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https://www.alexcityoutlook.com/news/alabama-food-bank-association-awarded-turnip-the-beet-bronze-award/article_e5dd8540-b12c-11ec-a2d6-97ddb0eeef5b.html
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The Alabama Food Bank Association announced last week that they had the honor of receiving the Turnip the Beet Bronze Award for work during last year’s Summer Food Service Program participation.
Every year the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) recognizes 84 summer meal organizations across the nation. The award is given to organizations who perform exceptional service while providing meals for the children of Alabama when school is not in session.
“We truly thank all the organizations who provided meals during the summer for our children in Alabama,” said Mrs. Angelice Lowe, Alabama Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs Director. “Children in local communities depend on these organizations for nutrition during the summer, in order to be ready both mentally and physically once school begins each year.”
The Turnip the Beet Award was created to showcase sponsors who are going above and beyond to ensure that children are receiving quality meals that are both nutritious and appetizing.
“To be reorganized by the Alabama Department of Education for our work on the Summer Feeding Program is a tremendous honor,” said Kim Lawkis, Chief Operations Officer Alabama Food Bank Association. “It’s extra special as the Alabama Food Bank Association team, along with every other meal sponsor, had to rethink, replan, and reconnect our program to hungry children during the pandemic. We are thankful to ALSDE for recognizing that hard work and heavy lift by awarding our team the bronze Turnip the Beet award.”
The Alabama Food Bank Association summer meals program was able to continue operation during the pandemic because of strong partnerships with front line sites, unwavering support from their national partner, Share our Strength, and loyal vendor, Trio Community Meals, who showed up every day to deliver nutritious meals to program sites. The Alabama Food Bank Association has served 1,122,671 meals over the last five years and 69 percent of those were served during the pandemic.
The Alabama Food Bank Association works to end hunger by assisting the food bank network in obtaining more food and funds, fostering public awareness of the food banks’ mission and creating partnerships to help alleviate hunger in Alabama. Every day, the eight food banks in Alabama partner with a statewide network of food donors, emergency food pantries and soup kitchens to provide food to hungry people. Fighting hunger requires significant funding for every step of the process — from acquiring food, to storing the food, to transporting the food to people in need. Learn more at alfba.org.
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https://www.alexcityoutlook.com/news/coosa-county-wildfires-burn-through-696-acres-of-timberland-wednesday/article_4bc051ea-b122-11ec-804e-eb87823ab192.html
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Firefighters and park rangers were stretched thin across four wildfires in Coosa County Wednesday, including three simultaneous, as high winds fanned the flames.
Nearly 700 acres were affected altogether, according to the Alabama Forestry Commission's wildfire reports. By the time the squall line of a severe storm system reached Coosa County Thursday morning, the blazes were mostly contained, according to an Alabama Forestry Commission park ranger on the scene.
One blaze visible from U.S. Highway 280, on County Road 66 near the Mount Olive community, spread to about 146 acres of timberland according to the forestry commission. The forest fire was reported at 4:44 p.m. Wednesday after a tree fell on a power line. Wind gusts caused the flames to pick up quickly, with another five hours before the blaze was contained.
The County Road 66 blaze was soon followed by another forest fire on County Road 44 near Goodwater, reported near a residence at 5:26 p.m., that spread about 70 acres before it was contained at 10:19 p.m.
"There would have been more damage if the neighbor hadn't seen the fire, ran down there and actually stomped the fire out around the lady's house," Goodwater fire chief Elmore Unbehant said. "She called us and ran down there."
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Two other fires that started in Coosa County earlier that day have since been contained, but as of Thursday afternoon, have yet to be controlled. The first fire, reported about 9 p.m. Tuesday evening, burned through 80 acres before it was contained at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The second fire, reported at 4:08 p.m. Wednesday, spread across 400 acres in the area between Kelley's Crossroads and Weogufka before it was contained at 1:19 p.m. Thursday.
Statewide, the Alabama Forestry Commission reported 78 wildfires Wednesday, with 1,889.5 contained and 752 acres controlled so far.
As of Thursday afternoon, there are no active wildfires in Coosa County. The Outlook is not aware of any injuries or major property damage.
Unbehant asks residents to check the weather and wind conditions before burning trash or yard waste.
"Please, just call your local fire department and ask before burning," Unbehant said. "It's not a bother for us to say 'I wouldn't,' or 'sure, you can go ahead.'"
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https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2022/03/what-commitment-of-2022-5-star-big-man-yohan-traore-means-for-auburn-hoops.html
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As it turns out, a tiger can change its stripes.
Auburn learned as much Thursday, when it picked up a commitment from former LSU commit Yohan Traore, a five-star big man rated as the No. 15 player in the 2022 class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Traore, who decommitted from LSU earlier this month, announced his decision to come to the Plains on his social media platforms.
Read more Auburn hoops: Bruce Pearl eager to “build it back”: A look at Auburn’s potential 2022-23 roster
Revisiting the top moments from Auburn’s historic season
“More than basketball”: Auburn treasures bond of historic team after NCAA Tournament loss
Traore chose Auburn from a final four that also included Gonzaga, Texas Tech and Michigan.
“It was a hard decision to make, but I can only call one place home,” Traore posted on Instagram. “My journey has been a long one with various changes that have occurred. I have had my ups and downs but stayed faith(ful) to GOD and my grind and have persevered but have so much more to accomplish.... I am thrilled to announce I will be committing to Auburn University. WAR EAGLE.”
Traore is now the third member of Auburn’s 2022 recruiting class, joining four-star wing Chance Westry and three-star point guard Tre Donaldson (who will also play defensive back for Bryan Harsin’s football team this fall). The class, which entered the day ranked 36th nationally and sixth in the SEC, jumped to 12th in the country — tied with Villanova — and third in the SEC (behind Arkansas and Alabama) following Traore’s commitment.
The commitment of Traore, who was born and raised in France, does more than just buoy Auburn’s 2022 recruiting class; it alters the outlook for the Tigers’ frontcourt heading into next season.
Auburn had the best frontcourt in program history and arguably the best in the nation this season, as freshman phenom Jabari Smith and North Carolina transfer Walker Kessler helped guide the Tigers to an SEC regular-season title — going wire-to-wire in the league standings — as well as the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking, a 19-game winning streak and ultimately a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While that talented frontcourt fell short in the second round of the NCAA Tournament — both Smith and Kessler turning in their worst performances of the season at the most inopportune time, against Miami in the Round of 32 — one performance shouldn’t take away from what the duo accomplished this past season.
Both Smith and Kessler turned in All-America seasons, with Smith becoming the program’s second-ever consensus All-American. Smith was also named the SEC Freshman of the Year, as well as National Freshman of the Year by the NABC and USBWA after averaging 16.9 points (on 42.9 percent shooting, including 42 percent from 3-point range) and 7.4 rebounds per game. Kessler, meanwhile, was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and took home NABC Defensive Player of the Year honors this week. He averaged 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per game, leading the nation in blocks (155), blocks per game and block rate (19.1 percent), as well as in defensive box plus/minus (8.0).
That frontcourt was never likely to have more than one season together, though. Smith, the highest-rated signee in Auburn history, was always projected as a one-and-done prospect — as Bruce Pearl’s program has reached the point of those being a regular occurrence (Isaac Okoro in 2020, Sharife Cooper and JT Thor in 2021). The 6-foot-10 wunderkind is widely viewed as a top-three pick in this summer’s NBA Draft and could potentially go No. 1 overall, though he has yet to make an official declaration and was noncommittal about his future in the wake of Auburn’s second-round exit nearly two weeks ago.
Kessler’s projections range from potential lottery pick to possible mid- to late-first round selection after developing into a two-way star this season and the nation’s best player around the rim on either side of the court. He has yet to make an announcement about his future, though it should be noted Pearl has never been the type of coach to dissuade a potential first-rounder from turning pro.
Should both Smith and Kessler declare for the NBA Draft, Traore provides Auburn with an ideal replacement who can slot in alongside Jaylin Williams — the rising senior whom Pearl said he was “excited to build it next year around” — in the Tigers’ frontcourt.
Traore is listed as a center in the 247Sports database, but at 6-foot-10 and 225 pounds, he has the size and athleticism to play either position in the frontcourt and has described himself as a stretch-four. He doesn’t have quite the sharpshooting ability of Smith — a gifted 3-pointer shooter at his size and the best jump-shooter Pearl has ever coached — but Traore can still face up and stretch the floor when needed with a quality stroke from 15 feet and beyond. He needs to get stronger with his back to the basket, but he appears to be at his best when attacking the rim, either as a diver off high screens or off the dribble as a ball-handler, with the ability to finish with authority and finesse. Defensively, he has the footwork and quickness to switch onto the perimeter when necessary but also has the length and instincts to affect shots around the rim — though probably not at the level of Kessler, who finished this season with the best block rate in Division I in at least a dozen years.
Traore is expected to start out his career at center for Auburn, playing alongside Williams, but his long-term future could be at power forward as a stretch-four with potential as an elite inside-out defender with a really good shooting touch and feel for things on the offensive end.
Originally from Tours, France, (just outside of Paris), Traore first grew up playing soccer before falling in love with basketball when he was about 7 years old. He moved to Paris at 14 to play for INSEP (the National Institute for Sport, Expertise and Performance) and further grow his game. He moved to the United States two years ago, spending his junior season at Prolific Prep in California before transferring to Dream City Christian in Glendale, Ariz., for his senior year. Traore began to blow up last summer, when he turned heads on the adidas 3SSB circuit, averaging 25 points and 14 rebounds per game for Dream Vision, according to Sports Illustrated.
He committed to LSU on Jan. 30, but he backed off that pledge earlier this month after the firing of head coach Will Wade, which was part of the fallout from the notice of allegations the program received from the NCAA stemming from the 2017 FBI investigation that rocked the sport. It didn’t take long for Auburn to soar into the picture, with Traore quietly taking an unofficial visit to the Plains shortly thereafter and naming a top four of Auburn, Gonzaga, Texas Tech and Michigan last week.
Now he’s firmly on board with Auburn as Pearl’s program looks to sustain the success from this season, even if the Tigers lose a pair of All-Americans in the frontcourt.
Traore is still developing his game, but he has the frame, skillset and athleticism to be an impact freshman for Auburn next season. He’s the second-highest rated player to sign with the Tigers in program history, behind only Smith, which should say something about the level of talent he brings to the Plains.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
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https://www.alexcityoutlook.com/obituaries/mrs-betty-v-gordon/article_e66ac6d2-b12f-11ec-94ab-bf3d7bd97ad1.html
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Funeral Service for Mrs. Betty V. Gordon, 89, of Alexander City, Alabama, will be Monday, April 4, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. at the Alex City Methodist Church. Rev. Wayne Cowhick will officiate. She will lie in state at the Church for one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow in the Hillview Memorial Park. The family will receive friends on Sunday, April 3, 2022, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Radney Funeral Home.
Mrs. Gordon passed away on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at her residence. She was born on October 8, 1932, in Brooksville, Alabama to James Foyle Vaughn and Nora Gilbreath Vaughn. She was a charter member of Alex City Methodist Church and had served as Treasurer. She taught Home Economics at the Alexander City Junior High School for many years. She was an excellent cook, enjoyed sewing, yard work, and gardening. She loved and spoiled her grandchildren. It was always a joy for her to serve others.
She is survived by her son, John L. Gordon, Jr. (Lysa) of Alexander City; grandchildren, Paxton Fuller (Brady), Paige Gordon, and Griff Gordon (Kaleigh); great-grandchild, Grayson John Gordon; sister, Nell Jackson; sisters-in-law, Barbara Shipp (Jim) and Geraldine Gordon; and several beloved nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, John L. Gordon, Sr.; her parents; sisters and brothers-in law, Hazel Pettit (Wilson), Robbie Alldredge (Sam), and Mary Ann Smith (Curt); and brothers-in-law, Ned Jackson and Harold Gordon.
The family will accept flowers or memorial contributions may be made to the Alexander City Methodist Church 1020 11th Avenue North, Alexander City, AL 35010.
Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.
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https://www.al.com/news/2022/03/alabama-house-passes-bill-to-increase-penalty-for-running-from-police.html
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The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill today to increase the penalty for crossing the state line while running from police if the person fleeing is under suspicion of a felony.
Black lawmakers opposed the bill and said they were concerned the “reasonable suspicion” provision of the bill could be misused.
Under current law, it’s a misdemeanor to run from police unless the act of fleeing results in injury or death to a bystander or third party.
The bill by Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, would raise the penalty to a Class C felony if the person fleeing crosses the state line and the “law enforcement officer attempting to arrest the person has an arrest warrant for or has reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a felony offense.”
A Class C felony is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Shaver, whose district borders Georgia, said border counties have a problem with people running from police across state lines. Shaver’s husband, Jeff Shaver, is the sheriff in Cherokee County. She said the purpose of her bill is to reduce the incidents of people running from police and the negative consequences, such as injuries and deaths, that can result.
“It’s a problem in all of our border counties,” Shaver said. “Suspects tend to think if they make the state line they’re home free. So they run for the border.”
Black lawmakers said people in their communities have more reason to fear encounters with police. They were concerned about the consequences for people who are inclined to flee police even if they have committed no crime.
“In my community, we’re going to run because we’re afraid of the police,” Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, said.
Shaver said people who run from police for some reason other than a felony would not be affected by the change in the law.
But Rep. Sam Jones, D-Mobile, said the “reasonable suspicion” provision created too much uncertainty about how the law would be used. Jones, a former mayor of Mobile, said he is always concerned when the Legislature raised a penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony.
“Reasonable suspicion, I don’t know that that’s the same thing with all law enforcement officers,” Jones said. “A lot of people see it different. Lay people would not know what that is.”
Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Mobile, repeatedly asked Shaver to provide an example of what would establish “reasonable suspicion” under her bill. Shaver said she could not give an example but said it was a legal standard that police are trained to apply.
Bracy said he worried about people being unfairly saddled with felony charges and the life-changing consequences of those.
“We should not be passing a bill that we don’t even know what triggers it becoming a felony,” Bracy said.
The bill passed by a vote of 72-25 along party lines, with Republicans for it and Democrats opposed. It moves to the Senate.
Related: Alabama lawmakers approve teacher retirement benefit changes
Bill to address Alabama school discipline, curb student suspensions stalls
Alabama and national politics.
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https://www.alexcityoutlook.com/obituaries/mrs-sara-welsh-bryant/article_baa10c76-b12c-11ec-bbcf-533210557b17.html
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Funeral Service for Mrs. Sara Welsh Bryant, 93, of Alexander City, Alabama, will be Sunday, April 3, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. at the Chapel of Radney Funeral Home. Rev. Ronnie Palmer and Rev. Wayne Cowhick will officiate. Burial will follow in the Hillview Memorial Park. The family will receive friends on Saturday, April 2, 2022, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Radney Funeral Home.
Mrs. Bryant passed away on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at Chapman's Healthcare. She was born on November 13, 1928, in Tallapoosa County, Alabama to Charles William Welsh and Maggie Pyrene Miles Welsh. She was a charter member of Alex City Methodist Church. Mrs. Bryant enjoyed sewing and gardening. She was an excellent cook and was known far and near for her banana pudding.
She is survived by her daughter, Susan Hardy (Ray) of Alexander City; son, David Bryant (Tammy) of Alexander City; grandchildren, Jim Hardy and Jeffrey Hardy (Amanda); great-grandchildren, Mason Bryant Hardy, Timber Faith Hardy, and Riggs Lynn Hardy; sisters, Lenora Jackson and Faye Ward; and sister-in-law, Lorinza Knight.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years, Cecil "Sausage" Bryant; her parents; and sister, Marie Harry.
The family will accept flowers or memorial contributions may be made to Alex City Methodist Church 1020 11th Ave North Alexander City, AL 35010.
Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.
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https://www.al.com/news/2022/04/alabama-senate-advances-effort-to-resist-president-bidens-actions-on-guns.html
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Alabama lawmakers on Thursday advanced legislation aimed at resisting a half-dozen executive actions by President Joe Biden to combat gun violence.
The Alabama Senate voted 24-5 for legislation that would prohibit state and local officials from participating in the “administration or enforcement of any presidential gun control order.” However, the bill includes an exemption if doing so would jeopardize federal funding.
The measure is part of red state efforts to seek, both tangible and symbolic, resistance to federal gun control measures. The approval came over the objections of Democrats who derided the measure as unconstitutional and election-year pandering. The bill now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives.
“The Second Amendment says the right to bear arms shall not be infringed upon, and this bill is about safeguarding our God-given rights to protect our families and homes,” Sen. Gerald Allen, a Republican from Tuscaloosa, said in a statement about his bill.
Two Democratic senators sharply criticized the measure.
“This is an election piece, here,” said Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, a Democrat from Greensboro.
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham, said the bill, if approved, would almost certainly be challenged in court.
“I’m’ telling y’all again that this is going to be unconstitutional. You are going to spend all these millions of dollars trying to defend this and we are going to lose and look bad,” Smitherman said.
The president has limited ability to enact gun control measures without congressional approval. Biden last year issue an order that included moves to crack down on “ghost guns,” homemade firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them and are often purchased without a background check and to tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces.
An original version of the Alabama law would have also applied to federal gun laws. Idaho and Missouri have approved similar measures.
The Justice Department last year warned Missouri officials that the state can’t ignore federal law after the governor signed a bill that banned police from enforcing federal gun rules.
The Alabama legislative action came the same week that lawmakers rejected a measure that would allow people with mental health issues to voluntarily place themselves on a “do not sell” list to temporarily block themselves from buying firearms. The bill failed on a procedural vote required to bring the measure up for debate in the Alabama House of Representatives.
Alabama will also become the latest state to allow people to carry concealed handguns without first undergoing a background check and getting a state permit. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey this month signed legislation ending the requirement for a person to get a concealed carry permit to carry a loaded handgun concealed under their clothes, in a purse or bag or in a car.
Related: Alabama lawmakers take sides in national debate over gun rights
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https://www.alexcityoutlook.com/off-to-the-races/article_701954b4-b10a-11ec-8b44-23bb52c038f4.html
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Welcome to Field Notes, The Alexander City Outlook's member-exclusive newsletter delivered every Thursday to your inbox.
The Tallapoosa County Commission, state house and senate, district attorney and two Tallapoosa County Board of Education seats are up for reelection this year, but most go unchallenged.
But there are still a few decisions to make at the local level, mainly between different shades of red.
In District 27, Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Auburn), with a constituency now stretching further into Tallapoosa County, faces one Republican challenger — Auburn city councilman Jay Hovey — in the May 24 primary. Whoever the Republican nominee is will then face Democrat Sherri Reese in November.
Fifth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jeremy Duerr, in his first race as a Republican, faces Tallassee attorney Mike Segrest this May.
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Meanwhile past commissioner Frank Tapley, from 1998-2002 and 2006-2014, is once again seeking the New Site-area District 3 seat he lost to Tallapoosa County Commissioner John McKelvey, the only commissioner to go challenged this year. The two will face off in the Republican primary.
Alabama has a May 9 voter registration deadline for the primary, June 6 for the runoff (June 3 if hand delivered) and Oct. 24 for the general election in November.
Bullet points
• For the most part, Tallapoosa County residents were spared by the early-morning storm Thursday with only a handful of outages as of this morning, according to Alabama Power's interactive map.
• Alexander City kids have their work cut out for them with over 400 eggs to be found this Saturday, at The City of Outreach Church's second-annual Eggstravaganza. The egg hunt and festivities will be on Ann Street from 2-5 p.m.
• Reminder: today is the last day of March. Don't be fooled tomorrow.
Got a tip? Send it to editor@alexcityoutlook.com with "Field Notes" in the subject line, or tweet us @alexcityoutlook.
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https://www.alexcityoutlook.com/sports/keeton-and-davis-96th-at-mlf-nationals/article_da328254-b12c-11ec-9062-e785b97a7d73.html
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Submitted / The Outlook CACC anglers Chase Davis and Camden Keeton qualified for the MLF collegiate national championships and will face the nation’s best in Oklahoma this week.
A boat based out of Alexander City marked its place among the top 100 collegiate fishing pairings in the country this week.
Chase Davis and Camden Keeton, fishermen representing Central Alabama Community College, placed 96th at the Major League Fishing national championships as part of the league’s Abu Garcia College Fishing circuit.
The tournament took place on Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Okla.
Davis and Keeton caught one bass weighing in at three pounds, 14 ounces the first day of the tournament, then caught a second weighing three pounds, 12 ounces the second day.
The combined weight of seven pounds, 10 ounces was well short of a top 10 spot and a shot at a national championship on day three, but it was enough to take a top 100 placement at the circuit’s championship event.
Reaching the tournament in the first place was no easy feat. The duo needed to finish in the top 10 percent of one of three regional qualifying tournaments, and did so by taking 21st of 278 boats on Lake Chickamauga in Tennessee in March 2021.
Kaden Proffitt and Cason Ragsdale of East Texas Baptist University led the tournament entering the third day of competition Thursday with a combined weight of 29 pounds, seven ounces. The duo caught a full five-fish limit Tuesday and reeled in four more Wednesday.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/03/31/9-members-cook-inlet-soccer-club-2004-girls-team-sign-with-collegiate-teams/
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9 members of Cook Inlet Soccer Club ‘2004 girls’ team sign with collegiate teams
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A group of Anchorage youth soccer standouts had played their final game as teammates together, but they gathered at The Dome one last time in celebration as they will all continue their careers and education through the sport.
In total, nine Cook Inlet Soccer Club “2004 girls” players signed their national letters of intent prior to their final season of high school soccer as opponents.
East High School’s Zyiah Mikes is heading to Alabama A&M’s Division I program, while South’s Dot Tieszen and Dimond’s Keegynn Applegate will team up at D1 George Mason University. Lily Singleton (Pacific Lutheran University, DIII) is one of two Eagle River Wolves playing at the next level along with Kaycee Chavez, who will share the pitch again with Dimond’s Xiomara Chavez at Northern Idaho College (JUCO). West Anchorage standout Frida Vargas and Dimond defender Rebecca Shaw will don the same jersey at Southern Oregon University (NAIA), while Bartlett’s Ariel Gonzalez will take her talents to Green River College (JUCO) in Auburn, Washington.
Copyright 2022 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/04/01/anchorage-man-accused-shooting-police-officers-during-standoff-indicted-attempted-murder-charges/
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Anchorage man accused of shooting at police officers during standoff indicted on attempted murder charges
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - An Anchorage man accused of shooting at multiple police officers and injuring one during an hours-long standoff near downtown Anchorage earlier this month has been indicted on 20 felony charges, including attempted murder.
Dillon Spring, 28, was arrested and charged after a standoff with police on March 18 that started when officers were called to an apartment building on East 10th Avenue for a report of someone being assaulted with a hammer. In the course of investigating the report, police said they tried to speak with Spring, who barricaded himself in one of the apartments and was described as not being compliant with officer orders.
When police obtained a warrant and forcibly entered the apartment, Spring began firing at multiple officers, the police department said. Police said Spring struck and injured one officer, who was sent to the hospital and underwent surgery.
According to a Friday press release from the Alaska Department of Law, Spring is accused of shooting at six Anchorage police officers — Dominick Eubank, Brandon Schafer, Sgt. Justin Blake, Bradley Breager, Heather Mitzel, and Jacob Raygor. The release also identifies Eubank as the officer that was injured in the incident.
Schafer had earlier been identified by the Anchorage Police Department as the police officer who fired his weapon back at Spring, though he did not shoot or harm him.
Spring was indicted on six counts of attempted first-degree murder, eight counts of first-degree assault and six counts of third-degree assault, according to the law department. If convicted at a trial, Spring faces a potential sentence of up to 99 years in prison for each count of attempted first-degree murder, an unclassified felony.
During the standoff that began early on the morning of March 18, police blocked off Ingra Street from Ninth Avenue to 15th Avenue for several hours until Spring was taken into custody later that afternoon. A SWAT team responded to the scene and officers used several of what Police Chief Michael Kerle later called “distraction techniques,” which can include smoke and loud noises, in an effort to get Spring to exit the building.
According to Kerle, police were able to make verbal contact with Spring and through negotiations were eventually able to “have him walk out of the apartment by himself.”
Spring is in Department of Corrections custody and his bail was previously set at $300,000 cash performance and $300,000 cash appearance, along with electronic monitoring and the requirement that he have a third-party custodian.
He’s scheduled to be arraigned in Anchorage Superior Court on April 1, online court records show.
Copyright 2022 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/04/01/critical-habitat-designated-arctic-ringed-beringia-bearded-seals/
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Critical habitat designated for Arctic ringed, Beringia bearded seals
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries announced that critical habitat for Arctic ringed seals and the Beringia distinct population segment of bearded seals will be designated off the western and northern coastline of Alaska.
Bearded seals were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2012 and ringed seals received the listing in 2014, but both faced challenges in court that delayed the designation of critical habitat. The listing of bearded seals as threatened was reinstated in 2017 and ringed seals followed in 2018, according to NOAA Fisheries.
A 2019 lawsuit challenged the NOAA Fisheries for not designating critical habitat in a timely manner. In a settlement agreement to the 2019 lawsuit, the agency committed to determining final critical habitat by April 29 of this year. The final rule by NOAA was filed today.
The announcement posted by NOAA Fisheries states that the designation of critical habitat “does not create a preserve or refuge, and would not affect subsistence harvest of ringed or bearded seals by Alaska Natives.”
Ringed seals can grow up to over four feet long, weigh up to 150 pounds, and live up to 30 years. The NOAA Fisheries lists the factors that threaten the population as offshore oil and gas exploration and development, increased shipping in the Arctic, climate change, and entanglement in fishing gear.
The bearded seals can weigh up to 800 pounds and stretch up to eight feet long, and are threatened by the same factors of climate change, shipping, and oil and gas development.
“Under the ESA, the only regulatory effect of critical habitat designation is the requirement under Section 7 that Federal agencies ensure that their actions are not likely to destroy or adversely modify critical habitat. This applies to any activity involving Federal funding, permitting, or authorization that may affect listed species or designated critical habitat,” the NOAA Fisheries announcement said. “The critical habitat overlap with some areas where offshore oil and gas activities occur. ESA section 7 consultations have already occurred for numerous oil and gas projects within the area of the critical habitat designations, specifically regarding effects on bearded and ringed seals as well as endangered bowhead whales.”
Critical habitat differs slightly for the Arctic ringed seals and the Beringia bearded seals, but critical habitat for both will include portions of the Northern Bering Sea, the Northern Chukchi Sea, and the Northern Beaufort Sea. Critical habitat for the ringed seals excludes an area of the Beaufort Sea that is used by the U.S. Navy for testing and training.
The NOAA Fisheries announcement stated that careful consideration was given to potential economic effects, national security considerations and other factors before designating the critical habitat.
Copyright 2022 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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Oscars producer says police offered to arrest Will Smith
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oscars producer Will Packer said Los Angeles police were ready to arrest Will Smith after Smith slapped Chris Rock on the Academy Awards stage.
“They were saying, you know, this is battery, was a word they used in that moment,” Packer said in a clip released by ABC News Thursday night of an interview he gave to “Good Morning America.” “They said we will go get him. We are prepared. We’re prepared to get him right now. You can press charges, we can arrest him. They were laying out the options.”
But Packer said Rock was “very dismissive” of the idea.
“He was like, ‘No, no, no, I’m fine,” Packer said. “And even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish.’ The LAPD officers finished laying out what his options were and they said, ‘Would you like us to take any action?’ And he said no.”
The LAPD said in a statement after Sunday night’s ceremony that they were aware of the incident, and that Rock had declined to file a police report. The department declined comment Thursday on Packer’s interview, a longer version of which will air on Friday morning.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences met Wednesday to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations against the group’s standards of conduct. Smith could be suspended, expelled or otherwise sanctioned.
The academy said in a statement that “Mr. Smith’s actions at the 94th Oscars were a deeply shocking, traumatic event to witness in-person and on television.”
Without giving specifics, the academy said Smith was asked to leave the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre, but refused to do so.
Smith strode from his front row seat on to the stage and slapped Rock after a joke Rock made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, when he was on stage to present the Oscar for best documentary.
On Monday, Smith issued an apology to Rock, the academy and to viewers, saying “I was out of line and I was wrong.”
The academy said Smith has the opportunity to defend himself in a written response before the board meets again on April 18.
Rock publicly addressed the incident for the first time, but only briefly, at the beginning of a standup show Wednesday night in Boston, where he was greeted by a thunderous standing ovation. He said “I’m still kind of processing what happened.”
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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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USDA forecasting higher food, grocery costs in 2022
(Gray News) - It looks like elevated food prices are going to continue this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA released its Food Price Outlook for 2022 and predicted the cost of groceries would continue to increase to as much as 4%.
According to the Consumer Price Index, grocery and supermarket food prices were already 8.6% higher in February than last year and up nearly 1.5% from January to February in 2022.
As reported by the Associated Press, prices for U.S. consumers have continued to jump recently, leaving families facing the highest inflation rate since 1990.
“We’re getting into this situation where we have spiraling inflation,” said Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Advisors. “Inflation in one area drives inflation in another.”
Currently, the CPI reports all food categories are increasing in price other than fresh vegetables. Last year, the beef and veal categories had the most significant price increase of 9.3%, and the fresh vegetable category had the smallest at 1.1%. However, no food categories decreased in price in 2021.
Poultry prices are also expected to increase up to 7%, with egg prices predicted to increase up to 3.5% in 2022.
Overall, grocery store and supermarket food purchases are expected to increase up to 4%, with restaurant purchases or food away from home forecasted to increase up to 6.5%, according to the USDA.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Smith "was firmly asked by way of his publicist to leave the Oscars. He refused and that was communicated back to Academy leadership," according to a source.
In the moments following Will Smith's stunning on-stage slap of Chris Rock during Sunday's Oscars telecast, members of the Academy of Motion Picture and Arts and Sciences leadership "firmly asked" Will Smith's publicist for the actor to leave the ceremony, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
Smith "was firmly asked by way of his publicist to leave the Oscars. He refused and that was communicated back to Academy leadership," the person said.
The source spoke to CNN following multiple published reports Thursday disputing the Academy's claim in a statement issued Wednesday evening that Smith "was asked to leave the ceremony and refused."
Representatives for Smith did not respond to CNN's requests for comment
Thursday.
The Oscar-winning actor has maintained a low profile on social media since issuing an apology on Monday.
"I was out of line and I was wrong," Smith wrote in part. "I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."
The Academy has "initiated disciplinary proceedings" against Smith over his actions at the Oscars.
"Board of Governors today initiated disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy's Standards of Conduct, including inappropriate physical contact, abusive or threatening behavior, and compromising the integrity of the Academy," the organization said in a statement.
Another board meeting is set to take place on April 18, at which time, "the Academy may take any disciplinary action, which may include suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions permitted by the Bylaws and Standards of Conduct," the statement said.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
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After Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage Sunday at the Academy Awards ceremony, Los Angeles police officers were prepared to arrest Smith, according to an interview with the award show's producer, but the comedian was adamant he did not want to press charges.
In an excerpt of an interview with ABC News, aired Thursday on "World News Tonight," producer Will Packer said LAPD officers told Rock, "This is battery" and that he could press charges, and they were prepared to arrest Smith that night.
"They said, we will go get him. We are prepared. We are prepared to get him right now. You can press charges. We can arrest him. They were laying out the options," Packer told ABC. "And as they were talking, Chris was ... being very dismissive of those options. He was like, no, I'm fine. He was, like, no, no, no."
The LAPD put out a statement on the night of the Oscars, saying, "The individual involved has declined to file a police report."
Rock made a brief reference to the incident Wednesday at a stand-up show in Boston, his first public appearance since the Oscars. He told the audience he was "still processing what happened" and would have more to say at a later date.
Smith apologizes for outburst
Smith met with leadership from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences earlier this week on a Zoom call and apologized, a source close to the situation told CNN.
The meeting lasted for 30 minutes, during which Smith "apologized and they heard him out," the source said, adding that Academy members told Smith "his actions would have consequences."
Smith has maintained a low profile on social media since issuing a lengthy apology on Monday.
"I was out of line and I was wrong," he wrote in part. "I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."
A source earlier told CNN that Academy leadership "firmly asked" Smith's publicist for the actor to leave the ceremony following the on-stage incident, but Smith "refused and that was communicated back to Academy leadership," the person said.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/entertainment/razzies-rescind-bruce-willis-award-after-family-reveals-actor-has-aphasia/article_672b5a7a-c78b-5ea8-87a9-ef0e3dac6723.html
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The Razzies, a tongue-in-cheek award show that hands out honors to the worst cinema of the year, has rescinded its prize for Bruce Willis after the actor's family revealed he is struggling with aphasia, a medical condition that affects his cognitive abilities.
"After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis," a statement from The Razzies said. "If someone's medical condition is a factor in their decision making and/or their performance, we acknowledge that it is not appropriate to give them a Razzie."
On Wednesday, the Willis's family -- including his former wife Demi Moore -- said in a joint statement that the actor would be taking a break from acting due to his medical condition.
"This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support," the statement said in part.
According to the Mayo Clinic, aphasia is "a condition that robs you of the ability to communicate" and can be caused by a stroke, head injury, a brain tumor or a disease.
The Razzies this year "nominated" Willis for eight of his performances this year in a category named for him, "Worst performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie." The group ultimately decided his role in "Cosmic Sin" was the so-called winner.
"The category was never meant to be an on-going part of the Razzies. So it will not be repeated," The Razzies statement added.
On Wednesday, the organization seemed to take a lighter approach to its response, writing on Twitter, "The Razzies are truly sorry for #BruceWillis diagnosed condition. Perhaps this explains why he wanted to go out with a bang in 2021. Our best wishes to Bruce and family."
Likely due to ire, the Razzies later tweeted, "To clarify, we heard about Willis' diagnosis at the same time everyone else did...just this morning."
The Razzies also announced on Thursday that it was rescinding a decades-old nomination for Shelley Duvall, whose performance in "The Shining" earned her a nomination at the time.
Razzie founders John J.B. Wilson and Maureen Murphy had said in an interview with Vulture that they regretted the nomination.
"As we recently mentioned in a Vulture Interview, extenuating circumstances also apply to Shelley Duvall in "The Shining." We have since discovered that Duvall's performance was impacted by Stanley Kubrick's treatment of her throughout the production," Thursday's statement added. "We would like to take this opportunity to rescind that nomination as well."
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A couple of weeks ago my wife and I visited Fort King George, a meticulously reconstructed British fort and the first permanent British settlement in Georgia. Built in 1721 on a strategic bend of the Altamaha River at what is now Darien, the first soldiers to man this garrison were faced with crushing boredom, plagued by insects and attacked by disease. Many of them are buried there.
By 1736 that remote outpost was garrisoned by Scots Highlanders who, on Jan. 2-3, 1737, were visited by John Wesley, at that time a priest in the Church of England and chaplain to the colony of Georgia under James Oglethorpe. Wesley had stopped at Fort King George on one of his trips between Savannah and Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island.
Wesley’s visit was in keeping with his determined character to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth, and he noted in his journal that Fort King George was the first place he had ever prayed “extempore.” This Oxford scholar who cut his teeth on the Book of Common Prayer and probably knew many of the beautiful written prayers by heart, prayed for or with these Highlander soldiers off the cuff, composing his prayer as he spoke.
I write this column not to enter into the fray over which type of prayer is “better.” Many congregations pray printed prayers in weekly worship, either led by a pastor or priest or prayed in unison by the congregation. The Lord’s Prayer as now used is a beautifully composed prayer. These deeply moving prayers, which allow the church to pray corporately, express praises, petitions or confessions a congregation might not offer if left to its own poor vocabulary.
Praying “spontaneously” can be equally meaningful. Many pastors and laypersons pray while led by the Spirit, employing words that flow from deep within the soul. Other pastors may compose or sketch a prayer out in advance. However, caught up in the Spirit or in the spirit of the worship service, these pastors also find themselves, like Wesley, praying “extempore”.
There are many forms of prayer, including the ancient discipline that eschews words completely. Rather than engaging in a pointless debate over which form of prayer is better or more effective, we should pray according to circumstance and spiritual development. No form of prayer is superior.
Wesley’s first extempore prayer illustrates another of Wesley’s life-long tendencies: He was flexible and creative, willing to be led by the Spirit and improvise when necessary or desirable. His field preaching, his use of women in ministry and his willingness to ordain Francis Asbury as bishop come to mind immediately. Getting stuck in old habits, strategies and patterns is to abandon trust in the amazing, explosive work of the Holy Spirit.
I pray (by employing a word processor) that the people of God, guided by the ever-fresh Holy Spirit, will ever be prayerfully flexible and flexibly prayerful.
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As Covid-19 infection rates and restrictions are waning in some places and a variant is surging in others, it's difficult to understand where we are in the pandemic.
But two years ago, the situation was clear: for many people, coronavirus had brought the world to a stop. That's when pediatric surgeon Dr. Ala Stanford sprang into action, bringing Covid-19 testing to Black and Brown communities in Philadelphia that were hard hit by the virus.
In the months that followed, Stanford brought testing and vaccines to more than 75,000 people through her nonprofit Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium. And as she worked to help underresourced communities weather the pandemic, she diagnosed an even greater problem.
"We were seeing folks that hadn't seen a doctor in a decade," said Stanford, who was honored as a Top 10 CNN Hero last year. "We were just literally putting a Band-Aid to a much bigger problem with health inequities and health disparities."
It's well-documented that Black and Brown communities have suffered greater hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 for a host of reasons, including higher risk factors for exposure and a higher risk of severe disease.
But lack of accessible and affordable health care is a key factor that leads to worse health outcomes for people of color. In particular, lack of outpatient care, like annual checkups and doctor's visits, can play a critical role in preventing health issues.
This larger, systemic issue is what Stanford is trying to remedy.
In November, she began seeing patients at the Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity, her new facility in north Philadelphia. This multi-disciplinary clinic offers services ranging from primary care and mental health, diagnostic testing like EKGs and mammograms and, of course, Covid testing and vaccinations.
"We take care of newborns through grandma and grandpa," she said. "And that is the next step ... wanting to not just save lives, but really impact an entire lifetime with people."
Located on the grounds of Deliverance Evangelistic Church, in an area that once housed a day care center, the space underwent a massive renovation. The center now includes exam rooms, consultation areas, a children's play space, even a fish tank. Most importantly, it provides care to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.
"If you have insurance, we run it," Stanford said. "If you don't have insurance, we help you get (it). And if you don't have anything, you're not going to be turned away."
This fall, as the coronavirus seemed to recede into the background, Stanford was excited to switch gears to focus on this broader health mission. But the Omicron variant of the virus changed her plans.
"After Christmas, there were so many people sick, literally wrapped around this building to get Covid tested. The positivity rate was 45%" she said. "So, we had to stop primary care and just focus on testing and vaccination."
Yet, she and her team still figured out a way to provide brief wellness checks with each vaccination.
"You come in for a shot and you see your vital signs are out of whack -- you might say 'Did you know you have high blood pressure?' or 'Did you take your medication today?'" Stanford said.
And in early January, when Stanford realized that Covid rates were rising in children and young people, she added another approach.
"In a public health crisis, you go to the people. And the kids are primarily in school, so that's what I pushed for," she said.
Since then, Stanford's team has worked with FEMA to hold nearly 20 vaccination clinics at schools in and around Philadelphia. She says in some of them, they have doubled the vaccination rates among students. Her group also still offers vaccinations and testing throughout the community at police departments and mass transit SEPTA stations.
Two years later, Stanford's surgical practice is still on hold. While she admits to missing the operating room at times, she knows that the work she is doing now is making a difference on a much larger scale.
"What we've done has touched over 100,000 lives. And that refuels me," she said. "The need here right now is so great. I feel that this is where I'm supposed to be."
Want to get involved? Check out the Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium website and see how to help.
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It takes just a tiny virus-laden droplet -- about the width of a human blood cell -- to infect someone with Covid-19.
That's just one of the findings from research that deliberately infected healthy volunteers with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The findings were published Thursday in the journal Nature Medicine.
Challenge studies can be controversial because they involve intentionally giving someone a virus or other pathogen in order to study its effects on the human body. Even with safeguards in place, there's an element of risk, particularly when studying a new virus.
But they are also hugely valuable for understanding the course of an infection.
"Really, there's no other type of study where you can do that, because normally, patients only come to your attention if they have developed symptoms, and so you miss all of those preceding days when the infection is brewing," said lead study author Dr. Christopher Chiu, an infectious disease physician and immunologist at Imperial College London.
Volunteers were carefully screened
The study began in March 2021. The 36 volunteers were between the ages of 18 and 30. They were allowed to participate only if they didn't have any risk factors for severe Covid-19, such as being overweight, having reduced kidney or liver function, or having any heart, lung or blood problems. They also signed an extensive informed consent form to participate.
To further minimize the risks, researchers conducted the study in phases. The first 10 infected volunteers got the antiviral drug remdesivir to reduce their chances of progressing to severe disease. Researchers also had monoclonal antibodies at the ready in case anyone took a turn for the worse. Ultimately, the remdesivir proved unnecessary, and researchers never had to give anyone antibodies.
The volunteers got a tiny drop of fluid containing the originally detected strain of the virus through a long, thin tube inserted into their nose.
They were medically monitored 24 hours a day and stayed for two weeks in rooms at London's Royal Free Hospital that had special air flow to keep the virus from escaping.
Half were infected
A total of 18 participants became infected, two of whom never developed symptoms. Among the people who got sick, their illnesses were mild. They had stuffy noses, congestion, sneezing and sore throats.
Most of the study participants who caught Covid-19 -- 83% -- lost their sense of smell, at least to a degree. Nine couldn't smell at all.
This now-well-known symptom got better for most people, but six months after the study ended, there's one person whose sense of smell isn't back to normal but is improving.
That's a concern because another recent study found that this loss of smell was tied to changes in the brain.
Chiu says the researchers gave the participants cognitive tests to check their short-term memory and reaction time. They're still looking at that data, but he thinks those tests "will really be informative."
None of the study volunteers developed lung involvement in their infections. Chiu thinks this is because they were young and healthy and inoculated with tiny amounts of virus.
Beyond the loss of smell, no other symptoms persisted.
A closer look at infection as it moves through the body
Under these carefully controlled conditions, researchers were able to learn a lot about the virus and how it moves through the body:
- Tiny amounts of virus, about 10 microns -- the amount in a single droplet someone sneezes or coughs -- can make someone sick.
- Covid-19 has a very short incubation period. It takes about two days after infection for a person to start shedding virus.
- People shed high amounts of virus before they show symptoms (confirming something epidemiologists had figured out).
- On average, the young, healthy study volunteers shed virus for 6½ days, but some shed virus for 12 days.
- Infected people can shed high levels of virus without any symptoms.
- About 40 hours after the virus was introduced, it could be detected in the back of the throat.
- It took about 58 hours for virus to show up on swabs from the nose, where it eventually grew to much higher levels.
- Lateral flow tests, the rapid at-home kind, work really well for detecting when a person is contagious. The study found that these kinds of tests could diagnose infection before 70% to 80% of viable virus had been generated.
Chiu says his study emphasizes a lot of what we already know about Covid-19 infections, not least of which is why it's so important to cover both your mouth and nose when sick to help protect others.
More challenge studies planned
This challenge study was so successful that Chiu plans to do it again, this time with vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant to study their immune response.
He says his team also plans to continue studying the people who didn't get sick.
"That's what's really interesting," he said. About half of the study participants never got sick and never developed antibodies, despite getting exactly the same dose of the virus.
Everyone was screened for antibodies to closely related viruses, like the original SARS virus. So it wasn't cross-protection that kept them safe; it was something else.
"There are lots of other things that help protect us," Chiu said. "There are barriers in the nose. There are different kinds of proteins and things which are very ancient, primordial, protective systems, and they are likely to have been contributing to them not being infected, and we're really interested in trying to understand what those are."
Understanding what other factors may be at play could help us provide more generalized protection to people in case of a future pandemic.
Dr. Kathryn Edwards, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University who wrote an editorial published alongside the study, said the research offers important information about infection and contagion with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Blood and tissue samples collected for the study will continue to be analyzed for years to come, she said. "I think those are all in the freezer, so to speak, and are being dissected. So I think that should be very powerful."
In the end, she thinks the study has put many of the fears about human challenge studies to rest and paved the way for others.
"We won't be doing challenge studies in babies, and we won't be doing it in, you know, 75-year-old people with chronic lung disease," she said. But in young, healthy people, "I think these are studies that will be helpful."
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squawkbox@albanyherald.com
Is anyone surprised to learn that Lee County first responders received the thousand dollars promised by the governor back in December? While those in Albany and Dougherty county are still waiting because no one is smart enough to fill out the paperwork correctly. Says a lot about those employed by the county.
There is no tough choice on the upcoming primary elections in May, only to vote against the Trump candidates.
Jaywalkers in full black in the dark of night, midnight bicyclers in Gillionville’ center lane, Westover and ASU’ers from Flash to McDonald’s avoiding the crosswalk, bucketed kids darting for dollars, cellphoners walking narrow neighborhood streets three abreast. These are not victims of pedestrian accidents, they are the cause of them.
Oooooo ... White Sands Missile Range ... they gotta’ change that name for sure.
Boy, I feel so much safer now that Biden’s lynching bill has been passed. Gosh, I see folks hanging from trees almost every day. Untold millions and much time spent on this feel-good bill. Guess there were not any laws for murder before.
Seems Terrell County mail persons aren’t getting mail in the right boxes either. I got someone else’s mail today, and so did my neighbor.
Check out the voting records of your ill-gotten Sens. Ossoff and Warnock. They both voted yes for all liberal Judges and the liberal agenda.
Trump’s pick to run the postal service certainly has screwed things up royally. Even down to the local level, the delivery people only bring mail when it suits them, and if they put mail in wrong boxes, oh, well, let the saps figure it out. That whole service should be blown up and started over.
Here we go again with the Rails to Trails feel-good project. Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on blight, crime and roads? Those are the things that will improve the quality of life for all of us. Let’s fix those things before we spend time and money on Rails to Trails.
Rails to Trails. A grant too far?
Don’t let your eagerness to vote for or against Trump candidates help a money-hungry false prophet get his hands on the county treasury.
Savannah native Justice Clarence Thomas has 30 years of exemplary constitutional law service to this country protecting both individual and states’ rights. You all never asked Bill Clinton to resign while Hillary actually broke federal and state laws year after year. Typical hypocrisy from another liberal loser. The Patriot
You SMRs aren’t old enough remember the Watergate scandal. All of the Nixon aides lied about the break-in Nixon had planned and ended up going to jail. All of the former Trump aides are headed to jail if they don’t tell the truth to the Jan. 6 committee. Remember, tell the truth.
I’ll never understand these Hollyweird people. They watch a guy go on stage, viciously slap the host and cuss him out, and then give the slapper a standing ovation and an award. The Academy Award organizers say security told the slapper to leave but he refused to do so. Apparently they didn’t drag him out for fear they would be slapped.
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ALBANY — Is the licensing of the first dollar store in the city for package alcohol sales a sign of an avalanche of future beer outlets, or is it just a matter of a business trying to boost its bottom line?
Those are the lines being drawn on the recent approval of beer and wine sales at a northwest Albany Dollar General store.
The Albany City Commission approved the license for the 2408 Dawson Road location in a 5-2 vote, with Commissioners Jon Howard and Demetrius Young casting votes opposing the license.
Applications for package sales have been contentious over the past two years, but commissioners have approved the bulk of them. Howard and Young have contested that a proliferation of establishments that sell alcohol, particularly in distressed neighborhoods, leads to more crime in the city.
For Ward II Commissioner Jalen Johnson, the decision on the Dollar General was not difficult. What he wants the public to know is that in many instances, applications are killed during review because the proposed location does not meet requirements such as distance from a school or house of worship or because of a high volume of complaints or calls for police service at a particular location.
“A lot of alcohol licenses go through staff, and they get declined before they even come to our level,” he said.
In the latest case, he said, there was no justification for the commission to decline the request, and businesses have the right to make a profit.
“They met all the requirements and checked all the boxes,” he said. “They met the requirements to do business and contribute to the tax base. Who are we to discriminate against a business because of their name?”
For Howard, having dollar stores join the ranks of establishments that sell alcohol is a harbinger of more to come.
“It’s going to open up the floodgates,” the commissioner said, noting that there are 26 dollar stores operating in the city. “I am pro-business, but at the same time I am for the aesthetics and order of the neighborhoods.
“At the rate we are going, we will have 500 (alcohol establishments) in the next 10 years; the probability is we could have 500.”
With the approval last week, Howard said he expects other dollar stores to follow suit and said there are convenience store projects under way that will add to the number of establishments doing package sales.
Howard and Young have proposed a moratorium on approving new applications, but they were the only two on the commission who voted for a moratorium during a meeting last year.
As of December 2021, there were about 207 alcohol establishments in the city, including restaurants, package stores and other outlets.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/news/biden-announces-historic-oil-reserve-release-and-presses-oil-companies-to-do-their-part-to/article_d80106f0-ff43-5830-b6c5-cf916c904cc4.html
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President Joe Biden on Thursday announced an unprecedented release of oil from US reserves and several steps his administration is taking to punish oil companies for not increasing production from unused leases on federal land.
The steps are an attempt to reduce gas prices while also putting an onus on oil companies to increase supply. The dramatic step, which Biden announced from the White House, confronts what has become a looming political problem months ahead of the midterm elections.
"Our prices are rising because of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's actions. There isn't enough supply. And the bottom line is if we want lower gas prices we need to have more oil supply right now," Biden said.
The President added: "Your family budgets to fill a tank -- none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war."
The release would amount to 180 million barrels of oil. The President said it would act as a "wartime bridge" as US and global oil production ramps back up after the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was made in coordination with US allies overseas, including in Europe, though officials declined to say whether other countries were also releasing barrels from their reserves.
"Together, our combined efforts will supply well over a million barrels a day. Nations (are) coming together to deny Putin the ability to weaponize his energy resources against American families and families and democracies around the world," Biden said.
The US will restock barrels in the reserve when oil prices are lower, the President said, which could help further incentivize production going forward.
Still, officials declined to say how quickly, or by how much, gas prices might come down as a result of the release. And they said they to address not focused on "immediate short-term price movements" in the oil market. Instead, they said their goal was addressing a lack of supply due to Russian oil coming off the market, adding that it would translate into providing relief for American consumers.
The President warned oil companies against exploiting the situation to increase profits.
"No American company should take advantage of a pandemic or Vladimir Putin's actions to enrich themselves at the expense of American families. Investing those profits in production and innovation, that's what they should do. Invest in your customers," Biden said.
The President said the second part of his plan to address the rising prices is to create American energy independence in the long term.
"Ultimately, we and the whole world need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels altogether. We need to choose long-term security over energy and climate vulnerability," Biden said.
Biden earlier in the month announced a coordinated release of oil from the reserves in conjunction with other nations. He also released around 50 million barrels in November, which he said at the time was the largest release from the reserve in US history.
Neither move had a significant effect on gas prices, which have continued to rise as global limits on Russian energy exports have caused prices to spike.
The United States consumes around 20 million barrels of oil per day, with global consumption hovering around 100 million barrels. Biden's planned releases would put more oil on the global market, potentially bringing down costs.
The President is also calling on Congress to "make companies pay fees on wells from their leases that they haven't used in years and on acres of public lands that they are hoarding without producing," one official said. For months, the Biden administration has publicly pushed back on the idea that regulations are holding oil producers back from more domestic production, pointing to millions of acres worth of land with approved permits for oil and gas production.
"Companies that are producing from their leased acres and existing wells will not face higher fees," a fact sheet released by the White House reads, "but companies that continue to sit on non-producing acres will have to choose whether to start producing or pay a fee for each idled well and unused acre."
Biden also will issue a directive to invoke the Defense Production Act to spur domestic production of critical minerals needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles and long-term energy storage.
The move from the White House adds critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt and manganese to the list of items covered by the 1950 Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law allowing the President to use emergency authority to make large orders of a certain type of product or expand productive capacity and supply. It will allow the administration to support the production and processing of these critical minerals needed for a clean energy transition.
The Department of Defense will implement this authority, according to the White House, and will do so in consultation with tribal communities and using strong environmental, labor, and community standards.
Biden tackles a major political problem
Tapping the reserve -- the stockpile of 600 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas -- generally has only a limited effect on gas prices because of how much oil can be released at a time, but would act as a political sign that Biden is continuing to confront the problem.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US price of regular gasoline spiked, hitting a record high of $4.33 a gallon earlier in March.
Yet the current cost increases began months ago, as demand for oil increased while the coronavirus pandemic waned. The White House has voiced frustration that oil companies have not returned their production to levels from before the pandemic, focusing instead on paying dividends for investors.
There has been an internal debate among administration officials at how harshly to go after oil and gas companies for not ramping up production. Biden has chided them in previous remarks, but some officials believe a full-throated campaign against the firms could backfire.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has provided Biden another foil. In remarks earlier this month, Biden sought to put the onus for the rising prices on the Russian President: "Make no mistake: The current spike in gas prices is largely the fault of Vladimir Putin." He has repeated the phrase "Putin's price hike" since then.
Governors across the US have been attempting to curb gas prices at the state level.
Last week, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled out a $9 billion proposal to hand out $400 debit cards to drivers in the state to help soften the impact of the highest gas prices in the country. In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp -- who is facing one of the toughest reelection races in the country -- signed a bill that will give $250 to $500 tax refunds to Georgians -- a move several of his rivals blasted as election-year politicking.
And as Democratic Gov. Janet Mills faces a competitive reelection campaign in Maine, she has proposed some of the most generous relief to qualified taxpayers in her state -- in the form of $850 checks -- to cushion the blow of inflation and gas prices.
This story has been updated with background information.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve last year. It was 50 million barrels.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/news/business/rent-relief-helped-prevent-more-than-one-million-evictions-in-2021/article_abebb264-299f-5ae4-8ac3-757d318b8d12.html
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The federal government’s emergency rental assistance program helped prevent more than one million evictions last year.
An estimated 1.36 million renters avoided an eviction filing in 2021 as a result of the government’s unprecedented $46.5 billion rent relief program and other protections, according to a recent analysis by Princeton University’s Eviction Lab published earlier this month.
Treasury officials reported Wednesday that $30 billion in emergency rent relief was spent or obligated by the end of February. Despite a slow and confusing initial roll out of the program last spring, more than 4.7 million payments were made to households since January 2021.
Treasury expects the remainder of the funds to be exhausted by the middle of this year.
Impact of the assistance
A national eviction ban was put in place in September 2020. While it did not stop all evictions, it significantly slowed the tide of eviction filings until the emergency aid could reach struggling renters and their landlords, White House and Department of Treasury officials said.
“We knew from the start that we faced a race with time to get the emergency rental assistance flowing to a significant degree by the time the national eviction moratorium was lifted,” said Gene Sperling, the White House American Rescue Plan coordinator. “We largely won that race.”
In the six states and 31 cities tracked by the Eviction Lab researchers, eviction filings fell sharply at the onset of the pandemic, but then increased in the later months of 2020 even with the ban in place. Given the increased number of renters experiencing economic hardship as the pandemic continued into 2021, experts worried about a ”tsunami” of evictions and anticipated the number of filings to skyrocket above levels seen in 2019.
But the opposite happened. In a typical year, roughly 865,000 eviction cases were filed in the areas the Eviction Lab tracks. In 2021, roughly half as many evictions were filed, with 434,304 cases.
Evictions fell in all but one of the 31 cities tracked in 2021. The outlier was Las Vegas, where jobs in tourism evaporated, adversely impacting the large number of renters in the city’s service sector, according to the report. New York City had the biggest reduction in eviction filings from typical levels, with the report estimating nearly 184,000 eviction cases were avoided in New York City.
The emergency rental assistance was found to have a strong impact on the low-income and majority-Black neighborhoods that see a disproportionate share of eviction cases. Those areas experienced the largest absolute reduction in eviction filings last year, the Eviction Lab report found.
The report found that in 2021 the most disadvantaged neighborhoods experienced the biggest gains in terms of rental housing stability. But it also found that, among the eviction cases filed, women of color were disproportionately affected.
More than 80% of emergency rental assistance reached the lowest income households, according to the Treasury, with about 40% of all applicants who received assistance self-identifying as Black, and about 20% self-identifying as Latino.
Moving remaining money
The federal emergency rent relief was approved in two rounds of funding. The first, which included $25 billion under the Consolidated Appropriations Act at the end of 2020, and $21.55 billion under the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021.
Some state and local governments have exhausted allotted funds while others have not distributed everything they have received. As a result, Treasury has been reallocating money to ensure it gets to renters most in need.
Of the $25 billion in the first batch of money, Treasury has already moved $2 billion in underused funds. Beginning in April, funds from the second batch will be reallocated.
This process has “allowed dollars to flow to places with high need,” said Noel Poyo, Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Economic Development. “Generally reallocated funds went to higher need areas with more diverse communities.”
He said he expects that trend to continue with the available funds from the second batch of money.
But it is a challenging balance to strike, Poyo said, between getting dollars to places where they are running out of funds and making sure that money is still available in places where assistance may have gotten started more slowly and people remain in need.
Treasury is encouraging state and local governments to use the additional funding to assist more renters and make continued investments in housing stability.
“In just one year, the Emergency Rental Assistance program built a national infrastructure for eviction prevention that never existed before and has helped keep eviction rates well below historic averages throughout the pandemic,” said Poyo.
He also suggested state and local governments build on the network for support they have established and provide services like housing counselors, “that will help families avoid economic scarring long after Covid-19 is in the rearview mirror,” he said.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/news/chicago-school-district-investigating-after-teacher-hung-stuffed-black-doll-on-a-string-from-a/article_eb748796-e299-5177-b634-5946658f5665.html
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An investigation is underway at Chicago Public Schools after a teacher hung a small stuffed Black football player doll on a string from a projector screen in their classroom, according to a letter sent to parents by the school's principal and obtained by CNN.
The March 29 letter from Joyce D. Kenner, principal of Whitney Young Magnet High School, says the teacher "indicated" he had come across the doll in his room and "wanted the students to see if someone would claim it." The letter went on to say that "a colleague approached the teacher about the doll and the conversation between the two became contentious.
"Our administrative team investigated the incident and spoke with the teachers," Kenner's letter said. "An official incident report has been created and filed with CPS."
"Chicago Public Schools (CPS) strives to foster safe and secure learning environments for our students, families, and colleagues. Our schools and the District investigate and address all complaints and allegations of wrongdoing in accordance with District policies and procedures," CPS said in a statement to CNN.
The district said the teacher who hung the doll is suspended while the investigation is ongoing. CPS has not identified the teacher.
According to Kenner's letter, school administrators also met with a group of students Tuesday morning to discuss the incident.
"We gave students an opportunity to voice any concerns and recommendations they had. We plan to follow the disciplinary protocol established by Chicago Public Schools," the letter said.
Kimberley Henderson, whose daughter is a sophomore and one of three Black students in the teacher's US history class at Whitney Young, spoke to CNN.
"When I saw the picture, that's when I went over the edge. That was unbelievable to me," Henderson said, referencing an image of the stuffed doll circulating on the internet. "I don't believe that he should be in front of any children, but I want to make sure that he's not in front of mine."
The Chicago Teachers Union said in a statement about the incident that "practices that mitigate the harm of racial biases must be ongoing, and consistent" in the city's schools.
"Mayor (Lori) Lightfoot has a responsibility to provide a safe space for every member of our school communities, which is especially important in a district that serves a student population that is 90 percent Black and Brown children," the statement read. "Any definition of 'safety' must include creating and reinforcing an environment of equity and inclusion for all students, staff and faculty of color."
CNN reached out to the mayor's office Thursday for response to the union statement.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/news/parents-reach-250-000-settlement-with-texas-city-after-son-3-dies-after-contracting-brain/article_adff5d73-3c23-5f0d-9a0b-774cf026ec5e.html
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The parents of a 3-year-old boy who died last year after a contracting a rare brain-eating amoeba at a splash pad in Arlington, Texas, have reached a $250,000 settlement with the city.
Bakari Williams died last September after spending five days in the hospital with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare and often fatal infection caused by an amoeba called Naegleria fowleri, according to previous reporting from CNN and affiliate KTVT.
Williams contracted the infection from a splash pad that officials later determined was improperly tested and maintained.
At a news conference, attorneys for Williams' parents said the child's death was preventable.
Family attorney Brian Hargrove said the $250,000 is the maximum economic recovery allowed against a city under the Texas Tort Claims Act, according to KTVT.
Arlington, in a statement, said the settlement will include a "significant investment in the installation of health and safety equipment and other improvements for our public pools and splash pads."
The city will distribute a new policy manual, the Bakari Williams Protocol, that will guide staff on water treatment, according to Hargrove and the city. "We plan to share this information with other agencies in the aquatics industry so they can learn from our hard lessons," the city said.
New technology will automatically shut off any splash pads where water readings are not in the acceptable ranges and the addition of QR codes will allow visitors to see real-time information about water quality, the statement, obtained by KTVT, said.
"We want you to know that Bakari was a sweet, beautiful and innocent child who did not deserve to die in the manner that he did. For us, this case has been about public awareness," Williams' mother, Kayla Mitchell, said at the news conference, according to the affiliate.
"We want to make certain that nothing like this ever happens again. We want to make certain that what happened to our son, what happened to our family, does not happen to anybody else," said Mitchell.
Naegleria fowleri is commonly found in soil and in fresh warm water such as lakes, rivers and hot springs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It can also be found in poorly maintained or unchlorinated pools.
The organism infects people when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose, according to the CDC. The Naegleria fowleri amoeba then travels up the nose to the brain, where it destroys the brain tissue, the CDC says.
Investigation into the source of infection
City and Tarrant County officials were notified by the hospital September 5 of the child's condition, according to a joint news release issued that month. The county health department started an investigation and determined two possible sources for the exposure to the amoeba -- the family's home in Tarrant County and the Don Misenhimer Park splash pad in Arlington.
The city immediately closed that splash pad, the news release says, and out of an abundance of caution closed the other three public splash pads for the remainder of the year.
On September 24, the CDC, according to the news release, determined the child was likely exposed to the organism at the splash pad after tests confirmed the presence of active Naegleria fowleri amoeba in water samples from the park.
"It breaks my heart. I'm a father of four, a grandfather of five kids from 2 to 7 years old. I cannot imagine having to bury a child or a grandchild like that," Arlington Mayor Jim Ross told KTVT at the time
Low chlorine levels likely a factor
The city of Arlington conducted an investigation into the splash pad's maintenance, equipment and water testing procedures. Officials determined the water quality testing data needed improvement.
"We have identified gaps in our daily inspection program," Deputy City Manager Lemuel Randolph said in the 2021 news release. "Those gaps resulted in us not meeting our maintenance standards at our splash pads. All of the splash pads will remain closed until we have assurance that our systems are operating as they should, and we have confirmed a maintenance protocol consistent with city, county and state standards."
Records from two of the splash pads, including the one at Don Misenhimer Park, showed employees did not consistently record, or in some cases did not conduct, water quality testing that is required before the facilities open each day, according to the news release. The testing includes checking for chlorine, which is used as a disinfectant.
A review of the logs determined that water chlorination readings were not documented two of the three days that the child visited the park in late August and early September, the news release said.
"Documents show that chlorination levels two days before the child's last visit were within acceptable ranges," reads the release. "However, the next documented reading, which occurred the day after the child visited, shows that the chlorination level had fallen below the minimum requirement and that additional chlorine was added to the water system."
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https://www.albanyherald.com/news/senators-push-to-extend-pandemic-school-lunch-waivers/article_061fa927-9d96-51b0-aa4d-78f06658c721.html
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A bipartisan group of senators is trying to extend pandemic school meal waivers that gave districts extra federal funds and flexibilities to provide free food to more kids and to cope with supply chain and labor issues.
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, introduced a bill on Thursday that would give the US Department of Agriculture the authority to extend the waivers through September 2023, instead of having them expire June 30, 2022.
The legislation -- which has the other 49 Senate Democrats as co-sponsors, as well as Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine -- would also require schools to craft plans to transition back to normal meal operations.
"All the issues that affect other parts of the economy are affecting our school programs," Stabenow told CNN, referencing the spike in food prices, supply chain breakdowns and labor shortages. "We gave them extra financial support to be able to juggle these increased costs. And those costs have not gone away."
Congress did not include an extension of the waivers in the full-year spending bill that lawmakers approved earlier this month. As a result, districts are set to see a 40% reduction in meal reimbursements from the USDA and will have to meet strict federal nutrition and serving requirements after this school year.
The latest extension effort, however, faces many hurdles. It needs at least 10 GOP votes to pass the chamber. Stabenow, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, hopes to include the provision in the additional Covid-19 funding package the Biden administration is requesting from Congress.
Asked about the extension during the spending bill negotiations earlier in March, a GOP leadership aide said the waivers were designated as "temporary" Covid-19 measures and that the Biden administration did not include the extension in its Covid funding request. Also, many of the waivers are designed to assist when schools are forced to close, which is no longer a focus.
Plus, the aide said, the estimated $11 billion cost of extending the waivers for another school year could be covered using unspent funds in the Covid-19 relief package the Democrats passed last March.
Helping schools cope with Covid-19
Congress gave the USDA the authority to boost school meal reimbursement rates and to waive certain requirements in a coronavirus relief package approved in March 2020 and then again in a federal spending measure that fall. School districts were scrambling to provide millions of children with the meals they would have received had schools not shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The USDA is using the authority to help schools cope with the higher cost of providing meals during the pandemic and with the ensuing supply chain chaos and labor shortages. It is reimbursing districts at a summer rate of $4.56 per meal, on average, as opposed to the typical $2.91 per meal for the school year. It is also allowing schools to provide free meals to all students, instead of requiring them to verify families' incomes.
Around 30 million students are now receiving free meals, according to the USDA, up from about 20 million children who qualified based on their household income prior to the pandemic.
Also, the agency is able to provide districts with more flexibility to handle pandemic outbreaks -- such as letting students eat in their classrooms or providing grab-and-go meals for children who must quarantine at home.
The USDA can also waive penalties for school districts that can't meet nutrition requirements -- including those governing whole grains, sodium and vegetables -- because of supply chain problems.
Some 92% of school meal programs are experiencing challenges due to supply chain disruptions, according to a USDA survey released in early March. Products are not available, orders are arriving with missing or substituted items, and shortages of cooks, food prep personnel, drivers and maintenance staff continue. This is forcing schools to pay more for food and workers.
The waivers have also had a big impact on providing children with meals over the summer, which typically has much lower participation than in-school meals. More communities can offer free food to all children at summer programs, thanks to the waivers. Parents can pick up multiple meals at a time and can take them home to their kids.
Without the waivers, only communities where at least 50% of children are eligible for free meals can offer food over the summer. The meals must be distributed at an approved location and eaten on site.
Last July, an average of nearly 7.6 million children received a meal each day through the summer program, compared with 3.7 million kids in July 2019, according to the USDA.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/news/washington-state-creates-nations-first-alert-system-for-missing-indigenous-people/article_ded593ba-4d1c-523d-ae66-0ad64c1ffa16.html
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Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington state signed a bill Thursday that creates the nation's first alert system for missing Indigenous people.
The bill, which was passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate, highlights that "indigenous people experience disproportionate rates of violence in Washington state," and calls for the creation of an advisory system, like the AMBER Alert system.
"Compared to the rest of the state's population, indigenous women comprise a disproportionate number of missing people," Inslee said during a signing ceremony. "In cases where an individual has died, this bill will help families recover the remains of their loved ones while also honoring and respecting indigenous cultural practices. For women who are found, this bill will provide treatment so that they can start to recover from the trauma of their experience."
Inslee signed the bill, along with several other tribal-related bills, at the Tulalip Resort Casino.
Democratic Rep. Debra Lekanoff, a sponsor of the bill, spoke during the ceremony and said missing and murdered indigenous women and people "is not just an Indian issue, it's not just an Indian responsibility. Our sisters, our aunties, our grandmothers are going missing every day."
The bill "removes the hand so we can hear the unheard screams, it removes the hand from the Washington State Patrol. It brings together all of our governing bodies to collaborate, to take care (of) those who have been taken, those who've been lost, and those yet to come," Lekanoff said.
For years, families and activists have demanded that authorities direct more attention and resources to cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women, arguing their cases are often overlooked or dismissed.
Federal and state officials have recently publicly acknowledged that there is a crisis of violence against Native Americans, and have launched efforts to address it, but advocates say their response is not enough.
Whether your cup of tea is a craft beer from a local brewery, classic cars and trucks or a train excursion, there are options on things to do this weekend in the area. Local students also will be competing in a robotics tournament to qualify for state championships next weekend. Click for more.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/opinion/carden-summers-calm-in-senate-expected-to-disappear-in-final-days-of-session/article_fa51229e-afbe-11ec-bac1-c73699b2d3d8.html
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This week, the Senate dedicated its time to hearing bills from the House side that representatives have deemed most important to consider this year, as these pieces of legislation all passed through the House side before Crossover Day.
Similarly, I am excited about the bills that have made it through the Senate and are now being carefully considered for voting by the House. The session is flying by with just over a week left until sine die, which will officially mark the end of our session on April 4. I anticipate that the Senate will hear even more bills and resolutions on this day than the 45-plus we heard on Crossover Day, and while this week has remained relatively calm and orderly with House bills considered in various committees, I feel the excitement piling up for the long hours that are to come in the next few days before our work is officially done.
On Tuesday, a House Bill — “Giving the Gift of Life Act” — also passed the Senate. Sometimes, a bill will pass in one chamber and the other will find ways to make changes or improvements. The result of such collaboration, House Bill 275, would encourage others to help save a life through organ donation by requiring that both full- and part-time employees are not denied life insurance because they have decided to donate and consequently need to miss work due to recovery time. It would also increase the existing income tax deduction from $10,000 to $25,000 for living donors and provide each employer giving paid leave to a donating employee with a maximum tax credit of $54,000.
House Bill 385 also passed through the Senate this week as a bill that would allow retired teachers to return to teaching in high-need areas without losing their retirement benefits. At a time where our state is facing a shortage of qualified teachers, this bill would encourage their service and devotion to our children while enabling them to receive benefits.
On Friday, we passed Senate Resolution 542 to recognize the first Tuesday of every March as Women Veteran’s Day, which I am thrilled about as both our service men and women deserve the utmost respect and most equal levels of recognition for their service to our state and nation. We shortly thereafter passed House Bill 1064, which would help military service members under 62 years of age by allowing them to exempt up to $17,500 of income taxes on qualified retirement income funds. With bordering states having this same tax incentive, this bill would encourage military service members to stay in Georgia.
To end the week, we passed the General Budget for the 2023 Fiscal Year through House Bill 911, which will account for more than $30 billion to fund Georgia’s state agencies. Included in this budget is a $5,000 pay raise for state employees and a $2,000 teacher pay raise. Investments in mental health, behavioral health, and maternity leave pay (with $83.4 million going toward funding a full year of postpartum coverage), reflect the hard work of a dedicated team of staff and legislators to create the most fiscally satisfying and responsible budget.
Other priorities include funds for a pilot program for high school foster children among provisions such as $3 million for foster care clothing allowance, $5 million in equipment and grants for nursing programs, and $1.2 million to apprenticeship programs designed to put students to work in high-demand fields.
I look forward to continuing to keep you updated in these last few days we convene as a Senate body, and I thank you for trusting me to represent District 13. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office.
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https://www.albanyherald.com/opinion/scott-ludwig-paint-it-black/article_31de0bc6-b0ed-11ec-bf37-5fb52f46859a.html
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More than 50 years ago, when I heard the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” for the first time, it was the first song I wanted to listen to every day for the rest of my life.
I’ve always been a huge fan of classic rock. So today, I’ve modified my thoughts slightly. Now, I’d prefer listening to the Black Jacket Symphony — ideally live and in concert — every day for the rest of my life.
In 2009, J. Willoughby, a huge Beatles fan — the “J” is for John but nobody calls him that — recognized that the Fab Four’s Abbey Road album was turning 40. He knew that there were plenty of tribute bands around playing the music of the Beatles and some of his other favorite bands, but none of them was playing “like they were supposed to.”
That left the door wide open for what happened next. Since J. enjoyed playing his guitar wearing a black jacket, he thought, “Why not put together an entire ensemble of musicians wearing black jackets performing classic rock albums exactly as they sound on the album?”
The Black Jacket Symphony was born.
Having spent 10 years living in Nashville, J. knew a lot of people in the music business. And once BJS had a little momentum going, people were interested in seeing what they were doing. Today, with a roster that varies from 55 to 75 musicians — depending on what concerts are on their immediate horizon — the band has been on the road for more than a decade. Home base for the Black Jacket Symphony is Birmingham, Ala., although the band members come from different parts of the country.
J. says from that point on, it was a matter of “I know a guy who can play the music” of one band or another, and BJS grew from there.
Thirteen years later, BJS have performed more than 40 different classic rock albums to absolute perfection, including the Beatles’ “Abbey Road,” Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” and Queen’s “A Night at the Opera.” I’ve attended several BJS concerts and will be the first to admit: If you listen to their music with your eyes closed, you would swear you’re listening to the original album.
How can their music be so precise? “It’s difficult,” J. says. “It takes lot of what we call forensic research — and lots of homework” (practice and rehearsal). The musicians thrive on the challenge, and the fact that they love to “out-geek” each other contributes to making their final product what it is: absolutely flawless. J. adds, “All of the albums have challenges. The Rolling Stones should be easy (to perform), but it’s really hard to be ‘specifically sloppy.’ The music of the Beatles is deceptively challenging. Preparing for ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ took the longest, because for that we had to coordinate with an entire orchestra. The rehearsals are long and the travel is hard, but the two or three hours on stage more than make up for it.”
J.’s earliest influences were Paul McCartney and Wings (the “Wings over America” tour) and Elton John (“Yellow Brick Road” tour). Jason Rogoff — BJS’s producer, director, CEO, and “potentate” — says that J. possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of classic rock, a knowledge that keeps the fire burning in the other musicians. While riding in the touring bus, they play Beatles trivia and answer questions about rock and roll. Jason says everyone is so energetic, enthusiastic, and into what they’re doing.
As for who picks which albums to perform, “J. and Jason arm wrestle.” All kidding aside, their goal appears to be to eventually perform all of their albums in the cities they regularly tour. They receive the most support in Huntsville, Ala., Knoxville, Tenn., and Birmingham — although, tongue-in-cheek, J. says he always gets the best reception at his house. They hope to add Macon to that list very soon. Audiences appear to be particularly receptive to “A Night at the Opera” and the Eagles’ “Hotel California.” However, Jason says that regardless of what music they perform, he always leaves a concert with a great appreciation for the album.
A couple of their favorite venues are the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville (“beautiful”) and the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga, Tenn. J. Says they love the nice, older venues; Macon’s Grand Opera House certainly falls into that category.
Learning and mastering other albums are always on the horizon. Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell,” Rush’s “Moving Pictures,” and ELO’s “Out of the Blue,” to name a few. So many classic albums, and so little time. A little cliché, maybe, but absolutely true.
There are many testimonials to the talent and success of BJS, including:
♦ Losing one of their band members to Aerosmith. While BJS haven’t performed any of Aerosmith’s albums to date, they just might — “when we get our musician back.”
♦ Losing several production workers to very large bands that sell out stadiums — “it gives us a great feeling when our people graduate to bigger things.”
♦ They have a friend in Pearl Jam who admits he “loves what we do.” Jason sent him a link to a BJS performance of Pearl Jam’s “Ten” album, and when the members of Pearl Jam listened, the guy in the front seat of their tour bus heard it and “wondered which Pearl Jam concert that was.”
Jason says that the ages of their audience members vary, all the way from teenagers to baby boomers. As for the teens, parents tell their children that being at a BJS concert “allows them to see and hear something they never thought possible.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
On April 14, the Black Jacket Symphony will perform “Synchronicity” by the Police in its entirety at the Macon Grand Opera House. Then, after a brief intermission, they will return to perform the greatest hits of many of the artists in their extensive repertoire — for the very first time. The show will be a celebration of “being back out there” after the better part of two (COVID) years, and will be their longest performance ever — using the most musicians in the band’s’ history.
Take it from a huge fan of classic rock, and a huge fan of the Black Jacket Symphony: You don’t want to miss it.
Look for me there. I’ll be sitting in the fourth row.
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TALLAHASSEE, Florida (WFOR) — Florida is taking Walgreens to court in an effort to hold it accountable for what it claims was the company’s role in the state’s opioid crisis.
So far the state has recovered more than $3 billion from other pharmaceutical companies in its opioid litigation, but Walgreens was not one of the companies.
“It’s time for Walgreens to face accountability for their part in fueling the opioid crisis, and my team is prepared to vigorously try our strong case against them,” said state Attorney General Ashley Moody.
Jury selection for the trial in New Port Richey is set for April 5th, opening statements are likely to occur on or about April 11.
In court filings, the state highlighted what it said was concerning evidence surrounding Walgreens’s dispensing and distribution of opioids in Florida.
According to the filings, “a Walgreens drug distribution center sold 2.2 million tablets to a single Walgreens pharmacy in tiny Hudson, a roughly six-month supply for each of its 12,000 residents… In some cases, Walgreens increased orders by as much as 600% in the space of just two years, including, for example, supplying a town of 3,000 with 285,800 orders of oxycodone in a one-month period.”
The Office of the Attorney General will outline additional facts and figures concerning Walgreens’s role in creating and fueling the deadly opioid crisis during next week’s trial.
Moody recently announced that they had secured more than $870 million for opioid abatement from former defendants in the state’s case: CVS Health Corporation, CVS Pharmacy, Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., and Allergan PLC.
Additionally, Attorney General Moody announced the finalization of the state’s agreement with Endo Health Solutions.
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Whether your cup of tea is a craft beer from a local brewery, classic cars and trucks or a train excursion, there are options on things to do this weekend in the area. Local students also will be competing in a robotics tournament to qualify for state championships next weekend. Click for more.
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Australia floods: More rain adds to struggle of rebuilding
Communities in northern New South Wales are feeling the emotional and financial strain in the wake of February’s floods.
Lismore, Australia – In late February torrential rain hit the northern part of the Australian state of New South Wales submerging the region under raging floods.
Now – with residents still attempting to rebuild – the area’s been hit again, leaving many in despair.
“I think if they had their choice, they would just leave because a lot of them have literally just finished cleaning up their houses only to be flooded again,” Lismore chemist owner Kyle Wood told Al Jazeera.
“Everyone was still raw from the other one, and it’s not as if the town had [been] repaired… there’s still quite a few thousand condemned homes and people displaced everywhere.”
When the rain came last month, Wood thought his shop – which sits higher than the street above a small flight of stairs – would be safe.
But as the rain fell, Lismore and other towns across the Northern Rivers, the official name for the region, were inundated by water so deep that people had to climb onto their roofs.
By 3pm on February 28, the level of the Wilsons River, which runs through the heart of Lismore and is the area’s main tributary, was 14.37 metres (47 feet) – more than two metres above the previous record high in February 1954.
The water “went through and destroyed” Wood’s chemist, leaving everything but the top two levels of the dispensary a wet, stinking mess.
Some people managed to evacuate but many were stranded in their homes as the water rose.
MJ, a resident of Woodburn, a town about 34km (21 miles) south of Lismore, said that before the floodwaters swamped the town, people had moved their cars to her street because it was “one of the highest” in town.
“And then the water just kept coming, and coming, and coming,” she said.
MJ’s 89-year-old neighbour, Toby Bell, was rescued from his sister’s veranda a few doors down as the floods rose to the second storey.
He had waded across to her while he still could.
“All we could hear was cows and calves [going] down the river,” he said.
Like Bell, hundreds of people across the Northern Rivers were stranded in their homes.
In just 24 hours, the State Emergency Services (SES), a state government emergency and rescue service for natural and man-made disasters, received 927 calls for help from people in Lismore alone.
Nancy Grimm and Daniel Clark, two SES volunteers in Coraki about 24 km (15 miles) south of Lismore, say it was almost impossible to respond to everyone on that day.
“It was… three of us answering the phones and people walking in, in tears, saying “my relatives… the water [is] coming into their house”,” Grimm said, “and then coming back “did you get this person” and it was really distressing… for us to try to keep a cool head and get the information down.”
Clark and other volunteers took the SES boat out and community members on private boats joined the rescue effort.
“I feel like as a community, everyone sort of tried to do their bit,” Grimm said.
Homes uninhabitable
When the water cleared, more than 2,800 houses were deemed uninhabitable and some 1,234 people were in temporary and emergency accommodation.
“It took everything that we had… everything [except] my shirt and shorts,” Bell said.
Army officers equated the damage “on a human dimension” to that of a war zone.
“War unfortunately has a pretty dynamic effect on the people. It causes great trauma… and so do natural disasters,” said Brigadier Robert Lording, Commander Operation Flood Assist NSW, adding that people in Lismore and the wider Northern Rivers region have “lost their homes, they’ve lost all of their possessions, in many cases, they’ve lost their livelihoods as well.”
MJ, who is a bespoke toy maker, says the flood “destroyed my tools, gone, my lumber, gone.”
“It was just so overwhelming to go and see my garden… dead,” she said.
“Then my elderly neighbours who were so proud of their garden, they actually enter competitions, so that’s… what keeps them alive,” she said, “… They feel like they’ve lost a lot of that.”
But despite the loss and trauma, the region has been slowly getting back on its feet.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) and other services were brought in, and volunteers from all over Australia flocked to the area.
Mark Isaac, who operates a “community-organised resilience effort” in Wardell, a town about 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of Lismore, said that most of the donations his group receives are from other Australians.
“At the moment we’ve been having… cleaning supplies, all the stuff for really cleaning out the homes, gurneys and brooms and dustpans,” he said.
State and national services, like the ADF, SES and Rural Fire Service (RFS) also stepped in.
Much of the work has been about “putting people on the ground to physically help,” said Brigadier Lording.
“But we also have specialist capabilities,” he added, from engineers to the “Air Force, [which has] done a lot of work to provide mapping and provide that geospatial information that will inform future planning.”
Meanwhile, local people have also been beginning to recover. Bell, whose house now stands like a giant, bare rib cage on his land, says that he’ll “have to live” there.
“No-one will buy it,” he said.
He will stay in a caravan with his sister and her son until his house is rebuilt, and “go as far as [he] can” on the money he has, he added.
In fact, housing is a significant issue in the Northern Rivers, with thousands of people displaced by February’s floods.
General Manager for Lifeline in the Northern Rivers, Michael Were, whose team runs a distribution facility in Lismore, says that two key questions keep coming up.
“Where do people go right now that can’t go back to their houses?” he said. “… The second one, and again, it’s still housing, it’s the people whose houses are potentially able to be refitted and rebuilt. But are they structurally sound?”
Realistically, recovery could take years, he said.
“Right now, the town is working very much on adrenaline,” he said. “So “I’ve got to clean up my house, I’ve got to do these tasks,” and it’s more … when all of that starts to calm down a little bit, that’s when the true mental health toll starts to emerge.”
Financial strain
Many residents were not insured, adding to the stress of the situation.
Wood packed up his pharmacy as the first flood warnings came through. “(I) simply cannot afford to lose anything further,” he said.
Wood and others say flood insurance was not available or too expensive.
“[We had it] for house and contents,” Bell said.
“They wanted an extra 20,000 ($14,946) a year to insure for floods, and you can’t afford that on a pension. That’s more than you get!”
On the ground in Lismore now, floodwaters have reached knee height, says Wood. Some staff are in his building “hosing down the walls and getting things out”, and he is waiting for the water to subside further so that he can go back in and assess the new damage.
“We actually put [our fridges] up on top of tables and things just to get them out of the way. So hopefully they’ll be fine,” he said.
Others are still at evacuation centres, waiting until it’s safe to go back to their properties.
About 20 flood evacuation orders remained in place in the Northern Rivers and North Coast areas of NSW as of Thursday but MJ, although “completely cut off” and without supplies, was hopeful the ordeal might soon be over.
“The sun is out, and the forecast is looking good for the next eight days,” she said.
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Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats said Thursday evening that his “gut feeling” is that guard JD Davison will turn professional this summer.
Davison, who won the state’s Mr. Basketball award in 2020 and 2021, has until April 24 to enter the NBA draft and until June 1 to withdraw from it and retain NCAA eligibility.
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“I don’t have an answer for sure,” Oats told The Field of 68 at the Final Four in New Orleans. “When we brought him, the plan was one-and-done. He’s athletic. He’s on a lot of first-round boards. The feedback we’re getting is he’s still, like, second half of the first round, early second.”
Davison is the No. 38 overall player as ranked by ESPN, falling from a No. 11 ranking by that outlet in September. There are 30 picks in the first round of the NBA draft and 60 picks overall.
“If a kid’s gonna get guaranteed first-round money, it’s hard to tell them to stay,” Oats said. “You’re not going right by the kid. My thing is all the way back to a high school coach is just do right by the kid and it’ll all work itself out in the end.
“My gut feeling is that he stays in the draft because he’s got such ridiculous upside and his best basketball is years down the road. He’s showed that he can do enough that he’s going to be drafted. That’s a family decision and I’m not making it for him.”
Davison, a five-star prospect who played at The Calhoun School in Letohatchee, averaged 8.5 points and 4.3 assists per game as a freshman. He only started six games but finished fourth on the team in averaging 25.8 minutes.
“To be honest with you, a kid like him is going to get drafted on his upside,” Oats said. “Could he have played better as a freshman? Yeah, but can’t most freshmen play better? That’s the whole thing.”
Oats noted that even the draft’s top projected players -- Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Duke’s Paolo Banchero and Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren -- could benefit from more time in college basketball.
“Chet, there’s a lot of holes in his game,” Oats said. “Still gonna go top three. Jabari’s got holes in his game. A lot of people said, ‘Man, JD could really use another year with you.’ Couldn’t they all?”
The 2022 NBA draft will be held June 23.
“If a kid’s not in the first round, it’s probably better [to return],” Oats said.
Alabama has no players with expiring NCAA eligibility this offseason so its entire roster has decisions to make about their futures. Forward Noah Gurley has already told Oats he will return for a sixth season, while the Tide honored Keon Ellis, James Rojas and Jahvon Quinerly on senior day with the expectation they will not be back. Three other players -- forwards Alex Tchikou and Keon Ambrose-Hylton, and guard Jusaun Holt -- have entered the NCAA transfer portal.
The Tide has looked to the transfer portal itself, recently hosting Princeton guard Jaelin Llewellyn on a visit and contacting, among others, Ohio guard and Muscle Shoals native Mark Sears.
“We’ve got transfers we’re on that we feel good about,” Oats said Thursday on The Field of 68.
Oats also reiterated his feeling that Alabama’s season, which ended with four consecutive losses and a first-round NCAA tournament exit, had positives that might have been overshadowed by its upset loss as a No. 6 seed to No. 11 seed Notre Dame.
“I think that was the highest seed in 17 years in Alabama basketball outside of last year. If this year hadn’t followed up last year, people might be happy with it,” Oats said. “Inside the program we’re a little disappointed because we knew what we were capable of by the wins we had.”
Oats noted Alabama went 4-0 against teams that made the Sweet 16 in Gonzaga, Houston, Arkansas and Miami.
“But if you look at it overall, we’re still headed the right direction, we still feel like. We’ve got a great recruiting class coming in,” he said. “I think we’ll be better next year. I think the program is definitely headed in the right direction.”
Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.
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Devan Cambridge is headed west.
The former Auburn swingman, who entered the transfer portal last week after the Tigers’ season ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, committed to Arizona State on Thursday night along with his older brother, Desmond Cambridge, a transfer from Nevada. The brothers made public last week, shortly after they both entered the transfer portal, that they planned to be a package deal at their next desintation.
Read more Auburn hoops: What commitment of five-star big man Yohan Traore means for Auburn
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Revisiting the top moments from Auburn’s historic season
Devan Cambridge spent his first three seasons at Auburn and will have two years of eligibility remaining at Arizona State thanks to the free year of eligibility granted to athletes by the NCAA due to the pandemic.
Cambridge appeared in 33 of Auburn’s 34 games this season, making 14 starts early in the year after stepping into the starting role at small forward while Allen Flanigan recovered from a preseason Achilles injury. He averaged 5.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game for Auburn, which experienced a historic season on the court. The Tigers won 19 straight games from late November to early February, went wire-to-wire in the SEC standings while claiming an outright regular-season conference title, climbed to No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in program history and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Cambridge appeared in 91 games across three seasons, averaging six points and 3.1 rebounds per game for his career. An explosive in-game dunker who was nicknamed “Bounceman,” Cambridge developed a penchant for bringing Auburn fans to their feet during his career. Just this season he had an alley-oop from Wendell Green Jr. off the backboard on the road against Georgia, a thunderous fastbreak dunk in the win against Kentucky, one in the final minutes of the Tigers’ opening-round NCAA Tournament win against Jacksonville State and a putback slam over four people in the team’s second-round loss to Miami.
While Cambridge’s dunking ability made him a fan favorite, he struggled to find his shooting touch after a freshman season in which he connected on 34.2 percent of his 3-pointers. He shot 28.7 percent on 5.3 attempts per game as a sophomore, and this past season he shot just 22.1 percent on 2.6 attempts per game. Despite those shooting woes, Cambridge developed into a quality defender and one of the team’s best offensive rebounders. He averaged 1.7 offensive rebounds per game and posted an offensive rebound rate of 9.2 percent.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
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Derek Day is a frontman who’s hard to ignore. A gene-splice of The Darkness catsuit-extrovert Justin Hawkins and Jack White’s analog catharsis.
Good thing, because impressing crowds who’ve never heard of you and are there to rage to “Dr. Feelgood,” “Photograph,” “Talk Dirty To Me” and “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” ... Well, it isn’t a gig for the meek. This summer, Day and his Los Angeles band Classless Act will be the support act on the highly anticipated “Stadium Tour” featuring Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett.
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Unlike those ‘80s rock legends, Classless Act don’t have a setlist crammed with greatest hits. They do have bona fide hard-rock chops though and a strong upcoming debut album to draw from. Classless Act also have that critical ingredient no amount of pyro and production can replace. Youth. The band’s five members range in ages from 20 to 26. In addition to Day, the band features bassist Franco Gravante, guitarists Dane Pieper and Griffin Tucker and drummer Chuck McKissock.
“I think we really just want to make an impact,” Day says of Classless Act’s approach to live shows. “And we really want to express the urgency. Show you that we’re here to say something and say it as big as we can.”
All-the-young-dudes verve is evident in the music video for Classless Act’s debut single “Give It To Me.” It’s a classic, performance-style vid with the band rocking out in front of a plain white background while Day goes mad on the mic and screams like he’s auditioning for Skid Row. Les Pauls, Marshall amps, long hair, a scarf and some shirtlessness are involved. In other words, just as rising rockers should do it. Especially on a come-hither anthem like “Give It To Me,” cowritten with former Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson, who knows a thing or two about making sleaze-rock that connects.
Classless Act has prior experience going onstage before bigtime acts. And not just warming the crowd up but winning them over. In 2018, the band gained early buzz opening a hometown show for Guns N’ Roses guitar legend Slash’s solo band at the Hollywood Palladium. As a solo artist, Day has been a support act for household names, including ‘70s star Ted Nugent and “Cult of Personality” rockers Living Colour.
Asked about the do’s and don’t’s of opening shows for rock icons, Day says, “Be extremely grateful and show it. You’re always on time - in fact an hour early is just on time. They’re giving you an opportunity of a lifetime, whether you’re going to blow up the next morning or you’re still going to be working for another 10 years following your dream.”
Day then paraphrases a quote he says he’s heard from Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, “My job is to play music. I have zero complaints.” The weekend prior to our interview, the rock world was shattered by the tragic and surprising death of Hawkins at a Bogota, Columbia hotel during Foo Fighters’ since-cancelled South American tour.
A while back, Classless Act got the chance to cowrite and demo a song with Taylor Hawkins. The Foos drummer arrived at the session, which took place at his L.A.-area home studio, straight from an epic mountain-bike ride, wearing a hydration pack on his back. “He took his shirt off and had on his board shorts,” Day recalls, describing Hawkins’ frequent onstage look. “It was like, ‘Yeah that’s Taylor Hawkins.’”
Hawkins invited Classless Act into his house and “introduced us to his daughter and his dogs,” Day recalls. Then, the musicians retreated out back to the pool house Hawkins converted into a rock & roller clubhouse, where they got to work. And working quickly. “We got great sounds in five seconds,” Day says.
Classless Act’s sessions with Hawkins yielded an “anthemic yet really alternative” song with the working title “If You Can.” Day says, “It has this big classic-rock thing but also kind of futuristic and crazy delays and stuff. And Taylor was really big on having a groove.” The band was trying to come up with a chorus for a song and then Hawkins hit on an idea and sang it to them. “It’s like, ‘Yep, that’s the chorus,’” Day says. He sums up Classless Act’s experience with the beloved Hawkins: “He had the soul of child and the mind of a wizard. He was just a genius.”
Because there’s still work to be done on the song, that Taylor Hawkins collabo isn’t on Classless Act’s debut album. But the band worked with significant record-making talent on their album, due later this year. There’s already a release date and title for the Classless Act’s LP, but the band’s management isn’t laying down those cards publicly just yet.
The band worked with producer Bob Rock, who’s helmed huge-sounding/huge-selling classics including Metallica’s “Black Album,” Motley Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood” and The Cult’s “Sonic Temple.” “He’s big on hooks,” Day says of working with Rock. “He was just saying, ‘Let’s try to get to the hook a little quicker.’ And even, ‘Let’s try to add a new hook inside the hook.’ And he really knows how to build a wall of sound and make it colorful.” Bassist Franco Gravante recalls Rock pulling out “old school production tricks that I’ve never seen before.” The producer also regaled them with war-stories like “mixing ‘The Black Album’ for a week straight with no sleep,” Gravante says. And how Rock’s son appears onscreen in Metallica’s famous “Enter Sandman” music video.
Rock produced several Classless Act tracks, including a song that calls to mind a Sunset Strip version of “Stairway to Heaven.” It will likely be a rock-radio hit upon its release. But as with the album appellation, there are some Classless Act song titles management asked me to not publish in this story, and this is one of them.
Adding to album’s anthemic vibes, The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins contributed a hot guitar solo to Classless Act’s latest single, the snarling “This Is For You.” Justin Hawkins also cowrote one of the debut LP’s best tracks, “Time To Bleed,” a cyborg of “You Could Be Mine” aggression and “Pyromania” chorus-candy.
In addition to Bob Rock, Classless Act also worked with studio wizards Michael Beinhorn – known for vintage alt-rock like Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Mother’s Milk” LP, Soundgarden’s “Superunknown” and Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” – and Joe Chicarelli – who helped craft 2000s notables like The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump” album and The Shins’ “Winching the Night Away.” The infusion of outside talent from rock hitmakers from at least three different decades helps Classless Act’s debut keep from being carbon-dated to 1988, 1998 or 2008. Instead, the record sounds like a pinch of all of ‘em.
Gravante describes his band’s sound as “natural” and “genuine.” The bassist adds, “It’s not like we said, ‘Oh, let’s mix classic-rock and alternative.’ We just do what we like.” Day says Classless Act are, “lucky enough to have a team and a label to help us do what we want to do. ‘Yeah, make sure it’s in one lane, but do your own thing to it and, make sure you love it.’”
Classless Act’s record label is Better Noise Music, formerly known as Eleven Seven and founded by Allen Kovac, a music-biz Master of the Universe best known for U-turning Motley Crue from ‘90s scrapheap to touring stadiums for the first time in their five-decade career.
Classless Act’s management includes Rick Canny, whose connections have played a key role in the booster rockets attached to Classless Act. Canny has repped bold font names liked Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, Hole frontwoman Courtney Love and Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and bands like The Darkness and Velvet Revolver.
In the years since Classless Act formed about 2016, there have been some lineup changes. For a while, the band’s drummer was London Hudson, the talented son of GN’R/Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash. London’s mom Pearla Hudson called Canny on the phone and told him he needed to come see her son’s band. (It’s worth nothing that although London Hudson is no longer in Classless Act, he, Pearla and Slash are all thanked in the liner notes for the debut LP.)
Before committing further, Canny checked with some people who’d seen Classless Act live. “The general consensus was that Derek is a star,” Canny tells me via email. (And Day really is a fresh jolt, drawing from disparate sources such as shredder Steve Vai, bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan and glam-rocker Marc Bolan.) Canny went to go see a Classless Act show at Whisky a Go Go, the storied West Hollywood club that’s been a proving ground for future-gods from The Doors and Led Zeppelin to Motley and GN’R.
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Watching Classless Act at the Whisky, Canny could see, “The songs were starting to come together at the time, but there was real promise in what I was hearing. And I had always wanted to start with a rock band at ground zero and break them. Allen Kovac wanted to sign the band based on the demos, sight unseen. He knew what I knew … That rock was not dead, it was only wounded.” Canny was also stoked for a chance to work with Kovac.
Some of the members of Classless Act, who’d been in different L.A. bands, initially connected via social media. “It’s kind of like the new-school Recycler,” Day says, referring to the local Los Angeles classified ads publication. Bands that have found members through The Recycler include Metallica, GN’R and the Crue. Classless Act took their name from a news headline they’d seen regarding a certain former U.S. president. “It had a cool ring to it,” Day says.
Bob Rock, a friend of Canny’s, listened to Classless Act’s demos and hit it off with the band after meeting with them. After initial plans to record in Canada didn’t work out, they decided to cut in L.A., where Tommy Lee has a lavish studio at his home called The Atrium, where Rock and Motley had recorded the new songs for “The Dirt” biopic soundtrack. The Crue drummer would saunter into the studio during the Classless Act sessions, sip espressos, listen to the mixes and hang.
For a couple of years, the pandemic kept pushing back the album’s completion and release. While it feels weird to say COVID has worked to the advance of any musician, the additional time gave Classless Act a chance to cowrite new songs for the project with Justin Hawkins and Keith Nelson. And by the time Motley Crue’s “Stadium Tour” was rescheduled, Tommy Lee was “pretty familiar” with the band, Canny says.
When I connect with Day and Gravante via video chat for this article, they’re in Houston, on Classless Act’s current tour opening for bluesy modern-rock band Dorothy. That trek ends late May. “The Stadium Tour” launches June 16 at Truist Park, home of World Series baseball champions the Atlanta Braves and continues through Sept. 9 at Allegiant Stadium, where the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders play.
“The Stadium Tour” was originally planned for summer 2020. Since it’s been pushed back because of COVID twice, Classless Act have been trying their best to not get too amped yet. “Up until like last month, I still didn’t believe it,” Gravante says. Opening stadium shows for Motley Crue is a full-circle moment for Day, who covered early Crue songs like “Live Wire” in his first garage band in sixth grade.
Growing up in Argentina, the first ever concert Gravante ever saw was AC/DC in Buenos Aires, during the “Back in Black” legends’ 2009 three-night stand at River Plate Stadium. The concert was later released as a live album and home video. “People were jumping up and down, moving the whole stadium,” Gravante recalls. And this summer, he and Classless Act will get their chance to move whole stadiums too.
Classless Act will play Mars Music Hall, address 700 Monroe St. in Huntsville, Ala, on April 2. Along with Joyous Wolf, another promising L.A. band with a gifted frontman, they’re support on a bill headlined by Dorothy, known for rock hits like “Flawless” and “Rest in Peace.” Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $17 and up (plus fees) via ticketmaster.com. More info at classlessact.com. For summer “Stadium Tour” dates, go to motley.com.
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https://www.al.com/life/2022/04/parkside-on-fifth-your-first-look-inside-the-new-bar-in-avondale.html
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If you’re taken a recent stroll in Birmingham’s Avondale entertainment district, your interest has likely been piqued by a spate of activity, the sound of voices and a warm glow coming from the building at 4036 Fifth Avenue South.
We’re here to confirm that Parkside is back -- no, not the controversial nightspot known as Parkside Cafe -- but as a new bar, under new ownership, with a welcoming vibe and a sleek, stylish decor.
Parkside on Fifth, a venture by Alabama native Tim Burt, has opened in the high-profile space across from Avondale Park. Burt is an entrepreneur with deep roots in Avondale, the owner of the Parkside building and the former proprietor of a home and garden shop in that location.
“This is a fresh start,” Burt says. “The bar is my baby now, and I so look forward to it.”
He’s been working for several months to make his vision for Parkside on Fifth a reality, with the help of folks such as Heather Crumpton (a retired lawyer and Burt’s BFF), Steva Casey (a creative mixologist and bar consultant) and the restaurant/chef team of Ed Stacey, Ryan Champion and Michael Tesney. (Think Hotbox, the Rougaroux and more.)
“It’s a fun neighborhood bar with elevated dining,” Burt says. He describes the visual style of Parkside on Fifth as “Manhattan meets the Garden District.”
(Get your first look at Parkside on Fifth via photos in the gallery at the top of this post.)
Parkside on Fifth -- with an interior that covers about 2,500 square feet, plus a large outdoor space that includes a patio, fire pit and back bar -- can hold about 200 people, Burt says. There’s a new staff of seven people, including four bartenders, and Burt hopes each area of the venue has its own appeal.
“It’s really like you have different bars within the same property,” Burt says. “This front area is — hey, this is really cool, that’s a $200 bottle of Scotch, the bar is really cool, make me something special — and over here you’ve got people on a date, holding hands, that kind of thing. Down there, you might have a group that comes after work, maybe 15 people. Then, if you meander outside, you can sit by the fire pit and maybe smoke a cigar.”
Parkside on Fifth will have a humidor and sell cigars, Burt says, but for outdoor smoking only.
The drinks menu will cater to a variety of tastes, from craft beer lovers to wine enthusiasts to cocktail aficionados. And the food? Stacey says the menu will feature five or six staples, including a signature burger, plus five or six dishes that will change with the seasons.
“We’ll have small plates, shareable, and a lot of really snack-y things,” Stacey says. “A few dips, a few salads, a few entrees. ... On Friday and Saturday at 10 o’clock, the menu will probably switch over to predominantly burgers and fries. Once people really start drinking, they want some good, greasy fat, and that will be a component.”
The dessert menu will cater to folks with a penchant for sweets, including chocoholics. Burt hopes these upscale goodies -- which are likely to include apple cinnamon wontons, chocolate cake, pots de creme and profiteroles -- will add “an extra layer” to the dining experience.
“There’s something for everybody at Parkside,” Burt says. “Parkside has always been about ‘Everyone’s welcome,’ and it will continue to be, even more so than before.”
He’s determined to dispel any negative notions that might linger about the Parkside building, and make sure people realize the former Parkside Cafe is gone for good.
The previous bar, owned by Michael Dykes and Robert Bagwell, found itself embroiled in controversy in June 2020, after Dykes made some eyebrow-raising comments about George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter protests in Birmingham. Social media picked up the imbroglio, and the bar’s reputation plummeted.
Parkside Cafe closed for a time amid the turmoil, quietly reopened with Bagwell as the sole owner on scene, and served its final drink in October 2021.
“I don’t want to have an association with the past,” Burt says. “They were my tenant for 12 years, and I did not renew the lease.”
Some assumed that, with the Parkside controversy in mind, Burt would give his new bar a name that’s radically different from the one that came before.
But they were wrong. Burt says the Parkside building has its own unique identity -- one he forged in 1999 when he bought a condemned structure, made major renovations and founded a business there called Parkside Home & Garden -- and that identity remains paramount.
Parkside Home & Garden closed in Birmingham in 2008, but Burt retained ownership of the building in Avondale.
Parkside, he says, is important to him.
“The building’s name is Parkside,” Burt says. “This is the Parkside building, no matter who’s here.”
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Burt, who lived in Mobile for several years, is returning to Birmingham to helm the next chapter in the building’s history. The interior design component of his Mobile shop, Lush, is closing, and Burt says he sold the floral component of the store about a year ago.
This leaves him free to focus his attention on Parkside on Fifth.
“I think you have to close one chapter to open another,” Burt says. “There’s no way to embrace this, and not do it wholeheartedly. I wanted to make sure I do it right.”
In the meantime, if customers have questions about Parkside on Fifth, Burt says he’s happy to answer them.
“I get the whole, ‘Have you ever owned a bar?’ and I wanted to make sure I researched: What makes a good bar?,” Burt says. “Some of the answers are: bar stools with backs, outlets for your cell phone, clean bathrooms, enough bathrooms. We have three bathrooms, and they’re unisex. Those were some of the top five things, and so I checked all of those off.
“And then there’s the feel, everything has to be cohesive,” Burt continues. “Does your music match your menu? Does your barware match the drinks that you’re providing? I paid attention to all of that.”
Hours for Parkside on Fifth are 3 p.m.-12 a.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays. Food will be served until one hour before closing, Burt says.
The bar had a “soft opening” on March 25, and officially marks its opening this weekend. Burt says he has several plans and goals for Parkside on Fifth, but for now, he’ll be satisfied if his new business simply draws people in and makes a positive impression.
“I want for you to walk in and just go, ‘Oh, wow!”’ Burt says. “Especially when you walk in and the lighting gives it a vibe, just the glow of everything. At night, the whole place just lights up.”
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https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2022/04/alabama-police-officer-arrested-on-domestic-violence-charges.html
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An Alabama police officer was arrested Thursday on domestic violence charges after he allegedly threw a female to the floor and then choked her, authorities said.
Robert Allen Maddox Jr., 24, of Dothan, was charged with one count of domestic violence strangulation, according to Dothan police. His bond was set at $30,000.
Maddox is a police officer with the Headland Police Department, according to WTVY.
On Tuesday, the victim, only identified as a female, reported to Dothan police that she was thrown to the floor and then choked, adding that her airway was cut off and she couldn’t breathe.
Maddox was arrested following an investigation into the victim’s report, Dothan police said.
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https://www.al.com/sports/2022/04/terrell-owens-returning-to-the-field-reports-indicate.html
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Terrell Owens played his final NFL game on Dec. 19, 2010. But since leaving the league, the wide receiver has regularly said he still could play in the NFL.
Enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, Owens is about to return to the field at 48 years old, TMZ Sports and Reuters reported on Thursday, by joining the Fan-Controlled Football League. The FCF did not confirm the reports about the Benjamin Russell High School alumnus, but the league’s Twitter account did retweet reports of Owens’ involvement.
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The Fan-Controlled Football League will kick off its second indoor season on April 16 with eight teams, twice as many as it had in 2021, its first season. The entire season will be played at Pratt-Pullman Yards in Atlanta.
The FCF is a seven-on-seven indoor game played on a 50- by 35-yard field with 10-yard end zones. It has no kicking or punting.
The team rosters change weekly in a Wednesday draft, except for two franchise players selected by the team owners and one fan-selected keeper. The draft is controlled by fan votes.
Fans also call the plays, selecting from eight choices for each snap. Fans pick which wide receiver and defensive back will square off on 1- or 2-point conversions after touchdowns, too.
Before Owens, the FCF’s biggest name on the field has been quarterback Johnny Manziel, and the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner will be back for the league’s second season.
Reuters reported Owens would wear a microphone and a helmet camera while playing and conduct interviews during games.
In 15 NFL seasons, Owens caught 1,078 passes for 15,934 yards and 153 touchdowns. In NFL history, Owens ranks eighth in receptions, third in receiving yards and third in receiving touchdowns. He received six Pro Bowl invitations and made first-team All-Pro five times.
RELATED: ALABAMA HIGH SCHOOLS’ TOP 10 NFL RECEIVERS
In 2012, Owens played eight games in the Indoor Football League.
Twitch will continue to stream FCF games this season. FCF games also will be available on NBC LX in 2022.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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https://www.allforxi.com/2022/3/31/23003631/ada-hegerberg-and-dazn-partner-to-grow-the-game
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It’s a Monday afternoon in Lyon but an early Monday morning for me as I await the arrival of Ada Hegerberg, who is making her media rounds to speak about her partnership with DAZN. She appears in a brown shirt, the picture of calm in her sun soaked room despite having done what I imagine are several interviews back-to-back. This is, of course, the persona Hegerberg carries with her onto the pitch as one of the unquestioned leaders of a Lyon team that is not unused to making it this far in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. My time with Ada will be brief, but I want to speak to her about her partnership with DAZN and why it is so important to her.
“It is important for the players that DAZN is able to get more eyeballs on the screen, to know that people are watching makes the players feel good,” Hegerberg tells me in response to the importance of DAZN showing all UWCL matches from the group stages onward. The numbers bear that out, with over 14 million views in over 210 markets for the group stages alone through the DAZN YouTube channel. Those numbers are expected to continue an upward trend during the knockout stages, with many of the games being hosted at the cathedrals of football like Camp Nou, Emirates Stadium and Allianz Stadium, with Camp Nou expected to be at capacity, thus making history for a women’s football match.
One of the perks of the partnership with the UWCL, DAZN, and players like Hegerberg, who’s already an ambassador of the game, are the pieces on players in this tournament. Those pieces allow us to connect with them through more than just their play on the pitch and our need to watch their sublime talent. Hegerberg herself has a new short coming out titled “Icons with Ada Hegerberg” where she discusses the women she admired in her youth and why they mattered to her. She discusses athletes like Norwegian boxer Cecilia Brækhus and the Williams sisters, who she credits with modeling the behavior of what it means to have familial support as a woman in sports. The short ends with the tagline “see it, be it” which was a point of emphasis for Hegerberg. “I believe in the importance of showing footballers and other women athletes in all lights as we grow the game,” she says, “it’s why I’m excited to work with DAZN.”
We end the interview with me asking a personal question as an OL Reign fan. I inquired about Ada’s feelings on the city of Seattle, which is home to Lyon’s sister club, and Ada chuckled before telling me she’s never been. “My teammates that have played for OL Reign have spoken very highly of the team and the city and I would like to visit one day.” Hegerberg does follow the team when she can and is rooting for them to finish this year’s campaign with a better result than a semi-final loss.
In the meantime, Ada is prepared for Lyon’s second leg of their UWCL matchup against Juventus. They are currently down 2-1 after going ahead in the first leg and will be without star defender Ellie Carpenter who was sent off with a red card in the first round. “We shouldn’t be down 2-1, but we are going into this match with a positive attitude, knowing we can score two goals and win.”
These are the words of a player who has yet to lose in the UWCL while playing. This is the confidence Lyon missed while Ada was out for nearly two seasons with a series of injuries. Now, she is back and hungry, ready to win more titles for the club she’s been with since 2014, all the while breaking more records and being the role models in football she did not have in her youth. “Today we need more women role models in sports. Having women who are the face of their sports, can actually lift the sports to the better.”
For Ada, partnering with DAZN while wearing the Lyon crest, is one way that she is doing that for women’s football. We should all watch her while she does it.
Watch “Icons with Ada Hegerberg” here:
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You already know the result of the historic match at Camp Nou, just as you know it means that Barcelona progress to the Champions League semi-finals at the expense of Real Madrid. Clàudia Pina’s stunning curler likely to be the goal that sticks in the mind, maybe Aitana’s low shot to the corner or Alexia’s effort that dribbled over the line will resound, three academy products who had grown up in Catalunya, a familial bond to the club. But this isn’t about the five goals Barcelona scored, but rather about the two scored by the visitors, the bittersweet memories for Olga Carmona and Claudia Zornoza that are likely to fade from the memory for most.
Pressure penalty
Penalties are curious things, although they are simply a free shot at goal or very direct free kick, they have been mystified by fans and players throughout the game. Although the odds favour the penalty taker rather than the goalkeeper, all sorts of things can happen to a player at some point between their run up and when they strike the ball. Some coach and teams have famously shied away from practicing spot kicks, as other players have taken it upon themselves to practice penalties to the point of distraction.
A youth product of Sevilla, Carmona’s move to the Spanish capital, whilst being successful hasn’t always been overly profitable. Indeed, the attacker has only scored five league goals for Las Blancas, finding the back of the net about once every ten matches. When she stepped up at Camp Nou, the 21-year-old knew that she had squared off against Sandra Paños from 12-yards before, just as she knew that she had been the victor that day, last season, at the Estadi Johan Cruyff. But for Olga, this was a penalty like no woman anywhere in the world had faced.
Sure, plenty of players had taken penalties, plenty in hostile environments, plenty with matches and silverware in the balance. Yet, no woman, anywhere had stood over the ball 12-yards from goal, with the noise of 90,000 fans booing and hissing at her. The footage from the match does little to fully capture the atmosphere and oppressive nature of the home fans. However, Olga didn’t falter as the vocal culés hoped she would, but rather she stroked the spot kick home, Paños close but not close enough.
At the end of the day, it was simply a penalty scored but under the most nerve-wracking circumstances.
A thing of beauty
The second half had barely gotten underway when Zornoza picked up the ball in the centre circle, a heavy first touch saw it run away from here and skip several yards forward before she brought it back under control. Her third touch was to strike clean through the ball, her left boot forcing the ball into the air to loft it over Barcelona’s high defensive line, arcing over 30-yards before dipping as it neared the goalmouth.
Like a plane making its final descent onto the runway at Josep Tarradellas airport just eight miles from the Camp Nou, the ball curved down through the air. Paños, who had been spotted and caught by Zornoza, was frantically back-peddling, waiting until the very last moment to dive skywards, arms lofted, desperate to get anything on the rapidly stooping ball. But Zornoza had struck the ball too cleanly, too true and nothing would stop it from completing its arc into the hungry net.
UNBELIEVABLE GOAL FROM @claudiazornoza
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) March 30, 2022
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
https://t.co/g4y6urk6O0
https://t.co/ronaygfgaK pic.twitter.com/UJQEvM6ggt
It was an audacious and opportunistic effort from a player who only tended to average two or three goals a season. It was the type of shot that could easily go wrong and see an easy turnover, the ball could come in too shallow and be an easy claim for the goalkeeper or it could sail clear over the bar. It was a low percentage shot but it was struck with the type of precision associated with a heart surgeon and it had indeed provided a lifeline for the Madrid team.
It could have been a match changer, a route back into the tie, but as the scores tell us, it wasn’t to be. But for four glorious (if you’re a Madrista) minutes, it had insured that Las Blancas lead at the holiest of grounds for the Catalans. And it had also, finally, silenced the home faithful. The goal one that deserves to go down in the history of the Women’s Champions League as one of pure sauce.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/04/01/5-fetuses-found-inside-dc-home-anti-abortion-activist/
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5 fetuses found inside DC home of anti-abortion activist
WASHINGTON (AP) — Police found five fetuses in the home of a self-proclaimed “anti-abortion activist” who was indicted this week on federal charges alleging that she was part of a group of people who blocked access to a Washington, D.C. reproductive health center.
The Metropolitan Police Department says officers were responding to a tip about “potential bio-hazard material” at a home in Southeast Washington on Wednesday when they located the five fetuses inside.
A local television station, WUSA9, captured video of police searching the home and reported that the home belonged to Lauren Handy. The 28-year-old was one of nine people charged in an indictment that was made public on Wednesday that accused the group of traveling to Washington, blocking access to the reproductive health center and streaming it on Facebook.
The station, which first reported the discovery, said Handy told a reporter that “people will freak out when they hear” what detectives found inside her house. Handy did not respond to a message sent to her Facebook profile seeking comment.
Police said the five fetuses were collected by Washington’s medical examiner and the investigation is ongoing.
In the indictment, prosecutors said Handy had called the clinic pretending to be a prospective patient and scheduling an appointment. Once there, on Oct. 22, 2020, eight of the suspects pushed their way inside and began blocking the doors, according to the indictment. Five of them chained themselves together on chairs to block the treatment area as others blocked the employee entrance to stop other patients from coming inside, the indictment alleges. Another suspect blocked people from coming into the waiting room, prosecutors charge.
Handy and the eight others were charged with conspiracy against rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The federal law, more commonly known as the FACE Act, prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/04/01/arc-anchorage-installs-clothing-donation-bin-service-high-school/
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Arc of Anchorage installs clothing donation bin at Service High School
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Arc of Anchorage, a nonprofit organization serving Alaskans who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental health and behavioral health challenges, and their families, has several clothing donation bins around Anchorage. On Thursday, the organization installed a refurbished one at Service High School.
Value Village, a thrift store chain, pays The Arc for the clothing on a per-pound basis before reselling it in its stores.
“They sort through it, put what they can on the shelves, and the rest either is recycled and sent to the Lower 48 and turned into new cloth at a factory, or sent overseas to a market overseas,” said William Vajdic with The Arc of Anchorage. “Or, if it’s cotton ... they bundle them up and sell them for rag.”
In the case of the bin at Service High School, the funds from the sale of the donations to Value Village will directly benefit the school’s Partners Club, which is a social inclusion group for people with and without disabilities.
“A lot of my students from the special education program directly benefit from The Arc’s services and the peer teachers and Partners Club members are coming up in future,” said Adam Ahonen, a Service High teacher and club sponsor. “It’s an employment option opportunity for them and so it’s just a super important collaboration between the school and community.”
Alaska Waste refurbished the bin for The Arc of Anchorage, which hopes to install bins at every high school in the Anchorage School District.
“This is the first of 22. We have four that are complete right now but this is the first one to be delivered,” said Laurel Andrews, community outreach coordinator with Alaska Waste. “We’re hoping to have all 22 refurbished by the end of the summer.”
Copyright 2022 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/04/01/doctor-convicted-prescribing-over-1m-opioid-pills-las-vegas-cocktail-drugs/
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Doctor convicted for prescribing over $1M in opioid pills, ‘Las Vegas cocktail’ of drugs
(Gray News) - A physician in Texas was recently convicted for wrongly prescribing more than $1 million worth of opioid hydrocodone pills.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 52-year-old James Pierre, a Houston doctor, unlawfully prescribed controlled substances from June 2015 through July 2016 to individuals posing as patients at a West Parker Medical Clinic, a pill-mill clinic located in Houston.
Trial evidence showed Pierre and his physician assistant issued hundreds of unlawful prescriptions for hydrocodone and carisoprodol, a combination of controlled substances known as the “Las Vegas Cocktail,” to hundreds of individuals posing as patients each week.
According to the Justice Department, “runners” brought numerous people to pose as patients at the clinic and paid about $220 to $500 per visit in exchange for the prescriptions.
Throughout the scheme, West Parker made about $1.75 million from prescriptions, and over $300,000 went to Pierre, according to investigators.
The Department of Justice reports Pierre was convicted of one count of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances and seven counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances.
The 52-year-old is currently scheduled to be sentenced on June 27 and faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.
Officials said that one co-conspirator has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances unlawfully.
DEA Houston investigated the case, according to the Department of Justice.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2022/04/01/mining-contamination-prevention-being-set-place-by-department-natural-resources/
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Mining contamination prevention being set in place by Department of Natural Resources
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Department of Natural Resource will be placing conditions on 18 state-owned sites to prevent the spread of mining contamination, while still allowing for mining in the future under protective conditions.
The department is issuing what they call “Leaseholder Location Orders” or LLOs on more than 4,000 acres of state land in Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound and Southwest Alaska, according to a press release from the DNR. Creating the orders for these lands put protections in place that will prevent the spread of future contamination.
Officials with the DNR emphasized that the contamination on the sites were caused by historic mining practices that are prohibited by modern state laws and regulations, and would violate contemporary industry practices.
The affected areas were contaminated by mining activities mostly on private lands nearby. These sites generally allowed uses like hunting or recreation, but there may still have been legitimate mining claims being worked.
The instance of the Klag Bay gold mine, which left contamination after operating on private land in the 1900s, was the inspiration behind these new restrictions, according to the press release. It was in that case that the department discovered contamination spread to land that became state owned later on.
Richard Lessard, mineral property manager for the department, said the Klag Bay Mine site is one of many contaminated sites in Alaska where orders could be beneficial. Many of the sites contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury or arsenic.
“It allows us to basically notify the miner there is a problem, there is contamination at this site,” Lessard said. “And that before they would be allowed to do any type of mining, they would have to get the properly permitted to be able to do the mining. ... such that these contaminations would not be spread and basically if they do want to mine the site, that the mining can be done in a safe and responsible manner.”
The orders will not impact any existing mining claims, according to the release. Rather, they notify existing miners of the contamination on their sites, so that they may take appropriate action. The press release listed several benefits that issuing the leaseholder orders on these 18 sites will have, including:
- Keeping the areas open to mining.
- Ensuring miners know the personal health and financial risks of operating on the sites.
- Empowering DNR to keep a thorough record of activity on the sites, essential to future clean-up activities.
- Streamlining coordination between DNR and Department of Environmental Conservation for remediation and mining activities.
Copyright 2022 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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https://www.aldergrovestar.com/entertainment/langley-live-performance-venue-to-host-jazz-concert/
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Langley’s Bez Arts Hub wants to jazz up the local residents on April 1, and no, it is not an April fool’s joke.
The local facility for live performances will host a jazz music show featuring globally known artists Laila Biali and Jodi Proznick, along with drummer Nicholas Bracewell.
South Surrey-based bassist Proznick and other performers will hit the stage to offer the audience a crossover of jazz and pop music.
Vocalist Biali will give the fusion performance with her voice and will also be playing the piano.
Proznick, a former Kwantlen Polytechnic University teacher, said the Langley community is “near and dear” to her heart and that the local audience has always responded well.
Though it will be Proznick’s first time performing at Bez, Biali has performed twice there in the past.
“I reckon it will feel akin to a homecoming. Brilliant artists themselves, the hosts are like family to the performers they host, and we can’t wait to return to their intimate and dynamic space,” said the award-winning singer, Biali.
Proznick and Biali’s high school bands were rivals, and though they didn’t cross paths until after graduation from college, both were well aware of one another.
“Jodi is one of the most exciting and generous musicians, and mentors you’ll find within the Canadian jazz scene. Her presence on stage is as buoyant as her presence off, her energy truly palpable. She suggested Nick Bracewell as drummer for our show April 1, and I have no doubt the three of us will have a blast sharing music with listeners in Langley,” Biali added.
RELATED: Songwriters to sing and share stories at a live music event in Langley
Proznick grew up in a musical environment and first took piano lessons when she was three years old. When her dad’s band was looking for a bass player, she realized that not many girls were playing the instrument at that time.
“Like a good daughter, I hopped in,” Proznick said.
Always fascinated by the arts, Proznick soon got into dance in elementary school. Later, the local star went on to study music at Quebec’s McGill University.
“Music chose me. I did not chose music,” said the 2019 Western Canadian Music Award Jazz Artist of the Year.
COVID-19 was “terrible” for the whole entertainment industry, and Proznic said her time during COVID was no different. Her team could not perform for live audiences, and many planned festivals had to be cancelled.
“It has been a long and challenging couple of years. I thing we have learnt how to be adaptable and open to different ideas.”
Indeed, the team at Bez Arts has adapted well, as the April 1 show will be offered in-person as well as online.
Tickets to the live performance will cost $47 each.
Those who want to enjoy the event from the comfort of their homes can purchase tickets to the livestream show for $20.
All tickets are available online at www.bezartshub.com.
READ MORE: Artists donate a portion of their sales to Langley charity
Russ Rosen, artistic director and concert curator at Bez, is excited to be able to host two world-renowned artists and watch them perform together at his local venue.
“It is going to be a high-energy show, and I am pretty excited,” he said.
He added that he has never seen the trio perform together.
The two-hour event starts at 8 p.m. at Bez Arts Hub, #102 20230 64th Ave.
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Have a story tip? Email: tanmay.ahluwalia@langleyadvancetimes.com
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The Public Health Agency of Canada has declared an outbreak of norovirus linked to the consumption of raw B.C. oysters.
The outbreak has impacted people in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario — though as of March 30, 262 of the 279 reported cases are in B.C. There have been no deaths associated with the outbreak.
Individuals became sick with norovirus after ingesting raw oysters farmed on B.C.’s west coast. Health Canada recalled certain brands of oysters that were believed to be related to the norovirus outbreak on Feb. 18, March 20, March 23, and March 27, 2022.
READ MORE: Health Canada recalls certain B.C. oysters due to norovirus contamination
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is continuing an investigation into the outbreak which could lead to further recalls. Any recall notices will be shared publicly.
To avoid norovirus infection from oysters, make sure they are cooked thoroughly to an internal temperature of 90 degrees celsius for 90 seconds before eating. Public health agencies do not recommend consuming raw oysters.
If you believe you became sick from consuming the recalled oysters, Health Canada recommends contacting a doctor. Anyone who believes they purchased the product should check to see if they have it in their home or business. Do not consume the recalled oysters — either throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.
When people become sick with norovirus they typically develop symptoms of gastroenteritis within 24 to 48 hours, but symptoms can start within 12 hours after exposure. Even after becoming infected with norovirus, you can become re-infected. The main symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps. Other symptoms may include a low-grade fever, headaches, chills, muscle aches and fatigue.
Most people start to feel better after a day or two, however in severe cases, some patients require hospitalization. Those most at risk of severe outcomes from norovirus infection include pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, young children and seniors.
@SchislerCole
cole.schisler@bpdigital.ca
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https://www.aldergrovestar.com/news/cariboo-family-settling-into-everyday-life-after-mom-has-open-heart-surgery-during-pregnancy/
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Shina Biblow always knew she would have to have open heart surgery one day, she just never thought it would be when she was four months pregnant with her second child.
“He’s here and he’s healthy and growing. It’s a miracle,” said Biblow of the family’s latest addition, a healthy baby boy named Merritt, born Jan. 26.
Unlike her first textbook pregnancy a few years before with their son Morris, Shina developed health problems almost immediately that would require complex, high-risk heart surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital when she was just 15 weeks pregnant.
“There was a 40 per cent risk of losing the baby. It was very hard … (but if ) there’s no me, then there’s no baby so we had to do what we had to do.”
In a sense, Biblow’s story began 32 years ago. She was born with a narrowing of her aortic valve, the main blood vessel leaving the heart. She required surgery for this as an infant.
The condition meant that when she turned 18, she became part of the Pacific Adult Congenital Heart Clinic (PACH) at St. Paul’s Hospital, a multidisciplinary team that follows adults born with heart disease.
Feeling unwell from the pregnancy’s start
Apart from being unable to do certain intense sports, Biblow led a normal life, including an uneventful first pregnancy and birth of their oldest son, Morris.
This second pregnancy was different.
From the get-go, she felt unwell. “I was nauseous and tired, my heart was racing and I got what I call hot flashes,” she says. “I just assumed they were caused by a surge of pregnancy hormones.”
She received care at Cariboo Memorial Hospital’s emergency department.
“That’s when they discovered I was going into heart failure.”
Doctors sent an urgent referral to the highly specialized Cardiac Obstetrics Clinic (COB) at St. Paul’s Hospital. She received tests that revealed episodes of sudden extremely rapid heart rhythms.
Calf cramps followed – also a pregnancy symptom, she figured. When she developed itchy red spots on her body, she became alarmed.
“Things just kept getting worse,” Shina said.
Breathing was so hard she could not even care for her toddler. When she called a PACH Clinic nurse, she exploded into fits of coughing.
Dr. Marla Kiess, St. Paul’s cardiologist and COB founder, followed Biblow by Zoom to monitor the heart palpitations, shortness of breath and other symptoms.
A soaring heart rate
As they persisted, Dr. Kiess directed the local hospital to airlift her for more advanced care to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops on August 12. There, her heart rate soared to 190 beats/minute. A normal rate is 60 to 100.
Tests found growths on her aortic valve, suggesting a bacterial infection: serious in any patient, more so in a pregnant woman.
“The infection in the valve was totally unexpected and unpredictable,” recalls Dr. Kiess.
She and her team arranged for Biblow’s transfer to St. Paul’s, the only centre in British Columbia for complex cardiac-obstetrics cases like this.
Surgery poses big risk to fetus
Shortly after arriving on August 15, St. Paul’s cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Jamil Bashir told Biblow she’d need open-heart surgery to replace the infected aortic valve.
“It was scary,” says Biblow. “But it needed to be done if we wanted to keep the baby and save my life.”
Risks were high. “That point in gestation is a critical time in the baby’s evolution because many organs are developing,” says Dr. Kiess.
A complex case requires a large care team
In surgery, Biblow would be supported by a heart-lung bypass machine, which would reduce blood flow to the fetus and risk organ malformation. Alarmingly, it would bring a 40 per cent risk of the baby dying, says Dr. Kiess.
Because of the case’s complexity, her care team began a huge amount of planning to anticipate potential responses to problems in both mom and baby. It included nurses and doctors from cardiology, anesthesia, surgery, infectious diseases, the ICU, and obstetrics. Zoom proved invaluable.
Her husband Tyson, a millwright at Gibraltar Mine, rushed to Vancouver to be with his wife, narrowly getting over the Coquihalla pass before it was closed due to last summer’s wildfires.
Delicate balance around medication
On August 18, Dr. Bashir and his team successfully implanted a mechanical aortic valve to replace the severely infected one. The good news was, a mechanical valve (unlike a cadaver valve) would never have to be replaced. The bad news was, it increased Biblow’s risk of clotting. She would need blood thinners for the rest of her life.
Those drugs brought risks to the fetus, so Dr. Anna Rahmani and Dr. Tony Wan from the St. Paul’s Thrombosis clinic were also part of her care.
St. Paul’s teams then followed her post-surgery to monitor her with the new valve and pregnancy.
The birth approaches
As the delivery date approached, her team wanted her in Vancouver near the hospital several weeks before, to tend to her cardiac and obstetrical needs. Registered nurse Karen Sandhu, complex care coordinator for maternity, and Amy Graham, COB RN, oversaw the many logistics around that chapter, as did PACH/COB social worker Kassandra Maxwell.
“I coordinated with her St. Paul’s obstetrician, Dr. Nancy Matinko and the virtual visits Shina would have with her,” says Sandhu.
More planning ensued, especially around her anticoagulants. They had to stop in advance because of the risk of a severe bleed giving birth. Yet she couldn’t be off them for more than 24 hours because of clotting risks.
Amid it all, Merritt arrived on January 24 at 38 weeks’ gestation, weighing six pounds, four ounces. “With all the meds I was on, they were expecting a smaller baby,” Biblow says proudly. He is healthy and well.
The family is now home on their ranch, enjoying life at Miocene.
Shina has regular virtual visits with St. Paul’s teams, including COB and the Thrombosis Clinic.
She and her husband Tyson are grateful to St. Paul’s expansive team of doctors, nurses, social workers and many others who helped her and her baby survive risky cardiac surgery and see her through delivery and post-partum care.
“Even though everything happening was very scary and we didn’t know what the outcome was going to be, our faith and prayers from our family and friends, and the care from the team at St. Paul’s is what got us through the experience.”
With files from Providence Health Care
Read More: Chilcotin photographer’s Great Bear Rainforest images featured in National Geographic
Do you have a comment about this story? email:
editor@wltribune.com
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A driver pulled over in Langley going more than 200 km/h on Highway One lost his car for seven days and may lose his licence altogether.
On March 19, at 2:20 p.m., an officer with the BC Highway Patrol stopped a vehicle near 216th Street, after clocking it at 205 km/h, said Cpl. Mike Halskov, spokesperson for the highway patrol unit.
The driver was given a $483 ticket for excessive speeding on the spot, and officers also impounded the car for seven days, Halskov explained.
The officer then requested that RoadSafetyBC review the driver’s licence status, and recommending a driving ban.
The driver and a passenger found alternate transportation home, Halskov said.
“Given the totality of the circumstances including the traffic volume at the time, the driver would simply not have the time to perceive and react to to a situation,” said the corporal.
“At that speed, the potential for a collision is extremely high and would very likely result in fatalities. It also puts innocent motorists at risk because they are not expecting anyone to be traveling at those speeds.”
High-risk driving, including speeding, causes 114 deaths per year on average in B.C., according to ICBC.
READ ALSO: Six vehicles impounded after excessive speeding in Lower Mainland community
Have a story tip? Email: matthew.claxton@langleyadvancetimes.com
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A national 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to support survivors and those affected. You can access emotional and crisis support referral services by calling 1-866-925-4419.
The Nadleh Whut’en First Nation in northern B.C. outlined priorities such as an apology from Pope Francis amid discussions at the Vatican in a statement to the press on Wednesday (March 30).
Nadleh Whut’en representatives are part of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) delegation to the Vatican alongside more than 100 First Nations people from across Canada including residential school survivors, elders, youth and support staff.
Nadleh Whut’en is calling on the Pope to visit the site of the former Lejac Indian Residential School to “further discuss reparations and a better path forward” as part of an apology for the role the Catholic Church played in the residential school system in Canada.
The school was operated by the Catholic Church under contract with the Canadian government from when it opened in 1922 until 1976. First Nations say hundreds of their children were forced to attend Lejac, many never to return home.
Nadleh Whut’en Chief Larry Nooski said the Catholic Church “has yet to apologize, compensate or meaningfully support reconciliation” with Nadleh Whut’en and more than 70 B.C. First Nation communities that had their children taken to Lejac.
“This meeting with Pope Francis, to witness an apology, is a historic moment for Nadleh Whut’en and other First Nations from across Canada,” Nooski wrote.
“Many survivors of the Lejac Indian Residential School carry pain and suffering as a result of abuse from priests and nuns at the school.”
Nadleh Whut’en delegates Eleanor Nooski and Tanya Stump said they will prioritize the return of stolen artifacts and access to Vatican archives.
READ MORE: Nadleh Whut’en delegates prepare for Vatican visit to push for residential school archives
The First Nation is also seeking for Rose Prince to be officially recognized as a saint. Prince died in 1949 of tuberculosis. Since 1990, the devout have held pilgrimages to her grave at Lejac where Father Joules Goulet’s prayers and anointments are said to heal the chronically injured.
The First Nation said discussions with the Catholic Church must also include the “rejection and retraction” of the “doctrine of discovery.” Papal laws gave license to explorers to claim terra nullius [vacant land] in the name of their sovereign and defined “vacant” as not populated by Christians.
Nadleh Whut’en Chief and Council offered prayers and support for all delegates to the Vatican saying the First Nation continue will continue to seek justice, restitution and apology for the harms committed by the Catholic Church to their children.
READ MORE: Nadleh Whut’en First Nation plans for unmarked grave search at Lejac residential school site
Do you have a comment about this story? email:
michael.bramadat-willcock@ominecaexpress.com
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S. Korea logs trade deficit as import costs rise on Ukraine war
Export-reliant economy saw imports jump to a record $63.62bn in March, led by purchases of crude oil, gas and coal.
South Korea’s trade balance swung to a deficit in March as a sharp rise in prices of energy and raw material imports caused by supply snags and the Ukraine war offset bumper gains in exports.
Exports in March grew 18.2 percent from a year earlier to a record $63.48bn, trade ministry data showed on Friday, beating an expected 17.5 percent growth in a Reuters’ poll but slower than the 20.6 percent in February. Exports have extended gains for 17 straight months.
“March exports turned out better than expected and helped avoid a wider trade deficit, even as external risks such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis continued to add pressure,” said Park Sang-hyun, chief economist at Hi Investment & Securities.
“Despite worries about the chip industry outlook, semiconductors exports remained solid, supporting the overall data.”
Friday’s data showed shipments of semiconductors, the country’s top export earner, stood at a record $13.12bn, while that for petrochemical products also reached a record $5.42bn.
By destination, exports to China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner, increased 16.6 percent, and those to the United States rose 19.9 percent.
‘Dodged the worst’
Imports, meanwhile, jumped 27.9 percent to a record $63.62bn, with a combined $16.19bn worth of imports of crude oil, gas and coal taking the lead. That brought the trade balance to a $140m deficit, after logging a $831m surplus in February.
Cost pressures may ease going forward as the Biden administration on Thursday announced the release of 1 million barrels of crude oil per day for six months starting in May to lower gasoline prices.
“With the Ukraine crisis persisting, it is too early to feel relieved, but (with Biden’s announcement) I think we can say we dodged the worst in terms of import growth and trade balance,” Park said.
Separately on Friday, a private sector survey showed factory activity slowed in March as the economic fallout from the Ukraine war added strains to firms already struggling with supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures
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20 Years After Seder Massacre, PA Continues to Glorify and Reward Murderers
by Maurice Hirsch
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Passover Seder Massacre. As families sat down to participate in the Passover dinner at the Park Hotel in Netanya in northern Israel, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up, murdering 30 people and injuring another 160.
Every month, the Palestinian Authority (PA) spends tens of thousands of shekels/dollars/euros to reward the family of the suicide bomber and pay salaries to the terrorists who were arrested for their part in the massacre.
Above is an image of the victims of the attack (but only the murdered, not the wounded).
Among the terrorists arrested for the attack are:
Abbas Al-Sayid — Arrested May 2002 — Main planner of the attack. Sentenced to 35 life sentences.
Fathi Hatib — Arrested May 2002 — Convicted for transporting the suicide bomber. Sentenced to 29 life sentences.
Muhannad Shreim — Arrested May 2002 — Financed the attack. Sentenced to 29 life sentences.
Muamar Al-Sheikh — Arrested May 2002 — deputy of Abbas Al-Sayid. Sentenced to 29 life sentences.
Each one of the terrorists above has by now been paid over one million shekels by the PA as a reward for their participation in the murder of 30 Israelis.
The PA has also paid hundreds of thousands of shekels to the families of Kais Adwan, one of the main planners of the attack, who was killed on April 5, 2002, and to the family of the suicide bomber, Abd Al-Basset Odeh.
The PA has repeatedly honored the mastermind, Abbas Al-Sayid, calling him, among other things a “heroic fighter” and “the lion of the prison cells.” [PA TV, Oct. 25, 2011]
In 2017, Al-Sayid was among many other terrorist murderers glorified by Fatah in a post on the Fatah Facebook page.
At the graduation ceremony held in honor of Shreim on his completing a degree while in prison, Al-Quds Open University President Dr. Younes Amr referred to Shreim as a “prisoner knight.” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 29, 2018]
The PA has also repeatedly glorified the suicide bomber Abd Al-Basset Odeh.
While praising the terrorists of the Jenin refugee camp who “wrote a heroic epic in blood” during the 2000-2005 PA terror campaign, the official PA daily singled out Odeh:
“Each year in April the blood of the Martyrs sprouts flowers. All the words are silenced, but not the memories of the refugee camp whose residents wrote a heroic epic in blood. … The location: The Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. The time: The beginning of April 2002. The heroes of the story are hundreds of resistance members and all the residents of the refugee camp who stand firm. … They tell the story of the blood that flowed in the alleys of the camp, which wrote an epic of resolve. Despite the siege, it achieved a great victory. … After Martyrdom-seeker Abd Al-Basset Odeh from Tulkarem in the northwest of the occupied West Bank carried out a self-sacrificing operation [i.e., suicide bombing] on March 27, 2002, in which 30 Israelis were killed at the Park Hotel in occupied Umm Khaled – which the occupation changed its name to ‘Netanya.’” [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 5, 2021]
In January 2003, less than a year after the deadly attack, the PA Ministry of Education even held a football tournament named in honor of suicide bomber Odeh:
“In the football field of Tulkarem’s Abd Al-Majid Tayeh School, under the auspices of Jamal Tarif, Director of the Education Department [of the PA Ministry of Education] … the Tulkarem Martyrs’ (Shahids’) Football Tournament, the Championship of the Martyr Abd Al-Basset Odeh, began with the participation of seven top teams, named after Martyrs who gave their lives to redeem the Homeland.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan 21, 2003]
It’s important to stress that PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has admitted that the PA was responsible for this and all terror from 2000-2005. When explaining the PA demand that Israel release all the Palestinian terrorists, he left no room for misconceptions:
Other PA leaders have similarly repeated this claim.
The PA’s adulation, glorification, and rewarding of terrorists, including mass murderers, is something that every decent human being should ferociously reject. People who praise and reward terrorist murderers, simply because they murdered Jews, are not — and will never be — partners for peace.
Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, Adv. is the Head of Legal Strategies for Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
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