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Our kids have lots of free time and endless amounts of energy, so new activities are just what they need to keep them entertained.
We'd been climbing a few years ago out at Ratho with our eldest. However, at the time our youngest child was too little to give it a go.
Now he's of an age he can climb a wall at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena at Ratho, we booked in for clip-and-climb.
When we arrived, the boys were excited. However, as soon as we stepped in and got harnessed up, our youngest had a bit of a freak out. My words of reassurance and mummy cuddles didn't help as he cried in fear.
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Nothing was helping. He asked for his dad and I needed the loo so took the opportunity for a toilet trip. I'd left him with his dad and a lovely woman in charge called Charly, half-thinking I would come back to him sitting back on the bench with his harness off.
I didn't. I came back to him halfway up a climbing wall with a huge smile on his face! Charly had worked wonders at helping him relax, find his feet as well as giving him the ability to realise that he was in complete control.
She is amazing with the kids. She's also good at keeping adults who don't know the rules or their limits in complete check. I thanked her for her skills and time as I continued to watch my boys scaling the walls.
It's such a wonderful space, especially for helping kids to build their confidence. I was amazed at how, after Charly had worked some of her magic, our little one was climbing up high and loving it! I was also amazed at how high my eldest got too, considering his fear of heights. He loves to climb though so he’s working on this.
The centre used to run groups for children with special educational needs (SEN) so they could have smaller group sessions with more staff and going at a slower pace. However, they are not currently doing this anymore. It would be good if Edinburgh Leisure realised the benefit that SEN groups would get from clip-and-climb if they started the sessions up again.
Also, children and families would benefit from the block booking too, making it a little more affordable for those of us not in the middle classes (who are probably currently waiting on the snow coming back the Alps).
Charly and I discussed the huge benefit that climbing has for children. It gives them confidence, focus, a purpose, incredible skills and, not to forget to mention, the strength of Spider-Man!
So climbing is now the activity that we get hounded to do on a daily basis, so my plea to EICA Ratho, as a parent of a child with some extra needs, please make it more affordable, easier to get to for those with no transport and bring back the SEN sessions for all the kids out there needing a little bit more space to be their best-ever version of Spider-Man! | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/edinburgh-international-climbing-arena-at-ratho-is-amazing-fun-i-wish-we-could-afford-to-take-the-kids-more-often-hayley-matthews-3803580 | 2022-08-14T23:02:56Z | scotsman.com | control | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/edinburgh-international-climbing-arena-at-ratho-is-amazing-fun-i-wish-we-could-afford-to-take-the-kids-more-often-hayley-matthews-3803580 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
By Sunday half of the container was covered by two signs saying SECURE BAG STORE. This was even stranger as there is a Luggage Point just yards away in Waverley Market providing exactly that service and of course luggage cam also be left at the station.
Quite why the council would have given a permit for this new service nobody knew but we all assumed it was just “the council being the council”. If nothing else the container appeared to pose several safety issues.
I tweeted a picture of the container and received a reply from city centre councillor Jo Mowat saying she had already seen it and would speak to officials on the Monday.
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By Wednesday I had received an email from Jo to say the container wouuld be going after working with the transport convener Scott Arthur who tweeted explaining the container had no Road Occupation Licence, no Street Trader’s Licence and among other things affected cycling and busking space.
Quite how this could have happened is still to be revealed as I write this on Thursday night and it was still trading when I left work, though I would certainly hope it will be gone this weekend.
Assuming all goes well the councillors do need to be congratulated on dealing with this quickly something that people don’t normally associate with Edinburgh Council.
However it isn’t all good news in that only yards from the container is the sort of street clutter that is frowned upon throughout the year only to be deemed perfectly acceptable in August.
On the corner of Princes Street and Waverley Bridge is a huge square hoarding advertising Fringe shows. As usual the space outside the roof of Waverley Market is dangerously busy just now with increased numbers both waiting at the bus stops and leaving the station which is then exaccerbated by all the visitors and locals trying to get from one place to another.
Just as there finally is a large space where all this crowding can dissipate the council have allowed a huge hoarding. Should of course local businesses ask to have use of such advertisng they would be laughed out of town by the council.
At the west end of Princes Street matters are even worse, especially at the corner with Lothian Road. Also, shows are now starting to use the boarded up shops on Princes Street to flypost with impunity, which if not checked will soon lead to a free-for-all.
Certainly most of the customers I have had at Avalanche have been families or couples just visiting Edinburgh without any interest in the Festival and much as people would say about Venice their comment is what a lovely place it is and it is just a shame about it being so crowded.
So a minor victory for the new administration but the real test will come this Christmas and New Year when no doubt there will be a host of new problems to attend to. | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/whats-big-and-yellow-but-definitely-not-a-taxi-kevin-buckle-3803830 | 2022-08-14T23:03:09Z | scotsman.com | control | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/whats-big-and-yellow-but-definitely-not-a-taxi-kevin-buckle-3803830 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Easter Road club paid the price for a lacklustre first half performance in which Joel Nouble’s goal gave the hosts a deserved lead. They were much improved after the break and equalised through Nohan Kenneh’s first goal for the club, but eventually succumbed to a late Ayo Obileye header.
Lee Johnson made two changes from the side that started the 1-1 draw with Hearts. Paul Hanlon made his long-awaited return after knee surgery, coming in for the absent Rocky Bushiri. Martin Boyle was deemed not fit enough to start yet, so Jair Tavares returned to the team with Josh Campbell still recovering from the knock he suffered last weekend.
Nouble has undoubtedly been the star of the season so far for Davie Martindale’s men. He tormented the visitors throughout the 90 minutes, beginning with an excellent run and finish to open the scoring inside six minutes. From a Hibs perspective it was a dreadful goal to concede, as a bit of quick feet from Nouble saw him bursting through the centre of the defence and through on David Marshall. He kept his cool to clip a finish beyond the keeper.
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It took only 22 minutes for the first substitution to be made. Elias Melkersen made way for Christian Doidge as Johnson shuffled the deck with the team going to a 4-4-2.
Livingston had further opportunities to grab the second goal. Scott Pittman had a header at the back post saved by Marshall, while Nouble burst through with another surging run after robbing Chris Cadden. The Hibs keeper was equal to his finish on this occasion.
Hibs got themselves an effort on target right at the end of the period as Marijan Cabraja found Doidge with a deep cross. Shamal George comfortably held the effort.
Another change was made at the break with the hugely wasteful Tavares making way for the hero of last week, Martin Boyle. Johnson rearranged his shape again, going back to the 4-2-3-1.
The transformation in Hibs was instant. Kenneh shot wide from the edge area and the midfielder was the man in the right place to level on 51 minutes. He nodded home from close range after a six-yard-box stramash which started with a Hanlon header.
The visitors penned Livingston in for large periods with a lengthy string of corners coming amid their domination. The game developed a bit of an edge too as both Cristian Montano and Martin Boyle were booked after a skirmish, while each side’s manager was shown a yellow for a confrontation after Boyle appeared to be clipped by ex-Hibee Stephane Omeonga in the box.
The winger was almost through on goal in the 63rd minute after an excellent pass from Ryan Porteous, but he was denied by an equally impressive challenge from Jack Fitzwater.
Boyle continued to threaten and fired a low shot in the side netting as the game entered the closing stages. Livingston finally manage to regain a foothold in the game and could have been ahead themselves when Nouble shot over after being given too much room to turn in the area.
Nouble was at the heart of things again as the forward crossed for sub Bruce Anderson. He took an excellent touch toward goal but was denied by Marshall who, much like Barrie McKay’s chance in the derby, sprung from his line to block the shot.
Livingston got their winner after Cabraja, already on a booking, took down Nicky Devlin with a robust challenge. The home fans’ fury at the lack of a second yellow soon changed to elation as Sean Kelly crossed for Obileye to head home.
Hibs could, and should, have had their third stoppage-time goal in as many games. Elie Youan, a threat on the left the entire second half, had a shot well saved by George. The real chance came two minutes later when Boyle was found with a crossfield pass and fired in a low ball for a collection of waiting team-mate. Sub Momodou Bojang could only clip his finish over the bar. | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/hibs-suffer-first-league-defeat-despite-greatly-improved-second-half-showing-at-livingston-3804820 | 2022-08-14T23:05:45Z | scotsman.com | control | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/hibs-suffer-first-league-defeat-despite-greatly-improved-second-half-showing-at-livingston-3804820 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Manager Lee Johnson started with his favoured 4-3-3 shape, making two changes from the draw against Hearts.
Josh Campbell and Rocky Bushuri dropped out after picking up an injuries in the derby. Paul Hanlon came in for his first start after knee surgery in the summer, with Jair Tavares restored to the left wing and Ewan Henderson moving inside to a more central role.
GK – David Marshall 7/10
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Couldn’t have done much about either goal and was a spectator for much of the second until forced to make a stunning save to deny Bruce Anderson late on.
RD – Chris Cadden 5
Got himself in a tangle to gift Nouble a golden chance for what should have been his second on the half hour. Not as effective as he usually is.
RCB – Ryan Porteous 7
Defended well and saw plenty of the ball when had Hibs had possession. Lack of options ahead of him first half, but found his range in the second.
LCB – Paul Hanlon 5
Allowed Nouble to skip past him easily for then opening goal and struggled to deal with the big striker in his first game of the season.
LD – Marijan Čabraja 5
Delivered a few decent crosses, but caught out a couple of times defensively and should have been sent off for barging Devlin after a silly booking.
DMC – Nohan Kenneh 6
Caught in possession a couple of times, but generally kept things moving well and in the right place at the right time for his goal.
CM – Ewan Henderson 5
Couldn’t get on the ball in advanced areas to hurt the opposition in the first half but got much better as the game went on.
CM – Joe Newell 5
Took a sore one halfway through the first half and never really recovered. Hassled and harried out of it by Livi’s workmanlike midfield.
RF – Elias Melkerson 4
Hooked after 22 minutes, the Norwegian took a slight knock but simply couldn’t cope with Livi’s physicality.
ST – Elie Youan 6
Well marshalled by the well-organised and physical Livingston defence, but given very little service. Better out on the left wing second half.
LF – Jair Tavares 3
Lost possession and gave the ball away time after time. Offered no threat on either flank. Hooked at half time.
SUBS
Christian Doidge 5
For Melkersen 22mins. Had a decent chance with a header just before half time and gave Hibs the physical presence they badly needed.
Martin Boyle 7
For Tavares 45mins. His introduction transformed Hibs into a different team. Offered a real goal threat and should have had a penalty.
Jake Doyle-Hayes 5
For Henderson 84mins. Little time to make an impact.
Momodou Bojang 3
For Kenneh 90mins. Missed a sitter in injury time.
Kyle McClelland 5
For Hanlon 84mins. Late introduction.
Player ratings scale - 10: One of best performances you've seen. 9: Outstanding. 8: Very good. 7: Good. 6: Average. 5: Poor, 4: Very poor. 3: Terrible day at office. 2: Abysmal. 1: One of worst performances you've seen. | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/how-the-hibs-players-rated-in-the-2-1-defeat-by-livingston-3804811 | 2022-08-14T23:05:51Z | scotsman.com | control | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/how-the-hibs-players-rated-in-the-2-1-defeat-by-livingston-3804811 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
‘How Governor Lalong will help APC win presidential election’
As reactions continue to trail the recent appointment of Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State as the director general of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council for the 2023 general election, a member of the ruling part has said the wide acceptance presently being enjoyed by the governor will make the party coast home to victory.
Making this declaration today, a member of the National Governing Board of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Prince Kunle Oyewumi expressed the optimism that Lalong will work harmoniously with stakeholders and members of the party to ensure victory for the party in the forthcoming presidential election.
According to the APC youth leader: “The governor’s antecedents in the private and public spheres of life is a testament to his intellectual acumen, political dexterity and administrative prowess.
“The choice of Lalong is a positive development for the APC. I am optimistic with the support of Nigerians, the APC will come out victorious with Asiwaju Tinubu winning the presidential poll.”
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The 10th Anniversary event of the Michigan Titanium Triathlon took place Sunday in Versluis Park in the greater Grand Rapids area.
Hundreds of athletes competed in the ultimate test of strength, endurance and mental toughness.
“Some athletes starting here at 7 [a.m.] will to all the way to our midnight deadline, so it’s a 17-hour race for some of these folks,” explained Jon Conkling, Michigan Titanium co-race director and co-owner of Tris4Health.
Athletes raced their way through a two-point-four-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike and finished with a 26.2-mile, full marathon run.
That adds up to a 140.6-mile ultra-distance triathlon, which athletes spend months training for.
“They’re doing early morning swims. They’re jumping on their bike trainers in the basement, riding for four or five hours. They’re running in the dark,” Conkling told FOX 17 Sunday. “It also takes support from your family members and your support system. A lot of these athletes have a ton of spectators here who, family and friends, who just want to cheer them on and get them through the finish.”
Conkling said that one you do cross the finish line, you earn much more than a medal.
“Once you get this done, it makes other aspects of your life very achievable. Those boundaries that you think you have are just gone because, you know, I can do a 140.6-mile race,” Conkling added.
Sunday’s event also provided other options for athletes, including a half-triathlon of 70.3 miles and an Olympic triathlon, which is about half of that.
“It comes down to really trying to find what your boundary is. A lot of these athletes, they’ll start very small. They’ll do shorter triathlons and they kind of get that bug and, you know, with the shorter distances, they don’t think that they can even do those, but once they kind of cross that first finish line, they start thinking, ‘oh, well I can do the shorter distance, maybe I can double it and step up,’ and that just keeps going until you get to this distance,” Conkling explained.
Dave Daprato competed in the Olympic triathlon Sunday. He told FOX 17 he’s been involved in the sport for 22 years and he has no plans to stop any time soon, especially now that he knows what it feels like to cross the finish line.
“It’s kind of like a mental, you know, release when you cross because usually when you’re, at some point in the run, all you’re thinking about is, ‘I want to be done. I desperately want to be done. It’s super uncomfortable, you know, just how much longer?’ Everybody different emotions from it, but a lot of times, it’s a great load of relief and just satisfaction,” Daprato told FOX 17. “This event is just hands-down a phenomenal event…I love this race. The course is really one of my favorites.”
“An event like this is a real community event. It takes hundreds of volunteers to pull off in so many different areas so, you know, this is a yearly event, so definitely, if you’re ever curious about triathlon, I would highly recommend next year. Come out and volunteer with us. See what it’s all about. See what these athletes are putting themselves through and what they’re really trying to achieve and just help support them,” added Conkling.
If you’re interested in getting involved in future events as a volunteer or as an athlete, head to Michigan Titanium’s website. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/kent/it-takes-a-lot-of-dedication-hundreds-compete-in-140-6-mile-triathlon | 2022-08-14T23:14:20Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/kent/it-takes-a-lot-of-dedication-hundreds-compete-in-140-6-mile-triathlon | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
What’s next for Alex Jones after $49M Sandy Hook verdict?
DALLAS - The nearly $50 million defamation verdict against Alex Jones for his years of lies about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is far from a final reckoning.
Jones’ attorneys plan to appeal and try to lower the price tag a Texas jury put on his false claim that the nation’s deadliest school shooting — which killed 20 students and six teachers — was a hoax. The conspiracy theorist faces bankruptcy and other defamation lawsuits. And the courtroom conduct of Jones and his lawyers has exposed the Infowars host to new legal perils, including possible sanctions, allegations of perjury and renewed scrutiny in the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Here’s a look at the fallout from the successful suit against Jones by the parents of one of the child victims in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at the school in Newtown, Connecticut.
WILL JONES PAY AND HOW MUCH?
A Travis County jury last week ordered Jones to pay Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis $4.1 million in compensatory damages for the suffering he put them through by saying the shooting that killed their 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, was staged to increase gun controls. The jurors also leveled $45.2 million in punitive damages against Jones, bringing the total fine to roughly a third of the $150 million the couple had sought.
It’s the first time Jones has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the Sandy Hook shooting was faked. Lewis said after the trial that Jones had been held accountable. His lawyers plan to appeal and to seek to reduce the damages.
Legal experts say Jones probably won’t pay the full amount.
In most civil cases, Texas law limits how much defendants have to pay in "exemplary," or punitive, damages to twice the "economic damages" plus up to $750,000. But jurors are not told about this cap, and eye-popping verdicts are often hacked down by judges.
Russ Horton, an Austin attorney, said it’s "almost a surety" that the damages against Jones will be cut to conform with the law, either by an appeals court or the trial judge.
A Virginia judge did just that in Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Under a cap similar to Texas’ law, the judge in July cut the $10 million in compensatory damages that a jury awarded Depp to $350,000.
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What Jones can afford is also disputed.
He testified that any award over $2 million would "sink us," and Free Speech Systems — which is Infowars’ Austin-based parent company — filed for bankruptcy protection during the first week of the trial.
But economist Bernard Pettingill testified that Jones and his company are worth up to $270 million. He said Jones withdrew $62 million from the firm in 2021, when default judgments were issued in that case and two other Sandy Hook defamation suits.
Since the verdict, Jones has urged Infowars’ supporters to buy the nutritional supplements, survival gear and other products he sells, saying he needs funds to continue the show and his legal fights.
"If we don’t get solvent and get enough money to come out of this bankruptcy, they’ll appoint a receiver and start selling off the equipment," he said Monday.
PERJURY?
There would be extensive court wrangling before the Infowars studio could be sold for parts. But Jones has more immediate risks and may see his legal bills mount.
Jones appeared to be caught in at least one lie while on the witness stand, when a lawyer for the parents suing him revealed he had digital copies of texts and other content from Jones’ cellphone. The messages, including communications about Sandy Hook, were accidentally emailed to the plaintiffs’ attorneys by one of Jones’ lawyers.
Jones sought to shrug the revelation off in cross-examination, ridiculing an opposing lawyer and denying that he lied. But legal experts say the episode could open Jones up to a possible perjury charge.
Criminal charges of perjury are rare and difficult to prove, but Jones’ prominence may make him an attractive target, especially in liberal Austin.
"It would be very hard to imagine a state prosecutor going after someone in a civil case for perjury," said Benson Varghese, an attorney in Fort Worth, Texas. "The chance are slightly higher for Jones, given the high-profile case."
Aggravated perjury, the charge frequently brought in Texas for lies on the witness stand, is punishable with up to 10 years in prison.
A spokesman for the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, which would handle a potential criminal case against Jones, declined to comment.
SANCTIONS?
Even if prosecutors never pursue a case, Jones could face further consequences from Judge Maya Guerra Gamble.
Before the trial, lawyers for the parents suing Jones filed a motion asking the judge to sanction him for failing to produce evidence. Gamble is set to take up that motion.
And in court, Gamble repeatedly admonished Jones to tell the truth.
At one point, she sent the jury out of the room and scolded him for telling jurors he complied with pretrial evidence gathering when he hadn’t. And the judge scolded him further for testifying that he’s bankrupt, which has not been determined by a court and prompted fury from the lawyers opposing Jones.
"This is not your show," Gamble told Jones. "Your beliefs do not make something true. You are under oath."
Judges have wide discretion to set sanctions – including fines, imprisonment and other punishments – but it’s rare to see them imposed.
Avi Moshenberg, a lawyer for the parents, declined to say whether they would seek other sanctions but said "there were certainly some troubling things that happened during trial."
Jones attorney, Andino Reynal, did not respond to a request for comment.
JONES AND THE JAN. 6 INVESTIGATION
Jones’ lawyers accidentally handing over his text messages in the case also exposes him to further scrutiny from the U.S. House committee examining the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot that sought to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
The committee, which has spent months showing how former President Donald Trump relentlessly pushed his false claims of a rigged election, subpoenaed Jones to testify. And the panel’s chairman accused him of helping to organize a rally near the Capitol that preceded the insurrection.
Now, the lawmakers reportedly have Jones’ texts.
An attorney for the parents suing Jones, Mark Bankston, gave the committee two years’ worth of Jones’ messages, CNN reported Monday, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Bankston told The Associated Press that he was "cooperating with the committee" but did not comment further.
On his Tuesday show, Jones downplayed the significance of the messages. He showed a photo of his wife in a swimsuit that he had sent to Roger Stone, a Trump confidant who was also subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee, and said the messages didn’t include anything past April 2020.
"It’s six months of limited texts," Jones said. "It’s a fraction of my phone."
OTHER CASES
Before the trial in Austin, Jones had already been found liable in a separate defamation lawsuit in Texas and another in Connecticut by relatives of some of the Sandy Hook victims.
The other Texas case was filed by Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah was killed in the shooting. The Connecticut case has the potential for a larger award because it consolidates three lawsuits filed by 15 plaintiffs, a former FBI agent who responded to the school and the relatives of nine Sandy Hook victims.
It will be up to a Connecticut jury to decide what, if any, damages Jones’ owes in that case, although law there could also limit what he would have to pay.
Trials for damages were scheduled to begin in both cases next month, but their progress has been complicated by Free Speech Systems’ July filing for bankruptcy protection, a process that freezes pending litigation.
Horton, the Austin lawyer, said the cases could potentially proceed against Jones personally while Free Speech Systems is in bankruptcy court, and he warned that filing for Chapter 11 gives the bankruptcy court tremendous power to examine Jones’ finances.
"Bankruptcy is not a place to hide out if you have anything to hide," Horton said. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/alex-jones-sandy-hook-defamation-damages-trial-whats-next | 2022-08-14T23:15:05Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/alex-jones-sandy-hook-defamation-damages-trial-whats-next | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Fire at Cairo church kills 41, including 15 children
CAIRO - A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt’s capital on Sunday, quickly filling it with thick black smoke and killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children.
Several trapped congregants jumped from upper floors of the Martyr Abu Sefein church to try to escape the intense flames, witnesses said. "Suffocation, suffocation, all of them dead," said a distraught witness, who only gave a partial name, Abu Bishoy.
The cause of the blaze at the church in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short-circuit, according to a police statement.
Weeping families waited outside for word about relatives who were inside the church and at nearby hospitals where the victims were taken. Footage from the scene circulated online showed burned furniture, including wooden tables and chairs. Firefighters were seen putting out the blaze while others carried victims to ambulances.
Witnesses said there were many children inside the four-story building when the fire broke out.
"There are children, we didn’t know how to get to them," said Abu Bishoy. "And we don’t know whose son this is, or whose daughter that is. Is this possible?"
A total of 15 children were killed in the fire, according to Copts United, a news website focusing on Christian news.
A list of victims obtained by The Associated Press said the Imbaba public hospital received 20 bodies, including 10 children. Three were siblings, twins aged 5 and a 3-year-old, it said. The church bishop, Abdul Masih Bakhit, was also among those at the hospital morgue.
Twenty-one bodies were taken to other hospitals. It was not immediately known if children were among them.
Mousa Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church, told the AP that 5-year-old triplets, their mother, grandmother and an aunt were among those killed.
Witness Emad Hanna said a church worker managed to get some children out of the church day care facilities.
"We went upstairs and found people dead. And we started to see from outside that the smoke was getting bigger, and people want to jump from the upper floor," Hanna said.
"We found the children," some dead, some alive, he added.
The country’s health minister blamed the smoke and a stampede as people attempted to flee the fire for causing the fatalities. It was one of the worst fire tragedies in Egypt in recent years.
Witness Emad Hanna said the church includes two places used as a daycare for children, and that a church worker managed to get some children out.
"We went upstairs and found people dead. And we started to see from outside that the smoke was getting bigger, and people want to jump from the upper floor," Hanna said.
"We found the children," some dead, some alive, he said.
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church and the country's health ministry reported the casualty toll.
Police stand near a car damaged by a fire that tore through a Coptic Christian church on August 14, 2022 in the Imbaba neighborhood of Giza, Egypt. (Photo by Islam Safwat/Getty Images)
The church is located in a narrow street in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Cairo. Sunday is the first working day of the week, and traffic jams clog the streets in Imbama and surrounding areas in the morning.
Some relatives criticized what they said were delays in the arrival of ambulance and firefighters. "They came after people died … They came after the church burned down," shouted one woman while standing outside the burned church.
Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghafar countered that the first ambulance arrived at the site two minutes after the fire was reported.
Fifteen firefighting vehicles were dispatched to the scene to put out the flames while ambulances ferried casualties to nearby hospitals, officials said.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke by phone with the Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to offer his condolences, the president’s office said. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam, and other government officials also offered his condolences to the head of the Coptic church.
"I am closely following the developments of the tragic accident," el-Sissi wrote on Facebook. "I directed all concerned state agencies and institutions to take all necessary measures, and immediately to deal with this accident and its effects."
Civil protection personnel work at the scene after a fire tore through a Coptic Christian church on August 14, 2022 in the Imbaba neighborhood of Giza, Egypt. (Photo by Islam Safwat/Getty Images)
Abdel-Ghafar, the health minister, said in a statement that two of the injured were discharged from a hospital while 12 others were still being treated.
The Interior Ministry said it received a report of the fire at 9 a.m. local time, and first responders found that the blaze had broken out in an air conditioner on the building's second floor.
The ministry, which oversees police and firefighters, blamed an electrical short-circuit for the fire, which produced huge amounts of smoke. Meanwhile, the country’s chief prosecutor, Hamada el-Sawy, ordered an investigation and a team of prosecutors were dispatched to the church.
Later on Sunday, emergency services said they managed to put out the blaze and the prime minister and other senior government officials arrived to inspect the site. Premier Mustafa Madbouly said surviving victims and families of the dead will receive payments as compensations and that the government would rebuild the church as soon as possible.
Egypt’s Christians account for some 10% of the nation’s more than 103 million people and have long complained of discrimination by the nation’s Muslim majority.
Sunday's blaze was one of the worst fire tragedies in recent years in Egypt, where safety standards and fire regulations are poorly enforced. In March last year, a fire at a garment factory near Cairo killed at least 20 people and injured 24 more. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/cairo-coptic-church-fire-egypt | 2022-08-14T23:15:10Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/cairo-coptic-church-fire-egypt | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Jeep has reinvented its windshield wiper. Here’s how it works
The gas station squeegee has nothing on this.
Jeep has developed a new type of windshield wiper designed to clear dirt and mud from the glass in just one wipe.
The Clean Sweep: Jeep is a new accessory kit available from the Mopar parts catalog for the current generation Wrangler and Gladiator trucks.
The package includes new wiper arms and blades with 12 laser-cut holes that spray washer fluid as they sweep across the windshield.
JEEP NAMED MOST PATRIOTIC AUTOMAKER AND BRAND
The traditional spray nozzles are deactivated, and the fluid is rerouted to the blades through tubing that comes with the package.
When the washer is activated, fluid begins flowing a beat before the wipers start to move, creating a leading edge of liquid that helps clear the glass.
Some other vehicles feature spray nozzles located on the wiper arms to create a similar effect, but Jeep's 12-hole blade design is less common and similar to one used by Mercedes-Benz.
THE JEEP WRANGLER HIGH TIDE WAS MADE FOR THE BEACH
Jeep said the technology will help eliminated the "blind seconds" that are often created when traditional wipers smear debris across a windshield for a couple of passes before they start clearing it away. This is particularly useful off-road for driving through the sorts of puddles and other muck the Wrangler and Gladiator were designed to tackle.
The kit is available now and priced at $140, including two sets of blades. Pricing for additional blades has not been released.
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Jeep also addressed the topic of forward vision last year when it introduced a new line of Mopar windshields for the Wrangler and Gladiator made from the sort of chip-resistant Gorilla Glass used on smartphones.
Read more of this story from FOX News. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/jeep-has-reinvented-its-windshield-wiper-heres-how-it-works | 2022-08-14T23:15:12Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/jeep-has-reinvented-its-windshield-wiper-heres-how-it-works | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Rare blue lobster caught by father and son in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine - You never know what the waters will turn up, and in Luke Rand’s case, it was a rare blue lobster.
The 36-year-old from Portland, Maine, said he and his father captured the unique crustacean last Thursday in Casco Bay, an inlet in the Gulf of Maine.
"We caught it early in the day and were taken back by how blue it was," Rand told FOX Television Stations.
The father and son said they have been lobstering for more than 20 years.
Rare blue lobster caught in Maine. (Credit: Luke Rand)
"My first instinct was to pull out my phone to document the find because it was such a rare occasion," Rand continued.
RELATED: Freckles, rare calico lobster rescued from Manassas Red Lobster, dies at Virginia museum
Rand said the lobster will be donated to be studied or released back into the wild.
According to the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance, the color of lobsters can vary.
According to the Alliance, lobster shells contain astaxanthin, a pigment to determine their color. Astaxanthin is naturally red but can change to blue or yellow when combined with proteins.
While the find may be novel to much of the country, Maine has seen its share of rare lobsters, and they’ve even been discovered at restaurant chains.
"While a blue lobster can be found each season somewhere in these waters, a lobsterman can go his whole life never catching one," Rand added.
This story was reported from Los Angeles. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/rare-blue-lobster-caught-by-father-and-son-in-maine | 2022-08-14T23:15:25Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/rare-blue-lobster-caught-by-father-and-son-in-maine | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Teenage boy shot, killed on Chicago's South Side
CHICAGO - A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot Sunday afternoon on Chicago's South Side.
Around 4:05 p.m., the teenage victim was near the sidewalk in the 13100 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood when gunfire rang out.
The boy was shot in the chest and taken to University of Chicago Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
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No offenders were reported in custody.
The investigation is ongoing. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/teenage-boy-shot-killed-on-chicagos-south-side | 2022-08-14T23:15:43Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/teenage-boy-shot-killed-on-chicagos-south-side | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Pollock, Vaughn homer, White Sox beat Tigers 5-3
CHICAGO - AJ Pollock and Andrew Vaughn homered, Lance Lynn threw six solid innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Pollock, Eloy Jiménez and José Abreu each had two hits for the White Sox, who remained 2 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.
Harold Castro homered and Javier Báez had two hits for the Tigers, who have dropped seven straight and 10 of 11. Detroit struck out 14 times.
The White Sox climbed to three games over .500 for the first time since April 17, when they were 6-3. Chicago last swept a team July 1-3 at San Francisco.
Kendall Graveman worked around Castro’s homer and a single in the ninth for his sixth save.
Lynn (3-5) allowed two runs and five hits. He has won just two of his last 10 starts.
Tyler Alexander (2-7) gave up three runs and six hits in five innings for Detroit.
Vaughn homered off Wily Peralta in the eighth for his 13th of the season. The White Sox added another run on Seby Zavala’s RBI double as left fielder Akil Baddoo slipped.
Chicago went ahead to stay with two runs in the fifth. Jiménez doubled home Pollock and then scored on Vaughn’s bouncer to shortstop Báez.
First baseman Kody Clemens dropped second baseman Willi Castro’s throw on Vaughn’s grounder on the potentially inning-ending double play. Vaughn also drove in tiebreaking runs against Detroit on Friday and Saturday.
The Tigers went ahead 2-0 in the third when a Lynn wild pitch brought home a run and Báez answered White Sox fans’ boos with an RBI double. Báez, a former Chicago Cub, held a finger to his lips and waved as he stood at second base. White Sox fans jeered the shortstop throughout the series.
The White Sox are 10-3 against Detroit this season but 16-22 against the rest of the AL Central.
TRANSACTION
The Tigers received left-hander Ricardo Sanchez from the Philadelphia Phillies in a minor league trade for cash.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: OF Luis Robert (sprained left wrist) was out of the lineup for a second consecutive game after he exited Chicago’s 2-0 victory over Detroit on Friday. He was injured trying to steal second base. Robert is considered day to day. ... INF Leury García (soreness) had the day off.
UP NEXT
Tigers: RHP Drew Hutchison (1-6, 4.45 ERA) is scheduled to start Game 1 of a doubleheader Monday at Cleveland, which will start RHP Aaron Civale (2-5, 6.05 ERA). In Game 2, RHP Bryan Garcia (0-0, 2.35 ERA) will start for Detroit. Cleveland had yet to announce a starter.
White Sox: RHP Johnny Cueto (4-5, 2.91 ERA) will start Monday in the opener of a four-game series against Houston. Jose Urquidy (11-4, 3.85 ERA) pitches for the visiting Astros. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/sports/pollock-vaughn-homer-white-sox-beat-tigers-5-3 | 2022-08-14T23:15:49Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/sports/pollock-vaughn-homer-white-sox-beat-tigers-5-3 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(The Hill) – Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday projected an ongoing decline in gas prices to continue but expressed uncertainty given potential changes in global events that would impact supply levels.
In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with guest anchor Brianna Keilar, Granholm cited a recent short-term outlook from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicting the average price for a gallon of gasoline to dip to $3.78 in the fourth quarter.
“We hope that that’s true,” said Granholm.
“But, again, it can be impacted by what’s happening globally,” she added. “The president has done more than any president in history to make sure that the price, insofar as he’s got control, continues to decline, and has included asking for increased production both domestically and overseas.”
After multiple months of gas price increases, in part exacerbated of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, gas prices surpassed an average of $5 per gallon for the first time. But prices have steadily declined since mid-June, falling below $4 last week and standing at $3.96 as of Sunday, according to AAA.
But with no end in sight to the war in Ukraine and the European Union (EU) set to dial back crude oil imports from Russia over the coming months, Granholm on CNN and the outlook she cited both cautioned their forecasted decline could change based on global events.
“Gas comes from oil, and oil is traded on a global market,” said Granholm. “And global events affect the price of oil. But the president has taken unprecedented steps to try to moderate supply and demand by releasing a million barrels per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”
The EIA’s latest outlook included similar sentiments while also acknowledging an economic downturn could result in reduced demand from lower energy consumption.
“The August Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) is subject to heightened uncertainty resulting from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, how sanctions affect Russia’s oil production, the production decisions of OPEC+, the rate at which U.S. oil and natural gas production rises, and other contributing factors,” EIA’s forecast reads. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/energy-secretary-expects-gas-prices-to-fall-further/ | 2022-08-14T23:20:37Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/energy-secretary-expects-gas-prices-to-fall-further/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
New Delhi: Even as images of author Salman Rushdie being stabbed multiple times on stage in New York by Hadi Matar, suspected of being sympathetic to Shia extremism, continues to haunt, another author Taslima Nasrin, against whom several fatwas have been issued for her "anti-Islamic remarks", says that she is extremely disturbed after a religious leader, addressing a rally of thousands in Pakistan on Friday, called for her to be assassinated.
Known for her writings on the oppression of women and criticism of religion, several of her works are banned in Bangladesh, the country of her origin. She has been living in exile since 1994. After living for more than 10 years in Europe and the US, she moved to India in 2004.
"While I have had several fatwas issued against me in the past, this is the first time that someone has announced my name in front of such a huge gathering and demanded that I be killed. Who will not be disturbed by this? Look at my Twitter handle, there are so many comments saying that after Rushdie, it is now my turn. I am still confused about whether to delete or retain those tweets. Maybe I should not, if something happens to me, people should get to know... Of course, I do have protection, but anyone will feel insecure after what happened to Rushdie, no?" she tells IANS.
Talk to her about the peculiar silence of moderate Muslims whenever violence manifests in the name of Islam, and she asserts that have a very "different character".
"While some progressive Muslims are against violence, they are afraid to speak as that might put their lives in danger. But then, silence is of two kinds -- one that emerges from fear -- and the other that comes from supporting them without speaking a word."
Stressing that while many religions have slowly evolved, changed with the times and started considering man and woman equal, one can still face dire consequences if Islam is criticised. Nasrin adds: "If I scrutinise Islam, rest assured, I will be attacked. Sadly, it has been exempted from criticism. Let us not forget that Islamic rule has been used for political purposes as well.
"Instead of laws based on equality and justice, they have rules against them. Children are being brainwashed to become fundamentalists and terrorists. So how do you expect change?" | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/world/2022/08/14/pak-cleric-calls-for-assassination-taslima-nasreen.amp.html | 2022-08-14T23:36:51Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/world/2022/08/14/pak-cleric-calls-for-assassination-taslima-nasreen.amp.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Ellie Joyce’s summer diving season included another significant achievement in what already was an accomplished career in the sport.
The member of Arlington’s Dominion Hills summer team won each Northern Virginia Swimming League competition she entered, including the renowned Wally Martin Memorial 3-meter meet as well as the events synchronized division, then recorded her biggest accomplishment with second- and third-place finishes at the girls USA Diving Junior National Championships in Midland, Texas.
Competing at nationals for the Dominion Dive Club, Joyce was second in the 1-meter girls age 16-18 event with a 447.15 score (456.05 was the winning total), and placed third in the 3-meter with 477.45 in the same age group. The winning mark was 505.35 and second was 479.35.
As a result of that performance, Joyce, who will dive for the University of North Carolina women’s team, qualified for the FINA Junior World Championships for the first time as a member of the United States’ junior national team. That competition will be held later this year in Montreal.
Joyce had competed in junior nationals many times, but had her biggest success this season.
Last summer, Joyce was disappointed in her performance at the junior nationals, when she said she performed poorly, finishing near the bottom of one- and three-meter competitions. This season, she was poised to significantly improve.
“This was a big step up from last year. I was more prepared and consistent and had a better mindset,” Joyce said. “Last year I tried to be too perfect. This year I wanted to just dive and have fun. I got off to a good start and kept up that energy.”
During her 1-meter competition, Joyce said what helped clinch second place was scoring a 60.3 on one particular inward 21/2 dive.
“That was big to get,” she said.
The junior national meet and the NVSL’s individual all-star diving competition had conflicting early-August dates, so Joyce was unable to participate for Dominion Hills at the NVSL event. A number of other top NVSL divers missed the all-star meet as well because of junior nationals.
Top divers not at all-stars often consider the earlier Wally Martin meet their biggest local competition of the summer campaign.
Joyce won the Wally Martin 3-meter girls age 15-18 division with a 272.1 score. She teamed with Amanda Stalfort of Sideburn Run pool to win the synchronized event with a 163.29 total at the girls 13-and-over age group. Stalfort is a teammate of Joyce’s at Dominion Dive Club and a diver for Westfield High School.
During the five-week regular-season portion of the 2022 NVSL season, Joyce won the senior girls division at each meet, helping the team finished tied for second in Division IV with a 3-2 record.
This fall, Joyce will be a rising senior for the Washington-Liberty Generals diving team. During the 2021-22 high-school season, she won the girls Liberty District and 6D North Region meets, but came down with COVID three days prior the Class 6 state meet and was unable to attempt to defend her championship. As a sophomore she won district, region and state crowns, and as a freshman she was fourth in the region and fifth in the state.
Joyce now looks ahead to the junior world meet, where she could compete in multiple events.
“I’m super-excited about it,” she said. “I have never represented the United States before, and I’m thankful for the chance to compete.” | https://www.insidenova.com/arlington-diver-enjoys-a-standout-summer/article_64fd7d5e-1b67-11ed-9712-039cd259513f.html | 2022-08-14T23:41:09Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/arlington-diver-enjoys-a-standout-summer/article_64fd7d5e-1b67-11ed-9712-039cd259513f.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Despite the weakness in oil and gas prices, many energy stocks were bid higher following the release of some stellar quarterly earnings results. High energy prices translated to blowout earnings for many energy producers. Though weakness in the commodity space could drag into the end of the year, the recent bear market in energy may have already anticipated such a negative trend continuation.
Following such a strong quarter for the energy giants, many top energy stocks now have earnings multiples that are even more compressed. Indeed, the market doesn’t view the recent energy windfall as sustainable. Still, energy prices are historically high, paving the way for more impressive cash flows over the medium-to-long term.
With this in mind, we’ve used TipRanks’ Comparison Tool to check on three high-quality energy stocks – XOM, PSX, and SHEL – that Wall Street analysts love, with a “Strong Buy” consensus rating. Let’s take a closer look.
Exxon Mobil (XOM)
Exxon Mobil is a former Warren Buffett favorite that’s been doing incredibly well on a year-to-date basis, up 45%. Since peaking out in early June, shares of XOM have been a rather bumpy ride, plunging just north of 20% before moving slightly higher to $88 and change per share — down just shy of 15% from their peak.
The oil and gas giant crushed analyst estimates for its second quarter, with per-share earnings of $4.14, comfortably above the consensus of $3.83. Exxon’s revenue surged nearly 28% quarter-over-quarter (or 71% year-over-year) to $115.7 billion.
Indeed, that’s an unprecedented top-line growth bound to slow as oil finds a new (likely lower) range to settle into. Though oil may struggle to stay above $100 per barrel, supply constraints due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could continue to keep oil prices well above pre-pandemic levels.
It wasn’t just the favorable energy price environment to thank for Exxon’s incredible blowout result. The company’s cost-reduction program is starting to pay dividends, and the recent production increase proved well-timed.
With stellar fundamentals and swelling free cash flows, Exxon has the financial flexibility to continue investing in its business while trimming away debt and rewarding shareholders with super-sized dividend hikes.
At writing, shares of XOM trade at just 9.7x trailing earnings, 1x sales, and 6.2x operating cash flow, all of which are in line with industry averages.
After clocking in sensational results, many Wall Street analysts view Exxon Mobil as a terrific value play. I think they’re right. Currently, there are 11 Buys and three Sells on the name. The average price target implies around 23.3% upside potential over the year ahead. Meanwhile, the Street-high price target of $125.00 implies 40.5% upside potential from the current price of $88.95, not including the bountiful 3.96% dividend yield.
Philips 66 (PSX)
Philips 66 stock is potentially a great way to play energy refinement. Year-to-date, shares of the downstream energy company are up just north of 15% — relatively muted versus the likes of producers like Exxon.
For its latest (second) quarter, the firm felt the strong industry winds at its back, helping fuel a solid earnings beat ($6.77 versus the $5.95 consensus estimate). Revenue came in at $49.3 billion, up around 33% quarter-over-quarter.
Indeed, the energy giants are clocking in growth numbers that speculative tech firms posted in the early innings of 2021. Like the tech firms that were bid up last year, the euphoric times are unlikely to last. Fortunately for the energy giants, investors don’t expect such good times to last. Still, their free cash flow windfalls may be underestimated by investors inclined to take profits here following the recent slip in oil prices.
Philips 66 is using its cash windfall to reduce debt and return capital to shareholders. Earlier this year, the firm hiked its dividend payout by 5%. Beefed-up share buybacks may also be in the cards, as the firm finds itself with enough to spoil shareholders. The company seeks to return around 40% of its cash flows to investors. Pending an oil collapse, it seems like PSX shareholders are in for a treat. The dividend currently yields an impressive 4.63%.
The stock trades at a mere 0.3x sales and 7.1x trailing earnings. These numbers, especially the former, seem indicative of some sort of value trap. Philips 66 appears to be actual value, though, with a wide moat protecting its economic profits.
Wall Street seems to agree, with nine Buys and just one Hold, for a $116 price target and 38.4% implied upside potential from PSX’s current price of $83.80. RBC (RY) Capital’s T.J. Schultz is the latest analyst to maintain his Buy rating, with a handsome $112.00 price target.
Shell (SHEL)
Shell is a British energy kingpin worth going overseas for the extra value. Like many energy giants, Shell saw its price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple contract in a big way following the release of its Q2 numbers. The earnings results were good but in line with estimates.
With oil prices on the descent, Q2 earnings results had a pretty muted reaction, in my opinion. Shell stock is down around 15% from its all-time high of over $60 per share. Though Shell is slightly less sensitive to oil price fluctuations than its peers, given its long-term production ramp-down, I view Shell as a deep value that’s really hard to ignore.
The stock trades at 5.5 times trailing earnings, 0.6 times sales, and 3.7 times operating cash flow. That’s bottom-of-the-barrel pricing, as far as I’m concerned. With management boosting share buybacks for Q3 after $7.4 billion in dividends and buybacks rewarded to investors in Q2, I think it’s hard to pass up the firm while it continues to enjoy its massive free-cash-flow windfall.
Shell’s windfall won’t last forever; it’s not expected to, and Shell has a plan to push forward after energy prices come back down to Earth. With an intriguing power-as-a-service solution to look forward to, I view Shell as an excellent fossil fuel firm open to the reality of a sustainable transition.
Wall Street sees real value to be had in Shell stock, while it is gushing with free cash flow, with three Buys, one Hold, and a consensus price target of $66.75 implying 28.4% upside potential.
Conclusion
Energy giants have been dealt a terrific hand in recent quarters. Though the windfall won’t last forever, many may be underestimating the value to be had at this juncture. I don’t think the low multiples are lying to investors. Of the three stocks, analysts seem to be most bullish on PSX stock. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/which-strong-buy-energy-stock-is-the-best-buy | 2022-08-14T23:50:45Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/which-strong-buy-energy-stock-is-the-best-buy | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
RICHLAND, Wash.-
The Queensgate Dr. overpass is closed to traffic because of a fire burning on I-182.
Crews are on scene working to put the fire out.
Richland Police ask to avoid the area.
The cause of fire is unknown at this time.
This is a developing story, which means information could change. We are working to report timely and accurate information as we get it. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/fires/queensgate-overpass-closed-fire-on-i-182/article_baeca58c-1c11-11ed-8eb7-7bea15ea9d7d.html | 2022-08-14T23:56:52Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/fires/queensgate-overpass-closed-fire-on-i-182/article_baeca58c-1c11-11ed-8eb7-7bea15ea9d7d.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BUSHMILLS IRISH WHISKEY REVEALS 2022 CAUSEWAY COLLECTION EXPRESSIONS EXCLUSIVE TO THE ISLAND OF IRELAND
Master Blender Alex Thomas curates her inaugural Causeway Collection including the world’s first vermouth cask finished Irish single malt whiskey
Bushmills® Irish Whiskey has revealed the two expressions from its highly anticipated 2022 Causeway Collection which will be available to purchase exclusively on the island of Ireland – including a world’s first.
In July, Bushmills announced a total of 10 rare releases would be launching worldwide from the first series curated by Bushmills Master Blender, Alex Thomas. Today (10 August 2022), Alex has confirmed that the two expressions destined for the island of Ireland are a 2002 Vermouth Cask and a 2012 Pomerol Cask.
The 2002 Vermouth Cask will be the world’s first ever vermouth cask finished Irish single malt whiskey release and yet another exciting innovation from the world’s oldest licenced whiskey distillery – The Old Bushmills Distillery. Matured in oloroso sherry butts and bourbon barrels for over 18 years this exciting one-time-release whiskey is then aged for nearly two years in unique vermouth casks from the Piedmont region of Italy.
Speaking about the release, Alex Thomas commented: “The 2002 Vermouth Cask is a beautiful cask strength and non chill-filtered whiskey that embodies the spirit of Bushmills, how we have continued to innovate in the pursuit of perfection for over 400 years. Vermouth is extremely unique, unlike anything else we had tried before, but I believe perfection lies outside of our comfort zones. This is the first ever Irish single malt to go to market that has been matured in vermouth casks and it’s a whiskey that will undoubtedly challenge consumers to experience Bushmills in a different light and will excite every whiskey fan.”
The second exclusive release for the Irish market is a 2012 Pomerol Cask. This special bottling was first aged in oloroso sherry butts and bourbon barrels before being finished in rare Pomerol wine casks for a further four years. The smallest of all the major Bordeaux wine appellations, Pomerol is home to some of the most expensive and sought-after red wines in the world.
Alex Thomas commented: “The 2012 Pomerol Cask is a stunning whiskey, the complexity of the flavour profile really compliments the smooth and approachable flavour of Bushmills, together they have proven to be the perfect match. Pomerol wine casks are rarely used in the ageing process which is one of the many reasons I feel this expression is so special. The stunning casks with their hazelwood hoops showcase the rich history in the Bordeaux region and it was a pleasure to bring our two traditions together.”
Over the past decade, the growth of premiumisation has continued at a steady pace with whiskey consumers increasingly opting for – or trading up to – a higher quality and price point product. Botanicals, such as those found in Vermouth, have also grown in popularity, beloved by consumers for their authentic, natural flavours.
Commenting at the launch, Alex Thomas said: “It really is a great privilege to work with such rare whiskeys in The Causeway Collection. At Bushmills we hand select casks that give an insight into the depth and breadth of casks we have at the Old Bushmills Distillery. Each signature cask shows how our delicate, fruity floral spirit can be influenced by casks formerly housing wines and spirits from all over the world. With the launch of these two stunning expressions, we aim to take the whiskey fan on a journey through cask strength whiskey while staying true to our principles of offering challenging whiskey from signature casks, non chill-filtered, at cask strength and full of unadulterated big, bold flavours.
“The Causeway Collection is truly a celebration of our passion for single malts and these special single malt whiskeys are our greatest treasures. Both the 2012 Pomerol Cask and the 2002 Vermouth Cask are remarkable whiskeys. They have been created for special moments to share with friends and family whether enjoyed at home or at a favourite whiskey bar and I cannot wait for whiskey drinkers across the Island of Ireland to enjoy these latest innovations.”
To celebrate the launch of The Causeway Collection’s special releases and bring the tale of craft to life through music, Bushmills Irish Whiskey has collaborated with talented singer-songwriter, Joshua Burnside, to write and compose ‘The Seekers’ – a stunning piece inspired by Bushmills, purpose and the pursuit of perfection.
Watch / embed Bushmills x Joshua Burnside on YouTube
The 2012 Pomerol Cask and the 2002 Vermouth Cask will be available to purchase online and through specialist retailers across the island of Ireland on Friday, the 26th of August 2022.
Only limited bottles of the 2012 Pomerol Cask will be available, bottled at 54.2% ABV, non chill-filtered and priced at €115/£100 for 700ml.
Only limited bottles of the 2002 Vermouth Cask will be available, bottled at 48.2% ABV, non chill-filtered and priced at €250/£225 for 700ml.
- BUSHMILLS IRISH WHISKEY REVEALS 2022 CAUSEWAY COLLECTION EXPRESSIONS EXCLUSIVE TO THE ISLAND OF IRELAND
- Try Arts and Crafts at a Creative Peninsula Workshop!
- Join Cinemagic Creative and Digital Technologies Academy
- Legendary band The Outcasts join punk rockers UK Subs for intimate Belfast gig
- August Craft Month is Back and Bigger Than Before | https://www.ulstertatler.com/2022/08/bushmills-irish-whiskey-reveals-2022-causeway-collection-expressions-exclusive-to-the-island-of-ireland/ | 2022-08-14T23:56:55Z | tatler.com | control | https://www.ulstertatler.com/2022/08/bushmills-irish-whiskey-reveals-2022-causeway-collection-expressions-exclusive-to-the-island-of-ireland/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
RICHLAND, Wash. - A car rollover caused a large fire near I-182 headed east, according to the Richland Police Department. The fire is spreading over the Queensgate overpass.
According to one officer, a car rolled on the side of the freeway, starting the fire. It spread dangerously close to a the Richland Church of Nazarene. Evacuations are in place for all of Jason Loop and several roads are closed as crews work to contain it.
Avoid the area if you can.
This is a developing story, which means information could change. We are working to report timely and accurate information as we get it. | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/large-fire-off-i-182-east-and-queensgate-dr-spreading-close-to-homes/article_3e1f9c74-1b8c-11ed-aa78-df8f01d73ba7.html | 2022-08-14T23:56:58Z | nbcrightnow.com | control | https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/large-fire-off-i-182-east-and-queensgate-dr-spreading-close-to-homes/article_3e1f9c74-1b8c-11ed-aa78-df8f01d73ba7.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Coming up today is 600 billion yuan (approximately $89 bn) of maturing one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans in China.
I posted over the weekend on evaporating demand for loans in China due to ongoing fresh COVID flare-ups & associated restrictions and lockdowns, job security worries, and the deepening property crisis making borrowers wary of more debt.
The 600bn maturing MLF today is only expected to be partially rolled over (some analysts expect a full roll but these are very much in the minority).
The PBOC announcement should come around the time of the daily CNY reference setting, circa 0115 GMT.
PBOC Governor Yi Gang | https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/china-medium-term-loans-mature-today-only-a-partial-roll-over-is-expected-20220814/ | 2022-08-15T00:04:45Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/china-medium-term-loans-mature-today-only-a-partial-roll-over-is-expected-20220814/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Clarion County Photo of the Day
Sunday, August 14, 2022 @ 12:08 AM
Copyright © 2022 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited. | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/clarion-county-photo-of-the-day-8-14/ | 2022-08-15T00:13:37Z | exploreclarion.com | control | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/clarion-county-photo-of-the-day-8-14/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Clarion County Recipe of the Day: Italian Beef Sandwiches
These robust sandwiches have a little zip!
Ingredients
1 jar (11-1/2 ounces) pepperoncini
1 boneless beef chuck roast (3-1/2 to 4 pounds)
1-3/4 teaspoons dried basil
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 large onion, sliced and quartered
12 hard rolls, split
Directions
-Drain the pepperoncini, reserving liquid. Remove and discard stems of peppers; set peppers aside. Cut roast into large chunks; place a third of the meat in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Add water.
-In a small bowl, combine the seasonings; sprinkle half over the beef. Layer with half the remaining meat, then the onion and pepperoncini. Pour pepperoncini liquid over the top. Add remaining meat to slow cooker; sprinkle with remaining seasonings.
-Cover and cook on low until meat is tender, 8-9 hours. Shred beef with 2 forks. Using a slotted spoon, serve beef and peppers on rolls.
Do you want to have your recipe featured as the Clarion County Recipe of the day? If the answer is yes, the process is quick and easy! Simply email your recipe to [email protected] with “Clarion County Recipe of the Day” as the subject. Also, we’d love for you to include a fun picture of the dish you’re sharing. Make your recipe famous today!
Copyright © 2022 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited. | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/clarion-county-recipe-of-the-day-italian-beef-sandwiches/ | 2022-08-15T00:13:43Z | exploreclarion.com | control | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/clarion-county-recipe-of-the-day-italian-beef-sandwiches/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Deer Creek Winery to Host Sunday Afternoon Entertainment by Tyler Carson
Sunday, August 14, 2022 @ 12:08 AM
SHIPPENVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Deer Creek Winery is hosting live entertainment on Sunday afternoon.
Tyler Carson will be performing a variety of popular tunes from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 14.
Enjoy your lunch with a glass of Deer Creek wine, a wine slushy, or a beer from North Country Brewery, Straub, Yuengling, or Trails to Ales while listening to a local favorite.
A cafe menu is available including specials of the day.
Deer Creek Winery is located at 3333 Soap Fat Road, Shippenville, Pa.
For more information, visit Deer Creek Winery’s website here.
Copyright © 2022 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited. | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/sponsored-deer-creek-winery-to-host-sunday-afternoon-entertainment-by-tyler-carson-3/ | 2022-08-15T00:13:49Z | exploreclarion.com | control | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/sponsored-deer-creek-winery-to-host-sunday-afternoon-entertainment-by-tyler-carson-3/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SPONSORED: The Korner Restaurant Is Serving Beef Tips Over Noodles Today, Other Daily Specials Throughout the Week
RIMERSBURG, Pa. (EYT) – The Korner Restaurant is offering beef tips over noodles as their special on Sunday, August 14!
There are also daily specials and homemade soup throughout the week!
Sunday, August 14 – Beef Tips over Noodles
Monday – August 15 – Hamburger Steak or Chili Dogs
Wednesday – August 17 – Chicken Alfredo, Fish Sandwich, or 4 pc. Chicken Dinner
Thursday – August 18 – Spaghetti, Chicken Parmesan, Lasagna, or Roast Beef Dinner
Friday – August 19 – Baked or Deep-Fried Fish, Shrimp, or Ribeye
Saturday – August 20 – Cook’s Choice
The menu is subject to change.
Be sure to check the Korner Restaurant’s Facebook Page for other specials and their menu.
You can even get pies to go! Call to order; please call the day before you need the pie.
Quarts of soup are available for $5.00.
Call in your to-go orders at 814-473-8250.
Individuals can also place an order at the ice cream window.
The Korner Restaurant is open:
Monday through Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday: 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Don’t forget about dessert!
Fresh Homemade pies and desserts are baked daily.
Korner Restaurant is located at 626 Lawsonham Road, Rimersburg, PA 16248.
Copyright © 2022 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited. | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/sponsored-the-korner-restaurant-is-serving-beef-tips-over-noodles-today-other-daily-specials-throughout-the-week/ | 2022-08-15T00:13:55Z | exploreclarion.com | control | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/sponsored-the-korner-restaurant-is-serving-beef-tips-over-noodles-today-other-daily-specials-throughout-the-week/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Medical Minute: Don’t Let Poison Ivy Ruin the Day
HERSHEY, Pa. — It winds around tree trunks, hides among flowers, and creeps along less-manicured lawns. Most victims of its offending oil are unaware they’ve encountered it until the tell-tale rash, blisters, and itching appear.
Poison ivy can cause discomfort for some and utter misery for others. Dermatologist Dr. Alexandra Flamm with Penn State Health Dermatology answers questions about how to avoid the pesky weed and what to do if exposed.
How can we recognize poison ivy?
There’s an old rhyme that I love — “Leaves of three, let them be.” What you’re looking for is a grouping of three leaves together. That’s usually a sign that you’re dealing with poison ivy. Sure, some other types of plants grow in that pattern, but it’s better to assume all leaves of three are poison ivy and take precautionary measures.
What types of precautions?
I’d recommend wearing long sleeves, long pants, and covered shoes. Wear heavy cotton gardening gloves if you’re going to be weeding where there might be poison ivy. Interestingly, rubber gloves won’t protect you because the oil extract from poison ivy that causes the reaction — urushiol — penetrates rubber.
We’ve been exposed. Now what?
Wash the area immediately with soap and water — within five to 10 minutes of exposure. It’s a much shorter window to avoid developing a rash than people may realize. And because it’s an oil, it can spread. So if you think your hands touched poison ivy, avoid touching any part of your body until you’ve washed them. If you get it on your clothes, run them through the washing machine to get rid of the oil. And wash those gardening gloves.
Can you explain the risks of burning poison ivy?
We generally see poison ivy in the summer, but then we’ll see another peak in the fall when people burn leaves, and unknowingly they’ve got some poison ivy in the pile, too. When burned, the urushiol from the poison ivy gets into the smoke, and people can get the rash over their entire exposed body.
What about the dangers of breathing it in?
The smoke from burning poison ivy can possibly irritate your nasal passages or lungs, but it much more commonly causes an external rash.
Is the rash contagious?
Poison ivy only spreads through the transference of the oil. The rash itself — even if the blisters pop and ooze — is not contagious.
What should we do when a rash develops?
A rash can appear anywhere from within a couple of hours of exposure to a couple of days. First, wash the area thoroughly in case there’s any residual oil. Then you can use over-the-counter treatments including cool compresses, over-the-counter cortisone cream, oatmeal baths, and oral antihistamines like Benadryl or Claritin to help alleviate the itchiness. You want to control the itching because if you scratch the rash or break open the blisters, you could develop an infection.
When should someone seek medical care?
If you’ve tried those over-the-counter treatments and you’re still having a lot of itching, you should see a doctor for treatment. If you have a lot of your body covered in poison ivy, that would also be a reason to go to a doctor. Or if the poison ivy rash is affecting very sensitive areas — your face or your groin area, or on the palms of your hands or soles of your feet — that can cause swelling and you should see a doctor.
How do you treat it?
We typically will use topical prescription steroids as a first-line treatment. But if it’s a very severe case or the person is noticing a lot of swelling or experiencing significant discomfort, we may treat them with oral steroids, sometimes over the course of several weeks.
Any final words of wisdom?
Poison ivy is really common, and I think that people should have a very low threshold to get medical care if they’re uncomfortable. We don’t have to suffer through it. See a doctor. There are treatments available to make the itching and rash go away.
The Medical Minute is a weekly health news feature produced by Penn State Health. Articles feature the expertise of faculty, physicians and staff, and are designed to offer timely, relevant health information of interest to a broad audience.
Copyright © 2022 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited. | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/the-medical-minute-dont-let-poison-ivy-ruin-the-day/ | 2022-08-15T00:14:02Z | exploreclarion.com | control | https://www.exploreclarion.com/2022/08/14/the-medical-minute-dont-let-poison-ivy-ruin-the-day/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The mom of the New Jersey man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie says her son was a basement-dwelling loner who barely worked, never had a girlfriend — and “changed” after visiting the Mideast.
Silvana Fardos, the mother of suspect Hadi Matar, 24, added to the Daily Mail on Sunday that she is disowning her son over his alleged crime and hopes Rushdie gets well.
“’I feel sorry for Mr Rushdie,” Fardos said.
As for her son, the mom added, “As I said to the FBI, I’m not going to bother talking to him again.
“He’s responsible for his actions,” she said.
The mom said she was born Muslim but is not religious. She said she hadn’t even heard of Rushdie until after the famed “Satanic Verses” author was attacked in western New York and the FBI began contacting her family.
Her son is accused of rushing Rushdie as the writer was about to give a lecture, stabbing him in the neck and abdomen. The author remained in critical condition as of Sunday but is expected to recover, although he may lose an eye.
Sources have told The Post that Matar’s motive appears to be religiously driven. In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie after alleging “Satanic Verses” mocked the religion.
“I didn’t push my kids into religion or force anything on my son,” Fardos told the Mail. “I don’t know anyone in Iran, all my family are here. I’m living a simple life as a single mom, trying to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table for my kids.”
But Fardos, who also has twin 14-year-olds, said her eldest child grew more religious as he got older.
She noted that her son’s demeanor particularly changed in 2018 after he returned from a trip to Lebanon, her home country, where he was visiting his father.
“I was expecting him to come back motivated, to complete school, to get his degree and a job. But instead he locked himself in the basement,” the mom said. “He had changed a lot, he didn’t say anything to me or his sisters for months.
“I couldn’t tell you much about his life after that because he has isolated me since 2018. If I approach him sometimes he says hi, sometimes he just ignores me and walks away.
“One time he argued with me, asking why I encouraged him to get an education instead of focusing on religion. He was angry that I did not introduce him to Islam from a young age,” she said.
Matar often slept all day and would spend his nights on the computer in her home’s basement, which he barred his mom from entering, Fardos said.
She said he had never worked before a few months ago, when he got a job at Marshalls, although it is unclear if he was employed there at the time of the attack.
“To tell you the truth, I never heard of this writer before,” Fardos said of Rushdie. “I never read any of his books, I didn’t know that such a writer even exists. I have no knowledge that my son ever read his book.”
Matar pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges in connection with the shocking public attack at The Chautauqua Institute, a nonprofit education and retreat center.
“I am unable to comment on any other matters or discussions I’ve had with Mr. Matar since that is confidential and privileged information,” his lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, told The Post in a statement. “We look forward to the scheduled Preliminary Hearing on August 19, 2022 and having the opportunity to aggressively exercise Mr. Matar’s constitutional rights.”
Matar is currently being held in jail without bail.
Despite his issues, his mother claimed, “everyone loved” her son.
“I just cannot believe he was capable of doing something like this,” said the mom, who did not return calls from The Post for comment.
She said she hopes Rushdie recovers.
“But there’s nothing much I can say or do because this wasn’t my act,” she added. | https://nypost.com/2022/08/14/mom-of-salman-rushdie-stabber-hadi-matar-says-she-wont-speak-to-son-again/ | 2022-08-15T00:31:31Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/14/mom-of-salman-rushdie-stabber-hadi-matar-says-she-wont-speak-to-son-again/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ANAHEIM ― When the Angels unloaded closer Raisel Iglesias and the entirety of his $58 million contract just before the trade deadline, the two pitchers they received from the Atlanta Braves in return ― Tucker Davidson and Jesse Chavez ― were easy to dismiss as an afterthought. With a 2022 playoff berth all but mathematically out of reach, dumping Iglesias’ salary appeared to be the primary feature of the trade for the Angels.
Turns out they might have gotten something in return after all.
Making his first home start since the trade, Davidson allowed two runs over six innings in the Angels’ 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.
The rookie didn’t allow a run after the first inning, in which he walked Carlos Correa before surrendering a two-run homer to Byron Buxton that cleared the yellow stripe in right field.
Jaime Barría and Jose Quijada closed out the Angels’ second straight win before an announced crowd of 27,515 at Angel Stadium. Quijada earned his third save of the season, while Davidson (2-3) was credited with his first win as an Angel.
For Davidson, the result was the culmination of a few small changes the Angels were able to coax from his left arm in short order.
“My slider was really good today,” Davidson said. “It had the same shape as it was earlier in the season. That’s been a whole lot of progress. I felt I had better direction today in my mechanics. That’s something I really focused on this last week, just getting more direction going toward home plate, not really falling off toward third base. That’s two things I focused on.
“Then continuing to improve on the changeup.”
The changeup was something of a secret weapon that Davidson never harnessed in four games (three starts) with the Braves this season. He altered his grip on the pitch after reaching the big leagues in 2020, trying to induce more gyro spin without success.
The Angels immediately urged Davidson to go back to the changeup grip he had used as a minor leaguer coming up through the Braves’ system. He had been working on the grip in the days since the Aug. 2 trade was completed.
The Twins saw only six changeups from Davidson on Sunday, but that might have been enough to make him a more effective pitcher.
“We got a couple outs today on it,” Davidson said. “That was huge. I either want a lazy ground ball or a lazy fly ball, that’s really what I’m looking for. And we got a couple of those off it. It’s coming a long way.”
“(Pitching coach Matt Wise) is terrific in teaching that pitch,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said. “ He threw a couple really good ones today. A lot of it is just the look. It’s in their head now. Not everything is just hard. If he can get that changeup buttoned up a little bit, you’ll see a good pitcher.”
Davidson had his best slider working. He threw it three times to induce a two-strike swing and miss for the third out of an inning. With a runner on second base in the sixth, Davidson threw a slider past Jorge Polanco to complete an eight-pitch at-bat, ending the inning.
That was the last of his 87 pitches. He walked one batter ― a vast improvement over his Angels debut last weekend in Seattle, in which Davidson issued five free passes ― and struck out three.
Davidson said he was able to learn a thing or two by watching Reid Detmers’ start against the the Twins on Saturday, in which he allowed two runs in five innings. Both are left-handed pitchers who rely heavily on their fastball and slider.
“He threw a bunch of fastballs,” Davidson said of Detmers. “We kind of talked about that. I think utilizing that, guys were chasing up. … His slider was good, so I saw, OK, these guys I can throw sliders to, I might have to get them off of it and throw a changeup. Overall I think the slider was a big pitch today.”
Luis Rengifo’s two-run double, which nearly cleared the short fence in left field, tied the game 2-2 in the third inning.
A sacrifice fly by Kurt Suzuki in the fourth inning, and an RBI single by Shohei Ohtani in the seventh inning, gave Davidson all the runs he needed for the victory.
David Fletcher and Jared Walsh each had two of the Angels’ eight hits.
The Angels (51-64) took two out of three games from the Twins (58-55) after sweeping a three-game series in Oakland. It’s the first time the Angels have won back-to-back series since May 9-15 (against the Rays and A’s).
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WASHINGTON (AP) - A man drove his car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol early Sunday and then began firing gunshots in the air before fatally shooting himself, according to police, who said he did not seem to be targeting any member of Congress.
The incident happened just before 4 a.m. at a vehicle barricade set at East Capitol Street NE and 2nd Street SE in Washington.
It comes at a time when law enforcement authorities across the country are facing an increasing number of threats and federal officials have warned about the potential of violent attacks on government buildings in the days since the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The attack is reminiscent of an incident when a man drove a vehicle into two Capitol Police officers at a checkpoint in April 2021, killing an 18-year veteran of the force. And many on Capitol Hill remain on edge after supporters of the then-president stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Authorities said the man, whose identity has not been released, crashed into the barricade and that as he was getting out of the car, the vehicle became engulfed in flames. The man then opened fire, firing several shots into the air as police approached.
Capitol Police said the man shot himself as the officers neared. He was later pronounced dead.
Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said officers did not hear the man say anything before he opened fire “indiscriminately” in the street with a handgun and walked toward the Capitol building. Authorities are investigating whether the man may have set his car on fire, the chief said, because the collision did not appear to cause the blaze.
Police officers at the scene saw the man fatally shoot himself as they approached, Manger said.
Investigators located addresses for the man in Delaware and Pennsylvania and have learned he had a criminal history in the past decade, though his motive remained unclear and he had no links to the Capitol, Manger said.
“We don’t have any information that would indicate his motivation at this point,” Manger said.
Police said “it does not appear the man was targeting any member of Congress” and that investigators are examining the man’s background as they work to try to discern a motive. Both the House and Senate are in recess and very few staff members work in the Capitol complex at that hour.
Authorities said no other injuries were reported and police do not believe any officers returned fire. | https://www.wboc.com/news/man-who-killed-himself-after-ramming-us-capitol-barrier-had-addresses-in-de-pa/article_487b5d48-1c27-11ed-89c3-8fa9d5919e3c.html | 2022-08-15T00:48:07Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/man-who-killed-himself-after-ramming-us-capitol-barrier-had-addresses-in-de-pa/article_487b5d48-1c27-11ed-89c3-8fa9d5919e3c.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) - An angler got a record setting prize at the White Marlon Open in Ocean City.
Jeremy Duffie of Bethesda, Maryland, landed the winning fish earning more than $4.5 million.
Duffie, reeled in a 77.5-pound (35.2-kilogram) white marlin on Friday's final day of the open while fishing on the Ocean City boat Billfisher. That exceeded Thursday's 71.5-pound (32.4-kilogram) white marlin caught by Keeley Megarity of Houston while on the “C- Student” boat from Southside Place, Texas. They received $197,000 for second place, open officials said Sunday.
There were several other contest categories, including the blue marlin and tuna divisions, where the winners each won over $1.2 million, according to an open news release.
The winning 511-pound (231.8-kilogram) blue marlin was landed by Bill Britt from Sandy Spring, Maryland, who was on board the "Cabana” out of Fenwick Island, Delaware. The tuna winners were Jason Hersh of Maple Glen, Pennsylvania, who fished aboard the “Southern C’s” out of Ocean City to reel in a bigeye of 247.5 pounds (112.3 kilograms) . | https://www.wboc.com/news/record-setting-prize-won-at-white-marlin-open/article_d26d5d32-1c25-11ed-85b3-a70063cc4662.html | 2022-08-15T00:48:13Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/record-setting-prize-won-at-white-marlin-open/article_d26d5d32-1c25-11ed-85b3-a70063cc4662.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Lows: 63-66° Winds: SE 5-7 mph
Monday: Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and afternoon thunderstorms. Highs: 79-81° Winds: E 3-6 mph
Monday night: Mostly cloudy. Lows: 62-64° Winds: NE light
Tuesday: Partly sunny. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs: 78-80° Lows: 62-64°
Wednesday: Sunny. Highs: 80-81° Lows: 62-64°
Thursday: Sunny. High: 82-85° Low: 62-64°
Friday: Partly sunny. High: 84-86° Low: 64-67°
Saturday: Partly sunny. High: 81-86° Low: 67-72°
Forecast Discussion:
Good Sunday evening Delmarva! We are finally feeling some comfortable temperatures across the area. today our highs made it no higher than the mid-80s. And this evening we will continue with the cooler temperatures with lows falling to mid-60s overnight.
Moving into the new work week, we are going to start on a cloudy and rainy note. So you might want to grab the rain gear on your way out the door. Tomorrow morning will start in the low to mid-60s and warm only to the low to upper 70s to low 80s. There will be a chance of pop-up showers closer to the afternoon time and continues overnight. The evening will see temperatures in the low 60s.
Tuesday will start in the 60s but warm to the mid to upper 70s by the afternoon. Tuesday will be a mostly cloudy day. With more chances of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. The condition will improve by the evening when we will be under partly cloudy skies with temperatures falling to the low 60s.
The mid-week is looking slightly warmer with temperatures rising to the low 80s. The sun will also return on Wednesday aswell. The rest of the week will be warmer as well with temperatures possibly making it to the upper 80s by the weekend.
The average temperature for early July is 86 degrees for a high and a low of 67 degrees. | https://www.wboc.com/weather/forecast-updated-on-sunday-august-14-2022-at-6-12-pm/article_aaa6af1a-1c0c-11ed-bc87-a3e1767e6d2c.html | 2022-08-15T00:48:19Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/weather/forecast-updated-on-sunday-august-14-2022-at-6-12-pm/article_aaa6af1a-1c0c-11ed-bc87-a3e1767e6d2c.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
U.S. service members participating in Appalachian Care Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) 2022 move palettes of water at Wise, Va., Aug. 14, 2022. IRT is a Department of Defense (DoD) military training opportunity, exclusive to the United States and its territories, that delivers joint training opportunities to increase deployment readiness. Simultaneously, IRT provides key services (health care, construction, transportation, and cybersecurity) with lasting benefits for our American communities.
This work, Appalachian Care IRT 2022 Setup [Image 8 of 8], by TSgt Sean Evans, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369461/appalachian-care-irt-2022-setup | 2022-08-15T01:17:59Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369461/appalachian-care-irt-2022-setup | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
U.S. Navy optometrist Cmdr. Patricia Steiner, quality checks a lensometer ahead of Appalachian Care Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) 2022 at Wise, Va., Aug. 14, 2022. IRT is a Department of Defense (DoD) military training opportunity, exclusive to the United States and its territories, that delivers joint training opportunities to increase deployment readiness. Simultaneously, IRT provides key services (health care, construction, transportation, and cybersecurity) with lasting benefits for our American communities.
This work, Appalachian Care IRT 2022 Setup [Image 8 of 8], by TSgt Sean Evans, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369464/appalachian-care-irt-2022-setup | 2022-08-15T01:18:05Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369464/appalachian-care-irt-2022-setup | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
U.S. service members participating in Appalachian Care Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) 2022 brief team members at Wise, Va., on Aug. 13, 2022. IRT is a Department of Defense military training opportunity, exclusive to the United States and its territories, that delivers joint training opportunities to increase deployment readiness. Simultaneously, IRT provides key services (health care, construction, transportation, and cybersecurity) with lasting benefits for our American communities.
This work, Appalachian Care IRT 2022 Briefs [Image 8 of 8], by TSgt Sean Evans, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369467/appalachian-care-irt-2022-briefs | 2022-08-15T01:18:18Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369467/appalachian-care-irt-2022-briefs | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Members from the 114th Fighter Wing prepare for a passing of the squadron guidon from one commander to another during a change of command ceremony at Joe Foss Field, South Dakota, Aug. 7, 2022. A change of command ceremony is a formal transfer of command, responsibilities and authority from one commander to another. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Jordan M. Hohenstein)
This work, 114th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Change of Command [Image 10 of 10], by TSgt Jordan Hohenstein, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369507/114th-aircraft-maintenance-squadron-change-command | 2022-08-15T01:19:07Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369507/114th-aircraft-maintenance-squadron-change-command | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
U.S. Air National Guard Lt. Col. Steven Schultz, commander, 114th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, speaks during his change of command ceremony at Joe Foss Field, South Dakota, Aug. 7, 2022. Schultz was previously the director of operations for the 114th Fighter Wing Operational Support Squadron. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Jordan M. Hohenstein)
This work, 114th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Change of Command [Image 10 of 10], by TSgt Jordan Hohenstein, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369513/114th-aircraft-maintenance-squadron-change-command | 2022-08-15T01:19:45Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369513/114th-aircraft-maintenance-squadron-change-command | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Las Vegas airport erupts in panic after loud noise from 'an unruly subject'
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Flights out of Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas were delayed early Sunday after a loud noise caused panic among travelers who thought it was gunfire.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said the noise was caused by "an unruly subject" in Terminal 1 around 4:30 a.m. and that person was in custody.
Police didn’t immediately release the person’s name or say if any charges would be filed.
RELATED: Sonic boom: Hear the sounds of a meteor breaking up over Utah
Airport officials said there was no security threat, but several concourses had to be cleared as a precaution and passengers needed to be re-screened at security checkpoints before boarding their flights. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/las-vegas-airport-erupts-in-panic-after-loud-noise-from-an-unruly-subject | 2022-08-15T01:23:47Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/las-vegas-airport-erupts-in-panic-after-loud-noise-from-an-unruly-subject | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
From the right: NYC vs. Texas Towns
If McAllen, Texas, (pop. 143,000) is supposed to handle its 1,000-a-day migrant surge, asks PJ Media’s Rick Moran, why can’t New York City? “The problem is not that New York and D.C. are ‘overwhelmed’ with illegals. The problem is that they want it to appear they are overwhelmed in order to get the federal government to block Texas from sending any more buses their way.” DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and NYC’s Eric Adams “want to posture about how welcoming their cities are to illegals. Now they’re experiencing the real-world consequences of their policies. Instead of whining about how ‘inhumane’ [Texas Gov. Greg] Abbott’s bus program is, they might want to bring the problem to Joe Biden’s office instead.”
Libertarian: CDC’s Pain Problem
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2016 “issued guidelines that discouraged doctors from prescribing opioids for pain and encouraged legislators to restrict the medical use of such drugs,” assuming “overprescribing was responsible for rising drug-related deaths,” notes Reason’s Jacob Sullum. But a new Frontiers in Pain Research study “finds no correlation between opioid prescriptions and drug-related deaths.” Indeed, there’s been a record number of opioid-related deaths, “primarily involving illicit fentanyl,” despite “the sharp decline” in prescribing. The “consequences for patients” include “undertreatment, reckless ‘tapering’ of pain medication, and outright denial of care.” But the CDC still pushes its false narrative.
Conservative: Radical Programming for Kids
“A network of professional activists” has “smuggled university-style gender theory into more than 4,000 schools under the cover of ‘gender and sexuality’ clubs, or GSAs,” reports City Journal’s Christopher F. Rufo. The national GSA Network “is a professionally staffed nonprofit with a multimillion-dollar annual budget” that “is driven by pure left-wing radicalism that extends far beyond sexuality” as it “calls for the ‘abolition of the police,’ the ‘abolition of borders and ICE,’ . . . the end of ‘global white supremacy,’ and the overthrow of the ‘cisgender heterosexual patriarchy.’” The “cult-like programming techniques” tell kids to locate themselves on a power scale “along the axes of race, sex, gender, and national origin,” then tell the ‘privileged’ children that they must . . . ‘use your privilege (and your physical and monetary resources) to support Trans, Queer, Non-binary / Gender Non-Conforming, Black, Indigenous people of color, issues, businesses, and projects.’” And: “All this activity, the group believes, is best kept secret from parents.”
Terror desk: Rushdie Attack Shows Iran Threat
“Chances are exceptionally high,” argues The Federalist’s David Harsanyi, that the stabbing of novelist Salman Rushdie “was the work of a jihadist.” Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1989 fatwa over Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” was “the first time in postwar history” that “terrorism was aimed at suppressing free expression in the liberal Western world” — “not only to punish Rushdie for blasphemy, but to intimidate others from daring to engage.” And “it worked.” So “we should not forget, even as the Biden administration is trying to strike another sweetheart deal” with Iran, “that this is the work of the theocratic terror state of Iran” — “the fatwa still stands today.” In fact, “in 2016, Iran raised it to nearly $4 million.”
Campus watch: ‘Anti-Racism’ as Job Requirement
“Ideological litmus tests are becoming the norm” in academia, laments John Sailer at UnHerd. “Many universities require faculty job candidates to submit ‘diversity statements,’” and “similar requirements increasingly apply to sitting faculty,” as diversity, equity and inclusion statements “become standard components of the promotion and tenure process.” Indeed, “‘anti-racism’ has come closer to a formal” condition of employment. At UC Berkeley, job candidates get a low score on diversity statements for stating “the intention to ignore the varying backgrounds of their students and ‘treat everyone the same.’” Such requirements “dissuade faculty from expressing” their political opinions and may be illegal but nonetheless “continue to be adopted.” Academics may soon “expect a choice: demonstrate a commitment to the ‘successor ideology’ or start looking for another job.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board | https://nypost.com/2022/08/14/nycs-overblown-migrant-crisis-irans-threat-and-other-commentary/ | 2022-08-15T01:26:24Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/14/nycs-overblown-migrant-crisis-irans-threat-and-other-commentary/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The parents of a man allegedly slain by OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney said on Sunday that the social media creator should spend the rest of her life in prison.
The attorney for Christian Obumseli’s family told TMZ that Obumseli’s parents are glad the 25-year-old model, who goes by Courtney Tailor on social media, was charged with second-degree murder.
The attorney, Larry Handfield, added that the family’s faith in the justice system was restored when Clenney was finally charged — nearly four months after she stabbed Obumseil, 27, in the chest.
The stabbing took place during a fight at their luxury apartment building in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood on April 3.
Clenney’s attorney, Frank Prieto, has claimed that she acted in self-defense when Obumseil attacked her after stalking her for several weeks.
The Instagram star was forced to stab Obumseil after he grabbed her by the throat, Prieto said. The pair had been dating for less than two years and were in a “tumultuous” relationship, he said.
Prieto claimed that Obumseil was the abusive partner in the relationship.
“Obumseli was the abuser, the worst kind of abuser,” he said in a statement to The Post.
“He would manipulate and abuse Courtney in private when he thought nobody was around.”
Clenney, who has 2 million followers on Instagram, had been at a rehab facility in Hawaii for substance abuse and post-traumatic disorder when she was arrested last Wednesday.
Handfield had pushed police to reopen the investigation. He told the Miami Herald that cops visited the couple on at least four occasions for domestic calls and noted Obumseli was never taken into custody or charged.
Handfield also emphasized that Clenney wasn’t taken into custody despite allegedly having an open warrant for a 2015 public intoxication case from California. Clenney also was reportedly due in a Texas court on a 2020 DUI charge at the time of the killing. | https://nypost.com/2022/08/14/onlyfans-model-courtney-clenney-deserves-life-in-jail-family-of-slain-boyfriend-says/ | 2022-08-15T01:26:30Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/14/onlyfans-model-courtney-clenney-deserves-life-in-jail-family-of-slain-boyfriend-says/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MELBOURNE, Australia, Aug. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Orcoda Limited (ASX: ODA) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Teaming Agreement with Teletrac Navman Group to integrate and cross-sell each other's products to their respective customers.
Orcoda Logistics Management System ("OLMS") and Orcoda Workforce Logistics System ("OWLS") are Orcoda's world-leading proprietary transport management systems for mobility optimisation. They book, organise, connect and optimise people, parcels and goods with the assets they travel in and on. The platforms manage asset logistics for large workforces and the transport fleets of our enterprise customers using true optimisation algorithms and Artificial Intelligence. The integration of OLMS via API to the Teletrac Navman platform brings significant advantages to their clients and ours, such as enhanced vehicle and workforce utilisation, administrative efficiencies, improved economics, risk reduction and better customer service.
With Teletrac Navman's global client base of over 40,000 companies and their substantial dealer network, Orcoda anticipates that this agreement will have a positive impact on revenue. The Orcoda and Teletrac teams are already in discussion with several potential new clients and we look forward to the new opportunities this will bring for both companies.
About Teletrac Navman
Teletrac Navman is a leading global telematic system and software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider leveraging location-based technology and services for managing mobile assets. Teletrac Navman's specialised solutions for fleet and asset management deliver greater visibility into real-time insights and analytics to help companies make better business decisions that enhance productivity and profitability.
- Teletrac Navman's technology currently tracks more than 500,000 vehicles owned by over 40,000 organisations on six continents, making it one of the world's largest fleet management software solutions providers. The company, headquartered in Glenview, IL, has offices in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.
- Teletrac Navman is owned by Vontier, a Fortune 500 global industrial technology company which was spun off from Fortive in 2020. Vontier is focused on smarter transportation and mobility. Their portfolio is built on market-leading expertise in mobility technologies, retail and commercial fueling, fleet management, vehicle diagnostics and maintenance, and smart cities. Together, we are mobilising the future to create a better world. Visit Vontier.com for more information
Teletrac Navman Integrations Product Manager, Mats Dahlstedt, said: "We are excited about our teaming agreement with Orcoda. We believe there is significant cross-selling opportunities for Teletrac Navman and Orcoda with our integrated product solutions, from within our existing customer base worldwide and for bringing on new customers into our integrated solution. It is my belief that Orcoda's mobility optimization platforms and transport management systems are very unique and offer benefits to our joint customers."
Orcoda Managing Director, Geoff Jamieson, said: "Following Orcoda and Teletrac Navmans first contract win with our integrated telematics and mobility optimisation solution through a Teletrac Navman dealer, we are currently in active dialogues with a number of Teletrac Navman dealers and have a number of prospective customers with our integrated product solutions, and I am optimistic about further joint contract wins in the months ahead."
About Orcoda
Spokesperson available for comment:
Geoff Jamieson, Managing Director at Orcoda
E: gjamieson@orcoda.com
M: +61 4 17 778 862
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-jamieson-maicd-5456537b/
For more information please contact:
Susan Dobell, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at Orcoda.
E: sdobell@orcoda.com
M: +61 4 04 988 860
View original content:
SOURCE Orcoda Limited | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/15/teaming-agreement-signed-between-orcoda-asxoda-teletrac-navman/ | 2022-08-15T01:32:00Z | witn.com | control | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/15/teaming-agreement-signed-between-orcoda-asxoda-teletrac-navman/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Governor Christopher Waller is a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The governors vote at each Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
Waller has been supportive of Fed tightening. If he speaks to his view on the economy and policy at today's event he'll likely reiterate.
Coming up at 10:50 am NY time (1450 GMT)
- Waller gives opening remarks before the 2022 summer workshop on "Money, Banking, Payments, and Finance" | https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/feds-waller-will-be-speaking-on-monday-15-august-2022-20220815/ | 2022-08-15T01:36:02Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/feds-waller-will-be-speaking-on-monday-15-august-2022-20220815/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
600bn yuan of MLF matured today, Monday 15 August 2022
more to come
The People's Bank of China has rolled over 400bn yuan at 2.75% (prior was 2.85%)
- for 1 year
Also, the PBOC cut its 7 day reverse repo rate to 2% from 2.1%
---
The MLF rate is a key indicator of next week's ending benchmark loan prime rate (LPR).
What is a Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF)?
- may be three, six or 12 months loans
- loans to banks
---
Background here: | https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/pboc-sells-400bn-yuan-1-year-mlf-at-a-lower-rate-20220815/ | 2022-08-15T01:36:08Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/pboc-sells-400bn-yuan-1-year-mlf-at-a-lower-rate-20220815/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
People's Bank of China set the onshore yuan (CNY) reference rate for the trading session ahead.
- USD/CNY is the onshore yuan. Its permitted to trade plus or minus 2% from this daily reference rate.
- CNH is the offshore yuan. USD/CNH has no restrictions on its trading range.
- A significantly stronger or weaker rate than expected is typically considered a signal from the PBOC.
- The previous close was 6.7430
more to come
The PBOC injects 2 yuan via 7-day reverse repos (rate CUT TO 2% from 2.1%
2bn yuan mature today
thus a net neutral in OMOs today | https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/pboc-sets-usd-cny-reference-rate-for-today-at-67410-vs-estimate-at-67425-20220815/ | 2022-08-15T01:36:15Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/pboc-sets-usd-cny-reference-rate-for-today-at-67410-vs-estimate-at-67425-20220815/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Coco Gauff will become the new World No.1 doubles player Monday when the rankings are released. She will become the 46th player to achieve this feat and the 11th American woman.
Gauff reached this milestone by winning the National Bank Open on Sunday with compatriot Jessica Pegula. Together, they outlasted Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 6-4, 6-7(5), [10-5].
For Gauff and Pegula, it was their second title at a WTA 1000 tournament this season. In February, they won the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha.
🇺🇸 Incoming doubles World No.1, Coco Gauff 📈
— wta (@WTA) August 14, 2022
🇺🇸 Second doubles title together 🏆
Congratulations to @CocoGauff and @JLPegula 🙌#NBO22 pic.twitter.com/C2AO8VTaX7
"Being No.1 is pretty cool," Gauff said in her post-match press conference. "I have no words. ... I didn't really know it was coming this week and what I had to do. But [Pegula] told me yesterday.
"As a kid, I'm going to be honest with you, I didn't even know there was separate rankings for singles and doubles. But when I got on tour and when I realized I could do well in doubles, yes. ... I wanted to. I mean, who wouldn't want to be No.1 in anything?"
More from Toronto: Halep battles past Haddad Maia to claim Toronto title
Gauff has had several other standout results in doubles over the past 12 months, including reaching two Grand Slam finals at the US Open in 2021 (with Caty McNally) and earlier this season at Roland Garros (with Pegula). Gauff also reached the final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart alongside partner Zhang Shuai.
At 18 years and 154 days old come Monday, Gauff is the second-youngest player in history to earn the doubles No.1 ranking (which was introduced on Sept. 10, 1984) sitting behind Martina Hingis who was 17 and 251 days when she clinched the top spot in June of 1998.
AT THE DOUBLE 🇺🇸🏆🏆🇺🇸@CocoGauff and @JLPegula storm to their second doubles title as a team defeating Melichar-Martinez/Perez 6-4, 6-7(5), 1-0!
— wta (@WTA) August 14, 2022
Oh and Gauff will move to No.1 in the WTA Doubles Rankings on Monday☝️#NBO22 pic.twitter.com/d83NnOkiah
No.3 seeds Gauff and Pegula had to go down to the wire before winning Sunday’s final. After falling behind 3-0, Gauff and Pegula excelled on return as the first set progressed, winning six of the next seven games to take the one-set lead.
Melichar-Martinez and Perez held firm in the second set, saving three championship points at 5-4 and three more at 6-5. The unseeded duo then grabbed the tiebreak after a Perez backhand return winner found the baseline, and a decisive match-tiebreak would decide the victors.
Bold play at net by Perez led her team back from 6-2 down to 6-5 in the match-tiebreak. However, Gauff and Pegula stayed solid, and a volley winner by Gauff gave her pairing a seventh championship point at 9-5. A Pegula forehand forced an error to clinch the title and the World No.1 ranking for Gauff.
Just like Gauff, whose accolades are provided above, Pegula has also had a breakthrough season in doubles. Toronto marks Pegula’s fourth career doubles title, her third this season, and her second in two weeks. Pegula won the title in Washington, D.C. last week paired with Erin Routliffe.
Pegula, who is already a Top 10 singles player, will make her Top 10 debut in the doubles rankings on Monday.
"I'm so glad that I could help [Gauff] get there today," Pegula said. "I think we're No. 1 in the Race and the top two Americans in singles. So it's been a pretty cool little journey that we're on together, even though I'm ten years older," she added with a laugh. | https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2744053/coco-gauff-captures-world-no-1-doubles-ranking-with-toronto-title | 2022-08-15T01:40:35Z | wtatennis.com | control | https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2744053/coco-gauff-captures-world-no-1-doubles-ranking-with-toronto-title | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Wildcard CoCo Vandeweghe ended No.2 seed Bernarda Pera's 16-match winning streak 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the final of the Thoreau Tennis Open to capture her biggest title in over six years at the WTA 125 event.
For over four years, former World No.9 Vandeweghe has battled a series of injuries and health conditions including a diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome and a freak microwave accident that required reconstructive surgery on a finger. She has not been ranked inside the Top 100 since February 2019, and her last singles title at any level was at 's-Hertogenbosch 2016.
Vandeweghe, 30, came into Concord ranked No.192, with her best result in 2022 being a quarterfinal run in Charleston as a lucky loser. Her title run also featured a win over No.1 seed Clara Tauson 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and a fellow former Top 20 player in Wang Qiang 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals.
In the final, two-time major semifinalist Vandeweghe's renowned serve enabled her to hold off fellow American Pera. She landed 12 aces in total, and was not broken until the penultimate game of the second set. But Vandeweghe's return also rose to the occasion when needed. In the decider, Pera twice got back on serve from a break down, only for Vandeweghe to inch ahead again. Vandeweghe sealed the title with a break to love, seizing her first championship point with a hefty backhand return that drew the error from Pera.
No.56-ranked Pera still underlined her credentials as one of this summer's most improved players. The 27-year-old had captured her first two Hologic WTA Tour titles back-to-back on European clay last month in Budapest and Hamburg. On a different surface and continent, she made a third consecutive final, notably saving one match point in the second round to advance 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 over Anna Blinkova.
Scott continues to surge, Wang Qiang finds form
In 2021, American teenager Katrina Scott hit the milestone of a first WTA 125 quarterfinal in Concord. One year on, the 18-year-old went one better. After coming through qualifying, Scott went all the way to the semifinals, where Pera halted her run 6-4, 6-2.
Scott has already won three ITF W25 titles in 2022, compiled a 31-10 record and risen to No.242 in the rankings. In Concord, she advanced over Karolina Muchova in the second round after a wrist injury forced the Czech to retire trailing 6-3, 4-0. In the quarterfinals, Scott triumphed in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 barnburner over wildcard Taylor Townsend, who was playing the sixth event of her comeback from maternity leave.
Former World No.12 Wang also impressed in reaching her second hard-court semifinal in a row. The Chinese player had made the last four in Prague two weeks ago, and came through a second-round rollercoaster over No.5 seed Viktorija Golubic 6-0, 0-6, 6-3 before ending No.4 seed Magdalena Frech's title defence in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4.
Elsewhere, Harmony Tan returned to action for the first time since her breakthrough run to the Wimbledon fourth round. The Frenchwoman made the second round before losing from four match points up against Katie Volynets 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(4). | https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2744216/vandeweghe-snaps-pera-streak-to-win-concord-125 | 2022-08-15T01:40:41Z | wtatennis.com | control | https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2744216/vandeweghe-snaps-pera-streak-to-win-concord-125 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(iSeeCars) — Used car prices are up 10.9 percent over last year as the microchip shortage continues to impact the automotive industry, according to iSeeCars.com’s latest analysis of over 1.8 million used car sales in July. This is slightly up from a 10.5 percent increase in June and marks the second month of slight increases after four months of slowing price growth.
Used Car Price Increases by State
Are used car price increases consistent across the country? Here are the average used car price increases by state in ascending order:
iSeeCars’ used car pricing analysis shows that consumers may be more likely to find a deal in some states than others.
- South Carolina is the state with the greatest used car price increase in July 2022 compared to July 2021 at 16.8 percent, which amounts to $5,277
- Oklahoma has the smallest used car price increase at 0.8 percent, which amounts to $278.
- Of the 10 states with the highest price increases, seven are Eastern coastal states.
Vehicles with the Highest Used Car Price Increases by State
iSeeCars also examined which used car has gone up the most in price in each state:
- The used car that has the highest increase in the most states is the Nissan LEAF in six states.
- The used car that has the highest increase across all states is the Nissan LEAF in Pennsylvania with a 75.7 percent increase.
What does this mean for consumers? The best way for consumers to avoid significantly higher prices while car shopping for the foreseeable future is to either maintain their current vehicle or purchase a used vehicle that isn’t in high demand, and to be as flexible as possible with factors such as color and trim. | https://www.wspa.com/automotive/how-much-have-used-car-prices-risen-in-your-state/ | 2022-08-15T01:47:46Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/automotive/how-much-have-used-car-prices-risen-in-your-state/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline plummeted 45 cents over the past three weeks to $4.10 per gallon.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the continued decline comes as crude oil costs also remain low.
“The drop of a dollar per gallon has not been enough to restore motorist demand, which is in retreat due to sustained high price levels,” Lundberg said in a statement.
The average price at the pump is down a dollar over the past nine weeks, but it’s 85 cents higher than it was one year ago.
Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas was in the San Francisco Bay Area, at $5.36 per gallon. The lowest average was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at $3.38 per gallon.
According to the survey, the average price of diesel plunged 37 cents over three weeks to $5.17 a gallon.
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This story has been corrected to show that the last survey was three weeks ago, not two. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/average-us-gasoline-price-falls-45-cents-to-4-10-per-gallon/ | 2022-08-15T01:49:46Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/average-us-gasoline-price-falls-45-cents-to-4-10-per-gallon/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A defense mental health expert in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz can pinpoint when he realized the 23-year-old mass murderer still has “irrational thoughts” — the two were making small talk when Cruz began describing plans for an eventual life outside prison.
Wesley Center, a Texas counselor, said that happened last year at the Broward County jail as he fitted Cruz’s scalp with probes for a scan to map his brain. The defense at hearings this week will try to convince Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that Center and other experts should be allowed to testify at Cruz’s ongoing trial about what their tests showed, something the prosecution wants barred.
“He had some sort of epiphany while he was in (jail) that would focus his thoughts on being able to help people,” transcripts show Center told prosecutors during a pretrial interview this year. “His life’s purpose was to be helping others.”
Cruz, of course, will never be free. Since his arrest about an hour after he murdered 14 students and three staff members at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, there has never been any doubt his remaining years would be behind bars, sentenced to death or life without parole. Surveillance video shows him mowing down his victims with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle and he confessed, eventually pleading guilty in October.
Prosecutors made their argument for death to the seven-man, five-woman jury and 10 alternates over three weeks, resting their case Aug. 4 after the panel toured the still-bloodstained, bullet-pocked classroom building where the massacre happened.
The jurors also watched graphic surveillance videos; saw gruesome crime scene and autopsy photos; received emotional testimony from teachers and students who witnessed others die; and heard from tearful and angry parents, spouses and other family members about the victims and how their loved one’s death impacted their lives. They watched video of the former Stoneman Douglas student calmly ordering an Icee minutes after the shooting and, nine months later, attacking a jail guard.
Soon, it will be Cruz’s attorneys arguing why he should be spared, hoping to convince at least one juror their mitigating factors outweigh the prosecution’s aggravating circumstances — a death sentence must be unanimous.
But first, the trial took last week off to accommodate some jurors’ requests to deal with personal matters. The jury will also be absent this week as the sides argue before Scherer, who will decide whether brain scans, tests and other evidence the defense wants to present starting Aug. 22 is scientifically valid or junk, as the prosecution contends.
Center’s test and its findings will be subject to contentious debate. Called a “quantitative electroencephalogram” or “qEEG,” its backers say it provides useful support to such diagnoses as fetal alcohol syndrome, which Cruz’s attorneys contend created his lifelong mental and emotional problems.
EEGs have been common in medicine for a century, measuring brainwaves to help doctors diagnose epilepsy and other brain ailments. But the qEEG analysis, which has been around since the 1970s, goes a step farther — a patient’s EEG results are compared to a database of brainwaves taken from normal or “neurotypical” people. While qEEG findings cannot be used to make a diagnosis, they can support findings based on the patient’s history, examination, behavior and other tests, supporters contend.
A “qEEG can confirm what you already know, but you can’t create new knowledge,” Center told prosecutors in his interview.
Dr. Charles Epstein, an Emory University neurology professor, reviewed Center’s findings for the prosecution. In a written statement to Scherer, he said EEGs using only external scalp probes like the one given Cruz are imprecise, making Center’s qEEG results worthless.
“Garbage in, garbage out,” he wrote.
Florida judges have given mixed rulings about allowing qEEGs since 2010, when the test helped a Miami-area man escape a death sentence for fatally stabbing his wife and severely wounding her mentally disabled 11-year-old daughter. Some judges have since allowed their admission, while others barred them. Scherer, who is overseeing her first death penalty trial, has never had a case where the defense tried to present a qEEG report.
Even if Scherer bars the test, lead defense attorney Melisa McNeill and her team still have evidence that Cruz’s brain likely suffered damage in the womb, including statements by his late birth mother that she abused alcohol and cocaine during pregnancy.
They also have reports giving circumstantial evidence of his mental illness. Cruz got kicked out of preschool for hurting other children. During his years in public school, he spent significant time at a center for students with emotional issues. He also received years of mental health treatment.
Then there are his life circumstances. Cruz’s adoptive father died in front of him when he was 5; he was bullied by his younger brother and his brother’s friends; he was allegedly abused sexually by a “trusted peer;” he cut himself and abused animals; and his adoptive mother died less than four months before the shooting.
His youth will also be an issue — he was 19 when the shooting happened.
Attorneys not involved in the case say if Scherer wants to avoid having a possible death sentence overturned on appeal, she should give the defense wide latitude on what it presents so jurors can fully assess his life and mental health.
“If it’s a close call, I think she is going to bend to the defense — and the prosecution is not going to be happy,” said David S. Weinstein, a Miami criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/school-shooters-brain-exams-to-be-subject-of-court-hearing/ | 2022-08-15T01:50:28Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/school-shooters-brain-exams-to-be-subject-of-court-hearing/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Facing prison time and dire personal consequences for storming the U.S. Capitol, some Jan. 6 defendants are trying to profit from their participation in the deadly riot, using it as a platform to drum up cash, promote business endeavors and boost social media profiles.
A Nevada man jailed on riot charges asked his mother to contact publishers for a book he was writing about “the Capitol incident.” A rioter from Washington state helped his father hawk clothes and other merchandise bearing slogans such as “Our House” and images of the Capitol building. A Virginia man released a rap album with riot-themed songs and a cover photograph of him sitting on a police vehicle outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Those actions are sometimes complicating matters for defendants when they face judges at sentencing as prosecutors point to the profit-chasing activities in seeking tougher punishments. The Justice Department, in some instances, is trying to claw back money that rioters have made off the insurrection.
In one case, federal authorities have seized tens of thousands of dollars from a defendant who sold his footage from Jan. 6. In another case, a Florida man’s plea deal allows the U.S. government to collect profits from any book he gets published over the next five years. And prosecutors want a Maine man who raised more than $20,000 from supporters to surrender some of the money because a taxpayer-funded public defender is representing him.
Many rioters have paid a steep personal price for their actions on Jan. 6. At sentencing, rioters often ask for leniency on the grounds that they already have experienced severe consequences for their crimes.
They lost jobs or entire careers. Marriages fell apart. Friends and relatives shunned them or even reported them to the FBI. Strangers have sent them hate mail and online threats. And they have racked up expensive legal bills to defend themselves against federal charges ranging from misdemeanors to serious felonies.
Websites and crowdfunding platforms set up to collect donations for Capitol riot defendants try to portray them as mistreated patriots or even political prisoners.
An anti-vaccine medical doctor who pleaded guilty to illegally entering the Capitol founded a nonprofit that raised more than $430,000 for her legal expenses. The fundraising appeal by Dr. Simone Gold’s group, America’s Frontline Doctors, didn’t mention her guilty plea, prosecutors noted.
Before sentencing Gold to two months behind bars, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper called it “unseemly” that her nonprofit invoked the Capitol riot to raise money that also paid for her salary. Prosecutors said in court papers that it “beggars belief” that she incurred anywhere close to $430,000 in legal costs for her misdemeanor case.
Another rioter, a New Jersey gym owner who punched a police officer during the siege, raised more than $30,000 in online donations for a “Patriot Relief Fund” to cover his mortgage payments and other monthly bills. Prosecutors cited the fund in recommending a fine for Scott Fairlamb, who is serving a prison sentence of more than three years.
“Fairlamb should not be able to ‘capitalize’ on his participation in the Capitol breach in this way,” Justice Department lawyers wrote.
Robert Palmer, a Florida man who attacked police officers at the Capitol, asked a friend to create a crowdfunding campaign for him online after he pleaded guilty. After seeing the campaign to “Help Patriot Rob,” a probation officer calculating a sentencing recommendation for Palmer didn’t give him credit for accepting responsibility for his conduct. Palmer conceded that a post for the campaign falsely portrayed his conduct on Jan. 6. Acceptance of responsibility can help shave months or even years off a sentence.
“When you threw the fire extinguisher and the plank at the police officers, were you acting in self-defense?” asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
“No, ma’am, I was not,” Palmer said before the judge sentenced him to more than five years in prison.
A group calling itself the Patriot Freedom Project says it has raised more than $1 million in contributions and paid more than $665,000 in grants and legal fees for families of Capitol riot defendants.
In April, a New Jersey-based foundation associated with the group filed an IRS application for tax-exempt status. As of early August, an IRS database doesn’t list the foundation as a tax-exempt organization. The Hughes Foundation’s IRS application says its funds “principally” will benefit families of Jan. 6 defendants, with about 60% of the donated money going to foundation activities. The rest will cover management and fundraising expenses, including salaries, it adds.
Rioters have found other ways to enrich or promote themselves.
Jeremy Grace, who was sentenced to three weeks in jail for entering the Capitol, tried to profit off his participation by helping his dad sell T-shirts, baseball caps, water bottles, decals and other gear with phrases such as “Our House” and “Back the Blue” and images of the Capitol, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Grace’s “audacity” to sell “Back the Blue” paraphernalia is “especially disturbing” because he watched other rioters confront police officers on Jan. 6. A defense lawyer, however, said Grace didn’t break any laws or earn any profits by helping his father sell the merchandise.
Federal authorities seized more than $62,000 from a bank account belonging to riot defendant John Earle Sullivan, a Utah man who earned more than $90,000 from selling his Jan. 6 video footage to at least six companies. Sullivan’s lawyer argued authorities had no right to seize the money.
Richard “Bigo” Barnett, an Arkansas man photographed propping his feet up on a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has charged donors $100 for photos of him with his feet on a desk while under house arrest. Defense lawyer Joseph McBride said prosecutors have “zero grounds” to prevent Barnett from raising money for his defense before a December trial date.
“Unlike the government, Mr. Barnett does not have the American Taxpayer footing the bill for his legal case,” McBride wrote in a court filing.
Texas real estate agent Jennifer Leigh Ryan promoted her business on social media during and after the riot, boasting that she was “becoming famous.” In messages sent after Jan. 6, Ryan “contemplated the business she needed to prepare for as a result of the publicity she received from joining the mob at the Capitol,” prosecutors said in court documents.
Prosecutors cited the social media activity of Treniss Evans III in recommending a two-month jail term for the Texas man, who drank a shot of whiskey in a congressional conference room on Jan. 6. Evans has “aggressively exploited” his presence at the Capitol to expand his social media following on Gettr, a social media site founded by a former Trump adviser, prosecutors wrote before Evans’ sentencing, scheduled for this coming Tuesday,
A few rioters are writing books about the mob’s attack or have marketed videos that they shot during the riot.
A unique provision in Adam Johnson’s plea agreement allows the U.S. government to collect profits from any book he gets published over the next five years. Images of Johnson posing for photographs with Pelosi’s podium went viral after the riot. Prosecutors said they insisted on the provision after learning that Johnson intends to write a memoir “of some sort.”
Ronald Sandlin, a Nevada man charged with assaulting officers near doors to the Senate gallery, posted on Facebook that he was “working out a Netflix deal” to sell riot video footage. Later, in a call from jail, Sandlin told his mother that he had met with right-wing author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza and was in contact with podcaster Joe Rogan. He also asked his mom to contact publishers for the book he was writing about the “Capitol incident,” prosecutors said.
“I hope to turn it into movie,” Sandlin wrote in a March 2021 text message. “I plan on having Leonardo DiCaprio play me,” he wrote, adding a smiley face emoji.
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For full coverage of the Capitol riot, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/some-capitol-rioters-try-to-profit-from-their-jan-6-crimes/ | 2022-08-15T01:50:35Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/some-capitol-rioters-try-to-profit-from-their-jan-6-crimes/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU)— Eyewitness News has condensed the information we currently have confirmed regarding the mass casualty incident in Berwick and the homicide in Nescopeck.
State troopers have taken Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes into custody for allegedly crashing his vehicle into 18 people in Berwick and killing his mother with a hammer in Nescopeck.
Investigators said Sura Reyes told them the incident began when he got into a verbal altercation with his mother prior to getting in his car and driving to the Intoxicology Department bar in Berwick.
While driving through Berwick, the affidavit states Sura Reyes told officers he saw a crowd of people gathering at the Intoxicology Department bar. Sura Reyes said he drove past Turkey Hill down the street and turned back around towards the bar.
“Frustrated” by the argument with his mother, investigators say Sura Reyes told them he began speeding up towards the crowd intentionally.
Troopers said video surveillance shows Sura Reyes’s vehicle entering the parking lot of the Intoxicology Department bar and accelerating towards about 75 people gathering to raise money for the victims of the Nescopeck fire on August 5.
The affidavit states the first phone calls about the crash came into 911 around 6:12 p.m.
Police say Sura Reyes told interviewers, “I didn’t ram ’em, I just ran them over.”
Law enforcement officials said Sura Reyes told them he drove back to his home in Nescopeck, approximately six minutes away from the Intoxicology Department bar, after crashing into the crowd of people.
While pulling up to his house in Nescopeck, troopers said Sura Reyes told them he saw his mother walking in the road. Once he saw her in the street, Sura Reyes said he accelerated towards her and struck her with the front of his vehicle, causing her to pass out.
According to the affidavit, Sura Reyes told officers he knew he had a hammer in the vehicle. Sura Reyes said he obtained the hammer from the car and struck his mother in the head with it four to five times.
The affidavit states this happened around 6:18 p.m.
Troopers said Sura Reyes’s neighbor witnessed the assault and approached him asking what he was doing. Sura Reyes yelled at his neighbor, “get back,” while holding up a hammer.
Officials say the neighbor yelled to his wife to call 911.
Members of the Salem Township Police Department took Sura Reyes into custody at 6:34 p.m. according to police.
The affidavit states there was a bloody hammer located on the hood of the vehicle as well as significant front-end damage to the bumper, headlights, hood, and windshield of the vehicle consistent with damage sustained in a pedestrian impact. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/timeline-of-events-in-pennslyvania-mass-casualty-incident-according-to-police/ | 2022-08-15T01:50:57Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/timeline-of-events-in-pennslyvania-mass-casualty-incident-according-to-police/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Gunfire and a subsequent explosion left at least five people dead, 15 injured and several others missing, as well as damaging homes, in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil, authorities said Sunday.
On its Twitter account, Ecuador’s Prosecutor’s Office said its agents were gathering evidence to establish the cause and motive for the attack in Guayaquil’s Cristo del Consuelo neighborhood.
Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo tweeted that organized crime in Ecuador is now attacking with explosives.
Sunday’s violence “is a declaration of war against the State. Either we unite to face it or the price will be even higher for society,” he wrote.
Guayaquil, 270 kilometers (168 miles) southwest of the capital Quito, has seen frequent shootings and killings by members of rival gangs believed to have links to national and international drug trafficking. Dozens were killed last year in massacres inside the largest state prison in the city. | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/shooting-blast-in-ecuador-port-city-kills-5-damages-homes/ | 2022-08-15T01:52:47Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/shooting-blast-in-ecuador-port-city-kills-5-damages-homes/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LONDON (AP) — British authorities have quashed plans to prosecute protesters who attended a vigil for a murdered woman in breach of pandemic lockdown rules — a killing, and a response, that ignited a storm of criticism of the London police force and its attitude toward women’s safety.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Sunday that cases against six people over the March 2021 vigil in memory of Sarah Everard had been dropped because “our legal test for a prosecution was not met.”
The six had faced possible fines of up to 10,000 pounds ($12,100) for breaking COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time.
Everard, 33, was abducted, raped and killed as she walked home from a friend’s house in London. Her killer, Wayne Couzens, was a serving Metropolitan Police officer. He pleaded guilty to murder and is serving life in prison with no chance of parole.
Public anger at the police force for harboring a killer in its ranks was compounded by what many saw as heavy-handed policing of the subsequent vigil. Police banned the gathering because it breached coronavirus restrictions, but hundreds gathered anyway on Clapham Common, near where Everard was abducted. Prince William’s wife Kate was among those who attended and left flowers.
Scuffles broke out when police officers tried to break up the vigil after several hours.
Organizers took the police force to court, and in February a judge ruled that police acted unlawfully when they used coronavirus restrictions to ban the vigil.
Everard’s murder was one of a string of killings in London that prompted calls for more protection for women and girls. Allegations of misogyny and bungled investigations undermined confidence in the police and forced Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick to step down in February.
Pippa Woodrow, a lawyer for some of the defendants, said she was delighted “that this ordeal is over and that the (prosecution service) has recognized they should never have been prosecuted.”
“It is to be hoped that the Met will now turn its focus and resources towards protecting women from violence rather than seeking to silence those who speak up against it, and towards rebuilding the trust damaged by their decisions in this case,” Woodrow told The Observer newspaper. | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/uk-drops-prosecution-of-protesters-over-slain-womans-vigil/ | 2022-08-15T01:52:54Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/uk-drops-prosecution-of-protesters-over-slain-womans-vigil/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MONTREAL (AP) — Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain won the National Bank Open on Sunday, beating eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The first unseeded winner in the event since Argentina’s Guillermo Canas in 2002, Busta won his seventh ATP Tour title and first Masters 1000 victory.
The 23rd-ranked Carreno Busta improved to 7-5 in final appearances. Hurkacz fell to 5-1.
Unseeded Reilly Opelka reached the final last year in Toronto, then lost to Daniil Medvedev. | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/pablo-carreno-busta-wins-in-montreal-1st-masters-1000-title/ | 2022-08-15T01:54:03Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/pablo-carreno-busta-wins-in-montreal-1st-masters-1000-title/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen lost his bid for a perfect game against the Baltimore Orioles when Jorge Mateo hit a leadoff double in the ninth inning Sunday.
Mateo, who went 5 for 5 on Friday night, grounded the first pitch down the left-field line.
Rasmussen received a pair of standing ovations from the announced crowd of 18,093; one after Mateo’s hit and another when he was pulled with one out and the Rays up 4-1. He waved as he made his way off the field.
Rasmussen struck out Rougned Odor on a 2-2 pitch to end an eight-pitch at-bat for the second out in the eighth.
Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman flew out to the warning track in center in the first. Former Ray Brett Phillips had a hard drive buzz Rasmussen with two outs in the sixth, but shortstop Taylor Walls fielded the ball and threw to first for the out.
Rasmussen was coming off three no-hit innings in his previous start Aug, 7 at Detroit, an abbreviated outing to manage his workload for the season. His longest career start had been seven innings, coming June 4 against the Chicago White Sox.
There hasn’t been a perfect game in the majors since Seattle’s Felix Hernandez accomplished the feat at home against the Rays on Aug. 15, 2012.
Oakland’s Dallas Braden on May 9, 2010, and Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox on July 23, 2009, also had perfect games against the Rays.
Tampa Bay has never thrown a perfect game. Matt Garza has only Rays no-hitter, coming on July 26, 2010, at Tropicana Field against Detroit.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/rays-drew-rasmussen-perfect-through-6-against-orioles/ | 2022-08-15T01:54:31Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/sports/ap-sports/rays-drew-rasmussen-perfect-through-6-against-orioles/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Updated August 14, 2022 at 9:46 PM ET
Salman Rushdie, the renowned author who was brutally attacked two days ago, is slowly recovering after suffering stab wounds in the neck and chest, his family says.
"Though his life changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty & defiant sense of humour remains intact," the author's son, Zafar Rushdie, wrote in a statement on Twitter on Sunday.
The novelist was taken off a ventilator and able to speak "a few words," according to his son. However, Rushdie remains in critical condition, he added, and will stay in the hospital to receive "extensive ongoing medical treatment."
Rushdie, 75, was poised to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York on Friday, when a man went up on stage and repeatedly stabbed the author.
Rushdie's agent had previously said that the author had undergone surgery and suffered a damaged liver, severed nerves in his arm and eye, and could likely lose an eye.
Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from Fairview, N.J., was charged with attempted murder and assault, New York State Police said. On Saturday, Matar pleaded not guilty, according to The Associated Press. He continues to be held without bail, police said.
The event moderator who was on stage when the attack happened, Henry Reese, was treated at a local hospital for a minor head injury and has since been released. In an interview with CNN's Reliable Sources on Sunday, Reese appeared with a bandage over a black eye.
"I'm fine," he said. "We should all be concerned about Salman Rushdie, not me."
Reese said he first thought it might be a prank parodying the death threats that have targeted Rushdie since 1989 after he published the novel The Satanic Verses, one of his most popular books. Iran's leader issued a fatwa against Rushdie, calling for his death over perceived insults to Islam in the book.
"I immediately thought it was someone making some kind of bad reference to it, not that it was actually a real attack," Reese said.
The event's theme stood in direct contrast to the violence that unfolded that day. It was a discussion about what "home" means in America.
"Mr. Rushdie and Mr. Reese were here to talk about home when it is asylum, when people are seeking a place where they can find safety," said Emily Morris, a senior vice president at the Chautauqua Institution. "And in this case, safety to pursue their voice in an environment that supports free speech."
Speaking to All Things Considered, Morris also said the event's organizers had a security plan for the event that was developed with law enforcement agencies.
"No one's second guessing this more than we are," she said. "And certainly looking at what we've done and what we need to do moving forward. And at the same time, keeping our focus on Mr. Rushdie and his continuing recovery as well."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-08-14/salman-rushdie-remains-in-critical-condition-his-son-says | 2022-08-15T01:54:55Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-08-14/salman-rushdie-remains-in-critical-condition-his-son-says | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SEATTLE — Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Woodland Park Zoo are fighting for the future of a local animal many people probably didn’t realize was approaching extinction just a few decades ago.
The western pond turtle is the only native turtle to Western Washington. In 1990 the population declined to a point where only about 150 western pond turtles remained in the state.
The turtles were once harvested and other predators, including invasive bullfrogs, led to the decline of the western pond turtle.
In 1991, WDFW and the Woodland Park Zoo came together to form the western pond turtle recovery project, which aimed to rebound the species' population. In 1999, the Oregon Zoo also joined the effort.
Nonprofits, government agencies and other private partners also pitched in over the last three decades to help the three organizations.
Over the last three decades, the project, and the "head start" program at the Woodland Park Zoo, resulted in more than 2,300 turtles being reintroduced to the wild, which have turned into self-sustaining populations.
The Puget Sound and Columbia River Gorge are home to protected locations that give the western pond turtle a chance to thrive in the wild again.
Sue Andersen is a keeper at the Woodland Park Zoo. She says the head start program starts with gathering eggs in order to protect them from predators like raccoons, bears and bullfrogs.
“We care for them in such a way that when they are released they’re about the size of a three-year-old turtle and that’s important because they need to be big enough to not be eaten by a bullfrog,” Andersen said.
On Friday, more than 30 juvenile western pond turtles raised at the zoo were released into a protected recovery site in Pierce County.
Emily Butler is a wildlife biologist with WDFW. She says the turtles are marked and tracked so they provide valuable information.
“These turtles are important to the ecosystem and also an important part of our state's history, so this is painstaking but vital for an animal that was thriving well before we were ever here,” Butler said.
Learn more about the recovery project here. | https://www.krem.com/article/life/animals/woodland-park-zoo-washington-department-fish-wildlife-extinction/281-26eda000-f6e7-48d1-800d-dd80e93e5fa1 | 2022-08-15T02:05:47Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/life/animals/woodland-park-zoo-washington-department-fish-wildlife-extinction/281-26eda000-f6e7-48d1-800d-dd80e93e5fa1 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SEATTLE — The next inflation update is scheduled for release on the morning of Sept. 13. It will offer the rate of inflation over the 12 months that ended August 2022.
According to U.S. Labor Department data published Aug. 10, the annual inflation rate for the United States is 8.5% for the 12 months ended July 2022 after rising 9.1% previously, the most since 1981.
With the cost of essentials like groceries and gas up due to inflation, the Better Business Bureau of Washington (BBB) said this is causing families to choose what expenses they can cover.
With the "back to school" season quickly approaching, the BBB is recommending families revisit their budget and make sure they are doing all they can to pay for essentials while inflation remains high.
“People at home should be taking a step back and looking at their 2021 bank and credit card statements. compare these to the first half of 2022," said BBB of Washington PR & Communications Manager Logan Hickle. "What trends are you seeing and how can you make some small adjustments to bring that back into control?”
Other tips to consider during this time is whether you should make a big purchase such as buying a car.
"There is a caveat there though if you leased that car many years ago, you've locked in that contract, meaning most likely a lower price many years ago and actually may be worth more," Hickle said. "You may want to dig into that, see if you should purchase that car.”
Consumers have noticed the higher prices for meat and fish at grocery stores, which has sparked another temporary step families can take.
“Now might be the time to cut back on some meat and try out a little bit heavier a vegetarian diet," Hickle said.
More budget recommendations from the BBB of Washington:
- Calculate your income
- Track your spending
- Categorize your spending
- Set up a budget
- Choose a budgeting system
- Pay down debt
- Pay bills on time
- Contribute to your retirement
- Save for the big things
- Build an emergency fund
For a full list of tips and tools from the BBB of Washington and links to budget and debt resources, click here. | https://www.krem.com/article/money/fighting-inflation-bbb-washington-budget/281-a57e8845-2735-48d8-b50a-5dca1700d818 | 2022-08-15T02:05:53Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/money/fighting-inflation-bbb-washington-budget/281-a57e8845-2735-48d8-b50a-5dca1700d818 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BOISE, Idaho — More than 100 Idahoans marched through the streets of Boise to protest against the state’s abortion laws that restrict accessibility.
The Idaho State Supreme Court announced Friday they will not continue to play a stay – effectively a pause – on Idaho’s abortion laws while Planned Parenthood challenges the legality of the same laws in court.
It’s a moment in history Kathryn McLaughlin has already seen.
“I did. 50 years ago,” McLaughlin told KTVB just before the march. “I was over there on Main Street marching with my sign.”
The marchers said they oppose Idaho’s abortion laws for personal, emotional, and even religious reasons.
Michal Voloshen attended the march; she’s Jewish.
“It’s against my religion to say abortion is illegal,” Voloshen said. “We're just going backwards. It worries me that women whose lives are in danger might not get the care they need, because it has to go through the courts first.”
Idaho’s abortion laws do provide exceptions for abortion including a case of rape, incest, or to save the mothers life. However, healthcare providers have told KTVB there is gray area in determining what qualifies as an exemption. That makes them hesitant to provide any abortion procedure in the first place.
“The men who are making these laws obviously have no idea what they are talking about,” Voloshen said.
Blaine Conzatti is the president of the Idaho Family Policy Center. He wrote the six-week heartbeat law, which is enforceable today as Idaho law.
“We’re saddened that there is this group of people within our society that have bought into the lies that abortion is healthcare and that abortion is the answer to a child. This is heartbreaking,” Conzetti said. “From a moral perspective, we know these children are children. The way we talk about babies when a woman gets pregnant is a perfect example. We talk about it as if it's a baby because it is a baby. We know it's a baby. Just talk to any mom who has felt the sting of a miscarriage or fetal demise. Talk to any family that hasn't been able to get pregnant. Just the way we talk about these things from a moral perspective indicate this is a child.”
The marchers in Boise Saturday night disagree with Conzatti.
“It's not a baby. It's a fetus. It's not capable of sustaining life,” Voloshen said. “Either way, the mother or parents have the right to decide that they want to do in those kinds of situations. It shouldn't be a law.”
However, it is a law, and 50 years later, McLaughlin picks up a sign and marches the same streets to fight for the same rights - all over again.
“They have absolutely no idea how an unwanted pregnancy can affect her family or the rest of her life,” McLaughlin said.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/100-march-through-boise-to-protest-idaho-abortion-laws/277-f678cba2-15b3-4670-9e8e-1e24848a1dbb | 2022-08-15T02:05:59Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/100-march-through-boise-to-protest-idaho-abortion-laws/277-f678cba2-15b3-4670-9e8e-1e24848a1dbb | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SPOKANE, Wash. — Early Saturday morning, 63-year-old Cynthia Macy was driving eastbound in the westbound lane on I-90 by Spokane International Airport.
According to Washington State Patrol, 21-year-old Gaige Lavoy and a fellow passenger were travelling westbound on the interstate when Macy swerved into and hit Lavoy's vehicle. He was pronounced dead on the scene. A passenger in his car went to the hospital.
The Springdale Frontier Days Rodeo Association posted on Facebook, sharing Lavoy was part of their rodeo family for more than four years and helped out wherever it was needed.
Another driver behind Lavoy, swerved and hit the front end of Macy's car. She was then transported to Deaconess Hospital.
Macy was transported to Deaconess Hospital and is charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular homicide. WSP said drugs and/or alcohol were involved in the crash. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/21-year-old-man-killed-in-head-on-collision-on-i-90/293-ba9e79e4-fd60-42ad-abfc-916fff4c949f | 2022-08-15T02:06:05Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/21-year-old-man-killed-in-head-on-collision-on-i-90/293-ba9e79e4-fd60-42ad-abfc-916fff4c949f | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman returned to the campaign trail Friday night at a packed rally in Erie, three months after suffering a stroke that made him less visible in the state but hasn't appeared to dull his momentum.
"Three months ago, my life could have ended but I'm so grateful to be here tonight as well," Fetterman said, thanking the crowd and his wife, Gisele, for their support.
"Gisele saved my life," he added.
Fetterman, a press spokesperson said, did not prepare remarks in advance of the rally. His return to the trail marked a significant step for the candidate, who has only headlined a fundraiser and informal campaign gatherings while recovering from the stroke, which happened just days before the commonwealth's Democratic primary.
Fetterman, Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, didn't spend a lot of time outlining his vision for the state or his policy goals during the roughly 11-minute address, beyond telling his supporters they would not have to guess his position on key issues like raising the federal minimum wage, protecting access to reproductive care, supporting unions and eliminating the filibuster. But he did take a few jabs at Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz, saying, "There are a lot of differences between me and Dr. Oz. Who would have ever thought I'd be the normal one?"
"He doesn't live here. He's not about us. He doesn't care about us," he later said.
At times, Fetterman's voice appeared to trail at the end of a thought. In an interview with CNN affiliate KDKA Thursday night, he acknowledged he's had some lingering issues from the stroke, including auditory processing problems. "I'll miss a word sometimes, or I might push two words together sometimes in a conversation, but that's really the only issue and it's getting better and better every day," he said.
Fetterman handily won the primary and has spent the ensuing months on his recovery as he looks toward the general election against Oz.
The Pennsylvania Senate race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey represents Democrats' best chance to pick up a seat in the evenly divided Senate during what is expected to be a trying midterm election for President Joe Biden's party.
Erie is a strategic spot for the Democratic candidate -- Erie County voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, then switched to Donald Trump in 2016 before swinging back to Democrats in 2020 by narrowly backing Biden. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, with Fetterman as his running mate, carried the county by more than 20 points in 2018.
"If you can't win Erie County, you can't win Pennsylvania," Fetterman said Friday to loud applause.
A long line of voters had gathered outside of the Bayfront Convention Center with an air of excitement before the candidate took the stage, eager to hear the Democrat speak.
Bonnie Casane, a resident of Erie who described herself as a "staunch supporter of Fetterman," told CNN she was previously an independent but re-registered as a Democrat to vote for Fetterman in the May primary election: "Fetterman was the party to switch to, so I switched to the Democratic Party."
"He's for Pennsylvania, he's not a politician. He doesn't have an agenda, and I think that his agenda is to better Pennsylvania," Casane said, adding that legalizing marijuana, part of Fetterman's platform, is one of her top priorities.
Mike Dropcho, a retired x-ray technician and former union member, told CNN he likes that Fetterman is "down to earth."
"He's not some celebrity that's just in it for who knows what," Dropcho said. "He appears to me to be somebody that's for the people. He's one of us."
Asked about Fetterman's health and his return to the campaign trail Friday, Dropcho said he was confident Fetterman would make a return.
"After working in the medical field for so long and seeing the reports, I knew he was going to pull out okay," he said.
Despite being off the campaign trail for much of the summer, Fetterman outraised Oz in the second quarter -- bringing in nearly $11 million for the three months ended June 30 compared with about $5.5 million, including $3.2 million in personal loans, for his opponent. Fetterman has also used a barrage of television ads and digital strategies to try to define the celebrity doctor as an out-of-state figure who moved to Pennsylvania from New Jersey to run for Senate.
Most recently, the campaign paid to run a billboard on the New Jersey side of the Betsy Ross Bridge, outside of Philadelphia. "Now leaving New Jersey for Pennsylvania ... just like Dr. Oz," the billboard reads.
Oz's response -- or lack thereof -- set off alarm bells within the Republican Party.
A Fox poll released in late July found Fetterman leading Oz by 11 points -- 47% to 36%. The poll also found that Oz supporters were far less enthusiastic than Fetterman backers, with 68% of the Democrat's supporters saying they did so enthusiastically, compared with 35% for Oz's backers.
The Oz campaign has targeted Fetterman's recent time away from public campaigning.
In a video posted in July, Oz notes that "Fetterman is back on the campaign trail" as he laces up his shoes to go on a run.
"I've been praying for him. I am glad he is OK. ... Now that he is back, John Fetterman can't keep hiding from voters forever," Oz says as he jogs. "I am glad Fetterman is healthy so we can worry less about his heart and his hoodie and more about the crazy leftist ideas in his head."
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/so-grateful-to-be-here-tonight-john-fetterman-returns-to-campaign-trail-after-suffering-stroke/article_1e5b6164-357d-5438-acaf-59b2cf96f21b.html | 2022-08-15T02:06:45Z | local3news.com | control | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/so-grateful-to-be-here-tonight-john-fetterman-returns-to-campaign-trail-after-suffering-stroke/article_1e5b6164-357d-5438-acaf-59b2cf96f21b.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Simpson County kicks off back to school with Prayer Walk
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Members of the Franklin, Kentucky community spent this afternoon praying in the various schools in the city for the 5th annual Prayer Walk.
“We’re going not only just in the high school or the middle school, but every single school and even sports facilities where the kids will be after school. So like, it’s all encompassing. It’s everywhere the students are going to be,” said volunteer and student minister, Lily Hunter.
Volunteers prayed over lockers, in classrooms, and even in the school bathrooms for the safety and prosperity of everyone involved with the school.
“We pray for each student that’s here and their accomplishments, the teachers and their compassion for the students,” said David Webster, chairman for the Board of Simpson County Schools, “As far as what I would want to do, it’s just each person gets to pray in their own way.”
The event was open to any religions, all that was needed was to show up.
“I love that everyone is invited. Regardless of what church you go to, regardless of how you worship, everyone is a part of what we’re doing here today,” Hunter said.
Many students enjoy, and some even participate, in the walk to help their schools.
“They all like it, they enjoy it. They know they can participate if they want to. But they look forward to it. I think they look for the prayers because they want the prayers,” Webster said.
Overall, the goal is to keep to help manifest safety and security for those involved with the school and the school year as a whole.
“Have a safe community, a safe place for them to come and learn, a safe place for them to come and eat, have nutrition and to be around other students that love and cherish their education,” Webster added.
School will begin Wednesday, August 17th for Simpson County Schools.
More information on the district can be found online.
Copyright 2022 WBKO. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbko.com/2022/08/15/simpson-county-kicks-off-back-school-with-prayer-walk/ | 2022-08-15T02:06:51Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/2022/08/15/simpson-county-kicks-off-back-school-with-prayer-walk/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MELBOURNE, Australia, Aug. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Orcoda Limited (ASX: ODA) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Teaming Agreement with Teletrac Navman Group to integrate and cross-sell each other's products to their respective customers.
Orcoda Logistics Management System ("OLMS") and Orcoda Workforce Logistics System ("OWLS") are Orcoda's world-leading proprietary transport management systems for mobility optimisation. They book, organise, connect and optimise people, parcels and goods with the assets they travel in and on. The platforms manage asset logistics for large workforces and the transport fleets of our enterprise customers using true optimisation algorithms and Artificial Intelligence. The integration of OLMS via API to the Teletrac Navman platform brings significant advantages to their clients and ours, such as enhanced vehicle and workforce utilisation, administrative efficiencies, improved economics, risk reduction and better customer service.
With Teletrac Navman's global client base of over 40,000 companies and their substantial dealer network, Orcoda anticipates that this agreement will have a positive impact on revenue. The Orcoda and Teletrac teams are already in discussion with several potential new clients and we look forward to the new opportunities this will bring for both companies.
About Teletrac Navman
Teletrac Navman is a leading global telematic system and software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider leveraging location-based technology and services for managing mobile assets. Teletrac Navman's specialised solutions for fleet and asset management deliver greater visibility into real-time insights and analytics to help companies make better business decisions that enhance productivity and profitability.
- Teletrac Navman's technology currently tracks more than 500,000 vehicles owned by over 40,000 organisations on six continents, making it one of the world's largest fleet management software solutions providers. The company, headquartered in Glenview, IL, has offices in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.
- Teletrac Navman is owned by Vontier, a Fortune 500 global industrial technology company which was spun off from Fortive in 2020. Vontier is focused on smarter transportation and mobility. Their portfolio is built on market-leading expertise in mobility technologies, retail and commercial fueling, fleet management, vehicle diagnostics and maintenance, and smart cities. Together, we are mobilising the future to create a better world. Visit Vontier.com for more information
Teletrac Navman Integrations Product Manager, Mats Dahlstedt, said: "We are excited about our teaming agreement with Orcoda. We believe there is significant cross-selling opportunities for Teletrac Navman and Orcoda with our integrated product solutions, from within our existing customer base worldwide and for bringing on new customers into our integrated solution. It is my belief that Orcoda's mobility optimization platforms and transport management systems are very unique and offer benefits to our joint customers."
Orcoda Managing Director, Geoff Jamieson, said: "Following Orcoda and Teletrac Navmans first contract win with our integrated telematics and mobility optimisation solution through a Teletrac Navman dealer, we are currently in active dialogues with a number of Teletrac Navman dealers and have a number of prospective customers with our integrated product solutions, and I am optimistic about further joint contract wins in the months ahead."
About Orcoda
Spokesperson available for comment:
Geoff Jamieson, Managing Director at Orcoda
E: gjamieson@orcoda.com
M: +61 4 17 778 862
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-jamieson-maicd-5456537b/
For more information please contact:
Susan Dobell, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at Orcoda.
E: sdobell@orcoda.com
M: +61 4 04 988 860
View original content:
SOURCE Orcoda Limited | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/15/teaming-agreement-signed-between-orcoda-asxoda-teletrac-navman/ | 2022-08-15T02:11:13Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/15/teaming-agreement-signed-between-orcoda-asxoda-teletrac-navman/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Colorado River at drought tipping point
Officials warn a forecast downpour that has some 7 million people on flood watch Sunday won't be enough to stave off the need for drastic water cuts as the Colorado River's depleted reservoirs sink to near-crisis levels.
Driving the news: As the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for an area covering from Arizona to Wyoming, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has given Western states that rely on the Colorado River Basin for water supplies until Tuesday to outline how they plan to make cuts.
Why it matters: If authorities in the affected states of California, Arizona, and Nevada in the Lower Basin and Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah in the Upper Basin fail come to come up with their own agreement by then, the Interior Department will step in.
- Bureau of Reclamation chief Camille Calimlim Touton has warned that "immediate action" is needed to avoid a water supply crisis in the region next year.
Yes, but: Negotiations on water cuts among the Colorado River's Lower Basin authorities have yet to produce an agreement.
Our thought bubble: The Southwest continues to benefit from an active monsoon season, which is helping ease short-term drought conditions in New Mexico, parts of Nevada, and southern Colorado.
- However, it is not making a dent nor is it expected to, in the long-term, historic drought and water woes in the Colorado River Basin.
Context: The Southwest is mired in its worst drought of at least the past 1,200 years, which studies tie in large part to global warming.
- The megadrought has plunged the nation's two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, to historic lows.
By the numbers: Between 2 million acre-feet and 4 million acre-feet of additional conservation is needed just to protect critical levels in 2023, according to Touton.
- Officials believe up to a third of the Colorado River's flows need to be urgently conserved in order to avoid a crisis at Lake Powell, per Politico.
Threat level: "The Colorado River Basin is in the 23rd year of a historic drought. Both Lake Powell and Lake Mead — the two largest reservoirs in the United States — are at historically low levels with a combined storage capacity of 28% of capacity," Touton said at a U.S. Senate hearing in June.
The bottom line: "While Reclamation and its partners have been successful in conserving water in Lake Mead and Colorado River System reservoirs, more needs to be done as the system reaches critically low water levels," Touton told the senators. "The system is at a tipping point."
Go deeper: Colorado River ranked as "most endangered" in the nation | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/15/southwest-water-cuts-deadline-colorado-river-drought | 2022-08-15T02:12:18Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/15/southwest-water-cuts-deadline-colorado-river-drought | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
We had one such visit just prior:\nJERUSALEMMark\nIt would appear you'er an Englishman by your comment.... \"We can expect nothing\".\nIsrael exists to take away more then your homes. So if someones wants their house let then they can try to buy it but there have no house but its in our hearts no houses, only Land as is commanded of Israel when HaShem God makes known of these peeps Israel.. 84 nations (WXYZ) — Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Lapeer, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair counties following Saturday's water main break near the Great Lakes Water Authority’s (GLWA) Lake Huron Water Treatment facility.
The break resulted in a Boil Water Advisory for several communities.
The remaining communities still under the advisory include: the Village of Almont, Bruce Township, Burtchville Township, City of Imlay, City of Rochester, Shelby Township, Washington Township, as well as one business in Greenwood and one business in Imlay Township.
RELATED: Update: GLWA boil water advisory now in 7 communities, water pressure restored in all counties
“We are drawing on every resource we have and taking every action necessary to get impacted families the help they need,” said Governor Whitmer. “On Saturday, I activated the State Emergency Operations Center to coordinate our response efforts, and with today’s state of emergency declaration, we are ensuring that state resources will be available as long as the impacted communities need them. In times of crisis, Michiganders stand together. We will do what it takes to get through this.”
By declaring a state of emergency, Governor Whitmer has made all state resources available.
The declaration also authorizes the Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division (MSP/EMHSD) to coordinate and maximize state efforts to assist residents.
According to Whitmer's office, EMHSD district coordinators are already on scene with local emergency management officials and supporting local emergency operation centers.
SEOC personnels are also monitoring the situation and working with state and local officials, as well as private sector partners, to ensure any resource needs are met. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/whitmer-declares-state-of-emergency-for-lapeer-macomb-oakland-st-clair-counties-following-water-main-break | 2022-08-15T02:16:12Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/whitmer-declares-state-of-emergency-for-lapeer-macomb-oakland-st-clair-counties-following-water-main-break | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Authorities Identify Man Who Drove into U.S. Capitol Barrier, Shot Himself
A violently chaotic scene unfolded early Sunday morning at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.
A violently chaotic scene unfolded early Sunday morning at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.
Police told the Associated Press 29-year-old Richard A. York III rammed his car into a barrier on East Capitol Street. It went up in flames before he started firing shots into the air at about 4 a.m. It ended when the man fatally shot himself.
No one else was hurt.
Authorities say they do not think the man was there to target any members of Congress, who are away on summer break.
Capitol police say the man is from Delaware. At this point, they say it's unclear why he did it and why he chose that location. Capitol police are looking into York’s background, while Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police handle his death investigation.
This comes more than a year after the deadly January 6th 2021 insurrection and as the federal investigation heats up over highly classified documents former President Donald Trump reportedly removed from the White House and took to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Thousands of people who falsely believed the 2020 presidential election win was stolen away from Trump stormed the capitol, threatened lawmakers and said they’d intended to kill then Vice President Mike Pence for certifying the election results that had been verified several times.
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Crime | https://www.insideedition.com/authorities-identify-man-who-drove-into-us-capitol-barrier-shot-himself-76392 | 2022-08-15T02:17:13Z | insideedition.com | control | https://www.insideedition.com/authorities-identify-man-who-drove-into-us-capitol-barrier-shot-himself-76392 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
California Laundromat Owners Pick Up and Move to Alabama After 12 Break-Ins in 6 Months
Derek Thoms said it was the last straw when thieves came to his home and tried to steal his truck.
For more than a generation, Derek Thoms and his family have owned a number of successful laundromats in California's Bay Area.
But after a string of 12 break-ins targeting his businesses over the last six months, Thoms has had enough.
In January, a truck smashed into the front of the store so thieves could steal the ATM.
“That used to be a crime that would probably happen around 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning. They did it at 7 a.m.,” Thoms said.
Even with all the video evidence, Thoms says nothing has been done.
“Within a week, they stole $5,000 of quarters and ruined an $11,000 change machine,” Thoms said.
The frustrated business owner says it was the last straw when thieves came to his home and tried to steal his truck. A doorbell camera captured Thoms almost tripping as he gave chase with his dogs in tow.
Fed up, Thoms asked his family, as well as his brother and his family, and his mom and dad if they all wanted to move to Alabama.
They all packed up and moved more than 2,000 miles away from the Bay Area to Muscle Shoals.
Even with lots more room with a big new house, Thoms’ wife, Skylar, admits their new location is a bit of a culture shock.
“Definitely very, very hard, but the right decision,” Skylar said.
They plan on opening up new laundromats in Alabama. The ones in California are up for sale but haven’t found any takers.
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Crime | https://www.insideedition.com/california-laundromat-owners-pick-up-and-move-to-alabama-after-12-break-ins-in-6-months-76377 | 2022-08-15T02:17:19Z | insideedition.com | control | https://www.insideedition.com/california-laundromat-owners-pick-up-and-move-to-alabama-after-12-break-ins-in-6-months-76377 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
How Artists Are Turning Destruction Caused by Russia's Attack on Ukraine Into Inspirational Art
Although the project is meant to be positive, critics feel that creating beauty from war wreckage is wrong. But artists say they’ve received more positive feedback than negative, and want what they’re doing to help artists through this difficult time.
Various artists from Ukraine and the U.S. are creating beauty amidst some of the destruction caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
They’ve taken a pile of burnt-out cars destroyed on a bridge during the attacks and turned it into a “garden” of sunflowers.
For these artists, it’s a symbol of resilience.
"There's thankfulness of the people who come here, people that have lost their close ones. We cry together, we hug each other, they thank us. This is unbelievable,” Ukrainian artist Olena Yanko said. “It gives you wings and you understand that you need to do this, that the people need it. You give hope to them, hope for our victory. We're strong as a sunflower because the sunflower is the strongest flower."
Although the project is meant to be positive, critics feel that creating beauty from war wreckage is wrong. But artists say they’ve received more positive feedback than negative, and want what they’re doing to help artists through this difficult time.
"Yes, there are people who didn’t understand us, They think that we are dancing on the graves of those who died," Yanko said, "But we want to show that life will go on, we will win and we can beat the enemy, whether it’s with a paintbrush or with weapons."
Authorities also stressed that no human lives were lost in these cars.
The U.S. company Liquitex, and various local distributors, have donated supplies to help with the project. The collective plans on raising money for local charities by selling the art as NTFs.
Those involved look forward to bringing this project to other cities in Ukraine so places destroyed by war can be transformed into beautiful art.
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Salman Rushdie Taken Off Ventilator, is Speaking and ‘Joking’
On Twitter Sunday, Rushdie’s son, Zafar, broke his public silence on his father’s brutal attack.
Surviving grim injuries after he was attacked on Friday, author Salman Rushdie was reportedly taken off a ventilator, breathing on his own and even joking around by Sunday.
On Twitter Sunday, Rushdie’s son, Zafar, broke his public silence on his father’s brutal attack.
“My father remains in critical condition in hospital receiving extensive ongoing medical treatment. We are extremely relieved that yesterday he was taken off the ventilator and [with] additional oxygen and he was able to say a few words. Though his life changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty & defiant sense of humour remains intact."
Zafar went on to thank doctors, police, first responders and bystanders for rushing to his father’s aid.
This comes after “The Satanic Verses” author was on stage Friday, set to give a lecture to a crowd at the Chautauqua Institute, when authorities say 24-year-old Hadi Matar rushed the stage and stabbed him repeatedly. Doctors say the 75-year-old author will lose an eye. He also suffered a damaged liver, several stab wounds to his stomach, severed nerves in his arm.
At an arraignment Saturday, Madi pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury with a deadly weapon. He was denied bail.
Officials are investigating whether the decades-old fatwa the Ayatollah Khomeini placed on Rushdie for his writings, seen by many in the Muslim world as controversial, was the motivation for the attack. There has been a $3 million bounty on Rushdie’s head since the 1980s.
His attorney, Nathaniel Barone told CNN Madi is cooperating.
Madi’s next court appearance is on Friday.
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Spiders Can Dream While Sleeping, Researchers Suggest
German researchers say jumping spiders, while asleep, can fall into an REM cycle, the same sort of deep dream-like sleep with rapid eye movement that humans do.
If you see a spider sitting still, your first instinct may be to smash it, but scientists say the spider may be dreaming.
German researchers say jumping spiders, while asleep, can fall into an REM cycle, the same sort of deep dream-like sleep with rapid eye movement that humans do.
"They have little bursts of activity throughout the night that reoccur pretty regularly, and the durations are also very regular,” behavioral ecologist Daniela Roessler, the report’s author, CBS News.
Jumping spiders were observed while taking 8-legged naps with night vision cameras, but unfortunately that doesn’t let us know what they were dreaming about.
"So, I personally do think that they're experiencing visual dreams, but it will be very difficult to prove that scientifically,” Roessler said.
Jamie Mitchell, senior keeper of invertebrates at the London Zoo, had a theory about what the arthropods could be dreaming about while sleeping.
"I would imagine they're going to be dreaming about flies, probably,” Mitchell said.
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It’s obvious to anyone looking at Mabton’s old high school that it has seen better days.
With boarded-up windows and graffiti-tagged walls, the building sits in a weed-choked lot surrounded by chain-link fencing meant to deter vandals and trespassers. It looks like the epitome of urban blight, despite attempts to try to repurpose the building.
But the school, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985, was a symbol of the city’s prosperity in the early 20th century, an indicator that the community had arrived and was open for business.
Mabton started out as a section house on the eastern edge of the Yakama Nation reservation for maintenance workers on the Northern Pacific Railway in the 1880s. A section house is a building or house-like structure near a section of railroad that’s used to house railroad workers or store equipment.
Station agent Sam P. Flower saw potential in the area and opened a general store, which also housed a post office for the area.
The area’s growth was further spurred by the creation of the Sunnyside Canal, which made farming more profitable in the area, and attracted more people to the growing community.
The first school, a frame schoolhouse, opened in 1895.
Mabton was incorporated Nov. 7, 1905, and continued to grow. Wooden boardwalks — a feature of many a western town — were replaced with concrete sidewalks.
Another way city officials showed off the community’s prosperity was in the construction of the high school, which was built in 1911. At that time, the city’s population was almost 1,000 people.
The school district purchased land from the Mabton Orchard Co. for $900 in gold coins — $27,082 when adjusted for inflation.
The community wasn’t going to settle for just a plain schoolhouse. Built in the Mission Revival style that was popular at the time, the 2½-story brick structure had an arched entryway.
Inside, the building had seven classrooms and an auditorium. The building’s total cost was $30,000 — $902,756 in today’s currency.
By 1913, the school had a fully accredited four-year curriculum with a staff of nine teachers. The school remained in use as a high school until the mid-1960s, with 52 classes graduating from the school.
But Mabton’s fortunes started failing decades earlier.
First, improvements in railroads and irrigation shifted the economic balance of power to Sunnyside and Grandview for the Lower Valley. The Inland Empire Highway, which ran closer to Sunnyside than Mabton, did not help Mabton’s fortunes.
A 1926 fire destroyed several buildings in the city’s business district, which put the city on its heels, with many leaving the city when the Great Depression further sapped the city’s economic power.
The city would start to show signs of recovery after World War II, as new farming techniques and crops made agriculture profitable in the area.
In the 1960s, the high school was repurposed as an elementary school after a new high school was built.
In 1977, the district sold the building to the Mabton Historical Society for $7,800 — $36,123 after adjustment for inflation — to maintain and preserve the building.
The building was purchased in 2002 by Mabton Historic LLC, a partnership between Seattle developer Paul Purcell and architect Les Tonkin. Purcell envisioned the building housing a wine bistro, shop and a bed-and-breakfast for tourists coming to Central Washington’s wine country.
The plan fell through because, as Purcell put it, it was “too far away from the action” in wine country. His other plans to use it for residential or retail space also fell flat because it was too remote to attract potential users or customers.
Like many old, unused buildings, it became a target of vandals who spray-painted graffiti inside and out, and even set a fire inside.
In September 2015, a so-called “ghosthunter” from Yakima was arrested there after he drew a BB pistol and confronted Richland High School students who also sneaked inside the building, demanding their belongings and striking one of them with the gun. Christopher William Sutley later pleaded guilty to third-degree assault for the incident.
In 2016, the city proposed buying the building to serve as a new city hall, as well as a library, museum, community center and senior citizen center, and a “hospitality incubator” that would train people to work with restaurants.
Those plans never came to fruition, and the most recent proposal that would have brought the high school back to the building was dropped due to the expense of upgrading the edifice in favor of expanding the current junior senior high school. | https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/happened/it-happened-here-mabton-high-school-built-during-citys-prosperity/article_69bd7ab8-1ab5-11ed-9286-a31f560920d1.html | 2022-08-15T02:22:25Z | yakimaherald.com | control | https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/happened/it-happened-here-mabton-high-school-built-during-citys-prosperity/article_69bd7ab8-1ab5-11ed-9286-a31f560920d1.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Why People ‘Sigh’ – And Why Others Find It Annoying
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Sometimes, emotions come with a sound. The most versatile and intuitive among them is the sigh: it is vocal every now and then, conveying inexplicable fatigue. Some might sigh at the prospect of 50 open tabs sitting in front of them. Other times, the sigh abandons all letters, and exists simply as breath exhaled loudly and quickly. Maybe a sigh at the promise of a long weekend.
The sigh is an utterance rich in meaning. There’s also some value to be found in it; we sigh not only as the direct climax of emotions, but also because the physical body sees it as an involuntary action that aids lung function.
A sigh can be a “fundamental life-sustaining reflex,” according to a 2016 study published in Nature. The researchers traced the root of sighs back to the nerve cells in the brain’s stem region, which are responsible for regulating our sleep, heart rate, and breathing. “Sighing appears to be regulated by the fewest numbers of neurons we have seen linked to fundamental human behavior,” said Jack Feldman, a neurobiologist at University College Los Angeles and one of the authors of the study.
This breathing center controls the type of breath we take too. “It’s made up of small numbers of different kinds of neurons. Each functions like a button that turns on a different type of breath. One button programs regular breaths, another sighs, and the others could be for yawns, sniffs, coughs, and maybe even laughs and cries,” said one of the researchers, Mark Krasnow, from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Since a sigh is essentially an extra breath, it helps to preserve lung function. ScienceAlert described this neural system as a “sigh” button in the human body.
In other words, there are clusters of neurons in the brain stem that turn normal breaths into sighs, picking up on when the lungs need some extra help. And humans are programmed to sigh a lot (roughly a dozen times in an hour), irrespective of what they may be thinking about. An unread mail, a plan canceled, a piece of good news — a sigh rises indiscriminately to each prospect.
Related on The Swaddle:
Why Stress Makes the Most Empathetic People Less Kind
Sighing also shares a rewarding relationship with relief. Science so far has agreed on the premise of “sigh of relief”; there is a sense of catharsis, of repose, that comes with a sigh too. An experiment on rats found their sighing increased when they stop receiving electric shocks. Similarly, human participants in a study were subjected to loud and stressful noise continuously; when the auditory onslaught stopped, they sighed more.
Interestingly, sighs could lead to relief too; in that it could be a tangible way to trigger feelings of emotional and physiological relief, reflecting the idea that it serves as a physical and mental reset of sorts. In a 2016 study, participants were asked to take deep breaths after flipping through disturbing images. Those who sighed intermittently felt a certain relief, in that their physiological tension was reduced, more in comparison to people who held their breaths in.
Of course, there’s something such as too much sighing too. “…when people sigh excessively, they risk hyperventilating, and thus having chronically low levels of carbon dioxide in the body. This state of ‘hypocapnia’ causes widespread symptoms in the body, such as lightheadedness, palpitations, feelings of anxiety, breathlessness, and pain,” noted Elke Vlemincx, an assistant professor of health sciences in the Netherlands. A sigh promises short-term relief — a reflex to cope with tumult, perhaps — but chasing sighing as a way of recovery ends up doing more damage in the long term.
But all said and done, a sigh doesn’t always translate well. Research more than one has suggested that people who listen to a sigh associate the sound with a negative mood — chiefly interpreting it as a sign of defeat, disappointment, boredom, frustration, and longing. Take this passage from In Much Ado About Nothing, women here are sighing over frustration with men’s infidelity.
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever, One foot in sea, and one on shore, To one thing constant never. Then sigh not so, but let them go, And be you blithe and bonny, Converting all your sounds of woe Into hey nonny nonny.
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Why Seeing Others Fidget Is Stressful for Some People
Arguably, sighs don’t always translate well. In 2000, American politician Al Gore made the fatal mistake of sighing too much at a presidential debate. His loud and histrionic sigh set off a discussion about why he was sighing so much; political pundits rushed to look at his history of sighing in the last 10 years. One expert despondently counted that there were 18 sighs in a single debate. People were annoyed because it portrayed Gore as childish and whimsical.
The merits of this scrutiny aside, sighing is often seen as an expression of negative feelings, and judgment is harsh on one who repeatedly airs their “negativity” by way of sounds. People, in general, are programmed to focus more on negative things and clues in life in general — which may explain why Gore’s sighs held the spotlight in the 2000 debate.
Moreover, sighs also come with a sense of superiority that makes it harder to perceive the person kindly. Imagine the sigh of a teacher, or a parent, at a badly-scored exam. The disappointment and frustration singed deep within, makes the sigh particularly grating.
The question then lingers: is the point of a sigh linked to why we do it, or how is it perceived by others?
Arguably, a sigh is a language of its own — allowing a conversation with the self to play out entirely without words. There is intrigue and mystery; an emotion, be it sadness or solace that grows until it lets out by way of a sound. In Naked Truths and Veiled Allusions, American author Minna Antrim famously remarked that the drama of life begins with a wail and ends with a sigh. A sigh can mean something and nothing all at once. | https://theswaddle.com/why-people-sigh-and-why-others-find-it-annoying/ | 2022-08-15T02:23:52Z | theswaddle.com | control | https://theswaddle.com/why-people-sigh-and-why-others-find-it-annoying/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Congratulations to the St. Louis Surge on celebrating its 10th anniversary as a women’s professional basketball franchise.
Thanks to the vision and hard work of owner Khalia Collier, the Surge has managed to cut their own niche in the St. Louis sports landscape. They play an exciting brand of basketball and the young women have become role models to a lot of young fans in the area. They are constantly in the hunt for national championships while also building a very loyal fan base along the way.
I can still remember my first meeting with Collier a decade ago when she was about to become an owner of the Surge. It was set up by the late, great Rich Gray, a man who was a definite mover and shaker in the St. Louis sports scene.
Rich: “Hey Earl, I need you to come over to my office. I’ve got a young lady here that I want you to meet. She’s going to own a women’s professional basketball team in St. Louis, and I want you to talk to her.”
Me: “What?!”
Rich: “Yeah, you need to do a story on her.”
That was how Rich operated. That was when I found myself in his office face to face with this young lady who just a year or two out of college. After meeting with her and listening to her vision of what she was going to do as a new owner, I was blown away with her plans for her new franchise.
At the time, Khalia was working at a car dealership that was across the street from a restaurant where I usually hang out with a group of guys that became known as the “St. Louis Basketball Mafia.” We just sit around and talk about basketball during these lunch-time sessions, often getting into real arguments. We always sat at “Table No. 35.”
What we also liked to do was bring in guests from the basketball community and treat them to lunch and talk ball with them. I had the idea to bring Khalia over to join us for lunch and she was glad to come over to talk about the Surge.
Now, this is group is full of old curmudgeonly types who are not easy to impress. What would they think about a young 23-year-old woman talking about owning a professional women’s basketball team in St. Louis. It turns out there was nothing to be concerned about. By the time the time we were done, Khalia had owned Table 35 like the boss she was. The old dudes were just as blown away by her as I was during that first meeting in Rich’s office. It was at that point that I knew this was a wrap. Khalia was going to be successful in this endeavor. And anything else she chose to do.
So, when that first season rolled around in 2011, I find myself serving as the public address announcer for the Surge’s home games. I don’t know if that was Rich or Khalia that talked me into that. Anyway, it was a blast. The games were fun, the players were great, and Khalia had already created a great game-day atmosphere for the fans all ages and backgrounds.
Everything about a Surge basketball game had a positive vibe about it. You could see the attendance growing with each game because folks who were in attendance for the first time were coming back and bringing their friends with them.
Now, just fast forward to a decade later and the Surge are still going strong. In their final home game of the season two weeks ago at Washington University, they had a record crowd for their franchise. There is star power on the floor and on the bench with a definite local flavor.
The head coach is Petra Jackson, a former star player at University City and Hall of Famer at Southern Illinois. She is assisted by Justin Tatum, who was a standout player at CBC and Saint Louis U. and now a great coach at his high school alma mater.
The team features top local talent such as Sug Sutton (Parkway North), Shug Dickson (Lutheran North) and Brittany Carter (Incarnate Word). All three were high school stars and former NCAA Division I players. And to show how things have come full circle for the franchise, another local player on the team is Abbey Hoff, who also played an Incarnate Word. Hoff was a regular at Surge home games during her middle school and high school years. Now, she gets to put on the Surge uniform.
That’s what it all about. | https://www.stlamerican.com/a-positive-vibe/article_de7b2d14-1c04-11ed-b256-e750296609f1.html | 2022-08-15T02:24:57Z | stlamerican.com | control | https://www.stlamerican.com/a-positive-vibe/article_de7b2d14-1c04-11ed-b256-e750296609f1.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Q. Rodney Childers wasn't kidding last week when he told me, I feel better about our shot at Richmond than I do at Michigan. Last week he celebrated with his daughter Piper. Today he gets to celebrate with his crew here in front of the Richmond fans at the start-finish line. Kevin Harvick in Victory Lane for the second week in a row. In all honesty, did you see back-to-back wins coming from this 4 team? I know you said last week if you doubt us you don't know us, but did you see back-to-back wins before the regular season ended?
KEVIN HARVICK: You know, I didn't know. It's like I said last week, the cars have been running good week in and week out, and you see that we have a lot better understanding of what's going on with how we adjusted on the car after the first run and were able to get our car handling a lot better.
I think as it got dark, the racetrack really came to our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang. Just got to thank Mobil, Busch Light, GearWrench, Hunt Brothers, Rheem, Ford, Xfinity, Morton Buildings, E-Z-Go, everybody who helps Stewart Haas on this 4 car.
Q. It's maybe a good thing it wasn't 4:01. Did you see Christopher Bell coming, and were you getting a little bit worried there?
KEVIN HARVICK: Well, I knew he was coming, but I forgot to shift down the front straightaway the last time. I was not paying attention and he got closer than he should have. I made a mistake there a couple laps doing the same thing. I wasn't shifting on the back and I was shifting in the front. There was a lot going on, and made a couple mistakes, let him get too close.
Q. With this level of momentum for you and the 4 team, how dangerous can this team be in the playoffs?
KEVIN HARVICK: We're just going to keep doing the things that we're doing. I think we just have to keep an open mind about things and keep progressing and keep understanding the car, understanding what we could have done better today, understanding what we could have done better in qualifying yesterday and do the same thing over and over. I want to say hi to Piper and Keelan, Delana and everybody at home.
NASCAR PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72058-transcripts-kevin-harvick-frontstretch-interview-richmond-raceway | 2022-08-15T02:26:33Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72058-transcripts-kevin-harvick-frontstretch-interview-richmond-raceway | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Q. He had about 12 lap newer tires on that run than Kevin Harvick and it came down to maybe just needing a corner more, Christopher Bell, to get the win. What more did you need on that run to beat Kevin?
CHRISTOPHER BELL: Yeah, I don't know, I got held up a little bit there on the front side, and I guess when you're splitting hairs like that, that probably cost me the race.
That's two races in a row here at Richmond. At the beginning of the year we kind of had that same strategy and barely missed fifth coming to the line, and today it was the win.
Really, really proud of Adam Stevens, this entire 20 group. The Rheem Camry didn't feel very good at the beginning and we had our fair share of troubles, and pit crew really came through at the end there with some blazing stops and allowed us to get in front of the 11 who was on the same strategy as us and get up there and contend.
Q. You spun out, you had a pit road penalty, and then I saw you taking a look at the right front of the race car. What were you looking at there?
CHRISTOPHER BELL: Yeah, I fenced it early on whenever I was running really high, so I was just looking at that. Definitely an eventful day. Richmond has been a place that's been so good to me. Very thankful for the opportunity to be at Joe Gibbs Racing, racing for the win like that. Hopefully we can carry this momentum forward.
NASCAR PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72059-transcripts-christopher-bell-frontstretch-interview-richmond-raceway | 2022-08-15T02:26:40Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72059-transcripts-christopher-bell-frontstretch-interview-richmond-raceway | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Q. It was almost second, it was almost a win. How close were you?
CHRIS BUESCHER: Really close. Everyone on our Fastenal Mustang did such a tremendous job overnight because we didn't know we were in this position yesterday. I didn't qualify real well, and everyone worked hard and had a fantastic race car today.
I think it's a little easy with this format to feel like third place doesn't matter, but it's nice to be close and to keep progressing and getting better as we've gotten through the summer. Really neat to finish here. Really proud of everybody.
Just burned the rear tires up. Ultimately that's on me. Lap traffic didn't do us any favors, either, but ultimately just got to keep the rears under us a little bit better so we can have a little bit better shot there to get after him for the win.
Q. Tell us what you see from the inside because we've been watching this organization, some changes this year, and not great results, and then lately it's been like, okay, maybe they are here. What have you been seeing lately?
CHRIS BUESCHER: You know, it's not really fair to just look at results because at the beginning of the year we didn't fire off as good as we thought. We didn't have the improvement. It took us a few months, but we've had three or maybe four months now of really solid runs, really good speed, ever since Dover really, that we've been really close. We've had some bad luck, had some mistakes that I've got to clean up.
We've made progress through all of it. The results don't always show it. We were running really well at the 600 and we ended up upside down. There's no doubt in my mind we could have competed for a win at the Indy Road Course and we were on fire. We're making highlight reels for all the wrong reasons.
We've been fast in those processes, though. We just have to put it all together to show those results like we did here today.
Q. You've got a road course and Daytona coming up. What do you think?
CHRIS BUESCHER: I'm excited. I'm ready for the win.
NASCAR PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72060-transcripts-chris-buescher-frontstretch-interview-richmond-raceway | 2022-08-15T02:26:46Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72060-transcripts-chris-buescher-frontstretch-interview-richmond-raceway | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Christopher Bell (second) was the highest finishing Toyota in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. Bell was followed to the checkered flag by Denny Hamlin (fourth), Martin Truex Jr. (seventh) and Kyle Busch (ninth) also in the top-10.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Richmond Raceway
Race 24 of 36 – 300 miles, 400 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kevin Harvick*
2nd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
3rd, Chris Buescher*
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, Chase Elliott*
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
9th, KYLE BUSCH
13th, BUBBA WALLACE
36th, TY GIBBS
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What else did you need to catch Kevin Harvick in the final laps?
“I got held up pretty bad at the beginning of the run by a couple slower cars and that was ultimately the difference when you get beat by a couple car lengths. Just really fun and really fun race when you have different strategies and you have guys coming and going. I love whenever the races stay green and you’re able to play your cards a little bit different. Really proud of everyone on this 20 crew to be able to come back from how we started. Very tough weekend for us. We didn’t practice very well and we didn’t qualify very well. And the guys did a really good job getting this Rheem Camry up front and where we needed to be at the end.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How did you feel about the strategy your team put forth today?
“We had the winning strategy. I think we played it great. The fall-off was nearly as great those last couple runs, really for the last 100 when the track was shaded over. So I thought that going long was actually the right play and the team did a great job with that call for sure and just had a slow stop on that last one. We ended up three-and-a-half second behind.”
Did the timing of your last stop make sense with the strategy?
“It was the perfect time. I knew that when we pitted there, the gap that we had to the cars that were on fresh tires, I knew that we were going to come out on the same straightaway with them on much fresher tires. It was the race call and the winning call, just didn’t execute on stuff and just a little hiccup.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
How was your race car today?
“We were looking okay, and in a good spot just coming up through there working our way methodically through the field with our M&M’s Toyota Camry, and we got ‘Chastained’ this week. We were his victim this week. And then that didn't hurt us too bad. We restarted back in a decent spot. But then the next spin I think, was Christopher (Bell). That allowed the guys that were around us that we were kind of racing some of our team guys to come get tires and then they had 10 fresher laps on tires the whole rest of the day. So that kind of hurt us if we would have been on that strategy we would have run out of tires, but we also probably would have been in the top five. So just wrong side of the strategy there. At the end, nothing, nothing to do really to flip that but good fight all day long. You know, the top 10 is about what we had anyway, I figured the best we were it was about a seventh you know, but barring a strategy call, we could have probably been top-five. So that's all we had anyway.
TRD PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72061-four-toyota-top-10s-at-richmond | 2022-08-15T02:26:53Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72061-four-toyota-top-10s-at-richmond | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
THE MODERATOR: We'll roll right into our post-race media availability. We are joined by our winning team, driver Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, and crew chief Rodney Childers. Kevin, this is your 60th victory in your career, 10th driver all-time in series history to pull that off. How does it feel?
KEVIN HARVICK: It feels pretty neat. I think for me, it's -- I have a hard time putting things into perspective because I've just done this for so long: I think when you have Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty talking about, Do you remember that first time when you won in Atlanta, does that seem like a long time ago, because it does to me, and I'm like, Yep, I agree, it's been a long time.
I think when you look back at just everything that's happened, that seems like just ages ago. I guess it was. I think as you look at the last 10 years, nine years at Stewart-Haas Racing and then you go back to RCR and just been very fortunate to work with a lot of great people and be able to drive some fast cars and go to Victory Lane a whole bunch of times.
It's been a lot of fun. I think as you look at today, this is a place that I think we both wanted to win at, I think, since the first time we ever came here, and for one reason or another, we've just never been able to get to Victory Lane while we've been at Stewart-Haas Racing.
It's nice to be able to get to Victory Lane, and to do that two weeks in a row, I think today was just a total team effort. They were great on pit road, they made huge adjustments and made the car better from where we started the race. Everybody is just communicating well, and I think that's really the key to evolving and progressing and doing the things that we've done.
THE MODERATOR: Rodney, back-to-back wins. Sounds like strategy has been a big part. How does it feel?
RODNEY CHILDERS: Yeah, it's been great the last couple weeks. Like he said, to get one here at Richmond is really special to me. It's my first one here at this racetrack. I don't even know how many times I've finished second or third here. It's been a lot.
To finally get to Victory Lane is really special to me personally, and I was thinking about this when he was talking about 60, I remember the day in Victory Lane when he looked at me and said this was 40, and today is 40 for me.
I remember that day, and wondering if I would ever get there.
It's just a cool win for all of us, and just to have everything go right again -- we had incredible pit stops, and every adjustment we made just happened to go the right way. Just everything worked out.
Q. Kevin, you mentioned forgetting to shift a couple times on those last laps. Does that suggest maybe some kind of nonchalance on your part that you were just kind of coasting? Because you did have a big lead.
KEVIN HARVICK: Well, I missed a couple early in the race, too. There's just a lot going on with the rhythm of -- when I started shifting, I was only shifting on the front straightaway and not on the back straightaway. When you just start running lap after lap after lap, sometimes you just get a little goofed up. But no, there's never nonchalance with us. We're going to run every lap fast.
I almost take offense to that. (Laughter.)
I screwed up, but it's not from coasting around, that's for sure.
Q. You talked about those big adjustments. When you go back on the track after a pit stop, obviously you have new tires, how long does it take you to figure out after the tires kind of wear off a little bit, hey, this change really worked?
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, you know, I think the adjustments were really good, and I could hear some guys that were shifting and started trying that, and I knew the car was better from a forward drive standpoint when they made that first adjustment, and I was like, well, I don't think I'm going to hurt the tires because I think the drive with our car was pretty good. It just kept taking the downshift and up off the corner.
I stuck with it for the whole run, and it didn't kill the falloff by any means, but it helped the car turn, it gave it drive, and just with the rhythm that I was in, I just kind of stuck with it.
I think we got a good restart there and were able to start making our way back forward. They cleaned up half the mess on pit road with a great pit stop and an adjustment, and then from that point on, we were going forward.
Q. With 215 to go did you think Buescher was going to be the threat? Were you surprised that Bell came up late?
KEVIN HARVICK: You know, I thought we had fended off the 17 pretty well, and then they told me that the 20 was coming, and I'm like, oh, man, usually when you're coming on new tires there's no defense for that. That's why I was a little bit frustrated with myself with the not shifting part on the front straightaway because I gave up the big chunk. It should have never been that close, just a lapse in my attention span, I guess, would be the best way to put it.
Q. With 60 wins, you're behind Dale Sr. now on the all-time wins list. What's that mean to you given the lengthy history you and Dale Sr. and his team have?
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I think, look, when you start mentioning the names that are on the top of that list, it's pretty special to be a part of those names. I don't take that for granted.
I think as you look back at it, I don't think as you start your career, you don't say, well, I want to -- it's easy to say, I guess, I want to win 70-some races and be close or win 60, and then you start doing this on a week-to-week basis, and I think that's the hardest thing, especially I see it a lot in today's world. You come out of the Xfinity Series and you see these guys winning a lot of races and you come -- I tell Keelan, you're a go-kart racer. When you want to go big-boy racing, you go Cup racing.
It's just a lot harder because everyone in this garage is just a killer, from the crew chief to the drivers to the guys changing the tires. It's the best of the best, and it's not easy to keep your team and everybody within your organization competitive, keep yourself competitive. It's hard.
I feel like we work as hard as anybody. We've put in a lot of time to try to be good at it, and we have a good system that works with a group of people that loves to be around each other. I think that's what makes it fun is when you have a group of people that you enjoy being around because this is hard to be able to do this.
I think that's 37 wins or so -- I think it's 37 at Stewart-Haas Racing, and they've all obviously been with him. I think as you look at a lot of the team, there's a lot of those guys that have been there.
I get a lot of satisfaction in seeing success from a group, and I think that that is what keeps the dips higher, and you're able to rebound and do the things that you do with good people. When you have people that are good people and you like being around them, it makes it easier. But still hard.
Q. Kevin, you touched on it a little bit in your intro to the press conference, but what worked for you today at Richmond since you hadn't won here at all since 2014 and in Cup since 2013?
KEVIN HARVICK: I don't even think we won here in 2014.
Q. In Xfinity.
KEVIN HARVICK: Oh, in Xfinity. Oh, man, we used to smoke them in the Xfinity car. We should have won every race here.
You know, I think it was always -- it's always just been a good track for us. It's just kind of like losing 65 times in a row. It wasn't because we weren't fast enough. It just didn't work out.
We never put a lot of pressure on ourselves or had a lot of conversations about losing. Winning here today is exactly the same thing. It's not that we haven't run good enough here, it's just that it hasn't worked out.
I think the quicker that you can understand that in this sport and still have a high level of preparation and let things go pretty quickly, the better off you're going to be, because it's not always going to go your way. But hard work and keeping yourself in a position to have a chance to win lets you capitalize on situations like we did last week, and today we just beat them.
Even though you think you have one of the best cars, it still has to go your way. We had so many races last year that we could have won in the last 10, but it just didn't work out, and Richmond is the same way. It's not that we did anything wrong. We had plenty of cars that were plenty capable of winning just like they did today. But it takes a lot for it all to go your way and get to Victory Lane.
Q. After the first caution, things kind of got a little bit chippy throughout the rest of the race for the middle part of it. What did you feel you had to do to stay away from the fray? You see people coming out of the turns --
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I don't know what you're referring to as far as the chippiness other than -- I don't know. For us up front, we had good track position and were able to do the things that we needed to do and raced around a lot of the cars that we had raced around all day.
I think we did have a couple cautions -- were they running over each other? Yeah, well, I'm glad we weren't involved in that.
Q. There was some downforce adjustments that you had to make towards the yellow line. Could you describe a little bit of the adjustments you had to make?
RODNEY CHILDERS: During the race. We just started the race way too tight and we were just trying to free our car up as much as we could. We were able to make some round adjustments in the back to take some wedge out and made some air pressure adjustments throughout the race, a little bit each time.
We just kept after it, honestly. A lot of times when you have a good car, you kind of get scared and you quit making adjustments. It seemed like today we just kind of continued to stay after it a little bit at a time and trying to make it a little bit better because you know your competitors are going to do that too. It cooled off a ton there at the end with the cloud cover and a lot of different things. There was a lot to take into consideration, and just tried to keep it going best we could.
Q. Big-picture question for you. You've raced here when the stands were full on Saturday nights, through the leaner years and now as they've redone the infield and done some more fan friendly things. Can you reflect on how it's evolved and the crowds have evolved and your experience here over the years?
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, well, I remember I guess it would have been -- I don't know if it was the first or second one, but I got into the back of Ricky Rudd coming down the back straightaway, and all I saw were flashbulbs and people waving their arms, and then he moved me out of the race, and I think the whole place stood up and cheered.
It's hard for me to give you that perception because I've seen it with 100,000-some people here and full. I think obviously sports today are different than they were then as far as live audiences and things like that. It's just a different landscape that we live in.
But I'm glad that we got to experience racing and being competitive in the front of those fields and being able to live in 105,000, whether they were rooting for you or rooting against you. It was still pretty neat because they're close here. It's like Bristol. The boos are louder, the cheers are louder, and at that point nobody had phones, so they all had their cameras that would flash. That was always one of my favorite things coming to the green flag were the lightbulbs and all the things that would flash off on the cameras and things back in the day.
It's just different. I sound like my dad or my parents, right? You guys all know it and sound old and talk about how it used to be. It's just different. It's not the same.
Q. The first four races of the playoffs open at four of your best tracks, Darlington, Kansas, Bristol and then Texas. With that and the speed and the performance you guys have had really through the summer stretch, are you kind of looking ahead to the playoffs, that you guys can make some noise, and excited about that?
KEVIN HARVICK: Look, we're boring. We don't ever look ahead. They plan ahead, but it really winds up being -- I know that they're looking a little bit ahead if I show up at the simulator and they're like, hey, we're going to work on this particular race that's two weeks out. Then I'm like, oh, okay, we're working on a project here. I don't ever say anything but I can tell.
You know, we went to Texas and ran last this year. I think that all those things are out the window, and Darlington was good, Kansas was good. We'll go back and run better at Texas, but those are definitely good tracks for us.
RODNEY CHILDERS: Yeah, I mean, you have to look at those tracks a little bit ahead of time. Darlington, we were fortunate enough to do the tire test there and we were able to race there, and we honestly had a good car. But it's also one of the places that we did everything completely backwards than everything that has made us better in the last two months.
Monday I brought it up, and then Tuesday that's all I worked on all day was Darlington, and then at the end of the day I'm like, I've got to quit worrying about Darlington at this point and put it away. We went to the simulator Wednesday morning and I never brought it up again.
Yeah, you have to think about those things and what car you're going to take and all that stuff. You just got to continue to plan and do the right things, and like he said, our system is what is working right now. It's not that we've done a ton different. It's our system is working, and the people are communicating the right way and talking about the right things, and that's kind of what we've got to keep going.
Q. The genesis of this team, it seems like when you guys are in a corner and people doubt you guys and say you can't do something, you guys come out swinging and like to prove people wrong. Is that a wrong assessment of you guys?
KEVIN HARVICK: It's kind of like when they put those small boxes in the newspaper where they have to correct their story and you can't hardly read them. I feel like a lot of you should put those at the bottom of your story. I get great gratification out of that.
Q. Kevin, last week you talked about adhering to the routine, that you guys don't really change anything. But is there something about you at this point of your career, all the success you've had over the past decade, that you've been more malleable, more willing to adjust your ways or not get too set in your ways, especially in this new era and this new car. Is that something that goes into your success?
KEVIN HARVICK: I think for me I never have a problem speaking up if I don't agree with them. They may not ultimately agree with me, but I will just voice my concern of maybe we're taking this too far, not far enough. I have no problem when they show me data that says you're not doing a good job, whether it's steering, throttle, brake, gas, they just -- nobody is going to get offended and nobody is walking on eggshells to show you that stuff. If it's something to where another competitor is doing this and we're getting beat badly because I'm driving the car bad, I didn't know what was good and what was bad.
But I have no problem just going out and trying something or trying to develop something. I think with our road course stuff, I think that's really been the biggest key with Joey Hand and just developing new braking strategies and the way that you use the throttle and the things that make this car tick.
He can probably speak to maybe there's something that sticks out more to him, but it's just -- nobody gets offended if you don't agree with them or they tell me I'm doing a bad job and you need to do something better. We all want to achieve the same things, and that's the great part about our group is nobody cares about you disagreeing or you saying something that it isn't going to offend them. Whether that's right or wrong, that's just the way that we do it. I think that just comes from years of trust, years of communication, years of talk. I think that's the biggest key to progressing in a positive way.
Q. Was that purely Kevin Harvick SHR driver or have you always been that way even dating back to RCR?
KEVIN HARVICK: You know, it's just such a different era. We talked about it Wednesday on the Little Motor Mouth show. It used to be a Sawzall and a hammer and trial and error. Now it's simulation and simulators, and it's just different, in order to try things and do things, you have to try them differently. Could you imagine if somebody said, okay, we're going to cut the bottom of the car off today and everybody would be -- we can't do that. Back in the day, it was just cut stuff off and, all right, go out and run it. It might make it around the racetrack, it might not, but we need to try it.
I think the way that you progress is just different. The trial and error is no different, and he always likes to tell me there's no guessing, it's all calculation. I don't know. I'm still kind of on the fence as to some of it's a guess, but I know that that pushes his button. He hates the word guess because those guys put a lot of time into it.
Q. Do you enjoy this kind of old-school strategy, long green flag run race that feels kind of like something out of the early 2000s, tons of tire falloff? Is that something you embrace because it doesn't come down to just best pure speed?
RODNEY CHILDERS: I know for me I do. I've always loved tracks like that. We don't have a lot left to be able to do that kind of thing. But to be able to split a stage into thirds is not something that the average fan would sit in the stands and realize that is going to happen. If they just look at the laps and how far each person can go on fuel, you're like, well, why would they do that. It's always interesting to see that play out, just like in the spring race, we pitted early and then the 11 realized what we were doing and pitted the next lap, and then we sit there and finish first and second.
I think you just see people like him excel, too. You've got a guy that knows every seam, every crack, every cranny of these places that he's raced at a long time, and you've hung around, you find different things, you do different things, and you just have a lot more options at places like this.
I mean, like we talked about in Victory Lane, this was a better race than any of us thought it was going to be today. To have cars running up against the fence and guys on the bottom, guys in the middle, when we walked in this garage yesterday morning, none of us would have said that. There was a lot of passing out there, a lot of different things that went right today.
You look back at last week, same thing. We all thought Michigan was going to be a bad race, and it's the best Michigan race we've seen in forever. You never know what you're going to see, but for us, I enjoy it, and I'm pretty sure he does, just saving tires and doing the right things.
KEVIN HARVICK: It's the grease on the shoe.
Q. Rodney, can you describe either the emotion or just the outlook of going from potentially not making the playoffs to now knowing you're in the playoffs and having 10 playoff points?
RODNEY CHILDERS: Within the group and within those meetings every Tuesday morning with the 4 team and that small group, you could see it two months ago. Two months ago it was like, we ran better here and this is better and this was better and this was better. Then the two months before that we would have those meetings and it was like, well, this was worse, this was worse, this was worse, this was worse.
It started two months ago, and you could just see everybody -- the communication and the confidence and the cars we were building and all that stuff just got better. It doesn't take a lot of confidence with our group to make a huge difference.
That group, like he said, has been a tight-knit group the entire time, and we push each other. When I have a bad day, Cheddar pushes me. When he has a bad day, I push him, and it's the same for our engineers, it's the same for our shop guys. I mean, every team in this garage goes through so many negatives that nobody in here ever hears about, whether it's somebody in your family that's sick or somebody has got this or got that. It's so hard to keep the positives going, even when things are going right.
Like the year we won 10 races, a guy on our team had cancer. Like those types of things, that's what you talk about in the meetings more than you talk about making your cars better because you know that that guy makes it, right? That's the kind of group that we are. We talk about anything and everything. We talk about somebody's birthday, we talk about somebody's anniversary, we talk about somebody's kid being born last week. Those are the types of things we talk about. But it's really just about keeping the system the same and not being over here one week and over here the next week and just treating people the same, treating people right and doing the right things.
Q. What are your thoughts, your mentality when you were trailing in this race, and what ultimately prepared you to actually win this race?
KEVIN HARVICK: How we got faster. You know, I think that the key was just nobody -- we didn't make any mistakes and were able to survive those green flag pit stops and maintain with the 20. I think when -- or the 22. When we were able to get on the outside of Joey and kind of wore him down - took a while to wear him down that last run there when we got by him. That was really the key was getting control of the race and being able to run the lap times and be the leader and kind of -- they had a good strategy and just needed -- they needed it one lap shorter it seemed.
But I think getting around the 22 car was the key, and coming out in front of that last green flag pit stop, we didn't have to waste any time, and ultimately we needed every lap to make as much pace as we could to stay in front of the 20.
Q. Are you wishing this race was still in the playoffs right about now, because you'd be well on your way to next round.
KEVIN HARVICK: Wishes don't do much around here.
I've learned a long time ago that things are going to change, and I have very little control of that stuff.
We'll enjoy today and the things that come with that and worry about the coulda-shoulda-wouldas we do not worry about.
Q. This run feels like that Harry Gant kind of run -- you're not that old yet, but does that make you feel like -- days like today, does that make you feel --
KEVIN HARVICK: I don't even know what month it is. August? I guess we could go with August. I guess when we get done with Daytona we'll see where it's at, but we can't have another Mr. September, right?
Q. Does today make you feel like you could do it for five more years, be that Mark Martin, Harry Gant guy that's doing it in their 50s, winning?
KEVIN HARVICK: My wife is going to kill you if you talk about racing into the 50s. I don't know about that.
We're going to enjoy what we're doing and do the things that -- we'd like to stay present. We'll worry about wherever we're going, Watkins Glen, this week.
Q. I have another old guy question but let's call it a perspective question. Since you've turned 40, this is your 29th Cup Series victory, which ranks third all time and also means almost half of your career Cup wins have come since turning 40. As someone who tweeted "Old guys rule," do you take pride in that?
KEVIN HARVICK: I do take pride in that. I love it. For me, a lot of the guys that I grew up racing with are -- Dale is up in the booth and Kyle and Dale Jarrett are down here and you've got Bowyer in the booth. Jeff is on pit road. After the race I saw Jeff, and driving to Victory Lane.
So a lot of the guys that I grew up racing with, they're all retired and doing other things, but I get to still see them. It's those quiet high fives that are a lot of fun and kind of keep it in perspective for me because of the fact that you're older and supposed to be done and kind of headed down a path that is toward the end.
I've always prided myself in trying to be competitive and do what it takes to be competitive and make the sacrifices that it takes to be competitive. But I do enjoy it. There's nothing better than winning. That's what we do. I don't know how to really put it all into perspective because it's just not something that I just stop and really ever look at. I never really stop and say, where are all those 60 wins? The first one is easy. Today is easy to remember. Last week is easy to remember. But if you guys wouldn't have told me that the last race that we won was at Bristol, I would have argued with you. I would have told you it was Darlington.
I don't really look at the numbers. It's always about -- maybe this is a fault of mine, but I think it's also one of the reasons that we progress forward. But it's never about what you have done, what the numbers look like. It's what do we got to do next week, what could we have done better last week, how do we keep this all in perspective.
You can look at all that stuff when it's over, and if you gave it all you had, hopefully you can be successful, and if you outwork them and you have a better group of people and a better relationship with those people, how do you -- that's one thing that KHI really opened my eyes is all the people, every person in that shop you had to treat different, whether they were doing good or bad, and how you approached that, you had to treat them different.
We have a group of people that have a lot in common on our team, very similar in age, a lot of them have kids, and for whatever reason, that has all meshed.
It's just this constant communication and we don't ever talk about how cool it was two wins ago. We'll talk about how great it was to win this week and then it'll be, all right, see you Wednesday.
Maybe sometimes I need to just stop and kind of take it all in, but I don't know, it's that -- I always feel like it's bragging when you stop and talk about yourself. I think for me, I just want to be -- I like most of the kids in the garage. I like being around the competitors. I've got a much better relationship with most everybody in the field, the crew chiefs, the owners. I like that part. You want them to respect you when you're done.
It's hard to -- I don't know, the perspective of what has happened is really not something that I stop and say, that was pretty cool. I thought it was cool that I could put my little girl in the car last week and we could do stuff like that. Those are the things that I think are neat right now.
Q. Rodney, about the race, you mentioned in April it was just you and the 11 that were on that strategy and it seemed like everybody was on that strategy this time. Was this a more straightforward easier type of race to call?
RODNEY CHILDERS: Yeah, it was, and all these teams are good at that stuff, right, so we look at the practice falloff, and man, we weren't 20 laps into practice and my engineering back at the shop is telling me on the intercom, yep, it's going to be that, you're going to have to pit twice, do all those kinds of things. It's about five or six faster doing it that way, but it ends up being more than that. From a math standpoint it's about five or six seconds, but on the racetrack when you have those old tires, you just end up handicapped. You can't do anything. You can't get out of the way, you can't do this, you can't do that, and the five seconds turns into 15 seconds.
It all comes down to that math and practice and looking at the falloff. It was pretty easy to see yesterday.
Q. Rodney, Joey said the difference for him was the weather came in and you guys were getting better. Were you surprised how much the weather changed? Particularly in that third stage it got really cloudy and started to cool off. That seemed to be to your benefit.
RODNEY CHILDERS: I wasn't sure if the weather was helping our car or if the adjustments were helping our car. We had made one adjustment under green, and right after we pitted we went back out, and I looked up at my monitor, and we were 11.9 seconds behind Joey, and he was the leader at the time. Then we ran all the way to the end of Stage 2 and we were like 1.6 seconds, I think. Like we had caught him 10 seconds over 50 laps, which is unheard of at a place like this.
I felt like the adjustments were making it better, and looking back on it, maybe the weather was helping our car and doing half of the stuff for us.
You don't really know that, right, so you just kind of keep going with your gut and what you think is right and what you think you need.
Q. For Kevin, something Rodney told me last month was he and the team were putting it on themselves to try to make you more comfortable in this race car because you had made comments that sometimes the car was faster than you and you were just still adjusting. Where do you feel like you're at with this car because you've spoken about what an adjustment and how it's been different this year learning a new car. Where do you feel like you are now?
KEVIN HARVICK: I think it depends on the racetrack. I think we've obviously figured out ways to make it more comfortable, and I think once it's more comfortable week after week, you just become more confident. You've got to remember, the first lap of the first downforce race, backed it in the wall, so that was really where the confidence started from that standpoint, and then you just work different weeks and different tracks and different things, and you have good tracks, bad tracks, and now we're kind of getting into a rhythm.
I feel pretty good about where everything is right now and being able to lean on things and do the things that you need to do in the car.
Q. Rodney, you probably couldn't hide anyway, but now that you guys are so strong the past couple weeks, sneaking up in the playoffs is not going to be a thing. Is this going to make it harder in a way for you now that you'll be more of a target when the playoffs start because you are running so well?
RODNEY CHILDERS: Man, like I told Claire, you go week by week and you're only as good as the last race. Man, you look at the 8 today, Tyler come by on pit road and said, good job, and I was like, man, what was wrong with y'all. You've got somebody that has been so dominant here lately and they were just completely out to lunch. Honestly, that could happen to us. It could happen next week, it could happen the next week, and there's just so much of a learning curve still.
(Inaudible) run and this and that and that's part of giving him confidence driving the car. At the beginning of the year, that stuff was changing every week, like that's too fast, that's too slow, like these brakes do this, these brakes do that. That's really where it all boils down to is all that stuff has to be perfect to win races.
Yeah, I mean, we've got confidence, but like we said earlier, you've just got to keep doing the same things we've been doing and your same system and concentrating on the right things and doing the right things and keep the guys at the shop motivated and just where it goes is where it goes.
You've got to just keep doing your thing.
Q. Kevin, she said that you have a good relationship with the younger drivers in the garage; is that what you said? I'm thinking back to last September and October where it didn't seem like you had any relationship with the young drivers.
KEVIN HARVICK: Well, I mean, you're just speaking of Chase, though.
Q. But it seemed at that time that there was more -- I could be wrong --
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, and I think I still feel good about talking to most of them. I think it's kind of fun actually because I look at Noah right now and I'm like, oh, man, he's going to be entertaining. And in the same sense I'm like oh, man, he has no idea what's coming as far as the week-to-week grind of trying to be competitive because I've seen it with Cole, I've seen it with Chase. You look at Blaney, took him, what, two or three years to kind of get going. Elliott was the same way.
I think it's kind of fun to see guys that are young enough to be your kids starting to drive the cars. They're young. Like Ty Gibbs is what, 19? So it's funny to -- I rode around in the truck today with him, and it's just -- just some of the things that you talk about are very entertaining, and also just opens your eyes to the different perspectives of how people see things and just what's happening.
It's like we talked about the crowd, right? We had a good crowd today and good crowd at Michigan last week, and next week we're going to go to Watkins Glen and there's going to be people everywhere. But it's still never going to be what it was, right? Like it's still never going to be 105,000 people here, it's still never going to be 250,000 people at the Daytona 500, it's never going to be 200,000 people at Charlotte and nobody has got cameras with flashbulbs anymore that you're going to have 200,000 people snapping a picture at the start of the rate. It's just different, and perspective has changed and different and expectations and all those things that go with that.
Yeah, I think I've tried to be more open with a lot of those guys and just trying to -- you hear so many people, well, that guy wouldn't talk to me or that guy wouldn't talk to me. I just try to talk to all of them, right, because why not. You want to be kind of engaged with your competitors and peers and people that you're around. Imagine if Nate didn't like you. You guys would be battling, right?
Q. What you were talking about is a good segue; having weathered this drought, as it were, was it easier to do that given that you have a driver-owner, a seasoned crew chief in yourself knowing what you are capable of because you really seem to be kind of Mr. Cool throughout this thing, at least in the public view.
KEVIN HARVICK: It didn't bother me one bit. Obviously we'd all rather win, but I've been through longer losing streaks. That stuff is -- you can fall right into that trap and let it suck you in. It's just too hard to take time to do that because there's just way too much to do. There's way too many conversations to have. I've got a million things going on, and I'm glad I have a million things -- maybe I'd think about it different if I wasn't as busy as I am and you have time to just sit there and go through the same thing day after day. I don't know, but it didn't -- it was really nothing that ever affected us just because of the fact that you're always worried about next week.
It's no different than what we've done the last two weeks. We haven't done anything different, but the cars have run good for a couple months, and now a few things went right and now we've won twice. That's just the way this deals goes. You can take the fastest car and not win with it 10 weeks in a row. If you keep pounding away and putting yourself in position and doing a good job and communicating and talking and trying to progress things on a week-to-week basis and don't quit, things will come back around. Maybe that's wrong. I don't know. Works for us. It's working for us.
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you for coming in, and good luck next week.
NASCAR PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72067-transcript-kevin-harvick-rodney-childers-richmond-raceway | 2022-08-15T02:27:05Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72067-transcript-kevin-harvick-rodney-childers-richmond-raceway | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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The Australian dollar, as a 'China proxy' trade, can get a boost from bad data out of China, on the basis that there will be more stimulus forthcoming.
That is not the case right now. The data from China was terrible, the jobless rate amongst the young is particularly worrying:
China July Industrial Production 3.8% y/y (vs. expected 4.6%)
The PBOC is adding in (small) monetary stimulus:
But, as I pointed out over the weekend, cheap money is not boosting the economy, liquidity is sloshing around but no-one wants to borrow:
Take on debt to buy property? Why? Prices are falling as the sector implodes under a vast debt load, check this out from earlier:
Take on debt to fund business? Why? At the first sign of COVID the Chinese Communist Party will shutter your business, perhaps for months and months (hello Shanghai!).
---
Meanwhile, the CCP is having a petulant tantrum and firing missiles at Taiwan instead of addressing problems at home. | https://www.forexlive.com/news/audusd-taking-a-hit-on-the-awful-chinese-data-20220815/ | 2022-08-15T03:07:19Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/audusd-taking-a-hit-on-the-awful-chinese-data-20220815/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
China activity data for July 2022 with a series of misses on estimates.
Industrial Production 3.8% y/y MISS
expected 4.6%, prior was 3.9%
Fixed Assets (excluding rural) YTD 5.7% y/y MISS
expected 6.2%, prior was 6.1%
Retail Sales 2.7% y/y MISS
expected 5.0%, prior was 3.1%
more to come
More (warning, this pic is super-ugly)
More:
- January - July infrastructure investment is +7.4% y/y | https://www.forexlive.com/news/china-july-industrial-production-38-yy-vs-expected-46-20220815/ | 2022-08-15T03:07:25Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/china-july-industrial-production-38-yy-vs-expected-46-20220815/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
In news that'll have the Chinese Communist Party sweating bullets (and tanks too), China is reporting the unemployment rate amongst 16 to 24 year olds at 19.9%, its highest ever.
The economic data from China today is worrying:
Check that post out for the vomitous news on the property sector (a huge driver of economic growth, when its not imploding under extreme debt as it is right now). | https://www.forexlive.com/news/chinas-jobless-rate-for-16-to-24-year-olds-has-hit-its-highest-ever-recorded-20220815/ | 2022-08-15T03:07:32Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/chinas-jobless-rate-for-16-to-24-year-olds-has-hit-its-highest-ever-recorded-20220815/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Harvick Wins Richmond; Goes Back To Back
Kevin Harvick took the lead for the first time in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway with 66 laps to go and from there led on the track for the rest of the day.
Harvick, who took that lead from Joey Logano, who had led five times for 222 laps in the 400-lapper, won for the second weekend in a row as he finished first at Michigan.
“It’s like I said last week,” Harvick said, “the cars have been running good week in and week out, and you see that we have a lot better understanding of what’s going on with how we adjusted on the car after the first run and were able to get our car handling a lot better.”
A year ago, the 46-year-old Stewart-Haas Racing driver, went the entire season without a victory. He went 22 races to start the 2022 season without winning.
But Sunday’s 60th career win assures the California native a place in the Playoffs, which start in three weeks.
A closing Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second, .44 seconds back.
“Well, I knew he was coming,” Harvick said, “but I forgot to shift down the front straightaway the last time. I was not paying attention and he got closer than he should have. I made a mistake there a couple laps doing the same thing. I wasn’t shifting on the back and I was shifting in the front. There was a lot going on, and made a couple mistakes, let him get too close.”
Chris Buescher of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing filled out the podium.
The third spot gave Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Buscher his fifth top-10 in the last nine races.
JGR’s Denny Hamlin was fourth while Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was fifth.
Logano faded to a sixth at the end.
(This story will be updated shortly)
###
NASCAR Cup Series Race – 65th Annual Federated Auto Parts 400
Richmond Raceway
Richmond, Virginia
Sunday, August 14, 2022
- (13) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 400.
- (21) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 400.
- (18) Chris Buescher, Ford, 400.
- (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 400.
- (23) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 400.
- (17) Joey Logano, Ford, 400.
- (6) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 400.
- (32) Aric Almirola, Ford, 400.
- (29) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 400.
- (10) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 400.
- (4) William Byron, Chevrolet, 400.
- (33) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 399.
- (11) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 399.
- (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 399.
- (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 399.
- (12) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 399.
- (22) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 398.
- (2) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 398.
- (24) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 398.
- (5) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 398.
- (27) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 398.
- (20) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 398.
- (15) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 397.
- (19) Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, 397.
- (30) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 397.
- (7) Cole Custer, Ford, 397.
- (16) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 397.
- (31) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 397.
- (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 395.
- (25) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 395.
- (26) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 394.
- (35) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 393.
- (36) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 392.
- (28) Cody Ware, Ford, 391.
- (9) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 240.
- (14) Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, Engine, 180.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 98.11 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 3 Mins, 27 Secs. Margin of Victory: .441 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 28 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Larson 0;R. Chastain 1-80;J. Logano 81-123;K. Larson 124;R. Blaney 125;C. Custer 126-127;R. Stenhouse Jr. 128-133;J. Logano 134-172;C. Elliott 173;J. Logano 174-234;K. Larson 235-244;J. Logano 245-294;D. Hamlin 295-304;J. Logano 305-333;K. Harvick 334-340;D. Hamlin 341-352;K. Harvick 353-400.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Joey Logano 5 times for 222 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 80 laps; Kevin Harvick 2 times for 55 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 22 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 11 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 6 laps; Cole Custer 1 time for 2 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 1 lap; Chase Elliott 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 1,11,5,6,24,12,22,48,41,19
Stage #2 Top Ten: 22,5,11,4,12,10,17,9,14,18
No Comment | http://www.racintoday.com/archives/99123 | 2022-08-15T03:23:57Z | racintoday.com | control | http://www.racintoday.com/archives/99123 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Anne Heche taken off life support after matching with organ recipients
LOS ANGELES - Anne Heche was removed from life support Sunday afternoon a spokesperson for the actress confirmed to FOX 11, just over a week after she was involved in a fiery crash in which she drove into a Mar Vista home. Heche was declared brain dead on Friday, but was kept on life support until doctors could find recipients for her organs. She was 53.
"Anne has been peacefully removed off life support," the spokesperson said in a statement to FOX 11.
Details including how many organ recipients were identified or which organs will be donated were not immediately available.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: LAPD ends investigation into Anne Heche car crash
Detectives looking into Aug. 5 crash said narcotics were found in a blood sample taken from Heche. She has been hospitalized at a Los Angeles burn center.
The actor suffered a "severe anoxic brain injury," caused by a lack of oxygen, when her car crashed into the Mar Vista home and a fire erupted, according to a statement released Thursday that said she wasn’t expected to survive.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Mar Vista car crash: Anne Heche's blood test showed 'presence of drugs,' LAPD says
"It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she’s being kept on life support to determine if any are viable," her rep said in a statement.
The Los Angeles Police Department officially ended their investigation into the crash. Prior to Thursday night's development, the LAPD investigated Heche for felony DUI.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Anne Heche declared brain dead after crashing into Mar Vista home, her rep says
TMZ obtained video showing Heche involved in a minor collision at a Mar Vista-area apartment complex earlier Friday, crashing into a wall in a parking area, then driving away as people nearby tried to help. The crash into the home occurred a short time later.
Surveillance video posted on social media shows the car speeding down the residential street just prior to the crash, which sent Heche's blue Mini Cooper completely into the home.
Heche, 53, rose to fame on the soap opera "Another World," where she played the dual role of twins Vicky Hudson and Marley Love from 1987 to 1991 and won a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Anne Heche: California salon owner details seeing actress an hour before fiery car crash
City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/anne-heche-dead-removed-life-support-organ-donation | 2022-08-15T03:27:27Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/anne-heche-dead-removed-life-support-organ-donation | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
3 shot in parking lot of Six Flags Great America in Gurnee
GURNEE, Ill. - Three people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in the parking lot of Six Flags Great America in Gurnee Sunday night.
According to a park spokesperson, shots were fired from a single vehicle in the parking lot. The vehicle then immediately drove away.
Six Flags security and Gurnee police officers immediately responded, the spokesperson said.
SUBSCRIBE TO FOX 32 CHICAGO ON YOUTUBE
Emergency services also responded. Two people were transported to an area hospital. A third victim declined treatment, the spokesperson said.
"The park closed early with guests and team members departing under direction of the Gurnee Police Department. Law enforcement is investigating," the spokesperson said.
Illinois State Police say they responded to Six Flags to assist with the incident.
A source tells FOX 32 Chicago that three people were shot outside the front entrance gates to the park. The three victims all sustained non-life threatening injuries, the source said.
The source also said the situation does not sound like an active-shooter incident.
Videos on social media show visitors of the park sheltering in place, as well as a heavy police presence in the area.
Multiple police agencies responded to reports of a shooting at the amusement park. Gurnee police said no other details are available other than that a shooting occurred and that there are "numerous police departments on location clearing out the park."
Some videos on social media said multiple people were shot, and that some people ran between rollercoasters and jumped over fences to flee the park. Other videos show people running and screaming.
Nobody is reported in custody.
No further details were immediately available.
Check back later for updates.
Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/police-respond-to-six-flags-great-america-in-gurnee-for-reported-shooting | 2022-08-15T03:27:33Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/police-respond-to-six-flags-great-america-in-gurnee-for-reported-shooting | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Facebook failed to detect blatant election-related misinformation in ads ahead of Brazil’s 2022 election, a new report from Global Witness has found, continuing a pattern of not catching material that violates its policies the group describes as “alarming.”
The advertisements contained false information about the country’s upcoming election, such as promoting the wrong election date, incorrect voting methods and questioning the integrity of the election.
This is the fourth time that the London-based nonprofit has tested Meta’s ability to catch blatant violations of the rules of its most popular social media platform— and the fourth such test Facebook has flubbed. In the three prior instances, Global Witness submitted advertisements containing violent hate speech to see if Facebook’s controls — either human reviewers or artificial intelligence — would catch it. They did not.
“Facebook has identified Brazil as one of its priority countries where it’s investing special resources specifically to tackle election related disinformation,” said Jon Lloyd, senior advisor at Global Witness. “So we wanted to really test out their systems with enough time for them to act. And with the U.S. midterms around the corner, Meta simply has to get this right — and right now.”
Brazil’s national elections will be held on Oct. 2 amid high tensions and disinformation threatening to discredit the electoral process. Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the country. In a statement, Meta said it has “ prepared extensively for the 2022 election in Brazil.”
“We’ve launched tools that promote reliable information and label election-related posts, established a direct channel for the Superior Electoral Court to send us potentially-harmful content for review, and continue closely collaborating with Brazilian authorities and researchers,” the company said.
In 2020 Facebook began requiring advertisers who wish to run ads about elections or politics to complete an authorization process and include “Paid for by” disclaimers on these ads, similar to what it does in the U.S. The increased safeguards follow the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, when Russia used rubles to pay for political ads designed to stoke divisions and unrest among Americans.
Global Witness said it broke these rules when it submitted the test ads (which were approved for publication but were never actually published). The group placed the ads from outside Brazil, from Nairobi and London, which should have raised red flags.
It was also not required to put a “paid for by” disclaimer on the ads and did not use a Brazilian payment method — all safeguards Facebook says it had put in place to prevent misuse of its platform by malicious actors trying to intervene in elections around the world.
“What’s quite clear from the results of this investigation and others is that their content moderation capabilities and the integrity systems that they deploy in order to mitigate some of the risk during election periods, it’s just not working,” Lloyd said.
The group is using ads as a test and not regular posts because Meta claims to hold advertisements to an “even stricter” standard than regular, unpaid posts, according to its help center page for paid advertisements.
But judging from the four investigations, Lloyd said that’s not actually clear.
“We we are constantly having to take Facebook at their word. And without a verified independent third party audit, we just can’t hold Meta or any other tech company accountable for what they say they’re doing,” he said.
Global Witness submitted ten ads to Meta that obviously violated its policies around election-related advertising. They included false information about when and where to vote, for instance and called into question the integrity of Brazil’s voting machines — echoing disinformation used by malicious actors to destabilize democracies around the world.
This will be Brazil’s first election since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who is seeking reelection, came to power. Bolsonaro has repeatedly attacked the integrity of the country’s election systems.
“Disinformation featured heavily in its 2018 election, and this year’s election is already marred by reports of widespread disinformation, spread from the very top: Bolsonaro is already seeding doubt about the legitimacy of the election result, leading to fears of a United States-inspired January 6 ‘stop the steal’ style coup attempt,” Global Witness said.
In its previous investigations, the group found that Facebook did not catch hate speech in Myanmar, where ads used a slur to refer to people of east Indian or Muslim origin and call for their deaths; in Ethiopia, where the ads used dehumanizing hate speech to call for the murder of people belonging to each of Ethiopia’s three main ethnic groups; and in Kenya, where the ads spoke of beheadings, rape and bloodshed. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/strike-four-facebook-misses-election-misinfo-in-brazil-ads/ | 2022-08-15T03:41:36Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/strike-four-facebook-misses-election-misinfo-in-brazil-ads/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 32 |
Facebook failed to detect blatant election-related misinformation in ads ahead of Brazil’s 2022 election, a new report from Global Witness has found, continuing a pattern of not catching material that violates its policies the group describes as “alarming.”
The advertisements contained false information about the country’s upcoming election, such as promoting the wrong election date, incorrect voting methods and questioning the integrity of the election.
This is the fourth time that the London-based nonprofit has tested Meta’s ability to catch blatant violations of the rules of its most popular social media platform— and the fourth such test Facebook has flubbed. In the three prior instances, Global Witness submitted advertisements containing violent hate speech to see if Facebook’s controls — either human reviewers or artificial intelligence — would catch it. They did not.
“Facebook has identified Brazil as one of its priority countries where it’s investing special resources specifically to tackle election related disinformation,” said Jon Lloyd, senior advisor at Global Witness. “So we wanted to really test out their systems with enough time for them to act. And with the U.S. midterms around the corner, Meta simply has to get this right — and right now.”
Brazil’s national elections will be held on Oct. 2 amid high tensions and disinformation threatening to discredit the electoral process. Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the country. In a statement, Meta said it has “ prepared extensively for the 2022 election in Brazil.”
“We’ve launched tools that promote reliable information and label election-related posts, established a direct channel for the Superior Electoral Court to send us potentially-harmful content for review, and continue closely collaborating with Brazilian authorities and researchers,” the company said.
In 2020 Facebook began requiring advertisers who wish to run ads about elections or politics to complete an authorization process and include “Paid for by” disclaimers on these ads, similar to what it does in the U.S. The increased safeguards follow the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, when Russia used rubles to pay for political ads designed to stoke divisions and unrest among Americans.
Global Witness said it broke these rules when it submitted the test ads (which were approved for publication but were never actually published). The group placed the ads from outside Brazil, from Nairobi and London, which should have raised red flags.
It was also not required to put a “paid for by” disclaimer on the ads and did not use a Brazilian payment method — all safeguards Facebook says it had put in place to prevent misuse of its platform by malicious actors trying to intervene in elections around the world.
“What’s quite clear from the results of this investigation and others is that their content moderation capabilities and the integrity systems that they deploy in order to mitigate some of the risk during election periods, it’s just not working,” Lloyd said.
The group is using ads as a test and not regular posts because Meta claims to hold advertisements to an “even stricter” standard than regular, unpaid posts, according to its help center page for paid advertisements.
But judging from the four investigations, Lloyd said that’s not actually clear.
“We we are constantly having to take Facebook at their word. And without a verified independent third party audit, we just can’t hold Meta or any other tech company accountable for what they say they’re doing,” he said.
Global Witness submitted ten ads to Meta that obviously violated its policies around election-related advertising. They included false information about when and where to vote, for instance and called into question the integrity of Brazil’s voting machines — echoing disinformation used by malicious actors to destabilize democracies around the world.
This will be Brazil’s first election since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who is seeking reelection, came to power. Bolsonaro has repeatedly attacked the integrity of the country’s election systems.
“Disinformation featured heavily in its 2018 election, and this year’s election is already marred by reports of widespread disinformation, spread from the very top: Bolsonaro is already seeding doubt about the legitimacy of the election result, leading to fears of a United States-inspired January 6 ‘stop the steal’ style coup attempt,” Global Witness said.
In its previous investigations, the group found that Facebook did not catch hate speech in Myanmar, where ads used a slur to refer to people of east Indian or Muslim origin and call for their deaths; in Ethiopia, where the ads used dehumanizing hate speech to call for the murder of people belonging to each of Ethiopia’s three main ethnic groups; and in Kenya, where the ads spoke of beheadings, rape and bloodshed. | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/strike-four-facebook-misses-election-misinfo-in-brazil-ads/ | 2022-08-15T03:41:36Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/strike-four-facebook-misses-election-misinfo-in-brazil-ads/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 32 |
A U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook, assigned to 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment, prepares to lift an M119A3 Howitzer during Operation Northern Strike at Camp Grayling, Mich., Aug. 11, 2022. Northern Strike is a readiness operation that maintains, improves and exceeds directed training levels by providing a venue for units to maximize proficiencies and help validate training.
This work, 1-134th Field Artillery Regiment conducts sling load operations during Northern Strike [Image 3 of 3], by SGT Samantha Aguridakis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369524/1-134th-field-artillery-regiment-conducts-sling-load-operations-during-northern-strike | 2022-08-15T03:41:42Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7369524/1-134th-field-artillery-regiment-conducts-sling-load-operations-during-northern-strike | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
3 injured in shooting at Six Flags near Chicago
GURNEE, Ill. (AP) - Three people have been hurt in a shooting outside an amusement park north of Chicago.
A spokesperson for Six Flags Great America said the victims were in a parking lot outside the amusement park in Gurnee when shots were fired from a vehicle.
The vehicle immediately drove away.
Two of the people injured were taken to a hospital for evaluation and one refused treatment, according to the spokesperson.
The park is located about 45 miles north of Chicago.
WGN News spoke with Laurie Walker and her daughter, Grace, who were inside the park when the shooting incident occurred.
Walker said they were waiting in line for the ‘Ricochet’ in the southwest area of the park around 7:50 p.m. when she noticed people running in a panic.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbko.com/2022/08/15/3-injured-shooting-six-flags-near-chicago/ | 2022-08-15T03:42:33Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/2022/08/15/3-injured-shooting-six-flags-near-chicago/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NOVOSELIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — As battles raged around Kyiv, one Russian advance was stopped in front of Maria Metla’s home. Artillery gutted most of the house, while the rest was pulverized by tank fire.
Metla, 66, is now counting on her neighbors to have somewhere to live this winter.
Crews of volunteers turn up on most mornings to prize away anything that can be reused ‒ setting up neat piles of bricks, destroyed kitchen appliances for scrap metal, and chunks of insulation panels.
The salvaged material is reused to help rebuild homes destroyed along the perimeter of Russia’s failed attempt during the initial stages of the war to surround and capture Ukraine’s capital.
The village of Novoselivka, 140 kilometers (nearly 90 miles) north of Kyiv, was a scene of intense fighting during the 36-day attack on the capital. Metal doors are buckled by bullet holes from heavy machine-gun fire and houses like Metla’s were smashed by ground and aerial bombardment.
“We dragged what we could to the basement. Five bombs ‒ one, two, three, four, five ‒ exploded in the field behind us,” Meta said while standing in what used to be the living room of her destroyed home. She keeps a burned exercise bike and a religious icon of St. Nicholas as reminders of life before the war.
Ukraine’s authorities said last month that the country had suffered more than $100 billion ‒ equivalent to two-thirds of its 2020 gross domestic product ‒ in infrastructure damage alone but estimate that the reconstruction effort could cost more than seven times that amount.
Officials are appealing to Western countries to tap frozen Russian assets on top of what they are willing to donate to help pay for the bill.
Container homes from Poland are being set up near Novoselivka, a village filled with orchards, sunflower patches, and back gardens with chickens, outside the historic northern city of Chernihiv. But the scale of the damage has prompted scores of local initiatives.
“In many other countries, if your home is destroyed, you might put up a ‘For Sale’ sign and move to another town. It’s not like that here,” said Andriy Galyuga, a local volunteer organizer. “People are very attached to where they are from and they don’t want to leave.”
Galyuga’s organization, Bomozhemo, is in contact with similar initiatives that have sprung up all around the Ukrainian capital.
At one smashed home, Galyuga bounds up a broken stairwell to direct a 25-member crew of volunteers loading salvaged cinder blocks onto a slide and determinedly prying off construction material with pickaxes and crowbars.
Children and retired women help the effort watched by the worried home owner, Zhanna Dynaeva, who makes food for the workers, many of whom have also lost their homes.
The gaunt-looking Dynaeva, is staying with a friend, but visits her home daily to maintain an immaculate garden. She carries trays of drinks and sandwiches on the day the volunteers came to visit.
“I am so grateful to them. People around me have helped so much,” she said. As she gives an account of her escape from the bombardment, Dynaeva bursts into tears and is hugged by her homeless neighbor, Metla.
“I’m hoping I can stay on my property, maybe in a makeshift home to start,” Dynaeva says. “I don’t know what will happen to us. Winter will be here soon. I just worry all the time.”
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Evgeniy Maloletka and Susie Blann contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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Follow Derek Gatopoulos at https://twitter.com/dgatopoulos and Vasilisa Stepanenko at https://twitter.com/VasilisaUKR | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/in-ukraine-rebuilding-starts-with-neighbors-help/ | 2022-08-15T03:43:02Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/in-ukraine-rebuilding-starts-with-neighbors-help/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie is “on the road to recovery,” his agent confirmed Sunday, two days after the author of “The Satanic Verses” suffered serious injuries in a stabbing at a lecture in New York.
The announcement followed news that the lauded writer was removed from a ventilator Saturday and able to talk. Literary agent Andrew Wylie cautioned that although Rushdie’s “condition is headed in the right direction,” his recovery would be long. Rushdie, 75, suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and in an eye that he was likely to lose, Wylie had previously said.
“Though his life changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty & defiant sense of humour remains intact,” Rushdie’s son Zafar Rushdie said in a Sunday statement that stressed the author remained in critical condition. The family statement also expressed gratitude for the “audience members who bravely leapt to his defence,” as well as police, doctors and “the outpouring of love and support.”
Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty Saturday to attempted murder and assault charges in what a prosecutor called “a targeted, unprovoked, preplanned attack” at western New York’s Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education and retreat center.
The attack was met with global shock and outrage, along with praise for the man who, for more than three decades — including nine years in hiding under the protection of the British government — has weathered death threats and a $3 million bounty on his head over “The Satanic Verses.”
“It’s an attack against his body, his life and against every value that he stood for,” Henry Reese, 73, told The Associated Press. The cofounder of Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum was on stage with Rushdie and suffered a gash to his forehead, bruising and other minor injuries. They had planned to discuss the need for writers’ safety and freedom of expression.
Authors, activists and government officials cited Rushdie’s bravery and longtime championing of free speech in the face of intimidation. Writer and longtime friend Ian McEwan labeled Rushdie “an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists” and actor-author Kal Penn called him a role model, “especially many of us in the South Asian diaspora.”
“Salman Rushdie — with his insight into humanity, with his unmatched sense for story, with his refusal to be intimidated or silenced — stands for essential, universal ideals,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a Saturday statement. “Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear.”
Rushdie, who was born in India to a Muslim family and has lived in Britain and the U.S., is known for his surreal and satirical prose, beginning with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” in which he sharply criticized then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Infused with magical realism, 1988’s “The Satanic Verses” drew ire from some Muslims who regarded elements of the novel as blasphemy.
They believed Rushdie insulted the Prophet Muhammad by naming a character Mahound, a medieval corruption of “Muhammad.” The character was a prophet in a city called Jahilia, which in Arabic refers to the time before the advent of Islam on the Arabian Peninsula. Another sequence includes prostitutes that share names with some of Muhammad’s nine wives. The novel also implies that Muhammad, not Allah, may have been the Quran’s real author.
The book had already been banned and burned in India, Pakistan and elsewhere when Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death in 1989. Khomeini died that same year, but the fatwa remains in effect — though Iran, in recent years, hadn’t focused on Rushdie.
Iran’s state-run newspaper, Iran Daily, praised the attack as an “implementation of divine decree” Sunday. Another hardline newspaper, Kayhan, termed it “divine revenge” that would partially calm the anger of Muslims.
Investigators were trying to determine whether the suspect, born nearly a decade after the novel’s publication, acted alone. A prosecutor alluded to the standing fatwa as a potential motive in arguing against bail.
“His resources don’t matter to me. We understand that the agenda that was carried out yesterday is something that was adopted and it’s sanctioned by larger groups and organizations well beyond the jurisdictional borders of Chautauqua County,” District Attorney Jason Schmidt said.
Schmidt said Matar got an advance pass to the event where the author was speaking and arrived a day early bearing a fake ID. The judge ordered Matar held without bail.
Public defender Nathaniel Barone complained that authorities had taken too long to get Matar in front of a judge, leaving him “hooked up to a bench at the state police barracks,” and stressed that Matar had the right to presumed innocence.
Barone said after the hearing that Matar has been communicating openly with him and that he would try to learn whether his clinet has psychological or addiction issues.
Matar was born in the United States to parents who emigrated from Yaroun in southern Lebanon, village mayor Ali Tehfe told the AP. Flags of the Iran-backed Shia militant group Hezbollah, along with portraits of Hezbollah and Iranian leaders, were visible across Yaroun before journalists visiting Saturday were asked to leave.
Hezbollah spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment. Lebanon’s top Shiite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kabalan vilified Rushdie in a speech Sunday without directly endorsing the attack, saying the author was “the cheapest and worst personality to deal with history and heritage by fabricating lies and hypocrisies.”
In Tehran, some Iranians interviewed by the AP praised the attack on an author they believe tarnished the Islamic faith, while others worried it would further isolate their country.
A state trooper and a county sheriff’s deputy were assigned to Rushdie’s lecture, and police said the trooper made the arrest. But afterward, some longtime visitors to the bucolic vacation colony questioned why there wasn’t tighter security given the history of threats against Rushdie.
On Friday, an AP reporter witnessed the attacker stab or punch Rushdie about 10 or 15 times. Reese, the moderator, told CNN he initially thought the attack was a prank.
News about the stabbing has led to renewed interest in “The Satanic Verses,” which topped bestseller lists after the fatwa was issued in 1989. As of Sunday morning, the novel ranked No. 11 on Amazon.com’s list.
One of Rushdie’s ex-wives, the author and television host Padma Lakshmi, tweeted Sunday that she was “relieved” by Rushdie’s prognosis.
“Worried and wordless, can finally exhale,” she wrote. “Now hoping for swift healing.”
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Italie reported from New York. Associated Press journalists Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Kareem Chehayeb and Bassem Mroue in Beirut; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jill Lawless in London and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report. | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/salman-rushdie-on-the-road-to-recovery-agent-says/ | 2022-08-15T03:43:29Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/salman-rushdie-on-the-road-to-recovery-agent-says/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A defense mental health expert in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz can pinpoint when he realized the 23-year-old mass murderer still has “irrational thoughts” — the two were making small talk when Cruz began describing plans for an eventual life outside prison.
Wesley Center, a Texas counselor, said that happened last year at the Broward County jail as he fitted Cruz’s scalp with probes for a scan to map his brain. The defense at hearings this week will try to convince Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that Center and other experts should be allowed to testify at Cruz’s ongoing trial about what their tests showed, something the prosecution wants barred.
“He had some sort of epiphany while he was in (jail) that would focus his thoughts on being able to help people,” transcripts show Center told prosecutors during a pretrial interview this year. “His life’s purpose was to be helping others.”
Cruz, of course, will never be free. Since his arrest about an hour after he murdered 14 students and three staff members at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, there has never been any doubt his remaining years would be behind bars, sentenced to death or life without parole. Surveillance video shows him mowing down his victims with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle and he confessed, eventually pleading guilty in October.
Prosecutors made their argument for death to the seven-man, five-woman jury and 10 alternates over three weeks, resting their case Aug. 4 after the panel toured the still-bloodstained, bullet-pocked classroom building where the massacre happened.
The jurors also watched graphic surveillance videos; saw gruesome crime scene and autopsy photos; received emotional testimony from teachers and students who witnessed others die; and heard from tearful and angry parents, spouses and other family members about the victims and how their loved one’s death impacted their lives. They watched video of the former Stoneman Douglas student calmly ordering an Icee minutes after the shooting and, nine months later, attacking a jail guard.
Soon, it will be Cruz’s attorneys arguing why he should be spared, hoping to convince at least one juror their mitigating factors outweigh the prosecution’s aggravating circumstances — a death sentence must be unanimous.
But first, the trial took last week off to accommodate some jurors’ requests to deal with personal matters. The jury will also be absent this week as the sides argue before Scherer, who will decide whether brain scans, tests and other evidence the defense wants to present starting Aug. 22 is scientifically valid or junk, as the prosecution contends.
Center’s test and its findings will be subject to contentious debate. Called a “quantitative electroencephalogram” or “qEEG,” its backers say it provides useful support to such diagnoses as fetal alcohol syndrome, which Cruz’s attorneys contend created his lifelong mental and emotional problems.
EEGs have been common in medicine for a century, measuring brainwaves to help doctors diagnose epilepsy and other brain ailments. But the qEEG analysis, which has been around since the 1970s, goes a step farther — a patient’s EEG results are compared to a database of brainwaves taken from normal or “neurotypical” people. While qEEG findings cannot be used to make a diagnosis, they can support findings based on the patient’s history, examination, behavior and other tests, supporters contend.
A “qEEG can confirm what you already know, but you can’t create new knowledge,” Center told prosecutors in his interview.
Dr. Charles Epstein, an Emory University neurology professor, reviewed Center’s findings for the prosecution. In a written statement to Scherer, he said EEGs using only external scalp probes like the one given Cruz are imprecise, making Center’s qEEG results worthless.
“Garbage in, garbage out,” he wrote.
Florida judges have given mixed rulings about allowing qEEGs since 2010, when the test helped a Miami-area man escape a death sentence for fatally stabbing his wife and severely wounding her mentally disabled 11-year-old daughter. Some judges have since allowed their admission, while others barred them. Scherer, who is overseeing her first death penalty trial, has never had a case where the defense tried to present a qEEG report.
Even if Scherer bars the test, lead defense attorney Melisa McNeill and her team still have evidence that Cruz’s brain likely suffered damage in the womb, including statements by his late birth mother that she abused alcohol and cocaine during pregnancy.
They also have reports giving circumstantial evidence of his mental illness. Cruz got kicked out of preschool for hurting other children. During his years in public school, he spent significant time at a center for students with emotional issues. He also received years of mental health treatment.
Then there are his life circumstances. Cruz’s adoptive father died in front of him when he was 5; he was bullied by his younger brother and his brother’s friends; he was allegedly abused sexually by a “trusted peer;” he cut himself and abused animals; and his adoptive mother died less than four months before the shooting.
His youth will also be an issue — he was 19 when the shooting happened.
Attorneys not involved in the case say if Scherer wants to avoid having a possible death sentence overturned on appeal, she should give the defense wide latitude on what it presents so jurors can fully assess his life and mental health.
“If it’s a close call, I think she is going to bend to the defense — and the prosecution is not going to be happy,” said David S. Weinstein, a Miami criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor. | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/school-shooters-brain-exams-to-be-subject-of-court-hearing/ | 2022-08-15T03:43:37Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/school-shooters-brain-exams-to-be-subject-of-court-hearing/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ATLANTA (AP) — In the state investigation spurred by then-President Donald Trump’s call to Georgia’s top election official, people who have been called to testify — or who might be — about potential interference in the 2020 presidential contest are turning to high-profile lawyers.
Trump has hired Drew Findling, one of Atlanta’s most prominent criminal defense attorneys who is perhaps best known for representing rap stars. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has brought on Trump’s former White House counsel Don McGahn, who was in federal court in Atlanta last week as part of a legal team fighting a subpoena for Graham.
No one has been charged with a crime in the investigation and both Trump and Graham have denied any wrongdoing, but the moves come at a particularly precarious legal moment for Trump.
FBI agents conducted an unprecedented search of his Florida estate on Monday in an unrelated investigation into whether Trump removed sensitive information from the White House. He also invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination on Wednesday as he testified under oath in the New York attorney general’s long-running civil investigation into his business dealings.
But the attorney hires in Atlanta suggest Trump and his allies are paying especially close attention to the investigation led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
“You’re not going to go and hire an expensive lawyer unless either you want to send a message that, ‘You guys better come correct or my fancy lawyer will blow you out of the water,’ or you actually are worried,” said Caren Morrison, a Georgia State University law professor and former federal prosecutor.
Legal experts nonetheless warn that the hires alone don’t suggest that someone is the subject or target of an investigation.
“I don’t think that’s any indication that anybody’s about to be charged or these folks necessarily are concerned that they’re going to jail. It’s just what a smart person would do,” said Page Pate, an Atlanta defense lawyer who is not involved in the case.
Willis began the investigation early last year. A special grand jury with subpoena power was seated in May at her request and began hearing from witnesses in June. Though the panel’s proceedings are secret, related public court filings have given some insight into where the investigation might be headed.
Willis last month filed paperwork seeking to compel testimony from seven Trump advisers and associates, including Graham and former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. Graham is awaiting a federal judge’s ruling on his challenge to his subpoena, while Giuliani has been instructed to appear before the special grand jury on Wednesday.
Willis has confirmed since the beginning that she’s interested in the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Raffensperger, which came four days before the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s White House victory that was interrupted by the riot at the U.S. Capitol. During that conversation, Trump suggested the secretary of state could “find” the votes needed to overturn his narrow loss in the state.
Recent court filings have made clear that Willis is also interested in other calls made by Trump and his associates to officials in Georgia, false statements about the election made during Georgia legislative committee hearings and the submission of a fake slate of Republican electors to Congress and the National Archives. In several filings, she specifically alleged that there was “a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”
Willis has said that she is considering subpoenaing Trump, a step that would surely kick off a legal battle.
Trump has hired Findling and former prosecutor Jennifer Little, with attorney Dwight Thomas serving as a consultant on matters related to special grand jury proceedings.
A lot has been made of past social media postings by Findling that suggest he’s no fan of the former president, whom he called “racist” and “pathetic” in one August 2018 tweet.
Andrew Fleischman, an appellate attorney in Atlanta who’s not connected to the case, said being a defense attorney “doesn’t necessarily mean believing your client is innocent or likeable, but it does mean taking a close look at the law and making sure the state has checked all the boxes.”
“We defend the process,” Fleischman said. “And if they’re convicting the president, you want the process to be damn near perfect.”
Findling is a well-respected and media savvy lawyer. That second point is crucial when there’s so much attention on a case and can present challenges with a client like Trump who’s so accustomed to speaking for himself without a filter, Pate said.
“You want to respect the fact that (the client) needs in many cases to make statements to the media, but at the same time, you don’t want to jeopardize your case,” he said.
Perhaps the most important reason to have a lawyer at this stage of the investigation is to have a channel of communication with prosecutors, Pate said.
“They have a way of getting you to make admissions about something you think may be completely harmless which actually fills a piece of their case,” he said of prosecutors. “So you don’t want to be on a call or a meeting with the government yourself when your statements can be used against you.”
A lawyer can also negotiate dates for an eventual appearance if a subpoena is issued and review any documents that may be requested before they’re handed over. And a lawyer can reach out to other witnesses who have appeared before the special grand jury to see if they’re willing to talk about what was asked.
Steven Frey has worked with Findling on several cases, including the successful defense of a sheriff who was facing 27 felony charges in an indictment that accused him of using his office for personal gain. He called Findling “one of the finest lawyers I’ve ever dealt with.”
McGahn also garners high praise. When he left that post in 2018, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “I’ve known every White House Counsel since I arrived in Washington. Even in such impressive company, Don is a cut above.” | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/top-lawyers-hired-by-those-linked-to-georgia-election-probe/ | 2022-08-15T03:43:51Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/top-lawyers-hired-by-those-linked-to-georgia-election-probe/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A delegation of American lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, just 12 days after a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that prompted China to launch days of threatening military drills around the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its control.
The five-member delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will meet President Tsai Ing-wen and other officials, as well as members of the private sector, to discuss shared interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and investments in semiconductors.
China responded to Pelosi’s Aug. 2 visit by sending missiles, warships and warplanes into the seas and skies around Taiwan for several days afterward. The Chinese government objects to Taiwan having any official contact with foreign governments, particularly with a high-ranking congressional leader like Pelosi.
A Taiwanese broadcaster showed video of a U.S. government plane landing about 7 p.m. Sunday at Songshan Airport in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital. Four members of the delegation were on the plane.
Markey met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier Sunday in South Korea before arriving in Taiwan on a separate flight at Taoyuan International Airport, which also serves Taipei. Markey, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations East Asia, Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Subcommittee, and members of the delegation will reaffirm the United States’ support for Taiwan.
The other members of the delegation are Republican Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, a delegate from American Samoa, and Democratic House members John Garamendi and Alan Lowenthal from California and Don Beyer from Virginia.
Chinese warplanes have continued crossing the midpoint of the Taiwan Strait on a daily basis even after the conclusion of the military exercises last Wednesday, with at least 10 doing so on Sunday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.
The 10 fighter jets were among 22 Chinese military aircraft and six naval ships detected in the area around Taiwan by 5 p.m. on Sunday, the ministry said on its Twitter account.
A senior White House official on Asia policy said late last week that China had used Pelosi’s visit as a pretext to launch an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan, jeopardizing peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region.
“China has overreacted, and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing, and unprecedented,” Kurt Campbell, a deputy assistant to President Joe Biden, said on a call with reporters.
“It has sought to disregard the centerline between the P.R.C. and Taiwan, which has been respected by both sides for more than 60 years as a stabilizing feature,” he said, using the acronym for the country’s full name, the People’s Republic of China.
China accuses the U.S. of encouraging independence forces in Taiwan through its sale of military equipment to the island and engaging with its officials. The U.S. says it does not support independence for Taiwan but that its differences with China should be resolved by peaceful means.
China’s ruling Communist Party has long said that it favors Taiwan joining China peacefully but that it will not rule out force if necessary. The two split in 1949 during a civil war in which the Communists took control of China and the losing Nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan.
Campbell, speaking on Friday, said the U.S. would send warships and planes through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks and is developing a roadmap for trade talks with Taiwan that he said the U.S. intends to announce in the coming days.
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Moritsugu reported from Beijing. | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/us-lawmakers-visiting-taiwan-12-days-after-pelosi-visit/ | 2022-08-15T03:43:58Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/us-lawmakers-visiting-taiwan-12-days-after-pelosi-visit/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEWTON, Mass. (AP) — Officials in a Boston suburb are investigating a former city employee they say shut down the police website during a pay dispute.
Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said the former employee, who was the police department information technology director, took down the department website in late June and July. The website instead directed visitors to a message that called on them to contact Fuller and ask the mayor to restore it, The Boston Globe reported on Friday.
Fuller said the employee controls access to the site and has not turned it over to the city. Newton has created a new police department website in its place. The old website was no longer active on Sunday.
Fuller told the Globe in a statement earlier this week that the employee shut down “a vital resource for the residents of the city of Newton.” The employee notified city officials in March that he was leaving the job, the Globe reported. The paper reported the employee felt he was owed $137,000 in compensatory time at the time he shut down the website, the paper reported.
The employee said in a statement that he was “disheartened by the city’s representation of the facts in this matter” and he would work with the city to resolve the problem. | https://www.wpri.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ex-employee-shut-down-pd-website-over-pay-dispute-city-says/ | 2022-08-15T03:44:05Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ex-employee-shut-down-pd-website-over-pay-dispute-city-says/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Earlier this month Nicaragua shuttered seven radio stations belonging to the Catholic Church and launched an investigation into the bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, accusing him of inciting violent actors “to carry out acts of hate against the population.”
This is not the first time President Daniel Ortega has moved aggressively to silence critics of his administration. In 2018 the government raided the headquarters of the newspaper Confidencial, led by journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, who is considered one of the most prominent critics of Ortega. Then, throughout 2021, authorities arrested seven potential presidential candidates for that year’s November elections.
Here’s a look at the fraught relationship between the church and the government amid a political standoff that’s now in its fifth year, with no end in sight.
WHO IS DANIEL ORTEGA?
Ortega, 76, is a former guerrilla with the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front who helped overthrow dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979 and first served as president from 1985 until he left office in 1990 after being voted out.
He lost three more elections after that before returning to power in 2007. He won a fourth consecutive term in the 2021 ballot, which is widely discredited since he faced no real opposition.
Ortega’s opponents regularly compare him to Somoza for his authoritarian tendencies, and also accuse him of dynastic ambitions. His wife, Rosario Murillo, is his powerful vice president.
Under Ortega, Nicaragua has cultivated strong ties to allies Cuba and Venezuela, two staunch foes of the U.S. government.
HOW DID THE UNREST BEGIN?
A social security reform in 2018 triggered massive protests backed by businesspeople, Catholic leaders and other sectors. The government’s response was a crackdown by security forces and allied civilian militias in which at least 355 people were killed, about 2,000 hurt and 1,600 jailed, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Political stability has never fully returned.
Months before last year’s vote, a poll found that support for five opposition candidates put Ortega’s re-election in real doubt. Within weeks all five were arrested, along with two other potential candidates. Authorities accused them of responsibility for the 2018 unrest, saying it was tantamount to a “terrorist coup” attempt purportedly backed by Washington.
“Ortega decided to suppress any possibility of losing. … And that meant arresting everyone,” political analyst Oscar Rene Vargas told The Associated Press back then.
WHAT ROLE HAS THE CHURCH PLAYED?
Nicaragua is predominantly Catholic, and the church was close to the Somozas from the 1930s until the 1970s, when it distanced itself from politics after many abuses were attributed to the dictatorship. The church initially supported the Sandinistas after Somoza’s ouster, but that relationship frayed over time due to ideological differences. Under Ortega, Catholic leaders have often backed the country’s conservative elite.
When the protests first erupted, Ortega asked the church to serve as mediator in peace talks, though they ultimately failed.
The Nicaraguan church has been notably sympathetic toward the protesters and their cause. In April 2018, Managua’s cathedral sheltered student demonstrators and was a place for collecting food and money to support them.
Figures such as Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Báez have been outspoken in rejecting violence. Brenes called the demonstrations justified, and Báez rejected any political decision that would harm the people. Báez left the country in 2019 at the Vatican’s request, a transfer that was lamented by the opposition and celebrated by the ruling Sandinistas.
Ortega has responded by accusing some bishops of being part of a plot to overthrow him and calling them “terrorists.”
In March the papal nuncio in Managua, Monsignor Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, who participated as a mediator and lobbied for the release of jailed government opponents, was forced by Ortega’s administration to leave the country in what the Vatican called an “unjustified decision.”
WHAT ABOUT THE LATEST CHURCH-STATE CONFLICT?
The church radio stations were shuttered by the government Aug. 1, and police investigating Álvarez, the Matagalpa bishop, accused him of “organizing violent groups.”
Álvarez has called for profound electoral reform to “effectively achieve the democratization of the country” and also demanded the release of some 190 people he considers political prisoners. Last month he staged a fast in protest of what he called persecution against him.
Since Aug. 3, authorities have confined Álvarez to the episcopal complex where he lives. After six days without making public statements, he reappeared Thursday in a live social media broadcast at a Mass, accompanied by six priests and four lay people who are also unable to leave the complex.
The Archdiocese of Managua has expressed support for Álvarez. The conference of Latin American Catholic bishops decried what it called a “siege” of priests and bishops, the expulsion of members of religious communities and “constant harassment” targeting the Nicaraguan people and church.
On Saturday, hundreds of Nicaraguans attended a Mass under a heavy police presence after the government prohibited a religious procession in Managua.
Church leaders announced a day earlier that the National Police had banned the planned procession for Our Lady of Fatima for reasons of “internal security.” Instead, the church called the faithful to come peacefully to the cathedral.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY RESPONSE FROM THE VATICAN?
For almost two weeks, the Vatican was publicly silent about the investigation of Álvarez. The silence drew criticism from some Latin American human rights activists and intellectuals.
On Friday, Monsignor Juan Antonio Cruz, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the Organization of American States, expressed concern about the situation and asked both parties to “seek ways of understanding.”
Cruz’s remarks came during a special session of OAS in which its Permanent Council approved a resolution condemning Ortega’s government for the “harassment” and “arbitrary restrictions imposed on religious organizations and those that criticize the government.”
Cruz said the Holy See wishes to “collaborate with those who are committed to dialogue as an indispensable instrument of democracy and guarantor of a more humane and fraternal civilization.”
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Associated Press writers Nicole Winfield at the Vatican and Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/explainer-tension-between-nicaragua-and-the-catholic-church/ | 2022-08-15T03:44:26Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/explainer-tension-between-nicaragua-and-the-catholic-church/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — As part of an effort to keep illegal drugs and other contraband out of state prisons, New York is taking away one of the few pleasures of life behind bars: It will no longer let people send inmates care packages from home.
Under the new policy, which the state began phasing in last month, friends and family aren’t allowed to deliver packages in person during prison visits. They also won’t be allowed to mail boxes of goodies unless those come directly from third-party vendors.
While the rule won’t stop prisoners from getting items that can be ordered online, like a Snickers bar or a bag of Doritos, they will lose access to foods like home-cooked meals or grandma’s cookies.
That’s a letdown for people like Caroline Hansen, who for 10 years hand-delivered packages filled with fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats to her husband, who is serving a life sentence.
“When I first started bringing him packages, he said he loved avocados. He hadn’t had them in about 20 years,” said Hansen, a single mother of two who works as a waitress in Long Island.
“What breaks my heart is, I take for granted having a banana with my yogurt. Imagine never being able to eat a banana?” she added, saying her husband’s prison cafeteria serves bananas once a month, at most.
New York had been one of the few states in the nation that still allowed families to send packages to inmates from home. The rule is already in effect in a majority of state prisons.
Starting this month, the state prison system is also testing a program where inmates will be blocked from getting most letters sent on paper. Instead, incoming letters will be scanned by computer, and prisoners will get copies.
The change is being made to try and head off a trend of people soaking letters in drugs to smuggle them past authorities. Multiple states including Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, already photocopy incoming mail to prevent drugs from being delivered to inmates. The federal Bureau of Prisons began a similar practice in 2019.
New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said in a statement that the two new policies are necessary to stop contraband.
Contraband has been smuggled into prisons in a number of ways: books laced with heroin, weapons and unauthorized electronics like phones hidden in packages, and letter mail soaked in drugs like methamphetamine or a synthetic cannabinoid, also known as K2.
When packages are received by a prison, officers remove the items from the box to inspect the items visually or through an X-ray machine. If there is reason for suspicion, officers are allowed to open sealed packages for further inspection.
Those checks, though, aren’t perfect, and authorities believe items slip through.
Critics of the package ban questioned its effectiveness, noting that prohibited items are sometimes brought in by corrupt prison staff.
California stopped allowing people to send packages directly to inmates in 2003. Instead, inmates and families can order items through an approved vendor list provided by the state. In Florida, families also aren’t allowed to send packages from home.
Prisoner advocates and families of inmates say the package policy is too restrictive — and an added financial burden.
Wanda Bertram, a communications strategist at the Prison Policy Initiative, called prison food a “nutritional nightmare,” and said some incarcerated people rely on care packages to keep a healthy diet.
Relatives of inmates often rely on private vendors like Walkenhorst and Jack L. Marcus Company, which specialize in sending allowed goods to prisoners, but items bought from third-party vendors can be more expensive.
Before his release from Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, former prisoner Wilfredo Laracuente said he was able to order a 35-pound (16-kilogram) package for himself containing packaged cakes, cookies, chips, soaps, shampoo, and some toiletries.
It cost $230 — the kind of money most prisoners don’t have.
“This is going to be the beginning of the end, where they stop everything under the guise of security and contraband,” said Laracuente, who served two decades in prison for murder and now facilitates workshops that help recently released inmates reintegrate into society. “What they’re doing is removing the human component that’s very vital and necessary for the reentry process.”
Even before the ban, families often complained that sending packages was unreliable.
Angelica Watson, whose husband and brother are both incarcerated, said she tried to send packages to them monthly, but food items didn’t always make it through before they spoiled.
“Most of it was nonperishable items,” said Watson, who lives in Buffalo. “I tried to do fresh, but it wasn’t a good idea because they’d hold it in their storage rooms and it would go bad.”
Hansen, whose husband is serving time for killing a cab driver, said having to order goods through vendors that charge “ridiculous prices,” was no solution to the contraband problem.
“My husband basically thinks this is one more way to deprive him of his basic necessities,” Hansen said.
More than 60 families of inmates sent grievance letters to New York Assemblymember David Weprin, the Democratic chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Correction. Weprin criticized the new policy.
The package restriction was first introduced in 2018 through a pilot program at three state prisons, where families could only send packages through a list of six preapproved online vendors. It was quickly rescinded by then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, because of public backlash and criticism.
___
Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Maysoon Khan on Twitter. | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/new-york-restricts-families-from-sending-packages-to-inmates/ | 2022-08-15T03:44:55Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/new-york-restricts-families-from-sending-packages-to-inmates/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WILLING - PLAY THIS TRULY BEACOU-Y GAME - ALL HISTICAN ACCESS\nDaily Hive Vancouver Continent Feeds - Continually fed, but there has to also occur a\nDifferent access in order there might to still occur an\nEvent as to be an\nAn example are shown as follow below where is still the Access Continuer by some means when still access all HISTEN (P2), so (WXYZ) — If you follow Ryan Hudson-Peralta on Instagram (@lookmomlookmomnohands), you already know that Ryan was born with congenital limb deficiency. Meaning he has shortened legs and arms without hands.
"From the day I was born, I was told I wasn’t going to be able to do anything. Wasn't going to be able to have a family, go to regular school, or drive a car," said Ryan Hudson-Peralta.
The 42-year-old is a husband, a father to 2 boys, and works as a designer as well as a motivational speaker. And yes, Ryan can also get behind the wheel.
"I’ve been driving for 21 years in the state of Michigan. And I’ve never had a problem. No tickets, no accidents," said Hudson-Peralta.
Ryan recently took delivery of his fourth vehicle customized by Madison Heights based company, Creative Mobility Group. The company's president, Christina Duggan says a lot of thought went into this $100,000 SUV.
"You can wake up in the morning, you can get dressed, get in your car, you don’t realize all the challenges one person can wake or get up and go," Christina Duggan, President of Creative Mobility Group.
The vehicle features a minivan-style sliding door, a wheelchair ramp, a transfer seat, and raised steering pedals among other modifications.
"This panel has shifting on the top, horn, headlamp, turn signals, windows, and this panel has heating control and other secondary switches," said Hudson-Peralta.
Christina says thanks to technology, companies like hers www.creativemobilitygroup.com can help people with disabilities reach their goals and even assist them with funding.
"We significantly took a discount for Ryan, and Michigan Rehab Services contributed to Ryan’s vehicle, Ryan contributed to his vehicle as well," said Duggan.
Meanwhile, Ryan says the best way to tackle haters or any of life's challenges is to ignore the noise and drive forward.
"I have a disability, but I don’t let it define who I am. I do everything everyone else does; I just do it differently," said Hudson-Peralta. | https://www.fox17online.com/a-detroit-based-social-media-star-with-a-rare-disability-continues-to-prove-that-anything-is-possible | 2022-08-15T03:45:38Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/a-detroit-based-social-media-star-with-a-rare-disability-continues-to-prove-that-anything-is-possible | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
← A little of THR\nIn the meantie we die, so live fully now. You will only get so many chanes!! →\nIn this little country where life comes fast… so the sunshade that covers her like skin was the last day i’be felt love like we feel every night… now on our days that i try like my whole family do but every single time the time and everything will become what you cant’ escape from … and so we become the # Bembix scrobeximoderaeoides\n {Kury & Jabroudi, sp\n Bottrop 𝚜-Bochum quar. PF1 + B 5\"49, lng/p°3º2'6.36\"-°9’ 57\";\nN-bndy/Tangram ⧨ Düne II/Jürgen Quenz. NORTON SHORES, Mich. — For the first time in three years, Mona Shores football did not make it to Ford Field.
“ I think our kids wanted to go there, I don’t think there was a lack of effort or attention to detail, I just wasn’t our year,” said head coach Matt Koziak.
“It definitely motivates me a lot. And my team. Especially the seniors who played last year. I know that hurt them so we’re just going to try to do it for them. And get there again,” said senior cornerback Kewan Farnum.
The Sailors were 8-3 last season. Finishing 2nd in the OK Green and lost to Caledonia in the district final, snapping that streak of going to state. They think about that game often and that they don’t want to do that again.
“You know that lost to Caledonia, we got blew out so you know it’s just been motivating us ever since. Coach K every since has been putting that picture of them holding the trophy up so it’s a extra little bit of motivation coming out because of last year,” said
Mona Shores brings back good amounts of experience on both sides of the ball. Including running back Dahmir Farnum who will get most of the carries this season and bragged a lot about their speed.
“As far as skill set, I feel like this is the best in Shores history for a very long time. We’ve got speed everywhere so I think that is what sets us apart from other teams in the state,” said Dahmir.
The big question though is who will take over under center. Former quarterback Mark Konecny (koe-neck-knee) made big shoes to fill.
“We have two kids that are fighting for the job right now. One’s a junior, one’s a sophomore. Hayden Terpstra and Jonathan Pittman, both doing a tremendous job, both unbelievable kids. Which is what we expect out of our quarterbacks to be the hardest workers. And they’re just lights out kids,” said Koziak.
So we’ll have to wait and see who Koziak picks as his starter. One thing is for sure, with the amount of returning skill players the sailors bring back, anyone who has to play them this season will have to fight tooth and nail if they want to bring down the two time state champs.
“Just expect that we’re going to go our full potential and that we’re not going too go down as easy as we did last year. Just to make a statement this year,” said Kewan. | https://www.fox17online.com/sports/mona-shores-looks-to-restart-tradition-of-appearances-in-d2-state-finals | 2022-08-15T03:45:50Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/sports/mona-shores-looks-to-restart-tradition-of-appearances-in-d2-state-finals | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Is a OnePlus 10 Pro worth it?
Features drive the tech market. It seems companies can only convince us to upgrade if a gadget can perform some new trick. This is one reason scientists at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology are working so hard to upgrade smartphones with holograms.
However, some quality can be lost in the rush to innovate and drive sales. The solution is to find companies focused on making products that prioritize what you need above the bells and whistles. Luckily, there’s a company that understands this. OnePlus is making Android phones that just work better.
In this article: OnePlus 10 Pro, OnePlus Buds Pro and OnePlus Buds Watch
What is OnePlus?
OnePlus states on its website that “It’s never about perfection. It’s about the constant pursuit of better.” The reason for this is that “Good enough is never enough.”
The tech company was founded by Pete Lau and Carl Pei in 2013 and released its first mobile phone, the OnePlus One, in early 2014. The clever marketing strategy allowed users to purchase smartphones by invite-only. This unorthodox approach created hype and made the company’s products highly desirable because of the exclusivity. Additionally, in those early years, the company would offer high-powered devices with innovative design elements while undercutting competitors.
Each year, OnePlus releases a new flagship phone. In 2022, the company introduced the world to the 10 Pro, a phone with top-of-the-line components and features. As the company has grown in popularity, consumers no longer need an invitation to purchase, and the price has fallen in line with what competitors are asking for comparable smartphones.
What are the outstanding features on the OnePlus 10 Pro?
Sleek design
At just one-third of an inch thick and weighing less than half a pound, the sleek, balanced design of the OnePlus 10 Pro is burdenless.
Hasselblad camera
The triple-camera setup is a collaboration between OnePlus and Hasselblad, an iconic digital camera manufacturer. The OnePlus has an entire photography studio built in. Besides the camera on the front, it has a main camera, an ultra-wide camera and a telephoto camera on the back. There are also many noteworthy features, such as nightscape, smart scene recognition, long exposure, dual-video view, time-lapse, cat/dog face focus, video portrait and many more.
Unprecedented performance
The OnePlus 10 Pro comes with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset, which has been praised as the most powerful Android smartphone processor currently available.
Ultra-fast charging
You can get an entire day’s worth of power with just 15 minutes of charging.
Designed for gaming
The OnePlus 10 Pro is tailored for handheld gaming. The HyperBoost gaming engine has a frame stabilizer, so you no longer have to worry about dropped frames, increased sync speed and cutting-edge haptics.
Gorgeous display
Besides 10-bit color depth and a resolution of 3216 by 1440 with a pixel density of 525 PPI, the display has such eye-friendly features as nature tone display, image sharpener, eye comfort, color personalization and more.
Numerous sensors
Built-in sensors increase your phone’s functionality. The OnePlus 10 Pro has an ambient light sensor, a gyroscope, an electronic compass, a barometer, a proximity sensor, an accelerometer and more.
What is Oxygen OS 12?
Oxygen 12 is the OnePlus Android-based operating system. It offers a customizable user experience that rivals iOS. Here are some highlights.
The design favors serenity
From the tranquil colors to the smooth and natural lines and shapes to the uncluttered look, the Oxygen interface is designed to reduce stress and place emphasis on creating a calming atmosphere. There are also three adjustable dark mode levels (enhanced, medium and gentle) that you can use when viewing websites, social media and more.
Balance your work and life
With the Oxygen OS, you can create a work account so that you are not distracted and a downtime account so that you can fully enjoy the hours that you are off the clock.
Intuitive navigation
Oxygen is designed to quickly find and access the app you need or the photo you want to view. If you don’t remember which shelf you placed something on, just use Scout to find anything on your phone instantly.
Enhanced gaming experience
Besides the essentials, such as speed and responsiveness, you can enhance your gameplay with several customizable options. For a little extra fun, run your voice through a built-in modulator to play as a robot, an alien, a warrior and more. The gaming mode also has a screen recorder, rewind, mistouch prevention, a data monitor and notifications.
Top OnePlus products
This is the newest and best flagship smartphone from OnePlus. It features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, is 5G compatible and has a triple-camera system co-developed with Hasselblad. The HyperBoost gaming engine gives you what you need to play your best game.
Sold by Amazon
If you are on a budget, the Nord is the way to go. This 5G compatible model has an all-day battery, 18-watt charging, 4GB RAM and 64GB built-in storage (expandable up to 256GB). The triple-camera on the back of this phone includes a macro and a mono lens.
Sold by Amazon
These earbuds are the company’s top-of-the-line model. They feature smart noise cancellation that automatically adapts to your environment to deliver the best audio experience. The AI-powered noise-reducing microphones help ensure clear, noise-free calls. The Warp Charge allows you to get 10 hours of battery life in just 10 minutes.
Sold by Amazon
For the budget conscious, these earbuds are the best choice. By using the charging case, you can get up to 30 hours of playback on a single charge. They are sweat- and water-resistant, and the AI-powered noise reduction blocks wind noise to make your calls crisp and clear.
Sold by Amazon
If you use a OnePlus phone, you need a OnePlus watch. This model has Bluetooth 5.0 and 4GB of storage, so you can listen to music without your smartphone. A full charge gives you 14 days of power for typical use or up to 25 hours in GPS mode. This watch also monitors blood oxygen saturation and has a built-in sleep tracker.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wpri.com/reviews/br/electronics-br/cell-phones-accessories-br/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-flagship-oneplus-10-pro-smartphone/ | 2022-08-15T03:45:53Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/reviews/br/electronics-br/cell-phones-accessories-br/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-flagship-oneplus-10-pro-smartphone/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brady Singer pitched six dominant innings and the Kansas City Royals ended the Dodgers’ 12-game winning streak, blanking Los Angeles 4-0 Sunday.
A day after hitting six home runs in a romp, the Dodgers were held to just two hits.
The Dodgers were trying to match their longest winning streak since moving to Los Angeles, having won 13 straight in both 1962 and 1965. The franchise record is 15 in a row set in 1924 while the team played in Brooklyn — the club moved to West Coast for the 1958 season.
“I mean, we knew we weren’t going to win every game,” star first baseman Freddie Freeman said.
“We don’t like getting shut out as an offense, just plain and simple. We still won the series, so you have to look at it like that sometimes,” he said.
Singer (6-4) pitched one-hit ball against the team with the best record in the majors. He struck out seven and walked three.
“Singer thrives on these opportunities and we do need that stopper to step up and so something special,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “I don’t think you can imagine that Brady was going to execute the way he did today. It was a thing of beauty and couldn’t have been at a better time.”
The 26-year old right-hander felt all his pitches were working.
“It was a good outing, I think I stayed on the attack all day and all three pitches had good life,” Singer said. “The fastball had good life, the changeups that I threw really helped me throughout the whole entire time.”
Royals relievers Amir Garrett and Dylan Coleman kept the Dodgers scoreless and Scott Barlow got four outs for his 19th save.
Vinnie Pasquantino homered among his three hits and drove in two runs. He connected in the eighth inning for his fourth home run and seventh RBI of an 11-game homestand.
“It is just constant adjustments,” Pasquantino said. “I’m not going to say anything clicked this week, but it is one of those things where you just keep going, pushing forward and it worked out today.”
Tyler Anderson (12-2) gave up three runs in six innings.
Chris Taylor singled in the Dodgers fifth and Mookie Betts doubled in the eighth. It was the fewest hits for Los Angeles since April 19 and the first time being shut out since June 27.
UP NEXT
Los Angeles will continue its Midwest stretch with a three-game set with Milwaukee. LHP Julio Urías (12-6, 2.49 ERA) will open the series for the Dodgers.
LHP Kris Bubic (2-6, 5.02 ERA) is slated to take the mound for Kansas City against Minnesota to begin a seven-game road trip.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wpri.com/sports/ap-sports/dodgers-12-game-win-streak-ends-singer-royals-blank-la/ | 2022-08-15T03:46:27Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/sports/ap-sports/dodgers-12-game-win-streak-ends-singer-royals-blank-la/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Cincinnati set itself up to become the first Group of Five team to make the College Football Playoff by winning at Notre Dame.
While the Bearcats fulfilled their playoff aspirations last year — they had to win every regular-season game to even be in consideration for the four-team CFP — the games most G5 and Football Championship Subdivision schools play against the Power Five teams are about the paycheck they get to help finance their programs.
“The obvious reason is financially. It’s a good payday,” said Middle Tennessee State coach Rick Stockstill, whose Blue Raiders have played 38 games against current P5 teams over the past 16 seasons, first in the Sun Belt and now Conference USA.
But with the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten both set to expand to at least 16 teams over the next few seasons, and the other Power Five leagues going through their own transitions that include the addition of some current G5 teams, there could be fewer openings for such games.
“I’d hate for those to go away because I think to keep college football going and keep it where it is … that level’s important too,” said Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi, whose team will play FCS Rhode Island, his alma mater. “It may go away. I think it depends on how many teams are in these conferences. … That’s way down the road, I guess. I don’t know how far down the road.”
Of the 60 teams now in the Group of Five leagues — American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt — only FIU and North Texas aren’t scheduled to play a Power Five team this season, while 26 of them will play multiple P5 opponents. MAC team Kent State is the only one with three, making trips to Washington, Oklahoma and defending national champion Georgia.
There are 85 scheduled P5 vs. G5 games this season, five more than last year but still fewer than the 92 played in 2019. The Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC played conference-only schedules in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the ACC and Big 12 limited to one non-league game.
The SEC and Big Ten could go from eight to nine conference games when they get their new teams. Oklahoma and Texas will be in the SEC no later than the 2025 season, with Pac-12 teams UCLA and Southern California set to join the Big Ten in 2024.
Even with two departures, the Big 12 will grow with the additions next summer of independent BYU, along with Cincinnati, Houston and UCF from the American.
The Big 12 has played a round-robin schedule as a 10-team league, but might cut from nine to eight conference games, as could the revised Pac-12, with those extra spots potentially used for other P5 games. The ACC, which among major conferences plays the highest percentage of non-league P5 games and lowest percentage of G5 opponents, plans to maintain its eight-game conference slate through at least 2026.
Middle Tennessee, which has played as many as three SEC teams in the same season, goes to Miami on Sept. 24.
“I haven’t seen anybody say they’re going to play 12 conference games. … So there’s three, there’s four slots available that we can still have the opportunity to play those Power Five schools,” said Stockstill, who still relishes the opportunity for his guys to show they can compete against the “so-called best players” in those games.
Miami’s opener with new coach Mario Cristobal is against instate FCS school Bethune-Cookman. The Hurricanes also play at SEC team Texas A&M between home games against G5s Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee before ACC play.
“I like to show a tremendous amount of respect to Group of Five teams too because there’s been some great ones. Everything is cyclical, right? And you never know when a team is going to hit its stride,” Cristobal said. “So there’s a lot of quality football teams out there that may not be Power Five teams. And I think those should be considered (when scheduling), as well as a big-stage opportunity.”
An undefeated record alone wouldn’t been enough for Cincinnati to make the playoff. But the Bearcats had the opportunity to play Notre Dame for the first time since 1900, and Big Ten team Indiana — and beat both on the road.
Only 15 of the 131 FBS teams won’t play an FCS team this season. The SEC is the only P5 league with all of its teams playing at least one G5 school and a game against a lower-division FCS team.
Bethune-Cookman is one of five SWAC teams that will play a P5 team, but Commissioner Charles McClelland said his growing league of historically black colleges and universities doesn’t necessarily have to play those step-up games because of corporate and media partners that have improved the league’s financial position.
“Now, there’s a difference in needing to play and wanting to play,” McClelland said. “I am not concerned about them wanting to play. I just want to make sure that from a revenue perspective our schools don’t need to play.”
___
AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard, Steve Reed and John Zenor contributed to this report.
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | https://www.wpri.com/sports/ap-sports/g5-teams-could-have-fewer-chances-vs-p5-after-realignment/ | 2022-08-15T03:46:35Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/sports/ap-sports/g5-teams-could-have-fewer-chances-vs-p5-after-realignment/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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