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2022 MIAMI OPEN
The 2022 Miami Open presented by Itaú continues at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens through April 3. The finals for the tennis tournament, which started on March 21, are April 2 and 3. Florida Courier photojournalist Kim Gibson has been there, capturing the matches of Coco Gauff, Asia Muhammad, Gaël Monfils, Nick Kyrgios and Frances Tiafoe. For more information, visit miamiopen.com. | https://www.flcourier.com/news/tennis-tournament-wraps-up-on-sunday/article_e4c4e734-b0eb-11ec-a7cd-0b85c0a3e5f2.html | 2022-04-01T01:51:01Z |
Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest superhero is not, in the conventional sense, either "super" or a "hero," but he does have an unorthodox ailment and a weird skill-set to separate him from mere mortals. His name is Morbius, and while watching his origin story, you may get the feeling that somewhere in the cinematic multiverse, wires got crossed.
The film begins with a helicopter, transporting a cage to the sort of mist-shrouded isle you half expect King Kong to be inhabiting. But Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) is looking to capture smaller game as he approaches the mouth of a cave, hobbling with difficulty on two crutch-like canes.
Positioning himself behind the wires of the cage, he slices open the palm of his hand and, as a roar of batwings echoes from inside the cave, murmurs to the copter pilot "if you're gonna run, do it now."
A rare blood disease treated with a bit o' bat
It's tempting to say "consider yourself warned," but the film's first hour or so, while unremarkable, is decently crafted.
Born with a rare blood disease, Michael Morbius has spent his entire life working on two things — a cure, and origami paper-folding. Natch, it occurs to him to fold together bat and human DNA.
Because the FDA would be unlikely to approve human trials, he and his beautiful co-researcher Martine (Adria Arjona) head in a cargo ship for international waters off the coast of Long Island in the company of eight thuggish mercenaries — think bloodbags — and once Morbius has been injected with bat DNA, it's just a matter of time before things go vampiric.
Let it be said that some side-effects from dabbling in "chiropter-y" are less ghastly than others. Bat DNA evidently gives you great cheekbones and abs to go with increased strength and speed.
Less salutary effects include new fangs that sprout from his gums with decades of decay baked in, and claws that erupt from his fingers pre-filthed. I mean, sure...why not? Except this is a man whose hair has the kind of sheen that comes from brushing it three times a day.
One other thing: he now needs to drink human blood every six hours. Happily, on his way to declining a Nobel Prize, Dr. Morbius invented "artificial blood," though that only fools his system for a while.
Color coded smoke effects for a Jekyll and his Hyde
If you're expecting a conventional Marvel movie, you should be aware going in that what Director Daniel Espinoza and his writers have come up with is more a horror flick with Marvel bells and whistles.
That means Leto's Morbius gets purplish smoke effects to go with those fang-baring snarls as he's riding air currents in subway tunnels, while the similarly afflicted Hyde to his Jekyll – a schoolboy chum played as an adult by an amusingly hopped-up Matt Smith, gets blue-ish vapor trails and snappier lines.
But there isn't much tension to their story. Or logic. At one point, Morbius overhears some counterfeiters passing fake $100s, and commandeers their printing press to make what appears to be an artificial-blood machine — because the technologies for fake-bills and fake-blood match up? Maybe that works better in a comic book.
Bat guys everywhere you look
Speaking of which, when the DC Extended Universe first announced that Twilight star Robert Pattinson would play the lead in The Batman in their corner of the superhero multiverse, it seemed like a nice inside joke — from Vampire-teen to Bat-man. But now that the Marvelverse has Leto going full Dracula, it seems as if the casting maybe could've gone the other way 'round.
Leto is as persuasively haunted by the dark side of vigilantism as Pattinson was, and as a result of corporate positioning, is maybe more determined to avoid being a villain. Not unlike Venom, Morbius was a bad guy when he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man comics, back in the 1970's. He needs to be at least an anti-hero now, if a franchise is to be built around him.
But bad guy/bat guy...who's to say? As the trailers reveal, another DC bat-guy, Michael Keaton, shows up in his non-batty baddie Marvel persona Adrian Toomes, just to mess with the heads of anyone trying to keep cinematic universes straight.
But bloodlines will have to be clarified in more robust "Morbius" episodes to come, this origin story being merely adequate, and by Marvel standards, slightly anemic.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-03-31/jared-leto-is-marvels-bat-man-in-the-vampiric-morbius | 2022-04-01T01:51:01Z |
Starbucks is facing calls from Sen. Bernie Sanders and investors to refrain from infringing on employees’ efforts to unionize, as it and other companies are under increasing pressure to improve worker management.
Sanders, I-Vermont, urged former Starbucks executive Howard Schultz, who is returning to lead the company on April 6 after CEO Kevin Johnson retires, to cease “union-busting” actions amid complaints from employees and the National Labor Relations Board.
The Seattle-based coffee company has been hit with allegations that it has intimidated and retaliated against workers by reducing their schedules and even terminating them at some locations.
“As you prepare to head back into your former role as Starbucks CEO, I am writing to you with a simple request. Please respect the Constitution of the United States and do not illegally hamper the efforts of your employees to unionize,” Sanders wrote in a March 22 letter to Schultz. “Like all workers in America, Starbucks employees have the right to form a union and collectively bargain for decent wages and benefits, safe working conditions and reliable schedules.”
Employees in more than 160 Starbucks locations have filed petitions with the NLRB to hold union elections following the successful unionization at two locations in Buffalo, N.Y., in December.
Many of the organizing employees have cited lackluster wages and benefits, short-staffing and unrealistic metrics as main drivers for unionization. As of Tuesday, workers at nine locations across the U.S. had voted to unionize.
Starbucks reported $8.1 billion in revenue in its fiscal first quarter ending Jan. 2, and its stock price has largely rebounded since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, from about $58 per share to $91. The company also announced last year it would spend $20 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and raised Johnson’s pay to over $20 million.
“If Starbucks can afford to spend $20 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and provide a $20 million compensation package to its [outgoing] CEO, it can afford a unionized workforce that can collectively bargain for better wages, better benefits, safer working conditions and reliable schedules,” Sanders said in the letter to Schultz. “This is a pivotal moment for Starbucks. As you return to the company, it is time to do the right thing: End the union busting and obey the law.”
This month, the NLRB issued a formal complaint against Starbucks, alleging that the company retaliated against workers in Arizona attempting to organize. The independent federal agency has received a flurry of complaints from employees over anti-union tactics.
“For a company like Starbucks, which depends on its reputation, jeopardizing its standing with powerful and everyday Americans with conduct that the NLRB claims is a violation of federal labor law is risky,” said Jonas Kron, chief advocacy officer for Trillium Asset Management, an asset management firm focused on environmental, social and governance values.
Companies’ treatment of employees has become a key focus for shareholders. Some 12 percent of the 529 resolutions filed for the 2022 proxy season were on “decent work,” according to findings from As You Sow, the Sustainable Investments Institute and Proxy Impact. In 2021, decent work-related resolutions made up 6 percent of all proposals filed.
Shareholder proposals focused on pay and working conditions “have blossomed as companies are pushed to meet the needs of all of their employees and public expectations,” said Heidi Welsh, executive director of the Sustainable Investments Institute and co-author of the findings.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering a rule-making on human capital management disclosure. The agency in 2020 started to ask companies to list factors such as workplace safety measures and financial benefits on their Form 10-K disclosures, although companies could choose their own metrics and exclude others.
Trillium is leading an effort with more than 80 ESG investors representing over $3.4 trillion in assets under management or advisement to meet with Starbucks’ management to discuss the recent unionization movement. The investors sent a letter earlier this month to urge Starbucks to “immediately” adopt a policy of neutrality toward ongoing and future unionization efforts and end any anti-union communications with employees.
Investors and Sanders warned that the allegations stand in contrast to Starbucks’ publicly stated commitments to employees, which could turn customers off.
“With rapidly growing public support for unions, which currently stands at a high of 68 percent approval, we believe that Starbucks’ reputation may be jeopardized due to reporting of aggressive union-busting tactics,” the investors said in their letter to Johnson and Starbucks Chair Mellody Hobson.
A representative from Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment.
During Starbucks’ annual shareholders meeting, Hobson directly addressed the investors’ letter and said the company could not take a neutral stance on workers’ unionization efforts, but it understands and recognizes the right for employees to organize.
“One would say, how could you be against neutrality? But neutrality in its nuanced form limits our ability to speak to our partners in certain ways, and that goes directly against the DNA of the company,” Hobson said during the meeting March 16.
“Now, I’ll be clear about the fact that we absolutely understand and recognize the right of our partners to organize. That is the American way. We are also negotiating in good faith, and we want a constructive relationship with the union,” she added.
Kron said he is optimistic that the investors can meet soon with Hobson or Schultz to discuss the potential ramifications for the company’s reputation — and bottom line.
“Ms. Hobson’s response was disappointing, but her acknowledgement that mistakes have been made may indicate an opportunity to pivot to a more productive relationship with workers,” Kron said in an email. “Fundamentally, it is up to the workers and the company to define how they will proceed and we strongly encourage management to shift course.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/starbucks/sanders-investors-warn-starbucks-on-response-to-unionization/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2022-04-01T01:51:02Z |
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Tax rises risk giving Labour an open goal
Anyone who believes the cost of living crisis is already biting hard is today in for a rude awakening.
Compared to the savaging ahead, the past weeks have been a mere nip on the ankle of family budgets.
The arrival of a new financial year signals a barrage of crippling bills, tax rises and price increases – the most vicious squeeze on family incomes since the 1950s.
The average household will pay an extra £700 a year for gas and electricity. Council tax, water rates and broadband are going up. And rocketing inflation means the cost of filling up the car and buying food becomes more expensive by the day.
Make no mistake, millions up and down the country are in for a very rough ride.
The arrival of a new financial year signals a barrage of crippling bills, tax rises and price increases [stock image]
True, many factors fuelling the crisis are beyond the Government's control. But not all. Why, for example, are ministers worsening the hardship by stubbornly insisting on the national insurance hike?
This not only hurts working people, but also employers. It is a profoundly un-Conservative tax, making families poorer and businesses less competitive.
Of course, the Mail understands the need to balance the books after the eye-watering debts incurred during the pandemic.
But the best way to get money into Treasury coffers is the old Tory way – by encouraging hard work and enterprise.
If Britons are taxed to high heaven, they won't have money to pump into shops, pubs and restaurants, nor the confidence to grow job-creating companies.
It's not rocket science: Ditching punitive levies ultimately brings in more revenue.
Imposing them on the already struggling is an unwise gamble. It conveys that the Government doesn't take seriously the cost of living pain – and offers a deeply unimpressive Labour party an open goal.
Develop a conscience
By sensibly handing the Foreign Office responsibility for the aid programme, the Government aimed to align handouts with Britain's overseas policy goals.
So how is that working out? We reveal that £1.3billion of the bloated development budget is being sent to nations unwilling to condemn Putin's brutal assault on Ukraine.
Fence-sitters include India (wealthy enough to have its own space programme).
The Mail understands the concept of realpolitik. Countries act in their own best interests. But then we should too.
Let's stop paying a fortune to those appeasing a murderous, maternity hospital-bombing psychopath and his illegal war.
Why not use the money instead to help those fleeing the carnage?
Let's get over Covid
It's a mark of how far we've come since those fretful days of two years ago.
From today, Covid tests are no longer routinely handed out for free (although each one costs taxpayers a chunky sum).
Predictably, doomster scientists warn it could lead to an explosion of infections.
But we have to move on. Britain is suffering economic and social long Covid: Huge debts, a healthcare backlog, children woefully behind on their education.
(And how typical of Whitehall ineptitude that a firm's contract to help pupils catch up has quickly been abandoned as a flop).
Cutting out the scaremongering and incompetence would be a giant step towards getting Britain back on its feet.
- It is revolting that water companies discharged raw sewage into our rivers and coastal seas 372,533 times last year, often illegally. There is now a plan for new infrastructure which will eliminate 40 per cent of these discharges. And who will foot the massive bill? Lo and behold, the hard-pressed customer. Why? The polluters make obscene profits. They alone should pay for the clean-up. | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10674699/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-Tax-rises-risk-giving-Labour-open-goal.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 | 2022-04-01T01:51:01Z |
Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest superhero is not, in the conventional sense, either "super" or a "hero," but he does have an unorthodox ailment and a weird skill-set to separate him from mere mortals. His name is Morbius, and while watching his origin story, you may get the feeling that somewhere in the cinematic multiverse, wires got crossed.
The film begins with a helicopter, transporting a cage to the sort of mist-shrouded isle you half expect King Kong to be inhabiting. But Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) is looking to capture smaller game as he approaches the mouth of a cave, hobbling with difficulty on two crutch-like canes.
Positioning himself behind the wires of the cage, he slices open the palm of his hand and, as a roar of batwings echoes from inside the cave, murmurs to the copter pilot "if you're gonna run, do it now."
A rare blood disease treated with a bit o' bat
It's tempting to say "consider yourself warned," but the film's first hour or so, while unremarkable, is decently crafted.
Born with a rare blood disease, Michael Morbius has spent his entire life working on two things — a cure, and origami paper-folding. Natch, it occurs to him to fold together bat and human DNA.
Because the FDA would be unlikely to approve human trials, he and his beautiful co-researcher Martine (Adria Arjona) head in a cargo ship for international waters off the coast of Long Island in the company of eight thuggish mercenaries — think bloodbags — and once Morbius has been injected with bat DNA, it's just a matter of time before things go vampiric.
Let it be said that some side-effects from dabbling in "chiropter-y" are less ghastly than others. Bat DNA evidently gives you great cheekbones and abs to go with increased strength and speed.
Less salutary effects include new fangs that sprout from his gums with decades of decay baked in, and claws that erupt from his fingers pre-filthed. I mean, sure...why not? Except this is a man whose hair has the kind of sheen that comes from brushing it three times a day.
One other thing: he now needs to drink human blood every six hours. Happily, on his way to declining a Nobel Prize, Dr. Morbius invented "artificial blood," though that only fools his system for a while.
Color coded smoke effects for a Jekyll and his Hyde
If you're expecting a conventional Marvel movie, you should be aware going in that what Director Daniel Espinoza and his writers have come up with is more a horror flick with Marvel bells and whistles.
That means Leto's Morbius gets purplish smoke effects to go with those fang-baring snarls as he's riding air currents in subway tunnels, while the similarly afflicted Hyde to his Jekyll – a schoolboy chum played as an adult by an amusingly hopped-up Matt Smith, gets blue-ish vapor trails and snappier lines.
But there isn't much tension to their story. Or logic. At one point, Morbius overhears some counterfeiters passing fake $100s, and commandeers their printing press to make what appears to be an artificial-blood machine — because the technologies for fake-bills and fake-blood match up? Maybe that works better in a comic book.
Bat guys everywhere you look
Speaking of which, when the DC Extended Universe first announced that Twilight star Robert Pattinson would play the lead in The Batman in their corner of the superhero multiverse, it seemed like a nice inside joke — from Vampire-teen to Bat-man. But now that the Marvelverse has Leto going full Dracula, it seems as if the casting maybe could've gone the other way 'round.
Leto is as persuasively haunted by the dark side of vigilantism as Pattinson was, and as a result of corporate positioning, is maybe more determined to avoid being a villain. Not unlike Venom, Morbius was a bad guy when he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man comics, back in the 1970's. He needs to be at least an anti-hero now, if a franchise is to be built around him.
But bad guy/bat guy...who's to say? As the trailers reveal, another DC bat-guy, Michael Keaton, shows up in his non-batty baddie Marvel persona Adrian Toomes, just to mess with the heads of anyone trying to keep cinematic universes straight.
But bloodlines will have to be clarified in more robust "Morbius" episodes to come, this origin story being merely adequate, and by Marvel standards, slightly anemic.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wunc.org/2022-03-31/jared-leto-is-marvels-bat-man-in-the-vampiric-morbius | 2022-04-01T01:51:02Z |
First-year Southern University football coach Eric Dooley continues to watch and evaluate his team through spring practice. While no firm depth chart decisions are being made, there’s one player he knows he won’t have.
Dooley said Thursday that defensive tackle Davin Cotton, a linchpin on the line last year, won’t play in 2022 because of difficulties in rehabbing an injured knee that he had surgery on after last season. Dooley initially said Cotton would miss spring practice, but the prognosis has turned more dire.
“Cotton won’t be able to play this year,” Dooley said. "He’s a talented guy I feel could do some great things. It’s his knee but also several things, the rehab part of it. He had surgery after last year. It’s got to be hurting to him because he wants to play.”
Paired with Camron Johnson, Cotton was an effective run-stopper but was in and out of the lineup from mid-season on. He had 40 tackles in 10 games with 4½ for a loss and 1½ sacks. He also had an interception and a quarterback hurry.
Dooley said senior Letrelle Johnson (5-foot-11, 290 pounds) is making a strong push for the starting job.
“Letrelle Johnson has been doing some great things, playing well and stepping up,” Dooley said. “You have to have a good defensive line in this conference. We’re still a work in progress.”
Johnson had 19 tackles in nine games last season with three for loss and one sack. He also had a quarterback hurry.
Dooley said he isn’t ready to start moving bodies up and down the depth chart, even after watching video of Saturday’s 60-play scrimmage. He said all three quarterbacks are getting work with the first unit.
Senior holdover Bubba McDowell was impressive with at least one rushing TD and one passing, plus a long completion to set up another score, on Saturday. Junior college transfer BeSean McCray and sophomore Harold Blood have no experience at the Division I level.
“We’re not looking for big changes,” Dooley said. “We’ve got an idea what’s going on, but the guys are still competing. We have seven more days, and we’re going to let the chips fall where they may.
“There’s no depth chart with the quarterbacks right now. We’re trying to give them all chances to work with the ones. If you never put them in that position, you’ll never know. If a guy never gets a chance to operate with the ones, he’s never as efficient as he would be.”
Dooley said the wide receivers, who are crucial in his pass-oriented offense, have shown progress. Reginald King, a former Zachary player, played for Dooley last year at Prairie View. He played in eight games and caught only one pass as a freshman last year, but Dooley said he’s grown up. Dooley also singled out another sophomore, Tyler Kirkwood.
“I’m still looking for that position to explode,” Dooley said. “It has to be very talented in this offense. With Reginald King, I know him well, you can see the maturity part of him, the knowledge of this offense.
“Tyler Kirkwood was surprising from the beginning. He was a little thicker when we got here but has gotten himself into tip-top shape. He’s shown some signs.
"That’s the two that stick out to me now as having the opportunity to do something special.” | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/sports/southern/article_e10b0e3c-b156-11ec-871e-fb0921fd9bac.html | 2022-04-01T01:51:02Z |
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. State Department announced on Thursday that starting April 11 people applying for U.S. passports will be able to select “X” to mark their gender in a move designed to accommodate nonbinary, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals.
“The Department of State has reached another milestone in our work to better serve all U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender identity,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement released on Thursday, which marks Transgender Day of Visibility.
Blinken first announced the State Department’s intention to make this change in June and said that the option to select “X” for gender will also become available on other documentation in the coming year.
The White House introduced additional changes to travel-related policies, including replacing the Transportation Security Administration’s “gender-based system” with new and more precise technology aimed at reducing pat-downs and unnecessary additional screenings.
The Department of Homeland Security is also in the process of adding “X” gender markers to the systems to facilitate the check-in process for gender non-conforming travelers, the White House said.
“These updates to passports and TSA policy will make it safer for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex members of our community to travel and to walk through everyday life,” said the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation known as GLAAD in a statement on Thursday. “Everyone deserves the right to have identity documents that reflect who they are, and to go through airport security without harassment and public humiliation.”
The changes to the travel experience are part of a series of new policies and actions announced by the Biden White House on Thursday that address discrimination against transgender individuals and come as Republican lawmakers push a wave of transgender and LGBTQ legislation across the country that many see as discriminatory.
Most recently, Oklahoma and Arizona became the latest states to impose transgender sports bans. Similar legislation has been introduced in more than 30 states. On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law. The legislation, which is dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by LGBTQ activists, limits what classrooms can teach about sexual orientation and gender identity. Meanwhile, various states have introduced legislation banning and/or criminalizing gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
The White House condemned anti-LGBTQ legislation and vowed to fight against it at the state level.
“The evidence is clear that these types of bills stigmatize and worsen the well-being and mental health of transgender kids, and they put loving and supportive families across the country at risk of discrimination and harassment,” the White House said. “As the President has said, these bills are government overreach at its worst, they are un-American, and they must stop.”
The White House vowed to provide additional mental health resources and investments in education for LGBTQ youth, their families and their support networks, as well as enhance federal services and benefits for the community.
“To everyone celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, I want you to know that your President sees you. The First Lady, the Vice President, the Second Gentleman, and my entire Administration see you for who you are — made in the image of God and deserving of dignity, respect, and support,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Thursday.
“We’re committed to advancing transgender equality in the classroom, on the playing field, at work, in our military, and our housing and healthcare systems – everywhere, simply everywhere,” the statement said.
Jeopardy champion Amy Schneider, the first openly transgender individual to compete on the show, visited the White House for the Transgender Day of Visibility to meet with second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Schneider, who won a historic 40-game streak, told ABC News she hopes that her visit would advance visibility for the transgender community.
“I think just the same thing that I have been accomplishing, which is being a trans person out there that isn’t monstrous, that isn’t threatening, and is just a normal person like we all are. So the more people like me can be seen, the harder it is to sustain the myths that are driving a lot [of] this hate and fear,” she said.
Many civil rights groups advocating for LGBTQ rights welcomed the changes announced by the White House.
“Today’s actions prove that transgender people have an ally in the White House, and come at a much needed time when transgender people – particularly young people – are under attack in statehouses across the country,” the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement on Thursday.
The National Center for Transgender Equality said in a statement that at a time when “transgender people are being attacked and targeted by state and local politicians,” the White House’s new policies show the community “that the president of the United States has their back.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Conor Finnegan, Robert Zepeda and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. | https://whee.net/2022/03/31/x-gender-marker-soon-available-on-passports-as-part-of-push-for-inclusivity/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:01Z |
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Longtime Miami associate head coach Chris Caputo has accepted a contract offer to become the new coach at George Washington, a person with knowledge of the situation said Thursday night.
The school and Caputo were working out final contract details including length of the deal, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because George Washington had not announced the hiring.
Caputo replaces Jamion Christian, who was 29-50 in three seasons at the school.
Caputo has been an integral part of Miami coach Jim Larranaga’s staff for two decades, including helping George Mason to the Final Four in 2006 and the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight this season. He has been associate head coach at Miami since May 2015, overseeing much of the team’s recruiting efforts and serving as the team’s defensive coordinator.
___
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/article/AP-source-Miami-s-Chris-Caputo-accepts-offer-to-17049942.php | 2022-04-01T01:51:03Z |
Grass Valley man linked to robbery, ghost guns
A Grass Valley man facing several charges, including robbery, has been linked to ghost guns and body armor found during the execution of a search warrant, authorities said.
Nye Andrew Petros, 45, remained jailed Thursday afternoon on charges of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, being a felon in possession of firearms, felon in possession of ammunition, illegally possessing body armor, dissuading a witness or victim, burglary, criminal threats, and brandishing a firearm. His bond is $100,000, Nevada County Jail logs and a news release state.
Authorities say Petros was identified on Feb. 9 as a suspect in a Westhill Road assault and theft over an illegal marijuana sale.
“A report of the incident was written and forwarded to our Major Crimes Unit where detectives have been actively investigating the case,” said Andrew Trygg, Sheriff’s Office spokesman, in a news release. “The investigation uncovered that Petros was also identified as a suspect in several previous thefts at the victim’s residence.”
On Feb. 21, detectives executed a search warrant on Petros’ home on Kentucky Flat Road in Nevada City. The officers found several items the victim from the Feb. 9 assault reported stolen, the release states.
On Tuesday, deputies responded to a domestic violence incident on Inspiration Lane in Grass Valley.
“Upon arriving on the scene, deputies determined the incident involved Petros and he was believed to be barricaded inside of a residence on the property, refusing to come out,” Trygg said.
Authorities then formed a cordon around the home, and tried to talk to Petros, though there was no response. They then obtained an arrest and search warrant, entered the home and arrested Petros without incident, the release states.
On Wednesday, authorities served another search warrant at a storage facility Petros used. They found 13 firearms, two of which were ghost guns; thousands of rounds of ammunition; and sets of body armor, reports state.
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Grass Valley man linked to robbery, ghost guns
A Grass Valley man facing several charges, including robbery, has been linked to ghost guns and body armor found during the execution of a search warrant, authorities said. | https://www.theunion.com/news/grass-valley-man-linked-to-robbery-ghost-guns/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:03Z |
Ex-minor leaguer ran major league sports betting operation
A former minor league pitcher ran a major league illegal sports betting operation in California that used other former pro athletes to take bets and took wagers from players still in the game, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Wayne Nix, who threw for Oakland Athletics farm teams, used his connections to recruit three former Major League Baseball players and a former pro football player as fellow bookies, prosecutors said.
The MLB began looking into the matter when it learned of it Thursday, but was unaware any of those involved other than Nix, a spokesman said.
Court records offered no names of the players who worked for Nix or those who placed bets with his business, but they provide a glimpse of the kind of money being wagered, earned and lost.
A professional football player paid Nix $245,000 for gambling losses in 2016. An MLB coach paid $4,000 in losses that same year. It was not disclosed if either bet on their own games or their own sports.
MLB prohibits players from betting on baseball or gambling illegally on sports. They can bet on other sports if it’s legal. The National Football League policy bars all personnel from betting on football games.
A Los Angeles check cashing business that has agreed to plead guilty to failing to prevent money laundering in the scheme cashed over $18 million in checks from two single bettors, prosecutors said.
One client wagered $5 million on the Super Bowl but it was not revealed if that gambit paid off.
Sports betting is legal in 30 states, but not in California. However, voters will have a chance to legalize it at the polls in November.
Nix, 45, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to run an illegal gambling operation and faces up to eight years in prison. He also admitted he failed to report $1.4 million in income in 2017 and 2018. He has agreed to pay back taxes and interest of $1.25 million and forfeit $1.3 million seized from bank accounts.
Nix began the sports bookmaking business about 20 years ago after his six-year minor league career — with stops in Arizona, Texas and California — ended, prosecutors said.
His client list was created from contacts he had made in the sports world and included current and former pro athletes. The agents he hired helped expand that clientele.
The operation eventually began using a Costa Rican business, Sand Island Sports, to create accounts where bets could be placed and tracked and credit limits set, prosecutors said. Bets were placed online or through a call center, though Nix paid winners and kept most of the money from losing bets.
Those who exceeded credit limits were shut off, though exceptions were made, according to court documents.
A sports broadcaster’s account was reactivated in February 2019 after he told Nix he was refinancing his home mortgage to pay off his gambling debts.
In September 2019, Nix increased the credit limit to a baseball player with debts so he could make additional bets.
In November, 2019, Nix’s partner, Edon Kagasoff, told a business manager for a professional basketball player that he would increase the maximum wager he could place to $25,000 per NBA game.
Kagasoff, 44, faces the same conspiracy charge as Nix. He also agreed to plead guilty and forfeit over $3 million in funds seized from his home and bank accounts.
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune. | https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/story/2022-03-31/ex-minor-leaguer-ran-major-league-sports-betting-operation | 2022-04-01T01:51:02Z |
It was 20 years ago,or more, and I was studying for my master’s degree at the London School of Economics. Flight Officer Michael “Dicky” Reid (we called him Mick) was the father of a good friend of mine at the LSE. His white hair was unkempt, and he was blind in his latter years. In his prime, he was a pilot. He flew the Spitfire in combat over Europe in the waning days of World War II. In the immediate postwar years, he flew evacuation top cover in various places as the British Empire retreated, like the tide, from the far reaches of the world toward home.
He lived at Maplesden, a sprawling and ancient farm home an hour’s train ride south of London. He and his wife, Nima, were kind enough to host several of us students in need of a quiet place to read and write up our dissertations. Which we did, over the course of that summer, in between row-boating on the family pond, eyeing trout in the brook and walking the family spaniel on the hills. The initial excavation work on the swimming pool at Maplesden was accomplished by an errant buzz bomb in the waning days of World War II.
The afternoons were quiet and cool. Along with the gentle breezes and the buzzing of insects in the garden, I could hear him talking on the telephone and the occasional chatter from the radio in his office. The hourly news report, cattle prices and the weather. He marked time by a talking clock on his desk. Click. “The time is now…”
Nearing sundown, when the clock told him it was five, or six, or whatever hour pleased him, you could hear the scratch of the chair on the stone floor.
“Charlie Kilo!” he would bellow. The phonetic letters of my name calling from down the halls and around the corners. Books shut, pencils went down, and thus would begin the evening. Sitting at the end of the wooden table in the kitchen, he would talk, and I would listen.
I learned the route from Beachy Head to Biggin Hill when the weather was so bad you were forced down to 100 feet or less, the cold rain congealing in droplets along the cockpit coaming. Sitting in his chair, the long-vanished spade grip in his right hand and the throttle in his left, he flung his eager craft along the country lanes, railroad lines and hedgerows, settling over the mist-shrouded trees and onto the turf of home, the Merlin rattling and popping as his nimble little fighting machine paid off in the flare.
I was not yet a pilot in my own right, but I was steeped in the lore. My father was a crop duster, and I was reared on a grass airstrip in Florida to the music of Pratt and Whitney radials. My questions must surely have been tiresome, but they did prompt a flood of tales from him and even more fond memories of my own. Both of us sitting there in the kitchen, smelling the supper on the stove, remembering the blessings of life lived with airplanes.
That wasn’t all. We tried, on successive nights, to see if we could collectively piece together the entirety of Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.”
“There’s something of a ‘hoary-headed swain’ in there, Charlie Kilo. Don’t you recall it?” he would ask.
“‘Oft have we seen him…?’” I would hesitantly reply.
“Ah, yes. That’s it. ‘Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn/Brushing with hasty steps the dews away/To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.’”
So it would go. Long years had passed since I had learned these lines in Ms. Unold’s British literature class, and years further still since his own schoolboy days. Between us, we got pretty close to completing the whole thing without having to look it up in Nima’s library down the hall.
We talked of the labors of building and maintaining a prize herd of Sussex cattle, which he had done. He was curious about the raising of peanuts in the sandy soil of far-off Florida and my own experience as a farm boy raising pigs. He shared with me the joy of flying his little Tiger Moth off Maplesden in the decades after the war, of running it over to the Isle of Wight for agricultural society meetings. That was before he lost his sight and had to sell it.
My life in Washington prior to my moving to London prompted him to recount the tale of dropping leaflets of protest over central London when some British government or the other saw fit to fete a leader who hailed from behind the Iron Curtain. Just when I thought this yarn seemed a little far-fetched, he reached in a desk drawer and produced a contemporary newspaper clipping that confirmed the whole thing.
The companionable summer evenings gave way to the more ordinary cadence of life. The readings were finished. The dissertation was written and handed in. My life moved away from Maplesden and England and back toward home and work.
As I was returning to ordinary life, he was drifting away. He passed just after the turn of the millennium. He was buried in a wooden casket, decorated by his Nima, and with a bottle of whisky by his head. His placeholder stone contained a line from John Gillespie Magee Jr.’s “High Flight.”
“Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
“And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.”
That was another poem we would work on together during those evenings in the kitchen. It was easier, that one, than Gray’s “Elegy.”
The thread of my life since reconnected me to the blessings of aviation. In my own hours in the cockpit, I have experienced firsthand the happy interplay of the technical and the sublime. I have run low, like a rabbit, over the farming fields of Illinois and Missouri in an open cockpit biplane. I’ve looked out the windshield of our Baron at the Tetons and Monument Valley. I’ve seen the islands of the Bahamas placed like jewels on a sea of heart-stopping blue. I’ve followed my own familiar country lanes and fence rows toward home on quiet summer evenings, moving from the ethereal to the temporal as the Cub settles in the waning twilight.
On occasion, I remember that kitchen and the happy hours we spent there. Hours that won’t make it into any logbook except the one in my own mind. The tangible evidence of those moments has dropped, for the most part, over the far horizon. The cattle herd was distributed. Maplesden was sold. I do have a pewter mug Mick gave me, and it holds the extra pens on my desk as I write this. It was presented to him by his friends in agriculture on the occasion of his marriage.
“I was not yet a pilot in my own right, but I was steeped in the lore. My father was a crop duster, and I was reared on a grass airstrip in Florida to the music of Pratt and Whitney radials. My questions must surely have been tiresome, but they did prompt a flood of tales from him and even more fond memories of my own.”
A couple of summers ago, I returned to England with my family. Mick’s son Dickon was kind enough to take me to the old Stonegate churchyard to visit his grave. As I stood there on a lovely summer afternoon and listened to the wind through the trees, I had an irrational wish to hear that talking clock: “The time is now…”
Instead, I was left alone to surface a fond memory or two and contemplate anew the lines from Shakespeare engraved upon his headstone:
“His life was gentle and the elements so mixed within him that nature might stand up and say to all the world, This was a man.”
Do you want to read more Lessons Learned columns? Check out “Common-Sense Solutions For Winter Flying!” | https://www.planeandpilotmag.com/pilot-training/memories-of-a-former-spitfire-pilot/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:03Z |
Australia to send armoured vehicles to Ukraine
Australia will send some of its Bushmaster armoured vehicles to Ukraine following a request from the war-torn nation’s president Volodymyr Zelensky in his address to Parliament.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Friday morning that some of the Australian-made four-wheel-drive armoured vehicles would be sent over to Ukraine, along with a further $25 million worth of military support announced on Thursday.
“We are not just sending our prayers, we are sending our guns, ammunitions, humanitarian aid, all of this, our body armour, all of these things,” he said.
“We will send our armoured vehicles, our Bushmasters, as well, and we will fly them over there in our C-17s to make sure they can be there to support.”
Defence officials separately told a Senate estimates hearing there had been discussions throughout the night about how the Bushmasters could be supplied after Mr Zelensky specifically asked for them in his address to Parliament on Thursday evening.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said this included considering whether there were any in place in countries geographically closer to Ukraine which could be moved to the war zone faster than shipping them from Australia.
More to come. | https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/australia-to-send-armoured-vehicles-to-ukraine-20220401-p5a9yl.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed | 2022-04-01T01:51:04Z |
LIVERMORE FALLS — Story Time returns to Treat Memorial Library! Starting Wednesday, April 20 at 10:30 a.m., we will have Story Time outdoors at the library (weather permitting). Join us for stories, songs, activities, and take-home craft kits. We’re thrilled to share stories in person with you again! Hope to see you there!
We recently purchased numerous books by authors we haven’t tried before. Some of these new books are parts of series and we would like to know if you think them good enough for the library to purchase more books by the same author or the rest of the series. We are inserting rating slips in these books so when they are checked out all you have to do is check off the appropriate answers and return the slip after reading the book. We thank you in advance for your assistance and hope you will enjoy some (if not all) of the new books. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite author!
Book Club will also be returning to in person meetings on Thursday, April 14 at 3 p.m. We will discuss the final book in our Food in Fiction series, Quentins by Maeve Binchy. Please let staff know if you would like a copy of the book up for discussion. Book Club will being a new series in May, Count on Books, featuring books with numbers in the title.
Find out what’s new on our shelves with Bonkers for Books, our biweekly recommendation video on Facebook. We will be sharing some of our favorites April 2nd, April 16th, and April 30th this month. Beginning Tuesday, April 5th the Library will no longer require patrons to wear masks and visits will no longer be limited to ½ hour. However, we request patrons to wear masks, because the Library Director Myra Rosenbaum is at high risk for COVID-19 due to her being a cancer patient. Your consideration for her well-being will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance to those still willing to wear a mask. Please note that the library will be closed Tuesday, April 19th in observance of Patriots’ Day.
Any questions or for more information, please call the library at 897-3631. Always remember that you are able to log in to your own account and access the 3M Cloud Library through our online catalog at https://treat.biblionix.com/atoz/catalog/ While you are there, click on “See what’s hot” for a list of ALL the new items. Follow us on Facebook for any new developments.
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Maine
Congress hears Rep. Golden’s bill to allow Maine tribes to benefit from future federal Indian laws
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College
College softball: CMCC routs NVU-Johnson in doubleheader sweep
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Crime
Androscoggin County arrest log: March 25-31, 2022
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Schools & Education
Lewiston schools aiming for roughly $1 tax impact
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Crime
Three people facing trafficking charges accused of hiding fentanyl in cans of beans | https://www.sunjournal.com/2022/03/30/treat-memorial-library-news-5/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:04Z |
Fourth Quarter 2021 Highlights
- Total revenue increased to $44.3 million, up 617% year-over-year
- Cryptocurrency datacenter revenue increased to $33.7 million, up 676% year-over-year
- GAAP net loss was $41.4 million for the fourth quarter, including a $42.3 million noncash goodwill impairment charge related to the Support.com business, as compared to a net loss of $0.8 million in the prior year
- Adjusted EBITDA of $19.1 million – in line with February 2022 guidance of $18 million to $20 million
- Adjusted EBITDA margin of 43.2%, compared to 19.2% in the prior year
- Produced 609 bitcoins in the fourth quarter
- Mining capacity of approximately 1.4 EH/s from 17,300 miners as of December 31, 2021
- Adjusted net income of $7.6 million
- Completed acquisition of Spartanburg, SC site and commenced operations at the facility within one week
- Cash, short term investments and cryptocurrency holdings of $84.4 million as of December 31, 2021
Full Year 2021 Highlights
- Total revenue increased to $107.3 million, up 433% year-over-year
- Cryptocurrency datacenter revenue increased to $87.9 million, up 575% year-over-year
- GAAP Net Loss of $44.5 million, including the $42.3 million noncash goodwill impairment charge, as compared to a net loss of $3.3 million in the prior year
- Adjusted EBITDA of $52.9 million – consistent with $52 million estimate provided in March of 2021
- Adjusted net income of $26.8 million
- Produced 1,866 bitcoins during 2021
First Quarter 2022 Highlights
- Mining fleet as of March 31, 2022 consists of approximately 19,400 miners with approximately 1.6 EH/s of capacity
- 17% of hash rate capacity located at Spartanburg, SC less than four months after operations commenced at facility
- 29,600 additional miners contracted for delivery during the balance of 2022 from Bitmain representing approximately 3.1 EH/s of additional capacity
- Received and deployed approximately 11,800 miners in last twelve months with 97% deployed as scheduled
- Over $115 million of liquidity as of March 31, 2022 consisting of over $90 million in cash and fair value of crypto holdings and over $25 million in undrawn financing commitments
- Over $135 million of cash on deposit with Bitmain as of March 31, 2022
FAIRFIELD, Conn., March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: GREE) ("Greenidge"), a vertically integrated cryptocurrency datacenter and power generation company, today announced financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and provided an update regarding the first quarter of 2022.
"Consistent with the estimates we released in February, Greenidge demonstrated another strong quarter of significant revenue growth and substantial Adjusted EBITDA generation," said Jeff Kirt, Chief Executive Officer of Greenidge. "During the quarter, in addition to commencing mining operations at our Spartanburg, SC facility within a week of its acquisition, our operations team continued to execute the deployment of our fleet as scheduled. After just four months of operations, our Spartanburg facility houses approximately 17% of our datacenter capacity."
"Since the end of the year, we have fortified our balance sheet with non-dilutive capital and ended the first quarter with over $115 million in liquidity. This puts us on solid footing to execute the deployment of the remaining fleet of over 29,000 miners we have delivering throughout the balance of 2022 from Bitmain, which will bring our total capacity to approximately 4.7 EH/s. Over the last twelve months, our in-house operations team has deployed almost 12,000 new miners and energized substantially all of the equipment into production within days or even hours of receipt. Despite the well-known challenges in the global air freight market, 97% of the machines were received and deployed as scheduled."
Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Results
Greenidge's revenue for the fourth quarter was $44.3 million, up 617% compared to the prior year. Cryptocurrency Datacenter revenue was $33.7 million, up 676% versus the prior year, and Power and Capacity revenue was $2.2 million, up 19% compared to the prior year. The merger with Support.com on September 14, 2021 added approximately $8.4 million to fourth quarter revenue.
Net loss was $41.4 million for the fourth quarter as compared to a net loss of $0.8 million in the prior year. The fourth quarter included a $42.3 million noncash goodwill impairment charge relating to the Support.com business, a $3.6 million remeasurement adjustment associated with an environmental liability, $2.2 million of expansion costs and $1.2 million of merger and public company filing costs. Excluding these items, Adjusted net income was $7.6 million, compared to Adjusted net loss of $0.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $19.1 million, or 43.2% of revenue, compared to the prior year fourth quarter of $1.2 million, or 19.2% of revenue. The significant and continuing expansion of cryptocurrency datacenter operations drove the growth in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin.
As of December 31, 2021, Greenidge had cash, short term investments and fair value of cryptocurrency holdings of $84.4 million.
Note, Adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP measures. See the tables attached to this press release for a reconciliation from GAAP to non-GAAP measures and Use of Non-GAAP Information below for more details
Cryptocurrency Datacenter Commentary
Greenidge produced 609 bitcoins during the fourth quarter, compared to 228 bitcoins in the fourth quarter of the prior year. For the full year of 2021, Greenidge produced 1,866 bitcoins, which compared to 1,146 bitcoins in 2020.
As of December 31, 2021, Greenidge had approximately 17,300 miners with an aggregate hash rate capacity of approximately 1.4 EH/s and has additional purchase commitments that are expected to bring the company's total capacity to approximately 49,000 miners and 4.7 EH/s by the end of 2022.
Capital Discussion
During the fourth quarter of 2021, Greenidge successfully closed $72.2 million of public offerings of senior unsecured notes due in 2026, netting proceeds of $66.9 million after commissions, discounts and issuance costs.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, Greenidge also successfully raised $47.4 million in net proceeds through the sale of 2.13 million shares of its class A common stock, pursuant to the previously announced equity purchase agreement. Through March 31, 2022, the Greenidge has raised $51.4 million in net proceeds through the sale of 2.55 million shares of its class A common stock pursuant to the equity purchase agreement.
South Carolina Expansion
During the fourth quarter of 2021, Greenidge completed the acquisition of its facility in Spartanburg, SC, including over 750,000 square feet of buildings and 175 acres of land. The transaction closed on December 7, 2021 and Greenidge commenced operations at the site within a week of the acquisition.
First Quarter 2022 Update
Greenidge anticipates having approximately 19,400 miners at its datacenters in New York and South Carolina as of March 31, 2022 with approximately 1.6 EH/s of capacity. Approximately 17% of the hash rate capacity is located at Greenidge's second facility in Spartanburg, SC. The company has approximately 29,600 additional miners scheduled for delivery from Bitmain throughout the balance of 2022 representing approximately 3.1 EH/s in additional capacity and has over $135 million of cash on deposit with Bitmain associated with the purchase agreements for these miners.
In the twelve months ended March 31, 2022, Greenidge has taken delivery of approximately 11,800 miners, of which 97% arrived as scheduled, with only approximately 370 delayed due primarily to freight vendor performance and a brief Covid-related lockdown in Malaysia during 2021.
Greenidge has liquidity of over $115 million as of March 31, 2022 consisting of over $90 million in cash and fair value of cryptocurrency holdings and over $25 million in undrawn financing commitments.
In late March, at the request of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (the "Department"), Greenidge agreed to extend, for a second time, the deadline for the Department to complete its review of the renewal application for the Title V Air Permit at the company's New York facility. The application was deemed complete by the Department in September 2021 and this second extension is to June 30, 2022. Greenidge continues to operate in New York without interruption during this period and intends to continue to work constructively with the Department to finalize a permit renewal. Greenidge notes that it is not uncommon for renewal applicants to operate for extended periods of time, sometimes years, prior to finalizing a permit renewal and additional future extensions may be requested.
About Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc.
Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: GREE) is a vertically integrated cryptocurrency datacenter and power generation company. Greenidge is committed to 100% carbon-neutral datacenter operations at all of its locations by utilizing low-carbon sources of energy and offsetting its carbon footprint.
Use of Non-GAAP Information
To provide investors and others with additional information regarding the financial results of Greenidge (the "Company"), the Company has disclosed in this press release certain non-GAAP operating performance measures of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin and Adjusted net income. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization, which is then adjusted for stock-based compensation and other special items determined by management, including, but not limited to costs associated with the merger with Support.com, costs of becoming a public company (which included the costs of a corporate reorganization from an LLC, public registration of shares and associated costs), business expansion costs, impairment of goodwill and remeasurement of environmental liability. Adjusted EBITDA margin is the percentage of Adjusted EBITDA of revenue. Adjusted net income (loss) is net loss adjusted for the after-tax impacts of special items determined by management, including but not limited to costs associated with the merger with Support.com, costs of becoming a public company (which included the costs of a corporate reorganization from an LLC, public registration of shares and associated costs), business expansion costs, impairment of goodwill and remeasurement of environmental liability. These non-GAAP financial measures are a supplement to and not a substitute for or superior to, the Company's results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures presented by the Company may be different from non-GAAP financial measures presented by other companies. Specifically, the Company believes the non-GAAP information provides useful measures to investors regarding the Company's financial performance by excluding certain costs and expenses that the Company believes are not indicative of its core operating results. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results or guidance prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to U.S. GAAP results is included herein.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements for purposes of federal and state securities laws. These forward-looking statements involve uncertainties that could significantly affect Greenidge's financial or operating results. These forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "foresee," "expect," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "would," "could," and "should," and the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, among other things, statements regarding the business plan, business strategy and operations of Greenidge in the future. In addition, all statements that address operating performance and future performance, events or developments that are expected or anticipated to occur in the future, such as statements concerning (i) the delivery of miners currently on order with Bitmain, (ii) the development of facilities in South Carolina, (iii) future mining capacity, (iv) future electrical capacity, (v) the ability to offset carbon emissions, (vi) future liquidity, (vii) the ability to obtain future debt or equity financing and (viii) the Department Title V Air permit renewal process, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Matters and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the matters and factors described in Part II, Item 1A. "Risk Factors" of Greenidge's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by the information contained under this caption. No assurance can be given that these are all of the factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release. You should not put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. No assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do occur, the actual results, performance, or achievements of Greenidge could differ materially from the results expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and Greenidge does not assume any duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, the occurrence of future events, uncertainties or otherwise, after the date of this press release.
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SOURCE Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc. | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/03/31/greenidge-generation-reports-fourth-quarter-full-year-2021-results-provides-first-quarter-2022-update/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:03Z |
In the middle of budget week, Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese boarded a VIP aircraft bound for Melbourne to attend Shane Warne’s Wednesday evening memorial service.
Their hostilities, moving towards fever pitch for the imminent election, were put aside for the purpose of celebrating the life of a national hero.
Morrison took Tim Wilson, who was Warne’s local member. Albanese was accompanied on the plane by his deputy Richard Marles and Senator Don Farrell, shadow minister for sport.
Both leaders knew that, whatever the exigencies of this budget week, the trip was essential. Warne was far more popular than either of them.
Budgets these days are prone to disappear quickly but having this one register – and positively – with voters is vitally important for Morrison. But there are problems cutting through.
One is public cynicism – the “you’re just trying to buy us” reaction. Another is that other stories are grabbing attention including, but not only, the Warne service.
The run up to that service saw the morning TV shows give less attention than usual to budget follow up, with high profile TV presenters abandoning visits to Canberra in favour of doing their interviews remotely.
For Morrison, budget night itself had been soured by an extraordinarily strong, personal attack on him by one of his backbenchers, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.
Fierravanti-Wells denounced the prime minister as “an autocrat and a bully”. “It is his way or the highway,” she told the Senate.
“He is adept at running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds, lacking a moral compass and having no conscience.”
“In my public life I have met ruthless people,” she said. “Morrison tops the list […] Morrison is not fit to be prime minister.”
Some context is needed. Fierravanti-Wells has been a trenchant critic of Morrison right back to the days of his preselection, which was mired in a bout of nasty party infighting (that she reprised in her speech).
At the weekend, Fierravanti-Wells was bumped, in favour of Senator Jim Molan, in a battle for a winnable place on the NSW Senate ticket.
“I have known for a number of years of the machinations involving the PMO [prime minister’s office] and others to move me on,” she said.
While her loss happened in a mass vote of Liberal Party members, the dysfunctional NSW division’s preselection process more generally has seen an appalling factional imbroglio, in which Morrison and his factional henchman Alex Hawke have been central players.
A certain discount will be applied to Fierravanti-Wells’ attack, for a range of reasons. But her criticism feeds into the narrative about the toxic culture in Parliament House and in the major parties, which has been recently re-fuelled on the Labor side by friends of the late senator Kimberley Kitching, who allege she was bullied by colleagues on her own side.
In an earlier speech this week, Fierravanti-Wells identified with Kitching, making it clear they’d discussed how they both felt ill-treated within their respective parties.
The Liberals, especially Morrison, have been using the claims about the alleged behaviour towards Kitching to take shots at Albanese. Fierravanti-Wells has effectively muzzled them.
For Morrison, the Fierravanti-Wells diatribe is dangerous because it goes to the criticism of his character that has potency with some voters. Some of the scathing assessments have come from his own side, for instance revealed in leaked text messages sent by Gladys Berejiklian and Barnaby Joyce.
The other distraction of the week is yet to come, and of itself entirely welcome. However, from Anthony Albanese’s standpoint, it is unfortunately timed.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to address the federal parliament late Thursday. He’s scheduled to speak just two hours before Albanese delivers his budget reply, which will contain a major policy announcement.
Zelenskyy has captured the attention of people everywhere as he leads his nation in its David and Goliath battle. Delivering a budget reply that competes with the appearance of an international super-hero will be hard going. | https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-budget-week-punctuated-by-distractions-180336 | 2022-04-01T01:51:05Z |
BANGKOK (AP) — A report by the World Wildlife Fund shows illegal purchases of wildlife online are growing in Myanmar in a threat both to public health and to endangered species.
The report released Fridayfound that enforcement of bans on such transactions has weakened amid political turmoil following a 2021 military takeover.
The number of such dealings rose 74% over a year earlier to 11,046, nearly all of them involving sales of live animals. For the 173 species traded, 54 are threatened with global extinction, the report said.
Researchers identified 639 Facebook accounts belonging to wildlife traders. The largest online trading group had more than 19,000 members and dozens of posts per week, it said.
The animals bought and sold included elephants, bears and gibbons, Tibetan antelope, critically endangered pangolins and an Asian giant tortoise. The most popular were various species of monkeys, often bought as pets.
Most of the animals advertised for sale were taken from the wild. They also included civets, which along with pangolins have been identified as potential vectors in the spread of diseases such as SARS and COVID-19.
Shaun Martin, who heads the WWF’s Asia-Pacific regional cybercrime project, said monitoring of the online wildlife trade shows different species being kept close together, sometimes in the same cage.
“With Asia’s track record as a breeding ground for many recent zoonotic diseases, this sharp uptick in online trade of wildlife in Myanmar is extremely concerning,” he said.
The unregulated trade in wild species and resulting interactions between wild species and humans raise the risks of new and possibly vaccine-resistant mutations of illnesses such as the COVID-19 that could evolve undetected in non-human hosts into more dangerous variants of disease, experts say.
COVID-19 is one of manydiseases traced back to animals. The killing and sale of what is known as bushmeat in Africa was thought to be a source for Ebola. Bird flu likely came from chickens at a market in Hong Kong in 1997. Measles is believed to have evolved from a virus that infected cattle.
“Illegal wildlife trade is a serious concern from the point of view of biodiversity preservation and conservation and its potential impact on health security,” said Mary Elizabeth G. Miranda, an expert on zoonotic diseases and illness and CEO of the Field Epidemiology Training Program Alumni Foundation in the Philippines.
Social media and other online platforms have joined a worldwide effort to crack down on the thriving trade in birds, reptiles, mammals and animal parts. In Myanmar, much of the trade in wildlife is through Facebook, which as a member of the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking online has taken action to block or remove accounts of people engaged in such transactions.
But as is true elsewhere, new accounts often pop up just as soon as old ones are shut down, hindering enforcement, the report noted. Easy online access to the animals also is driving up demand, worsening the problem.
Discussions of purchases of protected species often took place in open Facebook groups, suggesting that such dealings remain “largely risk-free,” the report said. Since payments and deliveries often are done using messenger apps, controlling the problem is doubly difficult.
Highlighting the lack of enforcement, people in the illegal wildlife trade in Myanmar often use rudimentary methods of moving the animals and animal products around — with buses being the usual form of transport.
The study by WWF in Myanmar focused on trade online of animals and other creatures inside the country, though there were some imports from neighboring Thailand, mainly of birds such as hornbills and salmon crested cockatoos, and of crocodiles, to India.
Some deals might involve animals or parts being sent into China, it said.
The conservation group said it plans future studies to better understand Myanmar’s role in the global trade in endangered species. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/science-2/ap-science/wwf-report-says-online-wildlife-trade-on-rise-in-myanmar/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:05Z |
2 thoughts on “Suspect allegedly stabbed police officer after he pet dog aggressively, Las Vegas police say”
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Good job Mr Allen, I can begin the cop was aggressive with the dog and went out his way to antagonise the dog and you. If the dog would have defended itself the cop would have no doubt used that as an excuse to shoot it and the owner. Well he reaped what he sowed
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first of all..he didn’t know it was a cop(not that it matters) , and second… leave your hands off my family
i dont believe the pig was just petting this mans dog ..not for 1 second
he most likely deserved everything he got.. did he ask first ? highly doubt it , cops do whatever they want and dont ask permission because they have been told and proven that they have more rights than anyone else , so this is the behavior we get
oh and what would happen to anyone roughing up a cop dog? ..shot is what happensso call this one even for now , let the man go ..he’s served his community with a valuable lesson
leave other peoples belongings and families alone or get what you deserve .. yeah that especially means your blue suit gang members too | http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/suspect-allegedly-stabbed-police-officer-after-he-pet-dog-aggressively-las-vegas-police-say/300781 | 2022-04-01T01:51:04Z |
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Seeking to counter international fears over its new security alliance with China, the Solomon Islands said Friday it won't allow China to build a military base there.
But that insistence will do little to ease concerns about the pact from the nation's traditional partners that include New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
The leader of neighboring Micronesia added his voice to those expressing trepidation by invoking the bloody battles of World War II and warning that the pact could again see the South Pacific region become a battleground for much larger powers.
The Solomon Islands government said Thursday a draft agreement of the new security pact had been initialed by representatives from the Solomons and China and would be "cleaned up" and signed.
In a statement Friday, the Solomon Islands government said that “contrary to the misinformation promoted by anti-government commentators” the agreement did not invite China to establish a military base.
“Government is conscious of the security ramification of hosting a military base, and it will not be careless to allow such initiative to take place under its watch,” the statement said.
The statement seemed to more emphatically rule out the possibility of a base after Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare had earlier told parliament it had no intention of asking China to build a base.
Sogavare said his nation sought only peace and prosperity, citing its foreign policy mantra: “We are friends to all and enemies to none.” He said it wasn't a secret deal but a sovereign issue.
Under the terms of the draft agreement, China could send police, military personnel and other armed forces to the Solomon Islands “to assist in maintaining social order” and for a variety of other reasons. It could also send warships to the islands for stopovers and to replenish supplies, which had led to speculation about the possibility of China establishing a naval base on the South Pacific islands.
Micronesia President David Panuelo wrote a letter to Sogavare saying Micronesia had “grave security concerns” about the "novel and unprecedented" arrangement.
He said the two small nations had become battle grounds during World War II and that it could happen again as China, the U.S. and Australia asserted themselves in the region.
“And is it plausible that, once the spheres have been carved out, that our concerns about climate change — today’s problem — would manifest into all-too-real concerns about a war in our backyards, with our people, our islands, as the playground for children playing as adults?” Panuelo wrote to Sogavare.
Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said Friday that while it respected the Solomons' sovereignty, the deal showed that China was acting aggressively in the region.
“We need to be very cautious here because the Chinese are incredibly aggressive, the tactics that they’re deploying into small island nations are quite remarkable,” he told Sky News.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern this week described the possibility of Chinese military forces stationed on the Solomon Islands as “the potential militarization of the region.” And the U.S. State Department said Washington did not believe China’s security forces and methods needed to be exported.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Thursday that “relevant parties should see the China-Solomon Islands security cooperation objectively and rationally and stop making irresponsible remarks.”
“Attempts to provoke, obstruct and undermine China’s friendly relations with the island countries is not popular and will not succeed,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.
“China-Solomon Islands cooperation does not target any third party and is not in conflict with Solomon Islands’ cooperation with other countries. Instead, it complements the existing regional cooperation mechanisms in a positive way,” he added.
The Solomon Islands, home to about 700,000 people, switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019 — a contributing factor to riots in November last year between residents of different islands within the country.
Australian police have been in the capital, Honiara, maintaining peace since then under a bilateral security treaty established in 2017. It provides a legal basis for the rapid deployment of Australian police, troops and associated civilians in the event of a major security challenge.
Chinese police are already on the islands conducting a training mission.
The Federated States of Micronesia is home to about 100,000 people. It has diplomatic relations and considers itself a “friend” of China, as well as having a close relationship with the U.S. under a compact of free association. | https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Solomon-Islands-says-China-deal-won-t-include-17049939.php | 2022-04-01T01:51:05Z |
Net Profit Achieves High Growth of 120.0% to RMB 412.4 Million
HONG KONG, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cogobuy Group ("Cogobuy" or the "Company", stock code: 400.HK; with its subsidiaries (the ''Group'')), a technology services company focusing on serving the global chip industry and artificial intelligence ("AI") and internet of things ("IoT", together "AIoT") ecosystem, is pleased to announce its unaudited consolidated results for the Year ended December 31, 2021 ("2021" or the "Year").
Financial Highlights of the Full Year of 2021
The continued expansion of 5G development and application scenarios has caused demand for chips to surge, significantly increasing and supporting the Group's revenue. The chip business achieved a higher growth during the Year. The Company's net profit and revenue both increased significantly, with net profit growing faster than revenue. As of December 31, 2021, the Group's net profit was approximately RMB 412.4 million, a YoY increase of 120.0%; revenue was approximately RMB 9,452.4 million, a YoY increase of 52.8%; gross profit was approximately RMB 933.4 million, a YoY increase of 33.6%. The increase in gross profit margin was mainly attributable to the change in the Company's sales mix. The services provided by the Group cover areas with higher gross profit margins, including V2X, smart homes, AI surveillance and other markets. During the Year, the Group's profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company was RMB 296.2 million, a significant YoY increase of 140.4%; the Company's cash and bank balances including short-term bank deposits and pledged deposits was RMB 519.3 million. The Group's bank loans were RMB 405.3 million. Basic common shares outstanding were 1,412,766,732, weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purpose of diluted earnings per share were 1,393,448,000.
Following technology's trend towards the creation of a 5G industry ecosystem and widespread digital transformation, the Group has formed a "Comtech and IngDan" platform to better serve the "Chips-Devices-Cloud" ecosystem along the entire AIoT industry chain, with the goal of supporting long term, sustainable income for the Group. "Comtech" focuses on the application design and distribution of IC chips to AIoT enterprises in China. Meanwhile, "IngDan" focuses on the R&D and sales of proprietary products, as well as customized application design, which include related support services for modules, devices, and cloud, to further develop AIoT module customized solutions. Through the two business platforms, the Group is creating a closed loop of "Chips-Devices-Cloud" ecosystem along the AIoT value chain, and provides services for the five main AIoT verticals: V2X, Smart Home, Robotics, Smart Manufacturing, and Smart Medical, so as to promote the comprehensive and sustainable development of the Group.
Strong Growth Momentum of the Chip Business
5G's large-scale and rapid development is further driving the comprehensive application of chips. In 2021 global chip sales volume was 1.15 trillion pieces, with a YoY increase of 26.2% to US$555.9 billion. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) predicts global chip sales will increase by 8.8% in 2022.[1] Comtech's chip business also benefited directly and grew rapidly, with a significant YoY increase of 93.3% in revenue. "Comtech" maintains connection with over 50% of global high-end chip suppliers and many leading domestic chip companies, allowing it to serve over a hundred global high-end chip suppliers upstream, and ten thousands of AIoT hardware companies downstream, while also providing chip application development solutions and sales services. As 5G continues to empower digital transformation across many industries, the demand for chips will continue to drive rapid growth for the Group's chip business.
Participated in the building of OpenHarmony ecosystem and Launched the First OpenHarmony Product
During the Year, "Comtech" became a platinum-level donor to the OpenAtom Foundation, and committed to creating an independent and controllable OpenHarmony industrial ecosystem and industry standards with technology giants such as Huawei. OpenHarmony promotes information security and the independent and controllable core technology industries in China, and facilitates the standardization of AIoT and technology applications in various industries. OpenHarmony is a core operating system software incubated and operated by the OpenAtom Foundation, which is widely used in various smart devices and will become the mainstream standard for AIoT in the future. The Group actively participated in the building of OpenHarmony ecosystem, and continuously improved the Group's AIoT application technology services, leading to new opportunities for the Group's business.
During the Reporting Period, the Group successfully launched the first Smart BMS battery management system based on a combination of domestic chips and OpenHarmony solutions, which are mainly used in the smart battery products of new energy vehicles, electric motorcycles, and the industrial power system. As a result, the performance and safety of power batteries are now greatly improved and further diversified communication transmission functions and cloud real-time data management have been implemented, to further achieve lower power consumption and better intelligent applications. This first product laid the foundation for the integration of the Group's chips application and OpenHarmony solutions, helping the Group to develop the AIoT industry chain market.
Spin-off and Separate Listing of "Comtech" on A Shares
The Company obtained approval from The Hong Kong Stock Exchange Limited for the spin-off and separate listing of "Comtech" on A shares in Mainland China, which will further expand the Group's development in the domestic capital market. As the domestic chip market gains strong support from national policies, "Comtech" is preparing for the A share listing. After the completion of the Proposed A Share Listing, the Company will remain the ultimate controlling shareholder of "Comtech", and its financial results will still be consolidated into the Company, which will facilitate the sustainable growth of the Group's performance. Moreover, in order to give investors a clearer understanding of the main business of "Comtech" and "Cogobuy Group", the Company plans to change its name from "Cogobuy Group" to "Ingdan Inc.". The proposed name change of the Company has been approved by the Board and will be subject to shareholders' approval at the annual general meeting in June 2022.
Strengthening the Layout of iPaaS Services
The applications of 5G and AI are only becoming more extensive, and the demand for digital innovation and transformation in various industries is rising, which further promotes the accelerated development of "Chips-Devices-Cloud" with AIoT application technologies. The technology integration of iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) has become one of the most important parts of digital transformation. The iPaaS platform service automates business processes and makes it easier to share data across applications. According to IndustryARC Report, the global iPaaS market is expected to reach US$6.1 billion in 2025, representing a CAGR of 36.4% from 2020 to 2025.[2] The Group has long recognized the opportunities and provided iPaaS services such as technology integration solutions, marketing solutions and distribution services to core technology suppliers in the "Chips-Devices-Cloud" ecosystem along the AIoT value chain through the two business platforms of "Comtech" and "IngDan". These iPaaS services covers five main AIoT verticals: V2X, Smart Home, Robotics, Smart Manufacturing, and Smart Medical, helping the Group capture the blue ocean market of iPaaS in China.
The Group actively deployed in the five main AIoT verticals and continues to explore opportunities in the iPaaS market. During the Year, the Group worked with different AIoT suppliers to formulate various solutions for chips and technology integration, and successfully built high-end equipment in different fields. These include 4K video endoscopes and ultrasound diagnostic systems for high-end medical equipment in the smart medical field, intelligent security systems for smart city construction, and a WIFI-BT wireless solution that empowers the intelligent transformation of TV, achieving intelligence and high efficiency for various industries. By leveraging its technological expertise in integrating upstream and downstream industrial supply chain resources, the Group has empowered the implementation of more iPaaS projects, and laid a solid foundation to further expand the Group's domestic iPaaS service market, which brings strong growth momentum for the Group.
V2X is one of the most important application scenarios in the implementation of 5G and AIoT, and it has driven a significant increase in demand for automotive semiconductors. According to the report by Omdia, semiconductor chips used in EV are 2.9 times more prevalent than those of traditional internal combustion EVs, and the automotive semiconductor industry will grow at a CAGR of 12.3% by 2025.[3] The Group has captured the huge market opportunity of V2X, and cooperated with various chip manufacturers, module suppliers, and automobile manufacturers. During the Year, the Group, together with the world's leading FPGA suppliers and technology enterprises, jointly created a hardware acceleration engine of LiDAR's 3D cloud data to empower the smart transportation field. With the surging wave of V2X, the Group will further develop and invest in the V2X market to consolidate its competitiveness in the field of V2X, and facilitate the steady development of the Group.
Outlook
Mr. Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogobuy Group, said, "2021 was the first year of China's '14th Five-Year Plan', and the national policy strongly supported — and continues to support — the development of technology. The government has introduced a number of favorable policies for the chip and 5G industries, which have led to a continuous increase in demand for chips. The Group also took advantage of favorable policies and market developments to maintain rapid growth in our business during the Year. In order to fully cover the needs of AIoT industry chain, the Group's iPaaS technology integration service has successfully promoted the implementation of multiple intelligent projects and achieved new breakthroughs for our business.
By joining the OpenAtom Foundation, we are committed to embedding OpenHarmony into a wide range of AIoT products with billion dollars market opportunities. In order to further the development of the application technology services field, the Group joined hands with Chinasoft International Ltd to launch a complete 'OpenHarmony +' solutions platform in early 2022, as well as an OpenHarmony collaborative innovation platform to form a comprehensive technical service capability.
The potential of chip development is viewed favorably by the market, which makes the Group's chip business a favorite of financial institutions. 'Comtech', a subsidiary of the Group, has received strong financial support from eight financial institutions. In particular, the Bank of China (Shenzhen) granted a credit facility of RMB300 million in early 2022, which fully affirmed the development potential of the Group's chip business and helped the Group deploy in the trillion-level chip industry market.
Looking forward, the rapid development of 5G and the explosive growth of AIoT applications will drive the continued increase in demand for chips, which will enable the Group's chip business to continue to grow rapidly. The chip business is expected to continue to be the core driver of the Group's growth. The Group will also continue to strive towards high-quality development, capture opportunities arising from the domestic 5G process and policy dividends, and actively explore the growth potential of the chip market. Through continuous improvement of the Group's business and services, and the use of the dual-platform development model, the Group is committed to creating a closed loop of "Chips-Devices-Cloud" ecosystem along the AIoT value chain and covering the entire 5G industry chain, which will promote the rapid growth of our business, as well as bring greater value returns to shareholders."
Caution Statement
The information contained in this document has not been independently verified. No representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is made by the Company or any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of such information or opinions presented or contained herein. The information contained in this document should be considered in the context of the circumstances prevailing at the time, is subject to change without notice and the Company makes no undertaking to update the information in this document to reflect any developments that occur after the date of the presentation. It is not the Company's intention to provide, and you may not rely on these materials as providing, a complete or comprehensive analysis of the Company, or its financial or trading position or prospects. Neither of the Company nor any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives accept any responsibility or have any liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this document or its contents or otherwise arising in connection with this document.
This document may contain statements that reflect the Company's current intent, beliefs and expectations about the future as of the respective dates indicated herein. These forward-looking statements not guarantees of future performance and are based on a number of assumptions about the Company's operations and factors beyond the Company's control and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives has any obligation, nor do they undertake, to update these forward-looking statements for any events or developments including the occurrence of unanticipated events that occur subsequent to such dates.
About Cogobuy Group
Cogobuy Group (stock code: 400.HK), a technology services company serving the global chip industry and artificial intelligence and Internet of Things ("AIoT") ecosystem, is headquartered in Shenzhen, with offices and branches across major cities in China, including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Xi'an, as well as overseas branches in Singapore, Israel, and Japan. The Group is comprised of two companies operating a dual-platform model: Comtech, a technology services platform for the chip industry, and IngDan, a platform providing AIoT technology and services. Together, the two platforms form a closed loop of "Chips-Devices-Cloud" ecosystem along the AIoT value chain. For further information, please visit www.cogobuygroup.com
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SOURCE Cogobuy | https://www.ky3.com/prnewswire/2022/04/01/cogobuy-announces-2021-annual-results/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:05Z |
Curio Wellness is cultivating a better way of life. As a trusted healthcare partner providing safe, effective and reliable products, we seek to continually elevate the healthcare conversation through education and patient experiences that are truly transformative. Whether for our patients, partners or employees, we seek to inspire and affect innovative healthcare solutions. | https://www.leafly.com/brands/curio-wellness/products/curio-wellness-original-glue-cartridges | 2022-04-01T01:51:06Z |
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MUST Ministries opening large new homeless shelter
Marietta-based MUST Ministries has completed its new, 43,556-square-foot homeless shelter, and will hold a...
www.georgiahealthnews.comMarietta-based MUST Ministries has completed its new, 43,556-square-foot homeless shelter, and will hold a...
www.georgiahealthnews.com | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2556738749694/must-ministries-opening-large-new-homeless-shelter | 2022-04-01T01:51:07Z |
\\title{\nAn Extension of Einhorn Equally Doped MagNet Method in Matter Space, Dimer Coal Space. {\\color {cyanhue} This is preproof \\pdfminht:0, this draft has had layout for the journal.}\\\\ \\let\\sout\n\n\\page{\\headingfont % {\\rm {\\fontsize{120}{19.0}}}%\n\\let(\\bylength=1)\\normaldpth Updated March 31, 2022 at 9:31 PM ET
Oscars' guests and viewers are still reeling over Will Smith's surprising and infamous onstage slap of comedian Chris Rock, who joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair. Shortly after, Smith went onstage to accept the Best Actor Oscar for his role in King Richard.
Will Packer, producer of the Academy Award, ceremony told the ABC News show Good Morning America that Los Angeles police officers were ready to arrest Will Smith if Rock wanted to press charges.
"They were saying, 'This is battery.' That was the word they used in that moment," Packer told T.J. Holmes, in an exclusive interview that was teased during ABC's World News Tonight. "They said, 'We will go get him. We are prepared. We will go get him right now. You can press charges. We can arrest him. They were laying out the options. And as they were talking, Chris was, he was being very dismissive of those options. He was like, 'No, I'm fine.' He was like, 'no, no, no.' And even to the point where I said, 'Rock, let them finish.'"
In the clip, Packer said after the officers finished laying out what Rock's options were, "they said, 'Would you like us to take any action? And he said no.'"
Packer also said he did not speak to Smith at all on Oscar night. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released a statement saying Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused.
In his acceptance speech, Smith apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees for the incident, but not Rock. On Instagram the following day, Smith wrote that he was embarrassed by his behavior and told Rock he was sorry. Still, the Academy began disciplinary proceedings against Smith-- which could include "suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions permitted."
SAG-AFTRA is also weighing sanctions against Smith.
On Wednesday night, Rock was onstage in Boston with a new comedy routine. He didn't say much about the slap. "I'm still kind of processing what happened," he said, adding that at some point he will talk about it "and it will be serious and funny."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2022-03-31/the-lapd-was-ready-to-arrest-will-smith-after-the-slap-will-packer-says | 2022-04-01T01:51:08Z |
WASHINGTON — Police said Thursday that five fetuses had been removed from a home in Washington that, according to an anti-abortion group, belonged to an activist who was charged by the Justice Department this week with blocking access to an abortion clinic in October 2020.
The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia would release only the address where the fetuses were found. Terrisa Bukovinac, founder and executive director of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, confirmed that the home belonged to Lauren Handy, 28, the group’s director of activism, who was arrested and charged with federal civil rights offenses this week.
“It is her apartment,” Bukovinac said, adding that the group would have more to say at a news conference Tuesday. “We are definitely going to reveal all the details on Tuesday, and they are explosive,” Bukovinac said.
Handy and Mary Petras, the lawyer representing her in the federal case, did not immediately respond to emails.
Television station WUSA reported that it had a camera outside Handy’s home Wednesday when homicide and forensic services detectives removed evidence in red biohazard bags and coolers from the basement. Handy declined to say what was in the coolers but said that “people would freak out when they heard,” WUSA reported.
The police said they had gone to the home around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to investigate a tip about “potential biohazard material” when officers found the fetuses inside. The fetuses were collected by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the police said, and an investigation was continuing. No charges have been announced in connection with the discovery.
The fetuses “were aborted in accordance with D.C. law, so we are not investigating this incident along those lines,” Ashan M. Benedict, executive assistant chief of police, said at a news conference Thursday.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything criminal in nature right now about that, except for how they got into this house,” Benedict said, “and so we’ll continue to look at that.”
In a two-count indictment announced by the Justice Department Wednesday, Handy was charged with directing eight other people who used their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes to block the doors of an abortion clinic in Washington on Oct. 22, 2020 — an action that one of them livestreamed on Facebook.
The clinic was not identified in court papers, although Bukovinac said it was the Washington Surgi-Clinic.
The nine defendants were charged with engaging in a conspiracy to prevent the clinic from providing reproductive health services and to prevent patients from receiving those services, prosecutors said.
They were also charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a 1994 law that makes it a crime to threaten, obstruct or injure a person seeking access to a reproductive health clinic or to damage clinic property.
Attorney General Merrick Garland had signaled in September that the Justice Department would use the FACE Act to protect the constitutional right to abortion, days after a Texas law enacting a near-complete ban on the procedure went into effect.
If convicted, the defendants would each face up to 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of $350,000, prosecutors said.
Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising seeks to mobilize anti-abortion activists for “direct action,” according to its website.
After the charges were announced Wednesday, Bukovinac said, “Rescuers like Lauren and the other eight defendants are inspiring a whole new generation of leaders and activists to overcome their fears of sanctions and to take heroic direct action on behalf of the unborn.”
Handy founded a group called Mercy Missions, according to a 2017 report by EWTN, a Catholic television network, which said she had an out-of-control lifestyle before friends brought her to pray outside an abortion clinic.
She said she knew she could “no longer have a normal life knowing that babies were being systematically killed.”
She dropped out of college and started working in the anti-abortion movement full time and eventually converted to Catholicism, EWTN reported. She described handing out flyers outside abortion clinics and seeking to persuade women not to go inside. She said she had been arrested five times.
“It’s really humbling to know God has used me in that way,” Handy told the network. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/5-fetuses-removed-from-home-of-anti-abortion-activist-group-says/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2022-04-01T01:51:08Z |
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he won’t vote for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
He expressed concerns about her record despite supporting her confirmation as an appeals court judge last year.
The South Carolina senator’s announcement Thursday was expected after he criticized Jackson during her four days of hearings last week.
But it gives Democrats one less Republican vote as they seek bipartisan backing for President Joe Biden’s pick to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
Graham, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the only three Republicans to vote to confirm Jackson on the appeals court in 2021. | https://www.wjol.com/senator-lindsey-graham-to-vote-no-on-supreme-court-nominee-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:09Z |
Updated March 31, 2022 at 9:31 PM ET
Oscars' guests and viewers are still reeling over Will Smith's surprising and infamous onstage slap of comedian Chris Rock, who joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair. Shortly after, Smith went onstage to accept the Best Actor Oscar for his role in King Richard.
Will Packer, producer of the Academy Award, ceremony told the ABC News show Good Morning America that Los Angeles police officers were ready to arrest Will Smith if Rock wanted to press charges.
"They were saying, 'This is battery.' That was the word they used in that moment," Packer told T.J. Holmes, in an exclusive interview that was teased during ABC's World News Tonight. "They said, 'We will go get him. We are prepared. We will go get him right now. You can press charges. We can arrest him. They were laying out the options. And as they were talking, Chris was, he was being very dismissive of those options. He was like, 'No, I'm fine.' He was like, 'no, no, no.' And even to the point where I said, 'Rock, let them finish.'"
In the clip, Packer said after the officers finished laying out what Rock's options were, "they said, 'Would you like us to take any action? And he said no.'"
Packer also said he did not speak to Smith at all on Oscar night. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released a statement saying Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused.
In his acceptance speech, Smith apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees for the incident, but not Rock. On Instagram the following day, Smith wrote that he was embarrassed by his behavior and told Rock he was sorry. Still, the Academy began disciplinary proceedings against Smith-- which could include "suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions permitted."
SAG-AFTRA is also weighing sanctions against Smith.
On Wednesday night, Rock was onstage in Boston with a new comedy routine. He didn't say much about the slap. "I'm still kind of processing what happened," he said, adding that at some point he will talk about it "and it will be serious and funny."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wunc.org/2022-03-31/the-lapd-was-ready-to-arrest-will-smith-after-the-slap-will-packer-says | 2022-04-01T01:51:08Z |
Hospital horror as nurse is charged with sexually assaulting a 25-year-old heart surgery patient in her bed and groping two others on the job
- Male nurse charged with sexual assault of patient as she recovered from surgery
- Incident alleged to have taken place at Bella Vista hospital in Sydney's northwest
- Nurse charged with inappropriately touching two other women, aged 67 and 21
- He has been refused bail and will appear in Liverpool Court on Friday
A male nurse has been arrested after a young female patient alleged he sexually assaulted her as she recovered from heart surgery.
The incident is alleged to have taken place at the Bella Vista hospital in Sydney's northwest in September, 2021.
The 42-year-old man was arrested and taken to Liverpool Police Station on March 11 where he was charged with sexual intercourse without consent.
On Friday, the nurse was arrested and taken into custody after additional incidents of sexual misconduct were reported.
Detectives received reports a 67-year-old woman was allegedly sexually touched while awaiting heart surgery at a Kingswood hospital in March 2022.
A 21-year-old female nursing student alleged she was sexually touched while working at the same hospital in December 2018.
He was refused bail and will appear in Liverpool Court on Friday. | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10674713/Horror-25-year-old-recovering-heart-surgery-sexually-assaulted-nurse.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 | 2022-04-01T01:51:08Z |
Robinson/Mantle Miscut Topps Card Fetches $72,500- Highest price paid for a miscut card
At ComicConnect.com’s baseball card auction held this month, a record-breaking miscut card sold for $72,500 thanks to an accident at the factory 70 years ago.
This is a hobby that maybe you can monetize at some point. You have to do your research to find potentially valuable cards and realize that you may have to hold them for five or even 10 years.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, March 31, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Without question, two of the most collectible baseball cards in existence are Jackie Robinson and Mickey Mantle from the sought-after 1952 Topps collection. — Vincent Zurzolo
What do you get when you put them together?
At ComicConnect.com’s inaugural baseball card auction held this month, the answer was a grand-slam, record-breaking, $72,500, thanks to a happy accident at the factory 70 years ago. The highest price ever paid for a miscut card!
The No. 312 Robinson card, one of the hobby’s most important issues, shows the Brooklyn Dodgers second-baseman against a vibrant red background. The game’s first African-American player had an amazing season in 1952: he hit .308 with 19 home runs, 24 stolen bases and 104 runs scored.
But just to Robinson’s left is a blue background and a sliver of another future Hall-of-Famer, the New York Yankees’ Mickey Mantle. The switch-hitting legend was heralded as the successor to Joe DiMaggio, and his first Topps release in 1952 is considered one of the hobby’s most valuable post-war trading cards.
“A miscut is usually the kiss of death when it comes to a card’s value,” said Vincent Zurzolo, COO of New York-based ComicConnect.com. “But having two Hall-of-Famers on one card puts it in a league of its own.”
Last year, the Jackie Robinson/Mickey Mantle miscut made headlines when it sold at auction for $29,520 to a long-time collector who had been following the trading card hobby since elementary school. He looked at the card as an investment and, in the fast-paced world of card collecting, decided less than a year later to sell it in ComicConnect’s historic auction. The seller and buyer remain anonymous.
“We are so happy for the buyer and seller of the card,” Zurzolo said. “It’s a win-win.”
Sports-card investing is growing in popularity, fueled by social media and huge profits enjoyed by some sellers. People who grew up in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s – who may have collected and traded cards as kids – are today discovering the thrill of finding, holding and then perhaps making a handsome return on investment.
But baseball card investing is not a get-rich-quick scheme, Zurzolo cautioned.
“This is more like a hobby that maybe you can monetize at some point,” he said. “You have to do your research to find potentially valuable cards and realize that you may have to hold them for five or even 10 years.”
ComicConnect.com is well-known among comic book collectors and investors, but is now accepting consignments of not only baseball cards but also vintage VHS tapes, video games, action figures and other items that today’s millennials may have grown up with.
Joanne Levine
Lekas & Levine PR
email us here
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Twitter | https://www.einpresswire.com/article/567141353/robinson-mantle-miscut-topps-card-fetches-72-500-highest-price-paid-for-a-miscut-card | 2022-04-01T01:51:09Z |
No jail for LA building owner over explosion that hurt 12
The owner of a downtown Los Angeles building where an explosion injured 12 firefighters has been allowed to enter a judicial diversion program that allows him to avoid jail time and potentially have all charges dismissed.
A court commissioner on Wednesday granted the diversion request for Steve Sungho Lee. He and his companies must pay more than $15,000 in investigative fees, make sure the property meets fire and building codes and arranging for Fire Department training.
Lee owned a commercial building on East Boyd Street in the city’s Toy District that caught fire on May 16, 2020. Firefighters had to run for their lives when a ball of flames shot out the building and scorched a fire truck across the street.
Firefighters inside the building had to run through a wall of flames he estimated as 30 feet (9 meters) high and wide, and those on the roof scrambled down a ladder that was engulfed in fire.
Fire officials said the building was a warehouse for Smoke Tokes, a wholesale distributor of supplies for smoking and vaping products including butane hash oil, a concentrated cannabis extract that can be eaten, smoked or vaped. Highly flammable butane is used in the manufacturing process.
Most of the injured firefighters still haven’t returned to work and one, Capt. Victor Aguirre, was hospitalized for more than two months and all of his fingers had to be partially amputated, according to a lawsuit he filed against the building and business owners.
Aguirre alleged that the area contained “hundreds of illegally and improperly stored butane canisters and thousands of illegally and improperly stored nitrous oxide cylinders.”
A fire department report concluded that the blaze, which spread to a nearby building, was fueled by an “excessive quantity” of the containers.
Investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concluded that the fire started under a storage rack in the building and that a worker with a lit cigarette was seen in the area. The cause of the fire was ruled accidental.
However, city prosecutors filed more than 300 misdemeanor charges of violating fire and safety codes against Lee, his companies and owners of businesses in the building and nearby properties. That included more than 160 counts against Lee and his companies.
If Lee meets all conditions of his judicial diversion program for two years, the charges will be dismissed.
“Mr. Lee will be deemed by law to have never been charged,” said his attorney, Blair Berk. “The exhaustive federal investigation of the tragic fire objectively concluded that the cause was accidental, and there was no finding of any wrongdoing by Mr. Lee or his companies.”
City Attorney Mike Feuer opposed diversion for Lee, noting the severity of the fire, the injuries suffered by the firefighters and Lee’s alleged failure “to take steps which could have mitigated the extent of the blaze.”
The owners of Smoke Tokes and another business, Green Buddha, agreed in November 2020 to pay $139,000 each to cover investigative costs and to move out of the building. Charges against them were later dismissed.
___
This story has been updated to correct that Lee and his companies must pay more than $15,000, not $125,000.
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune. | https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/story/2022-03-31/no-jail-for-la-building-owner-over-explosion-that-hurt-12 | 2022-04-01T01:51:10Z |
Help keep your neighbors in need warm
Hospitality House currently has a heightened need for twin-sized bedding. Through April 15, the homeless services provider is collecting gently used twin-size blankets, quilts, sheets, pillowcases, and new pillows (pillows must be unused and still sealed in plastic). Twin-size bedding may be dropped off from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Hospitality House Administrative Office, located at 488 Crown Point Circle, Suite 100 in Grass Valley. Due to active construction at Utah’s Place and subsequent limited storage, all other donations of goods are still suspended until construction is completed. Please do not drop off bedding at the shelter to avoid injury in a construction zone. Those interested in offering extra assistance may also help by donating at hhshelter.org, or by sending a donation made payable to Hospitality House at 1262 Sutton Way, Grass Valley, CA 95945.
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User Legend: Moderator Trusted User | https://www.theunion.com/news/help-keep-your-neighbors-in-need-warm/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:10Z |
By Greg Baum
Goalkicking godfather Peter Hudson sees no reason why a future Buddy Franklin can’t kick 100 goals in a season and 1000 goals in a career.
No one has kicked a century since Franklin for Hawthorn in 2008 and last week, when he became the fifth player to reach 1000 career goals, there was a consensus that it was a feat never to be repeated. Hudson asks ‘why not?’
“You’ve got a bloke playing at the moment who in one year kicked 100 goals and 70 or 80 behinds,” Hudson said. “He’s had 180 shots in a year, which to me says that when the next Buddy Franklin or Gary Ablett or Jason Dunstall comes along, who’s to say they can’t kick 150?”
“I’d give anything to see somebody (else) come along and kick 1000 goals in my lifetime. I don’t believe for one minute that nobody could ever do it again.”
Hudson thinks it’s cyclic. He notes that no one kicked a century between Essendon’s John Coleman in 1952 and himself in 1968. A free-scoring period followed almost until the end of the century. Since Tony Lockett in 1998, only Franklin has kicked 100.
“People say the game’s played differently today,” Hudson said. “But every so often a Ben Brown will bob up and kick a bagful. Buddy could kick 10 or 12 on a given day. The thing that makes me chuckle inwardly is that, while the game might have changed, the grounds are better than they used to be 40 or 50 years ago. Those sort of things count.”
Hudson disagrees that full-backs have more tricks now. “I don’t think so. I can remember driving home before mobile phones thinking there was a phone ringing.” he said. “I’d been hit in the back of the ear. You can’t hit blokes in the ear any more, and you can’t chop their arms.”
Statistically, the unorthodox Hudson was the best goalkicker of all, averaging 5.64 in 129 games for the Hawks. Coleman averaged 5.48 in his meagre 98 games for Essendon. Lockett, who leads the aggregate with 1360 goals, averaged 4.84.
Hudson is still an aficionado of goalkicking, but won’t rank the five 1000-plus men. “Lockett was technically almost perfect,” he said. “Jason Dunstall was the hardest worker. I loved watching Doug Wade play when I was at the other end of the ground. Gary Ablett was sensational. Everyone loved watching him.
“I was thrilled to bits when Buddy got his 1000. I like his presence on the field. He looks the part, and when he does something brilliant, it’s super brilliant. He’s got the score on the board. It’s hard to fault him, really.”
Hudson, 76, is an undying footy fan. “I love it. I often say I’d watch it eight nights a week if it was on television. The skills are so good,” he said.
“The only thing I didn’t like about the game was when they kicked backwards. We went through that period of a year or two when they kicked backwards. But they fixed that. You don’t see it so much any more.
“I always thought they should have paid a free kick if you got the ball and kicked it backwards at all.”
Remarkably, no-one had written a biography of Hudson until this week, when Dan Eddy’s A Football Genius was launched.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter. | https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/grand-dreams-goalkicking-godfather-peter-hudson-says-there-are-tons-to-come-20220331-p5a9qt.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed | 2022-04-01T01:51:10Z |
REGION — The University of Maine has achieved full, endorsed membership in the Age-Friendly University (AFU) Global Network. The AFU Global Network, led by Dublin City University, is supported in the United States by the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
The AFU initiative promotes maximizing the intergenerational appeal of higher education programming through a 10-principle framework, with the goal of expanding inclusiveness and the age-friendly focus within individual academic institutions. The AFU Global Network includes 90 higher education institutions around the world.
UMaine is the first public university in the state of Maine having achieved this status and only the second higher education institution in the state designated as an AFU. University of New England was the first.
“This is terrific news and an achievement that everyone at the University of Maine should be very proud of. It serves to confirm the wide variety of ways in which older adults are able to share their expertise and experience and remain actively involved on the flagship campus, including engaging in decision making and advisement, participatory research, life-long learning, encore career preparation, intergenerational mentoring and so much more,” says Len Kaye, director of the UMaine Center on Aging.
UMaine engages older adults in a variety of ways in the daily life of the various colleges, schools, departments and administrative units. UMaine offers a variety of opportunities for older adults to participate in research programs carried out by the Center on Aging and Cooperative Extension Citizen Science initiative, as well as educational opportunities offered through the Division of Lifelong Learning and UMaineOnline. Individuals 65 and older can receive a tuition waiver for undergraduate programs. Aging research is carried out in a wide range of colleges, schools and departments.
UMaine encourages intergenerational exchange and learning not just on campus but throughout the community, such as fostering intergenerational learning through the Wabanaki Leadership Institute. UMaine provides discounted memberships for older adults to museums and free access to UMaine museums galleries, including Zillman Art Museum, Lord Hall Art Gallery and Hudson Museum, as well as a discount on tickets for shows and concerts at Collins Center for the Arts and Hauck Auditorium.
UMaine also provides older adults with multiple ways of staying active through discounted on-campus gym memberships and older adult-based fitness classes.
Given that Maine is the oldest state in the nation based on median age (45.1 years) and has the largest proportion of 65-and-older residents at 21.2% according to the 2020 Census, such a designation is timely and warranted. The state of Maine was also designated an Age-Friendly State by AARP in 2019.
With the AFU designation, UMaine will continue to create opportunities for older adults by expanding partnerships with aging-focused organizations, cultivating a space for older adults to participate in campus life, developing inclusive marketing that promotes older adults’ presence on campus and expanding university programming for retirees and all older Mainers that encourages their continued active engagement in the life of the university.
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Maine
Congress hears Rep. Golden’s bill to allow Maine tribes to benefit from future federal Indian laws
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College
College softball: CMCC routs NVU-Johnson in doubleheader sweep
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Crime
Androscoggin County arrest log: March 25-31, 2022
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Schools & Education
Lewiston schools aiming for roughly $1 tax impact
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Crime
Three people facing trafficking charges accused of hiding fentanyl in cans of beans | https://www.sunjournal.com/2022/03/30/umaine-officially-designated-an-age-friendly-university-2/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:10Z |
Deep in the Earth beneath us lie two blobs the size of continents. One is under Africa, the other under the Pacific Ocean.
The blobs have their roots 2,900km below the surface, almost halfway to the centre of the Earth. They are thought to be the birthplace of rising columns of hot rock called “deep mantle plumes” that reach Earth’s surface.
When these plumes first reach the surface, giant volcanic eruptions occur – the kind that contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago. The blobs may also control the eruption of a kind of rock called kimberlite, which brings diamonds from depths 120-150km (and in some cases up to around 800km) to Earth’s surface.
Scientists have known the blobs existed for a long time, but how they have behaved over Earth’s history has been an open question. In new research, we modelled a billion years of geological history and discovered the blobs gather together and break apart much like continents and supercontinents.
A model for Earth blob evolution
The blobs are in the mantle, the thick layer of hot rock between Earth’s crust and its core. The mantle is solid but slowly flows over long timescales. We know the blobs are there because they slow down waves caused by earthquakes, which suggests the blobs are hotter than their surroundings.
Scientists generally agree the blobs are linked to the movement of tectonic plates at Earth’s surface. However, how the blobs have changed over the course of Earth’s history has puzzled them.
One school of thought has been that the present blobs have acted as anchors, locked in place for hundreds of millions of years while other rock moves around them. However, we know tectonic plates and mantle plumes move over time, and research suggests the shape of the blobs is changing.
Our new research shows Earth’s blobs have changed shape and location far more than previously thought. In fact, over history they have assembled and broken up in the same way that continents and supercontinents have at Earth’s surface.
We used Australia’s National Computational Infrastructure to run advanced computer simulations of how Earth’s mantle has flowed over a billion years.
These models are based on reconstructing the movements of tectonic plates. When plates push into one another, the ocean floor is pushed down between them in a process known as subduction. The cold rock from the ocean floor sinks deeper and deeper into the mantle, and once it reaches a depth of about 2,000km it pushes the hot blobs aside.
We found that just like continents, the blobs can assemble – forming “superblobs” as in the current configuration – and break up over time.
A key aspect of our models is that although the blobs change position and shape over time, they still fit the pattern of volcanic and kimberlite eruptions recorded at Earth’s surface. This pattern was previously a key argument for the blobs as unmoving “anchors”.
Strikingly, our models reveal the African blob assembled as recently as 60 million years ago – in stark contrast to previous suggestions the blob could have existed in roughly its present form for nearly ten times as long.
Remaining questions about the blobs
How did the blobs originate? What exactly are they made of? We still don’t know.
The blobs may be denser than the surrounding mantle, and as such they could consist of material separated out from the rest of the mantle early in Earth’s history. This could explain why the mineral composition of the Earth is different from that expected from models based on the composition of meteorites.
Alternatively, the density of the blobs could be explained by the accumulation of dense oceanic material from slabs of rock pushed down by tectonic plate movement.
Regardless of this debate, our work shows sinking slabs are more likely to transport fragments of continents to the African blob than to the Pacific blob. Interestingly, this result is consistent with recent work suggesting the source of mantle plumes rising from the African blob contains continental material, whereas plumes rising from the Pacific blob do not.
Tracking the blobs to find minerals and diamonds
While our work addresses fundamental questions about the evolution of our planet, it also has practical applications.
Our models provide a framework to more accurately target the location of minerals associated with mantle upwelling. This includes diamonds brought up to the surface by kimberlites that seem to be associated with the blobs.
Magmatic sulfide deposits, which are the world’s primary reserve of nickel, are also associated with mantle plumes. By helping target minerals such as nickel (an essential ingredient of lithium-ion batteries and other renewable energy technologies) our models can contribute to the transition to a low-emission economy. | https://theconversation.com/volcanoes-diamonds-and-blobs-a-billion-year-history-of-earths-interior-shows-its-more-mobile-than-we-thought-179673 | 2022-04-01T01:51:11Z |
Tommy Thompson, just weeks removed from leading the University of Wisconsin System, met with former President Donald Trump on Thursday for a talk about “Wisconsin politics,” a former aide said.
Thompson was elected to four terms as Wisconsin's governor, and earlier this year declined to rule out another bid. Thompson, 80, spent almost two years atop the university system before leaving earlier this month.
Bill McCoshen, a former chief of staff to Thompson when he served as governor, said the two met at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
“The primary topic was Wisconsin politics," McCoshen said. “They talked about the gubernatorial race, the Senate race and what it will take to win in Wisconsin. The topic of running for governor may have come up, but the purpose was to talk about Wisonsin politics more broadly.”
A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
McCoshen said he expected Thompson to make a decision in April. The primary is in August. Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, businessman Kevin Nicholson and state Rep. Timothy Ramthun are Republicans vying to take on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Thompson was first elected to the Legislature in 1966 and was first elected governor in 1986. He resigned midway through his fourth term to serve as Health and Human Services secretary under then-President George W. Bush, and ran briefly for president in 2008. | https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Thompson-and-Trump-meet-to-talk-politics-17049815.php | 2022-04-01T01:51:11Z |
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hallaron, a full-service advertising and branding agency in The Woodlands, Texas has begun using digital advertising platforms to serve smaller, local political advertisers. The advantage is using microtargeted geographic and behavioral factors to serve highly custom display and video ads to local voters. The results point to more efficient campaigns that can get better results even with monthly ad spends less than $10,000.
Through a collaborative partnership with Vici Media Inc., based in Philiadelphia, PA, Hallaron began using sophisticated digital platforms including precise targeting tools to serve ads among local county and even city elections in early 2022 primaries. Often reserved for larger business or political clients, Hallaron uses the same big-client ad tools to shape strategy for smaller local low budget campaigns. Often the focus is replacing older marketing thinking with smarter targeting that serves ads to local voters using cell phones and social media instead of billboards or direct mail.
"Our new political campaigns aim to serve voters with ads where they consume daily news and entertainment – that's through their mobile phones and the Internet," explains agency principal Mike Hallaron.
Statista reports that mobile media usage in the United States is set to increase to four hours and 29 minutes per day in 2022. Compare that time with traditional drive time and radio listening, print, or TV viewership.
Because of lengthy Covid-19 shutdowns, Hallaron says many Americans extended their digital and mobile reliance even further – turning to these devices for business, shopping, and reaching the world beyond their front door.
Direct mail is still popular in most small market political races where access to new digital techniques lags behind. Inexpensive yard signs are still widely used but limited. Digital and mobile ads include links to landing pages where voters can watch a candidates videos, read a bio, or review her platform positions on local issues. "When you add a well-executed social strategy on Facebook, the frequency and reach for a small campaign can be game-changing," Hallaron says.
Hallaron's digital partner Vici Media works with nearly 200 ad agencies and media companies in the U.S., serving 3 billion digital ad impressions annually. The company was named to Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in 2020. Hallaron sees more clients educating themselves about creative digital media strategies, such as geofencing, mobile conquesting and social mirroring techniques, for example.
Hallaron Advertising Agency is an award-winning full-service ad agency in The Woodlands, Texas. Since 2003, Hallaron has helped reshape winning brands and mastered creative advertising campaigns that lead to better sales and business growth for their clients. Visit www.hallaron.com to learn more.
Media contact:
Mike Hallaron
mike@hallaron.com
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SOURCE Hallaron Advertising Agency | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/03/31/hallaron-advertising-agency-using-digital-ads-update-local-political-campaigns/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:11Z |
I’d never heard of The Minute Women before. A somewhat secret group, they formed in the 50’s supposedly pro-God and anti-Communism, supporting McCarthy, and they sure did hate UNESCO. I have to look into them more so I can’t yet say anything about their strengths, weaknesses, or compromises, and as to where they stood regarding the honoring and upholding of our Bill of Rights, but here are some quotes by Ellen McClay, one of their members:
“Our schools are being converted into agencies for the dissemination of radical propaganda, much of which originates in Communist front organizations!!”
“We believe the people, and particularly the parents of children in our public schools, have a right to know what is going on and what is proposed for our American youth.”
“American schools have been and are an adjunct of the most viciously anti-American propaganda outfit ever conceivedAnyone who claims to be a patriot, and leaves their children in these tax-supported brainwashing facilities is betraying their own beliefs.”
“If there is anything UNESCO dislikes, it is patriotism. It wants to replace it with what it calls world-mindedness. In order to bring this about, it must wipe out of the minds of our youngsters respect and admiration and love for American traditions and the American way of life and instill in their place respect and admiration and love for all the countries of the world. Logically, this could only bring respect and admiration and love for the socialist and fascist and communist way of life which is prevalent in those countries.”
“UNESCO doesn’t want your children to know the uniqueness of our Republic — they rank the U.S. as no different from any other form of government. Well, it didn’t start out that way — no matter what has been done to it since. Anti-Americanism is taught in American schools from kindergarten through graduate school!”
Well, these old girls had something to say, and I do like the sound of their name: “The Minute Women.”
Here’s what Wiki says about Them: | http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/the-minute-woman/300783 | 2022-04-01T01:51:11Z |
PHOENIX, March 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "Hope is there, you just have to open your eyes to see it." LaRoie S. Davis was raised in a family-oriented neigborhood in South Phoenix that has seen its fair share of challenges over the years. Though hard times and challenges continued, it was through his faith in God that he realized there was a purpose to life. Despite his circumstances, he always had hope. Today, he continues to be fueled by the value of our individual purpose. Through this, and the success he achieved in life, he was inspired to launch the conscious clothing company Small Give Big Hope. The goal of the clothing brand is to spread the message that you, the community, and your faith matters.
The Davis Community Wellness Foundation (DCWF) is hosting a private fundraising event to introduce the new brand. With conscious thought-provoking designs, the Small Give Big Hope merchandise funds DCWF's Mission: to foster hope in communities affected by challenging circumstances, through support, education and awareness.
The invite-only launch event will be held at the Heritage at Sportsman's Park in Glendale on April 9, 2022 at 6:00pm, and features a cocktail hour, dinner, runway show and fireworks.
LaRoie S. Davis, founder of the foundation, says, "This brand has a message for everyone, and the Davis Community Wellness Foundation has a vision to empower communities to find hope and build resilience.
Through collaborative efforts with community leaders and organizations, this Phoenix-bred social enterprise will provide assistance to those looking for a glimmer of hope, freedom, and purpose.
Local media are invited to attend the event and can RSVP their attendance by emailing Cheryl James via the contact information above.
Small Give Big Hope is the fundraising initiative of Davis Community Wellness Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, empowering communities to find hope and build resilience. We design apparel to raise awareness of, and attention to, a lifestyle of action and opportunities for a better life. We believe in dreaming beyond your current limitations, and then taking the steps to make that a reality. When you make a purchase, you join a movement. Purchase merchandise and learn more at www.SmallGiveBigHope.com.
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SOURCE Davis Community Wellness Foundation | https://www.ky3.com/prnewswire/2022/04/01/conscious-clothing-brand-spreads-hope-phoenix/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:11Z |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Chin-ups, lunges, blaring music and some good-natured banter at 10 p.m.
The Phoenix Suns held off the Golden State Warriors in a hard-fought, playoff-type furious finish, then went right back to work after the final buzzer like they do every game — home and away.
“That’s who we are. We are a work team. Even though the studies show that lifting after a game helps with recovery, I think they really enjoy being around each other and they enjoy the work,” coach Monty Williams said. “… As I’ve said before, our guys are chasing something. When you’re chasing something, you don’t want to get to whatever you’re chasing and not be ready.”
Devin Booker’s two free throws with 34.2 seconds left put Phoenix ahead, Draymond Green traveled to turn it over before Chris Paul made a short jumper, and the NBA-best Suns beat the Warriors 107-103 on Wednesday night in a back-and-forth battle between Western Conference rivals.
Jordan Poole scored a season-best 38 points to match his career high and also contributed nine rebounds and seven assists. He had five free throws over the final 1:20.
Poole drew a loose ball foul on Booker with 39.8 seconds to go and converted two free throws before Booker came through for the Suns (62-14) in their ninth straight victory.
The Suns matched the franchise record with 62 wins, of which Booker said, “it means a lot.”
“We know what we’re working for, strength and conditioning is a big part of the game,” he said.
Paul hit a key jumper with 1:37 to play and finished with 15 points and eight assists, Mikal Bridges scored 22 points and Deandre Ayton added 16 points and 16 rebounds for Phoenix.
“We felt like we’ve been there before,” Paul said of the atmosphere. “Obviously this is an exciting environment playing in here, the crowd going crazy and all that but we’ve been playing a ton of games like that.”
Green had a three-point play to tie it with 2:25 left, the Suns committed a three-second violation on the other end but Golden State didn’t capitalize that sequence and Paul scored. Green and Jae Crowder had some words near mid-court after the final buzzer.
Booker scored 22 points but shot 5 for 21 — 2 of 8 from long range — while Torrey Craig missed all four of his 3-point tries.
The Warriors played better defensively while again without reigning scoring champion Stephen Curry, who is nursing a foot injury that has cost him seven games.
Poole shot 11 for 22 with seven 3s as Golden State returned home from a 123-95 loss at Memphis on Monday night.
“The tough part about Jordan is he’s learning how to play like Steph,” Williams said before the game.
Klay Thompson shot just 5 for 21 and missed nine of his 10 3-point attempts in Golden State’s fourth straight loss, seventh in eight and third in a row at Chase Center.
The Warriors had won the previous two matchups with the Suns, who have an eight-game road winning streak. Phoenix overcame shooting 7 for 28 on 3-pointers.
The teams split the season series at two games apiece.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr told his team during a morning meeting how well the Warriors played defense in previous meetings with Phoenix and that they were capable of doing so again despite the recent struggles.
“Draymond took a step tonight,” Kerr said of the improvements on both ends.
CURRY UPDATE
Curry is yet to resume on-court basketball activities while working back from a sprained left foot, but has been working on a treadmill in the water and in the weight room. He could be back to shooting soon.
“Trending in a good direction,” Kerr said.
Golden State dropped to 1-6 without him during this stretch.
TIP-INS
Suns: Phoenix won on the Warriors’ home floor for the first time in four tries since a 121-110 victory on Oct. 30, 2019. … The Suns won last season’s matchups 2-1 for their first victorious season series since taking all four meetings in 2010-11. Phoenix is 19-3 on the road vs. the Western Conference. … Cam Johnson missed his 13th game straight game with a right quad contusion. … JaVale McGee remained out because of a non-COVID illness, missing his second in a row and this one against his former team.
Warriors: Gary Payton II left for the locker room with 8:43 remaining but returned at the 4:54 mark to provide a key defensive presence down the stretch. … The Warriors came off a stretch with five games over eight days to now having three games in an eight-day stretch during which they won’t have to leave the state.
UP NEXT
Suns: At Grizzlies on Friday night having won two straight in Memphis.
Warriors: Host Jazz on Saturday night having won the last three meetings with Utah at home before finishing a home-road back-to-back at Sacramento on Sunday.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/sports/ap-sports/booker-paul-deliver-at-end-suns-hold-off-warriors-107-103/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:11Z |
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BUCKTHORN CANTUS - FIVE THANDEMAIL TEXT, O.UAM002 CD ( »Trapp\") How did Banks of Omagre manage all of O-14 and G. 25? Why are none left of Nilegalex except Houses in A-N & 42; of Pernagrim, save three on Gile-a-Clan near 45 in F5/5-F56. Or, were they rebuild. on N7 -2? No buildings on the other side where Milemees. The leaders of the four Wabanaki Indian tribes in Maine appeared jointly before members of Congress for the first time in more than 40 years on Thursday, testifying in support of a bill that they said is necessary to restore their tribal sovereignty.
At issue is a 1980 settlement with the state that excludes tribes in Maine from most federal laws that benefit other tribes. Chief William Nicholas of the Passamaquoddy Tribe says that the fundamental purpose of the 1980 agreement between the state of Maine and tribes was to settle the Wabanaki Nation’s claims to their historic lands. But for Nicholas and other tribal leaders, the state has used the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act to deny their communities access to the federal benefits and sovereign rights enjoyed by more than 500 other tribes across the country.
“At the end of the day, the land and the money were not the biggest consequences of the settlement act. The real cost was our sovereignty,” Nicholas told members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States.
Nicholas and leaders of the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Micmac Nation were testifying in support of a bill sponsored by Maine Rep. Jared Golden, D-District 2, that aims to ensure that all future federal laws enacted to benefit Indian tribes would also apply to tribes in Maine. Since 1980, Congress has passed roughly 150 laws dealing with everything from health services and economic development to gambling and criminal justice in Indian Country. But Chief Clarissa Sabattis of the Houlton Band of Maliseet says Maine's settlement act, or MICSA, has preempted those laws in Maine with devastating effects.
"While our tribe has seen growth over the past four decades, we continue to struggle due in large part to this restrictive settlement act that we continue to live under,” Sabattis said. “When the U.S. entered into MICSA, it unfortunately left our four tribes in an impossible situation and under the authority of a state that does not have the same trust responsibility as the United States government does."
As examples, tribal leaders say they have been unable to directly access federal money for health programs, disaster assistance or even COVID-19 response. Tribes in Maine have fought unsuccessfully for more than two decades to gain state or voter approval to open casinos or other gambling venues. And they say a lack of tribal courts or child welfare programs has led to more tribal children being placed with non-native families.
Chief Edward PeterPaul of the Micmac Nation in Aroostook County pointed out that his tribe was not included in the 1980 agreement.
“In spite of not being a party or participating in the negotiations of the act, the U.S. court system later found that we had lost all of our jurisdiction to the state of Maine because of it,” PeterPaul said. “As a result, for the last 30 years, we are the only federally recognized tribe in the state of Maine that continues to be fully subject to state law. For 30 years, we have been unable to negotiate a new jurisdictional agreement that gives us the legal authority to provide for the health, welfare and safety of our people.”
Tribal chiefs said Golden’s bill would address some of those wrongs going forward.
“This is an intentionally narrow approach,” Golden told his congressional colleagues. “It doesn’t go back and apply this change to laws that are already on the books. This bill will cut through unnecessary red tape and bureaucratic efforts to block the Wabanaki tribes from benefiting from future laws passed for their benefit.”
Golden’s comments were in anticipation of concerns raised by at least one Republican member of the subcommittee as well as a representative of one of Maine's largest industries.
Patrick Strauch, who heads the Maine Forest Products Council, said tribal lands are scattered throughout the areas of the state where his members operate. While Strauch said the industry works well with tribes, he is concerned about companies having to negotiate different environmental regulations on tribal and non-tribal lands.
“This would be I think a dangerous precedent to be working against all of those parties that were originally involved,” Strauch said in response to one committee member’s questions. “And I know our governor has been working very closely with those tribes and has intimate knowledge of the issues that they are facing.”
Strauch was referring to negotiations back in Augusta on a more sweeping overhaul of the 1980 settlement agreement. Tribal leaders have been working with state lawmakers and negotiating with Gov. Janet Mills for several years on a bill to restore tribal sovereignty.
But the fate of that bill is murky, at best. Mills, who battled with the tribes in court while she was attorney general, has said she supports aspects of the bill but opposes other provisions of it. A separate bill from the Mills administration to allow tribes to offer sports gambling appears to have better chances.
The Mills administration has yet to take a position on Golden’s bill currently pending in Congress. In a letter sent Thursday to the subcommittee, Mills’ chief legal counsel, Jerry Reid, said the office was reviewing the legislation and would file written testimony at a later time.
Currently, the tribes in Maine can only be included in federal Indian laws if they are specifically added by name. Chief Kirk Francis with the Penobscot Nation said it takes time and precious money to lobby Congress to be added to bill. And the tribes have only been successful once over the past 42 years.
"When Congress passes a law intended to benefit all of Indian County, we think that is what should happen unless a tribal nation or a state is expressly excluded from the law,” Francis said. “Expecting the Maine tribes to have to get ourselves added to every federal bill is non-sensical."
Golden's bill received mixed reactions from the subcommittee. Republican Jay Obernolte of California said Congress shouldn't consider undoing any part of the 1980s agreement without consensus from Maine's governor, congressional delegation and tribes. But Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota said she was "outraged" when Maine wouldn't allow the four tribes to participate in a pilot project created specifically for them by Congress specifically under the Violence Against Women Act.
"Therefore I very much support the bill that is in front of us today,” McCollum said. “It's not a clawback. It's a way to move forward. We cannot have a group of tribal nations be treated differently with their sovereignty than other tribal nations in this country."
In order to move forward, Golden's bill will have to receive a markup review by the full House Natural Resources Committee. And it is unclear if or when that would happen. | https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2022-03-31/in-historic-appearance-wabanaki-leaders-urge-congress-to-allow-tribes-in-maine-to-benefit-from-future-federal-laws | 2022-04-01T01:51:14Z |
Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona has signed legislation requiring voters to prove their citizenship in order to vote in a presidential election, swiftly drawing a legal challenge from voting rights activists who argued that it could keep tens of thousands of voters from casting a ballot.
The Arizona measure, passed into law Wednesday, also requires newly registered voters to provide proof of address, which could have a disproportionate effect on students, older voters who no longer drive, low-income voters and Native Americans.
Legal experts said the new rules might run afoul of federal law and recent Supreme Court decisions. On Wednesday, Mi Familia Vota, a voting rights group, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law.
The law is one of several new voting restrictions that the Republican-led Legislature in Arizona is working to pass this year, despite multiple investigations and a partisan election review that found no evidence of widespread fraud in the state in the 2020 election.
It is the latest sign that the push by Republican lawmakers to tighten voting rules after the 2020 election has not abated. GOP lawmakers in Mississippi, Idaho and other states have also proposed new identification requirements. And legislators in Georgia and Florida have advanced a second round of major changes to election laws.
Arizona Republicans said that the law would shore up election security, although they did not point to any evidence of significant fraud.
“Election integrity means counting every lawful vote and prohibiting any attempt to illegally cast a vote,” Ducey said in a letter explaining his support for the legislation. Speaking to local reporters, he defended the constitutionality of the law. “If somebody on the left wants to challenge it, have at it,” he said, according to The Arizona Republic. “Nothing’s unconstitutional unless it’s an enumerated right, and that’s not what this law is.”
But lawyers for the Republican-controlled Legislature had previously suggested that the bill could flout federal law.
In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that Arizona could require proof of citizenship in state elections but that it must accept the federal voter registration form for federal elections. Those forms ask voters to attest that they are citizens but do not require documentation.
The decision set up a bifurcated system in Arizona. There are now roughly 31,500 “federal-only” voters in the state, or people who are not eligible to vote in state elections because they have not provided documents that prove citizenship as required by Arizona law, according to the secretary of state’s office.
The new law essentially contradicts the Supreme Court decision, forcing all voters to meet the state’s requirements for a presidential election.
In testimony before the Arizona House’s Rules Committee last month, Jennifer Holder, a lawyer for the Legislature, told Speaker Rusty Bowers that the issue had “been squarely addressed by that Supreme Court case.”
Legal experts said the new law could be a vehicle to challenge the 2013 Supreme Court ruling, and could push the court to reexamine broader voting laws and regulations.
“It certainly is attempting to undo the Arizona v. ITC decision,” said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, referring to the 2013 Supreme Court decision. “And maybe part of this is thinking you’ve got a new Supreme Court now, and that Supreme Court may look at things differently.”
Critics of the Arizona law say that its effect extends far beyond 31,500 voters and that it could cause many more people to be pushed off the rolls.
“Those people won’t get their ballot in the mail,” said Alex Gulotta, state director for All Voting Is Local, a voting rights group. “They may go try and vote and they’ll find out they’re no longer registered and it’s too late to register, and they will in fact be disenfranchised for this election in November.”
The worries about tens of thousands of additional voters losing their registration are rooted in a 1996 state law that requires proof of citizenship to obtain a driver’s license. Because of that law, the state could assume that anyone registering to vote with a driver’s license had already proved their citizenship status. But 192,000 people in Arizona have pre-1996 driver’s licenses, according to the state’s Department of Transportation.
Sam Almy, a Democratic strategist, sought to estimate a partisan breakdown of who would be affected by the new law by comparing those who had not updated their voter registration in Arizona since 2004 with a Democratic voter file. According to Almy, 45% of potentially affected voters were Republicans, compared with 36% who were Democrats. Nearly 90% of the voters were older than 50.
Greenbaum said it was unclear whether the new law would immediately be applied retroactively to affected voters. He also said that it was unclear if any would be notified if their registration had become invalid.
As in other states, local election officials in Arizona have been strained by limited funding, threats to their safety and new, graver penalties for mistakes.
A bipartisan group of local election officials asked Ducey in a letter last week to veto the bill, criticizing its “unconstitutionality” and saying that it would put “county recorders and election officials in the untenable position of trying to comply with state law while at the same time clearly violating the federal National Voter Registration Act.”
Local election officials warned of another logistical headache: The law, as signed, would go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns for the year, which could be as late as June. But Arizona’s primary election is set for Aug. 2, which could mean that the primary would be held under the old laws and the general election would have to abide by the new law.
“Election administrators have been fighting misinformation and disinformation for years now, and they’ve been trying desperately to keep up with the shenanigans of the extreme political right,” said Adrian Fontes, former election administrator for Maricopa County and a Democratic candidate for secretary of state in Arizona.
“They’ve been planning on this election for a year and a half now,” Fontes said, “and for these curveballs to get thrown at election administrators at the last second to impact so many tens of thousands of voters across the entire state — there’s a lot of county recorders out there that are just going to be scrambling, and I feel for them.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/arizona-passes-proof-of-citizenship-law-for-voting-in-presidential-elections/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2022-04-01T01:51:14Z |
125,000 lethal doses of fentanyl seized in Gwinnett County
Local, state and federal police seized 65 kilos of meth, 1 kilo of...
www.georgiahealthnews.comLocal, state and federal police seized 65 kilos of meth, 1 kilo of...
www.georgiahealthnews.com | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2556738840735/125-000-lethal-doses-of-fentanyl-seized-in-gwinnett-county | 2022-04-01T01:51:14Z |
Oldest U.S. active park ranger retires at 100
The nation’s oldest active park ranger is hanging up her Smokey hat at the age of 100.
Betty Reid Soskin retired Thursday after more than 15 years at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California, the National Park Service announced.
Soskin “spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with coworkers,” a Park Service statement said.
She led tours at the park and museum honoring the women who worked in factories during wartime and shared her own experience as a Black woman during the conflict. She worked for the U.S. Air Force in 1942 but quit after learning that “she was employed only because her superiors believed she was white,” according to a Park Service biography.
“Being a primary source in the sharing of that history – my history – and giving shape to a new national park has been exciting and fulfilling,” Soskin said in the Park Service statement. “It has proven to bring meaning to my final years.”
Soskin won a temporary Park Service position at the age of 84 and became a permanent Park Service employee in 2011. She celebrated her 100th birthday last September.
“Betty has made a profound impact on the National Park Service and the way we carry out our mission,” Director Chuck Sams said. “Her efforts remind us that we must seek out and give space for all perspectives so that we can tell a more full and inclusive history of our nation.”
Soskin was born Betty Charbonnet in Detroit in 1921 but recalled surviving the devastating Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 while living with her Creole family in New Orleans, according to the Park Service biography.
Her family then moved to Oakland, California, and Soskin remained in the San Francisco Bay Area, where in 1945 she and her first husband founded one of the first Black-owned record stores in the area, the biography said.
She also was a civil rights activist and took part in meetings to develop a general management plan for the Home Front park. She has received several honors.
She was named California Woman of the Year in 1995.
In 2015, Soskin received a presidential coin from President Barack Obama after she lit the National Christmas tree at the White House.
In June 2016, she was awakened in her home by a robber who punched her repeatedly in the face, dragged her out of her bedroom and beat her before making off with the coin and other items. Soskin, then 94, recovered and returned to work just weeks after the attack. The coin was replaced.
Soskin also was honored with entry into the Congressional Record. Glamour Magazine named her woman of the year in 2018.
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Spring sights abound along South Yuba
Buttermilk Bend wildflower walk in full bloom
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‘There’s a level of anxiety’: Ricciardo learns to cope with pressures of home grand prix
By Matthew Clayton
Daniel Ricciardo has read the news, scoured social media and heard enough anecdotes from friends to realise this year’s Australian Grand Prix could be the biggest of his Formula One career, but he believes the 2014 event in Melbourne will always stand as his defining home race.
With Albert Park ticket sales at record levels after a dramatic 2021 season, the “Netflix effect” on the sport’s fan base thanks to its Drive to Survive series opening up F1 to a new audience and a three-year gap between grands prix in Melbourne, Ricciardo is itching to take to the grid at a home race for McLaren for the first time, with Melbourne’s 2019 race doubling as his debut for Renault.
The 32-year-old feels the 2014 Melbourne race, where he qualified on the front row of the grid for the first time and finished a superb second before his Red Bull Racing machine was disqualified for breaching a fuel-flow regulation, was the first moment he was considered one of the sport’s premier drivers.
“From what everyone tells me, it feels like this year is going to be big – but for me, 2014 was always the race that felt biggest because I’d just joined Red Bull,” Ricciardo says.
“It was the first race of the season for me and I had a reigning four-time world champion (Sebastian Vettel) as my teammate. They were big stakes because people wanted to know ‘does this guy really have it?’ I wanted to show the team that it wasn’t too much for me, that I could really do this.
“But in terms of the build-up, because Australia hasn’t had a race in so long, they’ve re-done the track and it sounds like the crowd will be huge – 2022 has potential to be something pretty special.”
Ricciardo is well aware of the hoodoo that hangs over home drivers at Albert Park; since Melbourne came on to the grand prix calendar 26 years ago, no local driver has finished on the podium. While McLaren’s early-season struggles in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia before arriving in Melbourne don’t point to that drought ending, he’s learned to cope better with being the centre of attention.
“It’s extremes with Australia because everything is magnified,” he says. “When it’s great, it’s awesome … when it’s bad, it’s way more miserable. In 2019, my race was more or less over after five seconds (after he ran off track and broke his Renault’s front wing) and it wasn’t the most fun day I’ve had.”
Ricciardo admits the pressure of being the sole Australian on the grid for six of his eight grands prix at home has, at times, been difficult to deal with. “It can get to a point where there’s a level of anxiety because of the sheer scale of the attention,” he says.
“It’s quite foreign to get that level of attention, and it can easily get in your head a little bit. I’ve not always done the best job with that, and sometimes it’s best to roll with the punches so you don’t create tension that stops you performing at your best.
“Do you give too much of yourself to things that are outside of driving, or do you shelter yourself away and almost focus too hard on driving and try to shut down everything else? You can lose energy trying to push back and stay under the radar, which you can’t anyway because it’s your home GP.
“Neither is a natural way to go racing, so there’s a compromise you have to accept, and just do the best you can with what you have.”
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter. | https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/motorsport/there-s-a-level-of-anxiety-ricciardo-learns-to-cope-with-pressures-of-home-grand-prix-20220331-p5a9tb.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed | 2022-04-01T01:51:16Z |
Circus fuses extreme athletic performance, diverse artists and stunning spectacles with a truly global appeal.
Circus is exciting, although sometimes unpredictable. At any moment during rehearsal, performance or travel, injuries can occur.
The task of looking after the health of circus performers is unique. And we’ve been privileged to do that, as physiotherapists treating and helping coordinate artists’ medical care.
We’ve done this in well over 100 cities through 30 countries across North and South America, Europe, Australasia, Asia and the Middle East. While we’ve mainly toured with professional circuses, we’ve also advised junior artists and circus training facilities.
This is what it’s like to work behind the scenes of some of the greatest shows on Earth.
A diverse crew
Circuses and their performers are diverse. Disciplines include ground acrobatics (for instance, tumbling, hand balancing, contortion); aerial acrobatics (trapeze, silks, straps); manipulation (juggling); character (clowning); and music. Rehearsals and performances may feature fire, ice, water, heights or a range of props and equipment.
You could compare the cast of a large show to an Olympic squad, with a variety of ages, body shapes, sizes and injury risk.
At the elite level, performers may come from a range of different countries, languages and cultural backgrounds. This can add potential challenges such as differing belief systems and attitudes about injury cause and management, training and performance.
A diverse set of injuries
While headline-grabbing falls and catastrophic injuries do occur, they are fortunately rare. Most injuries are chronic (long-term) injuries and less-serious acute ones.
The most commonly reported circus injuries are to the spine and ankle. We also see sprains, strains, and sore lower backs and shoulders.
You might be familiar with many of these injuries. However, circus performers have unique skills, and sometimes require extreme ranges of movement, coordination and strength. They need their bodies to function in ways you or I don’t. This influences how we work with performers to get them back on their feet (or hands).
Read more: Hot pack or cold pack: which one to reach for when you're injured or in pain
Circus injury rates are 7.37-9.27 per 1,000 artist exposures (the number of training/performance hours, or number of training sessions/shows). Acrobatic injuries are the most common.
However, the limited research we have on circus injuries suggests circus is safer then many other sports. That includes having lower injury rates than contact football (rugby, American football and Australian rules), and gymnastics.
In professional circus, injuries tend to be minor, requiring seven or fewer treatment sessions and resulting in one or no missed shows.
However, injuries are likely under-reported. Common definitions of injury rely on artists missing training or shows, or seeking formal medical care. Some injuries don’t meet these criteria.
Our research looked at performers’ self-reported lower-limb problems, regardless of whether they missed work or saw a health-care practitioner. We asked them about injuries and/or symptoms such as pain, ache, stiffness, clicking/catching, swelling and instability.
In any given week, we found more than 50% of performers reported problems. In an 18-week period, 86% of performers reported having had at least one week with work-related lower limb problems.
A diverse range of issues
Some performers also face barriers to recovering from their injuries. One study found financial constraints and a lack of health-care support were issues.
For instance, full-time artists may have access to travelling medical staff with experience working with circus performers. These artists may also have paid injury leave and comprehensive health insurance.
However, artists performing on short-term contracts or doing gig-based work may need to source their own medical care and are more likely to suffer financial loss if they miss performances.
Other researchers have also reported how aspects of circus culture influence how we manage circus injuries. In one study, performers said they didn’t always trust health-care practitioners’ knowledge of work demands. This includes circus skill requirements, and training or show schedules.
Some performers may prioritise advice from colleagues and coaches over medical recommendations. This may be partly because circus is a historic art form where, in many disciplines, training methods have been passed down through generations of performers.
For health-care practitioners, this knowledge can be valuable. So clinicians need to work with artists to come to a shared understanding of how to manage injuries.
Acknowledging the unique nature of circus training and performance, as well as the lack of evidence base to guide medical decision-making in the field, can also help build rapport and ensure a collaborative approach to managing injuries.
Read more: Are clowns scary? Ha ha aaaargh
Preventing injuries is the goal
Circus performers are generally adept at managing their bodies, using strength, flexibility and conditioning training to try to prevent injuries and improve their acts.
We have worked with performers to promote self-management, using techniques from more established fields such as sports and dance medicine.
For instance, we looked at adding self-directed endurance exercises to a performing, touring show. This was welcomed by many performers.
Read more: Health Check: do ice baths after sport help recovery or improve results?
A lot goes on behind the scenes
For the shows to go on, much behind-the-scenes work is needed from the artists and dedicated support staff.
For those involved in the care of circus artists, this provides not only a uniquely challenging and fascinating workspace, but an amazing view of some of the greatest shows on Earth. | https://theconversation.com/were-two-physios-who-ran-away-with-the-circus-heres-what-we-learned-177739 | 2022-04-01T01:51:17Z |
NEW YORK, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- F-Factor, a leading dietitian-created program for weight loss and optimal health based on fiber-rich nutrition, announced the hiring of Hugh Dever to the role of Chief Operating Officer, reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer Tanya Zuckerbrot MS, RD.
"I feel honored to join an organization that has helped thousands of people lose weight and improve their health with a scientific, liberating, and sustainable approach." said Mr. Dever. "I am looking forward to working with Tanya, our Registered Dietitians, and the entire team to bring the F-Factor approach and products to more people."
Mr. Dever has nearly 30 years of experience in the consumer-packaged goods and consumer services industries. Prior to F-Factor, he was V.P. of Strategy, Marketing, and Innovation for CEA Fresh Farms, a start-up developing environmentally sustainable solutions to growing, harvesting and delivering fresher and healthier produce to consumers looking for locally produced products. Mr. Dever has previously held brand and general management roles at Procter and Gamble, Weight Watchers International and Chiquita/Fresh Express.
"We are excited for Hugh Dever to join our leadership team and F-Factor to benefit from his impressive experience in the wellness space," said Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD, CEO of F-Factor. "Hugh will be integral to F-Factor's continued growth with a focus on expanding our portfolio of high-fiber/high-protein products, our service business and scaling our digital capabilities."
About F-Factor
Fad diets come and go, but after more than two decades of success stories and ongoing praise from the media, The F-Factor Diet has stood the test of time. Now hailed as the go-to lifestyle program for anyone who wants to improve their health and lose weight for good, F-Factor's scientifically proven approach allows you to see results without hunger, deprivation, or denial. Change your life without disrupting your lifestyle: dine out, drink alcohol, eat carbs, and work out less from Day 1.
The F-Factor Program has been endorsed by numerous physicians and dietitians, including Dr. Jerome Zacks, Assistant Clinical Professor at the Mount Sinai Medical Center: "The F-Factor Diet is packed with critical facts that form the foundation for a knowledge-based approach to lifestyle nutritional success. Tanya's scholarly approach is a gift that gives forever. Her contribution to preventative health care is immeasurable."
To learn more about the F-Factor Program, the bestselling F-Factor Diet Book, and F-Factor products, visit our website at www.ffactor.com, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
About Tanya Zuckerbrot
Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD, is an internationally-known dietitian, a two-time bestselling author, and the creator and CEO of the renowned F-Factor Diet—a liberating and sustainable approach to weight loss and optimal health based on scientifically proven fiber-rich nutrition. Zuckerbrot has worked in private practice for more than 20 years and has advised thousands of clients, including celebrities, business and government leaders and media personalities to improve their health and manage their weight through nutrition.
Zuckerbrot holds a master's degree in Nutrition and Food Studies from New York University; is an accredited member of the American Dietetic Association, the Greater New York Dietetic Association, and the American Association for Diabetes Educators; and is a member of the National Association of Professional Women. Zuckerbrot holds a Commission of Dietetic Registration (CDR) Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management as well as a CDR Certificate of Training in Childhood and Adolescent Weight Management.
Media Contact: Abigail Gannon
Agannon@ffactor.com
646.442.3904
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SOURCE F-FACTOR. LLC | https://www.ky3.com/prnewswire/2022/04/01/f-factor-announces-hiring-hugh-dever-chief-operating-officer/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:18Z |
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Isles’ Aho, Hurricanes’ Aho score goals at almost same time
NEW YORK (AP) — Both NHL players named Sebastian Aho scored goals for their teams. And at nearly the exact same time Thursday night. Both also gave their teams 1-0 leads in the first period. Sportsnet Stats said Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho scored his first goal of the season at 7:14 p.m. EDT in New York against Columbus. Just 34 seconds later and more than 500 miles away, Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho scored his 31st in Carolina against Montreal. | https://ktvz.com/news/2022/03/31/isles-aho-hurricanes-aho-score-goals-at-almost-same-time/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:18Z |
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Archive: TWFTT 3-31-22 | http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/the-word-from-the-trenches-march-31-2022/300785 | 2022-04-01T01:51:18Z |
CHICAGO , March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the nation's largest customer-owned health insurer, announced today several changes to its senior leadership team.
The leadership transitions reflect a thoughtful and strategic approach to long-term growth and succession planning for the company.
Dr. Opella Ernest, chief operating officer, takes on a new role effective immediately as executive vice president, HCSC Commercial Markets, succeeding Jeff Tikkanen, who announced he will retire from HCSC in March 2023. Mike Frank, senior vice president, Pharmacy and Ancillary Business, will become senior vice president, chief operating officer. Dr. Ernest and Frank will report to Maurice Smith, president and CEO of HCSC.
Jeff Tikkanen, executive vice president, Commercial Markets, will transition to an advisory role focused on market initiatives including national account strategy and key client relationships until his retirement in March 2023.
"As our strategic priorities evolve, so does our organizational structure," said Maurice Smith president and CEO of HCSC. "Our continued focus on building our leadership bench strength allows us to continue to execute on our strategy -- to expand health care access, to deepen relationships in our communities and to advance our mission and commitments to remain the health coverage partner of choice for our stakeholders. HCSC has an action-oriented leadership team that is a result of a long-standing focus on attracting and growing top talent."
Dr. Opella Ernest will take on her new role, effective immediately, as executive vice president, HCSC Commercial Markets. As our former chief operating officer, Dr. Ernest helped reshaped our customer and provider experience through advancements in technology and innovation. In her new role, Dr. Ernest assumes responsibility for the company's five BCBS health plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas as well as national account growth, clinical and pharmacy operations and analytics. She joined HCSC in 2012 and has had increasing responsibility leading the company's clinical strategy and operation as Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer. She also served as Divisional Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. A board-certified family physician, she has a degree in medicine from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan
Mike Frank, senior vice president Pharmacy and Ancillary Business, will become senior vice president, chief operating officer, reporting to Dr. Ernest. In his new role, Mike will lead HCSC's IT and Customer Service organizations. Frank joined HCSC in 2013 when BCBSMT became part of the company. Since that time as SVP, Tri-State plans, he provided strategic oversight on how HCSC served members in our Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in Montana, New Mexico and Oklahoma as well as expanding our pharmacy solutions and better understanding of our customer service needs. Previously Frank was president of the Montana plan. Other roles at the plan included chief legal and operations officer, chief administrative officer, vice president of Corporate Integrity and Human Resources, and vice president of Compliance and Ethics. He earned his Bachelor of Science in psychology from Montana State University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Montana.
"These leadership changes will position the company for continued growth and demonstrate the strength of the HCSC management bench," said Smith. "Opella and Mike's leadership has been instrumental in both advancing and driving HCSC strategy over the last few years. In their new roles, we will see them have even greater impact on the company's success in the future."
About Health Care Service Corporation
Health Care Service Corporation is the country's largest customer-owned health insurer, with more than 17 million members in its health plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. A Mutual Legal Reserve Company, HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
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SOURCE Health Care Service Corporation | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/03/31/health-care-service-corporation-announces-leadership-changes/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:18Z |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In one of his tried-and-true motivational speeches, Mike Krzyzewski outlined his four pillars of team building: making everyone feel important, taking ownership in the team, adapting to setbacks and playing with feeling.
Duke perfected the first three to help Coach K reach his 13th and most amazing Final Four. Next comes the “feeling” part.
Now that the record-setting, 75-year-old coach is in New Orleans, he knows he must walk a fine line between enjoying the moment and letting it overwhelm both him and his team.
“I’ve always thought that shared emotion is the best,” Krzyzewski said Thursday, as his team settled in for its run at the coach’s sixth national title.
The Blue Devils (32-6) meet archrival North Carolina on Saturday in a national semifinal matchup plucked straight from a screenwriters’ script.
When Duke lost two games over the span of a week in early March, starting with the 94-81 setback to the Tar Heels in Krzyzewski’s final home game, the thought he might be coaching at the Final Four this weekend felt like a dream only a Blue Devils fan could believe.
But once the NCAA Tournament began, Duke started playing better. Wins over Cal-State Fullerton and Michigan State propelled the Blue Devils into the Sweet 16. There, they knocked off Texas Tech, then Arkansas. Krzyzewski passed John Wooden by qualifying for his record 13th Final Four. On Saturday he looks to improve on a record he already holds, by notching a 1,203rd career victory.
One of Krzyzewski’s keys to the turnaround was convincing his players that the rest of this season was about them, not him.
“This is our season, too,” Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr., said before the team’s win over Michigan State.
In many ways, Coach K’s final team is fulfilling the vision he shared back in 2015 when, fresh off a championship after his 12th run to the Final Four, he gave the keynote address to a gathering of U.S. Olympic athletes and administrators in Colorado Springs.
“You are not paying rent. You’re here, it’s yours,” Krzyzewski told the rapt audience as he moved through his four pillars of team building.
He talked about his first Olympic experience, back in 1992, when he was an assistant to Chuck Daly on the Dream Team. Krzyzewski was coming off back-to-back titles with Duke and thought he was a “hot ticket.”
His eyes were opened when none other than Michael Jordan approached him after a practice one day. Krzyzewski braced for the inevitable smack talk from the best player in the game, one who happened to have played at North Carolina. Instead, Jordan asked if the coach could work with him on some of his offensive moves.
In his speech, Krzyzewski said he realized something after that workout.
“It’s like a totem pole,” the coach said. “Michael Jordan was at the top of the totem pole. And I was near the bottom.”
But, Coach K said, ”Michael Jordan had a horizontal totem pole, where everybody was important.”
Though there certainly is a pecking order on this year’s version of the Blue Devils — freshmen Paolo Banchero and AJ Griffin look like NBA lottery picks — at least four players have scored double figures in each of Duke’s four NCAA victories. Five players average in double figures for the Blue Devils this season.
In his news conference Thursday, the coach spoke about the players taking ownership in their fate as the season wore on.
“When you go into competition, if you haven’t worked, you have a hard time trusting yourself,” he said. “But if you’ve worked, you can trust, but you also own it. You own it more.”
In his keynote address, Krzyzewski said his first two building blocks lead to the third, which is adaptability. In 2022, it played out after the losses to North Carolina, then one week later to Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, forced Krzyzewski to take a long look in the mirror.
“I just had a good meeting with myself. I said that I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to help in some way, and part of it was my approach with them,” Krzyzewski said before Duke’s win over Arkansas in the Elite Eight.
Coach K described using the first five minutes of halftime during the Michigan State game to do something different by “just pull(ing) out a chair, and I sit with them for about five minutes and just, ‘OK, here’s where we’re at, and just talk to them.’”
Duke overcame a late, five-point deficit in that one, and now, Krzyzewski has led his team across his proverbial bridge that only a few lucky teams cross. They made it to college basketball’s biggest stage.
In his motivational speech, Krzyzewski said one method of getting a room full of superstars to “feel” the mission they were on at the Barcelona Olympics each night was to play the soulful version of the national anthem sung by Marvin Gaye at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
The promise, the U.S. coaches told the Dream Team, was that they would hear that song twice on the day of the title game — once beforehand, then again while they were standing on the podium receiving their gold medals.
The song that closes out March Madness is “One Shining Moment.” Whether Duke will bask in confetti when that song plays at the end of the title game is a big part of the drama that will unfold between now and Monday night.
Whether or not it happens, everyone at Duke is feeling it at this point — even if the coach insists he’s been focusing on basketball.
“I didn’t do this season to have a storybook,” Krzyzewski said. “I did it because I wanted to coach one more year and I wanted to have a good succession plan for our program. And we’ve won 32 games, and my guys have been terrific.”
___
More AP college basketball: http://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/sports/ap-sports/coach-k-builds-blue-devils-into-his-final-final-four-team/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:18Z |
Curio Wellness is cultivating a better way of life. As a trusted healthcare partner providing safe, effective and reliable products, we seek to continually elevate the healthcare conversation through education and patient experiences that are truly transformative. Whether for our patients, partners or employees, we seek to inspire and affect innovative healthcare solutions. | https://www.leafly.com/brands/curio-wellness/products/curio-wellness-snowball-flower | 2022-04-01T01:51:19Z |
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Here’s how it works | https://dan.com/buy-domain/medshell.in | 2022-04-01T01:51:20Z |
LEBANON, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania police officer was killed and two others injured Thursday during a shooting that occurred while responding to a domestic disturbance call, Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello said.
Police officers went to a home in the city at about 3:30 p.m. for the disturbance call. Nearly an hour later gunfire broke out and officers radioed in they were hit, Capello said at a brief news conference.
All three officers were taken to hospitals. One of them has been pronounced dead. A second was in critical condition, but stable, and a third was in stable condition, Capello said.
“This is an extremely difficult moment for everyone,” Capello said.
The suspect, a 34-year-old man from Lebanon, was killed in the shooting, Lebanon Police Chief Todd Breiner said.
“As one can imagine, it’s clearly a traumatic event,” Breiner said. “Our guys are strong, but we’re human and we have families.”
The slain officer’s name is being withheld pending notification of extended family members.
Police did not release further details. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/1-officer-killed-2-others-shot-in-pennsylvania/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2022-04-01T01:51:20Z |
President Delivers State of the University Address from UMass Amherst
UMass President Marty Meehan delivered his 2022 State of the University address to UMass students,...
www.umass.eduUMass President Marty Meehan delivered his 2022 State of the University address to UMass students,...
www.umass.edu | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2556739013644/president-delivers-state-of-the-university-address-from-umass-amherst | 2022-04-01T01:51:21Z |
SUISUN CITY (CBS13) — It’s another instance where people may be paying more than they expected because they don’t check the receipt.
This time, when a viewer noticed she was being charged more than the posted price at Suisun City’s Walmart, she decided to reach out and call Kurtis.
READ MORE: Sierra Oaks K-8 Parents Concerned Over Delayed Notification Of School StabbingJocelyne von Strong says it’s been a reoccurring problem: food items that aren’t the same at checkout as the posted price. She sent CBS13 photos proving it: a two-pack of cream cheese advertised as $2.00 but a receipt that says $2.88.
Jocelyne says she brought it up with the checkout clerk the first time, but then it happened again a few weeks later. After it happened a third time, she says she was told by the customer service desk to file a complaint online.
READ MORE: Getting Answers: Will Releasing Oil From Reserve Give Relief For CA Drivers?“Well, frankly, I think there should be an investigation,” she said. “I don’t think that just going to them and saying ‘hey, there’s a problem’ is working.”
We reached out to Walmart and a spokesperson explained that the company is “always working to keep up with pricing changes,” an issue driven partially by inflation. In addition, the spokesperson noted that every store deals with thousands of barcodes each day, so sometimes one falls through the cracks.
Still, it’s worth double-checking those receipts. Each county’s weights and measures department is responsible for keeping stores honest on advertised prices. So if you realize you’re getting overcharged and the store won’t do anything, file a complaint with the department.
MORE NEWS: 'Make Change Happen Now': Sacramento City Unified Moms Take Stand As Strike ContinuesA county’s weights and measures department can do undercover stings, spot inspections and fine stores for bad practices. They can even turn cases over to the district attorney for prosecution. | https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2022/03/31/ck-viewer-pays-more-than-ad-at-walmart/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:22Z |
COLORADO SPRINGS – Ultra-fast and reliable fiber optic internet is coming to Colorado Springs. The company, Metronet, announced it’s bringing new technology to the city’s grid, boosting internet connection for homes and businesses.
Through Metronet’s $130 million investment, Colorado Springs will mark the first community in Colorado that will have access to Metronet’s future-proof infrastructure. Construction in Colorado Springs is expected to begin in the coming weeks with the first customers connected later this year. Once complete, Colorado Springs will join the country’s internet elite as a Gigabit City.
“It’s a great day to be in Colorado Springs. Growth is a good thing. Not only for the business community, the climate, and competition, it’s a good thing for out citizens because this brings jobs and also reliable internet service,” said Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer, Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce President.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome this new technology service provider and we appreciate their investment in Colorado Springs,” said Mayor John Suthers. “We know our city’s access to reliable, high-speed internet is a major factor in our business-friendliness and our resident’s ability to work, learn and thrive. We welcome Metronet to Colorado Springs and trust they will find this a great place to do business.”
Metronet says the network will immediately benefit homes and businesses but it’s also laying the foundation for the future of technology.
“Reliable internet access is critical, and with this expansion, residents and businesses in Colorado Springs will be able to easily work, learn and entertain themselves. Only 30 percent of households in the U.S. have access to the gigbit speeds that only fiver optic networks can provide,” said John Cinelli, Metronet CEO.
Colorado Springs residents will receive communication by mail about construction activity in their neighborhood 30 days prior to starting. Additional messaging, such as yard signs, will also be provided to notify residents of when construction is beginning in their neighborhood.
Metronet also plans to hire local people for jobs ranging from management positions, to sales and customer service, to service technician positions within the company. To learn more or apply click here. | https://www.fox21news.com/uncategorized/new-fiber-optic-network-coming-to-colorado-springs/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:22Z |
Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Edge entered general availability status.
GDC EDGE is a portfolio of fully managed hardware and software for running workloads at the edge.
Google cited a number of use cases:- 5G Core and radio access network (RAN) functions at the edge
- Anomaly detection using video and AI to reduce defects on the factory floor
- Real-time inventory with robots, enabling next-generation retail stores
- Improving operational efficiency across automotive with sensors
- Scrubbing sensitive data locally before it’s transferred to the cloud
There are two hardware form factor options:
(1) rack-based configurations - includes the rack, six servers, two top-of-rack switches, cabling, and optics, and can be configured for either AC or DC power. They are available in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Finland, and the United Kingdom.
(2) GDC Edge Appliances - for use cases where bandwidth and latency limitations prevent organizations from processing the data from devices like cameras and sensors back in cloud data centers. These appliances simplify data collection, analytics and processing at remote locations where copious amounts of data coming from these devices needs to be processed quickly and stored securely. They can store data generated by cameras and sensors at customer warehouses, stores and vehicles, or run containerized applications that process the data locally using ML inference, aggregation, and custom logic. An Edge Appliance includes a lightweight 1U ruggedized server, RAID-based local NFS storage, TPM for security and an optional NVIDIA GPU.
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure-modernization/google-distributed-cloud-edge-is-ga | https://www.convergedigest.com/2022/03/google-distributed-cloud-edge-enters-ga.html | 2022-04-01T01:51:22Z |
TROSTYANETS/LVIV: Ukrainian forces are preparing for new Russian attacks in the southeast, where Moscow’s guns are now trained after its assault on the capital Kyiv was repelled, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.
Five weeks into an invasion that has blasted cities into wastelands and created more than 4 million refugees, US and European officials said Russian president Vladimir Putin was misled by his generals about the dire performance of Russia’s military.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was bringing a convoy of aid to reach the besieged Black Sea port of Mariupol, where tens of thousands of people have been trapped for weeks under bombardment without food, water or heat.
In an early morning video address, Zelensky said Russian troop movements away from Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv were “the consequence of our defenders’ work.”
But Ukraine was seeing “a build-up of Russian forces for new strikes on the Donbas and we are preparing for that,” he said, referring to the southeastern region Russia demands Ukraine cede to separatists, where Mariupol is the main port.
Tough resistance by Ukrainian forces has so far prevented Russia from capturing any major city, including Kyiv, which it assaulted with armored columns from the northwest and east.
Moscow says it is scaling back its offensives near the capital and the north and now focusing on “liberating” Donbas.
Mariupol, once a city of 400,000 people, has been destroyed by four weeks of relentless bombardment and siege. The United Nations believes thousands of people have died there.
Previous attempts to bring aid into besieged parts of the city have failed and civilians have only been able to escape if they have cars. Ukraine said 45 buses were on their way on Thursday and the ICRC said it would evacuate civilians from Friday if the warring parties agreed on safe passage.
“It’s desperately important that this operation takes place. The lives of tens of thousands of people in Mariupol depend on it,” said ICRC spokesperson Ewan Watson in Geneva.
In a part of Mariupol now held by Russia, people climbed out of cellars to appear, ghostlike, among the ruins. A man named Pavel placed a bowl and spoon as a tribute on a makeshift grave in a patch of grass, marked with a plain wooden cross.
“Our friend. March 16. Driving in a car. A bullet hit him in the throat. He was dead in five minutes,” he said.
Putin misled, US says
The past week has seen a Ukrainian counter-offensive, recapturing destroyed suburbs of Kyiv and strategic towns and villages in the northeast and southwest.
Moscow calls its decision to pull back near the capital a goodwill gesture for peace talks. Kyiv and its allies say that is an excuse to try to regroup following its losses.
Evidence of Ukraine’s successful counterattack could be seen in Trostyanets, now in Ukrainian hands after being recaptured this week. The town in eastern Ukraine controls a road leading out of Sumy, a major city which had been under siege.
Burnt-out Russian tanks and abandoned ammunition littered the wreckage of the town. Dazed civilians and a few Ukrainian soldiers roamed the muddy streets.
“We spent 30 days in the basement, with small children. The children are shaking, even still. They ask: ‘When will we go to kindergarten? When will we go to school?’ They don’t understand what has happened,” said a woman named Larisa.
Vadym Shashkov, 60, gestured beside a wrecked hospital where he had helped rescue survivors from Russian shelling.
“There were women who had given birth to their children, there were babies here, including twins. We pulled people out of the hospital. Thank God, we got them all.”
Russia says it launched a “special military operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbor, and that the mission is going to plan.
Western countries say the invasion was an unprovoked war of aggression, that Russia’s true aim was to swiftly topple the government in Kyiv, and that its failure has been a strategic catastrophe, bringing economic ruin and diplomatic isolation.
US officials have declassified intelligence which they said showed a rift between Putin and top advisers who failed to warn him of the poor performance of his military or the economic impact of Western sanctions.
“We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership,” Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, told reporters on Wednesday. Putin was being misinformed about the campaign “because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth,” she said.
Western sanctions imposed on Russia as punishment for its invasion have largely isolated its economy from world trade, but Moscow is still the biggest supplier of oil and gas to Europe.
The United States is considering releasing up to 180 million barrels of oil over several months from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to ease prices, two US sources said. Oil prices fell more than $5 a barrel on Thursday on the news.
Russia has demanded Europe pay for its gas in roubles by Friday, raising fears of energy shortages. Germany has warned of a possible emergency if Russia cuts supplies.
A German government spokesperson said Putin had told Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday that payments could still be made in euros to Gazprombank, a bank affiliated with the Russian gas export monopoly, which would convert the money to roubles.
However, the Russian business newspaper Kommersant said Gazprom was looking into shutting off supplies: “Gazprom ... is indeed working on an option of a complete stoppage of gas supplies to ‘unfriendly countries’ and is evaluating the consequences of such measures,” it wrote. | https://www.arabnews.com/node/2054701/world | 2022-04-01T01:51:22Z |
Manly chief executive Stephen Humphreys will front the Sea Eagles board next week over alleged corporate governance issues.
The Sea Eagles have informed the NRL of the development on Friday.
Humphreys is currently unwell after recently contracting COVID-19, while several Sea Eagles directors are also isolating after testing positive.
Humphreys - the son of former NSWRL boss Kevin - took charge of the club three years ago. The Herald has attempted to reach him for comment.
“I can’t make any public comment at this time due to the private nature of this matter,” said Manly chairman Scott Penn.
“We’ll release something more in due course.”
The Sea Eagles will face the Raiders at Mudgee on Saturday afternoon.
More to come. | https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/nrl/manly-boss-humphreys-to-front-board-over-corporate-governance-issues-20220401-p5aa1p.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed | 2022-04-01T01:51:23Z |
Report: Rain not anticipated when $7M in PPE moved outside
About $7 million worth of surplus personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies purchased by a Northern California county was left outside during a rainstorm because no one anticipated wet weather to start so early in the season, according to an investigation released Thursday.
After a KGO-TV news report showed hundreds of drenched cardboard boxes, San Mateo County officials acknowledged the supplies were moved outside an event center last September to make room for a conference.
There was no definitive timeline for how the supplies would be distributed “even though the Fall rainy season was not far off,” the probe by James Lianides said. County officials said they hired the retired school superintendent to conduct the inquiry because of his experience dealing with large organizations and purchasing practices.
Lianides said the boxes of non-medical-grade gowns, face shields and goggles as well as cleaning supplies were also moved out of the event center to avoid the $100,000-per-month storage fee.
“It does not appear that there were any discussions or actions taken in the process of (moving) to protect the equipment in the event of inclement weather, such as wrapping or covering each pallet,” he wrote.
The county’s executive officer, Mike Callagy, has said the county purchased the items early in the pandemic when PPE was becoming scarce nationwide so that local first responders and medical providers would have what they needed. The demand for the equipment decreased as the pandemic continued.
The county’s supply of gloves and masks — including N95 and KN95 respirators — are stored indoors.
“What’s clear is that that this shouldn’t have happened. What is equally clear is we are taking the steps necessary to make sure that we put the checks and balances in place so this never happens again,” Callagy said in a statement Thursday.
An inspection of the damaged boxes determined that most of the safety equipment remains usable because they were packed in sealed plastic wrapping, the probe found. Equipment that could not be salvaged were worth about $128,000, according to Lianides.
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune. | https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/story/2022-03-31/report-rain-not-anticipated-when-7m-in-ppe-moved-outside | 2022-04-01T01:51:22Z |
STEAM 2022 winners announcement
Organizers recently congratulated all students who participated in the Nevada County STEAM Expo ‘22, which was sponsored by Telestream. On March 24, community members, educators and business industry partners met in a hybrid setting to evaluate the work from students throughout Nevada County. Showcasing the scientific inquiry process, mathematical analysis, artistic expression, active problem solving, asking questions, and examining answers, student creativity, collaboration, and ingenuity shined through their work.
The purpose of the Nevada County STEAM Expo is:
▪ To stimulate an active interest in science, technology, engineering, art, and math by engaging in original investigations, experiences, and demonstrations.
▪ To foster school and community cooperation in developing the STEAM potential of Nevada County students that will lead to future careers in these fields.
▪ To support the California State Standards.
Organizers extended their gratitude to students, teachers, families, and community members for supporting the students in the Nevada County STEAM ‘22 virtual showcase and competition.
The STEAM ‘22 Expo Showcase & Competition Top Finishers are:
Senior Division, for the 2022 Scientific Inquiry Competition, overall: Paxx Weidert (Forest Charter Academy), 1st place; Owen Alonso (Seven Hills Middle School), 2nd place; Sasha Spackman (Union Hill Schoo), 3rd place. Elementary Division: Nilsson Chappell (Deer Creek), 1st place; Logan Vanaman-Yardley (Deer Creek, 2nd place; Liam Langel (Deer Creek), 3rd place.
The top finishing Senior Division teams in the Scientific Inquiry competition were Spencer Thaurberger and Thomas Billingsley (Mt. St. Mary’s Academy), 1st place; Aubrey Roger, Amberlyn Anderson and Pascale Renoir-Snell (Twin Ridges Elementary), 2nd place;
The top finishers overall in the senior Arts & Showcase Competition were:
Austin Metzger (NUHS), 1st place; Safari Davis (NSCA), 2nd place; Owen Messer (NUHS), 3rd place. Winners in the Elementary division were: Satiana McGregor (NCSCA), 1st place; Ella Bristow (NCSA), 2nd place; Rhoan Schoensee (NCSA), 3rd place.
The top finishing Elementary level teams in Arts Showcase & Competition were:
Spin Art (TK-first grade STEAM classes at Deer Creek), 1st place; Watercolor Hearts, (second grade at Scotten School).
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You might have seen online or heard about “binaural beats”, which have been described as “digital drugs”.
Listening to binaural beats has been claimed to help with sleep, stress, anxiety and cognition, and there’s much discussion online about whether or not they can cause a “high” similar to drugs.
But what actually are they? And what’s the evidence for beneficial or mood-altering effects?
What are binaural beats?
The perceptual phenomenon of binaural beats was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Dove in 1841 and first described in scientific literature in 1973.
The perceptual auditory illusion created by binaural beats occurs when two pure tones of slightly different frequencies are presented to each ear. These two tones are then processed within our brains to sound like a third frequency. This third frequency is thought to produce a range of effects, including relaxation and attentiveness.
Academic research has focused on two main uses for binaural beats:
1) as a medical treatment or therapy
2) as a substitute for or complement to psychoactive drug use (drugs that affect the nervous system and alter perception, mood, cognition or behaviour).
Read more: Sounds like hype: there's scant evidence the 'binaural beats' illusion relaxes your brain
Binaural beats as therapy
Research investigating binaural beats has found positive effects for pain alleviation, anxiety reduction, and memory. However, there have been conflicting findings around its effects on concentration.
For example, a meta-analysis that included 22 studies on the effect of binaural beats on memory, attention, anxiety and pain relief found across all studies a statistically significant and consistent effect. A dose-response effect was found, meaning greater exposure to the sounds increased their effectiveness as a therapy.
Studies using high-quality designs have also consistently shown effects: using a double-blinded randomised control cross-over trial (the gold standard of clinical study), binaural beats reduced pain intensity, stress and use of analgesic drugs in chronic pain patients, compared with a placebo stimulation.
Studies looking at improving attention haven’t found evidence of an effect.
Binaural beats can be positioned within a range of other commonly used digital sound-based therapies such as ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). Emerging research indicates ASMR may have therapeutic benefits for mental health, which highlights the broader potential of digital sounds.
Binaural beats as digital pleasures
Binaural beats have also been incorporated into music, soundscapes and other consumer-facing products, including meditation tracks.
Some of these soundscapes have been marketed via mobile phone apps as digital drugs. Binaural beat tracks available to download are sometimes named after specific drugs, for example “Molly Rave Riot” (reference to MDMA) or “Roofie Enhanced calm” (reference to Rohypnol).
There is limited literature concerning digital drugs as substitutes for, or used in combination with, psychoactive substances. For example, binaural beats were mentioned in a paper investigating drug combinations on a public internet forum. Participants “frequently described listening to binaural beats while using substances to enhance the experience”.
Our paper, released today, surveyed over 30,000 respondents via the Global Drug Survey, finding 5% reported binaural beat use in the last 12 months.
Supporting the idea these binaural beat tracks are used to enhance drug use experiences, we found respondents who had recently used cannabis, psychedelics or novel drugs were more likely to also report use of binaural beats.
Read more: It's not all in your mind: how meditation affects the brain to help you stress less
The most common reported reasons for use of binaural beats in this sample included to relax or fall asleep, to change mood-state and to get a similar effect to that of other drugs. Qualitative responses also indicate use for pain relief for common ailments such as headaches and migraines.
In this survey sample, binaural beats were accessed primarily through video streaming sites on mobile phones.
Are binaural beats psychoactive?
Currently it’s unclear whether binaural beats are similar in effect to the psychoactive drugs they are promoted to simulate.
Given there are studies showing some effects of reducing anxiety and relieving perceptions of pain in medical contexts, it may also be possible binaural beats marketed as producing psychoactive drug effects could be perceived by consumers as providing similar sensations.
Controlled laboratory studies comparing ingestible psychoactive drug effects with those of binaural beat substitutes would be useful to answer this question.
Our research demonstrates some people who responded to our survey, and already consume drugs, are also using binaural beats to augment or substitute psychoactive substances.
Depending on their actual efficacy, a future where drug experiences can be downloaded (or streamed), rather than obtained from illegal markets, is intriguing, and poses questions that will traverse legal, clinical, and social domains.
We would like to acknowledge the other coauthors of our study, including Lachlan Goold, Adam Winstock and Jason Ferris. | https://theconversation.com/what-are-binaural-beats-and-do-they-affect-our-brain-180235 | 2022-04-01T01:51:23Z |
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A $64.1 billion supplemental state budget that spends on statewide programs ranging from homelessness and behavioral health to the ongoing COVID-19 response was signed Thursday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
The supplemental plan builds off of the $59 billion, two-year spending plan adopted by the Legislature last year, and benefited from the significant influx of revenues the state has seen over the past year. Additionally, lawmakers used more than $1 billion in remaining pandemic-related federal relief funds in the budget.
More than $800 million is allocated for homelessness and housing, including $50 million to transition unhoused people from unsanctioned camps to housing.
Inslee specifically called out the efforts on addressing homelessness, saying that lawmakers “gave us relief that is big, that is bold, and that is fast.”
While there are no general tax increases in the plan, there are also no across-the-board tax cuts, something Republicans had argued for throughout the legislative session that ended March 10.
“It’s been easy to explain to my constituents why Republicans opposed this budget – all I have to do is point to how the costs of living have continued to rise in the weeks since it was adopted, and the huge revenue surplus the Democrats had available,“ Republican Sen. Lynda Wilson said in a statement.
A small business tax credit was included that would affect about 125,000 small businesses in the state, and was among the bills signed by Inslee Thursday.
Starting in January, businesses making less than $125,000 a year would pay no state business taxes, and those making up to $250,000 a year, business taxes will be cut in half.
The supplemental operating budget also spends state or federal money on things like adding more social supports like nurses and counselors for students, increasing rates to vendors providing services to people with developmental disabilities or long-term care needs and shoring up the state’s paid family leave program, which officials warned was nearing a deficit.
It also allots funding for raises for state workers. According to the Office of Financial Management, about 63,800 general government employees will get a 3.25% general wage increase, about 6,700 state corrections workers will get a 4% general wage increase and about 1,200 state patrol officers will get a 10% general wage increase. The last general wage increase for represented employees was July 1, 2020.
The operating budget also transfers more than $2 billion to the nearly $17 billion, 16-year transportation revenue package that Inslee signed last week. The plan leaves about $3 billion in total reserves.
Inslee had several full or partial vetoes of bills, including a section of a bill that would have expanded the state’s existing warehouse sales and use tax to include smaller warehouses of at least 100,000 square feet. In his veto notice, Inslee said that while he understood the importance of manufacturing and warehousing to rural economies, he said the tax incentives in the bill were overly broad.
Inslee on Thursday also signed a $1.5 billion state construction budget that spends on areas ranging from housing, homelessness, behavioral health facilities, and seismic upgrades at public schools. | https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Washington-governor-signs-64-1-billion-17049827.php | 2022-04-01T01:51:24Z |
- 1.6L, 3-cylinder direct/port injected turbo engine delivers 300 hp and 273 pound-feet of torque
- GR-Four AWD system with customizable front-rear power settings
- Available in two grades: Core and launch-year-exclusive Circuit Edition
- Born from rally racing and tested to meet the highest standards set by master driver Akio Toyoda and professional TOYOTA GAZOO Racing drivers
- Genuine Toyota sportscar, precision built at the GR Factory at Toyota's Motomachi Plant
- Complimentary 1-year membership to the National Auto Sport Association, featuring a High-Performance Driving Event with expert instruction
LONG BEACH, Calif., March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- It's official: The powerful, stylish and agile hot hatch U.S. drivers are looking for is on its way, the first-ever 2023 GR Corolla. With the detail-obsessed TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team at the helm, and master driver Akio Toyoda, a.k.a. Morizo, signing off on approval, this all-new addition to Toyota's growing lineup of sports cars brings the performance, handling and functionality that hot hatch fans love.
Powered by the lightweight, compact-yet-powerful G16E-GTS turbo-charged, direct/port injected three-cylinder engine, GR Corolla delivers 300 hp and 273 lb.-ft. of torque. Engineered for snappy acceleration out of the corners, output hits peak torque at 3000-5500 rpm, with max horsepower coming at 6500 rpm. Its thrill-inducing power is piped through a unique triple exhaust that's designed to reduce backpressure for maximum power delivery.
The G16-E engine is paired with Toyota's rally developed GR-Four All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) drivetrain. This system gives drivers a choice of 60-40, 50-50 or 30-70 power distribution to the front and rear wheels. GR Corolla will be offered exclusively in a manual transmission, staying true to its hands-on rally racing roots.
Its broad hatch profile and low center of gravity are built on Toyota's GA-C platform, with enhanced frame reinforcements developed specifically for GR Corolla at GR Factory at Toyota Motomachi plant. Functional exterior air vents and aerodynamic features further support steering stability.
GR Corolla will come in two grades, Core and Circuit Edition.
The Core Grade will be available later this year in white, black and Supersonic Red. It will have a color keyed roof with rear lip spoiler, GR-Four stamped side rockers and wide-fender flares. On the inside, seating for five will come with GR logoed fabric sport seats.
The Circuit Edition will be a limited-run model available in 2023. Standard colors are white, Supersonic Red and Heavy Metal with the same GR-Four stamped side rockers and wide fenders as the Core. It adds a forged carbon fiber roof, vented bulge hood and a sporty rear spoiler, Brin Naub® suede-trimmed sport seats with red accents and a launch-year-exclusive Morizo signed shift knob.
The GR Corolla will come equipped with the all-new touchscreen Toyota Audio Multimedia system.
Pricing will be announced later this year.
Race Inspired Engineering
In 2007, Toyota expanded its car development activities with a decision to compete in the 24 Hours Nürburgring, the grueling endurance race held on the famous track winding through the German forest. However, as an unofficial Toyota activity, the team was called GAZOO Racing and was made up of employees, including Akio Toyoda driving under the alias of Morizo.
With a limited budget, the newly named team entered the race with two second-hand Altezzas. Despite adversity, both cars finished the challenging race, and a new era of Toyota motorsports and product development, one founded on a spirit of challenge aimed at instigating change, began.
As TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's first wholly developed and manufactured model for the North American market, the GR Corolla carries this spirit forward.
With professional drivers, experts and Morizo at the wheel, GR Corolla was tested repeatedly at some of Japan's leading circuits, including Fuji Speedway, Suzuka and Tsukuba Circuit. In addition, the GR team carried out heavy duty dirt and snow driving with a Japanese Rally Championship driver. No road was left unturned in the process, so engineers and technicians could sharpen acceleration and control worthy of the GR name.
GR Factory
To help meet the performance goals for the GR Corolla, Toyota has established a dedicated GR Factory at its production facility in Motomachi, Japan. It's the birthplace of legends such as the Lexus LFA and Supra A80 and is now home to the first GR production line, where GR Corolla and GR Yaris are precision built.
Instead of the traditional conveyor system, the body and assembly lines comprise several different cells connected by automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) rather than the conveyors featured in conventional car plants. This fully flexible method of working, with many manual assembly techniques, enables precise body and suspension alignment, with variations in vehicle dimensions and weight kept to a minimum.
Being built by experts means that the assembly of each GR Corolla takes longer than a conventional mass-produced car. The production line has been streamlined for performance, with elements such as body alignment and weld checks to ensure that each GR Corolla is built with meticulous care and attention.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has brought together highly skilled technicians from throughout the company to work on the GR Corolla. This team not only assembles every GR Corolla but also contributes to the technical skills of workers at other Toyota facilities. It's a team structure that's part of the overall GR mission at Toyota, developing people, driving fans and making ever better cars.
The GR-FOUR System
With all TOYOTA GAZOO Racing sports cars firmly rooted in motorsports, it only makes sense that the GR Corolla's drivetrain was born from the rigors of rally racing.
At the heart of the new GR Corolla is the GR-FOUR All-Wheel-Drive system, Toyota's first sports all-wheel-drive system in over 20 years. Developed in collaboration with the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team and honed by WRC drivers, it delivers exceptional levels of traction and control with engineering designed to optimize drive power to each wheel, while also being simple and lightweight.
Made for rally, the GR-FOUR system is designed for a variety of conditions. Whether the driver is looking to adjust performance for dirt, rain or snow, or just in the mood for a different feel, the GR-FOUR system offers settings to match.
With the twist of a dial, GR Corolla can adjust four-wheel drive performance to fit the driver's needs. For every-day situations, drivers can set a front/rear torque distribution of 60:40; for a more sport setting, balance can shift to the rear, with 30:70 distribution for a fun-to-drive quality on winding roads and circuits; and for maximum stability a 50:50 setting can be used for fast, competitive track driving on circuits or special stages. In each mode, the torque balance will automatically adjust in response to the driver's inputs, vehicle behavior and road or track conditions.
The GR Corolla Circuit Edition is also equipped with front and rear Torsen Limited-Slip Differentials (LSD), which offer enhanced cornering performance and grip with control of left and right-hand drive torque distribution on the front and rear axles. Front and rear LSD is available as part of the Performance Package on the Core grade, with 4WD open differentials standard.
Revolutionary 3-Cylinder Turbo Engine
For GR Corolla, we took the same turbocharged G16E-GTS powerplant used in the GR Yaris and boosted its output. This compact-yet-powerful three-cylinder engine has increased power for GR Corolla thanks to improved engine exhaust efficiency thanks to a 3-piece muffler with valve capped off with brushed stainless steel tips. This design reduces exhaust pressure and outside noise, which are essential to backpressure performance.
The G16E also benefits from motorsport technologies that maximize performance, including multi-oil jet piston cooling, large-diameter exhaust valves and a part-machined intake port. Displacing 1,618 cubic centimeters, it produces a maximum power of 300 hp and 273 pound-feet of torque.
Compact and lightweight, the DOHC 12-valve engine features a single-scroll ball-bearing turbo that's matched to a 6-speed intelligent manual transmission (iMT) with rev-matching engineered to accommodate high torque levels. The turbocharger is integrated in the exhaust manifold, reducing weight, while control of wastegate bypass gases is used to improve the catalyst's warm-up efficiency. Combustion is fed by Toyota's D-4S direct and port fuel injection system, which operates at high pressure for maximum fuel dispersion and efficiency.
Wide, Rigid and Designed to Handle
To achieve control worthy of the GR badge, a highly rigid body was specially constructed for GR Corolla. Based off the GA-C platform, it produced handling performance that rewards the driver. Enhanced rigidity comes from significantly more weld points in the frame, particularly to strengthen joints. Further gains are made through extensive use of structural adhesive, increasing the joint rigidity between component parts.
The front suspension is a MacPherson-type strut design that offers both light weight and firm handling, maximizing the tires' grip potential. Made up of circuit-tuned coil springs, shock absorbers and stabilizer bars, the front suspension is designed to deliver all the engine's power to the road and provide optimum cornering capability on all surfaces. The rear suspension uses a double-wishbone type multilink system that accommodates the AWD system's goal of maximum agility and stability.
Wide tread tires ensure high cornering performance while maintaining the excellent high speed stability of the GR Corolla's 103.9-inch long wheelbase. It wears Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires 235/40R18 on the both grades and comes equipped with 18-in. gloss-black 15-spoke cast alloy wheels on the grades.
Braking power comes from opposed, fixed-caliper disc brakes with 14 x 1.1-inch ventilated and slotted rotors outfitted with 4-piston aluminum calipers on both grades, the Circuit Edition caliper is red painted with GR logo. At the rear, 11.7-in. x 0.7-in. ventilated rotors with 2-piston aluminum fixed-caliper disc brakes with red-painted calipers and GR logo are standard on the Circuit Edition.
Lightweight and Aerodynamic
Throughout the GR Corolla, there has been a focus on saving weight to maximize the performance potential, without compromising strength and safety. This rigorous approach is particularly evident in the car's construction, with extensive use of lightweight metals and materials used in key areas.
On the Circuit Edition, the roof is made of a forged (rather than woven) carbon sheet molding compound. This lightweight, highly rigid material keeps off the ounces that a steel roof would bring and helps lower the car's center of gravity.
Aluminum is used for the hood and front door panels, with light and strong high-tensile steel in critical areas to ensure the car's structure can safely absorb and dissipate impact forces.
For the best possible aerodynamic performance, GR Corolla's nose ascends to a tapering roof line. Wind flow is directed onto the rear spoiler to generate extra downforce. As with rally cars, the shaping of the front and rear canards and GR-FOUR stamped lower rockers efficiently channel airflow down the sides of the vehicle. Hood, fender and rear bumper ducts and a flat underfloor reduce drag, add downforce and improve stability.
Rally Ready Hot Hatch Style
The wide stance and broad hatch exterior design of GR Corolla projects a strong, attack ready style with its black GR badged functional matrix grill. Flanked by functional air ducts on both sides, the front grille on the Circuit Grade comes in gloss-black and features integrated LED fog lamps. Auto on/off LED headlamps and LED DRLs are standard on both grades.
Both grades feature wide front and rear fender-flares. The Circuit Edition features a bulge hood with functional gloss-black air ducts. The Carbon Fiber roof on the Circuit Edition is matched with a matte-black roof mounted shark fin antenna. The Core Grade features an aluminum hood with a color-keyed roof and matching shark-fin antenna. Gloss-black heated power outside mirrors with turn signal indicators, gloss-black window molding and black GR Corolla badges are standard on both grades.
At the rear, both grades feature a rear lower bumper cover with functional air vents, for an extra touch these vents are gloss-black on the Circuit Edition. The tapering of the roof and rear pillars are complimented by a high mounted matte-black rear spoiler on the Circuit and a gloss-black rear-lip spoiler on the Core Grade. The wide track and flaring of the rear wings emphasize the car's wide and low silhouette.
Race Inspired Interior
The design of the GR Corolla's interior reflects the car's performance, particularly around the driver's cockpit.
Incorporating the feedback of professional drivers, a GR Full TFT meter was newly developed with a 12.3-inch color Multi-Information Display (MID) that has a GR meter with 4WD mode, turbo pressure, gear position indicator and tachometer. The brightly lit display is designed for easy-viewing in any condition and even features a start-up GR animation.
The shift lever has a shortened stroke for a quick throw between gears. Positioned where the driver's arm is naturally lowered from steering, the action is light with short shift strokes, adding to the performance quality. GR Corolla uses a pull type mechanical parking brake.
The Circuit Edition's interior is finished in black with red trim details around the door handles, center console, steering wheel and side air vents, and the Core Grade is finished with black and silver details.
Brin Naub® suede and synthetic leather-trimmed sport seats with red stitching, red mesh inserts and GR badged headrests; 6-way adjustable driver's seat with seatback pocket; 4-way adjustable front passenger seat with seatback pocket are standard on the Circuit Edition. Fabric sport seats with gray stitching and GR badged headrests; 6-way adjustable driver's seat with suede sheet seatback pocket; 4-way adjustable front passenger seat with seatback pocket are standard on the Core.
Automatic climate control, power windows with one-touch auto up/down and heated front seats and steering wheel standard on Circuit Edition. Heated front seats and steering wheel are available with the of Cold Weather package option on Core Grade.
A GR leather-trimmed tilt/telescopic sport steering wheel with audio, Multi-Information Display, Bluetooth® hands-free phone and voice-command controls comes standard on the Circuit Edition. For an added touch, a "Morizo" signed shift knob comes exclusively on the launch year Circuit Edition.
Standard on both grades is a push button GR engine start/stop button, aluminum sport pedals, two USB charging ports, one 12V auxiliary power outlet, lighted foot wells, front console tray and rear console box. Qi-compatible wireless smartphone charging with full charge indicator light is standard on the Circuit Edition and available as part of the Technology package on the Core Grade.
The all-new Toyota Audio Multimedia system will come standard on all GR Corollas. Featuring an 8-inch touchscreen, the system offers an improved user experience thanks to new sight, touch and voice activation. With Intelligent Assistant available through Drive Connect*, simple phrases like "Hey Toyota" awakens the system for voice-activated commands to search for directions, find POIs, adjust audio controls, change the cabin temperatures and more.
The cloud-based native navigation system offered through Drive Connect allows for real-time Over the Air updates for mapping and Points of Interest (POI), and Google POI data is integrated to ensure up-to-date search capability. It also supports standard wireless Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto compatibility.
Toyota Audio Multimedia allows for simultaneous dual Bluetooth phone connectivity. A Wi-Fi Connect subscription offers 4G connectivity for up to five devices by turning GR Corolla into an AT&T Hotspot*, and it also offers the ability to link your separate Apple Music® and Amazon Music subscriptions to your vehicle with Integrated Streaming.
The Circuit Edition comes with Premium Audio with Dynamic Navigation with eight JBL® speakers with amplifier. It includes a USB media port, two USB charge ports, Dynamic Navigation with 3-year trial, Dynamic POI Search, Dynamic Voice Recognition, hands-free phone capability and music streaming via Bluetooth® wireless technology, SiriusXM® with 3-month All Access trial. See toyota.com/audio-multimedia for details. Connected Services — Safety Connect® with 1-year trial, Service Connect with 10-year trial, Remote Connect with 1-year trial, Wi-Fi Connect with up to 2GB within 3-month trial and Destination Assist with 1-year trial. See toyota.com/connected-services for details.
The Core Grade comes with six speakers, Android Auto™ & Apple CarPlay® & Amazon Alexa compatible, USB media port, two USB charge ports, hands-free phone capability and music streaming via Bluetooth® wireless technology, SiriusXM® with 3-month All Access trial. See toyota.com/audio-multimedia for details. Connected Services1 — Safety Connect® with 1-year trial, Service Connect with 10-year trial, Remote Connect with 1-year trial, and Wi-Fi Connect with up to 2GB within 3-month trial. See toyota.com/connected-services for details. Premium Audio with Dynamic Navigation and JBL® w/Clari-Fi®, and Qi-compatible wireless smartphone charging are available as part of the Technology Package.
Safety & Other Technology
All GR Corolla grades come standard with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 (TSS 3.0), which includes enhancements made possible by system sensors with improved detection capability. The Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection is also capable of detecting motorcyclists and guardrails in certain conditions. When making a turn or approaching an intersection, the system is designed to detect forward or laterally approaching oncoming vehicles and provides audio/visual alerts and automatic braking in certain conditions. Improved lane recognition delivers refined performance of Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist and Lane Tracing Assist.
GR Corolla will be equipped with Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC). Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist is designed to notify the driver via audible and visual alerts and slight steering force if it senses the vehicle is leaving the lane without engaging a turn signal. When DRCC is set and engaged, Lane Tracing Assist uses visible lane markers or a preceding vehicle to help keep the vehicle centered in its lane.
Automatic High Beams are designed to detect preceding or oncoming vehicles and automatically switch between high beam and low beam headlights. Road Sign Assist is designed to recognize certain road sign information using a forward-facing camera and display them on the multi-information display (MID).
Toyota's Rear Seat Reminder comes standard on all GR Corolla grades. The feature can note whether a rear door was opened within 10 minutes of the vehicle being turned on, or at any time after the vehicle has been turned on, with a reminder message in the instrument cluster after the engine is turned off, accompanied by multitone chimes.
In addition to the TSS 3.0 system, other standard safety features on the GR Corolla include Blind Spot Monitor (BSM), which is designed to help detect and warn you of vehicles approaching or positioned in the adjacent lanes and Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) for added peace of mind by helping to detect vehicles approaching from either side while backing out and alerting you with a visual and audible warning. Hill Start Assist Control (HAC) also comes standard.
GR Corolla comes with a one year trial subscription of Toyota Safety Connect® at no additional cost — includes Emergency Assistance, Stolen Vehicle Locator, Roadside Assistance and Automatic Collision Notification.
Option Packages
GR Corolla Core Grade is available with the following packages:
- Performance package: Includes front and rear Torsen Limited Slip Differentials (LSD).
- Technology package: Includes Premium Audio with Dynamic Navigation and JBL® w/Clari-Fi®, and Qi-compatible wireless smartphone charging.
- Cold Weather Package: Includes heated front seats and heated steering wheel.
Preliminary Specifications
All specifications are estimated and values and not final.
GR Corolla pricing will be announced in the coming months, and it will go on sale later this year.
Limited Warranty and ToyotaCare
Toyota's 36-month/36,000-mile basic new-vehicle warranty applies to all components other than normal wear and maintenance items. Additional 60-month warranties cover the powertrain for 60,000 miles and corrosion with no mileage limitation. Toyota dealers have complete details on the limited warranty. GR Corolla also comes with ToyotaCare, a plan covering normal factory-scheduled maintenance and 24-hour roadside assistance for two years or 25,000 miles, whichever comes first.
*Certain features include a trial period at no extra cost upon original date of new vehicle purchase or lease. After the trial period ends, a paid subscription is required. More details on trial periods and subscription-based features can be found at https://www.toyota.com/connected-services/.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 39,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 32 million cars and trucks at our nine manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota's 10th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, a quarter of the company's 2021 U.S. sales were electrified.
To help inspire the next generation for a career in STEM-based fields, including mobility, Toyota launched its virtual education hub at www.TourToyota.com with an immersive experience and chance to virtually visit many of our U.S. manufacturing facilities. The hub also includes a series of free STEM-based lessons and curriculum through Toyota USA Foundation partners, virtual field trips and more. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
About TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing embodies Toyota's commitment to overcoming every limit to make 'ever-better' cars, to forge new technologies and solutions under the extreme conditions of motorsports, and to never stop innovating. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing races its cars to push the limits for better and to learn from the toughest challenges. Competing on every kind of road, no matter what the challenge, inspires TOYOTA GAZOO Racing to build 'ever-better' cars and engineer Toyota's future DNA to bring freedom, adventure, and joy of driving to everyone. For more information, visit www.toyotagazooracing.com.
Photos and B-Roll Available at pressroom.toyota.com
Media Contact:
Paul Hogard
469-292-6791
paul.hogard@toyota.com
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SOURCE Toyota | https://www.ky3.com/prnewswire/2022/04/01/heat-streets-toyota-debuts-first-ever-gr-corolla/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:25Z |
Knox uses 4-birdie run for a one-stroke lead at Texas Open
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Russell Knox recorded four straight birdies on the back nine and fired a 7-under 65 for a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Valero Texas Open. Knox closed out his round with a seven-foot putt to save par at the par-5 18th at TPC San Antonio, and was one shot ahead of Rasmus Hojgaard (66). Matt Kuchar is another stroke back after an opening 5-under 67 and is among a group that includes Denny McCarthy, Aaron Rei and J.J. Spaun. Defending champ Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy finished at even-par 72. | https://ktvz.com/news/2022/03/31/knox-uses-4-birdie-run-for-a-one-stroke-lead-at-texas-open/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:25Z |
New aluminum extrusion plant coming to Lawrence County
SHENANGO TWP. – Up to 79 new manufacturing jobs will be created in Lawrence County, as Verona-based Bunting Inc., with the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, announced Thursday the company will be acquiring a new manufacturing facility in the township.
“Bunting has been in business in the Pittsburgh area since 1869 and it’s essential for Pennsylvania to continue making these types of investments in our homegrown companies,” Wolf said. “Our investment in Bunting is creating new manufacturing jobs, boosting the regional economy, and helping a company with deep Pennsylvania roots continue to thrive and succeed right here in the commonwealth.”
Bunting has purchased the 333,980-square-foot building on 24.3 acres, located at 930 Cass St. in Shenango Township.
The company will utilize the new facility as an aluminum extrusion mill, to produce goods for the building, construction, automotive and transportation sectors.
“We are excited to have Lawrence County become the home of our new aluminum extrusion facility,” said Josh Bunting, president, Bunting Architectural Metals. “Working with the commonwealth, the county and the township has shown us that the commonwealth and the county are welcoming to new business. We look forward to redeveloping 930 Cass St. into a 21st-century manufacturing facility.”
Bunting received a funding proposal of a $2.1 million Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) loan from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), a $316,000 Pennsylvania First grant and a $152,000 workforce development grant to help train workers, and was encouraged to apply for the department’s Manufacturing Tax Credit (MTC) program.
The company announced its intention to create at least 79 new jobs, retain two existing jobs statewide, and invest more than $16.8 million into the project over the next four years.
DCED Acting Secretary Neil Weaver said the area has a deep manufacturing history, with manufacturing being the second biggest industry for employment in Lawrence County behind healthcare.
Weaver said the biggest need right now for manufacturing is the workforce, and, speaking for the Wolf administration, said he is happy with all of the high school and post-secondary institutions in the county that are teaching manufacturing and skilled labor jobs.
He added this new location will benefit the local businesses, shops and restaurants as well.
“This is a great day for Bunting, as well as for the entire region,” Weaver said. “I want to commend Bunting for their continued commitment to Pennsylvania. Not only are they creating jobs and helping the local economy, but they are taking a blighted property and turning it into something worthwhile.”
Bunting wanted to thank both the state and the county for their work toward this project, stating the work and communication between the three were seamless and efficient.
He said the new facility, which is located in Bruce Commerce Park, will be an aluminum extrusion plant, which he described as forming the aluminum like “Play-Doh,” into different materials like pipes and tubes.
Bunting said the building was the sight of an old steel foundry, but has the layout that is needed for the new operation.
“We have a lot of work to do here,” he said. “We’re really excited about it.”
Bunting added they will soon begin work on designing and planning the construction phase, with no timetable given yet on when construction will begin. Once it begins, construction will last a year.
He hopes to buy support companies in the area, like Ellwood City Forge.
County Commissioner Loretta Spielvogel said the county is excited for this new venture to add to the county’s rich manufacturing history.
This project is the first announcement under the county’s Forward Lawrence plan, which was created to be a roadmap for future economic development in the county.
More: Recommendations presented on how to move Lawrence County forward
Shenango Supervisor Albert D. Burick III said this is great news for the community, as the township needs a balance of commercial, industrial, manufacturing and residential properties.
He said it is a step in the right direction to improve the blighted property, which is the biggest building in the township, and give it new life with new jobs.
“Welcome to Shenango Township. We’re happy to have you,” Burick said.
The project was coordinated by the Governor’s Action Team, an experienced group of economic development professionals who report directly to the governor and work with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania.
“This project builds upon the rich industrial heritage of Lawrence County,” said Linda Nitch, director of economic Development, Lawrence County Regional Chamber of Commerce. “The Buntings’ redevelopment of this 100+-year-old building into a 21st-century state-of-the-art aluminum extrusion facility continues to demonstrate that the workforce exists in our county to continue our manufacturing legacy. We welcome this new business to our county and look forward to working together to complete this project.”
Added Nitch: “This has been a project in the works for several months.”
Bunting has been around since 1869, when it originally manufactured rubber stamps, tags and nameplates, and is now known for its work in the signage industry, specifically architectural signage and in the ornamental metals market.
Following Thursday's press conference, Bunting said the three main reasons the location was chosen were due to it matching the size requirements for their operation, its close proximity to its main location in Pittsburgh, and the area’s rich history of metal production, as well as the area’s continued focus on aluminum.
He said he feels a connection to the area based on the company’s long history of production.
“We’ve been manufacturing in western Pennsylvania since day one. For us, it’s about our own history,” Bunting said.
Burick said the township will have new commercial development announcements in the next six months.
He added the township will also focus on more residential development, as he believes the more residential developments there are, the more commercial developments there will be.
Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Ellwood City Ledger. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com. | https://www.ellwoodcityledger.com/story/business/2022/03/31/new-manufacturing-jobs-coming-to-lawrence-county/65347680007/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:25Z |
How to watch Trinity Thomas, Florida Gators compete for shot at national titles
She has received perfect scores on every piece of apparatus during her college gymnastics career, completing the coveted "Gym Slam" this season.
Twice she was named SEC Gymnast of the Year. Her winning all-around total at this season conference championship was the second-highest in SEC history.
Boys' stars:GameTimePA names 2022 YAIAA boys' basketball all-stars, player of the year
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She won 25 event titles in 2022 to lead her University of Florida team.
But there is one thing West York Area graduate Trinity Thomas hasn't done ... won an NCAA title. The quest to end that drought begins Thursday night, when No. 2 Florida takes on No. 15 Denver, No. 17 Ohio State and the winner of No. 28 Iowa State/No. 36 Western Michigan in their first action of the Auburn Regional.
The competition begins at 8 p.m. ET. It follows an afternoon session between No. 7 Auburn, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 23 Georgia and No. 27 Southern Utah. The top two teams from Thursday's two rounds will compete at 6 p.m. Saturday to determine the two teams that will go to nationals in two weeks.
Other regionals and teams involved are:
- Norman Regional: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 9 California, No. 16 Arizona State, No. 18 Arkansas, No. 24 Boise State, No. 25 Utah State, No. 31 West Virginia and No. 32 Arizona.
- Raleigh Regional: No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 LSU, No. 11 Missouri, No. 14 UCLA, No. 20 Maryland, No. 22 Iowa, No. 30 N.C. State, No. 33 Towson and No. 35 North Carolina.
- Seattle Regional: No. 4 Utah, No. 5 Alabama, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 13 Oregon State, No. 19 Illinois, No 21 BYU, No. 25 Washington, No. 29 Stanford and No. 34 San Jose State.
All of the regional action can be watched on ESPN+.
College Gym News predicts Florida and Auburn will advance to the national semifinals, which will be contested against the top two teams from the Raleigh Regionals at 6 p.m. April 14. The other semifinal will be held at 1 p.m. ET.
The final is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on April 16 and will be shown live on ABC.
What are Thomas' chances of bringing a title home? College Gym News thinks it's pretty good, as the outlet is predicting Florida will win the national team championship.
But with a pair of Olympians in the mix for individual titles, CGN is picking others over Thomas in the four elements and all-around title. They think those will go to Olympian Jade Carey of Oregon State (all-around), Haleigh Bryant of LSU (vault), Olympian Suni Lee of Auburn (bars), Maile O'Keefe of Utah (beam) and Nya Reed of Florida (floor). | https://www.ydr.com/story/sports/college/2022/03/31/ncaa-gymnastic-regionals-how-to-watch-the-action-from-4-competitions/65347499007/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:25Z |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A bunch of one-and-done phenoms brought together by Kentucky coach John Calipari stepped onto the floor into the spotlight of the cavernous Superdome 10 years ago, oozing with the kind of NBA potential that made it clear their college basketball careers were about to end at the Final Four.
Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and the rest of them went out on top, too, beating Kansas in the Big Easy to deliver the Wildcats their eighth national championship and Calipari the first of his career.
Fast-forward to the present, and the return of the Final Four to New Orleans, and there is a much more old-school feel to the national semifinals as each of the the participants — Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Villanova — benefited in one way or another from COVID-19 waivers, medical redshirts and the explosion of the transfer portal.
“It’s the oldest that college basketball has ever been,” acknowledged Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, “so as a result of that, it’s going to be tougher to win. I mean, I think (Shane) Battier played the most games here, 130-something. We’re playing against guys that have played 160 games, sometimes three of them are on the other team. That’s a lot.”
Indeed, all four teams in the Big Easy have the kind of savvy veterans once seemed endangered in the world of big-time college hoops, and together they are proving on the game’s biggest stage that experience still matters.
“That’s why we shouldn’t be shocked at anything that’s happened in the tournament,” the retiring Krzyzewski said, “because the age differential is so dramatic. For us, it’s been dramatic.”
Yes, the Blue Devils are the youngest team in New Orleans, but everything is relative. They still feature senior Joey Baker and fifth-year senior Theo John, who began his career at Marquette and is about to play in his 162nd game.
The experience has paid off. Young, talented teams such as Memphis were bounced early out of the NCAA Tournament, while hardened teams such as Providence, Saint Peter’s and Miami made runs into the second weekend.
“It takes a significant amount of time to get everyone to buy into your program,” explained Jayhawks coach Bill Self, who has had more success with veteran teams than with one-and-dones such as Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid.
“But,” Self cautioned, “I would say that talent plus experience is what wins.”
Good luck finding a team more experienced than Kansas.
— Backup guard Jalen-Coleman Lands will play in his 171st game spanning stints at Illinois, DePaul and Iowa State when the Jayhawks face Villanova, trailing Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon and USC’s Chevez Goodwin for the most in Division I history.
— Mitch Lightfoot will play in his 167th game and second Final Four after making it with the Jayhawks in 2018.
— Arizona State transfer Remy Martin and big man David McCormack will have surpassed 130 games by the time their season ends, while All-American guard Ochai Agbajiis about to play his 121st game for Kansas.
In fact, the Jayhawks’ top eight scorers have appeared in 965 games — almost certainly a record for a Final Four team.
Maybe for any team.
The Jayhawks aren’t alone. Brady Manek spent four seasons at Oklahoma, transferred to North Carolina for one more, and will play in his 160th game against Duke in the second semifinal Saturday night. Villanova has two players, Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels, who have played more than 150 games apiece, and two more who have topped 100.
Over the years, the Wildcats have become the poster program for winning with experience.
When they captured the national championship in 2016, they had four starters that had played at least 100 games, led by seniors Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu. The top six scorers on coach Jay Wright’s 2018 title team, which romped past Lightfoot and the Jayhawks in the Final Four, included four juniors along with senior Phil Booth.
“Everyone should applaud what they’ve built there, and of course Jay is the ringmaster of that,” Self said, “and how they develop their guys and fundamental they are. You have to beat them; they don’t beat themselves. And when you have older players, I do think a culture can exist, and they would be the top of our profession.
“When you look at our situation,” Self said, “we had Josh (Jackson) who was one-and-done, and I guess Wiggs and Jo were one-and-dones. That’s going back to 2014. But we’ve done it with older kids, too. We’ve done it with the Frank Masons and the Devonte Grahams and Landon Lucas. We’ve had comparable success with, you know, older guys.”
Everyone in this year’s Final Four has older guys, though.
The combined experience of Duke, again the youngest of the bunch, still far outpaces that 2012 Kentucky team or another collection of one-and-done national champs: the Blue Devils of Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow.
Their title in 2015 might have been the high-water mark of the one-and-done championship era, though. The rise of the G League, Overtime Elite and more overseas opportunities are providing alternative pathways to some of the best prep prospects. As a result the talent level of programs relying primarily on freshmen and sophomores is not quite the same, and in many cases, they can no longer rely on pure ability to beat teams that have been together for years.
Meanwhile, the recent passage of NIL legislation is allowing college athletes to earn endorsement money in college, giving them another reason to stick around when they might otherwise chase a professional career.
“Some of these teams, they’ve got kids, some of them are in their sixth year of school, because maybe they redshirted and now they’ve got the COVID year,” Florida Gulf Coast athletic director Ken Kavanagh said. “You’ve got older teams and they are maybe not good enough (players) to go to the NBA, but they’re really good, talented players who can make a difference.
“Older teams that have been playing together are usually more experienced than kids who are 17, 18 years old.”
Four of those older teams are the last ones standing in New Orleans this week.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Kavanagh said.
___
AP Basketball Writers Aaron Beard and John Marshall contributed to this report.
___
More AP coverage of March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/sports/ap-sports/final-four-gets-experience-boost-from-transfer-portal-covid/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:26Z |
At Animo restaurant in Sonoma, there is no exterior signage.
That could be a sly nod to its exclusivity or that owners Josh Smookler and Heidy Mu He can’t afford one just yet.
One of the buzziest openings of the year, Animo has taken Wine Country by storm, with its whole Spanish turbot, Iberico pork, striking apple wall and fiery hearth-cooked food appearing on just about every local chef’s Instagram page.
But look beyond the gleaming parrilla and dry-aging cabinets and you’ll see a repurposed picnic table under the butcher paper and glassware. There’s a cracked window, a hastily redecorated bathroom, mismatched chairs and a banquette from Craigslist.
Animo is a moonshot for the young couple who moved their family from New York to California, sold everything (including Mu He’s engagement ring) and put their futures on the line for a 26-seat restaurant that defies precise definition.
It’s sort of Basque with touches of Korean, but that’s about as far as they’ll go in nailing down their vision. Smookler is the kind of cook who thinks nothing of flying to Texas to investigate an acorn-eating pack of pigs for his soup bones or aging a piece of steak for 462 days just to see what happens.
“There is no real definition, and why does it have to be defined?” said Smookler, an alum of some of New York’s top restaurants, such as the former Bouley and Chef Thomas Keller’s Per Se.
The thrill for them with Animo is in recreating special meals from their travels and with an evolving food scene that embraces diverse cultures and flavors.
“I always believe in full commitment,” said Smookler, who spent two weeks sleeping on patio furniture inside the unheated restaurant before it opened. “We couldn’t afford a hotel.”
Best ramen in New York
Animo’s enthusiastic welcome by the culinary community here is the result, in part, of a 2014 New York Times restaurant review naming the couple’s pop-up, Mu Ramen, the best ramen shop in New York.
Though Mu Ramen was a cautious toe-dip to see if the neighborhood could support a ramen shop, Smookler obsessively sourced the best bones for his tonkotsu ramen stock, critic Pete Wells lauded.
But not all press is good press, and within a few hours of the review’s release, Smookler had nearly 2,000 reservation requests, smothering business and leaving readers irate at Wells for killing Mu Ramen.
And though the couple had a thriving brick and mortar spot less than a year later, Smookler quickly lost interest. A crush of people wanting quick bowls of ramen at a breakneck pace left the couple exhausted.
“We just couldn’t control things, and were working a lot. I was so done with ramen. It just didn’t get me up in the morning,” Smookler said. In 2020, as the pandemic raged, they closed the restaurant, draining their savings, he said.
Mu He worked at Panda Express to help pay bills. “We were that desperate,” she said.
‘We want to be a gem’
Now, Smookler is cooking what he’s passionate about.
The turbot, a fish that looks like it’s been steamrolled into a flat pancake, is a chef’s fish Smookler calls “the most special fish in my life.” Aged briefly, the delicate white meat is cooked above fiery coals, with grates rising and falling to control the heat. Served de-boned on a white platter, it’s a wildly impressive dish ($130).
For the pork dish ($56), the meat is sourced from Iberico pigs raised by La Grange, Texas-based Acorn Seekers, a cultish food producer Smookler has been supporting for years.
“Let’s find the best ingredients, and like a child, how do I optimize its potential? I just want to make clean, simple food with the best ingredients,” Smookler said.
“The menu is an agreement I make with guests. If I don’t do my best, if it doesn’t come out right, I don’t charge,” he said.
Mu He handles the front of the house and though she’s comfortable in the kitchen, she creates a welcoming hospitality for every guest, whether a deep bow to Japanese guests or a wide smile for regulars.
But rather than bucking for Michelin stars or haute cuisine, the couple wants to be part of the community.
“We want to make people proud of a restaurant like ours in Sonoma. We want them to think we’re a gem,” Smookler said.
That means the same graciousness for someone who just has a glass of wine and an appetizer as for a table of eight ordering hundreds of dollars of food.
“We just want everything to be magic,” Mu He said.
Best Bets
The menu is brief but difficult to experience in a single go. The turbot is a great starting place if you like fish, but the meatier pork is cooked to medium-rare and is an experience. You’ll be tempted to overdo it with appetizers, and they’re excellent.
Boquerones Toast, $14: Here’s an example of the specificity of Smookler’s cooking. The tiny grape tomatoes are peeled before roasting for the sweetest flavor, the anchovies on top are creamy and light and the toast is gently crisped — a must-try.
Kimchee Fried Rice, $16: A nod to Smookler’s heritage (he is Korean-born and raised by a Jewish family), but more simply a tasty addition to the meal, with pastrami from NYC’s Katz’s deli.
Asparagus, $14: This spring vegetable likely will move off the menu, but Smookler has a magical way with vegetables that brings out their flavors rather than smothering them in sauce.
There’s a chance Animo, like Mu Ramen, could fall victim to its success with so much attention being thrown their way so early. Hopefully, the well-studied menu and Smookler’s dedication in the kitchen help them weather the admiration.
18976 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma. Instagram: @animo_restaurant. Parking is limited. Reservations are highly recommended through OpenTable. | https://www.sonomamag.com/believe-the-buzz-about-sonomas-animo-restaurant/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:26Z |
The Instagram team announced a series of new features that are coming to the app to improve messaging.
There are many new features dedicated to direct messages and the way we interact with our contacts and friends on Instagram.
New Instagram features for DMs
One of the novelties that this update brings will save you from having to leave the feed to answer a direct message. As you can see in the image, you will have the option to reply to a message directly from the feed, without having to go to the inbox.
On the other hand, you will find that it is much easier to know who is online to chat, since now Instagram will show them at the top of the inbox. So you no longer have to go through the list of friends or contacts to find those who are “available”.
Want to share music with your Instagram friends? You’ll be able to do this through the new song preview feature that allows you to share up to 30 seconds of music. A dynamic that is possible thanks to integrations with Apple Music and Amazon Music. And if you’re more into Spotify, don’t worry, it will be added in the near future.
A few days ago we told you that Facebook Messenger was adding a function that allows you to send a message silently. And that same feature is coming to Instagram direct messages.
So just by adding “@silent” to your message, you can send a chat at any time without worrying that your friend will wake up to the notification. And another Messenger option that is transferred to Instagram is the one that allows you to create surveys in a group chat.
These new features are already starting to roll out in select countries, but they plan to roll them out globally. Of course, as long as these functions are not in conflict with the laws of the country. | https://voonze.com/instagram-now-allows-you-to-reply-to-direct-messages-from-the-feed/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:25Z |
Ukraine is asking all countries to criminalize the use of “Z” as a symbol to publicly support the Russian invasion of its neighbor.
In a tweet shared on Tuesday, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba wrote: “I call on all states to criminalize the use of the ‘Z’ symbol as a way to publicly support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
“‘Z’ means Russian war crimes, bombed out cities, thousands of murdered Ukrainians. Public support of this barbarism must be forbidden,” Kuleba said.
I call on all states to criminalize the use of the ‘Z’ symbol as a way to publicly support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. ’Z’ means Russian war crimes, bombed out cities, thousands of murdered Ukrainians. Public support of this barbarism must be forbidden.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 29, 2022
The symbol “Z”—together with the letter “V”—was first noticed as a marking on Russian military vehicles in the first days of Moscow’s troops invasion of Ukraine.
The letters on the tanks and vehicles which on February 24 entered Ukraine were assumed to be markers for Russian troops to identify their force contingents, but their meaning has never been confirmed.
In a series of tweets between March 2 and 4, Russia’s Defense Ministry shared the symbol Z as standing “for Victory,” “for the truth,” “for peace,” and as part of the words “denazification” and “demilitarization.”
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) March 4, 2022
But whatever the true meaning of the letters on the tanks initially was, the symbol has quickly become a way of signaling support for Russia in its aggression against Ukraine, popping up across Russia and being displayed by supporters of Russia abroad.
On March 4, thousands of people marched through the streets of Serbia’s capital Belgrade to the Russian embassy to show their support for Moscow during the war in Ukraine. Many were holding placards showing the Z symbol.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Serbia has been carefully trying to balance its aspiration to join the European Union and its partnership with NATO with its historic alliance with Russia.
The Z also appeared during the patriotic rally in Moscow on March 18 celebrating eight years since the annexation of Crimea. Tens of thousands joined the celebrations at Moscow’s main Luzhniki Stadium, where President Vladimir Putin made an appearance.
The symbol even showed up on a Russian rocket taking off on March 23, as shown on footage shared by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov called the Z symbol a “Nazi mark” on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/oleksiireznikov/status/1500756060168196096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1500756060168196096%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Frussia-z-ukraine-war-criminalize-symbol-support-dmytro-kuleba-1692782
One country in Europe has already taken a move against the symbol.
On Monday, Germany declared that individuals who display the symbol Z to express their support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be prosecuted.
The Russian aggression on Ukraine is “a criminal act,” the German Interior Ministry spokesperson told reporters during a press conference following the announcement of the new regulation. “Whoever publicly approves of this war of aggression can also make themselves liable to prosecution.”
“The letter Z as such is of course not forbidden, but its use may in individual cases constitute an endorsement of the Russian war of aggression,” the spokesperson said.
Der russische Angriffskrieg gegen die #Ukraine ist eine Straftat. Wer diesen Angriffskrieg öffentlich billigt, kann sich strafbar machen. Das gilt auch für das Zeigen des „#Z“-Symbols. Die Sicherheitsbehörden des Bundes haben die Verwendung des Symbols im Blick.
— Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat (@BMI_Bund) March 28, 2022
Authorities in German cities have already been involved in following up on cases of the use of the Z symbol in Berlin, Bavaria and Lower Saxony. In the last two states, public displays of the symbol were outlawed last weekend.
An insurance company in Switzerland, Zurich Insurance Group, removed its logo featuring a white Z on blue background from social media last weekend in order to avoid its symbol being confused with the one supporting Russia.
The company, whose logo on social media now features the word “Zurich,” told Reuters that they are “temporarily removing the use of the letter ‘Z’ from social channels where it appears in isolation and could be misinterpreted.” | http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/ukraine-asks-world-to-criminalize-z-as-symbol-of-support-for-russias-war/300787 | 2022-04-01T01:51:25Z |
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OLYMPIA, Wash., March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Heritage Financial Corporation ("Company" or "Heritage") (Nasdaq: HFWA) anticipates issuing its first quarter earnings release on Thursday, April 21, 2022 before the market opens. The Company has scheduled a telephone conference call to discuss the first quarter on Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time (2:00 p.m. Eastern time).
To access the conference call, call the numbers listed below:
The conference call will be recorded and will be available following the live conference call for replay twenty-four hours a day ending April 28, 2022. Questions regarding the conference call may be directed to Kaylene Lahn at 360-943-1500.
About Heritage Financial
Heritage Financial Corporation is an Olympia-based bank holding company with Heritage Bank, a full-service commercial bank, as its sole wholly-owned banking subsidiary. Heritage Bank has a branching network of 49 banking offices in Washington and Oregon. Heritage Bank also does business under the Whidbey Island Bank name on Whidbey Island. Heritage's stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "HFWA". More information about Heritage Financial Corporation can be found on its website at www.hf-wa.com and more information about Heritage Bank can be found on its website at www.heritagebanknw.com.
View original content:
SOURCE Heritage Financial Corporation | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/03/31/heritage-financial-announces-earnings-release-date-conference-call/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:25Z |
Sydney-born Warrior Matt Lodge has reportedly turned down a sizable contract extension to stay at Mount Smart, with the controversial 26-year-old keen to remain on Australian soil.
As first reported by The Daily Telegraph's David Riccio, the ex-Bronco was said to have been tabled a three-year deal to remain under Nathan Brown's stewardship, however, it now appears likely that the forward will link up with a Harbour City side instead.
Speaking on SEN 1170, Riccio stated that the Blacktown junior had eyes only on a place with one of eight Sydney franchises.
“Matt Lodge, it’s an interesting one as he’s rejected a significant three-year deal with the Warriors,” the scribe stated.
“It’s because he wants to return to Sydney."
Still, Riccio held the view that there may not be many takers for Lodge's services.
“I really can’t see too many clubs (that’d sign him), when I have a look at who would be interested in Matt Lodge," Riccio added.
“I think it’s a big play from Lodge to reject that offer.
“Obviously, he’s formerly a Wests Tiger and any player of note is linked to them.
“But other than that, I can’t see an opening from Lodge at this point in time and I think it’s a big call from Lodge to reject that offer.”
Although the Warriors' mid-season offer to Lodge in 2021 can easily be construed as a lifeline after off-field issues had been littered throughout his first-grade career, the prop's choice to turn his back on the Kiwi club comes fresh off the back of Euan Aitken's early exit.
Aitken, 26, was granted an early release from his deal with the Warriors last week and is now free to open talks with rival clubs for the 2023 season.
With the genie now out of the bottle, the Auckland-based side are sure to be fretting out the prospect of losing fellow Aussie star Reece Walsh, with the talented teenager holding a clause in his deal that could see him buck back to the Broncos.
Lodge, Aitken and Walsh have all been named in the Warriors' Round 4 side to face the Broncos at Moreton Daily Stadium on Saturday afternoon. | https://www.zerotackle.com/lodge-set-to-opt-out-of-mammoth-mt-smart-deal-115620/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:26Z |
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The owner of a downtown Los Angeles building where an explosion injured 12 firefighters has been allowed to enter a judicial diversion program that allows him to avoid jail time and potentially have all charges dismissed.
A court commissioner on Wednesday granted the diversion request for Steve Sungho Lee. He and his companies must pay more than $15,000 in investigative fees, make sure the property meets fire and building codes and arranging for Fire Department training.
Lee owned a commercial building on East Boyd Street in the city’s Toy District that caught fire on May 16, 2020. Firefighters had to run for their lives when a ball of flames shot out the building and scorched a fire truck across the street.
Firefighters inside the building had to run through a wall of flames he estimated as 30 feet (9 meters) high and wide, and those on the roof scrambled down a ladder that was engulfed in fire.
Fire officials said the building was a warehouse for Smoke Tokes, a wholesale distributor of supplies for smoking and vaping products including butane hash oil, a concentrated cannabis extract that can be eaten, smoked or vaped. Highly flammable butane is used in the manufacturing process.
Most of the injured firefighters still haven’t returned to work and one, Capt. Victor Aguirre, was hospitalized for more than two months and all of his fingers had to be partially amputated, according to a lawsuit he filed against the building and business owners.
Aguirre alleged that the area contained “hundreds of illegally and improperly stored butane canisters and thousands of illegally and improperly stored nitrous oxide cylinders.”
A fire department report concluded that the blaze, which spread to a nearby building, was fueled by an “excessive quantity” of the containers.
Investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concluded that the fire started under a storage rack in the building and that a worker with a lit cigarette was seen in the area. The cause of the fire was ruled accidental.
However, city prosecutors filed more than 300 misdemeanor charges of violating fire and safety codes against Lee, his companies and owners of businesses in the building and nearby properties. That included more than 160 counts against Lee and his companies.
If Lee meets all conditions of his judicial diversion program for two years, the charges will be dismissed.
“Mr. Lee will be deemed by law to have never been charged,” said his attorney, Blair Berk. “The exhaustive federal investigation of the tragic fire objectively concluded that the cause was accidental, and there was no finding of any wrongdoing by Mr. Lee or his companies.”
City Attorney Mike Feuer opposed diversion for Lee, noting the severity of the fire, the injuries suffered by the firefighters and Lee’s alleged failure “to take steps which could have mitigated the extent of the blaze.”
The owners of Smoke Tokes and another business, Green Buddha, agreed in November 2020 to pay $139,000 each to cover investigative costs and to move out of the building. Charges against them were later dismissed.
___
This story has been updated to correct that Lee and his companies must pay more than $15,000, not $125,000. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/no-jail-for-la-building-owner-over-explosion-that-hurt-12/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2022-04-01T01:51:27Z |
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SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Several mothers within the Sacramento City Unified School District are now sitting down to take a stand as the ongoing teacher strike has no end in sight.
They spent the night at district headquarters as negotiations stalled for the seventh day.
READ MORE: Sierra Oaks K-8 Parents Concerned Over Delayed Notification Of School StabbingApril Ybarra is one of three mothers who slept in chairs outside the superintendent’s office inside the Serna Center. All are fed up with failed negotiations.
Sarah26 it’s enough. It’s time to bargain and not leave until agreements have been made. 32
Wednesday night Superintendent Jorge Aguilar met with the teachers union. They discussed a 3% salary increase and an agreement to pay 100% of health care premiums for the upcoming school year — but no deal was reached.
“Everything that’s being requested in the bargaining from our unions, the community has been asking for,” Ybarra said. “So it should be a no-brainer. This is what the community wants. Listen to us.”
READ MORE: Getting Answers: Will Releasing Oil From Reserve Give Relief For CA Drivers?Both the Sacramento City Teachers Association and the union representing classified staff want the district to follow the recommendations of a third-party fact-finding report.
The goal: increase wages, improve benefits and improve safety protocols to help fill hundreds of vacancies that have left a quarter of the 40,000 students without a regular teacher.
“If our teachers and our support staff have a livable wage [and] have equity in their labor contract, then that is going to reflect back in the classroom,” Ybarra said.
With nearly 80 schools closed and kids out of class, community groups are scrambling to provide child care. Fremont Presbyterian Church set up their gym for a day camp knowing the need was great.
As the picketing continues, these mothers persevere. They will stay put to apply pressure.
MORE NEWS: Viewer Calls Kurtis After Paying More Than Advertised At Suisun City Walmart“Maybe you can’t meet all of our needs, but start somewhere,” Ybarra said. “Make change happen now. We need our kids back in the classroom.” | https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2022/03/31/scusd-moms-take-stand-strike-continues/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:28Z |
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday evening's drawing of the "Cash4Life" game were:
01-02-27-29-30, Cash Ball: 3
(one, two, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, thirty; Cash Ball: three)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday evening's drawing of the "Cash4Life" game were:
01-02-27-29-30, Cash Ball: 3
(one, two, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, thirty; Cash Ball: three) | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Cash4Life-game-17049899.php | 2022-04-01T01:51:28Z |
NEW DELHI: Reluctant to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India has been facing mounting Western pressure ahead of the visit of Moscow’s top diplomat on Thursday, in what analysts say is complicating New Delhi’s middle path among the world’s powers.
India has abstained from UN resolutions censuring Russia, its longtime ally, who began a multipronged assault on Ukrainian territory in late February, calling only for a cessation of violence, as it continues to buy Russian oil and other goods amid international sanctions.
Western envoys, including US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh and Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, have flown into New Delhi this week prior to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to pull India off the fence and press for tougher action.
Lavrov’s trip is likely aimed at urging New Delhi to do the exact opposite.
“India is having to navigate a very difficult relationship from both sides. India has strong ties with Russia historically and of course in recent years ties with the West,” Prof. Harsh V. Pant, head of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Arab News.
New Delhi’s ties with Moscow span over seven decades, with half of India’s military hardware being sourced from Russia. On the other hand, its partnership with the West has been growing for the last 20 years, and it is a member of the Quad, a four-state strategic security dialogue — comprising also the US, Japan and Australia — that was established in the face of increased Chinese economic and military power, which poses a threat to its regional position. This threat has been heightened to extreme levels since the 2020 border clashes.
Tensions on the India-China border in the northern Himalayan region of Ladakh that broke out in April 2020 have led to a deterioration in relations between the two Asian giants and the deployment of tens of thousands of extra troops to the region.
“At a time when India is facing Chinese soldiers along the border, you really cannot antagonize a partner on which you are dependent for 55 percent of your defense imports,” Harsh said.
“Russia continues to be a very reliable supplier of defense technology in defense equipment which is not something that the West has been best at.”
He said that while the West’s approach to Russia has been one of isolation and sanctions, it is not what India could do.
“India cannot really take a similar position because India does not want the Russia-China axis to go even stronger,” Harsh added. “I think the challenge for India is to have a channel of communication open with Russia, even at the most difficult of times.”
Manoj Joshi, a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, said that Russia’s historical support for India, especially in its conflicts with arch-rival and neighbor Pakistan, also plays a major role in New Delhi’s reluctance to condemn Moscow.
“Since the 1950s, the Russians have generally backed India on South Asia policies,” he said. “There is a lot of congruence, political congruence which goes back a long time. And in turn, the Indians were soft on the Russians for their invasion of Hungary in 1956, or the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. So, there has been this kind of a relationship.”
But besides the Western pressure on India to take sides, there may also be another dimension to the visits of its envoys.
Anil Trigunayat, India’s former ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta, described the recent developments as possible attempts to have New Delhi play a role in ending the Ukraine crisis.
“They are trying to now somehow stop this conflict but, in my view, they are not becoming the direct agents for stopping it,” he said, adding the West knows that India has a strategic relationship with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin.
“What they want to tell is that India should try to use its personal clout, which we have with Russia and with President Putin, to expedite the closure as soon as possible,” Trigunayat told Arab News. “They know that if India condemns (Moscow), they will have no leverage over Russia.” | https://www.arabnews.com/node/2054781/world | 2022-04-01T01:51:28Z |
Opinion
Why the excellence of trans athletes raises difficult questions
Darren Kane
Sports ColumnistThe making of laws, or sporting regulations, isn’t easy. There isn’t a rule book for writing the rule book.
We may aim for fairness, equity and integrity but what often happens instead is we establish an entirely new paradigm, which in reality eschews each of those ideals.
This is why important policies must be enacted only once there’s a proper, reasoned and sound basis for doing so. Educated guesstimating is akin to conducting brain surgery blindfolded - it is an insufficient method of solving complex issues. It’s also dangerous.
Crudely crafted rules can have drastic, detrimental, unforeseen outcomes for particular classes of athletes.
Given that, what should the precise rules be regarding binary male and female competition classes across all sports in circumstances where gender itself is not binary? Such rules affect the right of certain people to freely participate in sport at all, which means great care and consideration is demanded.
The British cyclist, Emily Bridges, was due to compete in the British National Omnium Championships this weekend. Now she isn’t allowed to because the sport’s international federation, the Union Cycliste Internationale, has determined she isn’t eligible. Emily Bridges is a trans female athlete and her right to compete has been squashed.
In 2022, organising elite athletes into either the “male” box or the “female” box, as elite sports invariably do, is a borderline impossible task to complete well. The potential for damage to be caused to athletes, like Emily Bridges, is clear.
These questions can’t be considered inside a vacuum-excluding emotion. Yet that’s exactly how such questions perhaps must be examined, even if not answered.
Improperly considered and non-comprehensive schemes of regulation will definitely generate outcomes such as the material distortion of the competitive balance across a spectrum of competitors of the same gender.
Conversely, a severity of regulation disproportionate to any legitimate concern might result in a subset of female athletes being indefinitely banned from all competition, a fate that is worse than that which befalls all but the most wicked of dopers and cheats.
The objectively excellent performances by Penn State athlete Lia Thomas during the recently completed US college swimming titles must be applauded for being exactly that: excellent performances. Thomas’ results and achievements must, however, bring into question the credibility of the very competitions in which she excelled.
Lia Thomas’ achievement in winning the NCAA 500-yard freestyle raises issues that need to be confronted, by aquatic sports and indeed sport generally.
Thomas is a transgender female athlete, studying and competing in elite US college sports. Her collegiate swimming career results, achieved before she began transitioning from male to female, were altogether humdrum.
Swimming at the just-completed NCAA championships, though, Thomas won an NCAA title. In achieving that result, she defeated two cisgender female athletes – Emma Weyant and Erica Sullivan – each of whom won silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
And it’s at this point that one must at least question whether the participation of the archetypal Lia Thomas – a transgender athlete participating in a single-sex sporting competition – distorts the Utopian “level playing field” to the degree it challenges the concept of fair and equal competition.
Not everyone who validly questions the participation of a Lia Thomas in an elite female sporting competition deserves to be tarnished a “transphobe”. These are not questions about only the rights of trans peoplebut are rather questions about fairness in competition and the rights and interests of all athletes and the consequences of upturning that finely balanced table.
Again, the issue is one of trying to fit a whole kaleidoscope of gender into either the box labelled XX or the one labelled XY.
Certain sports, obviously, lend themselves to competitions in which men and women can compete on an even basis, where gender isn’t a factor. Horse racing, motor racing and darts are perfect examples, and implementing regulations permitting unhindered participation rights for transgender athletes is a comparatively straightforward process.
But some other sports are inherently more difficult to organise so that transgender athletes have the same rights as cisgender athletes while simultaneously maintaining fairness for all athletes. The relative importance of strength, stamina and physical size in sports such as rugby league, boxing and wrestling means that those sports don’t offer up obvious ways in which a trans female athlete might be permitted to participate in female competition.
It must, however, be observed, that the reaction to the participation of the trans female Kiwi weightlifter Laurel Hubbard in the men’s program at the last Olympics was unwarranted based on her results alone.
Moreover, although most people wouldn’t quibble at the concept of a trans male athlete competing in a heavyweight wrestling competition against a cisgender male opponent, such a scenario actually presents its own conundrums in terms of athlete safety, specifically that of the transgender athlete.
Which means that although questions as to how the binary nature of elite male/female sports competitions should, and can, be adapted are confused, they are also compulsory.
A core failing is there exists no overarching guidance, at least not at any detailed level. In late 2021, the International Olympic Committee released its Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations. Good, you would think.
Disappointingly, but unsurprisingly, the IOC’s framework comprises six pages of high-falutin’ principles and waffle that any lawyer could drive a bus through. In one section, the IOC says the starting point is that an athlete should be allowed to compete in the category that best aligns with their self-determined gender identity.
In the following section, the IOC qualifies this ideal by stating that where sports organisations elect to organise competitions into men’s and women’s categories (and very few don’t), those organisations should do so with a view to ensuring that no athlete within a category has an unfair and disproportionate competitive advantage.
Now, back to Thomas. This isn’t at all about Thomas, but in another way this must be about Thomas.
How can it be fairly put that a trans female athlete in the position of Thomas, who was ranked so far down the pecking order as a NCAA male athlete that nobody ever uttered her name, now could be said to have no unfair and disproportionate competitive advantage?
But if Thomas does have a disproportionate athletic and competitive advantage, how can her sport offer her the opportunities there she should rightfully be afforded? Therein lies the conundrum.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter. | https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/why-the-excellence-of-trans-athletes-raises-difficult-questions-20220331-p5a9u1.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed | 2022-04-01T01:51:29Z |
After a career spanning 40 years, 67-year-old Bruce Willis has stepped away from acting due to health issues, including a diagnosis of aphasia.
Willis’ family released a heartfelt statement via Instagram today to let fans know.
Never heard of aphasia? You’re not alone.
Aphasia is a communication disability caused by damage or changes to the language networks of the brain.
Often considered a difficulty with “getting words out”, aphasia can in fact impact every aspect of a person’s life.
Read more: In a chatty world, losing your speech can be alienating. But there's help
How does aphasia affect people?
A person with aphasia can have difficulty speaking, understanding others, reading, writing and using numbers.
Aphasia impacts everything from conversations, negotiating, expressing emotions, storytelling, asking questions, to writing an email.
When communication is affected, so is the ability to share information, engage in relationships and interact meaningfully with the world.
Aphasia can change relationships with family and friends, make it harder to get out and do things (such as use public transport or do the shopping), affect self-identity and, as for Willis, can impact the ability to work.
Depression and other negative mood changes are common in people with aphasia, as is a reduction in their self-perceived quality of life.
What causes aphasia and how common is it?
Different types of aphasia can result from different brain conditions, most commonly stroke but also brain tumour, traumatic brain injury, and types of dementia, such as primary progressive aphasia.
So there is a wide range of variability in the severity and types of communication affected.
Primary progressive aphasia can occur in younger people, but is most commonly diagnosed between age 50 and 75.
One-third of people who have had a stroke will also experience aphasia.
While it’s most likely to affect older adults, brain injuries, strokes and tumours causing aphasia can also affect children, adolescents and young adults.
Read more: What brain regions control our language? And how do we know this?
Based on current stroke statistics, it is estimated that at least 140,000 Australian live with aphasia.
Despite the high rates and evidence of negative impacts, awareness of aphasia in the public and health-care professions is low.
What else plays a role?
A person’s environment has a big impact in enabling or disabling people with aphasia.
The social determinants of health influence the way someone experiences, recovers from, and lives with aphasia.
So people who have good access to health care, who hold high social positions, are wealthy, and have the support of an engaged family may be less impacted by the condition. Willis can be grateful in this respect.
The impact of aphasia is not just felt by the person with aphasia. The psychological and social impact, as well as the disability resulting from aphasia on the family is significant.
How is it treated?
There is no cure for aphasia. But interventions such as speech pathology can make a massive difference. Though there is no “one size fits all” approach.
Speech pathologists are experts in communication disabilities. They work within multidisciplinary health-care teams across a variety of hospital and community-based sites. This includes working with medical, nursing and allied health professionals such as psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers and physiotherapists.
Read more: We can all help to improve communication for people with disabilities
Interventions for people with progressive and post-stroke aphasia are tailored to the person, their family and community, with consideration of many factors including aphasia diagnosis and cause, severity and type of communication difficulties, level of participation in communication-related activities, the communication environment, their goals, mood and quality of life.
New and improved treatments are also being developed.
Do I have aphasia? What should I look out for?
Sudden or gradual decline and changes in communication, personality, behaviour, memory and thinking skills should be investigated by a doctor. This could be a local GP, neurologist or geriatrician. A speech pathologist can also be a part of this process.
Be aware of the signs of stroke and aphasia associated with dementia. This may include difficulty finding the right word, mixing up words or sounds (for example, “cat” or “gog” for “dog”), using nonsense words, not being able to get any words out or not being able to understand others. If these changes are sudden or accompanied by a facial droop or difficulty moving your arms or legs, treat it as a medical emergency and seek urgent medical attention.
Willis and his family demonstrate love and strength in facing aphasia “head on”. Their sentiments of embracing social connectedness and to continue to live by Willis’ words of “Live it up” provide hope for others with aphasia around the world.
We can all play our part in being more effective communication partners for people living with aphasia. | https://theconversation.com/what-is-aphasia-the-condition-bruce-willis-lives-with-180399 | 2022-04-01T01:51:29Z |
Trial for sailor accused of burning Bonhomme Richard set for September in San Diego
Seaman Recruit Ryan Sawyer Mays was assigned to the ship after washing out of Navy SEAL training
The San Diego-based sailor charged with arson in connection to the devastating 2020 fire on the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard will stand trial this September, the Navy announced Wednesday.
Seaman Recruit Ryan Sawyer Mays, 20, faces two counts under the military justice system — aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel. Mays denies starting the fire.
The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 19 and run for two weeks, according to Lt. Sam Boyle, a Navy spokesperson assigned to 3rd Fleet in San Diego. Mays has not yet entered a plea, nor has he elected whether to face trial by judge or by jury, Boyle said.
Mays was on duty on the ship the morning of Sunday, July 12, 2020. The seaman was seen carrying a heavy bucket down into the ship’s lower vehicle storage area just after 8 a.m., according to a sailor who was on watch who testified at Mays’ preliminary Article 32 hearing in December.
Seaman Ryan Mays is charged with hazarding a vessel and aggravated arson; he denies the charges
Prosecutors say Mays was disgruntled with the Navy after finding himself assigned to deck duty on the ship after washing out of Navy SEAL training. At the December hearing, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arson expert said the fire was intentionally set in the lower vehicle storage area, or “lower-v,” by someone holding an open flame to a tri-wall container, which is essentially a large cardboard box used to store equipment.
However, prosecutors did not present any physical evidence tying Mays to the fire at either of his preliminary hearings and relied on eyewitnesses — one who says he saw Mays near the scene just before the fire began and others who heard him make comments disparaging the Navy.
Acrid black smoke billowed from the ship for the better part of two days as firefighters from the Navy and local municipal agencies struggled to get water to the flames. Temperatures on board the steel ship soared, compounding the risk to those fighting the blaze. The flames consumed nearly the entire interior of the ship from the waterline up, a Navy investigation found.
While a junior sailor faces arson charges, a Navy investigator recommends 36 service leaders also face punishment
The fire was declared extinguished after burning more than four days.
The ship was decommissioned and scrapped last year after the Navy determined it would be too costly to repair or retrofit the 844-foot warship.
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New housing community in Stockton, CA, aims to get veterans off the streets
By Adrienne Moore
Click here for updates on this story
STOCKTON, California (KOVR) — In the city of Stockton, on any given night, an estimated 140 veterans are forced to sleep on the streets.
On Thursday, the city celebrated a new housing community dedicated to cutting that number down.
Liberty Gardens is a 74-unit housing community. From above, the brightly-colored building looks like any other massive apartment complex.
But inside, it’s much more. A man named Willie — and his twins — now call a three-bedroom unit at Liberty Gardens their home.
Willie served two tours in Afghanistan, and 90 days ago, he was sleeping on a friend’s couch. Today, he’s studying to be a nurse.
“It’s really worked out for me,” Willie said. “It works out for everyone.”
Travis Parker, an Air Force veteran, has settled into a one-bedroom unit at Liberty Gardens. He says it saved his life.
“I was on the verge of homelessness,” Parker said.
Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln turned out for the special ceremony celebrating the end of the second phase of building.
The $27-million project is paid for with city, state and federal grants. It’s a bright spot in a city where crime rates are high and homicides are also ticking up.
“This is exactly the kind of housing we need,” Lincoln said.
As for rent? That sits between $388 to $500 a month. The community has a computer lab, on-site behavioral health service and a preschool facility in place.
The mayor hopes other cities will follow suit.
“I think other cities and counties should take a close look at what we’re doing with housing here in Stockton,” Lincoln said.
Officials at Liberty Gardens say most applicants qualify for either Section 8 housing or veterans housing vouchers.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. | https://ktvz.com/news/2022/03/31/new-housing-community-in-stockton-ca-aims-to-get-veterans-off-the-streets/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:31Z |
Short Film Chronicles the Quinceañera Dream of One Woman
NEW YORK, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Marking International Transgender Day of Visibility, Pantene today released a documentary-style short film chronicling the Quinceañera of a transgender woman, Isa, denied one as a teenager. Longtime agency Grey New York created the campaign.
Against great odds (see stats), from job discrimination to systemic violence, transgender women have made significant progress in Latin America, holding elective office and as business leaders.
People begin understanding their gender identity as early as three years old. But many transgender people don't know or share this about their gender until later in life due to safety and issues of cultural acceptance.
"It doesn't matter when or at what age someone knows who they are, whether at 15 or 44. Whenever they feel comfortable being themselves and sharing that truth is a moment to celebrate," said Martina Brubacher, Director of Communications for Pantene for Latin America, "As a brand, we know the power of hair and how it can be a statement for expressing one's true self, so it's important for us to feature stories like Isa's, a transgender woman who celebrates her journey."
The Quinceañera is a dream come true for many Latina girls as they turn fifteen. But this rite of passage to womanhood, celebrated by family and community, has often excluded transgender women from this cultural milestone.
Pantene has partnered with Isa, a transgender woman in her forties, to give her the Quinceañera she never had. The film tells her poignant story and follows her preparations leading up to and including the day with her friends and family. (Link to the film)
"For all the times I had to hide my identity and deny my existence - today I say, I am here. I am Isa," said Isa
The integrated digitally-led campaign includes online video, social media, influencers, and public relations. The brand once again worked with GLAAD, which accelerates the acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people by sharing stories and accessing all forms of media to uplift members of the community.
"The team chose to launch this film on International Day of Trans Visibility – to inspire every young transgender person. Anything is possible; happiness and acceptance is something everyone deserves," said Javier Bonilla, Executive Creative Director at Grey.
Please see statistics on the challenges transgender people face:
- Since Statista started collecting data, 2021 is the year with the highest number of deaths of transgender and gender-diverse people, with 375 murders recorded between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021. Most of the murders took place in Brazil (125), Mexico (65), Honduras (53), and the United States (53).
- According to the data reported by Sin Violencia LGBTI, between the years 2014 and 2020, 1403 people from the LGBTI community were murdered for reasons related to prejudice against their sexual orientation or gender identity.
- 94% of the transgender population In Brazil reports suffering some form of violence motivated by discrimination due to their gender identity
- 175 transgender people were murdered in Brazil in 2020, 41% more than in 2019 (the country leads the ranking of murders of trans people in the world)
Source
1. Roa, M. M. (2021, November 18). Infografía: Los países con más asesinatos de personas trans. Statista Infografías. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from
https://es.statista.com/grafico/23552/personas-trans-y-genero-diversas-asesinadas-yhttps://es.statista.com/grafico/23552/personas-trans-y-genero-diversas-asesinadas-y-paises-con-mas-victimas/paises-con-mas-victimas/
2.3.4 Sin Violencia LGBTI. "Des-Cifrando La Violencia En Tiempos De Cuarentena." Sin Violencia LGBT, June 2021, https://sinviolencia.lgbt/des-cifrando-la-violencia-entiempos-de-cuarentena/.
About P&G
P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. For other P&G news, visit us at www.pg.com/news.
About Grey
Grey, the global communications network, is part of AKQA Group. Its parent company is WPP (NYSE: WPP). Under the banner of "Grey Famously Effective" the agency serves a blue-chip roster of many of the world's best-known companies: Procter & Gamble, Google, Volvo, Amazon, GlaxoSmithKline, Kellogg's, Netflix, the NBA, Pfizer, YouTube, Canon, Nestlé and Applebee's. In recent years, Grey has been named ADWEEK'S "Global Agency of the Year" twice; ADVERTISING AGE's "Agency of the Year" and CAMPAIGN magazine's "Global Network of the Year" in recognition of its creative and business performance (www.grey.com).
Contact: Owen Dougherty
Owen.dougherty@grey.com
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SOURCE Grey | https://www.ky3.com/prnewswire/2022/04/01/pantene-celebrates-transgender-visibility-latin-america/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:31Z |
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Naomi Osaka’s eyes welled with tears when her match ended, an all-too-familiar scene for her in recent years.
These were of the happy variety.
For the former world No. 1, that’s major progress.
The unseeded Osaka defeated No. 22 Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday in the Miami Open semifinals. She’s in a championship match for the first time since the 2021 Australian Open, and will meet either No. 16 Jessica Pegula or No. 2 Iga Swiatek on Saturday.
“Damn, I’m almost crying,” Osaka said.
Maybe not even almost. She hid her face in an orange towel a few times right after the match ended, at least one tear clearly making its way down her right cheek. Osaka entered this tournament ranked No. 77 in the world, will leave Miami no worse than 36th and would be back in the top 30 if she wins the title.
It has been a long, trying and often emotional ride for Osaka since her win in the 2018 U.S. Open final over Serena Williams. She was rattled during a loss at Indian Wells on March 12 following a derogatory shout from a spectator, withdrew from last year’s French Open to address her mental state and left last year’s U.S. Open in tears.
But in South Florida, one of the places she considers home, it’s been all support from the fans.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” Osaka told them in her on-court interview.
Pegula and Swiatek — who will replace the now-retired Ashleigh Barty as the No. 1-ranked women’s player in the world next week — were meeting in the other women’s semifinal on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev came into the tournament as the No. 2-ranked men’s player in the world. Hubert Hurkacz ensured he will stay there.
Hurkacz — the No. 8 seed and defending Miami champion — wore down the top-seeded and cramp-riddled Medvedev 7-6 (7), 6-3 on Thursday in a men’s quarterfinal.
“Every muscle just went ‘cramp, cramp, cramp, cramp,'” Medvedev said.
Had Medvedev prevailed, he would have overtaken Novak Djokovic on Monday and returned to No. 1 in the world rankings. Instead, the Russian will stay No. 2 in the world and find out who wins the Miami title on Sunday like everyone else.
“For me, it was more important in a way just to win the match itself than to become No. 1,” Medvedev said. “Winning the match, I saw it more as a bonus.”
Hurkacz, who is from Poland, will next meet No. 14 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the semifinals. Alcaraz defeated unseeded Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (5) on Thursday night in the last men’s quarterfinal.
“I was returning pretty well, I was putting some pressure on his serves and that was helping my game,” Hurkacz said. “I was able to get some free points on my serve and that was pretty big.”
The other semifinal pits sixth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway against unseeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.
Hurkacz has played Medvedev four times, and Medvedev has been ranked No. 2 in the world in each of those meetings — which they’ve now split. Hurkacz improved to 14-5 this year, and his record in Miami is 12-1 all-time.
“Coming here is so much fun,” Hurkacz said.
___
More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/sports/ap-sports/hurkacz-wears-down-medvedev-in-miami-denies-him-no-1-rank/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:32Z |
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HAMILTON, Bermuda, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM) announced today that HG Global Ltd. ("HG") closed a new $150 million, 10-year term loan credit facility with Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd, (conducting its re/insurance business as HSCM Bermuda) and Security Benefit Life Insurance Company. HG expects to receive the proceeds of the loan on or prior to May 31, 2022. A portion of the proceeds of the loan will be used to pay a $120 million dividend to White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. and the other equity holders of HG. The facility received an investment grade rating of BBB from Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC. The facility does not impact the reinsurance obligations of HG Re Ltd.
White Mountains is a Bermuda-domiciled financial services holding company traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Bermuda Stock Exchange under the symbol WTM.
Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd., conducting its re/insurance investment management business as HSCM Bermuda ("HSCM"), is an asset manager focused on alternative investments seeking mezzanine level returns. HSCM focuses on the Re/Insurance and Transportation sectors. HSCM launched in 2016, and as of January 1, 2022 had more than $3 billion in assets under management and committed capital. HSCM focuses on core economic sectors that are likely to outgrow global GDP, offer low correlations with broader markets, and are experiencing a shift from balance sheet to market financing. For more information, please visit www.hscm.com.
Security Benefit Corporation ("Security Benefit"), through its subsidiary Security Benefit Life Insurance Company (SBL), a Kansas-based insurance company that has been in business for 130 years, is a leader in the U.S. retirement market. Security Benefit together with its affiliates offers products in a full range of retirement markets and wealth segments for employers and individuals and reached $50.5 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2021. Security Benefit, an Eldridge business, is one of the fastest growing U.S. retirement companies and continues its mission of helping Americans To and Through Retirement®. Learn more at www.securitybenefit.com or www.eldridge.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included or referenced in this release which address activities, events or developments which White Mountains expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the funding of, or receipt of proceeds from, a loan and HG's payment of a dividend from the proceeds of such loan.
These statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by White Mountains in light of current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. However, whether actual developments will conform to its expectations is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, including actions taken by ratings agencies, such as financial strength or credit ratings downgrades or placing ratings on negative watch; the continued availability of capital and financing; deterioration of general economic; changes in domestic or foreign laws or regulations, or their interpretation, applicable to White Mountains or HG, its competitors or its customers; and other factors, most of which are beyond White Mountains's control.
Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the developments anticipated by White Mountains will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, White Mountains or its business or operations. White Mountains assumes no obligation to publicly update any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: Rob Seelig
(603) 640-2212
View original content:
SOURCE White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/03/31/hg-global-closes-new-150-million-credit-facility/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:33Z |
The Daily Wire – by Mary Margaret Olohan
“Early” transgender surgeries, hormone treatment, and affirmations are “crucial” for the health of kids and teens who identify as transgender and nonbinary, President Joe Biden’s administration said in messaging released Thursday.
The White House flagged a resource from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health on “Transgender Day of Visibility” intended to “inform parents and guardians, educators, and other persons supporting children and adolescents with information on what is gender-affirming care and why it is important to transgender, nonbinary, and other gender expansive young people’s well-being.”
Gender-affirming care is a phrase used by transgender activists and media to mask the more grisly sounding transgender top and bottom surgeries, including removing a biological women’s breasts, removing a biological man’s genitals, sculpting a fake penis on a biological woman, facial feminization or facial masculinization, and more.
Social affirmation, puberty blockers, and hormones also fall under the “gender-affirming care” umbrella.
Commentators, lawmakers, people who identify as transgender, and people who formerly attempted transitions have expressed grave concerns about encouraging children or young people to explore transitions of any kind.
“Gender-affirming care is a supportive form of healthcare,” the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health sheet says. “It consists of an array of services that may include medical, surgical, mental health, and non-medical services for transgender and nonbinary people.”
“For transgender and nonbinary children and adolescents, early gender- affirming care is crucial to overall health and well-being as it allows the child or adolescent to focus on social transitions and can increase their confidence while navigating the healthcare system,” the White House messaging says.
Transgender surgeries, hormones, and affirmations are important, the White House claimed, because these procedures have been “shown to increase positive outcomes for transgender and nonbinary children and adolescents”
“Gender-affirming care is patient-centered and treats individuals holistically, aligning their outward, physical traits with their gender identity,” the White House messaging sheet continued.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.
The messaging comes amidst national controversy over whether children should be able to obtain such procedures. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has drawn heavy fire for calling transgender treatments for children “child abuse.”
On “DeTrans Awareness Day” in early March, people who formerly began gender transition procedures flooded social media with their de-transition stories, sharing stories of depression, anxiety, and fear.
Twitter users who spoke out said that they began taking testosterone as soon as they turned 18. These users, many of whom are biological women, described how they did not feel that they “fit in” in high school or middle school and sought to find answers on the internet.
“I started taking testosterone at 18 because i was tired of not fitting in with other girls so thought i’d make a better man instead,” user Allie tweeted. “An autism diagnosis later and it all makes sense now.”
Allie, who does not use her last name to preserve her privacy, told The Daily Wire at the time that “there’s a big problem right now with how hormonal therapy is being given as a rushed treatment for gender dysphoria in young people.”
That hormonal therapy “takes precedence over explorative therapy that might help dysphoric people understand why they want to be the opposite sex,” she added.
Detransitioner Michelle, a biological woman who told The Daily Wire that she sought to transition to a man, shared that she began transitioning in 2010 at age 22 and detransitioned in 2020.
“I grew up as a tomboy who didn’t fit in,” Michelle tweeted. “I was keenly aware of this by the time I was 7. I was too loud, too bossy, too impulsive, too emotional. The girls I made friends with felt conditional, like they would leave me the moment I did something wrong (and they did).”
https://twitter.com/somenuancepls/status/1502702415979724808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1502702415979724808%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fwhite-house-early-trans-surgeries-hormones-are-crucial-for-kids-teens-who-identify-as-trans
“For years, I struggled with this,” Michelle continued. “I might have been set in my ways, but I certainly wasn’t mean. I had no idea why it felt like so many people just immediately didn’t like me. My parents enrolled me in social skills group therapy when I was 10.”
Michelle said she began to discover activist gender conversations on the internet, how her mental health was suffering, and how she became suicidal.
“I was vulnerable, desperate, and young,” Michelle tweeted. “On top of that, I had people online telling me ‘if you think you’re trans, you are’ and ‘cis people don’t think about gender this much.’ I heard the ‘only 1% regret it’ statistic, and I thought I’d be fine. That could never be me.”
She continued: “What reasons did I have to not trust them? Why would so many people tell me things that weren’t true? Why would my doctors go along with it if I weren’t really a man? Why would therapists risk my mental health if they weren’t sure whether I would benefit from transition?”
“That is the state of activist-controlled health care,” Michelle said. “There is one narrative that is acceptable, and every person who does not fit that narrative — who regrets transitioning, who returns to living as their sex, who talks about the potential for issues — is told to shut up.” | http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/white-house-early-trans-surgeries-hormones-are-crucial-for-kids-teens-who-identify-as-trans/300800 | 2022-04-01T01:51:32Z |
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King County will pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit filed by an incarcerated man who was severely beaten in 2018 by another person in jail who officials knew was dangerous, psychotic and had a long history of attacking his cellmates.
Toby Meagher, who himself has a long history of mental illness, suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken bones in his face, damaged facial nerves and broken teeth when he was attacked by Troy Leae (pronounced lee-AYE-ee), who had just been returned to the jail from Western State Hospital where he had assaulted six individuals, including a mental health professional.
Evidence showed that the day of the assault, July 15, 2018, jail corrections officers disregarded Meagher’s pleas to be moved from his cell after Leae had told him he was going to fight him. Less than an hour later, Meagher, who weighed 145 pounds, was found unconscious in a bloody heap on the cell floor after the 5-foot-10, 300-pound Leae pounded his head against a metal sink, according to documents and grisly photographs contained in the pleadings.
According to the lawsuit, the injuries Meagher suffered “exacerbated his mental disorder and have deeply affected his ability to communicate.” At the time the lawsuit was filed a year later, his attorneys said he “still struggles to string a sentence together.”
“He spends much of his time confused and upset, constantly revisiting the attack itself, and plagued by nightmares, insomnia, and paranoid thoughts that center specifically around Mr. Leae and the attack.”
It is the second seven-figure payout by the county for a jail assault in four months. The county paid $1.25 million to a man in November after he was attacked and beaten by another incarcerated individual in a “meth-fueled rage.”
In a statement, King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention spokesperson Noah Haglund said, “We deeply regret the injuries that Mr. Meagher suffered, and the impact that this attack has had on Mr. Meagher and his family. We are committed to the safety of everybody in our custody, as well as to our staff and visitors.”
Haglund noted that mental illness is not a reason to isolate people who are incarcerated as it can exacerbate their problems.
“In light of this incident and others, we have increased the training that Jail Health Services staff receive about sharing appropriate medical information with their DAJD colleagues,” he said.
U.S. District Judge James Robart refused to dismiss the lawsuit or grant the involved corrections officers qualified immunity in 2020, and the county appealed his decision to the 9th Circuit Court, where a panel of three judges upheld Robart’s decision and sent the case back for trial.
According to the pleadings. Meagher was booked into the King County Jail in Seattle in August 2017 after he approached two strangers near a convenience story in Burien, punched the man and threatened them with a knife. It was his 20th arrest and booking.
In jail, he assaulted a guard and was twice sent to Western State Hospital for evaluation and was found to suffer from schizoaffective disorder and other mental illnesses.
“Both evaluations concluded that Mr. Meagher’s mental health symptoms impaired his ability to rationally understand court proceedings and assist his defense,” according to court documents.
Robart, in his order declining to dismiss the charges, noted that Meagher’s history included more than 300 outpatient contacts with mental health providers, numerous civil commitments, and repeated findings of mental incompetence at Western State Hospital.
After he was returned to the jail, he continued to be affected by his illnesses. Three days before the assault, a psychiatrist found he continued to hear voices and suffer delusions.
Even so, he was placed in general population with close security, according to the lawsuit.
The county did not dispute that Leae had a “long history of committing violent, unprovoked attacks” and that he had committed several in the months leading up to his attack on Meagher.
On Aug. 6, 2017, police had taken him to Harborview Medical Center for evaluation after an assault. While there, “Leae, without provocation, repeatedly punched a mental health
professional and caused the professional to blackout,” according to Robarts’ findings in the case.
After being booked into jail, he was placed in restrictive housing and eventually taken to the “Ultra Security” section of the jail. For the next month, he was isolated from other inmates, and in September was ordered by a judge to undergo evaluation at Western State Hospital, according to court pleadings.
However, that transfer did not happen until January 2018, and in the interim Leae was returned to general population, where in October he assaulted another incarcerated man without provocation, knocking him to the floor and kicking him repeatedly in the head. Leae was returned to “Ultra Security” again, according to court documents.
In January, Leae was taken to Western State Hospital where records show he was involved in six assaults on staff and other patients and became so violent that he was placed in five-point restraints. A February evaluation showed Leae to be psychotic and paranoid with unabated symptoms, and incapable of facing trial for the jail assault the previous October.
After a second judicial commitment to restore his competency, Western State Hospital officials determined Leae could understand the proceedings against him despite his “very psychotic behavior.” He was returned to the King County Jail in April, on medication and placed in general population. Documents provided to the jail by the hospital said his medication regime was crucial to prevent further assaults.
However, documents showed that Leae repeatedly refused to take his medication, and at one point tried to drown himself in a jail toilet. Even so, his security classification was lowered by corrections officials at least twice until he was placed in the cell with Meagher, who had returned from his own competency-restoration trip to Western State on July 2, 2018.
Once bunked together, Meagher repeatedly asked to be moved to another cell, saying he and Leae were not getting along. Another incarcerated man who gave a statement afterward said Meagher “was looking worried … like he felt like he knew something was going to happen.”
Meagher would later say he tried to get the officers’ attention but was told to “handle it himself.”
“The assault that caused these horrific injuries was not an unpreventable assault by an unpredictable inmate,” attorneys Felix Luna and Tomas Gahan wrote.
Jail officers “locked the mentally ill Mr. Meagher in the same cell as the homicidal Mr. Leae, walled in by cement, steel and glass, a decision that effectively granted Mr. Leae free reign over his vulnerable victim.
“Such conduct, by the very individuals tasked with ensuring Mr. Meagher’s safety within the jail and in light of the foreseeability and preventability of the attack, was far beyond negligence — it was an act of reckless disregard.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/king-county-pays-3-million-to-settle-lawsuit-filed-by-man-who-was-severely-beaten-in-jail/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2022-04-01T01:51:33Z |
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sierra Oaks K-8 student was stabbed by another student on Thursday in between classes outside of a classroom. Both are 8th graders and the student stabbed is expected to recover.
The student brought a household knife to campus, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, and inflicted puncture wounds to the other student around 9 a.m.
READ MORE: Getting Answers: Will Releasing Oil From Reserve Give Relief For CA Drivers?Staff intervened, according to a San Juan Unified District spokesperson, to remove the knife and “prevent further injury.”
The first notifications from the San Juan Unified School District went out to families 90 minutes after the incident occurred. In an automated message, one parent told CBS13 they were notified they had the option to pick their student up from campus early.
Some Sierra Oaks families opted to do just that and others, waited until school was released at 1:25 p.m.
One father who came to pick up his elementary-aged daughter told CBS13: “[I feel] a little more safer now. I was a little nervous getting the phone call and wasn’t sure what happened,” said Dustin Lovett.
Another parent told CBS13 she was frustrated with the delay in notification and said she didn’t receive notice of the stabbing until 11:30 a.m., more than two hours after the incident.
“Anxiety. Straight-up anxiety. It’s not supposed to be happening,” said the Sierra Oaks Mother, who did not want her name shared publicly.
READ MORE: 'Make Change Happen Now': Sacramento City Unified Moms Take Stand As Strike ContinuesJust spoke with the San Juan Unified School District spokesperson he updated information, it was two 8th graders involved in the stabbing on campus today.
It happened around 9AM between passing period, and staff were able to step in to take knife away. @CBSSacramento https://t.co/V7lFizKNeH
— Madisen Keavy (@madisenkeavy) March 31, 2022
CBS13 took these concerns to an SJUSD spokesperson, Trent Allen, and asked about the concerns over a delay in notification.
Allen said protocol requires the school campus to be secured first, law enforcement notified, and a statement of notification to families is then reviewed by law enforcement as not to interfere with the investigation.
“[This is] an opportunity to talk with our students and community, when you see something concerning to you, say something,” said Allen.
Allen said school campuses and educators within San Juan Unified School District are aware that, after two years of distance learning away from campus, being back at school may be challenging for some students. He said, in addition to an anti-bullying campaign, some campuses also allow “free” time for students to play board games as a stress-free way to reacclimate to social settings.
Tammy Abdo, the parent of an 8th-grade student at Sierra Oaks, said her daughter texted her that there had been a stabbing. She said the moments between messages were stressful because she didn’t know what was going on. Finally, when she heard from her daughter she said, she was relieved.
Sierra Oaks K-8 stabbing update: #GettingAnswers about what parents called a “delay” in being notified there was a stabbing at their child’s school.
SJUSD spokesperson says it took 90 mins to get campus safe and run statement past law enforcement. @CBSSacramento pic.twitter.com/kg575WQseb
— Madisen Keavy (@madisenkeavy) April 1, 2022
“She called me she was upset because she knew the girl that had gotten stabbed. [She said] she was so sweet, she was crying,” said Abdo.
MORE NEWS: Viewer Calls Kurtis After Paying More Than Advertised At Suisun City WalmartCounseling services will be available on the Sierra Oaks K-8 campus through next week. | https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2022/03/31/sierra-oaks-stabbing-delayed-parent-notification/ | 2022-04-01T01:51:34Z |
Stormwater Program Updates Press Release - 2022
Please Contact the City Engineering Department at (920) 686-6910 with any comments, questions and/or suggestions about the stormwater program updates. Updates were submitted to the Wisconsin Department...
www.manitowoc.org | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2556740187342/stormwater-program-updates-press-release-2022 | 2022-04-01T01:51:34Z |
BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday evening's drawing of the Massachusetts Lottery's "Numbers Evening" game were:
4-7-3-9
(four, seven, three, nine)
BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday evening's drawing of the Massachusetts Lottery's "Numbers Evening" game were:
4-7-3-9
(four, seven, three, nine) | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Numbers-Evening-game-17049820.php | 2022-04-01T01:51:34Z |
KYIV, Ukraine: Russian troops handed control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant back to the Ukrainians and left the heavily contaminated site early Friday, more than a month after taking it over, Ukrainian authorities said, as fighting raged on the outskirts of Kyiv and other fronts.
Ukraine’s state power company, Energoatom, said the pullout at Chernobyl came after soldiers received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. But there was no independent confirmation of that.
The withdrawal took place amid growing indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover while regrouping, resupplying its forces and redeploying them for a stepped-up offensive in the eastern part of the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian withdrawals from the north and center of the country were just a military tactic and that the forces are building up for new powerful attacks in the southeast.
“We know their intentions,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation. “We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us.”
“There will be battles ahead,” he added.
Meanwhile, a convoy of buses headed to Mariupol in another bid to evacuate people from the besieged port city after the Russian military agreed to a limited cease-fire in the area. But Russian forces blocked 45 of the buses, and only 631 people were able to get out of the city in private cars, according to the Ukrainian government.
Twelve Ukrainian trucks were able to deliver humanitarian supplies to Mariupol, but they were all seized by Russian troops, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said late Thursday.
A new round of talks was scheduled for Friday, five weeks into the war that has left thousands dead and driven 4 million Ukrainians from the country.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been informed by Ukraine that the Russian forces at the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster had transferred control of it in writing to the Ukrainians.
The last Russian troops left the Chernobyl plant early Friday, the Ukrainian government agency responsible for the exclusion zone said.
Energoatom gave no details on the condition of the soldiers it said were exposed to radiation and did not say how many were affected. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin, and the IAEA said it had not been able to confirm the reports of Russian troops receiving high doses. It said it was seeking more information.
Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site in the opening stages of the Feb. 24 invasion, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce at the site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the concrete-entombed ruins of the reactor that exploded in 1986.
Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert with the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said it “seems unlikely” a large number of troops would develop severe radiation illness, but it was impossible to know for sure without more details.
He said contaminated material was probably buried or covered with new topsoil during the cleanup of Chernobyl, and some soldiers may have been exposed to a “hot spot” of radiation while digging. Others may have assumed they were at risk too, he said.
Early this week, the Russians said they would significantly scale back military operations in areas around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to increase trust between the two sides and help negotiations along.
But in the Kyiv suburbs, regional governor Oleksandr Palviuk said on social media Thursday that Russian forces shelled Irpin and Makariv and that there were battles around Hostomel. Pavliuk said there were Ukrainian counterattacks and some Russian withdrawals around the suburb of Brovary to the east.
Chernihiv came under attack as well. At least one person was killed and four were wounded in the Russian shelling of a humanitarian convoy of buses sent to Chernihiv to evacuate residents cut off from food, water and other supplies, said Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova.
Ukraine also reported Russian artillery barrages in and around the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said intelligence indicates Russia is not scaling back its military operations in Ukraine but is instead trying to regroup, resupply its forces and reinforce its offensive in the Donbas.
“Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions,” Stoltenberg said. At the same time, he said, pressure is being kept up on Kyiv and other cities, and “we can expect additional offensive actions bringing even more suffering.”
The Donbas is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014. In the past few days, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its war aims, said that its “main goal” now is gaining control of the Donbas, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including Mariupol.
The top rebel leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, issued an order to set up a rival city government for Mariupol, according to Russian state news agencies, in a sign of Russian intent to hold and administer the city.
The Red Cross, meanwhile, said its teams were headed for Mariupol with medical supplies and other relief and hoped to take civilians out of the beleaguered city, the site of some of the worst suffering of the war.
Tens of thousands have managed to get out of Mariupol in the past few weeks by way of humanitarian corridors, reducing its population from a prewar 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 as of last week, but other efforts to relieve the city have been thwarted by continued Russian attacks.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 45 buses would be sent to collect civilians from the encircled and bombarded city, where food, water, medicine and fuel were running low.
“It’s desperately important that this operation takes place,” the Red Cross said in a statement. “The lives of tens of thousands of people in Mariupol depend on it.”
With talks set to resume between Ukraine and Russia via video, there seemed little faith that the two sides would resolve the conflict any time soon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that conditions weren’t yet “ripe” for a cease-fire and that he wasn’t ready for a meeting with Zelensky until negotiators do more work, Italian Premier Mario Draghi said after a telephone conversation with the Russian leader.
In other developments, Ukraine’s emergency services said the death toll had risen to 20 in a Russian missile strike Tuesday on a government administration building in the southern city of Mykolaiv.
As Western officials search for clues about what Russia’s next move might be, a top British intelligence official said demoralized Russian soldiers in Ukraine are refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their equipment and had accidentally shot down their own aircraft.
In a speech in Australia, Jeremy Fleming, head of the GCHQ electronic spy agency, said Putin had apparently “massively misjudged” the invasion.
The Pentagon reported Thursday that an initial half-dozen shipments of weapons and other security assistance from the US have reached Ukraine as part of an $800 million aid package President Joe Biden approved this month.
The shipments included Javelin anti-tank weapons, Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems, body armor, medical supplies and other materials, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
US intelligence officials have concluded that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the war is going because they are afraid to tell him the truth.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the US is wrong and that “neither the State Department nor the Pentagon possesses the real information about what is happening in the Kremlin.”
Russians leave Chernobyl site as fighting rages elsewhere
https://arab.news/cw8uu | https://www.arabnews.com/node/2054836/world | 2022-04-01T01:51:34Z |
Gallery: Ukraine - Russia crisis, April 1st, 2022
12 ImagesClaims of a Russian pullback are not trusted as Ukraine forces re-take positions outside Kyiv.
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