-to-bring-world/article_32d92042-3196-564b-9bb9-c6460efe5b35.html |
SAN DIEGO, April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Girls Inc. of San Diego County welcomes four new members to its board of directors. These officers will serve as active advocates and ambassadors to advance the organization's mission to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold, through programs that address mind+body wellness, academic success and community engagement.
"We are thrilled to welcome these exceptional leaders who will bring a fresh perspective to advance the mission of our organization," said Sandra Ainslie, CEO of Girls Inc. of San Diego County. "Along with the rest of our board, our new members will have a pivotal role, bringing valuable insights to impact the lives of underserved girls throughout San Diego."
Board of Directors
Cinnamon Clark is the Practice Lead for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Services at McLean & Company, where she leads the development of DEI strategy. A fierce advocate for women and people of color, she lends her voice and expertise through service as a Commissioner (Co-Chair) on the City of San Diego Citizen's Equal Opportunity Commission (CEOC), Commissioner on the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for the County of San Diego in addition to a number of advocacy and community. Cinnamon is a 20 year, retired Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy, where she was an electrician and traveled the world.
Melissa Marin has 25-plus years of experience in the financial services industry, of which she has spent the past 15 years specializing in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Melissa is the director of retirement plan services at MWM Retirement solutions, where she works with corporate and non-profit retirement clients to help provide fiduciary support, analyze plan design, and evaluate investment costs. A native San Diegan, her love for the community has her involved with organizations bringing resources to at risk youth.
Manaleage Tedemet is a product management professional within the technology space. As the founding product management hire, Manaleage works at local San Diego software startup Tiled Inc., a no-code online platform that transforms static content into engaging interactive microapps to drive engagement and deliver insight. She has a history of volunteerism within the San Diego community for non-profits such as Girl's Think Tank and Junior Achievement of San Diego. Currently, Manaleage is the co-chair of Women in Product San Diego, a non-profit dedicated to empowering women in product management and advocating for equal representation.
Lina Yisehak is a Clinical Scientist at Cradle Genomics, a company that is developing clinical tests to advance prenatal care and women's reproductive health. Using her 10+ years research experience, she contributes to the scientific development of studies from the preclinical stage to study completion, and product launch. She manages relationships with key opinion leaders to foster research collaboration and advance healthcare for women. In addition, she is passionate about working with Elderhelp, a San Diego organization that helps seniors remain independent and live with dignity in their own homes.
To learn more and support Girls Inc. of San Diego County, visit www.girlsincsd.org.
About Girls Inc. of San Diego County
Girls Inc. of San Diego County inspires girls to be strong, smart and bold by providing hundreds of girls each year with life-changing support and real solutions to the unique issues girls face. By providing no-cost, research-based programming the organization helps girls in the county overcome gender, economic, and social barriers so they may see college as attainable, resist peer pressure, explore professional fields in STEM. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and take their seat as tomorrow's leaders.
For more than 50 years, the nonprofit organization has supported high-need girls with no-cost programming to help them succeed in life.
Contact:
Sandra Ainslie
619-886-2090
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SOURCE Girls Inc. of San Diego County | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/girls-inc-of-san-diego-county-welcomes-cinnamon-clark-melissa-marin-manaleage-tedemet-and-lina/article_ac9f190a-f0e9-5afc-bbd3-5b22fde9e36c.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:50 | 1 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/girls-inc-of-san-diego-county-welcomes-cinnamon-clark-melissa-marin-manaleage-tedemet-and-lina/article_ac9f190a-f0e9-5afc-bbd3-5b22fde9e36c.html |
Acclaimed real estate agent Nancy Yeh accepts the invitation to Haute Residence's invite-only Network. Nancy Yeh exclusively represents the luxury real estate market in Pacific Heights/Lower Pacific Heights, San Francisco, CA.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Meet Nancy. Relator by day, and …yep, you guessed it, still a realtor by night. Seriously, this woman doesn't sleep. A veritable spark plug in the real estate game, Nancy Yeh has no shortage of magnetism. Born and bred in San Francisco, she inherited a sense of hustle early on, earning her stripes in corporate sales and various entrepreneurial gigs before pivoting into real estate.
Equipped with a gift for connecting people, it's no surprise that she's taken on leadership roles in every one of her past roles and founded several networking groups throughout the years.
A breath of fresh air in the real estate game, Nancy challenges the status quo at every turn. She takes a personalized approach, working tirelessly to understand a client's specific objectives before developing a personalized plan to achieve their goals. Never one to chase a commission, she's renowned for taking a holistic approach and always prioritizing her client's best interests.
Re-examining the concept of "home," she loves helping buyers find their place within the larger community and setting a foundation for their future. To Nancy, "home" isn't merely where we exist, but where we make memories, usher in milestones, and share laughter with loved ones. Put plainly, Nancy gets it. She can see the bigger picture. Just ask her buyer that successfully snapped up Kamala Harris' condo (true story).
Nancy is equally adept at guiding sellers through the process. Recognizing that selling a home – particularly for the first time – can be a pressure-filled affair, Nancy takes a mindful approach. Distinguished by her unflappable cool and effortless equanimity, she has a fantastic gift for being able to provide a smooth, stress-free experience. Nancy's ultimate win? Making a complicated transaction feel like a piece of cake. At the end of the day, she loves knowing that she played an integral part in helping someone accomplish a major life goal.
Residing in Lakeside with her trusty pup, Louie, Nancy has seen her (yes, her) beloved city experience tremendous change since her early years in Central Richmond. Equipped with a near-encyclopedic knowledge of the nuanced neighborhoods and microcosms that make up San Francisco, she's quick to sniff out underground art shows and live music. A devout yoga fan who's big on meditation, she's equally at ease exploring the outdoors. Most recently, a seaweed foraging adventure. Next up? Mushroom foraging. Turns out off-market listings aren't the only thing that Nancy has a talent for unearthing. But you'll have to ask her about that when you meet her.
Visit Nancy Yeh's Haute Residence Profile: https://www.hauteresidence.com/member/nancy-yeh/
ABOUT HAUTE RESIDENCE
Designed as a partnership-driven luxury real estate portal, Haute Residence connects its affluent readers with top real estate professionals, while offering the latest in real estate news, showcasing the world's most extraordinary residences on the market and sharing expert advice from its knowledgeable and experienced real estate partners.
The invitation-only luxury real estate network, which partners with just one agent in every market, unites a distinguished collective of leading real estate agents and brokers and highlights the most extravagant properties in leading markets around the globe for affluent buyers, sellers, and real estate enthusiasts. HauteResidence.com has grown to be the number one news source for million-dollar listings, high-end residential developments, celebrity real estate, and more.
Access all of this information and more by visiting http://www.hauteresidence.com
Media Contact
Mary Gibson, Haute Residence, 8635990020, mary@hauteliving.com
SOURCE Haute Residence | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/nancy-yeh-joins-the-haute-residence-exclusive-real-estate-network/article_8f5e94f0-10cd-52fe-ae96-89fa0480123f.html | 2022-04-15T18:17:56 | 0 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/nancy-yeh-joins-the-haute-residence-exclusive-real-estate-network/article_8f5e94f0-10cd-52fe-ae96-89fa0480123f.html |
The new position helps accelerate Northrop's Exclusive Continuing Education Program NorthropU.
BETHANY BEACH, Del., April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Northrop Realty, an award-winning real estate brokerage, announces it has hired Juli Giles as Director of Career Development. Juli is the latest addition to Northrop Realty's rapidly expanding leadership team.
Before joining Northrop Realty, Juli managed several dynamic education programs in the banking industry for 15 years and led continuing education classes in real estate for 18 years. As the current Vice-Chairperson for the Education Advisory Board of the Delaware Real Estate Commission and the Professional Development Committee for the Delaware Association of REALTORS, her passion for helping others achieve career success continues. In addition, she actively participates in Professional Development forums for Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and The Realty Alliance.
"We are excited and proud to have Juli Giles bring her extensive real estate education experience to Northrop Realty as we continue to grow NorthropU, our exclusive continuing education program, for our agents and employees to THRIVE in their careers," said Creig Northrop, founder and CEO of Northrop Realty. "We welcome her to our like-minded leadership team, where we share the same passion for delivering support to everyone in our brokerage and continuing our future-forward approach."
As Director of Career Development, Juli will provide senior-level leadership in NorthropU's curriculum development, corporate training, and best-in-class strategic initiatives for agents to increase their business and employees to further their growth and career.
"Northrop Realty is focused on investing in cutting-edge technology and continued education," said Juli Giles, Director of Career Development at Northrop Realty. "I am excited about the opportunity to expand the breadth of NorthropU and contribute to our agents and employees' career growth in the years to come."
Due to its unique design, Northrop Realty continues to attract top leadership talent to its custom brokerage of the future. Its ecosystem of professionals includes industry-leading educators and trainers, client care coordinators, home marketing consultants, best-in-class branding, an in-house marketing agency, Studio7, and technology designed to fuel their growth in the Mid-Atlantic.
"If you are a full-time agent looking to grow your real estate business with our award-winning full-service brokerage, don't hesitate to contact Northrop Realty at 410-531-0321 or visit our career page," said Melissa Volkmann, Director of Talent Acquisition.
About Northrop Realty
Northrop Realty, A Long & Foster Company, is a full-service brokerage representing buyers and sellers of residential real estate in Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Pennsylvania. As one of the region's premier brokerages, Northrop Realty is comprised of more than 325 licensed real estate professionals and over 75 employees, operating 14 brick-and-mortar office locations in Annapolis, Baltimore, Clarksville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Fallston, Frederick, Lutherville-Timonium, Phoenix, Sykesville, and West Ocean City, Maryland, and Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island, and Millsboro, Delaware. Since 2000, Northrop Realty's iconic brand and continued success is a result of its best-in-class technology, training, leadership, marketing, and robust network. As A Long & Foster Company, a subsidiary of Home Services of America, and Forbes Global Properties, Northrop Realty is proud to rank as the No. 1 specialty brokerage in the nation by RealTrends for 2019 based on closed sales volume. (http://www.northroprealty.com)
Media Contact
Ray Bularz, Northrop Realty, 1 443-539-6924, raybularz@northroprealty.com
SOURCE Northrop Realty | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/northrop-realty-adds-juli-giles-as-director-of-career-development/article_f940593a-d780-5df1-8046-97deaf4df87f.html | 2022-04-15T18:18:02 | 0 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_business/northrop-realty-adds-juli-giles-as-director-of-career-development/article_f940593a-d780-5df1-8046-97deaf4df87f.html |
Nationwide Network of Hunger-Relief Organizations Sees Continued Demand Amid Widespread Inflation and Expiring Pandemic-Related Support
CHICAGO, April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest Consumer Price Index data, which showed that inflation rose 8.5% for the year ended in March – levels not seen since 1981. At the same time, the latest Feeding America food bank pulse survey data shows that more food banks, around 85% of the 200 food bank network, report seeing demand for food assistance increase or stay the same for February compared to the previous month, about a 20% increase from the previous survey.
Over the past two years, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has expanded to provide additional benefit allotments to help low-income households weather the storm. With emergency declarations ending across the nation, those additional pandemic-related benefit allotments are expiring state by state, and another hunger crisis is looming. While the pandemic appears to be receding for the time being, Feeding America expects that demand for food assistance will remain elevated and may grow as people's expanded assistance goes away. On average, when the Public Health Emergency declaration ends, participants in emergency allotment states will lose $82 a month in SNAP benefits. For participants who qualify for the minimum SNAP benefits, their monthly allotments will plunge from $250 to a mere $20.
"The reality is too many neighbors must continuously be forced to make difficult decisions between paying for food or other necessities like rent and medicines. Nearly one-third of a low-income household's budget is spent on food, and any incremental increases to food prices can have a dramatic effect to their overall stability and security," said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. "Community food assistance continues to be an essential piece of a household's budget planning. In order for the Feeding America network of food banks, food pantries, and meal programs to continue to provide food and assistance to the tens of millions of people turning to us for help, we need continued support from both the public and private sector."
The Feeding America network is not immune from the impacts of inflation, with every aspect of food bank operations including purchasing food, transporting donated food, energy for cold storage, and other costs including fuel, wages, and even vehicle maintenance seeing significant increases. To close the gap and keep up with demand, food banks are purchasing nearly as much food as they did in 2021 but are now paying 40% more for those purchases. Feeding America projects that the food bank network will experience a 20% decrease in manufacturing donations and a 45% decrease in federal commodities in fiscal year 2022, running July 2021 to June 2022. Over the past six months, 55% of Feeding America food banks have reported their overall food donations are down. Without additional funding and federal commodities, food banks cannot be expected to meet this crisis and give their communities the support they need.
"This is not a sustainable solution for our neighbors facing hunger," Babineaux-Fontenot continued. "In the coming months and years, we are facing a historically unprecedented set of simultaneous challenges and we need to strengthen our commitment and resolve to support our neighbors' ability to not just to survive, but to thrive. While we work towards reducing food insecurity for all in the long-term, in the immediate near term, we are asking for USDA and Congress along with our partners and supporters to help us through this storm."
To address this crisis, Feeding America is putting a call for support and everyone can get involved:
1. Congress should ensure that food banks have the critical food resources and program flexibilities necessary to address the need for food assistance by providing $900 million for TEFAP in spending legislation and extending child nutrition waivers.
2. USDA should take any and all actions at their disposal to increase the availability of commodity foods, including:
a. Using the Commodity Credit Corporation or other funds available to provide critically needed food purchases. This will help address the supply chain challenges and increased demand food banks are facing. USDA has precedent for similar actions, both through the Food Purchase and Distribution Program and the recent Supply Chain Assistance Funds providing resources to schools.
b. USDA should fully utilize Section 32 authority to support consumption of domestic commodities through additional food purchases for distribution through USDA nutrition programs.
c. USDA should ensure that state plans for the $400 million in Local Food Purchase Agreement grants procure foods from diverse and underrepresented producers where possible and distribute food through AIB-inspected food banks and other nonprofit partners held to high standards of food safety, equitable distribution, and non-discrimination.
3. Food industry partners should reach out to Feeding America or local food banks to explore avenues for donation and food rescue. More information on becoming a food donor can be found at FeedingAmerica.org/donatefood.
4. For individuals, donors and advocates, please continue to support Feeding America and local hunger-relief organizations, either by volunteering, donating, and calling on elected officials to support strong nutrition program legislation.
Millions of communities across the United States need immediate solutions to ensure they do not have to skip meals due to rising food prices. A shared commitment is necessary between charities, the private sector, and the government to bolster both food and nutrition security across the nation.
For more information about Feeding America's hunger-relief efforts and to learn how to help, visit FeedingAmerica.org.
Contact
Feeding America
312.641.6532
About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 6.6 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
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SOURCE Feeding America | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_food_beverages/feeding-america-calls-for-action-as-hunger-crisis-worsens/article_04e145ad-692f-5eb4-9939-49e065d64845.html | 2022-04-15T18:18:08 | 0 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_food_beverages/feeding-america-calls-for-action-as-hunger-crisis-worsens/article_04e145ad-692f-5eb4-9939-49e065d64845.html |