text string | url string | crawl_date timestamp[ns, tz=UTC] | source_domain string | group string | id string | in_blocksbin int64 | in_noblocksbin int64 | tag string | minhash_count string |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A few minutes' discussion followed over various ways through which God might have intervened or worked directly. This involved us, the men'... read. PERHAM, Minn. — A unique sport is putting the spotlight on a small Minnesota town.
Every Wednesday, people from all over gather in Perham to participate in turtle racing.
"45 years ago, we started racing turtles in the alleyway behind the post office. And it evolved over the years," Perham Chamber of Commerce director Nick Murdock said to CBS affiliate WCCO.
The races now take part in the courtyard behind the chamber of commerce.
The news outlet reported anywhere from 200 to 500 racers come out each week.
According to the news outlet, competitors can either pick a turtle when they arrive or bring their own.
But turtles that are painted can participate, the news outlet reported.
The chamber says no experience is necessary, and anyone who shows up can race.
According to the city's website, the races run from June through August. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/unique-sport-of-turtle-racing-attracts-people-to-small-minnesota-town | 2022-08-12T16:01:59Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/unique-sport-of-turtle-racing-attracts-people-to-small-minnesota-town | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
With cruise vacations making a comeback and heading towards some normality, many will wonder which cruise lines have dropped or eased the vaccine and cruise testing requirements.
With the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently ending its COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships, cruise lines are now starting to ease the testing requirements gradually.
Cruise Lines Begin Dropping Requirements
In this article, we’ll take a look at the cruise lines that have already reduced the testing requirements. We’ll keep updating this page so you don’t miss any of the latest updates when it comes to easing protocols for cruises.
In This Article…
Azamara
On July 19, 2022, the luxury cruise line Azamara announced the removal of its embarkation testing requirement starting from July 25, 2022. It means guests no longer need to worry about showing proof of a negative test result to go on a cruise.
However, guests do still have to undergo a pre-cruise test when departing from ports that still have that requirement in place. The full list of ports that still require a pre-cruise test can be viewed here.
Carnival Cruise Line
Since the CDC Voluntary Program for U.S. Based Cruise Ships ended in July, Carnival Cruise Line joined the list of cruise lines that have removed some testing requirements.
On shorter cruises that are five days or less from August 4, 2022, fully vaccinated guests no longer have to provide a pre-cruise test result. However, due to requirements at specific destinations, cruises that sail to Bermuda and Grand Cayman still require guests to take a pre-cruise test, no matter the cruise length. For these sailings, guests can take a test three days before departure, including embarkation day.
For cruises six days or more, the testing requirements remain in place for guests aged two and above. This includes a PCR or antigen test taken three days before departure. On back-to-back voyages that are 16 days or more, guests will have to undergo a test between cruises.
Celebrity Cruises
Starting from August 8, Celebrity Cruises will have its newly updated protocols in place. The Royal Caribbean-owned cruise brand will no longer require vaccinated guests to take a pre-cruise test on shorter sailings under six nights in length from U.S. ports.
When it comes to six nights and longer sailings, all guests will be required to do a pre-cruise test. The cruise line is dealing with full details on these newly updated protocols shortly. You can also check the official details here.
August 10, 2022 Update
Just as sister cruise line Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises will introduce even further relaxed protocols on sailings departing from September 5, 2022. All guests, regardless of vaccination status, can cruise out of the UK, Europe and Los Angeles as long as the testing requirements can be met.
Margaritaville at Sea
As of July 22, 2022, Margaritaville at Sea no longer requires testing for vaccinated guests. Vaccinated guests will need to provide proof of vaccination (two-dose or single dose taken at least 14 days prior to departure), and unvaccinated guests will need to provide negative antigen test results administered by a verified testing agency, taken no more than one day prior to sailing date.
Guests aged three and older may embark without testing or vaccination, if providing documentation that he/she has recovered from COVID-19 between ten to 90 days prior to the departure date (not counting departure date), presenting a positive test result from a dated CDC-approved testing facility. Guests under two years old will have no vaccination or testing requirements.
MSC Cruises
On August 1, 2022, MSC Cruises announced that starting from August 8, fully vaccinated guests sailing on a cruise of five nights or shorter will no longer be required to provide a negative test result before sailing. Instead, the cruise line only recommends getting tested before sailing.
For all unvaccinated guests aged two years and up, a lab-administered negative viral test (NAAT or antigen) taken within three days of embarkation is needed for all cruises from U.S. ports. The same policy counts for all cruises onboard MSC cruise ships sailing itineraries six days and longer from U.S. ports.
Norwegian Cruise Line
On August 8, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced a further easing of protocols starting on September 3, 2022, across its three cruise brands. The company has relaxed its protocols more than any other, with vaccinated guests aged 12 and over no longer having to undergo any pre-cruise requirements.
Read Also: Oceania Cruises Releases Updated Cruise Requirements
The cruise line will also accept unvaccinated guests with a negative test result taken within 72 hours before departure. However, for cruises that depart or visit Canada, Greece and Bermuda, protocols may be more strict due to local requirements in place.
Royal Caribbean
Effective August 8, 2022, Royal Caribbean testing requirements will vary by port of departure and vaccination status. For all sailings from U.S. homeports with no stops in Bermuda or Canada, fully vaccinated guests must bring a negative PCR or antigen test result taken within the three days before boarding on sailings that are six nights or longer only, but testing is not required for fully vaccinated guests on shorter itineraries.
Guests two to 11 years of age who are not fully vaccinated will need to bring a negative test result for an antigen or PCR test taken within the three days before boarding day, regardless of the duration of the cruise, but they will no longer be required to take a second test at the terminal. Guests under the age of two will have no testing requirements.
August 10, 2022 Update
On August 10, Royal Caribbean announced that further updates would be coming on departures from September 5, 2022, on select sailings. The vaccine requirement on cruises out of Galveston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and homeports in Europe will be dropped. However, guests will still need to follow the pre-cruise test requirements for these departures.
Viking Cruises
Currently, Viking will require all guests to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at least 14 days prior to travel. Viking will no longer require a pre-departure test, unless one is required by the destination.
As of June 14, 2022, select voyages on the Viking Orion and the Viking Octantis in the United States and Canada will continue to require a pre-departure test.
Virgin Voyages
Updated August 2, 2022, a majority (90%) of guests will need to be vaccinated, but ten percent of guests may be unvaccinated and will be required to bring a negative test result taken within 24 hours of embarkation.
As of July 24, 2022, for Valiant Lady and July 27, 2022, for Scarlet Lady, testing to board for vaccinated guests was removed.
More Changes to Come
With multiple cruise lines relaxing requirements step-by-step, cruisers can expect further updates to come. Cruise lines are aiming to allow all guests to sail and align with other travel sectors.
There is currently no clear date for when all requirements will be fully dropped, but Cruise Hive will make sure readers are updated on this page. It is always important to check the official protocols from a cruise line if you have a planned cruise vacation. | https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-lines-that-dont-require-vaccine-and-pre-cruise-testing/76004 | 2022-08-12T16:02:32Z | cruisehive.com | control | https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-lines-that-dont-require-vaccine-and-pre-cruise-testing/76004 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Environmental Enforcement officers are seeking information from the public after they found a puppy inside of a dumpster Thursday.
According to the Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Department, officers responded to the 500 block of Willis Terrance Road after receiving a call about a dog in a dumpster.
Once officers arrived on the scene, they found a black and tan male Shepherd/hound mix, around six to seven weeks old, lying inside the commercial dumpster along with bags of trash.
Officers also located a dog bed inside the dumpster.
Anyone with information about this puppy is asked to call the Environmental Enforcement Department at (864) 596-3582. | https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/puppy-found-in-spartanburg-co-dumpster/ | 2022-08-12T16:06:54Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/puppy-found-in-spartanburg-co-dumpster/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) — Republican Tim Scott’s memoir “America, a Redemption Story: Choosing Hope, Creating Unity” was released earlier this week and is now on top of Amazon’s best-seller list for state and local governments.
In the memoir, Scott recalls important events from his life with stories of other people who have risen above hardship and embodied the values that make our nation great, according to a press release for the book, released on Tuesday.
“I wake up every day with a dream for our country that I just can’t shake. It is the same dream I had when I first stepped into public service in South Carolina back in 1995. In my dream, the American people are more unified than they have ever been. In my dream, a single mother has everything she needs to be successful. In my dream, our nation is woven together by our core convictions that transcend race, ideology, and any other societal markers of identity. My dream is that when we are under duress, we will turn to each other rather than against each other. Though I will explain how it came to be in a later chapter, the dream that motivates me more than any other is the idea that my life will positively influence the lives of one billion people before I die. I get that this might sound crazy, but the best stories always are!”
In an interview with CBS News, Scott said he has a “good relationship” with Donald Trump, and he devoted two chapters of his memoir to the former president.
The book also includes a lot about Scott’s grandfather who was born in 1921, and the struggle for racial equality during that time.
“We’ve had an African American president, African American vice president. We’ve had more success in the last 50 years than we had in the first 190 combined, so we should continue to focus on what needs to be done while celebrating what we’ve already accomplished together,” Scott said in a CBS interview.
Scott also said he does not have plans to run for president in the interview but is instead focusing on re-election this year in South Carolina.
“I certainly believe my best objective today is to make sure I’m as successful as possible in my re-election, and that’s to make sure the voters and constituents of South Carolina, whether they vote for me or not, see me as their United States senator,” he said in the interview.
Scott has served as a US Senator from South Carolina since 2013. | https://www.wspa.com/news/politics/sc-republican-tim-scotts-memoir-tops-amazons-best-seller-list/ | 2022-08-12T16:06:55Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/politics/sc-republican-tim-scotts-memoir-tops-amazons-best-seller-list/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained.
Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.
His condition was not immediately known.
Hundreds of people in the audience gasped at the sight of the attack and were then evacuated.
Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses” has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. A year later, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death.
A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
Rushdie dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was “no evidence” of people being interested in the reward.
That year, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” but his name became known around the world after “The Satanic Verses.”
The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, is known for its summertime lecture series. Rushdie has spoken there before. | https://www.wspa.com/news/top-stories/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-on-stage-in-new-york/ | 2022-08-12T16:06:56Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/top-stories/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-on-stage-in-new-york/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MILWAUKEE, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- To address the growing needs for corporations to attract qualified employees, manage project-driven travel movements, and support non-profiled travelers, Adelman Travel has introduced Elite Guest Travel Management (GTM), the end-to end solution designed to efficiently manage travel, payment, expense, and reimbursement for any guest or non-profiled traveler. The unique solution combines technology and high-touch service to deliver a superior travel experience for the guest traveler, and a simplified process for the travel coordinator.
Adelman's Elite GTM is ideal for all guest traveler types including contractors, vendors, clients, training attendees and new hires, field and crew workers, and traveling medical professionals. Its flexible design enables Adelman's customers, and companies who may use an alternative TMC for their business travel program, to take advantage of the solution's benefits.
"After listening to our customers, we identified there is more demand for a solution to manage the "guest" traveler," said Jason Horstman, President & COO of Adelman Travel. "Many companies lost employees during the pandemic and are now struggling to replace them. As a result, they are regularly bringing in candidates from remote locations for interviews. The initial travel experience can be a factor in how the candidate perceives the company and may determine whether or not they accept a job offer. Adelman's approach has always been to design innovative products, services, and solutions that will meet the changing needs of our customers, and we're dedicated to staying on this path."
Adelman's Elite GTM solution is backed by Elite VIP service and proactive travel disruption management through a dedicated agent service team. The team proactively manages the experience with the guest travel coordinator to ensure the needs of the customer and guest traveler are always met. With a "follow the traveler" model, Elite GTM delivers proactive support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for both agent-booked and self-service reservations, while fully incorporating an organization's travel policy, preferred vendors and contracts into the process.
"The responsibility for booking this type of travel often falls on the shoulders of the human resources department, costing them time they can often ill afford to spend on this task," said Jeff Ochaita, Adelman's Director of Customer Technology & Global Solutions. "Elite GTM simplifies the whole process. Plus, we design customized self-service options, allowing customers to integrate the best digital solutions to meet their needs. With a self-service option, travelers can make their own travel arrangements then easily capture receipts, submit their expenses, and receive automated reimbursements for any ancillary costs."
Other features of Adelman's Elite GTM include customized payment options including virtual and mobile; full reporting and traveler tracking; easy expense reconciliation; and simplified subscription pricing.
About Adelman Travel Group
Adelman Travel Group, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been providing clients with high-quality corporate travel management services for over 37 years, and continues to evolve into one of the largest and most respected TMCs in North America. Adelman specializes in creating customized travel, payment, and expense management programs to meet the unique needs of each corporate client. Adelman Travel is a wholly owned midmarket division of BCD Travel, operating in 109 locations worldwide, providing global, regional, and local expertise. To learn more about Adelman's Elite Guest Travel Management (GTM) solution, visit: https://www.adelmantravel.com/guest_travel_management/
Contact:
Laura Schad
LSchad@adelmantravel.com
414-410-8382
View original content:
SOURCE Adelman Travel Group | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/12/adelman-travel-enhances-guest-traveler-experience-launching-their-newest-solution-elite-guest-travel-management/ | 2022-08-12T16:09:52Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/12/adelman-travel-enhances-guest-traveler-experience-launching-their-newest-solution-elite-guest-travel-management/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A pup in Georgia has gone from the animal shelter to the silver screen.
Coco plays the lead character's four-legged companion on Hulu's "Prey."
On its Facebook page, Fulton County Animal Services says she came into their care in early 2021.
The shelter says Coco had no film training and was adopted specifically for the movie.
"She was originally meant to have a small role however her popularity among test audiences encouraged director Dan Trachtenberg to include more of Coco in the film," the group said.
They say Coco's fame shines a light on what shelter dogs are capable of when given a chance. | https://www.katc.com/entertainment/pup-in-georgia-goes-from-animal-shelter-to-movie-star | 2022-08-12T16:11:07Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/entertainment/pup-in-georgia-goes-from-animal-shelter-to-movie-star | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
OXON HILL, Md. — Experiencing the sweet taste of success isn't too much of a stretch at The Furlough Cheesecake.
"The world is reopening," said Jaqi Thompson, who along with her sister, Nikki Thomspon Howard, owns the cheesecake shop.
The Thompson sisters know a thing or two about navigating the choppy waters of small business ownership.
"I think that that was a blessing and that helped propel us to keep on moving," Nikki Thompson Howard said.
We first met the duo when they started The Furlough Cheesecake, which was initially born when the two former government employees found themselves furloughed during the government shutdown several years ago.
"Sometimes I still wake up and say, ‘What am I doing?,’” Jaqi said. “Honestly, being career government workers, you know, you can be programmed into doing a certain routine all the time."
Yet, they took a risk and started their small business first online, only to then face the pandemic right as they opened their first storefront at National Harbor in Maryland.
"We started during adversity,” Nikki said.” We came through the pandemic."
They managed to stay open throughout, but not everyone did.
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, 41% of Black-owned businesses in the U.S. closed either temporarily or permanently, according to researchers at UC Santa Cruz.
Now, they say that's changing with Black-owned businesses experiencing the strongest rebound compared to those of other racial or ethnic groups. The number of Black-owned businesses in the U.S. is up 38%, while for Hispanics, it is up 15%. Businesses owned by Asians are down 2% and those owned by whites are down 3%.
"Over the life existence of Blacks in America, we've demonstrated great resolve, notwithstanding the turmoil and the ongoing headwinds that we encounter," said John Harmon, who heads up the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, part of a network of national Black Chambers of Commerce.
Researchers say what helped make a difference is the support Black small business owners experienced with so-called "Buy Black Owned" grassroots efforts.
"Blacks rallied together, leveraged their $1.4 trillion spend, that we spend annually, and in 2024 is projected by Nielsen to be $1.8 trillion,” Harmon said. “So, what it demonstrated is that, when we have to, we can unite and when we get laser-focus our excellence is exemplified."
Back at The Furlough Cheesecake, the Thompson sisters said they experienced that support first-hand.
"Our family and friends - when we say it's a community effort, it is really a community effort," Nikki said.
Something they have worked through with their trademark humor and wisdom.
"But we bounce back!" Nikki said.
"Like a rubber band," Jaqi added, "but that hurts sometimes when you bounce back."
"It does," Nikki agreed.
“Because it smacks!" they said together.
"We have learned how to weather the storm," Nikki said.
Now, they and other small business owners are looking forward to clearer skies ahead. | https://www.katc.com/news/national/black-owned-business-experiencing-rebound-from-pandemic-lows | 2022-08-12T16:11:12Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/national/black-owned-business-experiencing-rebound-from-pandemic-lows | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
You might remember a time when it was commonplace to look up someone’s phone number or address in the phone book.
Phone books, for the most part, are a thing of the past, and today, much of that information is available online.
There are countless websites. like Whitepages.com and Nuwber.com which can list information like your current address, past addresses, and cell phone number.
While these websites can be handy if you’re looking to make sure that someone you’re hiring or meeting with is who they say they are, many people have raised privacy concerns about their contact information being available with just a quick internet search.
“In the past, we were protected by, if you wanted access to these public records, you would have to have a copy of the Whitepages directly yourself or go to the public library to look them up,” said Dr. Jennifer King, an expert on data privacy at the law school at Stanford University.
She says these websites gather our information from public records, many of which are available online. Records websites can get our information from property records, voting registries, and even divorce decrees.
Since this information is all public, it's legal to post it without your permission.
Dr. Bernard Chao is a former Silicon Valley lawyer who now teaches at The University of Denver's Sturm College of Law. He says a conversation that has come up in his classes is whether all public information should be accessible with just an online search.
"It took so much effort to get the information. You wouldn't go down to the courthouse to find out whether your neighbor's divorce was messy or not. I mean it just wasn't worth it, but you might Google that," Chao explained. "Maybe that's information we want private even though previously you could have gotten the information with a lot of effort."
We reached out to five people finding websites with questions about how they get the information that is on their sites: Whitepages.com, Nuwber.com, OfficialUSA.com, Truepeoplesearch.com, and Clustrmaps.com.
Clustrmaps.com is the only one that responded with answers. It says it hopes the site can be used to help old friends reunite. The company said it gathers its information from hundreds of data sources, like property records and it also pays third parties for information gathered across the web.
We asked about the privacy concerns people may have with their information being on their site, the company stated there is a free opt-out option people can use to get their information taken down. Opting out is a feature offered on many people finding websites.
Chao says opting out of each one would be a chore.
"I don't think normal people have time to do that," Chao said.
There are services like DeleteMe, which for around $19 a month will wipe your name from Google searches.
"Even if you use those tools, it might not plug all the holes and there still might be data available that someone hunting could find," King said.
While states like California, Colorado, and Illinois have passed laws in recent years surrounding data privacy, Chao says lawmakers have not been able to pass meaningful legislation on the federal level.
"I think it is very hard to have any framework where it is on the individual to contact multiple entities to ensure their privacy," Chao said. "I think we need to have laws that say you don't have to do that. We have to have it the other way. The default is no your information is private and if you really, really, really want this, you’re going to have to get it from the individual.” | https://www.katc.com/news/national/how-people-finding-websites-get-your-information-what-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself | 2022-08-12T16:11:27Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/national/how-people-finding-websites-get-your-information-what-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Moderna is working on a stronger tool to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, officials say it will take time.
The drugmaker says research is underway toward a one-dose, yearly booster to battle the coronavirus, the flu, and other respiratory issues.
Its CEO, Stéphane Bancel, hopes to have it ready within the next five years.
"The idea is a bit like the iPhone. A lot of us buy a new iPhone every September, and you get new apps, and you get refreshed apps. And that's exactly the same idea, which is you'll get COVID and flu and RSV in your single dose," Bancel told CNN Business.
Moderna also has dozens of other products in the works, including a cancer vaccine and a monkeypox shot. | https://www.katc.com/news/national/moderna-ceo-eyes-future-with-annual-vaccine-for-multiple-viruses | 2022-08-12T16:11:33Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/national/moderna-ceo-eyes-future-with-annual-vaccine-for-multiple-viruses | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
New York City health officials said that the poliovirus has been detected in wastewater in the city, likely meaning that there is a community spread of the virus.
Health officials urged unvaccinated New Yorkers to get vaccinated.
"With polio circulating in our communities, there is simply nothing more essential than vaccinating our children to protect them from this virus, and if you're an unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated adult, please choose now to get the vaccine. Polio is entirely preventable and its reappearance should be a call to action for all of us,” said NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan.
Officials in Rockland and Orange counties in New York also reported poliovirus in wastewater there in recent weeks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that most people infected with poliovirus, the virus that causes polio, do not experience symptoms. In severe cases of polio, it can cause permanent disability and death.
Nationally, 92% of children are fully vaccinated from polio by 24 months, the CDC said. The vaccine is considered 99% effective after three doses.
The CDC said that in the early 1950s, polio caused 13,000 to 20,000 paralytic cases a year. The development of vaccines in the mid-1950s dramatically reduced that number.
In 1960, there were 2,525 paralytic cases reported, and by 1965, just 61.
The CDC said that there has not been a single reported case of naturally spreading polio within the United States since 1979. | https://www.katc.com/news/national/polio-now-spreading-among-nyc-residents-officials-say | 2022-08-12T16:11:39Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/national/polio-now-spreading-among-nyc-residents-officials-say | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
On behalf of passenger legs and backs across the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration announced on August 3 that it was seeking public comments on whether the agency should set minimum dimensions for airplane seats—not only the space between rows, or seat pitch, but the width and length of the seat itself. The FAA is focusing on the safety of these layouts, mainly the ability of fliers to get in and out of their seats in the event of an emergency. Under current rules,, airplane makers must prove that a full planeload can be evacuated in 90 seconds.
Fliers hoping for a more comfortable ride soon, though, may have to wait: The FAA says its mandate doesn’t extend beyond safety, and it noted that it isn’t interested in comments on the “unrelated” issues of passenger comfort or convenience. But many people believe they are related, judging from the more than 5,000 comments posted less than a week after the announcement, well ahead of the November 1 deadline.
Unsurprisingly, there were a slew of rants from frustrated fliers. “Airplane seat sizes are ridiculously small and uncomfortable,” wrote one person who posted as “Anonymous.” “You can barely move, much less cross your legs, and if you can even recline it is frowned upon,” said another. “There is nothing safe about jamming people in like sardines.”
Another self-described “tall” passenger noted that seat pitch has shrunk—the average is around 30 inches but is as narrow as 28 inches on some budget airlines—and complained that airlines are now using their wider exit rows “as another money maker.” Others griped about their seat’s width, which in economy class currently ranges from 17 to 18 inches. “I have to squeeze into the seat,” wrote one commenter, suggesting that “the arm on the aisle seats should be allowed to lift for better access in and out.”
If you’re getting a sense of déjà vu reading this, it’s because this issue has been kicking around for years. It dates back to 2018 when Congress passed a massive FAA authorization bill that, among other provisions, ordered the agency’s administrator to draw up regulations to establish minimum standards for seat size, seat width, and the width of aisles—something it had never done before. The FAA was also required to get input on the seat issue from disparate sources like the Centers for Disease Control, passenger advocacy groups, and ergonomic engineers.
No other form of transportation—trains, buses, boats—forces you to give up your mobility device when you board.
The FAA did study evacuation data and did some tests. After deadlines passed and no standards emerged, consumer group Flyers Rights filed a petition in January 2022 in federal court to force the agency to live up to the law.
“Enough is enough,” FlyersRights.org President Paul Hudson said at the time. “The FAA has had three years to address this important safety issue,” adding that “shrinking seat size can pose safety and health risks, including for emergency evacuations.”
Whether the FAA’s latest move will lead to some long-awaited standards is anyone’s guess. Passenger advocates were concerned when the FAA submitted a letter to Congress in March, suggesting that simulated aircraft evacuations conducted in 2019 and 2020 showed seating “did not adversely affect the success” of these tests. “I don’t understand how the FAA, which is responsible for our safety, is saying this isn’t a problem,” says William McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of the book Attention All Passengers. Setting a minimum on seat pitch might be a start, he said, but “in the past, the can always gets kicked down the road.”
That can may not land too far this time. Air travel woes have apparently gotten the attention of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who’s pushed for new protections on family seating and other issues and has spoken out about the rights of disabled passengers. In recent comments marking the anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, Buttigieg said he would support a proposal to allow passengers to remain in their wheelchairs during flights, a move that would likely require airlines to remove several rows of seats to create the necessary space. “No other form of transportation—trains, buses, boats—forces you to give up your mobility device when you board,” he said, although he conceded that “we know this won’t happen overnight.”
That may be an understatement: A follow-up statement released by the DOT pointed out that further testing would be needed “to understand how a secured personal wheelchair can meet the crashworthiness and other relevant safety requirements of FAA.” | https://www.afar.com/magazine/are-airplane-seats-too-small | 2022-08-12T16:18:28Z | afar.com | control | https://www.afar.com/magazine/are-airplane-seats-too-small | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CHEYENNE – A WyoFile investigation of the three candidates vying to be Wyoming’s next secretary of state reveals differences in professional experience, political backing and history of compliance with the laws and regulations enforced by this very office.
Secretary of state is the second highest office in Wyoming’s executive branch behind only the governor. It’s a four-year position.
Rep. Gray
Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, has represented House District 57 in the Legislature since 2017.
He declined to answer questions.
He has listed Mount Rushmore Broadcasting Inc. as his sole employment – initially working as a program director, then later as an operations manager.
Mount Rushmore Broadcasting was administratively dissolved by the state almost two decades ago for failing to file annual reports and pay its license fees to Wyoming. Gray’s father, Jan Charles Gray, is president of the Delaware-based entity, according to state records. The entity uses a registered agent in its Wyoming filings, and 2016 documents from the Federal Communications Commission indicate that the elder Gray is the owner.
Like all out-of-state entities, it was required to obtain a certificate of authority from the secretary of state’s office before transacting business in the state. It did so in 1993, but failed to file requisite annual reports and pay yearly fees based on its assets.
Mount Rushmore entered into a 24-month period during which it could have paid a reinstatement fee, as well as what was already owed. The company did not comply within the two-year window, after which Wyoming statute does not allow entities to be brought back into good standing.
Monique Meese with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office confirmed that Mount Rushmore Broadcasting Inc. was administratively dissolved on June 10, 2003, and thereby lost the ability to be reinstated. The entity is not under review by the office, Meese said, because no written complaints had been submitted.
On his most recent state elected officials financial disclosure form dated Jan. 28, 2022, Gray listed operations manager of Mount Rushmore Broadcasting as his employment. According to his campaign website, he began his career there in 2013 “as a radio executive and hosted a conservative radio show,” until 2019.
During a July candidate forum in Casper, Gray said he became a permanent resident of Wyoming in 2012. He spent his childhood summers here with his father after his parents divorced, he said.
Prior to going to work for his father, Gray graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with bachelor’s of science and bachelor’s of arts degrees, according to his lawmaker biography.
When WyoFile approached Gray to clarify his professional experience immediately following the forum in Casper, he declined to answer questions, saying he would respond to written questions. WyoFile sent questions.
Gray responded with a statement about ballot drop boxes and ballot harvesting – he feels both are threats to election integrity.
Mount Rushmore Broadcasting is currently the licensee for two AM stations and five FM stations in Wyoming, according to FCC records. Most of those stations are in Casper, and all but one of those can currently be heard on the air.
In 2016, three years after Gray claims to have begun working there, Mount Rushmore entered into a consent decree with the FCC for failing to maintain a full-time management and staff presence at the main studio of two of its stations during regular business hours, among other things. One term was a $25,000 civil penalty, which was less than the originally proposed penalty. Mount Rushmore Broadcasting submitted a sworn statement along with several years of tax returns indicating an inability to pay all forfeitures, according to the consent decree.
The original amount was just under $160,000, according to the FCC. Mount Rushmore Broadcasting was required to pay the remainder of the originally proposed penalties if the FCC found it misled the commission regarding its financial status. The commission declined to say whether that occurred.
In 2015, Mount Rushmore Broadcasting paid almost $5,000 in back wages to former employees, after the U.S. Department of Labor sued the entity for not properly paying its workers.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, it received more than $28,000 through the federal Paycheck Protection Program in order to retain two jobs. Gray, an opponent of federal subsidies, voted during the 2022 Legislative session against a bill authorizing the state to spend other pandemic relief funds.
Jan Charles Gray did not respond to requests for comment.
Chuck Gray’s campaign finances and personal resources have recently been challenged. Last week, former Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, raising questions about how a candidate who reports an annual income of around $10,000 could loan his own campaign almost $300,000. At a debate in Casper earlier this week, Gray said he inherited the money from his grandfather.
Gray’s financial dealings disqualify him from the job, according to one of his opponents, Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne. Nethercott has been endorsed by Maxfield.
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Gray’s candidacy, as have Reps. John Bear, R-Gillette; Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, Mark Jennings, R-Sheridan, and Wyoming State Treasurer Curt Meier.
Tara Nethercott
Nethercott, a Cheyenne attorney, has represented Senate District 4 since 2017.
Since 2013, Nethercott has been late six times to file annual reports with Wyoming for her in-state corporation, Tara B. Nethercott P.C. At no point did she exceed the 24-month compliance window, and the attorney’s business remains in good standing. Nethercott is also properly authorized to practice law in the state, according to Wyoming state bar records, and has no history of disciplinary charges or public discipline.
After growing up in Fremont County, Nethercott said she earned three degrees from the University of Wyoming, including her juris doctorate in 2009. From there, she said she began a private practice in Cheyenne and spent about a decade with Woodhouse Roden Nethercott. The firm relied on federal pandemic relief through a PPP loan of $111,000 in order to retain nine employees. Nethercott voted against the same ARPA allocation bill that Gray did, but said her vote was due to what was left out of the bill and she would not have voted against it had the vote been closer.
She currently practices with Crowley Fleck, and much of her legal work involves business organizations, according to the lawmaker.
“I am the most qualified candidate running for a variety of reasons,” Nethercott said, pointing to her numerous leadership positions, including as co-chairperson of the Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee during the 66th Wyoming Legislature and chairman of the board of directors for the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce in 2018.
Along with the election and business divisions, the compliance division of the secretary of state’s office is another primary responsibility of the position. That division oversees and enforces Wyoming’s financial securities law.
As an attorney, Nethercott is formally educated in securities regulation, she said. She described having experience representing victims of financial fraud and has worked on prosecution teams on securities regulation violations.
After Sen. Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, dropped out of the race, he endorsed Nethercott. She’s also been endorsed by Wyoming GOP U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis; Reps. Steve Harshman, R-Casper; Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander; Evan Simpson; R-Afton; and Sen. Jeff Wasserburger, R-Gillette.
Mark Armstrong
Mark Armstrong, the third candidate in the race, has spent his career working as a geologist, and he said that’s an important distinction between him and his competitors.
“These people in government (who) aren’t scientists, they don’t know what good science is,” Armstrong said. “It’s extremely difficult to hold them accountable for inappropriate actions. And I can take care of those things as secretary of state.”
Armstrong has earned degrees from several universities, including the University of Wyoming, the Colorado School of Mines and Stanford University, he said.
In 2010, Armstrong’s license to practice geology in Wyoming expired when he did not renew it. He made the decision to let it lapse after the Wyoming Board of Professional Geologists “would not enforce a blatant ethics violation,” he said. Since then, his geology work has been based in California, where he remains professionally licensed.
Armstrong does not have legal training, but he has legal experience from a lengthy court battle with his former employer, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, he said.
According to court documents, Armstrong began work in 2005 as an environmental analyst for the state agency, inspecting and issuing permits for waste facilities. Armstrong told the director of DEQ that he thought his supervisor was improperly influencing a permitting decision involving a Casper landfill.
The state fired Armstrong in 2007 for incurring $2,500 in personal charges on his state-issued cell phone. The state’s Office of Administrative Hearings reinstated Armstrong in 2008 and DEQ appealed that decision.
Armstrong found different work in Montana – another position related to environmental waste – but the legal battle continued, with Armstrong representing himself. Eventually, he appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court. His case was dismissed for “failure to follow the Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure,” according to the opinion written by former Justice William Hill.
The way Armstrong sees it, the process gave him courtroom experience that would be valuable to the secretary of state role. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/cheyenne_frontier_days/secretary-of-state-hopefuls-vary-on-compliance-with-the-offices-rules/article_82c2dd6e-f6fe-5601-b353-ddd3585afd96.html | 2022-08-12T16:21:44Z | wyomingnews.com | control | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/cheyenne_frontier_days/secretary-of-state-hopefuls-vary-on-compliance-with-the-offices-rules/article_82c2dd6e-f6fe-5601-b353-ddd3585afd96.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LARAMIE – Language in a new ordinance regulating landlords and rental units that generated an upswell of public comment and debate. Now, it has been ruled vague and unconstitutional by a District Court judge.
Judge Tori Kricken, who serves the 2nd Judicial District in Albany County, ruled partly in favor of a local property management company challenging the new regulations, which are set to go into effect Jan. 1. Kricken found some language in the ordinance to be vague or inadequate, prompting questions about what the future of its enforcement could look like.
The Laramie City Council adopted the measure in question, Enrolled Ordinance No. 1802, this January. It sets a minimum threshold of habitability standards landlords must maintain for every rental unit. It also sets a process in place for tenants to file complaints against landlord with the city manager’s office.
Bell Leasing LLC challenged the ordinance in court, asking for summary judgment to disqualify the law, which the court granted in part in an Aug. 1 ruling. The company owns 23 rental properties that have 64 units within Laramie.
The ordinance requires landlords provide basic habitability standards for their tenants, such as working appliances, heating, sanitation and fire safety on rental properties. It gives landlords about a year to register their rental properties with the city and pay a small fee for each of the properties.
The company argued the ordinance should not be implemented because it violates the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions and reaches beyond city authority. While Judge Kricken said the locality does have authority to set rental rules, she found a problem with the language of this particular ordinance, mainly it’s too vague about whether a violation of the rules would be civil or criminal matters.
If landlords fail to follow the requirements outlined in the ordinance, tenants can file a complaint with the city, but only after giving the landlord 10 days written notice of an issue. Another section of the ordinance states only 48 hours notice is required if the complaint involves a lack of essential services.
After conducting an investigation, the city manager may issue a notice with a time frame in which a landlord must make necessary repairs to the property, the ordinance says. Failure to do so could result in a fine of at least $100 each day past the deadline and revocation of the city rental license.
The court took issue with one section. It reads, “Failure to comply with the notice and order issued under this section by the specified date constitutes a violation subject to the penalties,” according to Kricken’s order.
The ambiguous language leaves it unclear whether or not failure to comply with the city manager’s notice is a violation of the law itself, regardless of whether the notice has merit, she wrote.
“This lack of clarity is precisely the type of situation which could impermissibly delegate basic policy matters to policemen, judges and juries for resolution on an ad hoc and subjective basis, with the attendant dangers of arbitrary and discriminatory application,” the order reads.Courts
The court found that the ordinance fails to clarify whether any municipal court hearings could be civil or criminal in nature and what rules and procedures would apply in this process.
Another problem area is language that says a landlord failing to follow the directions of the city manager “shall constitute a violation subject to the penalties” the city has set.
“The use of the phrase ‘shall constitute’ strongly suggests that simply failing to follow the city manager’s notice and order is, in and of itself, a violation – a violation which occurs prior to any judicial review of the ordinance violation alleged in a tenant’s complaint,” Kricken wrote in her order.
The phrase create an “apparent contradiction.” This, the judge wrote, could reasonably confuse someone and potentially outlines that simply failing to comply with the city manager’s directions is itself a violation “regardless of legal defenses or justifications” for them.
Controversy
Since it was debated by the City Council last year, this has generated controversy, questions and complaints from local residents.
Many renters express support for the regulations. Landlords are against them.
City Council candidate Brett Glass often spoke about the standards during public comment sections of council meetings, with his main complaint being they are illegal.
“We can hope that council will reconsider its approach and work within the law to deal with the actual problems that tenants face,” Glass said in response to the Aug. 1 ruling. “The last thing we need in these turbulent times when money is tight is to adopt an unfair ordinance that hikes rents and creates a new, costly, ineffective city bureaucracy.”
While city expected landlords to challenge the ordinance once it became law, the local government felt the ordinance was legally sound when they created it, said City Attorney Robert Southard.
“What we could foresee was a challenge,” Southard said. “We had beliefs about what was proper and tried to have the ordinance fall well within that, but you never know what a judge might think.”
The municipality is still undecided about how it will respond to the ruling, but will make sure to be in compliance with the law, Southard said. This could mean changing enforcement procedures outlined in the ordinance or choosing to appeal.
Conversation about the ordinance could be far from over, as Bell Leasing also has the right to appeal the decision and attempt to receive a more comprehensive rebuttal of the ordinance.
Bell Leasing attorneys Kermit Brown and Jeff Van Fleet of Laramie-based Brown & Hiser did not respond to a request for comment. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/townnews/law/court-rules-language-in-laramie-rental-law-vague-unconstitutional/article_563a71eb-8be9-59c0-b056-68829175b07d.html | 2022-08-12T16:21:56Z | wyomingnews.com | control | https://www.wyomingnews.com/townnews/law/court-rules-language-in-laramie-rental-law-vague-unconstitutional/article_563a71eb-8be9-59c0-b056-68829175b07d.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SPOKANE, Wash. — A new Brewery has opened up in Kendall Yards called Uprise Brewing Co.
Brandon Hare owns the brewery with his brother, Ryan Hare, and Jonathan Sweatt. They describe the space as bright, open, and family-friendly. It opened the first week of August.
"I think originally we would have thought we'd never be able to do something at this size and scope," Hare said. "All of our beers are made right here at Uprise Brewing. And really, that's what this place is all about. It's the brewpub. So we're not about distributing, you're not going to see us in grocery stores."
The Brewery has about 12-14 beers on tap. One of the most popular is 'title pending.'
Hare adds that the one thing that distinguishes them from other Breweries in the Inland Northwest is their take on street food.
"We have an executive chef that's created an awesome menu that we're calling elevated street food," Hare said. " Smashburger, a lot of handhelds, green bowls, a lot of cool appetizers like a fried cauliflower with jerk sauce, things like that."
The Brewery is Open Sunday-Thursday from 11 am-10 pm. Friday-Saturday from 11 am-11 pm.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com. | https://www.krem.com/article/money/business/uprise-brewing-co-spokane/293-01203719-82b5-4f1a-9c36-19d7f3ffe409 | 2022-08-12T16:24:10Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/money/business/uprise-brewing-co-spokane/293-01203719-82b5-4f1a-9c36-19d7f3ffe409 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BEAVERTON, Ore. — A year-long Beaverton police investigation into a catalytic converter theft ring led to the indictment of 14 suspects on multiple felony crime charges, including racketeering, aggravated theft and money laundering in late July. Beaverton police held a press conference Thursday afternoon to discuss the bust.
"We know that crime is increasing here in the metro area and it threatens the safety of our community," said Kevin Barton, Washington County District Attorney. "The Washington County DA is committed to working with all of our county and city public safety leaders, police department, sheriffs office, to ensure that our community remains safe."
The investigation began in late 2021 and is still ongoing. The search of eight locations, including a waterfront home in Lake Oswego, led to the collection of more than 3,000 catalytic converters, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a high-end vehicle and jewelry, according to Beaverton Police Department (BPD) detectives.
A Washington County Grand Jury handed down the indictment on July 29.
According to BPD, the crime ring was centered in the Portland Metropolitan area but spanned across more than six Oregon counties. A significant percentage of the stolen catalytic converters come from Oregon, but there isn't an exact number because the crime ring also reached into Washington, Nevada, California, Texas and New York.
Investigators are confident that the bust is going to put a "significant dent" in the Portland Metropolitan area catalytic converter thefts, according to BPD.
The investigation began when BPD learned that 32-year-old Tanner Lee Hellbusch of Beaverton was running an illegal stolen catalytic converter fencing operation.
On March 1, 2022, Hellbusch was pulled over by BPD and investigators found over 100 stolen catalytic converters with an approximate value of $80,000 in his possession.
BPD later identified 32-year-old Brennan Patrick Doyle of Lake Oswego as the ring leader. Dolye is believed to have trafficked more than 44,000 stolen catalytic converters since early 2021 which estimated over $22 million dollars.
Doyle and Hellbusch, along with 12 others, participated in an organized effort to steal catalytic converters from vehicles. The BPD said Doyle's organized ring capitalized on the increased price of rhodium, platinum and palladium, which are the valuable metals found in catalytic converters. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/crime/catalytic-converter-trafficking-investigation-beaverton-14-charged/283-dc5d4975-20b3-4697-968b-3c38912f3d64 | 2022-08-12T16:24:22Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/crime/catalytic-converter-trafficking-investigation-beaverton-14-charged/283-dc5d4975-20b3-4697-968b-3c38912f3d64 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SEATTLE — Harborview Medical Center will no longer accept patients that aren't in need of urgent care in order to help address its overcrowding issue, hospital leadership announced Thursday.
Patients not in need of urgent care will be diverted to other area hospitals, at least temporarily, CEO Sommer Kleweno Walley said. This is to ensure Harborview maintains capacity as the only trauma center in Washington state for level 1 care.
It was an "incredibly difficult decision," she added.
The hospital will divert patients at least through the weekend and possibly longer.
As of Thursday, there were more than 560 inpatients, putting the hospital at more than 130% of its licensed capacity of 413.
Currently, more than 100 patients no longer require hospitalization and are waiting to be discharged to a long-term care facilities, such as a rehabilitation facility.
Dr. Steven Mitchell, medical director of Harborview's emergency department, said patients in need of urgent care are having to wait longer to be admitted -- sometimes hours.
Less urgent care includes issues such as abdominal pain or someone's breathing "isn't quite right," Mitchell said. Those issues that don't reach the threshold of being life-threatening.
Harborview is working with its partners and other healthcare leaders in the state as they divert patients to other facilities, Mitchell said.
Harborview is one of many hospitals that have announced a capacity issue.
In July, the Washington State Hospital Association said patients are taking up beds they no longer need as they wait to be transferred. Providence-Swedish said as many as 20% of their patients no longer require hospitalization.
In February, the UW Medicine system warned that capacity was virtually maxed out across all four campuses.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Download our free KING 5 app to stay up-to-date on news stories from across western Washington.
WATCH: KING 5's top stories on YouTube KING 5's top stories on YouTube | https://www.krem.com/article/news/health/harborview-medical-over-capacity/281-3c2317af-7c80-4473-b393-431da731eaaa | 2022-08-12T16:24:28Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/health/harborview-medical-over-capacity/281-3c2317af-7c80-4473-b393-431da731eaaa | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BOISE, Idaho —
Since replenishing the Constitutional Defense Fund this past legislative session, Idaho could soon see another major withdrawal of cash in the coming weeks.
In June, a federal judge ordered the state to pay more than $321 thousand dollars in legal fees after a lawsuit over an anti-transgender bill.
The law was signed into law by Governor Brad Little back in 2020, which would have made it illegal for transgender people to change the sex marker on their birth certificates.
That June, a judge ruled in favor of the lawsuit, agreeing the law violated another court order from 2018. Therefore, the 2020 law would not be enforceable.
This story was first reported by Ruth Brown of Idaho’s Public television Idaho Reports. KTVB received the letter sent from the Attorney General’s office to the Board of Examiners, who decide who gets paid and when. They said they need to pay the plaintiffs.
They actually asked for more than $447 thousand dollars, but the judge only awarded them the $321 thousand dollars plus interest to pay for attorney fees and other costs.
On Tuesday, a subcommittee approved the recommendation to make the payment, but now it has to be reviewed by the entire board next week.
That Board of Examiners consists of the governor, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the State Controller.
However, that does not mean they will just cut the check. According to the State Controller's office, it then must be decided by the legislature how that money will be paid.
Either through a supplemental budget request, or through the Constitutional Defense Fund, which would not happen until next year.
Since its inception in 1995, the Constitutional Defense Fund has paid out well over $3 million dollars to cover the cost of Idaho passing questionable laws.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist:
Download the KTVB mobile app to get breaking news, weather and important stories at your fingertips. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/idaho-ordered-to-pay-over-300000-in-transgender-birth-certificate-lawsuit/277-2b212f0d-7cca-42dd-9e48-2ac1b4189a2b | 2022-08-12T16:24:34Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/idaho-ordered-to-pay-over-300000-in-transgender-birth-certificate-lawsuit/277-2b212f0d-7cca-42dd-9e48-2ac1b4189a2b | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "Hope is Alive", a digital media campaign inspired by the partnership between Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), SAC Health (SACHS), Loma Linda University Health (LLUH), Ezra Productions, and St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church (St. Paul AME) in San Bernardino has earned a total of 22 health care advertising awards.
Awards range from Merit, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Best of Show across organizations, including Healthcare AdAwards, Aster Awards, the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (Viddy Awards), American Advertising Federation's Inland Empire Chapter, and Telly Awards.
Aimed to provide education and resources to the region's Black and Hispanic populations – who have the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates and the highest virus and hospitalization rates – the partnership began in 2021 as a way for IEHP to reach and inform these community members.
"COVID hit Black and Brown communities like ours the hardest," said St. Paul African American Methodist Episcopal Church (St. Paul AME) Pastor Steven D. Shepard Sr. "We often get looked over because we don't have the assets or the finances that others have in their community."
With limited health care access and historical fears of modern medicine, community organizations knew that to save lives, they'd need to meet their residents where they were and provide them with trusted information, support, and encouragement to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
The collaboration included gathering resources across IEHP, LLUH and SACH to organize COVID-19 vaccine clinics, grocery distribution events, and community outreach in a familiar place: St. Paul AME Church. This work represented the shared goals for IEHP's community partnerships with outreach and health services teams – all in support of the organization's Mission: "We heal and inspire the human spirit."
Ezra Productions – through close collaboration with IEHP's marketing-communication team for this inspiring story – captured the joint efforts, producing "Hope is Alive." The public service announcement video served as a platform for the community and members of St. Paul AME Church to share their experiences about COVID-19, including acknowledging fears associated with the vaccine and the need for continued community collaboration.
"We grew up not trusting anything the government wanted to give us," said a St. Paul AME Church member, who sat next to her daughter during the interview. "I was born blind; I'm the product of the Tuskegee Experiment."
"I turned to her and said, 'You know, it's [the vaccine clinic] at the church and it's with IEHP?' and that's when she said, 'Sign me up,'" said the member's daughter.
"To drive change forward, people need to be met right where they are," said IEHP Chief Medical Officer Dr. Takashi Wada. "Heartfelt outreach, listening, and partnering with trusted organizations in our community are key to making that happen. We're grateful to continue developing and pouring into award-winning collaborations that enable us to care and support our Members in a way that makes sense to who they are as individuals."
Documenting the power of empathy, outreach, and community support, "Hope is Alive" was judged by national panels who scored thousands of entries based on creativity, quality, message effectiveness, consumer appeal, graphic design, and impact.
To learn more about IEHP, visit IEHP.org. To watch the "Hope is Alive" video, click here.
With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. In its 26th year, IEHP is supporting more than 1.5 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plans and has a growing network of over 7,800 providers and nearly 3,000 Team Members. Through dynamic partnerships with Providers and community organizations, paired with award-winning service and a tradition of quality care, IEHP is fully committed to their vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. For more information, visit iehp.org.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) | https://www.wave3.com/prnewswire/2022/08/12/hope-is-alive-community-partnership-video-psa-earns-22-health-care-advertising-awards/ | 2022-08-12T16:24:40Z | wave3.com | control | https://www.wave3.com/prnewswire/2022/08/12/hope-is-alive-community-partnership-video-psa-earns-22-health-care-advertising-awards/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SEATTLE — A Kent mother has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old son.
Prosecutors allege Sandy Fernandez abused her 2-year-old son, Jose Fernandez , leading to his death.
Photos and videos are now the only memories Kaylee Kravic has of Jose.
“Everything he would say, he would laugh after, he was such a sweet little boy, very funny,” Kravic said.
Kravic worked with Sandy Fernandez at the Hometown Suites in Kent. It's also where Sandy Fernandez, her boyfriend and Jose lived. Kravic would watch him on occasion.
“He seemed really hungry so I did feed him and I did give him a bath because he was really dirty and his hair was matted,” she said. “He had bruises on his back, he had bruises on his legs, he had a cut on his head that Sandy said he hit the corner on the table.”
In February of this year, Kravic said she reported Sandy Fernandez and her boyfriend to CPS.
"It was a quick phone call just saying Sandy was cleared, they did an investigation and Sandy was cleared and that was it,” she said.
According to charging documents, Sandy Fernandez is charged with second-degree murder in the death of her son.
Prosecuting attorneys allege Jose suffered from massive internal injuries, a skull fracture, fractured jaw, internal bleeding, an infection and multiple contusions. The documents also said that Sandy Fernandez confessed to hitting Jose multiple times when he wouldn't go to bed.
Sandy Fernandez made a direct quote to Kent police saying, "like I hate to say it, but all I wanted to do was strangle him," according to court documents.
“One little choice of hers has now cost me a lifetime of memories and experiences with him that I never get to have now,” said Brayden Earl, Jose’s biological father.
Earl and Sandy Fernandez were 15 years old when they realized she was pregnant.
He said he found out about Jose’s death from Facebook. Earl said he and his family were blocked from seeing Jose.
“We had started talking with some legal teams and it was a couple of weeks after that we found out he passed away,” said Earl.
The family, like Kravic, want answers.
“I think our system needs to do better,” Kravic said.
KING 5 reached out to the Washington State Department of children, youth and families and was told to make a formal records request. We have not received a response to that request.
Sandy Fernandez will be arraigned in court next week, Aug. 18, where she will enter her plea. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/kent-mother-charged-in-the-death-of-her-2-year-old-son/281-07a91ad4-2370-4128-94d4-bd1c0bbd0cb2 | 2022-08-12T16:24:40Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/kent-mother-charged-in-the-death-of-her-2-year-old-son/281-07a91ad4-2370-4128-94d4-bd1c0bbd0cb2 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
PHOENIX — U.S. transportation officials announced $2.2 billion for local infrastructure projects on Thursday, paving the way for new bridges, roads, bike lanes, railways and ports in scores of communities across the country.
The competitive grants are more than double the amount awarded the previous year under the same program. The influx comes from a $1 trillion infrastructure law backed by President Joe Biden, which provided an additional $7.5 billion over five years for the grants.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the projects would help modernize America's transportation systems.
"This is a program that recognizes many of the most interesting and compelling ideas and designs and plans aren't going to come from Washington, but more of the funding should," Buttigieg said. "That's what we're delivering here."
Buttigieg traveled to Arizona to highlight projects in Phoenix and Tucson, each of which are receiving the maximum $25 million. In Phoenix, the money will help build a new bike and pedestrian bridge over the Rio Salado, connecting the city's southern area with downtown.
In Tucson, the money will revamp a prominent street and replace a 1960s-era vehicle bridge that's in poor condition. It also will add a separate bicycle and pedestrian bridge as part of what Mayor Regina Romero called "a transformative investment in Tucson's infrastructure."
While the Tucson project will expand the number lanes for motorists, some projects elsewhere will reduce them. For example, a $17 million grant will help narrow a five-lane road to three lanes in the Chicago suburb of Munster, Indiana, in an effort to decrease traffic crashes. The money also will fund a 10-foot-wide multi-purpose path along the street and plant more than 250 trees.
For many road improvement grants, "we're doing it in mind of also benefitting the bike and pedestrian side," Buttigieg said.
Other newly announced projects in the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program also provide funding for bicycle and pedestrian paths.
Texas and Kansas are each receiving about $25 million for hiking and biking trails. Huntsville, Alabama, is getting $20 million to improve a pedestrian corridor linking downtown to isolated neighborhoods. Another $20 million is helping finance a new bike and pedestrian bridge over the Potomac River between Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
Buttigieg said the U.S. Department of Transportation received about $13 billion in grant applications.
A total of 166 projects across the country are getting a slice of the $2.2 billion. The funding marks a significant increase from the $983 million distributed among 90 projects in 2021. The allotment is the largest dating to 2009 for a program that has undergone multiple name and emphasis changes during the presidential administrations of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Though still substantial, the funding doesn't have quite the buying power as anticipated when the infrastructure legislation passed Congress last year. That's because inflation has driven up the cost of key transportation construction materials, such as steel plates for bridges and asphalt for paving roads.
This year's projects range from a new seawall and port improvements in Sitka, Alaska, to the construction of a four-lane parkway in the Virgin Islands.
Among other projects, New Jersey is getting $20 million to elevate a roadway that serves as a main evacuation route for Atlantic City and its casino industry. In Louisiana, $20 million will go toward the design and construction of two train stations along a planned route between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Whatcom County, Washington, will get $25 million to replace a 60-year-old ferry serving rural Lummi Island with an electric hybrid model.
—-
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/billions-announced-for-roads-bridges-bike-lanes-across-us/507-9ef30abd-e6fe-4f73-8cf1-1163231ae210 | 2022-08-12T16:24:46Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/billions-announced-for-roads-bridges-bike-lanes-across-us/507-9ef30abd-e6fe-4f73-8cf1-1163231ae210 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON — The biggest investment ever in the U.S. to fight climate change. A hard-fought cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients. A new corporate minimum tax to ensure big businesses pay their share.
And billions left over to pay down federal deficits.
All told, the Democrats' “Inflation Reduction Act” may not do much to immediately tame inflationary price hikes. But the package heading toward final passage in Congress and to the White House for President Joe Biden's signature will touch countless American lives with longtime party proposals.
Not as robust as Biden's initial ideas to rebuild America's public infrastructure and family support systems, the compromise of health care, climate change and deficit-reduction strategies is also a stunning election year turnaround, a smaller but not unsubstantial product brought back to political life after having collapsed last year.
Democrats alone support the package, with all Republicans expected to vote against it. Republicans deride the 730-page bill as big government overreach and point particular criticism at its $80 billion investment in the IRS to hire new employees and go after tax scofflaws.
Voters will be left to sort it out in the November elections, when control of Congress will be decided.
Here's what's in the estimated $740 billion package — made up of $440 billion in new spending and $300 billion toward easing deficits— that is up for final approval Friday in the House.
LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS
Launching a long-sought goal, the bill would allow the Medicare program to negotiate some prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, saving the federal government some $288 billion over the 10-year budget window.
The result is expected to lower costs for older adults on medications, including a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap for older adults buying prescriptions from pharmacies.
The revenue raised would also be used to provide free vaccinations for seniors, who now are among the few not guaranteed free access, according to a summary document.
Seniors would also have insulin prices capped at $35 a month.
HELP PAYING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE
The bill would extend the subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic to help some Americans who buy health insurance on their own.
Under earlier pandemic relief, the extra help was set to expire this year. But the bill would allow the assistance to keep going for three more years, lowering insurance premiums for some 13 million people who are purchasing their own health care policies through the Affordable Care Act.
BIGGEST U.S. INVESTMENT ‘BY FAR’ IN CLIMATE CHANGE
The bill would infuse nearly $375 billion over the decade in climate change-fighting strategies that Democrats believe could put the country on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030, and “would represent the single biggest climate investment in U.S. history, by far.”
For consumers, that means tax rebates to buy electric vehicles — $4,000 for used vehicle purchase and up to $7,500 for new ones, eligible to households with incomes of $300,000 or less for couples, or single people with income of $150,000 or less.
Not all electric vehicles will fully qualify for the tax credits, thanks to requirements that component parts be manufactured and assembled in the U.S. And pricier cars costing more than $55,000 and SUVs and trucks priced above $80,000 are excluded.
There's also tax breaks for consumers to go green. One is a 10-year consumer tax credit for renewable energy investments in wind and solar.
For businesses, the bill has $60 billion for a clean energy manufacturing tax credit and $30 billion for a production tax credit for wind and solar, seen as ways to boost and support the industries that can help curb the country's dependence on fossil fuels.
The bill also gives tax credits for nuclear power and carbon capture technology that oil companies such as Exxon Mobil have invested millions of dollars to advance.
The bill would impose a new fee on excess methane emissions from oil and gas drilling while giving fossil fuel companies access to more leases on federal lands and waters.
A late addition pushed by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and other Democrats in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado would designate $4 billion to combat a mega-drought in the West, including conservation efforts in the Colorado River Basin, which nearly 40 million Americans rely on for drinking water.
HOW TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS?
One of the biggest revenue-raisers in the bill is a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn more than $1 billion in annual profits.
It's a way to clamp down on some 200 U.S. companies that avoid paying the standard 21% corporate tax rate, including some that end up paying no taxes at all.
The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year and raise more than $258 billion over the decade.
There will also be a new 1% excise tax imposed on stock buybacks, raising some $74 billion over the decade.
Savings from allowing Medicare’s negotiations with the drug companies is expected to bring in $288 billion over 10 years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
The bill sticks with Biden’s original pledge not to raise taxes on families or businesses making less than $400,000 a year.
Yet money is also raised by boosting the IRS to go after tax cheats. The bill proposes an $80 billion investment in taxpayer services, enforcement and modernization, which is projected to raise $203 billion in new revenue — a net gain of $124 billion over the decade.
EXTRA MONEY TO PAY DOWN DEFICITS
With some $740 billion in new revenue and around $440 billion in new investments, the bill promises to put the difference of about $300 billion toward deficit reduction.
Federal deficits spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic when federal spending soared and tax revenues fell as the nation's economy churned through shutdowns, closed offices and other massive changes.
The nation has seen deficits rise and fall in recent years. But overall federal budgeting is on an unsustainable path, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which recently put out a new report on long-term projections.
WHAT'S LEFT BEHIND?
The package, nowhere near the sweeping Build Back Better program Biden once envisioned, remains a sizable undertaking and, along with COVID-19 relief and the GOP 2017 tax cuts, is among the more substantial bills from Congress in years.
While Congress did pass and Biden signed into law a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill for highways, broadband and other investments that was part of the White House's initial vision, the Democrats' other big priorities have slipped away.
Gone, for now, are are plans for free pre-kindergarten and community college, as well as the nation's first paid family leave program that would have provided up to $4,000 a month for births, deaths and other pivotal needs. Also allowed to expire is the enhanced child care credit that was providing $300 a month during the pandemic.
___
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/inflation-reduction-act-whats-in-it/507-0cacb891-e42d-42cc-867f-5a6db220a110 | 2022-08-12T16:24:53Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/inflation-reduction-act-whats-in-it/507-0cacb891-e42d-42cc-867f-5a6db220a110 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation has opened a query into seat belt pretensioners on certain 2020-2022 Kia/Hyundai vehicles, saying that they may rupture or explode.
A seat belt pretensioner is a part of the seat belt system that locks the seat belt in place during a crash.
The ODI said that if the pretensioner ruptures it could release shrapnel, causing abrasions or other injuries.
ODI is aware of three separate incidents of possible faulty seat belt pretensioners. In all three incidents, the driver-side seat belt pretensioner deployed abnormally, causing metal fragments to enter the rear cabin resulting in injuries to the rear occupants.
Hyundai and Kia have issued five separate recalls from October 2021 to April of this year concerning pretensioner ruptures.
The initial ODI investigation includes 2021 Hyundai Elantra/Elantra HEV vehicles; 2021 Hyundai Venue vehicles; 2021 Genesis GV80; 2022 Genesis GV70 vehicles; 2020-2021 Hyundai Accent vehicles; 2022 Hyundai Elantra/Elantra HEV vehicles; 2022 Kia Sorento Hybrid/Sorento PHEV vehicles; 2021-2022 Hyundai Elantra vehicles and 2020 Hyundai Accent vehicles.
The ODI said that it may expand the scope of the investigation if necessary.
Back in May, Hyundai announced a recall of 239,000 cars in the U.S. because the seat belt pretensioners could explode and injure vehicle occupants. Three injuries have been reported, two in the U.S. and one in Singapore.
In a letter to the Korean automaker, government regulators said that the driver’s and front passenger’s seat belt pretensioners can explode upon deployment and send shrapnel throughout the vehicle. Pretensioners tighten the belts in preparation for a crash. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/kia-hyundai-seat-belt-pretensioners-investigation/507-da25a8e8-62ee-46e7-8185-8f803fdea4dc | 2022-08-12T16:24:59Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/kia-hyundai-seat-belt-pretensioners-investigation/507-da25a8e8-62ee-46e7-8185-8f803fdea4dc | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ATLANTA — Donald Trump has hired a prominent Atlanta criminal defense attorney known for defending famous rappers to represent him in matters related to the special grand jury that's investigating whether the former president illegally tried to interfere with the 2020 election in Georgia.
Drew Findling's clients have included Cardi B, Migos and Gucci Mane, as well as comedian Katt Williams. His Twitter bio includes the hashtag #BillionDollarLawyer and his Instagram feed is filled with photos of him posing with his well-known clients.
His most recent Instagram post, dated two days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June, says his firm is committed to "fighting to restore a woman's right to choose, which has been destroyed by the Supreme Court," suggesting his personal views don't align with those of Trump's Republican Party. He offered to defend anyone charged under Georgia's restrictive abortion law free of charge.
After Trump insulted basketball star LeBron James's intelligence in an August 2018 tweet, Findling called Trump the "racist architect of fraudulent Trump University" in a tweet and ended the post with "POTUS pathetic once again!"
The Findling Law Firm said in a statement released Thursday that it has been hired, along with attorneys Jennifer Little and Dwight Thomas, to represent Trump.
Findling said in an emailed statement that he is a "passionate advocate against injustice" and will "strongly defend" Trump.
"I may differ politically from many of my clients, but that doesn't change my commitment to defend against wrongful investigations," Findling said. "In this case, the focus on President Trump in Fulton County, Georgia is clearly an erroneous and politically driven persecution and along with my office and co-counsel, I am fully committed to defend against this injustice."
Little, a former prosecutor, said in an emailed statement that the attorneys were "handpicked" on Trump's behalf and that "the composition of our team only adds to the integrity of his defense."
"A politically diverse group of attorneys with differing perspectives have all come to the same conclusion — there have been no violations of Georgia law," she said. "We as a team look forward to vigorously defending our client and the Constitution."
Thomas said he has extensive past experience in special grand jury investigations and is serving as a consultant. Other lawyers who have clients who are connected to the investigation have also reached out to him, he said, but he declined to name them.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the investigation early last year, and the special grand jury was seated in May at her request.
Willis has confirmed since the early days of the investigation that she's interested in a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. During that conversation, Trump suggested Raffensperger could "find" the votes needed to overturn his narrow loss in the state.
"All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump said during that call. "Because we won the state."
Willis last month filed petitions seeking to compel testimony before the special grand jury from seven Trump associates and advisers, including former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. And she has said that she is considering subpoenaing the former president himself.
In addition to representing high-profile musical artists and other entertainers, Findling successfully defended Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill in a racketeering trial that threatened to end his law enforcement career. Hill was acquitted in 2013 on 27 felony charges in an indictment that accused him of using his office for personal gain.
Findling is currently defending Hill against charges in a federal indictment accusing him of violating the civil rights of several people in his agency's custody by ordering that they be unnecessarily strapped into a restraint chair and left there for hours.
He also defended Mitzi Bickers, a former Atlanta city official was the first person to go to trial in a long-running federal investigation into corruption at City Hall under former Mayor Kasim Reed. A jury earlier this year found Bickers guilty on charges including money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bribery. Findling said they plan to appeal. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/trump-atlanta-attorney-election-probe/507-4ec88757-b7fa-4f45-972c-13e285066f0a | 2022-08-12T16:25:05Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/trump-atlanta-attorney-election-probe/507-4ec88757-b7fa-4f45-972c-13e285066f0a | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
From gasoline to groceries, Americans have paid more money for the same items in 2022 due to rising inflation.
But is it possible that inflation in the U.S. is easing? That’s what President Joe Biden claimed in a tweet on Aug. 10, writing that the inflation rate was 0% in July 2022.
Some people on social media have disputed that claim, writing that the inflation rate was 8.5% in July 2022.
Several VERIFY readers asked the team to fact-check the claim that inflation fell to 0% in July.
THE QUESTION
Did inflation fall to 0% in July 2022?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, there was 0% inflation in July 2022, but inflation is still at 8.5% annually.
WHAT WE FOUND
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is the most widely used measure of inflation. It is designed to measure price changes on a “basket” of many everyday goods and services.
To calculate the inflation rate, the BLS compares the index’s value over one period in time to another, such as month to month (the monthly rate of inflation) or year to year (the annual rate of inflation), the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland explains.
The CPI was unchanged from the end of June to the end of July 2022, according to a BLS report published on Aug. 10.
That means there was 0% inflation for the month of July, which was primarily due to falling gas prices. According to the BLS, the gasoline price index fell 7.7% in July and “offset increases in the food and shelter indexes, resulting in the [CPI] being unchanged over the month.”
GasBuddy reported on Aug. 9 that the national average price of gas fell below the $4 mark for the first time since early March 2022.
“Gas prices have declined over $1 per gallon since peaking at $5.03 on June 14, fueled by falling oil prices over the last month. Americans today will spend nearly $400 million less on gasoline than they did in mid-June,” GasBuddy wrote in a press release.
But Biden’s claim about 0% inflation needs context. Inflation is still sitting at an annual rate of 8.5% when comparing prices in July 2021 to July 2022 – remaining close to a 40-year high. This is well above the Federal Reserve’s goal of a 2% annual inflation rate.
In June, the annual inflation rate was 9.1%, so the 8.5% annual rate for July does represent a slight decrease.
Core inflation, which measures the change in the cost of goods and services while excluding volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3% in July, though this is a smaller increase than in the previous three months, the BLS said. The core inflation rate is up 5.9% annually.
Food continued to grow more expensive in July, with the price index increasing 1.1% over the month. The cost of medical care, vehicle insurance, furniture, new vehicles and recreation also rose in July, according to the BLS report.
On the other hand, the cost of airfare, used cars and trucks, and clothing fell in July.
In its monthly economic review for August 2022, the National Retail Federation (NRF) wrote that “many of the forces contributing to inflation will not be unwound soon,” but there are some signs of “potential relief” as the prices for oil and other commodities decline.
“Currently, inflation is well above the Federal Reserve’s comfort zone, and shorter-term inflation expectations are high although longer-term expectations appear better anchored,” NRF said. “Moreover, inflation forecasts continue to be highly uncertain and supply constraints will factor into the second half of the year.”
NRF expects that the Consumer Price Index will average 6.2% for all of 2022. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/verify/economy-verify/fact-check-zero-percent-inflation-july-annual-rate-still-high/536-f1bcce48-0078-4681-b2b9-e1f8400e2004 | 2022-08-12T16:25:23Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/verify/economy-verify/fact-check-zero-percent-inflation-july-annual-rate-still-high/536-f1bcce48-0078-4681-b2b9-e1f8400e2004 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Multiple VERIFY readers reached out to ask about suspicious grant offers they got from people claiming to represent the federal government on Facebook.
One person asked about a “Trust Community Foundation” that offered as much as $100,000 in grant money available with “essentially no strings attached.”
Another reader was messaged by someone on Facebook about an apparent government organization called “American Development Grant Program” that they said had received $70,000 from. When the reader followed up with the alleged grant organization, they were told they had to pay as much as $1,000 for processing fees before they would be paid.
THE QUESTION
Does the federal government make unsolicited grant offers to people?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, the federal government does not make unsolicited grant offers to people. Unsolicited grant offers appearing to come from the federal government are scams.
WHAT WE FOUND
The federal government will not reach out to people to offer grants they’ve never applied for, and it will not directly contact people to tell them to apply for a grant. These unsolicited grant offers are scams.
There are a number of ways the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Better Business Bureau (BBB) say government grant scammers may target you. Sometimes they use online ads for their fake grants, and sometimes they may contact you directly by calling, texting or emailing you. But the most common way for a government grant scammer to target their victims, according to the AARP, is to use social media.
Through social media, a scammer may impersonate a person you trust by hacking or cloning that person’s account, or they might just pose as a government agent who either messages you directly or advertises their fake grant with a public post. If impersonating someone you trust, they will often tell you a story about how they’ve received and used thousands of dollars from a grant they apparently applied for and were awarded.
Government grant scams often have the same goals as most scams: they want to trick you into giving the scammer money, or trick you into giving the scammer your personal information.
The scammer may claim you have to pay for processing fees before you can claim your grant money, and will often tell you to make the payment through a money order or similar payment method that’s difficult to track. A scammer might just contact you to try to sell you a list of available grants — even though the only official list for federal grants is available for free through grants.gov.
If the scammer has told you that you’re qualified for a grant or told you that you should apply for one, they could be looking to collect your credit card number, banking information or Social Security number through their “application.” They could drain money from your banking accounts without your knowledge or commit identity theft with this information.
Regardless of the scammer’s end goal, they never have any intention of sending the victim the grant money they were supposedly awarded.
Luckily, once you know what to look out for, it’s easy to spot a government grant scam. Grants.gov has a page that lists the major red flags that a grant offer isn’t legit.
A government agent shouldn’t ever directly contact you to tell you about a grant you haven’t applied for. The government doesn’t notify individuals that they may qualify for a grant and they should apply for one, and it doesn’t directly reach out to people to tell them they’re being awarded for a grant they’ve never applied for.
You shouldn’t need to pay a fee to receive grant money. The federal government will never require grant recipients pay money to receive their grant. While some grants require you to include financial information in your application, you will only ever have to submit that while using a government website with a .gov URL.
There is no such thing as a federal grant that doesn’t require an application. If someone tells you that you can claim a grant without ever applying for it, then it’s a scam. All federal grants first require you fill out an application before you can be awarded them, and there are no federal grants awarded based on a raffle, drawing or lottery.
You shouldn’t be able to apply for a federal grant anywhere except for a .gov website. If someone claiming to represent the government tells you to fill out your application for a grant over social media, text message, email or phone call, that’s a scam. Government websites are the only places you can apply for federal grants.
Any government agency or department offering a grant should be real. Many government grant scams pose as fake government agencies, departments or programs with names that sound like they could be legitimate. Check online to see if you can find any information about the agency or department offering you the grant; if you can’t find anything, that’s a major red flag.
A federal grant should be awarded for use in a specific way. Federal grants are usually awarded for specific programs, research or projects, and are never awarded so that you can use the money however you want. While there might be programs to help you pay off bills or start a business, there are no government grants designed for that purpose.
“If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is,” the AARP says of government grant scams. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/verify/scams-verify/unprompted-grant-offers-scams-not-federal-government/536-584eb76c-51e4-4599-8bc8-1b6dbc728300 | 2022-08-12T16:25:29Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/verify/scams-verify/unprompted-grant-offers-scams-not-federal-government/536-584eb76c-51e4-4599-8bc8-1b6dbc728300 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
“If you build it, they will come,” as was said in the movie "Field of Dreams," and 33 years after the movie’s theatrical debut, the second Major League Baseball Field of Dreams game at Dyersville, Iowa, featured a flyover by a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker of the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing and two U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons of the Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing on August 11, 2022.
The planes flew over as singer and songwriter Jessie James Decker sang the U.S. National Anthem prior to the first pitch of the game.
Airmen involved said they enjoyed the unique opportunity to be a part of the flyover.
“It’s an honor to get to display the capabilities of the 185th and the Air Force in general,” said Lt. Col. Pete Goeken, Aircraft Commander from the 185th ARW. “It was fun and rewarding to show the general public that there is a reason we are the best Air Force in the world.”
Prior to the flyover, the KC-135 met the F-16s in the sky and provided aerial refueling before leading them over Dyersville.
According to the ownership group of the Field of Dreams complex, due to construction set to take place, the MLB will not be returning for a Field of Dreams game in 2023.
This makes for the aerial spectacle over the famous field to be a memorable sendoff until the MLB can return.
This work, Flyover at the Field of Dreams, by A1C Tylon Chapman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427145/flyover-field-dreams | 2022-08-12T16:25:43Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427145/flyover-field-dreams | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
GROTON, Connecticut – Cmdr. Matthew Horton turned command of USS Delaware (SSN 791) over to Cmdr. Robert Low in a traditional change of command ceremony held Friday, Aug. 12, pierside at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.
USS Delaware was the first U.S. Navy ship commissioned while underwater when it was accepted as an operational submarine in April of 2020. At the time, large ceremonies were restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the commissioning was carried out administratively as the sub was underway.
USS Delaware has the distinction of being named for the home state of current President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and First Lady Jill Biden, the ship sponsor. Both were in attendance when the commissioning was commemorated in a ceremony held in Wilmington, Delaware, in April of this year.
“It's been an honor to serve as commanding officer for such a talented and dedicated crew. The Officers and men of USS Delaware have excelled in every area of submarine operations, from engineering readiness to tactical proficiency,” said Horton, a native of West Monroe, Louisiana. “Their ingenuity and commitment is inspirational, and is truly what makes our Submarine Force the world's greatest. I know that they will continue to excel under the leadership from Cmdr. Low. To the families of USS Delaware, I say a heartfelt ‘Thank you.’ I will never forget your service, sacrifice, love and support.”
Capt. Thomas P. O’Donnell, commander of Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 12, under which USS Delaware operates, served as the presiding officer. Capt. Matthew Boland, who recently completed a tour as commander of SUBRON 12, was the keynote speaker at Friday’s event.
“During my time as commodore, USS Delaware always delivered. They were my first choice for challenging tasks and their professional crew always executed to perfection,” said Boland, adding, “My only challenge as commodore was to figure out how to get out of Matt Horton’s way and let him get to the business of carrying out the mission.”
Following his Delaware command tour, Horton is transitioning to Submarine Squadron 8 in Norfolk, Virginia.
“Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to get to know this team. I'm deeply impressed by their exceptional work ethic and I'm as motivated as ever to work beside them,” said Low, a native of Avon, Ohio, and graduate of Michigan State University. “Cmdr. Horton leaves behind a culture of excellence that I will remain committed to in the years ahead. I'm excited to dig in and, along with the incredible Sailors of USS Delaware, get ready to take this submarine back out to sea again to answer our nation's call.”
USS Delaware was the 18th Virginia-class submarine built, as well as the eighth and final Block III Virginia-class sub. The Block III submarines are notable for replacing 12 vertical launch tubes for Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) with two larger, 87-inch diameter launch tubes, capable of carrying larger payloads, among other advancements.
The submarine is the seventh U.S. Navy ship to be named for the First State, but first in more than a century. The first ship to be named Delaware was a 24-gun frigate launched in July of 1776, the month the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
The most recent previous ship to bear the name was a battleship commissioned in 1910 and in service in the Atlantic during World War I.
Fast-attack submarines are multi-mission platforms enabling five of the six Navy maritime strategy core capabilities – sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security and deterrence. They are designed to excel in anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship warfare, strike warfare, special operations, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and mine warfare. Fast-attack submarines project power ashore with special operations forces and Tomahawk cruise missiles in the prevention or response to regional crises.
This work, USS Delaware (SSN 791) holds change of command ceremony, by LT Seth Koenig, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427147/uss-delaware-ssn-791-holds-change-command-ceremony | 2022-08-12T16:25:52Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427147/uss-delaware-ssn-791-holds-change-command-ceremony | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(NEXSTAR) – The Department of Transportation has proposed a new package of rules that would make it easier for Americans to get their money back when things go wrong in air travel.
DOT says it has received “a flood” of complaints from travelers who have had their plans disrupted by COVID-19 and pandemic-related fallout, and lost money due to non-refundable ticket purchases.
The new rule would give people the right to a cash refund – not a voucher – “if airlines cancel or significantly change their flights.”
“Significant changes” is defined by the DOT as:
- Anything that affects departure or arrival times by three hours (or more) on domestic flights and six hours (or more) on international flights
- A change to which airport your flight departs from or arrives at
- A change to the number of connections in your itinerary
- If your aircraft type changes and “it causes a significant downgrade in the air travel experience or amenities available onboard the flight”
Under the new rule, you’ll also be eligible for a voucher if you cancel your flight for pandemic-related reasons. Those reasons can include:
- New government travel restrictions
- Closed borders
- Situations in which passengers are advised not to travel for their health or the health of others
These vouchers should not have an expiration date, the DOT says.
“When Americans buy an airline ticket, they should get to their destination safely, reliably, and affordably,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the DOT announcement. “This new proposed rule would protect the rights of travelers and help ensure they get the timely refunds they deserve from the airlines.”
The rule, proposed on August 3, is open for public comment for 90 days. After the public comment period ends, the proposal may be modified before the final rule is adopted and take effect.
Lawmakers also introduced a bill Monday that would codify the proposed DOT rule. The Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act goes even further than the DOT proposal by giving travelers the option to get a cash refund as long as they cancel their flight 48 hours before departure, the Hill reported. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/new-dot-rule-could-make-air-travel-less-hellish-how-it-could-help-you/ | 2022-08-12T16:33:28Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/new-dot-rule-could-make-air-travel-less-hellish-how-it-could-help-you/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Jehovah’s Witnesses will resume their trademark door-to-door ministry on Sept. 1, after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus. The work will return just in time for the launch of a global campaign featuring an interactive program for Bible study.
The decision to resume their door-to-door ministry marks the complete restoration of all pre-pandemic in-person activities for nearly 1.3 million Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 12,000 congregations in the United States. Houses of worship, called Kingdom Halls, were reopened on April 1, witnessing in public places resumed on May 31, and in-person conventions are again being planned for 2023.
“We are so excited for the door-to-door ministry to resume. My wife and I love our neighbors and we love people,” said Lucas Quinones Jr., of Cohoes. He and his wife Janai have fond memories of talking with people at their homes. “There is nothing like seeing a person’s face light up when you share a positive thought from the Bible with them.” He continued, “As we reflect on the state of the world today and the challenges that people are facing, this is a great time for us to return to knocking on people’s doors and sharing a message of hope with them.”
The suspension of the public ministry was a response by the organization to keep communities and congregants safe, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The move was also unprecedented. Jehovah’s Witnesses had been preaching from house to house without interruption for more than 100 years through an economic depression, two world wars, and global unrest, but COVID demanded a different response.
“We believe that the early decision to shut down all in-person activities for more than two years has saved many lives,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “We’re now ready and eager to reconnect with our neighbors once again – person-to-person, face-to-face. It’s not the only way that we preach, but it has historically been the most effective way to deliver our message of comfort and hope.”
The return to an in-person ministry coincides with a global campaign to offer an interactive Bible study program, available in hundreds of languages and offered at no cost. The course comes in the form of a printed book, online publication, or as an embedded feature within the organization’s free mobile app, JW Library. Released in late 2020, the interactive study platform combines text, video, illustrations, and digital worksheets to help learners of all ages.
“This study program is designed to match the learning style of the 21st-century student,” said Hendriks. “We’re excited to begin sharing it with our neighbors as we return to making personal visits.”
The pandemic forced Jehovah’s Witnesses to quickly pivot to virtual meetings and conventions while conducting their ministry exclusively through letters, phone calls, and virtual Bible studies. This has led to growth in meeting attendance and the number of congregants, with more than 400,000 newly-baptized Witnesses joining the ranks of 120,000 congregations globally in just the first two years of the pandemic. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/new-england/door-to-door-ministry-back-for-jehovahs-witnesses/ | 2022-08-12T16:37:13Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/new-england/door-to-door-ministry-back-for-jehovahs-witnesses/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
-
Higher Ed Gamma
MOOCs and beyond.
Title
Can College Heal a Fractured, Unequal Nation?
How higher education became a private, not a public, good, and the epicenter of the culture wars.
There’s an arresting scene in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels that strikes a familiar chord, even though the book is nearing its 300th anniversary. On his third voyage, Gulliver, marooned by pirates, spies “an island in the air,” Laputa. With one eye pointed upward and the other turned inward, the island’s inhabitants, anxious and neurotic, are utterly impractical, their clothes ill-fitting, their homes in shambles, their sex drive absent, their ears fixated on the music of the spheres.
Yes, Gulliver has encountered something that resembles a college, where learned men’s minds are up in the clouds.
In a stinging satire of Enlightenment intellectualism, Swift pokes fun at abstract philosophizing and dreamy theorizing without practical application.
Next, Gulliver visits Balnibarbi, a kingdom that the inhabitants of Laputa, those wise men, literally lord over. There, in a cutting parody of Britain’s Royal Society, he looks aghast at the experiments conducted at the Grand Academy of Lagado, like trying to make pillows out of marble and sunbeams from cucumbers.
Town-gown tensions and ridicule of intellectuals are as old as the academy, but now these conflicts take a somewhat novel form, as a college education has increasingly come to define the nation’s political, ideological, religious, and class divides.
These social, economic, and attitudinal rifts are the subject of a new book by the journalist Will Bunch, a wrenching analysis of a nation fractured along stark educational lines. Somewhat like Charles Murray’s Coming Apart and Robert D. Putnam’s Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, After the Ivory Tower Falls begins his book by examining a single community, the area surrounding Gambier, Ohio’s Kenyon College, to examine how this nation’s inequality and opportunity gaps have contributed to political and social polarization.
Bunch’s study is a tale not of two Americas, but of four:
- Those who are left out, whose unionized factory jobs have been replaced by warehouse work and other physically taxing, financially insecure, irregular, ill-paid forms of hourly labor.
- Those left behind, whose lives are weighed down by money woes, parenting directionless kids who are often caught up in the opioid crisis.
- Those who have been left perplexed by their society’s partisan, ideological, and economic divisions but who also benefited in tangible ways from the social changes of the past half century.
- Then there’s a fourth group, consisting of Kenyon College’s undergrads and faculty members who, despite their varied backgrounds, are perceived by the Knox County, Ohio’s working-class whites, business class, police officers, and evangelical churchgoers as privileged elitists and opportunity hoarders.
Bunch’s book is organized around the theme of declension. He charts a fall from grace, as the nation gradually abandons the idea that higher education is a public good that should be broadly accessible to “anyone with ambitions for a better life.” As he puts it:
“the collapse of this utopian vision would become the secret sauce behind our modern political gridlock, the revolts of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street, the resentment-fueled rise of Donald Trump, and finally a deadly insurrection on Capitol Hill.”
His book sparkles with fascinating sidenotes and insights:
- Enrollment in HBCUs tripled during the 1940s, even as Black enrollment at predominantly white institutions rose sharply, laying the foundation for the civil rights activism of college students during the 1960s.
- Between 1956 and 1970, college enrollment tripled, but spending on higher ed rose sixfold, with investment in university research more than quadrupling.
- A single university, Michigan State, which grew from 15,000 students in 1950 to 38,000 in 1965 had an astonishing 69 percent of its budget paid for by federal taxpayers.
Bunch’s most important argument is that while the nation’s leaders came to embrace the ideal of meritocratic and democratic access to higher education, true equality of opportunity would require much more than many imagined. It would not only demand significantly increased financial aid, enlarged outreach and bridge programs, and expanded student support services, but also alternate pathways to rewarding jobs tailored to those who can’t afford to spend four, five, six, or more years attending college.
Why didn’t American higher education sustain the post-Sputnik investments that culminated in Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society program?
We know the answers. A backlash prompted by campus protests and student radicalism. The stagflation, deindustrialization, and energy crises of the 1970s. The 1978 statute that removed limits on guaranteed student loans and which encouraged colleges to sharply raise tuition. The 25 percent decrease in federal spending on higher education between 1980 and 1985. The birth of credentialism, which made college the essential ticket into a secure middle-class job, fueling demand for college diplomas.
Bunch does a masterful job of explaining how college gradually became a center of contention in the culture wars, with affirmative action, multiculturalism, and identity politics key flashpoints. He also offers striking examples of how colleges became the targets of white working-class resentment over the arrogance of cultural, academic, and professional elites and the dream hoarding of the winners in the emerging knowledge economy.
Bunch quite rightly expresses outrage at the ways that the Ivies and other elite institutions shaped the direction of the higher ed marketplace, emphasizing “prestige, ‘branding’ … exclusivity, luxury perks, and sky-high tuition.” Rather than competing on price or educational quality, these institutions instead vied over prestige and amenities. This emphasis on prestige, in turn, “trickled down through the rest of the system.” For those lower down the status hierarchy, the answers involved admission of full-pay international and out-of-state students, expanded master’s offerings designed to exploit credential inflation, and an increased emphasis on contract research and on the campus (that is, the non-academic) experience.
The author also voices indignation at the way that higher ed system has become dependent on $1.7 trillion of borrowed money, owed by the students (and not even including the sums borrowed by parents).
What, then, is to be done? He suggests expanded public service programs or what he calls a “universal gap year” in exchange for tuition free college and advanced training in skilled trades. But that, he makes clear, will require not only money but a fundamental change in the nation’s mindset.
Perhaps you saw a recent essay in Science entitled “As a Ph.D. student with an expensive chronic disease, low stipends make academia untenable.” You’d need to have a heart of stone not to empathize with the essay’s author, who describes how he left Egypt at age 17 to pursue undergraduate and graduate education in Canada.
Because his stipend is barely enough to cover his living costs, let alone his medical expenses, he explains, he had to take on extra hours as a teaching assistant. Overwhelmed by financial stress, his anxieties were intensified by the judgmentalism of his peers and faculty advisers, who imply that he’s not sufficiently focused on his research, and who do not recognize or value his special circumstances: “my health condition, greater expenses, and lack of family support.”
Now, he writes, “I look forward to leaving academia for a job where my efforts are appreciated and my well-being respected.” He and others like him, he says, “should be helped through those challenges—for example, with less humiliating pay and reasonable work expectations—instead of being judged for being insufficiently dedicated.”
The author is right. And yet… After reading Bunch’s book, it’s hard not to weigh that student’s experiences against the many other inequities that characterize contemporary society. There are, of course, knee-jerk responses to the Science essay:
- Is it wrong for faculty to expect extraordinarily high levels of commitment and productivity given the extraordinary investments in time and resources in doctoral education?
- Are his stipend and benefits package humiliating? (University of Toronto Ph.D. stipends range from $16,352-$73,012 Canadian, and average $29,390 according to Glassdoor).
- Don’t most doctoral programs require students to teach to support themselves? Isn’t the primary purpose of a Ph.D. program to prepare future faculty?
- Shouldn’t the doctoral student make more of the quality of his research, his insights, and his scholarly and scientific potential?
- Given the extent of graduate student unionization in Canada, where over half a million students belong to labor federations, shouldn’t he direct his concerns to these units?
Then there are the bigger issues that the cri de coeur raises, concerns that have been raised by higher ed commentators as diverse as Kevin Carey, Ryan Craig, Freddie DeBoer, Caroline Hoxby, and Matthew Yglesias:
- In strictly utilitarian terms, should society invest significantly more resources in elite doctoral education, undergraduate financial aid, or job training targeted at those who, for various reasons, are employed or displaced or trapped in dead end jobs and unable to pursue a 2- or 4-year college degree?
- How should universities determine what constitutes a fair stipend and benefit package for doctoral students, given the extraordinary expenses invested in Ph.D. education (and, yes, the great privilege of attending a leading R1 and the opportunities it opens up)?
- Given resource constraints, should universities trim doctoral enrollment and invest more funds in that smaller cohort of Ph.D. students, or should Ph.D. programs become more accessible, even if that results in somewhat smaller stipends?
The words of Pope Francis come to mind: “Who am I to judge?” Indeed, I should be the last to judge lest I be judged, given my own privilege.
However uncertain my career has been, I did get tenure at a public flagship and access to the benefits that affords: flexibility without parallel in the job market, access to paid leaves, extraordinary research support, and the chance to shape the minds of the rising generation.
I never imagined that I’d look back and think for a moment that I was a professor during higher ed’s golden age. But for those with tenure, especially those at research universities, this has been at least a silver age.
As my generation exits the building, we must recognize our special responsibility to do more to ensure that those who follow us can achieve something like the work life I had. The priorities are obvious:
- Ensuring job security and academic freedom for all instructors.
- Guaranteeing every student access to a teacher scholar and mentor.
- Safeguarding faculty governance.
- And, yes, doing much more to support the Ph.D. students who will replace us.
Near the end of his book Bunch writes, in a phrase that strikes me as pitch perfect: American higher ed “will struggle to move forward until it asks itself some hard questions about how to reasonably apportion the cost of higher education.” The answer to that question isn’t self-evident. It will involve tough choices and daunting trade-offs. It will also require a genuine commitment to equity across intersectional lines. And let’s not forget those who, for whatever reason, will never enroll in college.
But none of this will happen if we don’t make it happen. In the words of the Everly Brothers, “wishing won’t make it so.”
Steven Mintz is professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin.
Trending Stories
- Survey highlights Gen Z's distrust in higher ed
- College leaders' responsibilty to identify unrecognized talent (opinion)
- 6 Supports Professors Need to Teach First-Gen Students (infographic)
- Popular chemistry textbook's new edition will be free
- Advisers can play new roles in mitigating student anxieties (opinion)
THE Campus
Resources for faculty and staff from our partners at Times Higher Education.
- Please follow the following: user guidance tasks as assessments
- Address bias in teaching, learning and assessment in five steps
- Is it possible to decolonise the business curriculum?
- What determines the success of an international branch campus?
- Engineering schools are riddled with issues – reinvention is required | https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/can-college-heal-fractured-unequal-nation | 2022-08-12T16:37:56Z | insidehighered.com | control | https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/can-college-heal-fractured-unequal-nation | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
skip to main content
Save.ca
Homefinder.ca
Wheels.ca
Readers' Choice Awards
loading...
skip to main content
Sign In
Show Navigation
21°C
Friday Aug 12
Close Navigation
Local News
Things to do
Opinion
Life
Announcements
Marketplace
Search
Sign In
Save.ca
Homefinder.ca
Wheels.ca
Readers' Choice Awards | https://www.parrysound.com/news-story/10691414-anishinabek-leaders-question-near-north-board-s-reaction-to-vandalism-at-parry-sound-high-school-sha/ | 2022-08-12T16:40:47Z | parrysound.com | control | https://www.parrysound.com/news-story/10691414-anishinabek-leaders-question-near-north-board-s-reaction-to-vandalism-at-parry-sound-high-school-sha/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A pup in Georgia has gone from the animal shelter to the silver screen.
Coco plays the lead character's four-legged companion on Hulu's "Prey."
On its Facebook page, Fulton County Animal Services says she came into their care in early 2021.
The shelter says Coco had no film training and was adopted specifically for the movie.
"She was originally meant to have a small role however her popularity among test audiences encouraged director Dan Trachtenberg to include more of Coco in the film," the group said.
They say Coco's fame shines a light on what shelter dogs are capable of when given a chance. | https://www.wtxl.com/entertainment/pup-in-georgia-goes-from-animal-shelter-to-movie-star | 2022-08-12T16:41:43Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/entertainment/pup-in-georgia-goes-from-animal-shelter-to-movie-star | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TALLAHASSEE, FLa. — One Tallahassee man was hospitalized after being stabbed in his home Friday morning.
According to the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD), authorities received a call from Camden Place Apartments at 8:32 a.m. on August 12 in reference to a stabbing.
The tenant was reportedly inside his home when a suspect entered and stabbed him with a knife. The male victim was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, reports stated.
The suspect fled the scene and no arrests have been made at this time. TPD says it is unclear whether the suspect and victim know one another.
This is an ongoing investigation.
For incident inquiries after normal business hours, TPD encourages citizens to call the TPD Watch Commander at 850-891-4257. For breaking public safety news and updates, follow TPD on social media. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/tpd-one-male-severely-injured-in-early-morning-stabbing | 2022-08-12T16:41:50Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/tpd-one-male-severely-injured-in-early-morning-stabbing | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
OKLAHOMA CITY — Native American communities lag behind the rest of the country when it comes to broadband connectivity. Now, with the Affordable Connectivity Program, tribal nations will see funding for better internet access.
“So many of our Indigenous communities are isolated,” said Toni Tsatoke, a professor of Indigenous Studies. “And so, people are living in their separate communities. many times, in rural communities, so they don't have the same resources that others do living in larger metropolitan areas."
Studies show that Native Americans living on reservations or other tribal lands do not have access to affordable high-speed internet service.
“The first problem is really an opportunity,” said Cliff Agee, the president of telecommunications for Chickasaw Nation. “But the problem is people in rural America, rural Oklahoma, rural Chickasaw nation is that they really don't understand it.”
According to the American Indian Policy institute, 18% of tribal reservation residents have no internet access, while 33% rely on smartphones for internet service.
But even where broadband is available, the cost can be a barrier.
“If they see they have affordable broadband in these areas, they can set up a business and can promote their product online from sitting at their home in a 2,000 population community,” Agee said. “It's critical."
This is why Congress passed the Affordable Connectivity Act; it’s part of the $1 trillion infrastructure package. $14.2 billion will go toward providing broadband internet service to rural areas, including tribal lands.
Right now, people in those areas could be paying $100 or more a month, this will change that to $30 a month, and provide services in areas that didn’t have it before.
"Many people may think that a lot of these issues have been resolved and are things of the past,” Tsatoke said. “But we really have these ongoing issues that if it weren't for the internet that level awareness could not have been raised."
Just connecting these areas with broadband services can help with multiple problems for Native American communities. Some things it can help are with issues like telehealth access, teaching their Native language, and missing and murdered Indigenous people cases.
"That has been a critical thing: the use of social media networks people are creating groups and things like that for awareness but also just being part of that larger community,” Tsatoke said. “We are not just individuals living out here living our best lives. We are part of a larger community, and we stay connected that way."
Now, tribal nations across the country are applying for these grants, and hope all of this will improve their essential operations. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national-politics/the-race/tribal-lands-to-get-better-internet-access | 2022-08-12T16:42:02Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national-politics/the-race/tribal-lands-to-get-better-internet-access | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
You might remember a time when it was commonplace to look up someone’s phone number or address in the phone book.
Phone books, for the most part, are a thing of the past, and today, much of that information is available online.
There are countless websites. like Whitepages.com and Nuwber.com which can list information like your current address, past addresses, and cell phone number.
While these websites can be handy if you’re looking to make sure that someone you’re hiring or meeting with is who they say they are, many people have raised privacy concerns about their contact information being available with just a quick internet search.
“In the past, we were protected by, if you wanted access to these public records, you would have to have a copy of the Whitepages directly yourself or go to the public library to look them up,” said Dr. Jennifer King, an expert on data privacy at the law school at Stanford University.
She says these websites gather our information from public records, many of which are available online. Records websites can get our information from property records, voting registries, and even divorce decrees.
Since this information is all public, it's legal to post it without your permission.
Dr. Bernard Chao is a former Silicon Valley lawyer who now teaches at The University of Denver's Sturm College of Law. He says a conversation that has come up in his classes is whether all public information should be accessible with just an online search.
"It took so much effort to get the information. You wouldn't go down to the courthouse to find out whether your neighbor's divorce was messy or not. I mean it just wasn't worth it, but you might Google that," Chao explained. "Maybe that's information we want private even though previously you could have gotten the information with a lot of effort."
We reached out to five people finding websites with questions about how they get the information that is on their sites: Whitepages.com, Nuwber.com, OfficialUSA.com, Truepeoplesearch.com, and Clustrmaps.com.
Clustrmaps.com is the only one that responded with answers. It says it hopes the site can be used to help old friends reunite. The company said it gathers its information from hundreds of data sources, like property records and it also pays third parties for information gathered across the web.
We asked about the privacy concerns people may have with their information being on their site, the company stated there is a free opt-out option people can use to get their information taken down. Opting out is a feature offered on many people finding websites.
Chao says opting out of each one would be a chore.
"I don't think normal people have time to do that," Chao said.
There are services like DeleteMe, which for around $19 a month will wipe your name from Google searches.
"Even if you use those tools, it might not plug all the holes and there still might be data available that someone hunting could find," King said.
While states like California, Colorado, and Illinois have passed laws in recent years surrounding data privacy, Chao says lawmakers have not been able to pass meaningful legislation on the federal level.
"I think it is very hard to have any framework where it is on the individual to contact multiple entities to ensure their privacy," Chao said. "I think we need to have laws that say you don't have to do that. We have to have it the other way. The default is no your information is private and if you really, really, really want this, you’re going to have to get it from the individual.” | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/how-people-finding-websites-get-your-information-what-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself | 2022-08-12T16:42:14Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/how-people-finding-websites-get-your-information-what-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina child is back home safe, thanks to the keen nose of a four-legged officer named Maverick.
On its Facebook page, the Union County Sheriff's Office said deputies were called to a residence earlier this month regarding a missing child.
While at the residence, the missing child's family gave deputies a blanket for Maverick, a white English Labrador, to use as a scent article, the department said.
The department said Maverick and his handler, Deputy Dye, immediately began tracking to find the missing child, which led them along a busy highway.
Shortly thereafter, the department said the child was found unharmed and returned safely back home to its family.
“We are proud of K9 Maverick and Deputy J. Dye for their hard work and dedication and consider them to be a huge asset for Union County," Sgt. Presson said in the Facebook post.
According to the sheriff's office, Maverick was donated to the department by a local family in 2021. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/k9-dog-helps-find-missing-child-in-north-carolina | 2022-08-12T16:42:20Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/k9-dog-helps-find-missing-child-in-north-carolina | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The annual Discover Occoquan celebration, including a scavenger hunt, Taste of Occoquan and and the Duck Splash, will begin Saturday, Aug. 13, and run through Aug. 21.
During the event, visitors are invited to browse the town’s unique shops, boutiques, galleries and eateries and participate in special activities, including demonstrations, workshops and sales. Here are specifics on some of the events:
Scavenger Hunt
Aug. 13-21, Historic District
Visit businesses throughout Occoquan and answer questions about town history on a scavenger hunt passport form. Completed passports can be entered in a dropbox at Town Hall for a chance to win the grand prize.
Taste of Occoquan
Aug. 18-21, Historic District
Over a dozen businesses are participating in this first-time component of Discover Occoquan. Visitors can experience a variety of dishes from award-winning restaurants.
Sip & Stroll and Shop Late
Aug. 20, 4-8 p.m., Historic District
Order adult beverages at participating restaurants and Sip & Stroll through the historic district while browsing the shops and galleries or attend the free concert in River Mill Park.
Duck Splash
Aug. 14, Noon, Town Dock
Adopt a numbered rubber duck then watch it race along the Occoquan River with hundreds of other ducks. Winners receive $20-$500. All proceeds benefit Patriots for Disabled Divers.
Trivia Night
Aug. 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m., River Mill Park
Test your knowledge during a beach party-themed Trivia Night in River Mill Park. More information at occoquanva.gov/trivia.
Corn Hole Tournament
Aug. 20, 1-4 p.m., River Mill Park
Cost: $30, or $25 if you bring your own boards. Pick up a beverage and snacks before you play.
Concert in the Park
Aug. 20, 7-9 p.m., River Mill Park
Free concert featuring local band Collective.
Agnes Artwork Unveiling
Aug. 20, 11 a.m., River Mill Park
This ceremony includes the unveiling of an original piece of artwork commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Agnes’ effects on the town of Occoquan. | https://www.insidenova.com/lifestyles/discover-occoquan-planned-for-aug-13-21/article_2808d056-1a54-11ed-a683-3b0d1076fa3d.html | 2022-08-12T16:51:58Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/lifestyles/discover-occoquan-planned-for-aug-13-21/article_2808d056-1a54-11ed-a683-3b0d1076fa3d.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Prince William County Supervisor Andrea Bailey will face a primary challenger in her 2023 re-election campaign.
Kim Short is seeking the Democratic nomination for the Board of Supervisors in the Potomac District, which covers southeastern Prince William County, including Dumfries, Quantico, Montclair and Triangle.
Short, 52, is a native of Birmingham, Ala., who has lived in the area since 2009. She served in the U.S. Army for 25 years, including a time at Fort Belvoir.
Short has a degree in biology from Berea College and several graduate degrees, including in political management from George Washington University. She is an alternate appointment to the Board of Commissioners for the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission.
Short said she has always been interested in politics but was unable to serve while in the military.
“I am really about how we positively impact the most people’s lives in our community,” she said.
Short decided to run because she “felt that we can do more” in the Potomac District. She wants to focus on government accountability, health and wellness and revitalization.
To increase transparency, Short said the county’s budget “should be easy to read and comprehended by everyone in the community,” and officials should provide periodic updates on progress toward strategic goals.
Short also wants to attract more business and recreation opportunities to the Potomac District.
“Right now, for a lot of the things I do socially, I have to go to Manassas … I would like to see more of those things in the Potomac District or close to our community,” she said.
Short didn’t have any criticisms of Bailey, and Bailey offered no comment on Short’s campaign.
“I’m going to run my race … with exuberance and know-how, and I stand on my record,” Bailey said.
Bailey, who confirmed her plans to seek re-election, was elected to the district in 2019 after longtime Republican Supervisor Maureen Caddigan did not seek re-election.
Bailey won with about 64% of the vote over Republican Douglas Taggart.
“I have work that I need to finish that I think my district is expecting me to finish,” she said.
During her tenure, Bailey highlighted her push for a crisis receiving center. The county plans to create a 24-hour crisis receiving center to provide direct interventions to avert emergency psychiatric hospitalization or institutional placement for people suffering mental health crises.
The unit would accept drop-offs and people under temporary detention orders to connect them with treatment and services.
The facility would include 16 adult and youth beds at full buildout, although the first phase will have eight beds.
Last month, the county approved a lease agreement to open the facility at the old Gander Mountain building in Woodbridge.
“That’s a big deal in our county,” Bailey said.
Bailey said the district also needs more affordable housing at a wide range of income levels.
Bailey and Short are the only candidates to announce campaigns in the district.
All eight seats on the Board of Supervisors will be up in the 2023 election. Supervisor Victor Angry, D-Neabsco, is the only other incumbent to announce re-election plans as of Aug. 9. | https://www.insidenova.com/news/politics/primary-challenge-launched-against-potomac-supervisor/article_c3f662fa-1a57-11ed-aa3c-5b2c02a0d568.html | 2022-08-12T16:52:04Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/politics/primary-challenge-launched-against-potomac-supervisor/article_c3f662fa-1a57-11ed-aa3c-5b2c02a0d568.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
DoorDash (DASH) was flying high during the pandemic, growing in tandem with its underlying business. With pandemic tailwinds fading away, DoorDash is finding it tough to maintain margins amidst the challenging macroeconomic backdrop. The stock trades at close to five times forward sales, a figure completely divorced from its fundamentals. Therefore we are bearish on DASH stock.
The market has slowed down remarkably over the past eight months, and the delivery giant is feeling the effects. Despite the surge in sales over the past couple of years, the company was unsuccessful in milking a profit. With the inflationary pressures and the pandemic fade, it’s tough to see how things wouldn’t get worse. Hence, I side with my colleague Joey Frenette in suggesting that it’s best to avoid the stock for now.
Is the Food-Delivery Business Inherently Unprofitable?
No one can argue over the success of the food delivery business during the pandemic. DoorDash and its peers experienced massive expansion during the period, but they remain unprofitable. Hence, it beckons the question of whether the industry itself is structurally unprofitable. All evidence shows that the companies in the sector are likely to have it tough due to reasons discussed later in the section.
From 2019 to 2020, DASH’s gross order volume shot up from $8 billion to a whopping $24.7 billion, representing over a 200% increase. A year later, orders increased by a dumbfounding 70%. It was able to solidify its position in the niche and become a massive player.
Nevertheless, profitability remained elusive despite the eye-catching performance in the past couple of years. If a company such as DoorDash can’t generate profits under incredibly favorable conditions, it’s tough to see how it could ever generate a profit.
One of the main issues with the food delivery services business is that exceptionally low switching costs categorize it with no difference in terms of service quality amongst peers. Sadly enough, the company actually burnt more money when its business was thriving. DASH posted a net loss of $461 million and $468 million in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Another example is the second quarter, where it yet again posted a quarterly loss despite a solid jump in revenues.
Things Will Only Get Worse from Here
The global economy is in a mess amidst rising inflation and interest rates. Moreover, geopolitical tensions due to the Ukraine War and re-opening headwinds have further complicated things. Though the current market situation is tough for virtually every company, loss-making entities such as DASH will likely suffer a lot more.
We discussed earlier how the business couldn’t generate a profit in the most conducive of market conditions. The market is in a slump, with minimal economic growth and investors gravitating toward less risky investment options. Hence, it’s a double-whammy for DASH and its peers.
The delivery services industry hasn’t witnessed a recession in its relatively short history, but it will now be under the pump for the first time. Inflation is eating away at disposable incomes and is likely to limit consumer spending significantly.
Moreover, there is the element of wage inflation which is perhaps an even bigger dent in the company’s business model. Delivery service companies have found it remarkably tough to attract workers over the past several years, and the current market downturn will create more challenges in that department.
Therefore, DoorDash can’t maintain its margins in such awful market conditions. The lack of profitability is perhaps not a question of scale. The firm has almost a billion in annual deliveries, yet it is far from profitable.
DASH is left with the equities market to bail it out from its current predicament. There was a time when the company flew high due to positive investor sentiment surrounding the stock. However, all that has changed dramatically, as investors are looking to value capital and profitability instead of lofty management claims. Hence, DoorDash will have it incredibly tough to raise funds during the market downturn.
Is DASH a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, DASH stock maintains a Moderate Buy consensus rating. Out of 17 total analyst ratings, 10 Buys, seven Holds, and zero Sells were assigned over the past three months. The average DoorDash price target is $110, implying 42.1% upside potential. Analyst price targets range from a low of $67 per share to a high of $185 per share.
Takeaway – The Cracks in DoorDash’s Business Model Have Accentuated
DoorDash has it remarkably tough in a market that is as tough as it gets. The cracks in its business model have accentuated, and investors are taking note. DASH stock has shed a truckload of value as investors look toward more profitable companies to invest in the current bear market.
Profitability remains elusive for the company, and you probably shouldn’t count on it to flip the script at this time. However, the real question is whether it could ever turn a profit considering it couldn’t achieve that feat during its best years.
There is a flip side to the coin, though. The market’s appetite for risky investments might grow, and it could potentially continue as a loss-making entity. It might get the funding it needs to continue pushing forward without making a dollar profit. Moreover, there’s always the element of mergers and acquisitions, where DASH could become a much bigger force in the market.
However, there are a lot of ifs and buts with DASH’s bull case, and with it trading at close to five times forward sales, you wouldn’t want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/dash-stock-dash-away-on-a-bleak-outlook-ahead/ | 2022-08-12T16:55:52Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/dash-stock-dash-away-on-a-bleak-outlook-ahead/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Salman Rushdie -- a celebrated author and winner of the world's top literary prizes whose writings generated death threats -- was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck on stage Friday before giving a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, State Police said.
A state trooper at the scene took the suspect into custody, police said.
Rushdie was airlifted to a local hospital, police said. His condition is unknown. An interviewer also suffered a minor head injury, police said.
A man on the stage was seen "punching or stabbing" the novelist before the event, according to an AP reporter who witnessed the attack.
Medical staff and police were called to the amphitheater, according to a Chautauqua spokesperson who would not elaborate or confirm details about the incident.
A witness in the audience told CNN he saw Rushdie attacked on stage.
The witness could not confirm what was used in the attack, adding that he was 75 feet from stage.
The 75-year-old novelist -- the son of a successful Muslim businessman in India -- was educated in England, first at Rugby School and later at the University of Cambridge where he received an MA degree in history.
After college, he began working as an advertising copywriter in London, before publishing his first novel, "Grimus" in 1975.
Rushdie's treatment of delicate political and religious subjects turned him into a controversial figure. But it was the publication of his fourth novel "The Satanic Verses" in 1988 that has hounded him for more than three decades.
Some Muslims found the book to be sacrilegious and it sparked public demonstrations. In 1989, the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called Rushdie a blasphemer and said "The Satanic Verses" was an insult on Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, and issued a religious decree, or fatwa, calling for his death.
As a result, the Mumbai-born writer spent a decade under British protection before the Iranian government announced it would no longer seek to enforce the fatwa in 1998.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-at-western-new-york-event-and-a-suspect-is-in-custody/article_b7b1cbba-e481-51e7-87b9-4a88b4cc4acc.html | 2022-08-12T16:57:03Z | local3news.com | control | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-at-western-new-york-event-and-a-suspect-is-in-custody/article_b7b1cbba-e481-51e7-87b9-4a88b4cc4acc.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(Mass Appeal) – Everyone loves to eat a little lighter and healthier in the summer but we tend to run out of good ideas of what to make. Here with a twist on a New England classic is Ashley Tresoline of Bella Foodie.
Salmon Sandwiches “Lobster- Roll Style“
Ingredients:
1 ¾ pound organic wild caught salmon, flaked
2 ½ ribs of celery, chopped small
¾ cup Greek yogurt or skyrr
2 tbs. fresh chives, chopped
1 tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
1 ½ tbs. lemon juice
Zest of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
6 large rolls, lightly toasted
Optional: 1 tbs. of unsalted butter
Directions:
In a large bowl mix together the celery, Greek yogurt, chopped chives, chopped parsley (reserve a little for garnish on top of the sandwich) lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Check dressing for seasoning before folding in the salmon. Gently fold in the flaked salmon with spatula.
Butter the rolls and place on a baking sheet and toast in 350°oven for 5-7 minutes. Once toasted let cool for a minute before filling with the salmon mixture. Top with reserved chopped herbs for garnish. Serve with potato salad of chips. | https://www.wwlp.com/massappeal/salmon-sandwiches-lobster-roll-style/ | 2022-08-12T16:59:24Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/massappeal/salmon-sandwiches-lobster-roll-style/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Kentucky flooding death toll rises; FEMA faces criticism for aid response
FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT/WYMT/Gray News) - Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday that the eastern Kentucky flooding death toll is officially 39.
He said an additional death is being counted in Breathitt County. No details about the person’s identity was given.
“I ask the commonwealth to join me in praying for our fellow Kentuckians during this difficult time,” said the governor in a tweet.
As recovery efforts continue, state leaders are calling out the Federal Emergency Management Agency after they said a “steady stream of reports” from eastern Kentuckians indicate they are being denied federal aid.
Beshear said the aid that is being given is not enough, and too many people are being denied.
“I am not satisfied with the way FEMA claims are coming back right now. We are going to continue to push to be treated better by that organization,” Beshear said.
Beshear said while the state is grateful for the quick response and approving individual assistance in record time, the numbers are not adding up.
“Too many people are being denied, not enough people are being approved, and this is the time that FEMA has to get it right, to change what has been a history of denying too many people, and not providing enough dollars, and to get it right here,” Beshear said.
Beshear said FEMA has paid out $19.4 million to 2,700 families. That math would divide up to just under $7,200 per family. He said he has requested numbers from FEMA about cases that were denied and why.
FEMA Press Secretary Jeremy Edwards says the agency is working to “reduce barriers and cut red tape.” He said FEMA personnel will stay as long as it takes to help Kentuckians recover.
The FEMA recovery center at the Breathitt County library has been busy with people coming in to get aid, but one man said he’s not so sure how much help his family will get, after hearing about friends getting less than $200.
The devastation goes on for miles across eastern Kentucky, homes washed away, and families have lost everything.
“It’s devastating. I’ve lived here 20 years of my life, and all I can tell you is I wish everything could go back to normal,” flood victim Parker Miller said.
For Miller and hundreds of other families, getting back to normal is going to be a daunting task.
“The process is relatively slow. We’ve turned to FEMA, the Red Cross. We’ve talked to Samaritan’s Purse. We’re just looking for help cleaning up and maybe financial aid because we’ve lost everything,” Miller said.
Miller and his family have applied for FEMA help and met with representatives Thursday. However, he’s not sure how much help they’ll get after hearing from a friend.
“Four feet of water. FEMA came and looked at it, and they only offered $176. I figure if money is not coming in, I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Miller said.
Miller said he hopes the pressure leads to action. He’s worried what could happen to his community without help.
“I feel like without financial aid, our community will fall apart,” Miller said.
Copyright 2022 WKYT and WYMT via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.wave3.com/2022/08/12/kentucky-flooding-death-toll-rises-fema-faces-criticism-aid-response/ | 2022-08-12T17:02:06Z | wave3.com | control | https://www.wave3.com/2022/08/12/kentucky-flooding-death-toll-rises-fema-faces-criticism-aid-response/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Soldiers, family and friends from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment (Attack Reconnaissance),12th Combat Aviation Brigade “Vipers” held a battalion-wide family day during gunnery training to celebrate accomplishments and give their families a peak of what they do at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, August 6, 2022.
12 CAB is among other units assigned to V Corps, America's Forward Deployed Corps in Europe. They work alongside NATO Allies and regional security partners to provide combat-ready forces, execute joint and multinational training exercises, and retain command and control for all rotational and assigned units in the European Theater. (U.S. Army video by Staff Sgt. Tomas Mort)
This work, 1-3 Vipers hold family day at gunnery, by SSG Thomas Mort, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/video/854009/1-3-vipers-hold-family-day-gunnery | 2022-08-12T17:04:42Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/video/854009/1-3-vipers-hold-family-day-gunnery | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Maintenance window scheduled to begin at February 14th 2200 est. until 0400 est. February 15th
Eliminating Ghosts From Reserve Units
Spark Tank video submission for Eliminating Ghosts From Reserve Units.
Video Analytics
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, Eliminating Ghosts From Reserve Units, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
MORE LIKE THIS
CONTROLLED VOCABULARY KEYWORDS
TAGS | https://www.dvidshub.net/video/854026/eliminating-ghosts-reserve-units | 2022-08-12T17:04:54Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/video/854026/eliminating-ghosts-reserve-units | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Death of woman found in Franklin County investigated as homicide
Identification has not been released
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Fort Smith Times Record
ALTUS -- The death of a woman found alongside a Franklin County road remained under investigation Friday, authorities reported.
Franklin County sheriff’s deputies received a report about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday about the woman lying near State Highway 186, south of Interstate 40 near Altus.
The sheriff’s department has asked the Arkansas State Police to lead the investigation.
As of Friday, the identity of the female victim was unknown. An autopsy is expected from the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory to determine the manner and cause of death.
Special agents of the state police Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the death as a homicide. | https://www.swtimes.com/story/news/2022/08/12/death-woman-found-franklin-county-arkansas-investigated/10307451002/ | 2022-08-12T17:05:01Z | swtimes.com | control | https://www.swtimes.com/story/news/2022/08/12/death-woman-found-franklin-county-arkansas-investigated/10307451002/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Man convicted of rape escapes from prison work crew
A man convicted of rape escaped from a work crew Friday, Aug. 12, authorities report.
Samuel Hartman, an inmate at the East Arkansas Regional Unit, Brickys Prison, escaped while on assignment with the field maintenance crew located on State Highway 79.
Hartman is serving a life sentence for rape in Franklin County and has been in Arkansas Division of Correction custody since December 2, 2013.
Court records state Hartman took a plea deal and was convicted of rape at the age of 26 in Franklin County on November 27, 2013. He appealed his conviction to the state's Supreme Court but was denied.
According to the Arkansas Department of Corrections, Hartman has a history of "major guilty disciplinary violations" including possession of contraband, battery and sexual activity.
He uses the alias Samual Paul Heartman and his last known address is on Persimmon Point road in Magazine, Arkansas, authorities report.
Anyone with information on Hartman's whereabouts can call 911. | https://www.swtimes.com/story/news/2022/08/12/inmate-escaped-assignment-maintenance-crew-off-highway-79/10307514002/ | 2022-08-12T17:05:07Z | swtimes.com | control | https://www.swtimes.com/story/news/2022/08/12/inmate-escaped-assignment-maintenance-crew-off-highway-79/10307514002/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Standing among rows of Iowa cornstalks, Nico Hoerner had Johnny Bench on his left and Billy Williams right next to him.
“Pretty incredible,” Hoerner said.
For sure. Even for a “Field of Dreams.”
Led by Drew Smyly and a 10-hit attack, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 on Thursday night in Major League Baseball’s second “Field of Dreams” game.
Nick Madrigal had three hits for Chicago in a throwback ballpark a short walk away from the main field for the 1989 movie. Smyly (5-6) pitched five scoreless innings and Ian Happ had two hits, including an RBI double that drove in Hoerner during a fast start for the Cubs.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” Chicago manager David Ross said. “Really cool event.”
The night began with Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and his father emerging from the iconic outfield cornstalks for their own version of a memorable scene from the film, delighting the sellout crowd of 7,823.
“Hey dad, do you wanna have a catch,” Junior said.
“I’d like that,” Senior said.
The Griffeys then played catch as more parents and children joined them on the field with their own balls and gloves, followed by the Cubs and Reds, dressed in special uniforms inspired by how the franchises looked in the early 20th century.
Williams and Bench were among a group of Hall of Famers from each franchise that also joined the festivities. Bench stood behind the plate for a ceremonial first pitch from Fergie Jenkins.
“What they’ve done here is incredible. … I think every baseball player should experience this,” Reds third baseman Kyle Farmer said.
Backed by Chicago’s three-run first, Smyly improved to 3-1 with a 2.49 ERA in his last four starts. The left-hander allowed four hits and walked two while celebrating the fifth birthday for his daughter, Parker.
Rowan Wick worked the ninth for his seventh save.
“A game like this … you just feel like a kid again,” Smyly said. “You’re just out there playing baseball in the middle of Iowa.”
Cincinnati dropped its fourth straight game. Matt Reynolds hit a two-run double in the seventh, but the last-place Reds went down in order in the final two innings.
Major League Baseball returned to Dyersville — population of about 4,400 — after its first “Field of Dreams” game was a smashing success. The Chicago White Sox topped the New York Yankees 9-8 on Tim Anderson’s electric homer last year in the first MLB game in Iowa.
But the sequel lacked the drama of the original version. Chicago and Cincinnati dropped out of contention a long time ago, and the Cubs grabbed control right at the start against Nick Lodolo (3-4).
Seiya Suzuki and Happ each hit an RBI double in the first, and Hoerner had a run-scoring single. The rally started after Lodolo retired the first two batters.
“I didn’t make pitches when I needed to when I was ahead in the count,” Lodolo said.
Madrigal tacked on an RBI single for a 4-0 lead in the fourth.
REMEMBERING RAY
The 1989 movie starred Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Amy Madigan. Liotta, who played the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson, died in May at age 67.
Costner narrated a tribute video for Liotta that was aired in the first.
“Long live Shoeless Joe and long live Ray,” Costner said.
IN MOURNING
Hall of Fame right-hander John Smoltz was on the broadcast for FOX Sports after his father, John Adam Smoltz, died earlier Thursday.
“He lived by his faith, he loved family and he would be so mad if I didn’t do this game,” the 55-year-old Smoltz said during the broadcast.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs: Willson Contreras appeared to roll his left ankle when he tried to scurry back to second after rounding the bag on Patrick Wisdom’s single in the third. He was tagged out, but he was back behind the plate for the bottom half of the inning.
Reds: 2B Jonathan India (leg contusion) was replaced by Reynolds before the start of the fourth. India was hit on his lower left leg by a pitch in the first. Manager David Bell said India is day to day.
UP NEXT
Following an off day, the three-game series resumes on Saturday in Cincinnati. Graham Ashcraft (5-2, 3.94 ERA) pitches for the Reds, and fellow right-hander Adrian Sampson (0-3, 3.83 ERA) starts for the Cubs. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/iowa-news/cubs-beat-reds-in-2nd-field-of-dreams-game/ | 2022-08-12T17:05:29Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/iowa-news/cubs-beat-reds-in-2nd-field-of-dreams-game/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(NEXSTAR) – The Department of Transportation has proposed a new package of rules that would make it easier for Americans to get their money back when things go wrong in air travel.
DOT says it has received “a flood” of complaints from travelers who have had their plans disrupted by COVID-19 and pandemic-related fallout, and lost money due to non-refundable ticket purchases.
The new rule would give people the right to a cash refund – not a voucher – “if airlines cancel or significantly change their flights.”
“Significant changes” is defined by the DOT as:
- Anything that affects departure or arrival times by three hours (or more) on domestic flights and six hours (or more) on international flights
- A change to which airport your flight departs from or arrives at
- A change to the number of connections in your itinerary
- If your aircraft type changes and “it causes a significant downgrade in the air travel experience or amenities available onboard the flight”
Under the new rule, you’ll also be eligible for a voucher if you cancel your flight for pandemic-related reasons. Those reasons can include:
- New government travel restrictions
- Closed borders
- Situations in which passengers are advised not to travel for their health or the health of others
These vouchers should not have an expiration date, the DOT says.
“When Americans buy an airline ticket, they should get to their destination safely, reliably, and affordably,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the DOT announcement. “This new proposed rule would protect the rights of travelers and help ensure they get the timely refunds they deserve from the airlines.”
The rule, proposed on August 3, is open for public comment for 90 days. After the public comment period ends, the proposal may be modified before the final rule is adopted and take effect.
Lawmakers also introduced a bill Monday that would codify the proposed DOT rule. The Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act goes even further than the DOT proposal by giving travelers the option to get a cash refund as long as they cancel their flight 48 hours before departure, the Hill reported. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/new-dot-rule-could-make-air-travel-less-hellish-how-it-could-help-you/ | 2022-08-12T17:06:20Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/new-dot-rule-could-make-air-travel-less-hellish-how-it-could-help-you/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Hedge fund legend Michael Burry warned Friday that rising consumer debt represents a major risk to the US economy.
Burry, whose bet against subprime mortgages was made famous in the 2015 film “The Big Short,” shared a Bloomberg chart showing US consumer borrowing swelled to more than $40 billion in June – the second-most on record. Economists had expected a $27 billion jump.
“Net consumer credit balances are rising at record rates as consumers choose violence rather than cut back on spending in the face of inflation,” Burry tweeted.
“Remember the savings glut problem? No more. COVID helicopter cash taught people to spend again, and it’s addictive. Winter coming.”
Burry’s phrase “COVID helicopter cash” likely refers to stimulus payments that most Americans received as federal officials sought to bolster the economy during the pandemic.
Critics have argued that the checks actually overheated the economy and contributed to US inflation that hit 8.5% in July. Burry’s tweet suggests he foresees a looming credit crunch for consumers that could add to recession fears.
The ominous phrase “Winter coming” is a reference from the HBO series “Game of Thrones,” used by characters as a warning.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, top Democrats and some policymakers have pointed to strong consumer spending as a sign that the US economy isn’t in a recession – despite two straight quarterly declines in GDP.
Burry also dismissed optimism that has fueled a minor rally in US stocks in recent days. Better-than-expected July inflation data has led investors to bet the Federal Reserve will ease up on interest rate hikes that have weighed on stocks.
“Nasdaq now up 23% off its low. Congratulations, we now have the average bear market rally,” Burry added in another tweet. “Across 26 bear market rallies from 1929-1932 and 2000-2002, the average is 23%. After 2000, there were two 40%+ bear market rallies and one 50%+ rally before the market bottomed.”
Burry frequently deletes his tweets shortly after they are posted.
Burry has frequently warned of a looming economic crisis. Last month, he publicly slammed the White House for denying the US was in a recession despite the GDP slump.
“The White House would like you to redefine a recession as one in which consumers are not borrowing on credit cards to pay for inflation, and neither is the labor force inadequate for the size of the economy,” Burry said at the time. “GDP out Thursday, not that there’s anything wrong with that.” | https://nypost.com/2022/08/12/big-short-investor-michael-burry-warns-of-consumer-debt-crisis-winter-coming/ | 2022-08-12T17:11:00Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/12/big-short-investor-michael-burry-warns-of-consumer-debt-crisis-winter-coming/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Author Salman Rushdie — who was stabbed Friday at a literary event in upstate New York — previously complained about having too much security around him.
A lone male attacker attacked 75-year-old writer onstage at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY, some 75 miles south of Buffalo. Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and airlifted to an area hospital, the New York State Police said in a statement.
He was at Chautauqua for a “discussion of the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression,” according to the institution’s website.
In 2001, Rushdie publicly complained about having too much security around him.
While attending the Prague Writer’s Festival, he told reporters, “To be here and to find a large security operation around me has actually felt a little embarrassing … I thought it was really unnecessary and kind of excessive and was certainly not arranged on my request.
“I spent a great deal of time before I came here saying that I really didn’t want that. So I was very surprised to arrive here and discover a really quite substantial operation, because it felt like being in a time warp, that I had gone back in time several years.”
In 1988, the author’s book, “The Satanic Verses,” caused controversy in Muslim communities and led to a fatwa being placed on him.
On February 14, 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, then the Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa against Rushdie — calling for his death — over his book “The Satanic Verses.” Offended by what he considered to be blasphemous references to the Muslim religion, Khomeini released a judgment, broadcast on Iranian radio, that called for Rushdie “to be killed without delay, so that no one will dare insult the sacred beliefs of Muslims henceforth.”
The British government had Rushdie under protection from 1989 until 2002.
The author moved to New York City in 2000.
In 2017, Rushdie appeared on the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and actually poked fun at the death threat. On the show, he offered Larry David advice on how to handle a fatwa that was placed on the comedian after making fun of the Ayatollah. Rushdie went so far as to claim that it attracted women who were drawn to having “fatwa sex.”
In 2021, Rushdie told The Guardian, “It’s true, I am stupidly optimistic and I think it did get me through those bad years because I believed there would be a happy ending when very few people did believe this.” | https://nypost.com/2022/08/12/salman-rushdie-once-complained-about-too-much-security/ | 2022-08-12T17:11:54Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/12/salman-rushdie-once-complained-about-too-much-security/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Ben Affleck Was Freaked Out By The Paparazzi Level-Up In Paris
After their whirlwind wedding ceremony in Las Vegas, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez headed to Paris for a combination family trip, work trip, and well-documented honeymoon. It did seem like every move the newly married couple made in the city of love was photographed, which makes sense because they are both extremely famous. Even so, it was apparently more than Affleck was prepared to deal with while celebrating his marriage.
“Ben was a little freaked out in Paris,” a source told Page Six. “This was a whole new level.”
They added the attention was at “an almost Princess-Diana level.”
It was undoubtedly overwhelming, but shouldn’t have been so unexpected. The couple was constantly photographed and talked about in the tabloids when they were engaged for the first time in 2002. Back then, they even considered having “decoy brides” on the day of the planned ceremony, and eventually released a statement saying, “Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date.”
That date never came. Twenty years later, the lead up to their first marriage following a second engagement was still anything but low key. Even without joining forces, Affleck and J.Lo are major stars. Their powers combined were more powerful than the romantic effects of Paris.
“Ben is used to the flashing lights,” the source explained. “But he felt that the honeymoon was a tsunami. Jen’s made out of steel and knows it comes with the territory [but] he still gets pissed off.”
Affleck does have a tougher time with the paparazzi photographs than Lopez, who is always looking cool and collected. Affleck is much more often memed into oblivion and Paris was no exception. He even fell asleep during a cruise on the Seine and photographers got a shot of him snoozing.
The actor has returned to the relative privacy of Los Angeles, but his wife is still soaking in the sun in Italy. | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/ben-affleck-paparazzi-honeymoon-reaction | 2022-08-12T17:12:47Z | wmagazine.com | control | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/ben-affleck-paparazzi-honeymoon-reaction | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
When Chanté Adams received an audition for the new series A League of Their Own, she was hesitant to take it. She had watched the original 1992 film of the same name, which featured only one Black actress on screen for fewer than thirty seconds. “We see this Black woman catch a foul ball and throw it to Geena Davis’s character, giving her the, You’re doing the damn thing nod,” Adams says. But when she read the script for the series, which releases on Amazon Prime today, she realized this would be no pedestrian remake—but rather, a way to dive into the stories the original film didn’t explore. Instead, the series, co-created by Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson, would feature the queer and Black history happening at the time the film was set. “As an actor, these are the kind of roles I want—the really juicy and complex and complicated roles,” says the 27-year-old actress.
In A League of Their Own, Adams plays Max Chapman, a diehard baseball lover who’s turned away when trying out for the women’s baseball league in the very first episode. “Black women did not have the same experience of being in the All-American League because they were not allowed to be,” Adams explains. “Our show is based on a historical time period and we’re talking about the generation of women in baseball.” Her character largely remains separate from the rest of the female players—a representation of the time period—aside from a friendship built with Jacobson’s character, Carson Shaw. When Adams got the role, only the first episode had been written, so she had the opportunity to really direct Max as a character Although her journey remains separate from the Rockford Peaches, Max is fully fleshed out in terms of her personhood. “Max’s biggest arc is finding who she is, at the end of the day, and who she wants to be for herself,” says Adams.
It’s a journey the actress herself has embarked on for years. Adams knew she wanted to pursue acting during her sophomore year of high school, when the theater program put on the musical Rent. “I was playing Mimi and it was the first moment I’ve ever felt so emotionally connected to a character that I broke down in tears,” she says. “All I remember was that I felt like it was an out-of-body experience. It was some type of artistic high and I was like, I want more.” The summer before senior year, Adams’s drama teacher sent her to a program at Carnegie Mellon University. At the program’s end, the packet students received containing information on college applications came to Adams with an admission letter for the freshman class at CMU the following year.
Born and raised in Detroit, Adams says she has always felt like the art scene in The Motor City contributed significantly to her personality and cultural leanings (and she’s still tied to her hometown to this day). As a self-declared theater kid, she always knew her goal was to end up on Broadway. But her film career took off right out of college, when she snagged the leading part in the 2017 biopic Roxanne Roxanne, which earned her a Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance at Sundance. She followed that up with The Photograph and A Journal for Jordan, working opposite LaKeith Stanfield, Issa Rae, and Michael B. Jordan. But dreams of appearing onstage in a play still lingered— and Adams knew she wanted it to be the right play. “Lo and behold, in the middle of the pandemic, I see an article—Dominique Morisseau, who wrote Skeleton Crew and graduated from my high school, a Detroit native—her play is going to Broadway. I know the play very well and there’s a part for me in it,” Adams says. “I immediately sent it to my whole team and was like, We’re doing this. I don’t care how many auditions they need, I want this.”
The production, which follows the lives of four auto workers during the 2008 recession in Detroit, hit especially close to home: Adams’s parents were the first people in her family to seek employment that didn’t involve making cars, and she could recall that specific time intimately and personally. It was a full-circle moment to ring in her Broadway debut—and a wonderful opportunity to work alongside people she’s looked up to since she was young. “When I’m choosing roles, I’m looking at who I get to work with,” she says. “I got to work with Phylicia Rashad—to be in a room with her, and to be able to study under her every day and watch her… it was like getting paid to take a master class. That was just such a monumental moment in my career.”
While Adams is still ticking off the boxes when it comes to career goals, there are a wealth of spaces she’d like to take up within the wider industry. “It’s my dream to produce,” she says, her signature big smile spreading across her face. “I want to do it with the intention of discovering young and unknown voices, because that's the way I came onto the scene. They could have easily cast a name in Roxanne Roxanne, but they chose me.” | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/chante-adams-a-league-of-their-own-interview | 2022-08-12T17:12:53Z | wmagazine.com | control | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/chante-adams-a-league-of-their-own-interview | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Nicola Peltz Has Addressed Those Feud Rumors With Victoria Beckham
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz’s wedding back in April of this year made a big splash in the world of influential nuptials and celebrity sightings. Beckham’s parents David and Victoria Beckham were there for the festivities, of course, but since the ceremony, rumors have circulated that the relationship between the groom’s parents and his new bride had soured. It was originally reported by The Daily Mail that the rift between Peltz and her mother-in-law had begun because their social media repartee was “rather frosty.”
Then a source told Page Six that Peltz and Victoria “can’t stand each other and don’t talk.”
And in August, Peltz posted a photo of herself on Instagram where she looked like she had been crying and wrote, “We all have days where people make you feel bad and it’s okay to be hurt by it.”
Followers jumped on that as an imagined reference to Victoria apparently tormenting Peltz in some way (without much proof).
The new couple has now come forward to refute the speculation. In an interview with Variety, the duo said that they think the rumors popped up because of a sartorial choice. Peltz wore Valentino instead of a wedding gown designed by Victoria Beckham on her big day.
“I was going to and I really wanted to, and then a few months down the line, she realized that her atelier couldn't do it, so then I had to pick another dress,” said Peltz. “She didn’t say you can’t wear it; I didn’t say I didn’t want to wear it. That’s where it started, and then they ran with that.”
“I’ve learned they’re always going to try to write stuff like that,” Brooklyn added, backing up his wife. “They’re always going to try and put people down. But everyone gets along, which is good.”
Yeah, that is good. | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/nicola-peltz-victoria-beckham-feud | 2022-08-12T17:12:59Z | wmagazine.com | control | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/nicola-peltz-victoria-beckham-feud | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Temi Otedola is an early riser. The 26-year-old Nigerian style plate, fashion influencer, YouTuber, and, most recently, actor, typically begins her day at 6 AM. If she’s in London, she’ll take a walk around her neighborhood. When in Lagos, her second home, she goes for a spin class at Victoria Island, an upper-class area in the city, to boost her energy.
Her days often unfold by following this kind of established pattern. “I’m super, super, super routined,” she admits during a recent Zoom interview from her home in London. There’s breakfast, then meetings with her team; lunch also happens at a very specific time. Afternoons are typically devoted to content creation and reviewing brand contracts. Since her latest venture into acting—starring in the Netflix Original Citation and 2022 crime-drama, The Man For The Job—there are now scripts to consider, auditions, and Zoom meetings with directors to attend.
“I feel calm when I’m on top of everything,” says Otedola, her voice chirpy and bright, accented with the cosmopolitan nature of someone who calls different parts of the world home. Otedola has just returned from a holiday trip with her fiancé, Afrobeats artist Mr Eazi, in Spain. She landed in the UK over a week ago, where she intends to spend the rest of the year before flying back to Nigeria in early 2023. After logging off from work completely during her vacation, it’s safe to say Otedola’s got more than a few things to juggle at the moment.
In the landscape of Nigerian influencers, Otedola has managed to fashion an individualistic and tightly curated but, ultimately, wholesome brand for herself. While her celebrity DJ sister, DJ Cuppy, is more outgoing and experimental with her sense of style, Otedola assumes a more private front, revealing only details of her life she feels contribute to her effortlessly glam and curated image.
The daughter of billionaire businessman Femi Otedola, Temi began her foray into the fashion industry as a fashion blogger—when blogs were still very much a thing and Instagram was just taking off. At the time, Otedola—who has always loved fashion and cites her mother as her biggest style inspiration, particularly for her ability to consistently purchase the most perfect garment, no matter where she went—couldn’t find African fashion bloggers to follow. It only made sense for her to fill those shoes. “I was seeing all these fashion weeks around the world. And I was like, Why is there no African representation at these fashion weeks? So I [thought] it’d be amazing to take up that space,” she says.
When blogs began to die down and fans flocked to Instagram—where a short caption alongside a carousel of pictures would do just fine, and reached even more people—Otedola found the transition seamless. Still, her goal remained the same: to continue to take up space as one of Africa’s foremost fashion voices. Over the years, Otedola has fostered and maintained a deep connection with indigenous fashion brands, from designers Lisa Folawiyo and Andrea Iyamah to the gender-bending Orange Culture, with whom she developed a capsule collection back in 2019.
Otedola’s soft-glam, clean-girl aesthetic that values minimalism and an individualistic approach to fashion, has also set her apart in the wider Nigerian fashion influencer community.
“I don’t really feel like I have a specific style, [but] I think I gravitate toward looks that are quite pared-down,” she says. “I like to think it’s timeless. I’m not trying to jump on every trend. I just like to feel comfortable, take a couple of risks, but keep it clean and fun.” With acting, Otedola is trying to lean into a more spontaneous side of herself that will allow her the flexibility to explore a new creative frontier. Even the way she got into acting, a job she’d never considered before, was, to some extent, unplanned.
“I’ve been a really big fan of films since I was nine or 10,” she says, “Whether it was old Nollywood or black-and-white or classics. I'm [also] really big on directors and films as an art form. But I felt like I hadn't done it from when I was young, like doing school plays, so I figured I would never go into it.
“But at some point, I was just thinking about my future,” she continues. “And I don’t necessarily want to be a social media influencer when I’m in my 30s or 40s. Moving forward, what do I really want to do? And I was like, ‘You know, Temi, you could actually try this acting thing.’ Especially with all the new amazing directors we have coming from Nollywood, I feel like there's a new era happening. I really wanted to be a part of that.”
So when she met the legendary Nigerian director Kunle Afolayan at a premiere for one of his films, Otedola walked right up to him and asked for a meeting. “He was like, ‘Well, I’ve been writing this film for a few years. And actually, the main character is a girl in her early 20s. But you’re not an actor.’ I was like, ‘Okay, well, let me audition,’” she recalls. “And it took months and months of auditioning, but that is really how it started.”
That chance encounter would land her the role of Moremi in Citation, Afolayan’s gripping story about a young university student who is groomed and eventually assaulted by her lecturer—and who has to face a school tribunal in a bid to clear her name and hold the lecturer accountable.
The film, which came out in 2020, is one of the few Nollywood stories with a progressive and hopeful outlook on women finding justice after being sexually assaulted. Citation highlighted the gravity and undue power dynamics between professors and students at a time when Nigerian universities were reckoning with their long-held history of lecturers coercing young pupils into having affairs with them for good grades. The timeliness of the story shot the actress even further into stardom. “Even to this day, people still walk to me to tell me that the film gave them hope,” Otedola says.
At the moment, Otedola has even more work on deck, being featured in another blockbuster Nollywood project and other projects—the details of which she can’t divulge. As far as career goals go, the actress hopes to ultimately produce and feature in Nigerian stories that elevate the perspective of women.
“We have so many women in Nigeria’s history who haven't had their stories told,” she says. “There are [numerous] documentaries about Fela, but if you think about his mother, Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti, she hasn't had a biopic. Just to be involved in producing that and getting that made would be incredible.”
Although Otedola didn't always have a defined idea of what she wanted to do when she grew up, she is, without a doubt, willing to gravitate toward the things that challenge her the most. “I don’t think there are any rules in the creative world—you can try different things. Maybe I’ll go into singing,” she says with a laugh. “At the end of the day, you may as well try and fail than not try at all. I’m open to anything—as long as the passion is there.” | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/temi-otedola-movie-citation-fashion-interview | 2022-08-12T17:13:05Z | wmagazine.com | control | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/temi-otedola-movie-citation-fashion-interview | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Julia Fox Is Bringing Back The Cutout Dress & Turning It Up To 11
On Thursday, Julia Fox challenged the laws of gravity and the official definition of clothing with her look for running errands in Los Angeles. It’s unclear what kind of errands Fox was running, but she was doing them in see-through stilettos and a cutout look that was more cutout than clothing.
The black latex miniskirt was made of strategically placed bands that showed off her rear rather than protecting it from the elements. On top, Fox wore a tiny cropped bra made of the same material, featuring one strap held together with silver rings of an almost industrial design. Her long brown hair was down in waves over her shoulders and her makeup was minimal by the classic Fox standards.
For accessories, all Fox carried was a small metallic purse on a strap—so her grocery tote bags must be in the car.
Fox is known for her boundary-pushing outfits that are cut to make her physique the main event, and she has admitted that she has a symbiotic relationship with the paparazzi so her fans get to see what she’s serving.
“Sometimes the paparazzi get me, and I look like s—, you know?” Fox told People. “If they're gonna get me, I might as well make the best of it. I feel like I'm doing a service. I'm providing a service."
She added that she considers her sartorial choices a “visual service.”
When putting together her looks, Fox said that her choices come from her personal philosophy of “not giving a fuck.”
“I think just being fearless, not giving a fuck, doing what I feel like doing, and not caring about whether society thinks it's normal or not,” she said. “If I think it's cool, then it's cool.” | https://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/julia-fox-plastic-cut-out-dress | 2022-08-12T17:13:17Z | wmagazine.com | control | https://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/julia-fox-plastic-cut-out-dress | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Flemington's Skunktown Distillery is moving to historic grain station on Stangl Road
Paul Hyatt, owner and distiller at Skunktown Distillery in Flemington, has spent nearly six years hand-peeling every potato, sourced from a Robbinsville farm, used in his liquors.
He regularly drives to a Sergeantsville farm to fill a water tank.
He sources his rye from a Belvidere farm, and only uses copper stills, which help create a smoother taste.
Now his work, alongside general manager Russ Hoffman, is paying off.
The distillery has moved from a 2,000-square-foot, tucked-away location on Minneakoning Road in the borough to an 8,000-square-foot former grain station at 39 Stangl Road. The distillery will be open six days a week.
“We sell out of our products all the time ... so we wanted to ramp up production. The community has really embraced us,” Hyatt said.
Products include a golden gin; an oaked rum, which tastes like a barrel-aged rum; a spicy vodka infused with Carolina Reapers; a gin infused with South African red bush (rooibos) tea; and an apple pie moonshine – its best seller. Prices range from $25 to $40 for a 750-milliliter bottle.
Skunktown's offerings can usually be found at most Hunterdon County liquor stores. Lately, however, they’ve been sold out due to the move. Products are also available at Descendants Brewing Company in Milford.
The uptick began when Hyatt started entering international competitions - and won. Skunktown received awards such a double gold, the highest honor, for its spicy vodka at the Finger Lakes International Wine & Spirits Competition,which attracted distributors.
Now the distillery is ready to serve in its new home, which is the former location of Swim & Sweat. Although construction is underway and won’t be completed until mid-fall, the distillery will still be open forcocktails, alcohol-infused gelato and bottle sales starting Saturday, Aug. 13, at the borough’s Corn, Tomato, and Beer Festival.
It's the first time the distillery will be open since it closed the former location in February.
Things to do:Union Hotel ghosts, hauntings at historic courthouse revealed on new Flemington Ghost Walk
The new space will eventually include outdoor porch seating, various bars, a production space, a private event space, a boardroom ideal for corporate events, a mezzanine, an outdoor space with lawn games, and a lounge with couches and a fireplace. There also will be plenty of TVs and round tables made from barrels.
It will feature an industrial look to complement its location on the Black River & Western Railroad, which operates vintage steam and diesel-powered locomotives.
“The building looks like a train depot,” Hyatt said. “It seems natural to give it that vibe.”
On the other side of the building is Lone Eagle Brewing. Other neighbors include the Stangl Factory, Factory Fuel Co., Humdoo Ice Cream, and Blue Fish Grill.
“Stangl Road over the last six years has really started to blossom,” Hyatt said. “Once I saw this building I said, ‘Yup, this is our new home.’ "
Go: 39 Stangl Road, Flemington; 908-824-7754, skunktowndistillerynj.com.
Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA Today Network New Jersey since 2014, after becoming a blogger-turned-reporter following the creation of her award-winning travel blog. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Contact: JIntersimone@Gannett.com or @JIntersimone. | https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/08/12/skunktown-distillery-nj-flemington-moves/65400808007/ | 2022-08-12T17:13:34Z | mycentraljersey.com | control | https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/08/12/skunktown-distillery-nj-flemington-moves/65400808007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Americans are seeking jobs and finding them, and many are also trying to improve their employment status.
The same is true in this region as hundreds of job seekers visited the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis Expo & Career Fair at America’s Center on August 5, 2022.
According to the Urban League, 78 companies were represented at the Career Fair, 27 job offers were made on the spot, and 40 applicants left with second interviews scheduled.
“I’m here to find a job, start a career and better my future,” said Edward Johnson of St. Louis.
“I’m 24 and ready. I cannot do anything but move forward.”
Johnson added that he had been offered a job with SSM Health but was still checking out other employers.
“Team SSM poured its heart and soul into many career conversations with attendees,” said Roderick Nunn, SSM Health Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion vice president.
“It’s a tough talent marketplace, but we were blessed to extend a number of job offers on the spot while identifying several prospects we are actively working with. Many thanks to Michael McMillan [president and CEO] and the team at Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc. for a productive Expo & Career Fair.”
Teamsters Local 300 had representatives in attendance, and their goal was to help find more minority workers for their union and the business where they represent employees.
“Diversity. Yes, we are looking for it all the time,” said Local 600 member Michael Green.
To help attendees land that new job or employment opportunity, the Save Our Sons [SOS] team had its Urban Closet open at the fair for anyone needing interview attire.
Suits, dresses, shoes, and accessories were available and could be fitted for the individual. The clothing could be kept by those who received them for use in future interviews.
“A lot of people have come through, and they can keep the outfits,” said Kelly Bryant-Vaughn, an Urban League case manager.
“We do need clothing donations, especially women’s clothes. We also have a table with women’s jewelry to complete the look.”
A man being fitted for a suit said he felt empowered after putting it on. He pondered whether he should come to the fair because of how he was dressed. After donning the suit, he said he now felt like he belonged there.
The SOS program helps economically disadvantaged African American men in the St. Louis region find jobs and earn a livable wage.
This program assists participants in obtaining post-secondary education and job training. Volunteers from many occupations teach career life skills and work ethics needed to become a successful employee.
The curriculum is covered over four weeks and includes How to Find a Job; How to Keep a Job; How to Get Promoted; and How to Remain Marketable in the Workplace.
While the July job report was encouraging for the American economy and slowed recession fears, it still held distressing news for Black people.
The economy regained all jobs lost during the pandemic, showing a gain of 528,000 jobs, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was more than double the 250,000 that economists were expecting.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% after holding at 3.6% for the past four months. The July jobless rate matched the half-century low last seen in February 2020.
The unwelcome news is that Black unemployment was 6%. The jobless rate among Whites was 3.1%. The Black jobless rate is 94% higher than the White figure.
The Economic Policy Institute listed the primary reasons as “racism” and single adult households where one person tries to care for children and hold a full-time job at the same time.
Education also plays a role in the disparity.
Currently 54% of African American men graduate from high school, compared to more than 75% of their peers. | https://www.stlamerican.com/urban-league-expo-career-got-the-job-done/article_9fd9cad0-1a46-11ed-ac96-cbda46a846d6.html | 2022-08-12T17:13:43Z | stlamerican.com | control | https://www.stlamerican.com/urban-league-expo-career-got-the-job-done/article_9fd9cad0-1a46-11ed-ac96-cbda46a846d6.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was arrested.
Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital, state police said. His condition was not immediately known.
Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the hundreds of people in the audience. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.
“This guy ran on to platform and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie. At first you’re like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten,” Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.
A bloodied Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.
Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. He is a former president of PEN America, which said it was “reeling from shock and horror” at the attack.
“We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil,” CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.
“Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered,” she added.
His 1988 book “The Satanic Verses” was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims. Often-violent protests against Rushdie erupted around the w world, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.
The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death.
A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, including a round-the-clock armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.
Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered. The Index on Censorship, an organization promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for his killing as recently as 2016, underscoring that the fatwa for his death still stands.
In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” but his name became known around the world after “The Satanic Verses.”
The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, is known for its summertime lecture series. Rushdie has spoken there before. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-on-lecture-stage-in-new-york | 2022-08-12T17:15:14Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-on-lecture-stage-in-new-york | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina child is back home safe, thanks to the keen nose of a four-legged officer named Maverick.
On its Facebook page, the Union County Sheriff's Office said deputies were called to a residence earlier this month regarding a missing child.
While at the residence, the missing child's family gave deputies a blanket for Maverick, a white English Labrador, to use as a scent article, the department said.
The department said Maverick and his handler, Deputy Dye, immediately began tracking to find the missing child, which led them along a busy highway.
Shortly thereafter, the department said the child was found unharmed and returned safely back home to its family.
“We are proud of K9 Maverick and Deputy J. Dye for their hard work and dedication and consider them to be a huge asset for Union County," Sgt. Presson said in the Facebook post.
According to the sheriff's office, Maverick was donated to the department by a local family in 2021. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/k9-dog-helps-find-missing-child-in-north-carolina | 2022-08-12T17:15:20Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/k9-dog-helps-find-missing-child-in-north-carolina | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Bless Your Vocab Quilters' Guild Bookstore and Craft Shed has a long tradition and is now operated by volunteer board operators, called “stitcners“, and they welcome one as one approaches our quailf, as this image concludes it will also make its guests the feel welcome and feel comfortable around it like friends and relations (from the family); we try our upmohst always! So take some of it and have what su BRENTWOOD, Calif. — Authorities in California said one person is dead and three others were injured in a shooting after an argument broke out at a Brentwood gym.
Police said the shooting occurred at a 24-hour Fitness early Thursday morning.
According to police, an altercation happened inside the gym, on or around the basketball courts, and then moved to the parking lot, where it "escalated."
Police said, according to the surveillance video, at least two people pulled firearms and fired multiple shots, striking four people.
A male in his 20s died at the scene, police said.
Police said several people fled the scene in multiple vehicles after the incident.
According to the police, two suspects have been detained, but no arrests have been made. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/police-1-dead-3-injured-in-shooting-outside-california-gym | 2022-08-12T17:15:26Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/police-1-dead-3-injured-in-shooting-outside-california-gym | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Perseids come around once a year and oftentimes is the biggest meteor shower of the year.
At its peak early Saturday morning, the Perseids produce up to 100 meteors an hour shooting across the night sky.
The meteors are produced by the leftovers of the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet. The comet, which last passed through the inner solar system in 1992, left a trail of rock and dust, which burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
While the number of meteors places it among the largest showers of the year, this year’s magnitude could be diminished.
The moon will be quite bright Friday night and Saturday morning after just completing a full moon cycle. Some considered this month’s full moon a “supermoon” due to the moon being slightly closer to Earth, making the moon appear brighter.
The light from the moon could reduce the awe of the meteor shower.
Nonetheless, here is how to find tonight’s meteor shower:
When and where to look: Look toward the constellation Perseus, which will be rising in the northeast sky around midnight. The constellation moves higher into the sky into the early morning hours. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/science-tech/how-to-watch-the-perseid-meteor-shower | 2022-08-12T17:15:39Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/science-tech/how-to-watch-the-perseid-meteor-shower | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Mother pleads for help finding driver of Jeep who struck her 5-year-old son: 'I see every day my son dying'
CHICAGO - Misbah Khan cried out as she pointed to the street in front of her home where her 5-year-old son was killed after wandering into traffic.
"I see every day my son dying," she said, her husband gently holding her as they stood in the doorway. "I can see every day, I can see every day, the same thing."
Khan pleaded for help from anyone with information or video of the accident Wednesday night that claimed the life of Taha Khan, who was weeks from turning 6 and was looking forward to a party with a Pokemon theme.
Taha walked out the front door of his home in the 6300 block of North Cicero Avenue around 9 p.m. as his father was talking to a neighbor in the backyard, according to police.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FOX 32 YOUTUBE CHANNEL
The boy went into the street and was hit by a red Jeep that then fled the scene, police said. Taha was knocked into traffic and was hit by a Volvo.
The driver of the Volvo stopped and performed CPR until an ambulance arrived and took him to St. Francis Health Center, where he died six and a half hours later, according to the Cook County medical examiner.
"He’s not responding, we called his name, other people gave him CPR," Misbah Khan told reporters. "I’m just panicking, just praying, ‘Please come ambulance, please come.’
"A miracle can happen, I know," she remembers thinking. "He came back at the hospital for a bit."
Chicago police have not released any details about the Jeep, including photos or video. The Khans said neighbors on their block may have captured the Jeep on their surveillance cameras.
"If they have any cameras, please check them," Khan said. "Check every one."
Khan said finding the driver could save other lives. "That person has to learn a lesson. If we can save one human life," she said. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/mother-pleads-for-help-finding-driver-of-jeep-who-struck-her-5-year-old-son-i-see-every-day-my-son-dying | 2022-08-12T17:18:04Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/mother-pleads-for-help-finding-driver-of-jeep-who-struck-her-5-year-old-son-i-see-every-day-my-son-dying | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Author Salman Rushdie stabbed on stage in New York
NEW YORK - Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.
According to New York State Police, a man stormed the stage and attacked Rushdie and a person interviewing him. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained. The interviewer suffered a minor head injury.
Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.
He was airlifted to a local hospital; his condition was not known as of 12 p.m.
Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the hundreds of people in the audience. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.
"This guy ran on to platform and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie. At first you’re like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten," Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.
Hundreds of people in the audience gasped at the sight of the attack and were then evacuated.
Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. He is a former president of PEN America, which said it was "reeling from shock and horror" at the attack.
"We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil," CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.
"Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered," she added.
Sir Salman Rushdie speaks onstage at the Guild Hall Academy Of The Arts Achievement Awards 2020 at the Rainbow Room on March 03, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
His 1988 book "The Satanic Verses" was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims. Often-violent protests against Rushdie erupted around the w world, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.
The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death.
A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, including a round-the-clock armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.
He has said he is proud of his fight for freedom of expression, saying in a 2012 talk in New York that terrorism is really the art of fear.
"The only way you can defeat it is by deciding not to be afraid," he said.
Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
Rushdie dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was "no evidence" of people being interested in the reward.
That year, Rushdie published a memoir, "Joseph Anton," about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel "Midnight’s Children," but his name became known around the world after "The Satanic Verses."
The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place for reflection and spiritual guidance. Visitors don't pass through metal detectors or undergo bag checks. Most people leave the doors to their century-old cottages unlocked at night.
Police said a state trooper was assigned to Rushdie's lecture.
The Chautauqua center is known for its summertime lecture series, where Rushdie has spoken before. Speakers address a different topic each week. Rushdie and moderator Henry Reese were set to discuss "the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/salman-rushdie-author-attacked-stage-in-new-york | 2022-08-12T17:18:10Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/salman-rushdie-author-attacked-stage-in-new-york | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Peleton, a poster child for the Covid period, were forced to cut prices on the reopen, but are now raising them by $800 to $3495 (is that right). At the same time, they are slashing 800 jobs, outsourcing deliveries and closing stores.
I am one of those who does not get it - at least post Covid.
Planet Fitness monthly subscription, 1/2 mile from my house: $11 a month. | https://www.forexlive.com/news/peleton-to-raise-prices-and-cut-jobs-20220812/ | 2022-08-12T17:18:12Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/peleton-to-raise-prices-and-cut-jobs-20220812/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
It’s back-to-school time, and on the first day of school, pets’ lives will change. What are some things you can do to help your pets adjust when school is back in session? Though most of this will be focused on dogs, cats and other pets may need help adjusting, too.
Decide what routine changes will happen. Who will be out of the house during the day? Does a return to school mean adults will return to work? Will your wake-up times be earlier? Will your pet’s mealtimes change? If children were the main source of exercise and interaction for the pet, who will take over?
Once you have figured out the changes to your pet’s life, begin schedule changes a couple of weeks or more before school begins. Gradual change is easier for most pets to handle than a sudden shift.
If your pet cannot have free range in your home, teach her to be comfortable in a safer space. I teach this separately from my leaving whenever possible. I want my dogs to be comfortable while confined, even when I am home. I do not want them to associate being crated only with my leaving.
Multiple times a day, practice leaving and returning. At first, keep your time away from your pet very short – just a few moments as you close the door, walk a few feet away and return. Gradually extend the duration and sometimes leave for only a few minutes. Enrichment toys, such as those in which you can put part of their daily food ration, can help alleviate boredom.
Meeting your pet’s morning exercise needs before you leave home is important. When you leave, keep things drama-free and low key. Fussing over your pet as you try to reassure her you will be back or screaming at your children to hurry up does nothing to make your leaving calmer.
If your children were the main source of activity for your dog, what happens when they return to school? If you will be at home, take time to meet the dog’s needs. If you will be returning to work, adjust your morning routine to meet the dog’s needs before you leave the house.
Food-releasing toys will help meet some physical and mental needs; however, they are not a replacement for human-led activity. If this is not enough, hire a carefully chosen dog walker. If your yard is fenced, the dog walker does not have to walk your dog. A good play session in the yard is fine.
It may be tempting to walk your dog to school or the bus stop with your children. Many schools do not allow dogs that are not service animals on the property. It is a liability. I have watched multiple visibly stressed dogs lunge and snap at children. The same can happen at a bus stop. Also, not all children are comfortable with dogs nearby. After you drop off the children, go home and do something with your pet.
Back to school does not have to be overly stressful for your pet if you are willing to help your pet through the adjustment. If you have any questions, please reach out to a positively-based trainer to help.
Karen Peak is the developer of The Safe Kids/Safe Dogs Project and owner/operator of West Wind Dog Training in Prince William County. | https://www.insidenova.com/lifestyles/critter-corner-how-to-make-back-to-school-less-stressful-for-your-pets/article_c9e83e9a-1a5c-11ed-b030-1b18a7d9de48.html | 2022-08-12T17:22:25Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/lifestyles/critter-corner-how-to-make-back-to-school-less-stressful-for-your-pets/article_c9e83e9a-1a5c-11ed-b030-1b18a7d9de48.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Prince William County Supervisor Victor Angry plans to run for re-election next year.
Angry, a Democrat, won a special election to the Neabsco District seat in 2019 after the death of Supervisor John Jenkins. He then won a general election later in the year with about 74% of the vote.
“I love where this county is right now,” he said. “I think it’s in a great place.”
The Neabsco District covers a central portion of the county on the eastern end, including the Dale City area.
Angry, a U.S. Army veteran, said one of the most important topics of his tenure is traffic and speeding. He has advocated for traffic cameras and increased police enforcement, especially after many traffic deaths in his district.
“People are absolutely speeding,” he said. “I need police officers and I need police officers to get out on our streets and enforce traffic.”
On top of traffic, Angry said another issue he wants to focus on is increasing the county’s commercial tax base.
He highlighted a resolution he proposed last year to consider expanding areas targeted for data center development throughout the county.
The county is completing a review of its Data Center Opportunity Zone overlay district, which could help the industry further expand locally.
Angry said although the county has not recently lowered residential tax rates, he believes that change could come as soon as the next budget cycle.
“We’re not there yet, but we will be there,” he said.
Angry thus far is the only candidate to announce a campaign in his district.
All eight seats on the Board of County Supervisors will be available in the 2023 election. Supervisor Andrea Bailey, D-Potomac, is the only other incumbent to announce re-election plans. | https://www.insidenova.com/news/politics/victor-angry-seeking-re-election-in-neabsco-district/article_a9e94374-1a5b-11ed-8b02-43fff2bd0548.html | 2022-08-12T17:22:28Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/politics/victor-angry-seeking-re-election-in-neabsco-district/article_a9e94374-1a5b-11ed-8b02-43fff2bd0548.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Fairfax County wants the community to weigh in on the designs for each Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station launching in 2030.
The county first asked for input about potential themes in 2020 and 2021, and now it wants residents to give final input in choosing each station theme through a public survey.
"The ‘Community Charm’ initiative focuses on integrating artwork into each BRT station to reflect the history, identity, and character of the neighborhoods surrounding each station area," a news release reads.
Survey questions are centered on ranking the importance of culture, history and nature in each station's artwork. The survey asks for more information on events, characteristics or cultural elements you want to see depicted for top theme choices.
Once the survey closes on Aug. 14, the county's History Commission and Department of Planning and Development will work together to develop narratives for each station theme.
"We will be working with students from local schools to design artwork for the windscreen area, based on themes developed with the community," the survey states. The designs and narratives will then be presented to the community for feedback, and the BRT’s Executive Committee will vote on the final designs.
The BRT, also named The One (Richmond Highway is U.S. 1), will have nine stations, constructed in two sections, and will connect to areas of major employment, shopping centers and residential communities along the Richmond Highway corridor. The idea of working with residents to design the system comes from a Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation study. | https://www.insidenova.com/news/transportation/fairfax/fairfax-county-wants-residents-input-on-designs-of-future-bus-stations-along-richmond-highway/article_f7350ddc-1a5d-11ed-a101-73a5e26a43de.html | 2022-08-12T17:22:29Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/transportation/fairfax/fairfax-county-wants-residents-input-on-designs-of-future-bus-stations-along-richmond-highway/article_f7350ddc-1a5d-11ed-a101-73a5e26a43de.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
15 Temporary Hair Colors That Let You Try a New Hue for a Fraction of the Price
These are perfect for trying something new—or covering up regrowth or gray roots.
If you've always wanted to experiment with a trendy shade before committing to it for the long-term, temporary hair color can be a great at-home solution. "Temporary hair dye washes out within five to 10 shampoos," says Trey Gillen, a stylist at Ceron Hair Studio in Houston. In addition to costing less than a salon visit, temporary at-home hair color tends to be gentler than permanent dye, says Fae Norris, a stylist at KaRu Salon in Austin. "The result is typically softer and shinier hair."
When shopping, it's important to note there are many different types of temporary hair color to choose from, including "direct dyes," like sprays and chalk, semi-permanent dyes, tinted shampoos and conditioners, henna, and toners. All of them deposit color onto the surface of the hair, but their application methods and longevity differ. Sprays, crayons, powders, and chalks offer instant full-coverage—and then rinse off as soon as you shampoo. Tinted shampoos or conditioners deposit a subtle hue that lasts for weeks; the more you use it, the brighter the color becomes. Semi-permanent colors and henna stain the hair upon application and stay vibrant for four to six weeks.
No matter what type of temporary color you choose, it's important to note that these types of dyes are great for darkening hair, says Norris, so don't expect dramatic results if you're looking to turn dark brown a shade of pink. It’s also good to remember that some formulas can be drying. To counteract this, Norris suggests limiting shampoos and using a conditioning hair mask once per week to nourish and moisturize the strands.
Think you're ready to give it a go? Whether you want to go pink, black, or simply cover up gray roots, stylists say these are the best temporary dyes for the job. | https://www.oprahdaily.com/beauty/hair/g32891472/best-temporary-hair-color/ | 2022-08-12T17:22:45Z | oprahdaily.com | control | https://www.oprahdaily.com/beauty/hair/g32891472/best-temporary-hair-color/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Florida 22-Year-Old Who Survived Brain-Eating Amoeba Speaks Out 6 Years After Near-Fatal Infection
In 2016, Sebastian DeLeon became one of only four people to survive a rare Naegleria fowleri infection after jumping into a contaminated pond. He tells Inside Edition about what his recovery has been like.
A 22-year-old Florida camp counselor is a walking miracle after surviving a brain-eating amoeba, becoming one of only four people in the world to ever do so.
Sebastian DeLeon was working at the camp in 2016 when he jumped into a pond for a swim. Within days he was at death's door.
“I told my mom and my dad, I was like, ‘Yo, I cannot move. There’s something really wrong.’ And they were like, ‘OK, we’re taking you to the hospital.’ The actual feeling was like a rock sitting on top of my head. Eventually, they gave me morphine for the pain, because it was so intense,” DeLeon said.
Then came the stunning diagnosis — Naegleria fowleri, an extremely rare, but almost always fatal infection.
DeLeon had to be put in a medically induced coma for a week.
“It’s fatal. I mean, it can do a significant amount of damage in a very short time,” neuropsychologist Dr. Sanam Hafeez said. “It could literally swim up this boy’s nose and went into his brain and started eating away at it. Literally, a brain-eating amoeba. And it’s terrifying, ‘cause you can’t even see it without a microscope.”
There’s only one drug available to treat the fatal organism. It’s an anti-parasitic called Impavido, but is only available at a handful of hospitals.
“He’s very fortunate that the hospital either had the medication or was able to get it to him very quickly,” Hafeez said.
So what should you do to stay safe while swimming in lakes or ponds?
First thing you want to do is to make sure there is no algae growth. Your best bet is to swim in areas where there’s water flow. If it's just stagnant, avoid it at all costs.
In Sebastian’s case, his mom had actually warned him about the pond.
“My mom, she had told me, ‘Hey, the water doesn’t look good. You shouldn’t go in it.’ It was green and it was kind of icky looking,” DeLeon said.
The life-threatening infection happened six years ago, and it’s taken a lot of grueling physical therapy for him to relearn basic tasks, including walking, writing and speaking.
Related Stories
Trending on Inside Edition
Trump Invokes Fifth Amendment in New York Civil Fraud Probe as New Details Emerge About FBI Raid at Mar-a-Lago
PoliticsMaverick the Dog Helps Find a Missing Child in North Carolina
AnimalsVideos Show Teens How to Steal Certain Kias And Hyundais With Only a USB Cable, Police Warn Amid Rising Thefts
InvestigativeNew York Man Killed in Freak Accident at a Town Trash Transfer Station
NewsWho Killed Jared Bridegan? 2-Year-Old Girl Is the Only Witness to Dad's Gruesome Murder
Crime | https://www.insideedition.com/florida-22-year-old-who-survived-brain-eating-amoeba-speaks-out-6-years-after-near-fatal-infection | 2022-08-12T17:24:39Z | insideedition.com | control | https://www.insideedition.com/florida-22-year-old-who-survived-brain-eating-amoeba-speaks-out-6-years-after-near-fatal-infection | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Pennsylvania Teen Dies in Freak Accident Involving a Wood Chipper While Working
17-year-old Isiah Bedocs was at work as part of a tree removal crew when he got sucked into a wood chipper.
A young Lehigh County boy suffered a tragic death due to an accident at work involving a wood chipper on Tuesday afternoon.
WFMZ reported Isiah Bedocs,17, was at his job as a member of a tree removal crew Tuesday afternoon in North Whitehall Township when he was partially sucked into a wood chipper.
Bedocs was flown via Medivac to the Lehigh Valley Hospital where he was pronounced dead due to multiple traumatic injuries over an hour after the initial accident, WFMV reported.
A neighbor told WFMZ that the owner of the house had just recently hired the crew to help out with the property since he had a few bigger trees to remove.
The State Police, the U.S Department of Labor, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were involved in the investigation that ultimately ruled the death as an accident, WFMZ reported.
Bedocs was homeschooled but enrolled through Whitehall Coplay School District, where they have offered counseling to any students needing it after the tragic loss of a community member, as reported by WFMZ.
"My condolences to his family. My heart goes out to them, again it's just horrific that something like that had to happen. It's tough enough to lose someone so young, and to lose them so horrifically is just, it's beyond belief," the neighbor told WFMZ.
Related Stories
Trending on Inside Edition
Trump Invokes Fifth Amendment in New York Civil Fraud Probe as New Details Emerge About FBI Raid at Mar-a-Lago
PoliticsMaverick the Dog Helps Find a Missing Child in North Carolina
AnimalsVideos Show Teens How to Steal Certain Kias And Hyundais With Only a USB Cable, Police Warn Amid Rising Thefts
InvestigativeNew York Man Killed in Freak Accident at a Town Trash Transfer Station
NewsWho Killed Jared Bridegan? 2-Year-Old Girl Is the Only Witness to Dad's Gruesome Murder
Crime | https://www.insideedition.com/pennsylvania-teen-dies-in-freak-accident-involving-a-wood-chipper-while-working-76355 | 2022-08-12T17:24:40Z | insideedition.com | control | https://www.insideedition.com/pennsylvania-teen-dies-in-freak-accident-involving-a-wood-chipper-while-working-76355 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Toast boosts its outlook despite high food prices
Restaurant ordering and payments company Toast boosted its full-year outlook for 2022. During its Q2 earnings, the company said it now expects revenue north of $2.6 billion.
Why it matters: The results show that consumers continued to eat outside the home even in a high inflation environment.
Yes, but: All eyes are on Toast's ability to maintain the momentum, while navigating a still tricky macro-economic landscape. Although overall inflation eased in July, food costs rose at the fastest pace since 1979.
Of note: Toast's revenue comes from software subscriptions and payments processing.
State of play: During the pandemic, Toast pitched its contactless capabilities — allowing restaurants to go online and use fewer wait staff. In this era of inflation, expect to see the company pitch itself as cost-cutting tech.
- "I think in the back office, there's a unique opportunity for restaurants to really understand food cost optimization," CEO Chris Comparato said in the company's earnings call. | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/12/toast-surge-stock-fintech-earnings | 2022-08-12T17:25:43Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/12/toast-surge-stock-fintech-earnings | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Kwara State government has supported businesses owned by 100 young people in the state with N1million grants each, with Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq saying that youth inclusion and productive engagement are key to a sustainable future.
The N1m grant is funded through Kwapreneur 2.0, a programme specifically designed to support businesses owned by young people and funded through the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP).
It is recalled that the scheme gave at least 170 young people an interest-free loan ranging from N250,000 to N3m last year. The Friday programme featured a video testimonial of successful beneficiaries of the loan.
Speaking at an event commemorating International Youths Day in Ilorin, Governor Abdulrazaq said that nowhere in the world is the conversation around the future of young people more important and urgent than in sub-Saharan Africa where up to 70% of the population are below the age of 30.
The event was well-attended by government officials, prominent youth leaders, and community leaders from across the country — including Deputy Chief Whip Kwara House of Assembly Ali Jimoh; APC National Youth Leader Dayo Israel; Kwara APC chairman Prince Sunday Fagbemi; APC House of Rep candidate (Ilorin West/Asa) Mukhtar Shagaya; APC chieftain Yahya Seriki; thoughts leader Lawal Olohungbebe; APC chieftain Rinsola Abiola; founder of popular Ilorin food vendor Item7, Ibigbemi Oloruntobi; National Youth Council Chairman (Kwara) Ali Yusuf; standup artiste Abdulgafar Abiola (Cute Abiola); Kwara North Development Council Chief, Jerry Kolo; and Dr Adebola Bakare of the University of Ilorin who moderated the panel session.
The governor said the country must seize every opportunity to engage its growing young population.
“This is an opportunity for growth and prosperity. But it could also be a threat to stability, peace, and security on the continent if not managed. This is why we must not lose the conversation around inclusion, growth, quality engagement and empowerment of young people. For this reason, I align myself with the theme of this gathering, which is Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating A World for All Ages,” he said.
“Our administration has a reputation for listening to, engaging and empowering young people in very practical terms. Many of our projects, programmes and policy direction have been conceived to benefit especially young people. The innovation hub, visual arts centre, film factory, garment factory, the huge investments in tech-driven basic education, and road projects linking farmlands to city centres are good examples of this.
“Today’s launch of Kwapreneur 2.0 is another example. No fewer than 100 young people will get a grant of One Million Naira each to support their businesses. Not only will this keep them away from violent crimes and protect them from predatory politics; it is another way of strengthening small and medium-scale businesses with multiplying effects on the local economy and living standards of the people.
“Kwapreneur 1.0 has been a huge success, with at least 75% of recipient businesses thriving and expanding. The repayment rate of roughly 50% is also encouraging and can be better. I urge all the beneficiaries of Kwapreneur 2.0 to make judicious use of it.”
KWASSIP’s chief AbdulQuawiy Olododo said beneficiaries were drawn from a pool of those who had applied for Kwapreneur 1.0 and nominations from artisan groups, community organisations, and youth groups, among others.
Debating the theme of the event, panellists took turns to commend the government for supporting businesses owned by young people, urging the beneficiaries to make good use of the funds and to remain committed to their dreams.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- ‘39.6 percent of unmarried university students use sexual performance-enhancing drugs’
- Tips on building a happy and healthy relationship
- Safety precautions to observe at the airport
- Safety tips to observe when boarding a ride from a ride-hailing app
- Secure your social media accounts from hackers with these tips
- Things to look out for before starting a business
- Striking a balance between your 9-5 job and your side hustle
- Little or no work experience? Here’s what you can do
- Top 10 Business Ideas In Nigeria You Can Start With 100,000 Naira
- Kwara supports 100 youths with N1m grant each | https://tribuneonlineng.com/kwara-supports-100-youths-with-n1m-grant-each/ | 2022-08-12T17:27:17Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/kwara-supports-100-youths-with-n1m-grant-each/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A new General Officer Commanding the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Aminu Chinade on Friday took over from the outgoing one, Major General Gold Chibuisi, who charged soldiers to remain on their lanes as professionals.
The charge was given after the handing-over ceremony held at the 2 Division headquarters at Odogbo Cantonment, Ojoo, Ibadan, Oyo State.
At the brief ceremony, the new GOC was decorated with the 2 Division insignia, while its flag and notes were handed over to him by the outgoing one.
In a parting message to the soldiers who honoured him with a parade signalling his departure from the Division, Major General Chibuisi enjoined them to keep doing everything possible to keep their areas of operation and the barracks safe.
Saying that what officers and rank and file had been working towards was to uphold the image and name of the Nigerian Army, the outgoing GOC admonished the soldiers not to relent, drawback or sleep.
He further advised: “Don’t get involved in illegality, stay on your lane as professional soldiers and don’t allow anyone to entice you.”
Commending those at the Division for their being disciplined, Major General Chibuisi said that he was proud of them.
He also urged them to extend the same support given to him during his administration to the new GOC.
“Remain good soldiers, keep the flag of the Division flying and sustain the good works,” he advised.
The new GOC was the Commandant, Nigerian Army Depot, Zaria, Kaduna State, before his deployment to the 2 Division.
Major General Chibuisi is now a Director to the Chief of Army Staff in Abuja.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- ‘39.6 percent of unmarried university students use sexual performance-enhancing drugs’
- Tips on building a happy and healthy relationship
- Safety precautions to observe at the airport
- Safety tips to observe when boarding a ride from a ride-hailing app
- Secure your social media accounts from hackers with these tips
- Things to look out for before starting a business
- Striking a balance between your 9-5 job and your side hustle
- Little or no work experience? Here’s what you can do
- Top 10 Business Ideas In Nigeria You Can Start With 100,000 Naira | https://tribuneonlineng.com/new-goc-2-division-takes-over-as-outgoing-charges-soldiers-on-continuous-professionalism/ | 2022-08-12T17:27:23Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/new-goc-2-division-takes-over-as-outgoing-charges-soldiers-on-continuous-professionalism/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The attack happened as Rushdie was about to address the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education centre and summer resort, located near Buffalo.
Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital; while his condition is unclear, one witness told reporters that her husband saw Rushdie “able to walk with assistance” after the ambush.
Rushdie’s work, particularly his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, has attracted fierce protests, death threats, and even a fatwa for his assassination by the former religious leader of Iran, who accused Rushdie of blasphemy.
A $4 million bounty on his head remains active to this day.
A witness, Ward Pautler, told reporters that Rushdie “had just come out and sat down” on stage when he was attacked by an individual who Pautler described as “heavy set and wearing a black headpiece.”
Sitting just three rows away from the small stage next to his brother-in-law, Pautler, 76, said that at first he thought the assailant was “punching Rushdie, but then I realized he was stabbing him.”
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- ‘39.6 percent of unmarried university students use sexual performance-enhancing drugs’
- Tips on building a happy and healthy relationship
- Safety precautions to observe at the airport
- Safety tips to observe when boarding a ride from a ride-hailing app
- Secure your social media accounts from hackers with these tips
- Things to look out for before starting a business
- Striking a balance between your 9-5 job and your side hustle
- Little or no work experience? Here’s what you can do
- Top 10 Business Ideas In Nigeria You Can Start With 100,000 Naira
Salman Rushdie stabbed in the neck… Salman Rushdie stabbed in the neck… | https://tribuneonlineng.com/salman-rushdie-author-of-satanic-verses-attacked-stabbed-in-the-neck/ | 2022-08-12T17:27:28Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/salman-rushdie-author-of-satanic-verses-attacked-stabbed-in-the-neck/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
US, Indo- US, Indo- Pacific coordinator Campbell is on the wires saying:
- China used Pelosi visit as pretext to launch pressure campaign on Taiwan
- China overreacted to Pelosi visit
- China surrounded Taiwan with more than a dozen warships
- US response has been responsible, steady and resolute
- US opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side
- China's actions are fundamentally at odds with goal of peace and stability
- US response would patient and effective
- Calls on China to reopen communication channels | https://www.forexlive.com/news/us-indo-pacific-coordinator-chinese-pelosi-visit-as-pretext-to-launch-pressure-campaign-20220812/ | 2022-08-12T17:31:09Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/us-indo-pacific-coordinator-chinese-pelosi-visit-as-pretext-to-launch-pressure-campaign-20220812/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MORRISVILLE, N.C., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --The Soil Health Institute (SHI) today announced its recommended measurements for assessing soil health. These recommendations answer the No. 1 question about soil health that farmers, ranchers, and their advisers have been asking since the soil health movement began.
With support from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, and General Mills, the Soil Health Institute led a 3-year, $6.5-million project to identify effective measurements for soil health across North America. SHI partnered with over 100 scientists at 124 long-term agricultural research sites in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico where conventional management systems were compared with soil health-improving systems.
"This allowed us to evaluate over 30 soil health measurements at each site where they had the appropriate experimental design to allow us to come to the appropriate statistical conclusion about the effectiveness of each measurement," said Dr. Wayne Honeycutt, President and CEO of the Soil Health Institute. "Evaluating each measurement across such a wide range of climates, soils, cropping systems, and management practices also provided the scientific rigor we needed to identify which measurements could be widely used."
The concept of soil health is basically about how well a soil is functioning. Such functions include cycling water, carbon, and nutrients. Whether a heavy rain infiltrates into the soil or runs off the soil reflects how well that soil is functioning. Soil health can be improved through management, but farmers need practical, effective measurements for assessing the current status of their soil and evaluating progress at improving its health.
The Soil Health Institute found that many measurements are effective for assessing soil health from a research perspective. "While this is good news for the science, we also wanted to identify a minimum suite of measurements that is practical and affordable for all land managers," said Dr. Cristine Morgan, Chief Scientific Officer of SHI, "so we also evaluated these measurements through the lens of cost, practicality, availability, redundancy, and other filters."
Based on these results, SHI recommends a minimal suite of three measurements to be widely applied across North America (and likely beyond). Those measurements include: 1) soil organic carbon concentration, 2) carbon mineralization potential, and 3) aggregate stability.
Soil organic carbon is a key component of a soil's organic matter that influences available water holding capacity, nutrients, biodiversity, structure, and other important soil properties. Carbon mineralization potential reflects the size and structure of microbial communities in soil, thereby influencing nutrient availability, soil aggregation, and resilience to changing climatic conditions. Aggregate stability describes how strongly soil particles group together. This influences whether a heavy rainfall will infiltrate into a soil or run off a landscape, taking with it valuable nutrients that become detrimental to water quality. Soil aggregates also influence erosion, aeration, root growth and, therefore, nutrient uptake by plants.
While these three metrics provide a minimum suite of widely applicable measurements for assessing soil health, additional measurements may be included depending on the landowner's or researcher's objectives. "We have found that adding soil texture to this list of measurements allows us to calculate a soil's available water holding capacity," said Dr. Dianna Bagnall, Research Soil Scientist with SHI. "We can then show a farmer how much more water they can store by increasing their organic carbon and improving soil health." Because management does not change soil texture (sand, silt, and clay), it only needs to be measured once.
"Providing a scientifically rigorous, yet practical approach for assessing soil health should increase adoption of regenerative soil health systems because farmers and their advisers can now measure the impact of their management choices with confidence," said Dr. LaKisha Odom, FFAR's Scientific Program Director for Soil Health. "This will in effect bring more on-farm and environmental benefits to scale for agriculture and society."
To facilitate use of these measurements, details on SHI's recommended protocols for sampling and analyzing soils are described on its website. Specific details on the underlying research and data analyses are described in several peer-reviewed publications and interpretive summaries. Additional manuscripts are currently in peer-review.
The Soil Health Institute is a global non-profit with a mission of safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of soils through scientific research and advancement. Our vision is a world where farmers and ranchers grow quality food, fiber, and fuel using soil health systems that sustain farms and rural communities, promote a stable climate and clean environment, and improve human health and well-being. Accordingly, the Institute brings together leaders in soil health science and the industry to conduct research and empower farmers and other landowners with the knowledge to successfully adopt regenerative soil health systems that contribute economic and environmental benefits to agriculture and society. The Institute's scientific team holds doctorates in various soil science and related disciplines, with specialties in carbon cycling, nutrient cycling, water cycling, nutrient management, soil microbiome, farmer/adviser education, ecosystem services, soil-plant relationships, on-farm economics, and others. The team follows a comprehensive strategy for advancing adoption of regenerative soil health systems.
Healthy soils are the foundation for restoring our land. Together, we can create a secure future for all, mitigate the effects of climate change, and help farmers and organizations meet production and environmental goals at scale. Visit www.soilhealthinstitute.org to learn more, and follow us on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
For media inquiries, contact Byron Rath: brath@soilhealthinstitute.org
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Soil Health Institute | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/12/soil-health-institute-announces-recommended-measurements-evaluating-soil-health/ | 2022-08-12T17:45:18Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/12/soil-health-institute-announces-recommended-measurements-evaluating-soil-health/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces that investors with substantial losses have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit against Unity Software Inc. ("Unity" or the "Company") (NYSE: U).
Class Period: March 5, 2021 – May 10, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 6, 2022
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Unity lawsuit, you can submit your contact information at www.glancylaw.com/cases/unity-software-inc/. You can also contact Charles H. Linehan, of GPM at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or via email at shareholders@glancylaw.com to learn more about your rights.
The complaint filed alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) deficiencies in Unity's product platform reduced the accuracy of the Company's machine learning technology; (2) the foregoing was likely to have a material negative impact on the Company's revenues; (3) accordingly, Unity had overstated its commercial and/or financial prospects for 2022; and (4) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Charles Linehan, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/12/u-investors-have-opportunity-lead-unity-software-inc-securities-fraud-lawsuit/ | 2022-08-12T17:45:25Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/12/u-investors-have-opportunity-lead-unity-software-inc-securities-fraud-lawsuit/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose broadly in afternoon trading on Wall Street Friday and added to weekly gains for the major indexes.
The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 12:37 p.m. Eastern with about 90% of stocks in the benchmark index gaining ground. It’s on track for its first four-week winning streak since last year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 258 points, or 0.8%, to 33,594 and the Nasdaq rose 1.4%.
Small-company stocks also made strong gains in a sign that investors are confident about the economy. The Russell 2000 rose 1.5%.
Technology and communications stocks had some of the biggest gains. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 3.1% and Facebook’s parent Meta rose 1.7%.
Energy companies lagged the market as U.S. oil prices slipped 2.4%. Chevron fell 1%.
Trading has been choppy throughout much of the week, but major indexes got a big bump, and made the bulk of their gains, on Wednesday after a report showed that inflation cooled more than expected last month.
The Federal Reserve’s fight to tame higher prices remains a priority for Wall Street. Investors have been hoping to see some relief from the hottest inflation in four decades and stocks rallied on Wednesday after an encouraging report on consumer prices from the Labor Department.
The Fed has been raising interest rates in the hopes of slowing the economy and cooling inflation, but investors are worried that it could be hitting the brakes too aggressively and risks steering the economy into a recession. The cooler-than-expected reading on consumer prices bolstered hopes among investors that inflation may be close to a peak and that the Fed might be able to temper its rate hikes.
A report on Thursday showed inflation at the wholesale level also slowed more than economists expected last month. On Friday, a survey by the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment is stronger than expected by economists.
Inflation is still painfully high, though, and the Fed is likely to remain on course with its rate hikes until it is certain that prices have peaked and are easing. The Fed’s last two increases were by 0.75 percentage points. Traders now see about a 60% chance that the central bank will raise overnight interest rates by half a percentage point at its next meeting.
“The market’s strength is based on the assumption that inflation peaked and the Fed can relax, but that may be a bit too complacent,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.86% from 2.88% late Thursday. It remains below the two-year yield. That’s an unusual inversion of the expectation that borrowing money for a longer period should cost more than a shorter period. When investors demand a higher return for a short term like the 2-year than a longer one like 10 years, it’s viewed by some investors as a reliable signal of a pending recession and the economy has already contracted for two consecutive quarters.
Wall Street will get more details on the economy next week when the Commerce Department releases its retail sales report for July and retail giant Walmart reports its latest financial results.
Investors can also assess the health of the housing market when they get a report on home sales for July and the latest earnings from Home Depot. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/asian-shares-mixed-after-new-signs-of-cooling-inflation/ | 2022-08-12T17:47:54Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/asian-shares-mixed-after-new-signs-of-cooling-inflation/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 11 |
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose broadly in afternoon trading on Wall Street Friday and added to weekly gains for the major indexes.
The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 12:37 p.m. Eastern with about 90% of stocks in the benchmark index gaining ground. It’s on track for its first four-week winning streak since last year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 258 points, or 0.8%, to 33,594 and the Nasdaq rose 1.4%.
Small-company stocks also made strong gains in a sign that investors are confident about the economy. The Russell 2000 rose 1.5%.
Technology and communications stocks had some of the biggest gains. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 3.1% and Facebook’s parent Meta rose 1.7%.
Energy companies lagged the market as U.S. oil prices slipped 2.4%. Chevron fell 1%.
Trading has been choppy throughout much of the week, but major indexes got a big bump, and made the bulk of their gains, on Wednesday after a report showed that inflation cooled more than expected last month.
The Federal Reserve’s fight to tame higher prices remains a priority for Wall Street. Investors have been hoping to see some relief from the hottest inflation in four decades and stocks rallied on Wednesday after an encouraging report on consumer prices from the Labor Department.
The Fed has been raising interest rates in the hopes of slowing the economy and cooling inflation, but investors are worried that it could be hitting the brakes too aggressively and risks steering the economy into a recession. The cooler-than-expected reading on consumer prices bolstered hopes among investors that inflation may be close to a peak and that the Fed might be able to temper its rate hikes.
A report on Thursday showed inflation at the wholesale level also slowed more than economists expected last month. On Friday, a survey by the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment is stronger than expected by economists.
Inflation is still painfully high, though, and the Fed is likely to remain on course with its rate hikes until it is certain that prices have peaked and are easing. The Fed’s last two increases were by 0.75 percentage points. Traders now see about a 60% chance that the central bank will raise overnight interest rates by half a percentage point at its next meeting.
“The market’s strength is based on the assumption that inflation peaked and the Fed can relax, but that may be a bit too complacent,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.86% from 2.88% late Thursday. It remains below the two-year yield. That’s an unusual inversion of the expectation that borrowing money for a longer period should cost more than a shorter period. When investors demand a higher return for a short term like the 2-year than a longer one like 10 years, it’s viewed by some investors as a reliable signal of a pending recession and the economy has already contracted for two consecutive quarters.
Wall Street will get more details on the economy next week when the Commerce Department releases its retail sales report for July and retail giant Walmart reports its latest financial results.
Investors can also assess the health of the housing market when they get a report on home sales for July and the latest earnings from Home Depot. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/asian-shares-mixed-after-new-signs-of-cooling-inflation/ | 2022-08-12T17:47:54Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/asian-shares-mixed-after-new-signs-of-cooling-inflation/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 11 |
BERLIN (AP) — Former German leader Gerhard Schroeder is suing to restore the perks he enjoyed as ex-chancellor after he was stripped of them by parliament following criticism over his ties with Russia.
Schroeder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has long had a close relationship with Russian energy companies and President Vladimir Putin. Those links came under heightened scrutiny following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly six months ago.
German news agency dpa quoted Schroeder’s lawyer, Michael Nagel, saying Friday that his client had filed a suit with Berlin’s administrative court to restore the necessary funding he previously received for his office and staff.
The Bundestag had changed the rules in May to link some privileges former chancellors receive to their actual duties. In their decision, lawmakers didn’t explicitly state Schroeder’s ties to Russia. But Nagel told dpa that the reasons for the change were obvious and wouldn’t withstand legal challenge.
Earlier this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party rejected a bid to expel Schroeder, who had refused to distance himself from Putin and recently met with the Russian leader on a visit to Moscow in late July. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/german-ex-leader-schroeder-sues-to-restore-official-perks/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:09Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/german-ex-leader-schroeder-sues-to-restore-official-perks/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 37 |
BERLIN (AP) — Former German leader Gerhard Schroeder is suing to restore the perks he enjoyed as ex-chancellor after he was stripped of them by parliament following criticism over his ties with Russia.
Schroeder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has long had a close relationship with Russian energy companies and President Vladimir Putin. Those links came under heightened scrutiny following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly six months ago.
German news agency dpa quoted Schroeder’s lawyer, Michael Nagel, saying Friday that his client had filed a suit with Berlin’s administrative court to restore the necessary funding he previously received for his office and staff.
The Bundestag had changed the rules in May to link some privileges former chancellors receive to their actual duties. In their decision, lawmakers didn’t explicitly state Schroeder’s ties to Russia. But Nagel told dpa that the reasons for the change were obvious and wouldn’t withstand legal challenge.
Earlier this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party rejected a bid to expel Schroeder, who had refused to distance himself from Putin and recently met with the Russian leader on a visit to Moscow in late July. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/german-ex-leader-schroeder-sues-to-restore-official-perks/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:09Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/german-ex-leader-schroeder-sues-to-restore-official-perks/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 37 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed their flagship climate change and health care bill toward House passage Friday, placing President Joe Biden on the brink of a back-from-the-dead triumph on his leading domestic goals that could energize his party going into November’s elections.
Democrats were poised to muscle the measure through the narrowly divided House Friday over solid Republican opposition. They employed similar party unity and Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote Sunday to power the measure through the 50-50 Senate.
The package is but a shadow of the far larger, more ambitious plan to supercharge federal environment and social programs that Biden and his party envisioned early last year. That crashed after centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said it was too costly, underscoring the leverage every Democrat has in the evenly divided Senate in which every Republican was opposed.
Ultimately, Democrats thirsty to declare victory capped months of often bitter infighting and forged a more modest compromise that still addresses top-tier party goals such as reining in pharmaceutical costs, taxing large companies and, especially, curbing carbon emissions. They hope it will show they can wring accomplishments from an often fractiously gridlocked Washington that alienates many voters.
“For too long, too many people in this country have felt like the work that happens in Washington isn’t meant to help them,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “No more. That time is over.”
The bill’s pillar is about $375 billion over 10 years to encourage industry and consumers to shift from carbon-emitting to cleaner forms of energy, hailed by experts as Congress’ biggest climate investment ever. That includes $4 billion added to cope with the West’s catastrophic drought.
Spending, tax credits and loans would bolster technology like solar panels, consumer efforts to improve home energy efficiency, emission-reducing equipment for coal- and gas-powered power plants and air pollution controls for farms, ports and low-income communities.
In a pair of top Democratic health priorities, another $64 billion would help 13 million people pay premiums over the next three years for privately bought health insurance. Medicare would gain the power to negotiate its costs for pharmaceuticals, initially in 2026 for only 10 drugs. Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket prescription costs would be limited to $2,000 starting in 2025, and starting next year they would pay no more than $35 monthly for insulin, the costly diabetes drug.
The bill would raise around $740 billion in revenue over the decade, over a third from government savings from lower drug prices. More would flow from higher taxes on some $1 billion corporations, levies on companies that repurchase their own stock and stronger IRS tax collections. About $300 billion would remain to defray budget deficits, a fraction of the period’s projected total of $16 trillion.
Republicans said the measure was a compendium of wasteful liberal daydreams that would raise taxes and families’ living costs.
“We face no emergency,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “We’re simply here because my friends on the other side want to create the illusion that they’re doing something positive before the midterm election.”
Republicans say the legislation’s business tax increases will force companies to raise prices, worsening the nation’s bout with its worst inflation since 1981. Nonpartisan analysts say the measure will have negligible inflation impact one way or the other.
Republicans say Democrats’ plan to expand the IRS budget, aimed at collecting about $120 billion in unpaid taxes, envisions 87,000 agents who’d be coming after families. Democrats called foul, saying their $80 billion IRS budget boost would be to replace waves of retirees, not just agents, and to modernize equipment, and say families and small businesses earning below $400,000 annually would not be targeted.
The GOP also says the bill would raise taxes on lower- and middle-income families. An analysis by Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, which didn’t include the bill’s tax breaks for health care and energy, estimated that the corporate tax boosts would marginally affect those taxpayers, partly due to lower stock prices and wages.
The bill caps a fertile three months in which Congress has voted to improve veterans’ health benefits, gird the semiconductor industry, moderately strengthen gun restrictions for younger buyers, finance Ukraine’s war with Russia and add Finland and Sweden to NATO. All passed with bipartisan support, suggesting Republicans also want to display their productive side.
It’s unclear whether voters will reward Democrats for the legislation after months of painfully high inflation dominating voters’ attention. Though record gasoline prices have dipped, Biden’s popularity dangles damagingly low and midterm elections have a consistent history of ending careers of lawmakers from the party that holds the White House.
Democrats’ economic bill had its roots in early 2021, after Congress approved a $1.9 trillion measure over GOP opposition to combat the pandemic-induced economic downturn. Emboldened, the new president and his party reached further.
They initially produced an ambitious 10-year, $3.5 trillion environment and social plan they called Build Back Better. It featured free prekindergarten, paid family and medical leave, expanded Medicare benefits, increases for education and housing and an easing of immigration restrictions. It sought to roll back Trump-era tax breaks for the rich and corporations and proposed $555 billion for climate efforts, well above the resources in Friday’s legislation.
With Manchin opposing those amounts, it was sliced to a roughly $2 trillion measure that Democrats moved through the House in November. Just before Christmas, Manchin unexpectedly sank that bill, citing fears of inflation and international uncertainty and earning brickbats from exasperated fellow Democrats from Capitol Hill and the White House.
With on-and-off closed-door talks between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., seemingly dying, the two lawmakers shocked Washington and announced agreement last month on the new, pared-down package.
Manchin won billions for carbon capture technology for the fossil fuel industries he champions, plus procedures for more oil drilling on federal lands and promises for faster energy project permitting.
Centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., also used her leverage for late concessions, eliminating planned higher taxes on hedge fund managers and helping win the drought funds. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/house-dems-set-to-overcome-gop-for-climate-health-care-win/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:23Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/house-dems-set-to-overcome-gop-for-climate-health-care-win/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 22 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed their flagship climate change and health care bill toward House passage Friday, placing President Joe Biden on the brink of a back-from-the-dead triumph on his leading domestic goals that could energize his party going into November’s elections.
Democrats were poised to muscle the measure through the narrowly divided House Friday over solid Republican opposition. They employed similar party unity and Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote Sunday to power the measure through the 50-50 Senate.
The package is but a shadow of the far larger, more ambitious plan to supercharge federal environment and social programs that Biden and his party envisioned early last year. That crashed after centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said it was too costly, underscoring the leverage every Democrat has in the evenly divided Senate in which every Republican was opposed.
Ultimately, Democrats thirsty to declare victory capped months of often bitter infighting and forged a more modest compromise that still addresses top-tier party goals such as reining in pharmaceutical costs, taxing large companies and, especially, curbing carbon emissions. They hope it will show they can wring accomplishments from an often fractiously gridlocked Washington that alienates many voters.
“For too long, too many people in this country have felt like the work that happens in Washington isn’t meant to help them,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “No more. That time is over.”
The bill’s pillar is about $375 billion over 10 years to encourage industry and consumers to shift from carbon-emitting to cleaner forms of energy, hailed by experts as Congress’ biggest climate investment ever. That includes $4 billion added to cope with the West’s catastrophic drought.
Spending, tax credits and loans would bolster technology like solar panels, consumer efforts to improve home energy efficiency, emission-reducing equipment for coal- and gas-powered power plants and air pollution controls for farms, ports and low-income communities.
In a pair of top Democratic health priorities, another $64 billion would help 13 million people pay premiums over the next three years for privately bought health insurance. Medicare would gain the power to negotiate its costs for pharmaceuticals, initially in 2026 for only 10 drugs. Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket prescription costs would be limited to $2,000 starting in 2025, and starting next year they would pay no more than $35 monthly for insulin, the costly diabetes drug.
The bill would raise around $740 billion in revenue over the decade, over a third from government savings from lower drug prices. More would flow from higher taxes on some $1 billion corporations, levies on companies that repurchase their own stock and stronger IRS tax collections. About $300 billion would remain to defray budget deficits, a fraction of the period’s projected total of $16 trillion.
Republicans said the measure was a compendium of wasteful liberal daydreams that would raise taxes and families’ living costs.
“We face no emergency,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “We’re simply here because my friends on the other side want to create the illusion that they’re doing something positive before the midterm election.”
Republicans say the legislation’s business tax increases will force companies to raise prices, worsening the nation’s bout with its worst inflation since 1981. Nonpartisan analysts say the measure will have negligible inflation impact one way or the other.
Republicans say Democrats’ plan to expand the IRS budget, aimed at collecting about $120 billion in unpaid taxes, envisions 87,000 agents who’d be coming after families. Democrats called foul, saying their $80 billion IRS budget boost would be to replace waves of retirees, not just agents, and to modernize equipment, and say families and small businesses earning below $400,000 annually would not be targeted.
The GOP also says the bill would raise taxes on lower- and middle-income families. An analysis by Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, which didn’t include the bill’s tax breaks for health care and energy, estimated that the corporate tax boosts would marginally affect those taxpayers, partly due to lower stock prices and wages.
The bill caps a fertile three months in which Congress has voted to improve veterans’ health benefits, gird the semiconductor industry, moderately strengthen gun restrictions for younger buyers, finance Ukraine’s war with Russia and add Finland and Sweden to NATO. All passed with bipartisan support, suggesting Republicans also want to display their productive side.
It’s unclear whether voters will reward Democrats for the legislation after months of painfully high inflation dominating voters’ attention. Though record gasoline prices have dipped, Biden’s popularity dangles damagingly low and midterm elections have a consistent history of ending careers of lawmakers from the party that holds the White House.
Democrats’ economic bill had its roots in early 2021, after Congress approved a $1.9 trillion measure over GOP opposition to combat the pandemic-induced economic downturn. Emboldened, the new president and his party reached further.
They initially produced an ambitious 10-year, $3.5 trillion environment and social plan they called Build Back Better. It featured free prekindergarten, paid family and medical leave, expanded Medicare benefits, increases for education and housing and an easing of immigration restrictions. It sought to roll back Trump-era tax breaks for the rich and corporations and proposed $555 billion for climate efforts, well above the resources in Friday’s legislation.
With Manchin opposing those amounts, it was sliced to a roughly $2 trillion measure that Democrats moved through the House in November. Just before Christmas, Manchin unexpectedly sank that bill, citing fears of inflation and international uncertainty and earning brickbats from exasperated fellow Democrats from Capitol Hill and the White House.
With on-and-off closed-door talks between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., seemingly dying, the two lawmakers shocked Washington and announced agreement last month on the new, pared-down package.
Manchin won billions for carbon capture technology for the fossil fuel industries he champions, plus procedures for more oil drilling on federal lands and promises for faster energy project permitting.
Centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., also used her leverage for late concessions, eliminating planned higher taxes on hedge fund managers and helping win the drought funds. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/house-dems-set-to-overcome-gop-for-climate-health-care-win/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:23Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/house-dems-set-to-overcome-gop-for-climate-health-care-win/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 22 |
TRI-CITIES, Wash. -
It's back-to-school and local law enforcement are holding a school supply drive throughout the area.
You can find the Benton County Sheriff's Office at several locations from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in three separate locations: Walmart in Kennewick, Kibe Market in Benton City and NW Farm Supply in Prosser.
If you can't make it on Saturday, be sure to stop by the sheriff's office to pick up some supplies.
The Pasco Police Department is partnering with the Tri-Cities Car Culture for a cars and caffeine school supply drive from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
You can find them at the Trucks & Auto Auctions at 3135 Ricken-Backer Dr. near the Tri-Cities Airport.
Officers with PPD say the goal is to fill a school bus with supplies and donations which will be donated to the Pasco School District.
Stop by both locations to donate or get your school supplies for the 2022-2023 school year! | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/benton-county-sheriffs-office-and-pasco-pd-back-to-school-supply-drives/article_06ab4654-1a4b-11ed-9521-d7f8070a1116.html | 2022-08-12T17:48:31Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/benton-county-sheriffs-office-and-pasco-pd-back-to-school-supply-drives/article_06ab4654-1a4b-11ed-9521-d7f8070a1116.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The biggest investment ever in the U.S. to fight climate change. A hard-fought cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients. A new corporate minimum tax to ensure big businesses pay their share.
And billions left over to pay down federal deficits.
All told, the Democrats’ “Inflation Reduction Act” may not do much to immediately tame inflationary price hikes. But the package heading toward final passage in Congress and to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature will touch countless American lives with longtime party proposals.
Not as robust as Biden’s initial ideas to rebuild America’s public infrastructure and family support systems, the compromise of health care, climate change and deficit-reduction strategies is also a stunning election year turnaround, a smaller but not unsubstantial product brought back to political life after having collapsed last year.
Democrats alone support the package, with all Republicans expected to vote against it. Republicans deride the 730-page bill as big government overreach and point particular criticism at its $80 billion investment in the IRS to hire new employees and go after tax scofflaws.
Voters will be left to sort it out in the November elections, when control of Congress will be decided.
Here’s what’s in the estimated $740 billion package — made up of $440 billion in new spending and $300 billion toward easing deficits— that is up for final approval Friday in the House.
LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS
Launching a long-sought goal, the bill would allow the Medicare program to negotiate some prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, saving the federal government some $288 billion over the 10-year budget window.
The result is expected to lower costs for older adults on medications, including a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap for older adults buying prescriptions from pharmacies.
The revenue raised would also be used to provide free vaccinations for seniors, who now are among the few not guaranteed free access, according to a summary document.
Seniors would also have insulin prices capped at $35 a month.
HELP PAYING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE
The bill would extend the subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic to help some Americans who buy health insurance on their own.
Under earlier pandemic relief, the extra help was set to expire this year. But the bill would allow the assistance to keep going for three more years, lowering insurance premiums for some 13 million people who are purchasing their own health care policies through the Affordable Care Act.
BIGGEST U.S. INVESTMENT ‘BY FAR’ IN CLIMATE CHANGE
The bill would infuse nearly $375 billion over the decade in climate change-fighting strategies that Democrats believe could put the country on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030, and “would represent the single biggest climate investment in U.S. history, by far.”
For consumers, that means tax rebates to buy electric vehicles — $4,000 for used vehicle purchase and up to $7,500 for new ones, eligible to households with incomes of $300,000 or less for couples, or single people with income of $150,000 or less.
Not all electric vehicles will fully qualify for the tax credits, thanks to requirements that component parts be manufactured and assembled in the U.S. And pricier cars costing more than $55,000 and SUVs and trucks priced above $80,000 are excluded.
There’s also tax breaks for consumers to go green. One is a 10-year consumer tax credit for renewable energy investments in wind and solar.
For businesses, the bill has $60 billion for a clean energy manufacturing tax credit and $30 billion for a production tax credit for wind and solar, seen as ways to boost and support the industries that can help curb the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
The bill also gives tax credits for nuclear power and carbon capture technology that oil companies such as Exxon Mobil have invested millions of dollars to advance.
The bill would impose a new fee on excess methane emissions from oil and gas drilling while giving fossil fuel companies access to more leases on federal lands and waters.
A late addition pushed by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and other Democrats in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado would designate $4 billion to combat a mega-drought in the West, including conservation efforts in the Colorado River Basin, which nearly 40 million Americans rely on for drinking water.
HOW TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS?
One of the biggest revenue-raisers in the bill is a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn more than $1 billion in annual profits.
It’s a way to clamp down on some 200 U.S. companies that avoid paying the standard 21% corporate tax rate, including some that end up paying no taxes at all.
The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year and raise more than $258 billion over the decade.
There will also be a new 1% excise tax imposed on stock buybacks, raising some $74 billion over the decade.
Savings from allowing Medicare’s negotiations with the drug companies is expected to bring in $288 billion over 10 years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
The bill sticks with Biden’s original pledge not to raise taxes on families or businesses making less than $400,000 a year.
Yet money is also raised by boosting the IRS to go after tax cheats. The bill proposes an $80 billion investment in taxpayer services, enforcement and modernization, which is projected to raise $203 billion in new revenue — a net gain of $124 billion over the decade.
EXTRA MONEY TO PAY DOWN DEFICITS
With some $740 billion in new revenue and around $440 billion in new investments, the bill promises to put the difference of about $300 billion toward deficit reduction.
Federal deficits spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic when federal spending soared and tax revenues fell as the nation’s economy churned through shutdowns, closed offices and other massive changes.
The nation has seen deficits rise and fall in recent years. But overall federal budgeting is on an unsustainable path, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which recently put out a new report on long-term projections.
WHAT’S LEFT BEHIND?
The package, nowhere near the sweeping Build Back Better program Biden once envisioned, remains a sizable undertaking and, along with COVID-19 relief and the GOP 2017 tax cuts, is among the more substantial bills from Congress in years.
While Congress did pass and Biden signed into law a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill for highways, broadband and other investments that was part of the White House’s initial vision, the Democrats’ other big priorities have slipped away.
Gone, for now, are are plans for free pre-kindergarten and community college, as well as the nation’s first paid family leave program that would have provided up to $4,000 a month for births, deaths and other pivotal needs. Also allowed to expire is the enhanced child care credit that was providing $300 a month during the pandemic.
___
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/in-bidens-big-bill-climate-health-care-deficit-reduction/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:30Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/in-bidens-big-bill-climate-health-care-deficit-reduction/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 98 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The biggest investment ever in the U.S. to fight climate change. A hard-fought cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients. A new corporate minimum tax to ensure big businesses pay their share.
And billions left over to pay down federal deficits.
All told, the Democrats’ “Inflation Reduction Act” may not do much to immediately tame inflationary price hikes. But the package heading toward final passage in Congress and to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature will touch countless American lives with longtime party proposals.
Not as robust as Biden’s initial ideas to rebuild America’s public infrastructure and family support systems, the compromise of health care, climate change and deficit-reduction strategies is also a stunning election year turnaround, a smaller but not unsubstantial product brought back to political life after having collapsed last year.
Democrats alone support the package, with all Republicans expected to vote against it. Republicans deride the 730-page bill as big government overreach and point particular criticism at its $80 billion investment in the IRS to hire new employees and go after tax scofflaws.
Voters will be left to sort it out in the November elections, when control of Congress will be decided.
Here’s what’s in the estimated $740 billion package — made up of $440 billion in new spending and $300 billion toward easing deficits— that is up for final approval Friday in the House.
LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS
Launching a long-sought goal, the bill would allow the Medicare program to negotiate some prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, saving the federal government some $288 billion over the 10-year budget window.
The result is expected to lower costs for older adults on medications, including a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap for older adults buying prescriptions from pharmacies.
The revenue raised would also be used to provide free vaccinations for seniors, who now are among the few not guaranteed free access, according to a summary document.
Seniors would also have insulin prices capped at $35 a month.
HELP PAYING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE
The bill would extend the subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic to help some Americans who buy health insurance on their own.
Under earlier pandemic relief, the extra help was set to expire this year. But the bill would allow the assistance to keep going for three more years, lowering insurance premiums for some 13 million people who are purchasing their own health care policies through the Affordable Care Act.
BIGGEST U.S. INVESTMENT ‘BY FAR’ IN CLIMATE CHANGE
The bill would infuse nearly $375 billion over the decade in climate change-fighting strategies that Democrats believe could put the country on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030, and “would represent the single biggest climate investment in U.S. history, by far.”
For consumers, that means tax rebates to buy electric vehicles — $4,000 for used vehicle purchase and up to $7,500 for new ones, eligible to households with incomes of $300,000 or less for couples, or single people with income of $150,000 or less.
Not all electric vehicles will fully qualify for the tax credits, thanks to requirements that component parts be manufactured and assembled in the U.S. And pricier cars costing more than $55,000 and SUVs and trucks priced above $80,000 are excluded.
There’s also tax breaks for consumers to go green. One is a 10-year consumer tax credit for renewable energy investments in wind and solar.
For businesses, the bill has $60 billion for a clean energy manufacturing tax credit and $30 billion for a production tax credit for wind and solar, seen as ways to boost and support the industries that can help curb the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
The bill also gives tax credits for nuclear power and carbon capture technology that oil companies such as Exxon Mobil have invested millions of dollars to advance.
The bill would impose a new fee on excess methane emissions from oil and gas drilling while giving fossil fuel companies access to more leases on federal lands and waters.
A late addition pushed by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and other Democrats in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado would designate $4 billion to combat a mega-drought in the West, including conservation efforts in the Colorado River Basin, which nearly 40 million Americans rely on for drinking water.
HOW TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS?
One of the biggest revenue-raisers in the bill is a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn more than $1 billion in annual profits.
It’s a way to clamp down on some 200 U.S. companies that avoid paying the standard 21% corporate tax rate, including some that end up paying no taxes at all.
The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year and raise more than $258 billion over the decade.
There will also be a new 1% excise tax imposed on stock buybacks, raising some $74 billion over the decade.
Savings from allowing Medicare’s negotiations with the drug companies is expected to bring in $288 billion over 10 years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
The bill sticks with Biden’s original pledge not to raise taxes on families or businesses making less than $400,000 a year.
Yet money is also raised by boosting the IRS to go after tax cheats. The bill proposes an $80 billion investment in taxpayer services, enforcement and modernization, which is projected to raise $203 billion in new revenue — a net gain of $124 billion over the decade.
EXTRA MONEY TO PAY DOWN DEFICITS
With some $740 billion in new revenue and around $440 billion in new investments, the bill promises to put the difference of about $300 billion toward deficit reduction.
Federal deficits spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic when federal spending soared and tax revenues fell as the nation’s economy churned through shutdowns, closed offices and other massive changes.
The nation has seen deficits rise and fall in recent years. But overall federal budgeting is on an unsustainable path, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which recently put out a new report on long-term projections.
WHAT’S LEFT BEHIND?
The package, nowhere near the sweeping Build Back Better program Biden once envisioned, remains a sizable undertaking and, along with COVID-19 relief and the GOP 2017 tax cuts, is among the more substantial bills from Congress in years.
While Congress did pass and Biden signed into law a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill for highways, broadband and other investments that was part of the White House’s initial vision, the Democrats’ other big priorities have slipped away.
Gone, for now, are are plans for free pre-kindergarten and community college, as well as the nation’s first paid family leave program that would have provided up to $4,000 a month for births, deaths and other pivotal needs. Also allowed to expire is the enhanced child care credit that was providing $300 a month during the pandemic.
___
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/in-bidens-big-bill-climate-health-care-deficit-reduction/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:30Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/in-bidens-big-bill-climate-health-care-deficit-reduction/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 98 |
YAKIMA, WA - In the summer months we constantly smell smoke because of wildfire season. Smoke can have damaging effects on someone's body if they are inhaling it for long periods.
In the past few years, we have had some pretty large fires in our area, like the Schneider Springs Fire that kept smoke hanging low in the city of Yakima for a long time.
"If it affects us it affects them," said Lt. Andrew Pfaff for West Valley Fire District 12.
With physical health, breathing in the smoke can have some long-term effects.
"It is strongly associated with respiratory disease, anything like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," said Dr. Marilyn Black the VP and Senior Technical Advisor for Underwriters Laboratories. "Any sort of person that's vulnerable to respiratory issues can be severely affected by this contamination."
These effects won't happen right away... seeing long terms effects of smoke means you have to be breathing it in or 'eating it' as the firefighters call it for at least a few days.
But sometimes when fighting wildfires, firefighters don't have a choice.
"The biggest thing for me is the fatigue," said Lt. Pfaff. "A lot of our guys have allergies, it really inflames allergies as well because it's all that pollen that's burning."
Lt. Pfaff told me in wildfire season, firefighters are living in smoke.
"They're constantly in the smoke," he said. "It doesn't matter if they are up against the line or if they're back at base camp sleeping, you know the inversion and the morning sets the smoke in the valley."
For him after 7 years of fighting wildland fire experience, dealing with heavy smoke, it's hard to forget how the thick smoke feels.
"The heat mixed with the smoke makes your nose start to run, makes your eyes water, makes you start coughing, we have helmet shields shrouds that we can put on to breathe into," said Lt. Pfaff. "I've been in situations where you can't even put that, the shroud doesn't help, a mask won't help, an N95 mask won't help just cause it's so thick."
That's why sheriff's offices and fire crews stress the importance of leaving in a level 3 evacuation, not only to protect yourself from the flames but also your physical health from the smoke.
One thing Dr. Black told me is if you can't afford to buy an air purifier yourself during the smoky season, you can assemble one yourself with a box fan, an air filter, and duck tape.
"Put the air filter on the box fan, attach it with tape and when you operate the box fan the air comes through the air filter and blows out the fan," said Dr. Black. "...and that air filter removes some of the particulate contamination."
The best way to protect yourself from smoke outside is to get away from it. Meteorologist Monty Webb told us yesterday that when it is hard to breathe outside close all your doors and seal your windows inside.
If you have animals that stay permanently outside like livestock, you can put multiple fans in a barn and have the air circulate around. Dr. Black said this will help the air stay cleaner than it is while just staying in one place. You can also try to face the fans in a certain way where it can help pull the smoky air out of the barn. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/wildfire-smoke-safety/article_123dfdda-1a42-11ed-9942-1b7192785ac8.html | 2022-08-12T17:48:37Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/wildfire-smoke-safety/article_123dfdda-1a42-11ed-9942-1b7192785ac8.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Mostly sunny and hot with breezy afternoon winds. Morning temperatures in the 60s-70s, near 90 by noon and afternoon highs in the mid 90s-near 100.
The stubborn and slow moving upper-level low continues to set off the coast of Washington this morning sending a couple of disturbances into the two-state area today. One is currently moving through the Inland Northwest with a line of showers and an embedded non-severe t-storm. This line stretches from northern Adams county into southern Spokane county and in racing northeast at 40 MPH. We will see another disturbance that will bring a slight chance for a few stray non-severe storms along the OR, WA and ID border this afternoon-evening. The threat of severe storms today has shifted east into the Idaho and western Montana.
The low weakens and opens up as it moves into British Columbia tonight-Saturday morning. This should give us cooler temperatures this weekend with highs in the upper 80s-low 90s on Saturday and low-mid 90s Sunday. Winds with will remain breezy on Saturday so fire will remain elevated. Temperatures begin to climb on Monday into the mid-upper 90s. A strong ridge of high pressure builds into the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday kicking off another heat wave with triple digit temperatures through at least next Friday. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/sunny-hot-and-breezy/article_286c6b8e-1a4f-11ed-b9fa-13f017d476b5.html | 2022-08-12T17:48:43Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/sunny-hot-and-breezy/article_286c6b8e-1a4f-11ed-b9fa-13f017d476b5.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — European authorities are considering a liquefied natural gas pipeline from Spain to Italy as a way of getting around France’s opposition to a gas link-up across the Pyrenees between the Iberian peninsula and central Europe, Portugal’s prime minister said Friday.
Portugal and Spain could send a lot of the liquefied natural gas, or LNG, they receive from around the world to other European Union countries, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said. He gave no further details, but such an undersea pipeline would likely take years to complete.
EU countries have struggled to find common ground on how to wean the bloc off its reliance on Russian natural gas. Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized gas exports to pressure the bloc into reducing its sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Putin has already cut off gas exports to more than a dozen EU nations and reduced exports to key industrial powerhouses like Germany. Many European officials fear he could cut off gas exports to most of Europe over the winter, a time of key demand.
The two Iberian countries receive LNG via pipeline from Algeria and Morocco, as well as by ship from countries such as the United States and Nigeria. But there are currently scant energy connections between Spain and Portugal and rest of Europe.
“The Iberian peninsula has capacity to replace a large part of the liquefied natural gas that central Europe today imports from Russia,” Costa told reporters.
With six LNG plants in Spain — including Europe’s largest, in Barcelona — and one in Portugal, the Iberian neighbors account for one-third of Europe’s LNG processing capacity. The port-based terminals turn boatloads of supercooled LNG back into gas that then flows into homes and businesses.
Costa said the Iberian plants could also send more LNG by ship to other European ports while a pipeline is being built.
Costa said the French government is still against a pipeline across the Pyrenees, citing environmental concerns, and added that the European Commission is assessing a link to Italy.
Costa’s comments came after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking Thursday in Berlin, said, “I have spent a lot of time dealing with a pipeline that we sorely lack, namely the pipeline that should have been built between Portugal, Spain through France to central Europe.”
He added: “It would now make a massive contribution to relieving and easing the supply situation.”
Scholz said he had been in talks with Spain, Portugal, France and the European Commission about the project.
The German chancellor’s comments were welcomed by Portugal and Spain, which could reap the benefits of their investments in LNG.
“Spain is well prepared,” Spanish Industry Minister Reyes Maroto told Antena 3 television on Friday. “We hope that if the German chancellor’s proposal prospers, we will have better gasification and more interconnections in Europe so as not to depend on Russian gas and be self-sufficient energy wise.”
The U.S. government and businesses have long been eyeing Portugal’s deep water Atlantic port of Sines as a springboard for expansion. They have identified Sines as a potential gateway to Europe for gas from fracking in the United States, which has allowed the U.S. to boost LNG exports and offer low prices.
___
Ciaran Giles in Madrid and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
___
Follow all AP stories on the fallout from the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/portugal-eu-eyes-iberia-italy-pipeline-to-get-gas-to-europe/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:45Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/portugal-eu-eyes-iberia-italy-pipeline-to-get-gas-to-europe/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 34 |
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — European authorities are considering a liquefied natural gas pipeline from Spain to Italy as a way of getting around France’s opposition to a gas link-up across the Pyrenees between the Iberian peninsula and central Europe, Portugal’s prime minister said Friday.
Portugal and Spain could send a lot of the liquefied natural gas, or LNG, they receive from around the world to other European Union countries, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said. He gave no further details, but such an undersea pipeline would likely take years to complete.
EU countries have struggled to find common ground on how to wean the bloc off its reliance on Russian natural gas. Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized gas exports to pressure the bloc into reducing its sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Putin has already cut off gas exports to more than a dozen EU nations and reduced exports to key industrial powerhouses like Germany. Many European officials fear he could cut off gas exports to most of Europe over the winter, a time of key demand.
The two Iberian countries receive LNG via pipeline from Algeria and Morocco, as well as by ship from countries such as the United States and Nigeria. But there are currently scant energy connections between Spain and Portugal and rest of Europe.
“The Iberian peninsula has capacity to replace a large part of the liquefied natural gas that central Europe today imports from Russia,” Costa told reporters.
With six LNG plants in Spain — including Europe’s largest, in Barcelona — and one in Portugal, the Iberian neighbors account for one-third of Europe’s LNG processing capacity. The port-based terminals turn boatloads of supercooled LNG back into gas that then flows into homes and businesses.
Costa said the Iberian plants could also send more LNG by ship to other European ports while a pipeline is being built.
Costa said the French government is still against a pipeline across the Pyrenees, citing environmental concerns, and added that the European Commission is assessing a link to Italy.
Costa’s comments came after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking Thursday in Berlin, said, “I have spent a lot of time dealing with a pipeline that we sorely lack, namely the pipeline that should have been built between Portugal, Spain through France to central Europe.”
He added: “It would now make a massive contribution to relieving and easing the supply situation.”
Scholz said he had been in talks with Spain, Portugal, France and the European Commission about the project.
The German chancellor’s comments were welcomed by Portugal and Spain, which could reap the benefits of their investments in LNG.
“Spain is well prepared,” Spanish Industry Minister Reyes Maroto told Antena 3 television on Friday. “We hope that if the German chancellor’s proposal prospers, we will have better gasification and more interconnections in Europe so as not to depend on Russian gas and be self-sufficient energy wise.”
The U.S. government and businesses have long been eyeing Portugal’s deep water Atlantic port of Sines as a springboard for expansion. They have identified Sines as a potential gateway to Europe for gas from fracking in the United States, which has allowed the U.S. to boost LNG exports and offer low prices.
___
Ciaran Giles in Madrid and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
___
Follow all AP stories on the fallout from the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/portugal-eu-eyes-iberia-italy-pipeline-to-get-gas-to-europe/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:45Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/portugal-eu-eyes-iberia-italy-pipeline-to-get-gas-to-europe/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 34 |
LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom’s economy shrank in the three months to June, figures released Friday showed — a smaller-than-expected contraction that nevertheless added to jitters about the rocky months ahead.
The Office for National Statistics said Britain’s gross domestic product fell by 0.1% between April and June, down from 0.8% growth in the previous quarter. GDP shrank by 0.6% in June, and growth estimates for May were revised down from 0.5% to 0.4%.
The statistics office said health spending was the biggest contributor to the fall, as the government scaled down coronavirus testing, contact tracing and vaccination programs.
“Many retailers also had a tough quarter,” said ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan. “These were partially offset by growth in hotels, bars, hairdressers and outdoor events across the quarter,” partly as a result of celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in June.
Analysts said the decline did not necessarily mean the start of a recession, often defined as two quarters of economic contraction. The Bank of England, however, says the U.K. will likely fall into recession later this year as a cost-of-living crisis worsens and inflation rises above the current 9.4%.
The average U.K. household fuel bill has risen more than 50% this year as the war in Ukraine squeezes global oil and natural gas supplies, and another increase is due in October, when the average’s bill is forecast to hit 3,500 pounds ($4,300) a year.
“The fall in U.K. GDP during the second quarter was largely down to noise,” said James Smith, developed markets economist at ING Economics. “But the risk of recession is rising quickly, with gas futures hitting new highs for next winter and our latest estimates suggesting the household energy price cap could come close to 5,000 pounds in the second quarter of next year. Much now depends on fiscal policy announcements in the autumn.”
Anti-poverty campaigners, consumer groups and opposition politicians are pressing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government to help people cope with soaring bills. But Johnson is in his final weeks as prime minister and says “significant fiscal decisions” must be left to his successor, who will take office in September. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/uk-economy-shrinks-in-2nd-quarter-sharpening-recession-fear/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:59Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/uk-economy-shrinks-in-2nd-quarter-sharpening-recession-fear/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 27 |
LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom’s economy shrank in the three months to June, figures released Friday showed — a smaller-than-expected contraction that nevertheless added to jitters about the rocky months ahead.
The Office for National Statistics said Britain’s gross domestic product fell by 0.1% between April and June, down from 0.8% growth in the previous quarter. GDP shrank by 0.6% in June, and growth estimates for May were revised down from 0.5% to 0.4%.
The statistics office said health spending was the biggest contributor to the fall, as the government scaled down coronavirus testing, contact tracing and vaccination programs.
“Many retailers also had a tough quarter,” said ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan. “These were partially offset by growth in hotels, bars, hairdressers and outdoor events across the quarter,” partly as a result of celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in June.
Analysts said the decline did not necessarily mean the start of a recession, often defined as two quarters of economic contraction. The Bank of England, however, says the U.K. will likely fall into recession later this year as a cost-of-living crisis worsens and inflation rises above the current 9.4%.
The average U.K. household fuel bill has risen more than 50% this year as the war in Ukraine squeezes global oil and natural gas supplies, and another increase is due in October, when the average’s bill is forecast to hit 3,500 pounds ($4,300) a year.
“The fall in U.K. GDP during the second quarter was largely down to noise,” said James Smith, developed markets economist at ING Economics. “But the risk of recession is rising quickly, with gas futures hitting new highs for next winter and our latest estimates suggesting the household energy price cap could come close to 5,000 pounds in the second quarter of next year. Much now depends on fiscal policy announcements in the autumn.”
Anti-poverty campaigners, consumer groups and opposition politicians are pressing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government to help people cope with soaring bills. But Johnson is in his final weeks as prime minister and says “significant fiscal decisions” must be left to his successor, who will take office in September. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/uk-economy-shrinks-in-2nd-quarter-sharpening-recession-fear/ | 2022-08-12T17:48:59Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/uk-economy-shrinks-in-2nd-quarter-sharpening-recession-fear/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 27 |
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s health minister said Friday that European Union drug regulators may authorize the use of vaccines that are each effective against two variants of the coronavirus.
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said he expected the European Medicines Agency to meet Sept. 1 to consider a vaccine that would provide protection against the original virus and the omicron variant, also known as BA.1.
The EU agency would likely meet again on Sept. 27 to review a combined vaccine against the original virus and the BA.5 variant that is responsible for the latest global surge in COVID-19 cases, Lauterbach said.
Germany has procured sufficient amounts of both vaccines and would be able to start rolling them out a day after they received authorization, he said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that combination vaccines, known as “bivalent” or “multivalent” shots, will allow boosters to retain the proven benefits of original coronavirus vaccines while providing additional protection against new variants.
Such an approach is used with flu shots, which are adjusted each year depending on the variants that are circulating and can protect against four influenza strains.
Lauterbach, a trained epidemiologist, said the potential for the coronavirus to keep mutating remained high.
“There are still very many variants that could develop,” he said, noting the large number of infections worldwide, including among people with weakened immune systems that allow the virus to persist for months. | https://www.wpri.com/health/ap-health/germany-eu-could-ok-combined-covid-vaccines-next-month/ | 2022-08-12T17:49:21Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/health/ap-health/germany-eu-could-ok-combined-covid-vaccines-next-month/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MIAMI (AP) — LGBTQ and health groups have denounced a new rule by Florida health officials set to take effect later this month to restrict Medicaid insurance coverage for gender dysphoria treatments for transgender people.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration filed the new rule this month, and it is set to take effect Aug. 21, according to online records.
The state agency previously released a report stating that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex reassignment surgery have not been proven safe or effective in treating gender dysphoria. Tom Wallace, the state’s deputy director of Medicaid, signed off on the report in June.
Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project and National Health Law Program issued a statement Thursday saying the AHCA is ignoring thousands of public comments and expert testimony by finalizing a discriminatory and medically unsound rule.
“AHCA’s actions, at the behest of Governor (Ron) DeSantis and his political appointees, are morally and legally wrong, as well as medically and scientifically unsound,” a joint statement from the groups said. “This rule represents a dangerous escalation in Governor DeSantis’s political zeal to persecute LGBTQ+ people in Florida, and particularly transgender youth.”
Transgender medical treatment for children and teens is increasingly under attack in many states where it has been labeled a form of child abuse and where Medicaid coverage is barred. Critics point to the irreversible nature of many elements of gender transition treatment.
Many doctors and mental health specialists argue that medical treatment for transgender children is safe and beneficial and can improve their well-being, although rigorous long-term research on benefits and risks is lacking. Federal guidelines say gender-affirming care is crucial to the health and well-being of transgender and nonbinary children.
Last year, the American Medical Association issued a letter urging governors to block any legislation prohibiting the treatment, calling such action “a dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine. | https://www.wpri.com/health/ap-health/lgbtq-groups-denounce-florida-plan-to-limit-transgender-care/ | 2022-08-12T17:49:28Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/health/ap-health/lgbtq-groups-denounce-florida-plan-to-limit-transgender-care/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
DMYTRIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — One of the last working dairy farms on Ukrainian-controlled territory in the eastern Donbas region is doing everything it can to stay afloat in a place where neither workers nor animals are safe from Russia’s devastating war.
Only around 200 head of cattle remain of the nearly 1,300 kept at the farm before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The 8,000-acre (3,200-hectare) farm, set amid rolling hills in embattled Donetsk province, is producing two tons of milk a day compared to 11 tons daily before the war, its managers say.
While a significant proportion of the KramAgroSvit farm’s revenues also once came from cultivating wheat, continuing that work comes with risks. As a farm employee harvested wheat with a grain combine on Sunday, the machine hit two land mines, resulting in a fire that burned more than 60% of the worker’s body.
The worker survived, but is in critical condition as doctors tend to an infection.
An inspection by an emergency services team found 19 additional mines in the field, said Ihor Kriuchenko, the farm’s senior livestock technician, adding that going out to harvest now is “very dangerous due to the shelling and mines.” Farmhands drive combines around visible artillery fragments to avoid them.
Such realities of war have created a cascading series of complications that coalesced to drive the farm’s business down dramatically. In the nearby city of Kramatorsk, the provisional capital of Donetsk province, Russia’s attacks and a lack of gas for heating and cooking have caused most residents to evacuate, creating less demand for dairy products and, consequently, falling profits.
Business also took a hit as Russian forces captured several other cities where the farm had distributed its milk and those markets disappeared behind the front line.
Such conditions — disrupted demand and supply chains along with danger from shelling and mines — have made the prospect of farming in eastern Ukraine fraught with risks that threaten the future of the KramAgroSvit farm, which has been in business since 2003.
“This farm was hit (by a rocket), and 38 cows were killed, plus some of our farming equipment and vehicles were destroyed. Investors decided it was too risky to keep so many cows here, so they were sold abroad,” Kriuchenko said.
The farm’s owner had all the pigs and rabbits once raised there slaughtered and sold amid the uncertainty, he said.
Anna Lavrenyuk, general director of Ukraine’s Association of Milk Producers, said at the end of June that Ukrainian dairy farms lost at least 50,000 head of cattle worth an estimated $136 million during the first three months of the war.
Approximately 800 industrial dairy farms lost assets that included animals, barns, farming equipment and animal feed, Lavrenyuk said, while milk yields in front-line and Russian-occupied territories dropped by more than half since the war began.
Ukrainian milk production was likely to fall to 2 million tons for the year, down by 750,000 tons since 2021, she said.
Only around a third of the KramAgroSvit farm’s previous staff of 63 employees remains, Kriuchenko said, and revenues have dropped six-fold since Russian forces launched their offensive to seize the Donbas, an industrial region made up of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province.
One such worker, Nataliia Onatska, lined up around 50 cows side by side on Wednesday and attached vacuum pumps to their udders in one of the farm’s long, musty milking hangars.
She’s spent her entire life on a farm and calls her job “the point of my life.”
“I wish everything was like it was before and everyone had kept their jobs,” Onatska said. “It’s scary to live now. I’m just living from day to day.”
The farm now feeds its wheat to the cows as grain prices have fallen and logistics costs have spiked, Kriuchenko said. The crop wasn’t profitable on the market because of a Russian naval blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports that a U.N.-brokered agreement is only now slowly remedying.
But of all the myriad challenges facing the farm, he said, the most difficult part has been saying goodbye to colleagues who had invested so much in its success. Amid the cutbacks, he said, he had to fire his wife.
“It was very hard and sad to let all our staff go. Our team was brought together from nothing, and there was great teamwork, everything was good,” he said. “It was a shock for me to say goodbye to them.”
As Halyna Borysenko, another worker in the dairy, finished milking the cows for the day, she said she pitied them for also having to live through the war.
“The animals are acting differently. They’re scared just like we are,” she said. “They just can’t say it out loud.”
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/dairy-farm-in-ukraines-donbas-region-struggles-to-survive/ | 2022-08-12T17:49:50Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/dairy-farm-in-ukraines-donbas-region-struggles-to-survive/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ERIE, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman is expected to open up about his personal health challenges as he officially returns to the campaign trail Friday, more than 90 days after the Democrat suffered a stroke that threatened his life and political prospects in one of the nation’s premier Senate contests.
Fetterman will address voters Friday evening in Erie County, a politically competitive region in the state’s northwestern corner. The appearance marks the 52-year-old lieutenant governor’s only scheduled rally this month, although he’s expected to appear at a handful of lower-profile events as he gradually ramps up his public schedule, according to campaign spokesman Joe Calvello.
Fetterman, who was hospitalized for several days after the May health scare, is expected to offer emotional remarks about his experience. He said in June that he almost died.
“He’ll talk about how blessed he is to be back,” Calvello said. “It’ll be somewhat emotional — a little raw about what he went through, how grateful he is to be campaigning again.”
Fetterman’s return marks a significant development in the race to fill retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat. The Pennsylvania contest offers Democrats perhaps their best pickup opportunity nationally as the two parties battle for Senate control in the November midterm elections. The chamber is now split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris giving Democrats the narrowest of majorities with her tie-breaking vote.
Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has railed against Fetterman’s prolonged public absence throughout the summer.
Oz posted a fake “Have You Seen This Person?” poster online last month. He needled Fetterman again Wednesday on social media. “It has been 90 DAYS since Fetterman’s last public campaign event,” Oz tweeted. “Pennsylvanians deserve answers.”
Fetterman’s physical appearance is a central element of his nontraditional political brand.
At 6 feet, 9 inches, he sports a shaved head and tattooed arms, while usually wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. He’s also an unapologetic progressive with a working-class background who supports legalizing marijuana, abolishing the Senate filibuster and establishing a national government health insurance program for everyone — “Medicare for all” in progressives’ campaign jargon.
Fetterman’s health has been a dominant issue in the Senate contest since the days before the May 17 primary, when his campaign revealed he had a stroke. He required surgery to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator, and later disclosed that he also had a serious heart condition.
His doctor offered a blunt letter in early June detailing Fetterman’s decision not to take prescribed medication or see a doctor for several years after a 2017 health scare.
“If he does what I’ve told him, and I do believe that he is taking his recovery and his health very seriously this time, he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem,” Dr. Ramesh Chandra wrote.
Fetterman is now taking his medication as prescribed, eating a low-sodium diet and walking 3 to 5 miles most days, Calvello said: “He’s following the doctor’s orders.”
Voters may not detect any lingering symptoms, but he has mild speech and hearing issues.
“He’ll miss a word here or there when he’s speaking sometimes, or maybe in a crowded room he’ll miss hearing a word,” Calvello said. “Besides that, he’s rock solid.”
The high-profile Senate contest has been playing out on television and social media despite his extended absence.
Fetterman, who has dominated Oz in fundraising, has been running television ads promoting his candidacy for months. The Democrat has also drawn millions of views from creative social media posts, including one featuring a character from the infamous MTV show “Jersey Shore” telling Oz to come home. Oz is a former New Jersey resident, and it has been a major issue throughout the campaign.
Fetterman insisted he was well enough to win the Senate contest in a recent interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“I would never be in this if we were not absolutely, 100% able to run fully and to win — and we believe that we are,” Fetterman told the newspaper. | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/fetterman-plans-raw-remarks-in-return-to-pa-senate-race/ | 2022-08-12T17:50:04Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/fetterman-plans-raw-remarks-in-return-to-pa-senate-race/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was arrested.
Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital, state police said. His condition was not immediately known.
Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the hundreds of people in the audience. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.
“This guy ran on to platform and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie. At first you’re like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten,” Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.
A bloodied Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.
Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. He is a former president of PEN America, which said it was “reeling from shock and horror” at the attack.
“We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil,” CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.
“Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered,” she added.
His 1988 book “The Satanic Verses” was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims. Often-violent protests against Rushdie erupted around the w world, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.
The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death.
A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, including a round-the-clock armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.
Iran’s government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered. The Index on Censorship, an organization promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for his killing as recently as 2016, underscoring that the fatwa for his death still stands.
In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” but his name became known around the world after “The Satanic Verses.”
The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, is known for its summertime lecture series. Rushdie has spoken there before. | https://www.wpri.com/news/national/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-on-stage-in-new-york/ | 2022-08-12T17:50:46Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/national/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-on-stage-in-new-york/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — This week on Newsmakers: JPMorgan Chase Chairman & CEO Jamie Dimon talks with Ted Nesi about the outlook for the economy and his bank’s expansion in Rhode Island; on the second half, Boston Globe political reporter Samantha J. Gross gives a preview of the key races to watch in Massachusetts’ Sept. 6 primary election.
Prefer your Newsmakers on the go?
Subscribe to our podcast!
iTunes | Google | Stitcher | https://www.wpri.com/news/newsmakers/newsmakers-8-12-2022-jamie-dimon-mass-primary-preview/ | 2022-08-12T17:51:11Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/newsmakers/newsmakers-8-12-2022-jamie-dimon-mass-primary-preview/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Building Industry Association of Southern California sees such a future, and it’s coming up roses. The group unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept on Thursday night, Aug. 11, at the Tournament of Roses House.
The concept is focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by the association’s Junior Builders.
Amy Wainscott, 2023 Board President of the tournament of Roses Association speaks as the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Steve Madison, Councilmember 5, City of Pasadena speaks as the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Scott Drury, CEO, of SoCal Gas Company listens to speakers as the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Mia Montejano, left, along with sister Maddie Montejano and friend Marlie Langer, right, share a laugh as they talk about signing the float as the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveile its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Jeff Montejano, CEO, BIASC speaks as the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Dave Bartlett, BIASC President speaks as the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Former UCLA quarterback Wayne Cook speaks as the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Locals listen to speakers as the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) unveiled its special 100-year anniversary Rose Parade float concept focused on the future of sustainable communities designed by BIASC’s Junior Builders. The float concept will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas to showcase the future of Southern California sustainable communities at the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena on Thursday, August 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
It features a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-powered demonstration home by SoCalGas. The idea is to showcase a future of Southern California sustainable communities.
The event included Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Pasadena Councilmember Steve Madison, Tournament of Roses Board President Amy Wainscott, and SoCalGas CEO Scott Drury.
As the title sponsor of the float, SoCalGas announced a $100,000 donation to the Junior Builders Program, which aims to encourage young people to build a career in Southern California’s essential building industry.
The donation will support youth in need to participate in the program, including the Rose Parade float construction.
We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions. | https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2022/08/12/builders-see-a-rosy-hydrogen-propelled-future-so-theyve-devoted-a-rose-parade-float-to-it/ | 2022-08-12T17:51:24Z | pasadenastarnews.com | control | https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2022/08/12/builders-see-a-rosy-hydrogen-propelled-future-so-theyve-devoted-a-rose-parade-float-to-it/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.