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A mother was killed after being struck by lightning near Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.
According to Winter Springs police, the mother was with her child near a park when she was struck.
First responders worked to save the woman's life, but she was declared dead upon arriving at a hospital. The child was also being treated for injuries, but their condition has not been released.
"City staff extends our deepest condolences to the family and will keep them in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time," the Winter Springs Police Department posted on Facebook.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the U.S. every year. However, the odds of being struck are less than one in a million. The CDC adds that almost 90% of lightning strike victims survive. | https://www.katc.com/news/national/lightning-strike-kills-woman-in-florida | 2022-08-19T18:59:39Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/national/lightning-strike-kills-woman-in-florida | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, Simplemost may receive a small commission from the purchase of any products or services through an affiliate link to the retailer's website.
A good baking tray set can make life in the kitchen easier. Well-made sheet pans can act as the workhorses of the kitchen, baking a range of items from sweet to savory. These will allow you the flexibility to create delicious and easy sheet pan dinners for weeknight meals, binge-worthy chocolate chip cookies and more.
There’s a highly-rated Nordic Ware 3-Piece Baker’s Delight Set on sale on Amazon right now for $35.99 — a 31% discount off its list price!
Get a quarter sheet, half sheet and jelly roll sheet with this Nordic Ware nonstick aluminum set that’s made in the U.S. The encapsulated galvanized steel rims prevent it from warping in the oven. The company claims you’ll have evenly-browned results every time you bake because of the superior heat conductivity of pure, uncoated aluminum. These sheets should also never rust.
This 3-Piece Nordic Ware Set averages a whopping 4.8 out of 5 stars rating, with more than 45,700 global ratings! It’s the No. 1 Best Seller in the Baking & Cookie Sheets category and ranks highly for heat distribution, durability and versatility.
Natural aluminum pans are a cinch to clean up when used with parchment paper, silicone baking mats, oil or butter. Only nylon, wood or silicone utensils are recommended as other metals and scouring pads might scratch their surface. It’s important to remember that aluminum doesn’t play well with acidic ingredients, like vinegar or tomatoes. They may pit, darken or corrode the pan after extended use.
These pans have stellar reviews, with 85% of users giving them five stars for a 4.8 average rating.
People enjoyed these Nordic Ware sheets for various reasons. Take Kitty, for example, who found the quarter sheet pan was perfectly sized for cooking for one.
“I was pleased about the sturdiness and thickness of the metal. I also found it to fit perfectly the small amount of food I needed to bake,” the user said.
Another reviewer raved about Nordic Ware’s quality and durability, Meanwhile, April liked how they’ve held up. saying they were purchased in October of 2020 and are still amazing after two years of use.
Stacy m said, “I’ve purchased many sheet pans in my lifetime but these are the best! Especially for the money. I’ve paid considerably more in the past for pans that would ‘pop’ when I put them in the oven (if you know, you know) and start discoloring almost immediately. These are amazing!”
Many of the negative reviews mention that they aren’t dishwasher safe. Nordic Ware does recommend hand washing — with a non-scratching scrubber, as we noted above.
If you need a baking pan refresh, here’s your chance to upgrade!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.katc.com/nordic-ware-3-piece-baking-set-lets-you-bake-your-heart-out | 2022-08-19T18:59:51Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/nordic-ware-3-piece-baking-set-lets-you-bake-your-heart-out | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
In a victory for people who get periods, Scotland is now the world’s first country to make menstrual products free to all.
The Period Products Act, passed in 2020 by the Scottish Parliament, took effect on Aug. 15. The law requires all public institutions to offer tampons and pads free of charge. Local authorities will coordinate distribution, and an app called PickupMyPeriod directs users to the closest site.
“Providing access to free period products is fundamental to equality and dignity, and removes the financial barriers to accessing them,” said Shona Robison, Scotland’s social justice secretary, in a statement quoted by the New York Times. “We never want anyone to be in a position where they cannot access period products.”
The act follows a law already on the books in Scotland, which requires schools and other public buildings to provide female hygiene products. One group that supported the law, Hey Girls, said that period products should be as accessible to the public as free toilet paper in bathrooms, according to the BBC.
Legislator Monica Lennon introduced the bill in 2020, which passed unanimously.
“We are witnessing a massive culture change, where period stigma is no longer being tolerated,” Lennon told the Times. “There’s more emphasis on menstrual well-being and a renewed focus on tackling medical misogyny.”
Other countries, like New Zealand, are making similar moves. In the U.S., New York congresswoman Grace Meng created the Menstrual Equality for All Act in 2021, a bill that requires government entities and certain employers to provide free products.
Some states have also mandated that schools provide menstrual products, and others declared the supplies tax-exempt.
With rises in the cost of living, prices on period products become especially concerning for low-income folks. A 2019 survey of women in St. Louis found that 64% of respondents had been unable to afford menstrual products in the previous year. This lack has led to teens missing school (one in five have experienced period poverty, according to some sources). It also results in a heightened risk of infection from the use of items not intended for use with menstruation, along with poor mental health outcomes.
Scottish lawmaker Lennon has hope for the future, though.
“This is another big milestone for period dignity campaigners and grassroots movements, which shows the difference that progressive and bold political choices can make,” she told the BBC. “As the cost-of-living crisis takes hold, the Period Products Act is a beacon of hope which shows what can be achieved when politicians come together for the good of the people we serve.”
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.katc.com/period-products-are-now-free-scotland | 2022-08-19T18:59:58Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/period-products-are-now-free-scotland | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MILWAUKEE — A Los Angeles sports reporter is recovering after he fractured bones in his wrist and cracked several ribs when he slid down a slide before a recent Major League Baseball game in Milwaukee.
Before the Dodgers and Brewers were set to play at American Family Field on Wednesday, SportsNet LA's David Vassegh wanted to slide down “Bernie’s Chalet,” which is used by Brewers mascot Bernie Brewer to celebrate home runs and victories.
Well, it didn't quite go as planned.
According to Vassegh, six of his ribs were cracked and two bones in his right wrist were broken when he crashed into padding after coming down the slide.
“Are you not entertained by me doing my own stunts? It just went a little sideways, as far as the last run down the slide, but I’m doing good,” said Vassegh to his colleague during an interview on Thursday, the Washington Post reported.
Bernie Brewer caught up with @THEREAL_DV pregame. 🤝😁 pic.twitter.com/QuLonHoGke
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 18, 2022
According to the Associated Press, his first time down the slide went well.
But the news outlet reported that Vassegh wanted to go down a second time so he could be filmed by his camera crew coming down.
According to the news outlet, as Vassegh came down, the reporter went sideways, and his right arm crashed into the padding. | https://www.katc.com/sports/la-sports-reporter-injured-sliding-down-brewers-mascots-slide | 2022-08-19T19:00:16Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/sports/la-sports-reporter-injured-sliding-down-brewers-mascots-slide | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Taco Bell has long been one of the most vegetarian-friendly fast-food restaurants, and now, the Tex-Mex chain is testing a new plant-based protein as another alternative to meat.
The new seasoned plant-based alternative is a blend of soy and pea protein that’s inspired by classic Taco Bell flavors. It is currently only available at participating locations in Birmingham, Alabama, while supplies last. If the test goes well, however, there’s a chance it could end up on Taco Bell menus nationwide.
Birmingham residents will find the new protein featured in Nachos BellGrande and a new Crispy Melt Taco, which features a white corn shell, a blend of shredded cheddar, mozzarella and Monterey pepper jack cheeses, plus warm nacho cheese sauce. Priced at $2.49, it is then topped with crispy lettuce, even more cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes and reduced-fat sour cream. (Obviously, it is not vegan).
The new Crispy Melt Taco can also be made with ground beef, while the plant-based protein can also be added to any menu item, from a simple taco to a Chalupa and more.
If you’re not in Birmingham, you can still find a variety of meatless items on Taco Bell’s dedicated vegetarian menu, which is certified by the American Vegetarian Association.
There are a total of 18 items on Taco Bell’s vegetarian menu, including classic items like the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito and Cheese Quesadilla, plus newer items like the Black Bean Crunch Wrap Supreme and Fiesta Veggie Burrito.
Vegans can also eat at Taco Bell, as some items are marked as containing no animal ingredients. Some restaurants, however, use the same frying oil to prepare menu items that contain animal ingredients, so if you would prefer your food does not even come in contact with animal ingredients, be sure to keep that in mind.
Taco Bell has run other tests of vegetarian items in the past, including a Cravetarian plant-based protein tested in California and the Naked Chalupa in 2021, which had a plant-based shell. The fast-food chain also says it will also have a partnership with the brand Beyond Meat before the end of 2022, but has not said exactly what that means or if the current plant-based protein test is related to that partnership.
If you happen to get your hands on some of Taco Bell’s new plant-based protein, let us know what you think of it on social media!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.katc.com/taco-bell-testing-new-plant-based-meat-alternative | 2022-08-19T19:00:22Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/taco-bell-testing-new-plant-based-meat-alternative | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
“When I walked down the streets, the buildings were destroyed and trash was all over the place,” said a young Sam Plaskon. “But here, [United States] here you could tell it was a better place.”
Sam Plaskon and his twin brother started the first eight years of their lives in and out of orphanages across Ukraine, before finally being adopted by a new family and moving to the United States.
“We were scared,” said Sam. “We really didn’t trust anyone. Coming from Ukraine where anything could happen to you, to now being with an unfamiliar new family; it was scary.”
Sam and his twin brother James, were almost inseparable. While coming to a new place and whilst being surrounded by new people, they ensured that closeness never went away.
“My brother and I, we kind of stuck with each other,” said Sam. “We were close, but that was because we didn’t know what was going to happen and we gave each other a certain comfort.”
Coming to the United States was a challenge for the Plaskons. Learning a new language, meeting new people, and having to create a completely new way of life; their world had turned upside down.
“When we came here, we were homeschooled for the first six months,” said Sam. “My mom had to teach us everything, like the basics of English, even colors and numbers.”
But not everything was a rough start for the Plaskon’s new home.
“I remember the portion sizes of food were huge!” Sam laughed. “But not only that, everything was clean, people were nice to you, we were treated like family, we finally had love and affection like we had never had before.”
Sam and his brother started school in the first grade, even though they were older than the other students.
“It was very difficult for us, having to go through all of those ESL [English as a Second Language] classes,” said Sam. “For both elementary school and middle school, I struggled. I had such a hard time grasping English and spelling.”
Sam, with his wilting education, was once again pushed to rock bottom.
“I was struggling,” said Sam. “I was struggling to the point where I told myself I wasn’t smart enough.”
Even as he hit the bottom, Sam didn’t give up or give in. He persisted and started to set himself apart from rest.
“As I got into highschool, I started studying more and paying more attention in class,” said Sam. “Finally, when I graduated, I was in the top ten percent of my class.”
This transition didn’t just appear out of nowhere. One key character in Sam’s life played a role in that.
“I used to work in a movie theater when I was in highschool,” Sam chuckled. “There was a gentleman who would come in all the time, and eventually, I got to know him.”
Unbeknownst to Sam, this was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
“He told me that if I was ever interested in law enforcement that he would take me into the cadet program,” said Sam.
That gentleman was Trooper Ian Rola, with the Maryland State Police. Over the coming months, Trooper Rola mentored Sam, offering him words of wisdom, sound advice, and a shoulder to lean on.
“He taught me how to be a man,” said Sam. “He taught me how to stand up for what is right, how to stand your ground, how to treat people with dignity and respect, and to never let anybody do the job for you when you can easily do it yourself.”
But the life lessons from Trooper Rola all came from one specific place; Before becoming a state trooper, he was first and foremost a United States Marine. It was these life lessons that helped shape Sam into a young man and guided his decision to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
“I wanted to change as a person,” he said. “This was my way of giving back to the country that had given me so much.”
Rct. Plaskon shipped to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. on October 18, 2015 at the age of nineteen and was placed in Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion.
“I was definitely scared,” said Plaskon. “It was a culture shock, but overtime I grew to like it.”
Plaskon earned his Eagle, Globe and Anchor on January 8, 2016 and the title of United States Marine. This title mended the bond between Plaskon and Trooper Rola tighter than ever before.
“I was lucky enough to hold a lot of high billets in the fleet,” he said. “At times I was in charge of over 120 Marines.”
Sgt. Plaskon arrived at MCRD Parris Island Drill Instructor School in October of 2021 and completed a grueling 11-week training cycle before earning the coveted campaign cover on December 17, 2021 and formally becoming a United States Marine Corps drill instructor.
“It taught me alot,” said Plaskon. “It taught me to hold the standards high and hold myself above the highest standards.”
Now, Sgt. Plaskon serves as a drill instructor for Echo Company in 2nd Recruit Training Battalion. Each cycle, he passes on the knowledge and wisdom he once received from Trooper Rola to the recruits he transforms from civilians to United States Marines.
“To me, I wake up every morning at 100%,” he said. “I know that I am making Marines and that I would want them to emulate me when they leave here. It definitely makes me proud of what I do.”
But even after all these years, Sgt. Plaskon hasn’t lost touch with his humble origins and to this day Trooper Rola remains as a mentor and a shoulder to lean on whenever the need arises.
“I don’t think I could ever make up for it,” Sgt. Plaskon said. “If it wasn’t for him [Trooper Rola] I honestly couldn’t tell you where I would be at right now.”
(U.S. Marine Corps story by Lance Cpl. Dakota Dodd)
-30 -
This work, Oh How Far I’ve Come, by LCpl Dakota Dodd, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427654/oh-far-ive-come | 2022-08-19T19:01:03Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427654/oh-far-ive-come | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON – Military and civilian personnel assigned to Naval District Washington (NDW) completed the Regional Operation Center (ROC) Training Course on the Washington Navy Yard, August 19, 2022.
The two-day course was conducted to ensure NDW personnel are capable and ready to respond quickly and professionally to any crisis that could happen within the region.
“The most important part of this course is life safety support, and the number one job of every commanding officer ashore at Commander Navy Installations Command (CNIC) is to protect his or her protected population,” said Michael Crocket, the shore operations training group chief for CNIC. “Responding to a situation during that first golden hour is crucial, and we must ensure all of our tenant commands are taken care of.”
Over the course of two days, NDW personnel assigned to the regional Crisis Action Teams (CAT) faced simulated scenarios such as major weather events affecting installations, mass casualty, and triage control situations.
These simulated exercises involve all sections and aspects of crisis response, testing the skills and knowledge of different teams within the CAT, such as operations, logistics, planning, and more.
“It really is incredible to see how all of our personnel who work in their respective areas on a daily basis come together and work flawlessly as a team,” said NDW Executive Director Rae Sullivan as she addressed the CAT at the conclusion of the course. “It shows how knowledgeable and capable we are when it comes to responding to crisis situations.”
The ROC training course only happens at NDW every three years. Aside from this training, the NDW CAT is periodically activated for other pop-up scenarios to stay vigilant.
“Honestly I think we have one of the best CATs in the entire Navy enterprise,” said NDW Regional Program Director of Emergency Management Jeff Sanford. “Whenever our team is activated and called upon, they always deliver no matter how tough the situation they’re facing is.”
For more NDW information, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NavDistWash or visit our public website at https://ndw.cnic.navy.mil.
This work, NDW Completes Regional Operation Center Training Course, by PO2 Griffin Kersting, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427658/ndw-completes-regional-operation-center-training-course | 2022-08-19T19:01:15Z | dw.com | treatment | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427658/ndw-completes-regional-operation-center-training-course | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
-Jones at Watkins Glen International: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International this weekend for the fifth road course of the season. Erik Jones will make his fifth start at the track in the Cup Series on Sunday afternoon for the Go Bowling at The Glen. In his previous four starts at the track, Jones has two top-five finishes and three top-10 finishes with a career-best finish of fourth in 2019.
In addition to his Cup starts at the track, Jones has three Xfinity Series starts at the New York road course with a best finish of eighth in 2017. Jones also has one ARCA East start at the track in 2018 and finished 19th.
-Erik Jones Sightings: Fans attending Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen International will have several chances to see Erik Jones on Sunday, August 21, 2022.
- Ferris Display: Jones will be at the Ferris display in the Midway from 12:10 p.m. – 12:25 p.m. ET.
- US Air Force: Following his appearance at the Ferris display, Jones will make his way to the US Air Force display from 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET.
- Focused on Winning: FOCUSfactor will serve as the primary partner on Jones's Chevrolet Camaro for Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway.
- About FOCUSfactor: FOCUSfactor is sold at America’s leading retailers such as Costco, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, The Vitamin Shoppe and Amazon.com. FOCUSfactor, America’s leading brain health supplement, is a nutritional supplement that includes a proprietary blend of brain supporting vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients. In December 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 8,329,227 covering FOCUSfactor’s proprietary formulation “for enhanced mental function”. The issuance of the patent marked one of the few times a patent has been issued for a nationally branded nutritional supplement. FOCUSfactor is clinically tested with results demonstrating improvements in focus, concentration and memory in healthy adults.
- From the Driver’s Seat: Talk about Watkins Glen and competing this weekend.
“Road courses have been a struggle for us this year for sure. The last few years I felt like I was decent at road courses and had been running okay, but with this new car, it’s a pretty big change. Just trying to figure out what the car wants, what it’s going to take to make it good and what makes me comfortable on the road courses. We’re still trying to learn that. I do like road courses, especially Watkins Glen. It’s probably my favorite road course of all the ones we go to. I’m looking forward to it and seeing what we can do and hopefully going and being competitive in out FOCUSfactor Chevy. It’s definitely been a big change with the Next Gen car on the road courses and how they handle. It's really changed the game a lot. I’ve been trying to learn that and figure it out, but I do enjoy the road courses.”
Petty GMS PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72175-petty-gms-race-preview-watkins-glen-international | 2022-08-19T19:05:27Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-cup-series-news/72175-petty-gms-race-preview-watkins-glen-international | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
With his 2022 ARCA Menards Series season winding down, road course ace Parker Chase returns to the circuit in the final road course race of the season hoping to contend for his first career ARCA victory in Friday night’s General Tire Delivers 100 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
Returning to the seat of Venturini Motorsport’s No. 15 Vertical Bridge Toyota Camry, Chase is hoping his return to the Finger Lakes of New York offers an opportunity to rebound from Pocono Raceway, but also deliver a similar performance as his most recent road course race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where he earned a career-best second-place finish.
“I’m glad to be back in ARCA competition and racing at a track that I’m familiar with,” said Chase.
“Every race is an opportunity and with only a handful of races left on my schedule this year, I’d love to keep progressing forward and showcase my road racing skills again with a trip to Victory Lane on Friday night.”
Chase has previous experience at the 2.450-mile road course earning a podium finish in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge division and hopes to carry that success to stock cars in the short 41-lap race on Friday night.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a road course, superspeedway, short track or wherever, any type of experience at a track is beneficial,” added Chase. “With my experience and success at Watkins Glen in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge – I am hoping it will all pay off towards the bigger picture.”
Watkins Glen will showcase Chase’s third career ARCA start on a road course and with an average finish of sixth at his two previous road courses at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Road Couse and Mid-Ohio, Chase knows the layout of Watkins Glen proves to be one of the friendlier venues.
“From a road racing background, Watkins Glen is definitely one of the easier road courses,” Chase explained. “It has some unique characteristics and there are plenty of trouble spots if you don’t pay attention – but as far as the technical element, it’s forgiving which makes my job a little easier behind the wheel.
“I just need to capitalize on that when it counts the most on Friday.”
With just three scheduled races remaining on his Venturini Motorsports slate in 2022, Chase aims to add his name to the winning roster of drivers for the veteran team.
“I really want to build some consistency with my Venturini Motorsports team over these next couple of races. Road course racing is a lot of fun and I know my team and crew chief Kevin Reed will bring me a fast No. 15 Vertical Bridge Toyota Camry, but I’m eager to win.
“I believe I can win for these guys and I would love to do it at a track that is an absolute blast to race at.”
Despite completing in only six of the scheduled 12 races, Chase sits a respectable 16th in the championship standings, 129 points out of 10th.
In addition to Watkins Glen, Chase will pilot a Venturini Motorsports Toyota Camry at a variety of race tracks in 2022, including Kansas Speedway and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in September.
Since 2020, Chase has 11 ARCA Menards Series starts to his credit with a career-best finish of second twice at Daytona International Speedway (Feb. 2022) and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (July 2022). Overall, he has earned three top-five and eight top-10 finishes and holds an average series finish of 9.6.
For more on Parker Chase, please visit ParkerChase.com, like him on Facebook (Parker Chase), Instagram (@parkerchase) and follow him on Twitter (@parker_chase19).
The General Tire Delivers 100 (41 laps | 100.45 miles) is the 13th of 20 races on the 2022 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Practice begins on Friday, August 19, 2022, from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. General Tire pole qualifying kicks off at 4:25 p.m. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 and the Motor Racing Network beginning at 6:00 p.m. ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities. All times are local (ET).
Chase Parker PR
Parker Chase Returns to Watkins Glen on a Mission
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- Briggs Danner in USAC East Coast Sprints, Austin Reed in PASS are repeat Bloomsburg winners; Kevin Woody in ARDC Midgets and Matt Chronister in FWD 4-Cylinder Stocks | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/racing-news/72169-parker-chase-returns-to-watkins-glen-on-a-mission | 2022-08-19T19:05:40Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/racing-news/72169-parker-chase-returns-to-watkins-glen-on-a-mission | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series points runner-up. Second-most Feature wins of any driver in the division. Third-place in the Mr. Sportsman Modified Hoosier Racing Tire Weekly Championship. And ultimately, NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week champion.
Zach Sobotka had the biggest year of his career in 2021.
He soon backed it up with another headline trip to Victory Lane in the South of the Border Showdown at South Carolina’s Lake View Motor Speedway in February, and looked to be riding high on the momentum before the start of the 2022 regular season. The win was another shining moment for the 22-year-old from Parish, NY – one that was soon overshadowed by devastation.
On the evening of February 28, a large fire erupted at the back of Northern Coat & Blast – the Sobotka family business and race shop – destroying both sections of the building and much of its contents. He and the team were able to save both race cars, two air jacks, and his Super DIRT Week trophy, among others, but most everything else had been lost to the flames.
With only the cars and tools remaining on the pit box in the trailer, Sobotka and his family-run team were left with the remains of a charred building and their 2022 racing season in question.
When news of the incident appeared days later, an outpour of support from friends, family and the entire Northeast racing community immediately helped the team get a jumpstart on the road to recovery.
“There were so many people that helped us,” Sobotka said. “Nobody could even guess the number of people that helped donate to us or offered to donate their time or shop space. Anything you could think of – people offered to donate it.”
They were soon contacted by former DIRTcar Big Block Modified racer and current 360 Sprint Car pilot Jason Barney – proprietor of 87Speed in Brewerton, NY – who offered up the shop space to Sobotka that allowed he and the team to continue preparing for the regular season.
“It wasn’t perfect, but it kept us racing,” Sobotka said. “He was one of the main reasons that we were still able to keep going.”
Through hard work and the generosity of his peers, the shop and family business have since been restored. They were able to recuperate their tools and parts supply over the past several months, which has translated into six Feature wins in local DIRTcar-sanctioned competition thus far, including a last-lap pass for the win in Monday night’s SummerFAST speedweek opener at Weedsport Speedway.
“Now that we’re working out of our shop, we’re getting our tools back and working on the car every night,” Sobotka said. “We’re able to have the proper maintenance, and it’s definitely starting to get better.”
Northeast dirt racing has officially passed the halfway point of the season, and only 47 days remain before the start of the 50th Running of NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week (Oct. 3-9). Sobotka will star in his first title defense against what is expected to be another 100-plus car field in the Sportsman Modified division, aiming to become only the third driver in event history to win the Sportsman Feature more than once.
“It would mean a lot to be able to recover from what we’ve been through over the winter,” Sobotka said. “To be able to come back like that from the first half of my season going the way it did.”
Last October, Sobotka made an incredible drive from 19th on the starting grid to win Northeast Sportsman immortality at Oswego Speedway. Though it seemed like a lofty goal to everyone including himself before the drop of the green, he defied the odds and passed his way to the front with laps to spare.
“When we went out for the Feature, my dad leaned into the car in staging and he goes, ‘Well, we’re probably not going to win this thing. But just get up there as far as you can and we’ll move on from it,’” Sobotka said with a smile.
Though his ultimate goal is the Sportsman Modified 50th Super DIRT Week trophy, Sobotka isn’t letting the pressure of going back-to-back on the Northeast’s biggest dirt racing stage get to him.
“No matter what ends up happening at Super DIRT Week this year, we know – me, my crew, my family – that we’ve definitely bounced back from that whole situation,” Sobotka said. “But to be able to win the 50th one, that’d be something special.”
Catch Sobotka and the rest of the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified field at Oswego Speedway for the 50th Running of NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week, Oct. 3-9. Get your tickets in advance at the link below or watch each of the five days live on DIRTVision.
DIRTcar Series PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/racing-news/72170-zach-sobotka-ready-for-sportsman-modified-title-defense-at-50th-super-dirt-week | 2022-08-19T19:05:46Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/racing-news/72170-zach-sobotka-ready-for-sportsman-modified-title-defense-at-50th-super-dirt-week | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
When Eddie Tafoya Jr. returns to action in the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series California Racer’s Hall of Fame Night this Saturday night, August 20th, at Perris Auto Speedway, he will be in the center of a “Battle Royal” for a top spot in the series championship point standings. He has been closing in on the second and third-place drivers, but the fifth-place driver is now breathing down his neck.
Tafoya, of Chino Hills, California, has been fourth in the championship standings for most of the 2022 season and he has been methodically inching closer to the top two. When the green flag signals the start of Saturday’s racing, Tafoya will only be 18 points out of third place. In addition, the handsome 25-year-old is only 47 points out of second. If not for a rough three-race stretch at the end of March and the first weekend of April when he finished 18th, 13th, and 15th, Tafoya would likely be in second now.
Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige once said, “Don’t look back. Something may be gaining on you.” In Tafoya’s case, that is true. While he is closing in on second and third in the championship standings, the fifth-place driver has likewise been closing on him. Going into Saturday’s race, Tafoya’s advantage over the fifth place driver is 13-points. Thus, he is part of a thrilling four-driver battle fighting for second through fifth in the championship standings. A slip-up by any of the four on Saturday would be disastrous.
In four starts at Perris this year, Tafoya has a fourth, two eighth place finishes, and an 18th. The 18th came during the Sprint car season opener at the Riverside County clay oval on March 26th when he was hit from behind. The 4th place finish came at the last race at the famous track on June 25th. In addition to finishing 4th that night, he was the third fastest qualifier in the 20-car field. Prior to the main event, he finished second in his 10-lap heat race. Thus, it was his best appearance at his home track this year. He hopes to better that excellent performance on Saturday night.
This weekend’s event will only be Tafoya’s second appearance in the California Racer’s Hall of Fame Night. Last year he sat the race out as his equipment was in Indiana waiting for the three-day Kokomo Speedway Smackdown. Two years ago the race was canceled due to Covid. Tafoya made his debut in the race during his Rookie of the Year season in 2019. On that night, he qualified 15th in the 30-car field. He ended up sixth in his heat race and was seventh in the 12-lap B main, missing the transfer to the A main by one spot.
Tafoya and all the other drivers will have some extra incentives to race for on Saturday. Fans and race supporters have donated more than $12,000.00 extra to be added to the regular purse. The Billy Wilkerson Fast Time Award will pay a whopping $1,000.00 (plus an extra $400.00 if the fast time breaks the existing track record). The four fastest qualifiers on the night will contest the Plastic Express Junior Kurtz/Bill Simpson trophy dash. The winner will receive $2,000.00 for that event and second place will pay $1,000.00. The main event has $5,900.00 posted in lap money with the leader of each lap taking home a minimum of $100.00 all the way up to $700.00. In addition, there will be other bonuses on the night like $500.00 for the best passing job in the main event and $100.00 for the winner of each heat race.
Spectator gates will open at 5:00 PM on Saturday, and the first race will be at 7:00. For fans who would like to attend in person, adult tickets are $30.00. Seniors 65 and over get in for $25. For kids 6 through 12 it is just $5.00 and children 5 and under are free. Advance tickets are available at the following link https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/pas/7 or by calling 1-800-595-4849. For those who do not wish to purchase tickets in advance, there will be plenty of tickets available at the ticket window on Saturday. The track is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds at 18700 Lake Perris Drive in the city of Perris (92571). The fairgrounds charges $10 for parking.
Be sure to check out Tafoya’s brand new YouTube channel at the following link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgMCW64p0uyBmOcKN7_bDQ.
If you or your company would like to be a part of the Specialty Fastener team’s 2022 season effort, please contact Eddie Tafoya Jr. via phone at (909) 393-3999 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. He will be happy to talk to you and lay out the team’s 2022 plans.
Eddie Tafoya PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/racing-news/72172-eddie-tafoya-jr-back-at-perris-auto-speedway-this-saturday | 2022-08-19T19:05:52Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/racing-news/72172-eddie-tafoya-jr-back-at-perris-auto-speedway-this-saturday | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
It was Fan Appreciation Night at the Bloomsburg Fair Raceway and with a general admission price of just $5 patrons were treated to a great four division program of both open cockpit and stock car action at the 3/8-mile dirt oval.
Briggs Danner of Allentown captured the nonstop USAC East Coast Sprint main and Austin Reed of Etters took top honors with the IMCA Pennsylvania Sprint Series (PASS). For both drivers it was their second Bloomsburg wins of the season.
The American Racing Driver Club (ARDC) Midgets and FWD 4-Cylinder Stocks competed for the first time and taking respective wins were Kevin Woody of Rochester, NY and Matt Christopher of Aspers.
In the 25-lap USAC event past Bloomsburg URC winner Mark Smith jumped out to the early lead while Steven Drevicki, Joey Amantea, Danner and Alex Bright ran in tight formation. Danner wasted little time in making quick moves to get by his competition as one-by-one he picked off Amantea then Drevicki within the first five laps.
Once he got to second he was looking both low and high for an opening as Smith was doing his best to protect his lead. The strong runner Danner, though, would not let up and made his race winning pass with an inside drive coming out of the second corner on lap seven.
Afterwards he went into cruise control as gradually pulled ahead of the field on each passing circuit and drove away to full straightaway margin of victory over Bright.
For the current point leader is was his eighth victory of the season and third at Bloomsburg.
“The track was definitely different with the new clay and it was a technical surface but the car felt good all night. Most of the guys were kind of around the middle and you could use the top to diamond off and I think starting up on the top helped too,” said Danner.
“We’re just super consistent right now and have our program down pat and I’m really happy where we are right now and happy to get another win.”
Bright’s runner-up also keeps him second in the standings to Danner. Amantea, Smith and Drevicki completed the top five.
In the 25-lap PASS feature Reed started on the pole and wasted no time in showing that he would be the car to beat as he led right from the outset and never looked back.
Although Reed was able to stay at the helm the whole distance there was some exciting position swapping going on throughout the race including some thrilling spot exchanges within the top five.
A number of cautions would slow the action too but not Reed as he was solid throughout the event. Timmy Bitner did a great job of avoiding several incidents ahead of him and was closing in on Reed until time ran out. Matt Tebbs, Scott Frack and Ken Duke rounded out the top five.
After several rainouts the past two seasons ARDC finally got to race at Bloomsburg and taking advantage of his pole starting spot was Woody who dashed to the lead at the drop of the green and then stayed the course the rest of the way.
Hometown favorite and past four-time Bloomsburg winner on the big track John Heydenreich tried to get by Woody on the opening lap but went to high in turns 1& 2 which cost him positions. Nonetheless Heydenreich hustled back and moved to second but was never able to mount a challenge on Woody who collected the win by half-second margin.
The FWD 4-Cylinder Stocks debut was an exciting one to say the least. The compact front wheel drive cars put on a fan pleasing race that saw some terrific lead battles and as well as passing all through the field.
In a hard fought and well-earned effort Chronister, who had been fighting for the lead the entire race, was able to hold off Tim Campbell and Chris Anderson in becoming the first class winner at Bloomsburg.
USAC EC Sprint feature finish (25 laps): 1. Briggs Danner, 2. Alex Bright, 3. Joey Amantea, 4. Mark Smith, 5. Steven Drevicki, 6. Aiden Borden, 7. Mike Thompson, 8. Eric Jennings, 9. JT Ferry, 10. Austin Graby, 11. Troy Fraker, 12. Jason Cherry, 13. Lee Kaufman, 14. Tylor Cochran, 15. John Fraker, 16. Billy Ney, 17. Bobby Butler
PASS feature finish (25 laps): 1. Austin Reed, 2. Timmy Bitner, 3. Matt Tebbs, 4. Scott Frack, 5. Ken Duke, 6. Kruz Kepner, 7. Jeff Weaver, 8. Logan Jones, 9. Levi Brungard, 10. Ryan Kissinger, 11. Mike Melair, 12. Dustin Young, 13. Owen Dimm, 14. Erick Knopp, 15. Paul Moyer, 16. Matthew Swift, 17. Tyler Snook
ARDC feature finish (15 laps): 1. Kevin Woody, 2. John Heydenreich, 3. Mike Markey, 4. JR Booth, 5. Mike Bittinger, 6. Shannon Mausteller, 7. RF Heydenreich, 8. Mark Sokol, 9. Mike Geffken
FWD feature finish (15 laps): 1. Matt Chronister, 2. Tim Campbell, 3. Chris Anderson, 4. Luke Hoffner, 5. Tim Raup, 6. Jeff Foster, 7. Blake Snyder, 8. Rusty Garlock, 9. Shawn Stahl, 10. Travis Semple, 11. Larry Spencer, 12. Larry Bearhel Jr., 13. Adam Campbell, 14. Robbie Carroll, 15. Sam Creveling, 16. Chris Small, 17. Latavin Spriggs, 18. Chloe Smith, 19. Harry O’Neill
MVS PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/speedway-news/72174-briggs-danner-in-usac-east-coast-sprints-austin-reed-in-pass-are-repeat-bloomsburg-winners-kevin-woody-in-ardc-midgets-and-matt-chronister-in-fwd-4-cylinder-stocks | 2022-08-19T19:06:05Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/speedway-news/72174-briggs-danner-in-usac-east-coast-sprints-austin-reed-in-pass-are-repeat-bloomsburg-winners-kevin-woody-in-ardc-midgets-and-matt-chronister-in-fwd-4-cylinder-stocks | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
With a high chance of rain in the forecast for Saturday, August 20, Virginia Motor Speedway and FASTRAK Racing officials have made the tough decision to cancel the $3000 to win Prelude to the World Championship.
"It is never an easy decision to cancel an event. But, with competitors coming as far away as Florida and Mississippi, we just wanted to let everyone know early so that teams and fans don't incur unnecessary fuel and travel costs, " said Track Owner Bill Sawyer.
The speedway's next event will be next Saturday, August 27, as we host Collision One Championship Night, with champions in all four divisions crowned.
Spectator and competitor gates for Saturday, August 27, will open at 5 PM, with on-track action starting at 5:45 PM and features starting at 7 PM.
Bill Sawyer's Virginia Motor Speedway is a ½-mile dirt oval track located on U.S. Route 17, eight miles north of Saluda, VA, and 25 miles south of Tappahannock, VA in Jamaica, VA. The speedway is just a short drive from Richmond, Fredericksburg, Southern Maryland, and the Hampton Roads area.
Race fans can go to www.vamotorspeedway.com to view the complete schedule Virginia Motor Speedway's 2022 season, find detailed event information, get the latest news, and get complete ticket and camping information. In addition, fans can get social with Virginia Motor Speedway by following @vamotorspeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/VaMotorSpeedway , and on www.youtube.com/VaMotorSpeedway.
VMS PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/speedway-news/72176-prelude-to-the-world-championship-at-virginia-motor-speedway-canceled-due-to-impending-weather-collision-one-championship-night-up-next | 2022-08-19T19:06:11Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/speedway-news/72176-prelude-to-the-world-championship-at-virginia-motor-speedway-canceled-due-to-impending-weather-collision-one-championship-night-up-next | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Shifting from Brandonbilt Motorsports to BJ Mcleod Motorsports for Watkins Glen International, Brandon Brown has a different set of goals this weekend.
Brown moves to McLeod’s No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro SS for the Sunoco Go Rewards 200 at Watkins Glen. By virtue of his win at Talladega Superspeedway last year, the Woodbridge, VA native is locked into all NASCAR Xfinity Series races via the Past Winner’s Provisional.
The 28-year-old has two starts at the 2.45-mile road course. Brown’s best finish, 12th, came in last year’s race at the New York track. The veteran driver has an average finish of 15th at Watkins Glen.
“I spoke to BJ, and we worked on setting expectations,” explained Brown. “He believes the car to be a true top-25 car. My goal is to go out and try to do a little bit better, make it a top-20 or even a top-15. The hope is a top-15, but my goal is for a top-20. The goals are now to run as strong as we can while being a little more conscious of the potential on-track damage. We’re also trying to maximize points for the team so that it brings them back into the running and allows me a chance to prove my talents elsewhere.”
The opportunity with BJ McLeod Motorsports is the second time this season that Brown is driving for another organization. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, he drove the No. 47 for Mike Harmon Racing. Having also driven for DGM Racing and RSS Racing earlier in his career, BJ McLeod’s team is the fifth organization that Brown has driven for in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career.
“I'd say that driving for BJ McLeod Motorsports definitely puts a new perspective on how other organizations work in comparison to Brandonbilt Motorsports and what I’m used to,” admitted Brown. “Maybe through the weekend, after seeing how everything is handled on the competition side, I could use what I’ve learned to better myself.
“I was able to spend a little time this week and last week with BJ's team to get fitted in the seat and have everything set to where I like it. They were all very welcoming, and they were very upbeat. Everybody there was excited, so that makes me even more excited. It was nice to enter that environment, and things are looking really positive.”
Entering Watkins Glen International, Brown is 15th in the championship points standings. He is 87-points behind the cutline for the Xfinity Series playoffs, currently held by Ryan Sieg. Brown is 423-points behind leader A.J. Allmendinger.
McLeod’s No. 5 Chevrolet is 31st in the Xfinity Owner’s points standings. This opportunity allows Brown to showcase his talent as he’ll attempt to move the No. 5 into the top-30. Currently the team is 11-points outside of the top-30 in the Owner’s standings.
The Xfinity Series Sunoco Go Rewards 200 at Watkins Glen International is Saturday, August 20 at 3:00 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcasted on USA Network, the Motor Racing Network, as well as SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
BJMM PR | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/xfinity-series-news/72171-brandon-brown-aiming-for-maximum-points-at-watkins-glen | 2022-08-19T19:06:24Z | speedwaydigest.com | control | https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/xfinity-series-news/72171-brandon-brown-aiming-for-maximum-points-at-watkins-glen | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Monarch butterflies have recently been internationally designated an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. With Massachusetts known to have a large population of these butterflies, MassWildlife wants to increase its habitat.
MassWildlife will work with MassDOT to increase the population of milkweed and other native plants to help pollinators. Milkweed is the only source of food for Monarch butterflies. MassWildlife will also work to decrease invasive plants like the black swallow-wort, which is known to look similar to milkweed but is toxic to Monarch butterflies. The city of Somerville in June warned residents of the increasing population of this invasive plant.
In the late summer and autumn, Monarch butterflies migrate from Massachusetts to as far south as Mexico using a combination of the magnetic pull of the planet and the position of the sun. This is one of the longest migrations of insect species known to scientists. They then return to the north once winter ends and breed along the way.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that the butterfly population has decreased between 22% and 72% over the last ten years.
The United States has not officially listed the Monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species list yet. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/massachusetts/masswildlife-to-help-monarch-butterfly-population-by-growing-more-milkweed/ | 2022-08-19T19:07:38Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/massachusetts/masswildlife-to-help-monarch-butterfly-population-by-growing-more-milkweed/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
An over 110-year-old local fox hunting club is updating its accommodations for one of the most integral parts in continuing the decades long tradition.
Originally located in Manassas and named after the Battle of Bull Run, Bull Run Hunt has begun construction on a new kennel for its hounds. After relocating to Culpeper in the 1980s, the club opened its now former kennel - which can be found alongside the new kennel - inside an old barn that was built to house livestock, not hounds.
Plans for a new kennel were announced at BRH’s board of director’s annual meeting in May, outlining the approximately $400,000 four-phase project. According to Hunt Master Adrianna Waddy, roofing has already begun.
The new kennel will be able to comfortably house about 80 hounds. It will have four runs, or lodges, a medical room, office and feeding area.
Those considering donating to house the BRH hounds, email Waddy at adriannacwaddy@gmail.com.
The hounds are owned by the club, however, some of the club’s approximately 100 members adopt hounds that retire, won’t hunt or get injured. Different breeds of hounds are used depending upon the territory. BRH hunts with mostly crossbred hounds, typically American/English crosses.
The hounds are bred to hunt and are trained from birth by the huntsman. The huntsman brings dogs in training along, walking on foot and then finally on horseback with the other hounds. Dogs in training learn to stay with but not in front of the huntsman, obeying the horn. The hunting horn is blown with different notes that each have a meaning such as gone to ground, going home, moving off, drawing and more.
Fox hunting, which dates back hundreds of years, involves tracking, chasing and, if caught, the killing of a fox, by trained scent hounds. A group of followers are led by a master of foxhounds to follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.
BRH has a professional staff, consisting of a huntsman and some whipper-ins, whose job is primarily to keep the hounds safe and on the fox or coyote.
The huntsman brings about 30 hounds to each meet. He turns the hounds out and follows along on his horse as they try to get the scent of a fox or coyote. If the hounds find a fox, it will be chased to the ground, up a tree or some place safe. The club does not kill foxes.
If the hounds find a coyote, they will be permitted to catch it.
The club’s formal opening meet is at the end of October and closing meet is at the end of March. | https://www.insidenova.com/culpeper/culpeper-fox-hunting-group-constructing-new-kennel/article_4fc424b8-1fce-11ed-ac9f-7f4211a78ccb.html | 2022-08-19T19:08:53Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/culpeper/culpeper-fox-hunting-group-constructing-new-kennel/article_4fc424b8-1fce-11ed-ac9f-7f4211a78ccb.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission (RRRC) announced $1 million in grant funding to three affordable housing developers in the region, two of which reside in Culpeper.
“We are excited to announce these initial awards to Culpeper Community Development Corporation, People Incorporated and Skyline Community Action Partnership,” said RRRC Executive Director Patrick Mauney. “We look forward to the success of each development and for the addition of much-needed affordable housing units in the region.”
Culpeper Community Development Corporation, whose mission is to provide shelter and services in the Culpeper area through Culpeper Housing and Shelter Services, plans to develop 37 new rental units called Parkside Apartments. The proposed property is planned to include a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units to serve households earning at or below 60% area median income for Culpeper County. Rental rates are anticipated to range from $575 per month to $900 per month based on unit size and the household’s income.
People Incorporated, who works to address a lack of affordable housing in the communities they serve, plans to develop 60 new rental units called Lightfoot Apartments. The proposed property plans to provide a mix of one, two and three- bedroom units for households who earn at or below 60% area median income for Culpeper County. Rental rates are anticipated to range from $656 to $1,247 depending on unit size and household income.
Skyline Community Action Partnership recently completed the purchase of the former Barbara’s House building from the Madison Emergency Services Association (MESA). Along with five existing units, Skyline CAP plans to renovate the building to add a sixth unit, along with new appliances and cosmetic changes. The property, which served as transitional housing from 2002 until the decision to close Barbara’s House in 2020, consists of two- and three-bedroom units, which are expected to rent to households who earn at or below 80% area median income for Madison County. Anticipated rental rates, according to HUD’s Fair Market rental rates, are expected to be $957 for a two-bedroom and $1,183 for a three-bedroom per month.
Funding for the RRRC Housing Development Program was awarded by Virginia Housing as part of its REACH Virginia program. Additional awards are anticipated to be announced later this year. | https://www.insidenova.com/culpeper/nonprofit-announces-affordable-housing-grant-awards-in-culpeper/article_26e109ac-1fcf-11ed-9103-8ffc716637ea.html | 2022-08-19T19:08:58Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/culpeper/nonprofit-announces-affordable-housing-grant-awards-in-culpeper/article_26e109ac-1fcf-11ed-9103-8ffc716637ea.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Northern Virginia's three largest localities have fallen back into the lowest level of transmission of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as reported cases have declined slowly but steadily over the past two months.
Prince William County dropped from the medium level of transmission to the low level this week, the CDC said, joining Loudoun and Fairfax counties. Prince William had been at the medium level since mid-May. Arlington County and the city of Alexandria are still at the medium level. The levels are based on the weekly average case rates and new hospitalizations per capita, as well as the percentage of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Across Northern Virginia, the number of new daily cases reported to the Virginia Department of Health has fallen 57% since the end of May, as the impact of the Omicron BA-5 variant has waned. The decline has not been as steep as that from other surges, however. As of Friday, the region was still averaging 587 new cases a day, significantly higher than levels seen in August of last year.
Experts generally believe only a small percentage of cases are being reported to the health department, as in-home testing and diagnosis has become prevalent.
However, despite the larger number of cases, hospitalizations for treatment of the virus remain relatively low. As of Friday, 192 patients were being treated in Northern Virginia hospitals, with only 27 in intensive-care units and 13 on ventilators. At the peak of last winter's Omicron surge, nearly 1,000 patients were hospitalized in Northern Virginia.
The story is generally similar statewide, although declines have not been as dramatic. The state is averaging 2,454 new reported cases a day, down about 26% from the late May peak of 3,307 a day. The state topped 2 million reported COVID-19 cases this week since the pandemic began in March 2020.
As of Friday, 796 patients were hospitalized statewide, with 106 in intensive care and 43 on ventilators. Statewide hospitalizations peaked at over 3,600 in mid-January.
Although the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 has slowed significantly, the state is still reporting 10 to 15 COVID-19 deaths a day on average. As of Friday, 21,249 total deaths had been attributed to the virus statewide, with 3,405 of those in Northern Virginia.
Because the state has ended the public health emergency for COVID-19, the health department is no longer providing details on outbreaks in schools, assisted living facilities and other settings.
In its Aug. 12 weekly update on the virus, the Biocomplexity Institute at the University of Virginia said its models project a continued gradual decline in case rates statewide. However it noted that case rates have typically started increasing in the fall and either that factor or a new variant could potentially cause a surge by November.
"Since last fall, a new variant has hit Virginia every few months. Each had immune-escape advantages, allowing it to out-compete and replace its predecessors. Although there are currently no signs of a new, game-changing variant, new variants of concern are likely to emerge," the institute said. "If no new variants emerge in the short-term, Virginia may experience a significant decline in case rates before the next novel variant appears." | https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/covid-19-cases-continue-slow-decline-in-northern-virginia/article_afa6f5a0-1fcd-11ed-a622-b3628bcbc81e.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:00Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/covid-19-cases-continue-slow-decline-in-northern-virginia/article_afa6f5a0-1fcd-11ed-a622-b3628bcbc81e.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Deputies in Stafford County were able to solve a bank robbery and put the offender behind bars in under four hours after recovering incriminating evidence on the suspect, the sheriff's office says.
About 3:30 p.m. Thursday, deputies were called to Truist Bank at the intersection of Warrenton Road and Plantation Drive for a hold-up alarm. Deputies arrived to find the bank had been robbed and the suspect had fled on foot, the Stafford County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
Although the suspect did not display a weapon, he was believed to be armed.
A perimeter was established and K-9 Ruby began a track. As the search for the robber was conducted, Deputy M.A. Holub received information that an intoxicated subject was entering vehicles in the parking lot of Target on South Gateway Drive, the release said.
Sgt. A.I. Assur canvassed the area and located Jeremy Peters, 40, of Fredericksburg on Warrenton Road at the I-95 overpass, according to the sheriff's office.
Peters matched the description of both the suspect going through cars at Target and the bank robber. Sgt. Assur determined Peters was under the influence and arrested him for public intoxication.
A search incident to arrest revealed the stolen money from the bank robbery in Peters’ pocket, according to the release.
"The contents of his other pocket sealed the deal, as it contained the robbery note," the release said.
Peters was charged with robbery and public intoxication. He was held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.
"Thank you to everyone in the community that called in with information," the sheriff's office said. | https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/man-charged-with-robbing-stafford-county-bank/article_77d48ca2-1fc6-11ed-bd9f-dbaed9ecf06b.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:06Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/man-charged-with-robbing-stafford-county-bank/article_77d48ca2-1fc6-11ed-bd9f-dbaed9ecf06b.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A pilot from Warrenton faces misdemeanor charges for flying at extremely low altitude over the Lake of Woods community in Orange County earlier this summer.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said the incident happened July 10 at 2:05 p.m. when the pilot flew over the neighborhood “at a height of less than 100 feet.”
The sheriff’s office identified the pilot at James W. Jelinek Jr., 65, of Warrenton, and arrested him Thursday for reckless operation of an aircraft, according to a news release.
The state code Jelinek was arrested under defines reckless operation as flying “carelessly or heedlessly in willful or wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others, or without due caution and circumspection and in a manner so as to endanger any person or property.”
The FAA’s aircraft operating rules require planes to fly at 1,000 feet or higher over the highest obstacle in congested areas. In non-congested areas, the FAA requires an altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or in sparsely populated areas. “In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure,” the code reads.
Jelinek faces an Aug. 26 court date. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, he received a private pilot certificate in 2014 and is fractional owner of a 1993 RV-6 two-seater, single-engine aircraft.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office asks anyone who has information “that may contribute to the case” to contact Deputy Ron Kesner or Maj. Michael LaCasse at 540-672-1200. | https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/warrenton-pilot-charged-after-flying-at-low-altitude-over-orange-county-neighborhood/article_4e633370-1fce-11ed-b407-bb6148600fe8.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:13Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/warrenton-pilot-charged-after-flying-at-low-altitude-over-orange-county-neighborhood/article_4e633370-1fce-11ed-b407-bb6148600fe8.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
At least there is consistency: Of the 41 localities across the mid-Atlantic region with January-to-July home sales of more than 1,000 properties, every single one posted a year-over-year decline in sales compared to the same period.
In fact, you have to go down the list to Schuykill County, Pa., to find a locality that is up. There, year-to-date sales are up 11.6 percent to 815. Figures come from MarketStats by ShowingTime based on listing activity from Bright MLS, as analyzed by the Sun Gazette.
The data look at about 70 counties and cities spread across portions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia, plus the District of Columbia.
For the reporting area as a whole, home sales for the first seven months of 2022 totaled 165,573. That’s down 11.6 percent from the same period in 2021, owing to cooling economic conditions, rising interest rates and the fast pace of sales that occurred in 2020-21 after the first wave of COVID had subsided.
Philadelphia remains king of the pack across the Mid-Atlantic. The 11,253 sales posted in the January-to-July time frame were down, but only 3.7 percent, from a year before.
Fairfax County sits in its familiar spot of second place, with the 9,472 year-to-date home sales of 2022 down 18.1 percent from a year before.
Rounding out the top five were Montgomery County, Md., at 7,678; Baltimore County, Md., at 6,435; Baltimore City, Md., at 6,404; and Montgomery County, Pa., at 6,382.
Figures represent most, but not all, home sales in the market. All July 2022 figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/across-region-home-sales-are-down-down-down-down-and-down/article_ad0739f6-1fda-11ed-9c32-1b4dde18c88d.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:19Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/across-region-home-sales-are-down-down-down-down-and-down/article_ad0739f6-1fda-11ed-9c32-1b4dde18c88d.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
It’ll be a smaller bump up in student population than a year before, but the 41 schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington are building on a significant uptick from a year before.
Total enrollment is expected to be nearly 17,000 students when classes return Aug. 24. That’s up about 2 percent from a year ago and higher by nearly 10 percent from two years before, when some parents began bailing out of local public schools in search of other options.
“This is a particularly exciting time in Catholic education, as we welcome more students, build off of the many innovations and lessons of recent years, and continue to help our students learn in new and creative ways,” said Joseph Vorbach, the diocese’s superintendent of schools, who said faculty and staff are gearing up to provide “joyful, engaging and student-centered environments for our learners to grow.”
To accommodate the growth, diocesan schools have expanded their staff, hiring additional teachers and administrators.
Catholic Bishop Michael Burbidge said the goal of the school system was to supplement the efforts of parents, who are “the first teachers of their children, in all aspects.”
“They make very important decisions to whom the entrust their children throughout a school day to be their partner, and I am grateful that they have placed their trust in our schools,” Burbidge said.
New for 2022-23, St. Ambrose School in Annandale will become the first school in the diocese to offer dual-language (English-Spanish) instruction, beginning in the lower grades and in ensuing years moving through all grade levels.
In addition, Saint Isidore of Seville Virtual Academy at Queen of Apostles School in Alexandria, which was created during the early days of the pandemic to provide an online option, will continue to provide a fully remote environment, and has spaces available.
Most other schools in the diocese currently have waiting lists, but interested families are encouraged to inquire at the local schools as enrollment is dynamic.
For more information, see the Website at https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/catholic-schools/why-choose-catholic-schools-/.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/diocese-reports-uptick-in-students-for-local-catholic-schools/article_574cd35e-1fda-11ed-a45a-57844534c236.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:25Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/diocese-reports-uptick-in-students-for-local-catholic-schools/article_574cd35e-1fda-11ed-a45a-57844534c236.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Registration is open for the 15-week session of Encore Chorale of Arlington, a music program for those age 55 and older under the aegis of Encore Creativity for Older Adults.
Participants will rehearse on Tuesdays from 1 to 2:30 p.m. beginning Sept. 6 at Lubber Run Community Center, in preparation for a public concert during the holidays.
Ingrid Lestrud, an active educator and conductor who formerly served as the principal associate conductor for the Grammy award-winning National Children’s Chorus, will lead the group.
The cost is $195. For information, see the Website at www.encorecreativity.org.
For those who prefer to sing “virtually,” Encore is continuing its Encore University, a comprehensive online program of singing plus enrichment courses in music history, music theory, dance, art and movement.
Tuition for the fall semester of Encore University is $185; singers can combine both the in-person program with online classes for a full musical experience.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/encore-chorale-preps-in-person-virtual-options-for-senior-singers-this-fall/article_8d97ab64-1fda-11ed-9421-53e89842fa7e.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:32Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/encore-chorale-preps-in-person-virtual-options-for-senior-singers-this-fall/article_8d97ab64-1fda-11ed-9421-53e89842fa7e.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
It’s been 32 years since J Hamilton Lambert finished his decade of service as Fairfax County executive, but his impact on the history of the county and Washington region is evident.
During his decade at the helm, he:
• Enabled a pro-development (split between Republicans and Democrats) Board of Supervisors to green-light the county’s transformation from a sleepy suburb into an economic powerhouse.
• Revamped the county’s plan-submission process, enabling engineers certified under a new process to have their plans expedited.
• Arranged for financing of the Dulles Toll Road.
• Spearheaded a regional sewer-treatment agreement that improved local water quality.
• Helped preserve the Upper Occoquan watershed.
• Found creative financing for a proposed new governmental center and moved the project forward, despite heated public opposition.
• Hired women and minorities to fill high-ranking county posts.
Gerald Gordon, former president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, fleshed out Lambert’s life story in his latest book, “J’s Journey: The Life, Leadership, and Legacy of J Hamilton Lambert.”
(There is no period after the “J” in Lambert’s name and even Gordon does not know the initial’s significance.)
Commissioned by late developer Sidney Dewberry and several other people, the book details how Lambert and a few other local notables transformed Northern Virginia from sleepy suburbs into an economic colossus.
“The area was going to grow, and what he did was enable the growth to be balanced between business and residential,” Gordon said. “By doing so, he set the process in motion whereby the business community is paying the taxes to help offset the cost of public services for residents.”
While writing the book, Gordon found many of his approximately 85 sources echoed his own impressions of Lambert – and had precious little negative to say about him.
“I always thought he was like a mentor to me . . . like a father figure or maybe a big brother,” he said. “He had no pretentions. Whenever there was a spotlight to be shown on someone, J was nowhere to be found. It was always someone else who stood up and got the credit.”
Born in Leesburg in 1940, Lambert credited his family for teaching him solid values. From his father, who quit school to support his family after his own father died while enforcing Prohibition, Lambert learned industriousness, street sense and self-sacrifice. His mother worked mathematics-related jobs outside the home – unusual for women of that era – and stressed honesty and conscientiousness.
Both his parents died in their 50s and Lambert subsequently was raised by his grandmother, who taught him discipline and fostered his lifelong love of reading.
Lambert was a standout student in high school and hoped to attend college on a football scholarship. A player on an opposing team clipped him on a kickoff, and the resulting back and ankle injuries ended his scholarship chances and disqualified him from military service.
Despite having only a high-school education, Lambert became a planning aide/map draftsman for the Fairfax County government in September 1959, the first of his 22 jobs with the county. He worked up the ranks by wowing his superiors, and twice served as interim county executive before reluctantly taking the top job in August 1980.
Lambert resigned in late 1990 after fielding most of the public’s criticism over the new governmental center, in order to shield board members who were up for election in 1991. County officials later named the building’s conference center in his honor.
Beyond chronicling Lambert’s life and county career, Gordon’s book provides case studies for public-administration students and is chock full of colorful anecdotes and nuggets of Lambert’s wisdom and humor. By treating everyone the same, being a good listener and doing thorough research, he was able to accomplish tasks that had eluded more heavily credentialed people, Gordon wrote.
The late Adm. Hyman Rickover asked Lambert to serve on the Rickover Foundation’s board and he became its first chairman. Rickover wanted him for the top job, even though former U.S. presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter also were serving on the board.
Now called the Center for Excellence in Education, the group’s president, Joann DiGennaro, was among those who commissioned Gordon to write the book. She first met Lambert while chairing the county’s library board and said he was “humble, fun, precise and very fair.”
DiGennaro was not always happy with him, however. When Lambert one year proposed cutting the library system’s budget, she sent him a box with a live rat inside, which then urinated on his desk. Lambert laughed, gave the libraries their money and became friends with DiGennaro.
Lambert’s lack of credentials fostered his uniqueness and allowed him to perform in a way that “garnered unequaled esteem and genuine appreciation,” said former Fairfax County attorney Dexter Odin.
“Academically trained administrators think categorically of local government as one and its citizens as another category,” Odin said. “J saw things in terms of helpful and harmful behavior – not as a governing institution that serves the citizenry, but with the citizen as much a part [of] local government as its employees and elected officials.”
Lambert since 1991 has been executive director of the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation and was instrumental in protecting and growing that group’s assets, the author said.
Gordon now is a professor in the Graduate School of Public Administration at the College of Charleston in South Carolina and said he enjoys teaching older students, as they have more life experience and can engage in deeper conversations in class. He also golfs, and likely will embark on another book.
“I have so poorly failed retirement,” Gordon joked.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/news/fairfax/new-book-focuses-on-man-who-helped-bring-fairfax-county-into-modern-era/article_c8bbe1ec-1fda-11ed-9441-832cddf39e41.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:33Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/news/fairfax/new-book-focuses-on-man-who-helped-bring-fairfax-county-into-modern-era/article_c8bbe1ec-1fda-11ed-9441-832cddf39e41.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Perhaps we are reading too much into them – that’s what we do – but actions taken by the Arlington School Board and County Board over the summer (when nobody was looking) should be disconcerting for those who value a robust community conversation.
School Board members decided that they wouldn’t take any public comment at meetings during the summer months, returning with the opportunity for the public to weigh in on topics of importance in September.
And then County Board members made a procedural change to their public-comment rules (reported in this week’s edition) that likely will have the effect of cutting down on the number of people who come to the dais at the start of board meetings to offer their insights.
Both actions are defensible, perhaps, but taken together, they give off the unmistakable stench that today’s elected officials don’t want to hear what the public has to say or (perhaps as importantly) don’t want others in the community to hear what their neighbors have to say.
And if that’s true, it’s another sign of the growing disconnect between today’s political leaders in the community and the public they are, in theory at least, supposed to be serving.
[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.] | https://www.insidenova.com/opinion/editorials/sun-gazette-editorial-are-arlington-officials-trying-to-dissuade-public-comment/article_fb5b5a5a-1fdb-11ed-b32b-1f0d76ac0fae.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:39Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/opinion/editorials/sun-gazette-editorial-are-arlington-officials-trying-to-dissuade-public-comment/article_fb5b5a5a-1fdb-11ed-b32b-1f0d76ac0fae.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
As is so often the case each fall, local teams and individual runners in the Sun Gazette’s coverage areas have considerable potential to have successful cross country seasons.
In team competition, the McLean Highlanders and Oakton Cougars are the defending girls and boys region team champions, respectively. Each squad returns many top runners from last season, making both top challengers again for district, region and state crowns.
Some of McLean’s top returners are defending individual region girls champion Thais Rolly, her sister Calypso Rolly, Elise Walker and Leah Durkee.
For the Oakton boys, top runners back are expected to be Landon Newell, Tyler Coleman, Iyasu Yemane, Quin Sehon, Connor Eklund and Derek Lewis.
The Cougars were kind of the surprise region champion last fall in what was expected to be a rebuilding season. The week prior to the region meet, Oakton finished second in the Concorde District.
Also in girls cross country, the Langley Saxons return top runner Lila Waters along with Madeleine Spanner, Hazel Calway, Corinne Sheedy and Elena Pesavento. They helped Langley finish second in both the Liberty District and region meets last fall.
From Arlington, the Yorktown Patriots finished third and the Washington-Liberty Generals fourth in the Liberty District girls meet in 2021.
Each has top returners, like Karenna Keane, Nicole Kim and Sienna Williams from W-L and Sofia Sheldon, Nora Sherman, Lauren Fatouros and Eleanor Whitehouse from Yorktown.
Marshall High School runner Haley Spoden, fifth in the Liberty District last fall, returns.
The Madison girls won the Concorde District last fall and have two returners Lydia Mikhin and Kiki Van Der Weide. Other top runners graduated.
Top returners for the Oakton girls are 2021 Concorde District champion Raquel Lewis and Sitota Mesfin.
The Yorktown boys may not be as strong as a year ago when they won the Liberty District then were third in the region and second in the state, because graduation took a lot of their top runners. Jack Levine is one of the few leading returners.
Sean Sanders is a top returner for the Marshall boys.
The 2022 cross country season is scheduled to kick off in full with the annual Monroe Parker Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 10 at Burke Lake Park.
The annual four-team Arlington County meet is Thursday, Oct. 6 at Bluemont Park at 4:30 p.m.
Molly Weithman is expected to be a top returner for the Bishop O’Connell High School girls team this fall. She placed third in the Arlington County meet in 2021. | https://www.insidenova.com/sports/many-cross-country-teams-have-potential/article_72be407c-1f5e-11ed-a5f9-4b8dc898a599.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:45Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/sports/many-cross-country-teams-have-potential/article_72be407c-1f5e-11ed-a5f9-4b8dc898a599.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Looking back at his accomplished career as a high-school pole vaulter, perseverance might have played a bigger role in Justin Delgado’s success than his raw talent in the event.
The 2022 Wakefield High School graduate recently capped his prep career in the sport with a runner-up finish at the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 outdoor boys track and field state meet with a personal best jump, by one foot, of 13 feet. The first-place winning height was 13-6.
The 5-foot-7, 150-pound Delgado was extremely pleased with that second-place height, and with his improvement in the event throughout high-school.
Delgado will attend Ohio University to study photography, but will not compete collegiately. He may continue to jump on his own, however.
The fact he continued as a high-school pole vaulter at all when his family moved to Arlington from Texas for his sophomore year took determination and some help. Delgado had started pole vaulting in Texas, jumping just a bit over 9 feet as a high-school freshman. But when he enrolled at Wakefield, pole vaulting was not an event that was allowed by the Arlington school system.
“I remember thinking, well, I guess I will start being a sprinter,” Delgado said.
Not so fast.
Nate Hailey had taken over as Wakefield’s new director of student activities about the same time Delgado arrived at the school. So the former track coach checked into the situation. It turned out pole vaulting could be offered, but simply had not been for many years.
Wakefield then included pole vaulting as part of its indoor and outdoor track and field teams in time for the 2020-21 school year. So Delgado had a place to compete, becoming the school’s lone pole vaulter for a while.
“I can’t thank Mr. Hailey enough about getting pole vaulting started,” Delgado said. “It all fell together.”
He began competing in the event as a junior for Wakefield, jumping as high as 11 feet, and also participated in sprint and hurdle races. Delgado then suffered a setback that junior season when he injured his right arm in one of those races, missing the outdoor jumping season.
“That did not stop me,” Delgado said.
He returned healthy for his entire senior year, and continued improving and winning meets under coach Laura Beimfohr.
During the indoor season, Delgado won district and region championships with leaps of 11-6 in each meet. He jumped 12-6 at the state meet to place fifth. Moving outside for the spring campaign, Delgado cleared 11-3 to win the district and was third in the region at 12 feet.
Delgado said he practiced “really hard” for the state meet, clearing 14 feet in practice, and was nervous for the competition because he was seeded eighth.
After jumping 13 feet to clinch second in the state, he missed at 13-6, initially clearing the bar, then knocking it loose on his way down with his shin.
“Once I got into the top three at the state, I knew I could finish strong,” Delgado said. “It was a perfect ending.”
NOTE: Hailey explained that Wakefield had numerous pole vaulters on the indoor and outdoor teams this past school year. Hosana Connor was a freshman girl who leaped 9-3 and tied for 13th at the state meet. “Justin opened the door for a lot of kids here,” Hailey said. | https://www.insidenova.com/sports/wakefield-pole-vaulter-finishes-second-in-state/article_bfbad232-1f5e-11ed-91c8-4b5558779305.html | 2022-08-19T19:09:52Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/sports/wakefield-pole-vaulter-finishes-second-in-state/article_bfbad232-1f5e-11ed-91c8-4b5558779305.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
U.S. Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), learn about Finnish army Leopard 2 main battle tanks at Sodankyla, Finland, Aug. 15, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Tobias Cukale)
This work, Viper Company Leopard Display Finland [Image 7 of 7], by CPT Tobias Cukale, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7378902/viper-company-leopard-display-finland | 2022-08-19T19:10:35Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7378902/viper-company-leopard-display-finland | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
U.S. Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), learn about Finnish army Leopard 2 main battle tanks at Sodankyla, Finland, Aug. 15, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Tobias Cukale)
This work, Viper Company Leopard Display Finland [Image 7 of 7], by CPT Tobias Cukale, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7378904/viper-company-leopard-display-finland | 2022-08-19T19:10:47Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7378904/viper-company-leopard-display-finland | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Senior Airman Ashley Hankins, 4th Component Maintenance Squadron electrical and environmental journeyman, tests electrical current with a digital multimeter at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, Aug. 9, 2022. Hankins measured the voltage, current and resistance of the F-15E Strike Eagle’s engine fire extinguishing system. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kevin Holloway)
This work, 4th CMS E&E puts the power in airpower [Image 4 of 4], by SrA Kevin Holloway, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7378937/4th-cms-ee-puts-power-airpower | 2022-08-19T19:11:00Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7378937/4th-cms-ee-puts-power-airpower | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Major League Baseball commissioned East St. Louis native Frank Anthony, to design and paint cleats celebrating the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson playing his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
During a live session on the Capital One PLAY BALL PARK website, the artist painted the Sole Power Activation cleat, honoring Robinson.
“I’m not much of a baseball fan myself, but I admire the people and the amount of work they do to provide people with a sport to watch,” Anthony said.
“Doing anything athletic takes constant hard work, and [Jackie Robinson] is an example. I’m mainly a fan of his.”
Anthony’s work was offered to bidders during an MLB auction, alongside other pieces that featured artist interpretations of Robinson’s impact and legacy. Proceeds were donated to the Boys and Girls Club of America, which has several area locations.
“I was honored to receive the opportunity because everything [Jackie Robinson] stood for on and off the field, and the things he did to change the direction of baseball, provided opportunities and chances for Black people in baseball that weren’t there before,” Anthony said.
Growing up in East St. Louis with two siblings wasn’t a walk in the park for, Anthony said, sharing that he was surrounded by poverty, high crime rates, and constant bullying in school.
He discovered art at a young age, completing projects as early as three years old. Teasing and criticism from his peers for his shoes inspired him to get into sneaker art, which is one of his art forms.
“My siblings saw I was dealing with hard times in school because people talked about my sneakers,” Anthony said. “My brother gave me an old pair of sneakers. We cleaned them up and restored them to make them look wearable. That made me say ‘I can do art on sneakers and many other clothing items.’ I thought it was cool to wear artwork out and about. It's about being expressive outwardly in different ways.”
Using artistic skills on tennis shoes and other apparel “gives a lot more avenues for creatives having a difficult time with their appearance,” Anthony said.
“I know I’m not the only bullied person because my shoes were busted. I didn’t have a name-brand shirt, and my shirt wasn’t always clean. Creatives don’t have to be limited with how they deal with situations of being teased.”
Anthony said many East St. Louis artists feel they must leave the area to find recognition.
“I feel like if there were more awareness of the talent in East St. Louis, that would help more. I can do my part by spreading more awareness on the talent and art in East St. Louis,” he said.
Anthony has resided in Los Angeles for three months, calling his relocation “a leap of faith.”
“The transition has its ups and downs because being in an area I’m unfamiliar with has its challenges,” Anthony said.
“I’m still adapting to the driving distances, the weather, and familiarization with the city. Back home, I knew where everything was, and it didn’t take 45-50 minutes to get from Point A to Point B. Here I have to use my navigation system to go everywhere.”
His advice for Black youths is “stay true to themselves.”
“Express yourself in whatever creative way you see,” Anthony said.
“It will reflect you because you’ll grow from constantly creating and always have that inspiration to tap into. It can be a long journey, things will happen along the way, but that’s the most beautiful part about it.”
Anthony said he is crafting an art show which will debut later this year, and continues embossing his style on phone cases, sneakers, clothing, and more. He specializes in fine art. Patrons should look for his signature staple, a wood-grain hand-painted technique intertwined with a checkered-board aesthetic.
Along with his work for MLB, his pieces have been featured at the 2021 Paris Art Exhibition, Viacom/MTV’s Converse Create At Home Campaign 2020, Overtime Paint Wars 2020, and other venues.
Frank Anthony’s artwork is available on his website, https://frankanthonyart.com/.
Follow Anthony on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/kingdom_made/?hl=en. | https://www.stlamerican.com/arts_and_entertainment/living_it/batter-up/article_c0ecbe56-1d5e-11ed-9999-5f65cb14eed6.html | 2022-08-19T19:13:14Z | stlamerican.com | control | https://www.stlamerican.com/arts_and_entertainment/living_it/batter-up/article_c0ecbe56-1d5e-11ed-9999-5f65cb14eed6.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Black artist and creative Tre G, is certainly not your typical Shakespearean experience.
The production wheels you in from start to finish with its contemporary approach and relatable Black culture inclusion of African American Vernacular English [AAVE], modern dance, and afrofuturistic costumes designed and styled by fashion designer Brandin Vaughn.
Tre G also wrote the original music, which infuses gospel, house, R&B, and pop.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is staged at the corner of 14th Avenue and 14th Street in the heart of the Old North neighborhood. The location is among the 24 parks or gathering spots the Shakespeare Festival will visit during its TourCo run, which began last year.
The tour brings productions to areas, urban and rural, that do not offer ready access to theater arts.
“Most people know us for Shakespeare in the Park in Forest Park, it’s a beautiful place to see a play. With TourCo we want to take Shakespeare out into the neighborhood, in our communities where people are hanging out,” Tom Ridgley, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival production director told HEC Happening Now.
A cast of six, including women and nonbinary actors, joins in the performance which trails three storylines. The show details relationships between two couples. The characters celebrate the Duke’s marriage to the Amazonian Queen, and the King and Queen’s romantic quarrel.
Tre G told Jeremy Goodwin of St. Louis Public Radio that he chose the actors portraying the characters to be perceived “in an androgynous sort of way.”
“What if we took gender and gender norms out of the equation, and we just saw these people as humans and just the beings that they are? How would we experience love in a new way? How would we experience relationships in a new way?” he said.
Tielere Cheatem, Rae Davis, Ricki Franklin, Asha Futterman, Mel McCray, and Christina Yancy bring their own flavor to the performance, which is hilarious, magical, full of life, and chaotic.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” reinterpretation offers a unique twist on a vintage tale, which highlights what might have been if Shakespeare utilized the voices of Black and queer characters in his works.
“A lot of the time, we’re hired, and we still have to follow the rules,” Tre G told Goodwin in an interview.
“A lot of the times you approach this differently because you think it’s this Eurocentric kind of thing. I’m excited just to bring our youthful version of this to the community. I’m hoping that maybe some young Black actor, or some young, Black, queer actor, gets a chance to see themselves represented in a new light.”
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” continues its tour through August 27, 2022. All performances are free. Each performance begins at 6:30 p.m. with a pre-show guide. The show begins at 6:45 p.m.
Visit www.stlshakes.org for more information. | https://www.stlamerican.com/arts_and_entertainment/living_it/shakespeare-reimagined/article_e2f8f39c-1f62-11ed-8810-8f2694bf9566.html | 2022-08-19T19:13:20Z | stlamerican.com | control | https://www.stlamerican.com/arts_and_entertainment/living_it/shakespeare-reimagined/article_e2f8f39c-1f62-11ed-8810-8f2694bf9566.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Congresswoman Cori Bush and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones recently announced a $19,093,333 million award to the City of St. Louis to reconstruct the runway infrastructure at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. This grant will fund the reconstruction of 3,600 feet of airplane runway to help maintain the structural integrity of the pavement and to minimize foreign object debris.
“St. Louis Lambert International Airport proudly serves as a hub for travelers looking to explore and do business in the City of St. Louis and the Midwest,” said Congresswoman Bush. “I am excited to announce this funding for our St. Louis Region and am proud to have helped secure this funding through the Congressional appropriations process as well as by working with President Biden to help pass the American Rescue Plan last March. This infusion of resources into our airport will help ensure that our region has the proper infrastructure in place to improve travel access and safety. ”
“From our first flight to continental Europe in decades to a positive bump in credit rating, exciting things are happening at St. Louis Lambert International Airport,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “St. Louis appreciates Congresswoman Cori Bush’s work to deliver resources to help make our airport an even better destination for residents and visitors alike.” | https://www.stlamerican.com/business/business_news/congresswoman-bush-mayor-jones-announce-19-million-grant-to-lambert-airport/article_1e13de24-1fa9-11ed-8367-d7d0f6dabfbe.html | 2022-08-19T19:13:26Z | stlamerican.com | control | https://www.stlamerican.com/business/business_news/congresswoman-bush-mayor-jones-announce-19-million-grant-to-lambert-airport/article_1e13de24-1fa9-11ed-8367-d7d0f6dabfbe.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SUNRISE: March 23, 1932 SUNSET: July 28, 2022
Louise Latisha (Gray) Dunn was born in Marion Arkansas to the union of Edward and Roxie Gray. Louise, the youngest of 14 children, graduated from Vashon High School. She confessed her faith in Jesus Christ at an early age and was an active member of Grow To Go Christian Center.
Louise was united in Holy Matrimony on April 13, 1952, to Alphonso Dunn. Regina and Derek Dunn were born to this union. Louise was a pioneer in fashion and instrumental in bringing “Louise Dunn Modeling & Charm School” (1960), the first of its kind in St. Louis for Women of Color, founded a Charm School, and taught modeling. Additionally, Flora Roberts cosmetics were introduced by Louise to Famous Barr (Macys) and Sticks Baer & Fuller (Dilllards) in the 1970's. She was a dedicated member of The Younger Set, Inc., National Drifters, Inc., the St. Louis Chapter for over 50 years! Louise and Al shared a passion for Gourmet Cooking & Event Planning for the best in St. Louis. Louise was vital in her husband’s life, Alphonso Dunn, an educator, long time member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and The Royal Vagabonds. Louise loved to travel and entertain.
Louise departed this life peacefully surrounded by love and family. To cherish her memories are: her children, Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren, Great-Great Grandchildren, and beloved Step Grandchildren.
WE APPRECIATE YOUR EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE & CONDELENCES | https://www.stlamerican.com/news/obituaries/in-loving-memory-of-louise-dunn/article_0d00b6f2-1fd1-11ed-a4b0-f36cac78883b.html | 2022-08-19T19:13:32Z | stlamerican.com | control | https://www.stlamerican.com/news/obituaries/in-loving-memory-of-louise-dunn/article_0d00b6f2-1fd1-11ed-a4b0-f36cac78883b.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Jake Freeman is an applied math and economics major at the University of Southern California. At age 16, He co-published a paper titled “Irreducible Risks of Hedging a Bond With a Default Swap.” at the age of 16. And now, at 20 years old, he is a multimillionaire and the head of Freeman Capital Management.
In July, Freeman bought more than 5 million Bed Bath & Beyond shares at just under $5.50 a share. After the investment, he owned approximately 6% of the home goods retail company.
When the stock price skyrocketed to more than $27 a share this week, Freeman sold his shares, earning more than $130 million for an estimated profit of around $110 million.
BBBY was considered a meme stock that gained popularity through social media. Social media communities can significantly influence the prices of shares, sometimes resulting in the stocks becoming overvalued.
“I certainly did not expect such a vicious rally upwards,” Freeman told the Financial Times. “I thought this was going to be a six-months-plus play,” he continued, adding that he was “really shocked that it went up so fast.”
It’s significant to note that even before this windfall, Freeman was not a typical college student. The initial investment in BBBY cost him $25 million, which he received from family members and friends.
After buying the stock, Freeman sent a letter to the company’s board of directors. According to the New York Post, he warned the company that it needed to “cut its cash-burn rate, drastically improve its capital structure, and raise cash.”
An earnings report released by the company in late June showed that its revenue and income numbers for the previous quarter dropped considerably, leading to the removal of CEO Mark Tritton.
On Thursday, Bed Bath & Beyond’s stock tumbled from $23.08 to $18.55 a share after Ryan Cohen, the co-founder of Chewy, confirmed that he no longer owns any shares or options related to BBBY stock.
In a Reddit post announcing that he no longer owned Bed Bath & Beyond stock, Freeman stated that he hoped the company could capitalize on the increased price and continue to operate for years to come.
“I certainly have some thoughts on how to best proceed at these prices which I would be willing to share if so asked,” he wrote in the post on the BBBY subreddit, which he titled “An Ode to BBBY.
“I am truly going to miss being able to say, ‘I am the second largest non-institutional shareholder of Bed Bath & Beyond,'” he added, “but I am certainly going to be shopping at BBBY tomorrow.”
This story originally appeared on Don't Waste Your Money. Checkout Don't Waste Your Money for product reviews and other great ideas to save and make money. | https://www.wtxl.com/college-student-makes-110m-trading-shares-bed-bath-beyond-stock | 2022-08-19T19:17:12Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/college-student-makes-110m-trading-shares-bed-bath-beyond-stock | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Two people were attacked in separate shark attacks in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, authorities said.
They reportedly occurred within about an hour of each other on Monday.
Karren Sites told ABC affiliate WPDE that she was waist-deep in the water when a shark bit her on the arm.
"I kept pushing at it to get it off my arm and it did," she told the TV station.
Sites reportedly underwent surgery and received hundreds of stitches.
The other attack happened about a mile away, authorities said. The Associated Press reports the victim suffered a glancing bite to the leg.
Authorities can't say whether it was the same shark involved in the first attack. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/2-shark-attacks-reported-this-week-at-south-carolina-beach | 2022-08-19T19:17:14Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/2-shark-attacks-reported-this-week-at-south-carolina-beach | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
In a case dubbed the "Fitbit murder," a Connecticut man was sentenced to 65 years in prison Thursday for the 2015 fatal shooting of his wife at their home.
During his trial, Richard Dabate concocted a story that two days before Christmas, a masked intruder broke into their home, killed his wife, Connie Dabate, and tied him up, the Associated Press reported.
According to the news outlet, law enforcement said the timeline Dabate gave them did not match the data on Connie Dabate's Fitbit, which showed her moving around an hour after she was supposedly shot.
Police also added that the news outlet reported no signs of a struggle inside the residence.
According to the Associated Press, prosecutors said Richard Dabate chose to kill his wife because details of his affair with another woman he got pregnant at the time of the killing were about to unravel.
The 46-year-old was convicted in May by a jury, the Associated Press reported.
The news outlet reported that Debate plans to appeal, claiming he's innocent and saying someone else killed his wife. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/connecticut-man-sentenced-to-65-years-in-fitbit-murder-case | 2022-08-19T19:17:21Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/connecticut-man-sentenced-to-65-years-in-fitbit-murder-case | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A mother was killed after being struck by lightning near Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.
According to Winter Springs police, the mother was with her child near a park when she was struck.
First responders worked to save the woman's life, but she was declared dead upon arriving at a hospital. The child was also being treated for injuries, but their condition has not been released.
"City staff extends our deepest condolences to the family and will keep them in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time," the Winter Springs Police Department posted on Facebook.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the U.S. every year. However, the odds of being struck are less than one in a million. The CDC adds that almost 90% of lightning strike victims survive. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/lightning-strike-kills-woman-in-florida | 2022-08-19T19:17:38Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/lightning-strike-kills-woman-in-florida | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WILMINGTON, Del. – Gov. John Carney on Friday extended Delaware's public health emergency order another 30 days.
The extension allows the state of Delaware and medical providers to continue COVID-19 vaccination and testing programs.
“It’s important that we continue to stay one step ahead of COVID-19,” Carney said. “Keep doing the things we know that work. Stay home if you’re sick and get tested. Consider masking up in public indoor settings or if you are at a higher risk for illness. Get vaccinated and boosted when you’re eligible.”
Under Delaware law, public health emergency declarations must be formally renewed every 30 days.
Click here to view Carney's website to view the public health emergency extension. | https://www.wboc.com/news/delawares-public-health-emergency-extended-another-30-days/article_13512110-1fd9-11ed-a013-f33c5e00dab4.html | 2022-08-19T19:20:24Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/delawares-public-health-emergency-extended-another-30-days/article_13512110-1fd9-11ed-a013-f33c5e00dab4.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Score Gets a Vinyl Pressing
Last month, Amazon Prime confirmed that Bear McCreary would handle the primary scoring duties for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, adding another big franchise to the composer’s body of work. Now, his music is officially getting the vinyl treatment from Mondo. Pre-orders are currently live for McCreary’s score, which is collected on two 140-gram LPs.
McCreary’s contributions to The Rings of Power’s first season comprise two and a half hours of music recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios and Vienna’s AIR Studios and Synchron Stage. Listeners can expect a rousing assortment of tracks befitting Lord of the Rings’ epic scope. Plus, the album includes the series’ theme music written by original Lord of the Rings composer Howard Shore.
The soundtrack also features a pair of songs performed by two of the show’s cast members. Sophia Nomvete (Princess Disa) lends her vocals to the first of these tracks, “A Plea to the Rocks.” Meanwhile, Megan Richards (Poppy Proudfellow) sings on “This Wandering Day.” Mondo’s webstore exclusive variant is pressed on gold vinyl and is scheduled to ship sometime in January 2023.
RELATED: Amazon Confirms The Rings of Power’s Two-Episode Rollout
“J.R.R. Tolkien’s stunning novels and their film adaptations have had a profound impact on my imagination for nearly my entire life,” said McCreary in a new statement. “I am honored to compose the music that will help guide audiences through the major events of the Second Age of Middle-earth.”
But that’s not all. Mondo is also releasing McCreary’s score in a 2XCD format as well. You can pre-order both versions of the album here. However, if physical media isn’t your jam, the full soundtrack is now available to stream on most music platforms.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere its first episode on Thursday, September 1. It will be followed by the second episode on September 2.
Are you looking forward to hearing McCreary’s score for the series? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
We are also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This affiliate advertising program also provides a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Rings of power score. Also. There. | https://www.superherohype.com/tv/518072-the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-score-gets-a-vinyl-pressing | 2022-08-19T19:20:24Z | superherohype.com | control | https://www.superherohype.com/tv/518072-the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-score-gets-a-vinyl-pressing | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
DEWEY BEACH, Del. - Dewey Beach police are asking the public's help in identifying a suspect wanted in connection with an early Friday morning fight that put a man in the hospital with serious injuries.
It reportedly happened at around 1:30 a.m. on the ocean side of Coastal Highway between Bellevue Street and Dagsworthy Avenue. Police said several people were in a fight with one another when the suspect struck the victim, causing several facial fractures and a brain injury. The victim was airlifted to Christiana Care in Newark, Del., where police said is listed in stable condition.
Anyone who has any video or photographs of the incident, or can identify the suspect, is asked to contact the Dewey Beach Police Department at 302-227-1110 or Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333. | https://www.wboc.com/news/local/dewey-beach-police-seek-id-of-assault-suspect/article_c626bf88-1fee-11ed-b5fa-33f0bac50301.html | 2022-08-19T19:20:31Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/local/dewey-beach-police-seek-id-of-assault-suspect/article_c626bf88-1fee-11ed-b5fa-33f0bac50301.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A desperate couple with two young children who moved back from Dubai have been left "helpless and homeless" after returning to their front door in Dartford with their suitcases only to find their tenant was yet to move out. Carna and Ganes Brooks, who have a one-year-old and a nine-year-old, have been sofa surfing for more than four weeks with no power to get inside their front door.
The couple told their tenants in February they were moving back home in May and they needed to leave. The Brooks delayed their arrival to July because of Carna's cancer diagnosis and treatment.
But they have been forced to sleep on friends' sofas since they returned on July 19. And seemingly powerless to act as private landlords, the couple are unlikely to get under their own roof again until November, as they pursue the eviction route through the courts.
Read more:Charities warn of 'cruel' DWP sanctions as 110,000 lose benefits amid crackdown
The couple said a Section 8 notice notifying the family they wanted their home back by June 28 - which has been seen by KentLive - was ignored and the tenants had fallen behind with their rent. The latest date for the tenants to leave was agreed for July 13. They said they had even agreed to waive rent to help them get a deposit together.
But on July 19, the hottest day so far this year, the Brooks family stood in the scorching heat outside their home, unable to get in, with the tenant inside. Carna, 39, said: "We called the police for sensible advice on the matter as we stood hopeless looking at each other.
"My one-year-old was screaming in the heat, everyone was worried and during all the negotiations, my nine-year-old daughter got hit by a car in front of our home. Thankfully she didn’t have major injuries, but it is a day we never wish upon anyone.
"The police were friendly and compassionate but couldn’t offer much help as by law we were trespassing if we attempted to enter our property." She said: "Thankfully a friend in the area offered to take us in at that moment to get us out of the sun and offered us a place to stay for a few nights.
"For the next few days, we exhausted all helplines, recommendations, negotiations with tenants and investigations into different routes to get our home back sooner rather than later. Unfortunately the outcome is to simply wait for a court date and eviction".
Up until two weeks ago, the family were all sleeping on one sofa, with Ganes, 42, having to sleep sitting up. They are still living out of the suitcases and bags they arrived with from Dubai. They had moved there in 2019 for an adventure and a few years of working and had offered their fully-furnished home to the woman they knew.
"We left them with a fully functioning home, even with new linen, towels, new fluffly slippers next to the beds, new cosy pyjamas, food cupboards stocked up and a grocery delivery for their first week. We felt it was the right thing to do to let them rent our home significantly below market value to help them financially and to take care of our belongings."
"We had a signed tenancy contract in place," said Carna, who said a friend had started a GoFundMe page for the family to "get a roof over our head". Carna said as they owned a home, they did not quality for council housing. Thankfully, now the family was invited by friends to house sit for a few weeks while they were away.
"We are not receiving rent from the tenants as agreed, therefore are unable to rent another property for ourselves as we are covering a mortgage of a home someone else is living in. Part of August was meant for us to settle into our home, get routines in place, baby proofing our home for our Dubai miracle baby, finding school placements, getting school uniform and packed lunch boxes. Instead we are living out suitcases and trying to reassure our kids that everything will be okay," said Carna.
The Brooks can not get a court hearing for an eviction notice until October, and a tenant must be given a month's notice to leave. Even Carna's oncologist has written to the tenant, explaining how vital a "stress free environment" is for her recovery.
Carna told KentLive she wants to look for another teaching job and also get her daughter into school, but can do neither without a permanent address. Despite their hardship, the Christian couple was full of gratitude for the NHS and Darent Valley Hospital's Empress Breast Unit, as it seamlessly took over her cancer care from teams in Dubai "despite us not having an address". It has taken more scans and biopsies and Carna is waiting to hear the outcome.
'Nightmare'
"We are thankful for all the people offering us a roof over our heads, even though sometimes all of us are squashing in like sardines on the sofa, thankful for food to eat and our suitcases full of clothes. My husband is working night shifts to ease our sleeping arrangements.
"We are also thankful for his employer and colleagues who are flexible and supportive during this time. However, our biggest prayer is just to live in our own home and for the tenants to find alternative accommodation as soon as possible."
Carna warned others who were renting to a third party to go through a lettings agent. The couple had learned in their "nightmare" as landlords, they had little power to evict their tenant. But she said they did not want to "name and shame" their tenants, they just did not know what else to do apart from publicise their predicament.
The tenant told KentLive: "This is hilarious. We have been paying rent for three years. We have been paying their mortgage for three years.
"Yes, it is their home. It is also our home for the last three years. We are paying them. I don't need to give you my side of the story. This is none of your business please. Why would we be looking for somewhere else? I don't need to explain myself to your or anyone." The woman said not to contact her again.
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- Boyfriend of tragic soldier dies just weeks after her death at army base | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/family-left-homeless-after-returning-7485177 | 2022-08-19T19:21:47Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/family-left-homeless-after-returning-7485177 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Book Now: The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin
For Marcia DeSanctis, author of the upcoming travel memoir A Hard Place to Leave: Stories from a Restless Life, her Irish heritage had always played second fiddle to her Italian roots. “The Irish part of my family had been somewhat diluted over the generations,” she says. “The Italian side was so much more recent: My grandfather was an immigrant in the 20th century, and he was very connected to the Old World and his home village. So, I felt a strong tie to Italy because it was so palpable.”
But when a trip to Europe brought DeSanctis to Dublin earlier this year, it spurred an interest in the more forgotten part of her DNA. And in a stroke of luck, she discovered her hotel—the city’s grande dame, the Shelbourne—actually employs a genealogy butler. Guests can send relevant information, such as ancestors’ names, dates of birth and death, and names of villages, to resident genealogist Helen Kelly, who can then comb through records to help paint a fuller picture of a family tree.
Since starting at the hotel in 2007, Kelly has helped hundreds of guests like DeSanctis trace their Irish heritage. The process is fairly straightforward: After receiving the relevant details and completing her research, she schedules an hour-long meeting to share everything she has discovered (in person or over Zoom). From there, she can direct interested visitors to one of five record offices in Dublin. “My consultation with the guest eliminates time wasting on their part,” she says. “I know from what I research online what particular office will best serve their purpose for the next phase of their research.” Those offices include everything from the General Register Office for births, marriages, and deaths to the National Library of Ireland, which “holds a great deal of records, including Roman Catholic parish registers up to about 1880,” she notes.
Thanks to her chat with Kelly while in Ireland, DeSanctis is one of many visitors who could find their family tree within these public records. Some 70 million people worldwide claim some Irish heritage, and for those fortunate enough to be able to travel to investigate their roots, Ireland tries to make it easy to do, with or without the aid of a genealogy butler. The government even hosts its own website, irishgenealogy.ie, which lists church records and civil registers of births, marriages, and deaths. Those who can prove that a grandparent was born in Ireland can even apply for Irish citizenship. Considering that an Irish passport is tied for third strongest in the world, according to Arton Capital’s Passport Index, a ranking of the world’s passports, this could save quite a few travel headaches depending on where you currently claim citizenship.
Americans (and to a lesser extent Canadians) are by far the largest percentage of tourists that Kelly sees. About 31 million Americans can trace their roots to Ireland, so it’s no surprise that the country does a brisk business with U.S. tourists looking for their lineage. The major exodus to America was from 1840 to 1870, the famine years in Ireland. “That was when it really surged,” says Kelly. “But since that time, we’ve always exported people,” she adds with a laugh.
Since “the vast majority of those Irish ancestors arrived in the United States over a century ago, their experiences and identities are well out of living memory,” says Christopher Maginn, a professor of history at Fordham University. Irish Americans looking to learn about their genealogy may not have any other recourse except to do the research. “So, when we combine that with the fact that American tourists spend more and stay longer in Ireland than visitors from any other country, it makes good sense for an Irish hotel to have a genealogist on hand.”
While Maginn notes that the trope of the American seeking roots in Ireland can sometimes be seen as a stereotype among the Irish, “the process can have great meaning for Americans,” he says. “In making this cultural pilgrimage, American tourists are following in the footsteps of famous Irish Americans, like John F. Kennedy and even Barack Obama, who traveled to Ireland and found themselves confronted by distant Irish cousins.” When asked if she’s ever helped a hotel guest find a surprising family connection, Kelly demurs. “I’ve had wonderful experiences with guests, but I’m not at liberty to start sharing stories,” she says.
Kelly has seen an uptick in Irish heritage travel since 2000 (she thinks the turning of the millennium inspired people to trace their roots). Since records like the 1901 and 1911 censuses are now available online, it’s that much easier to find your lineage. Plus, 2022 is the centenary of the signing of the Irish Constitution, so it seems an especially auspicious time to discover your own connection to the Emerald Isle.
“There is so much publicity around the commemoration of our independence, so certainly those of Irish ancestry are probably more aware of their Irishness and want to learn more,” Kelly says. “I think that’s very good because they’re not alone. They’re not only looking at their own family history, but also the history of Ireland.” In fact, Kelly’s place of employment, the Shelbourne, was where the Constitution of the Irish Free State was signed, in what was then Room 112. Today, the room has been renamed the Constitution Suite, but the same oak tables and chairs from the signing remain, a tangible memorial to some of Ireland’s most venerated leaders and their work.
As for DeSanctis, her chat with Kelly revealed a twist in her Irish forebears’ peregrinations. “I had always thought they had gone to Quincy, Mass. from Ireland, but it turns out they went to Prince Edward Island in Canada,” she says. “It’s interesting to just imagine the journey these people were on. There was a war in 1798, there was a famine. . . . I don’t know what made them go, but I’m sure they didn’t want to leave their home.” Learning about this unexpected Canadian connection has inspired DeSanctis, a frequent traveler, to make a trip to the maritime province sometime soon. Her hope is that researching records there will help fill in details of her family’s Irish history, including the specific towns from which they emigrated. “I’ve always wanted to go [to Prince Edward Island],” she says. “Now it turns out I have mega-roots there.” | https://www.afar.com/magazine/at-the-shelbourne-hotel-in-dublin-a-genealogy-butler-can-find-your-irish-roots | 2022-08-19T19:22:31Z | afar.com | control | https://www.afar.com/magazine/at-the-shelbourne-hotel-in-dublin-a-genealogy-butler-can-find-your-irish-roots | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
If basic buffets and bottomless margaritas are the first things that come to mind when you think of all-inclusive resorts, you’re sadly mistaken. What’s more, those looking for a grown-up-oriented escape (read: no crying babies at breakfast or kids splashing in the pool) should consider a stay at an adults-only all-inclusive resort. Best of all, you don’t even need to leave the United States.
From a wellness-centric oasis in the Arizona desert to a historic mansion-turned-luxury resort in the heart of upstate New York, here are the best adults-only all-inclusive resorts in the nation for different types of travelers. All feature upscale amenities, enriching activities, and appealing food and drink options.
1. The Lodge at Woodloch, Pennsylvania
Book Now: The Lodge at Woodloch
Nestled in Pennslyvania’s Pocono Mountains (about three hours from New York City), the Lodge at Woodloch is the adults-only sister property of the family-friendly Woodloch Pines Resort, about two miles down the road. The kid-free spa resort has 58 accommodations (each complete with a private balcony), over 35 classes (from silk scarf painting and smoothie demos to evening kayaking and axe throwing), and six-plus miles of trails (ideal for hiking and forest bathing). Guests also enjoy three gourmet meals per day (plus snacks)—many of which use herbs and produce grown on-site or locally (think: handcrafted black bean burgers served with garden greens, pasta with summer squash)—as well as the use of indoor and outdoor swimming pools (the latter overlooks the surrounding forest), whirlpools, saunas, and a 3,000-square-foot fitness studio.
2. Bungalows Key Largo, Florida
Book Now: The Bungalows at Key Largo
For a luxurious year-round warm-weather escape, look no further than Bungalows Key Largo. The oceanfront all-inclusive, which welcomes guests age 21 and up, is renowned for its namesake bungalows, which have a private outdoor area with a soaking tub and shower. When not relaxing by one of two pools, guests can often be found trying their hand at unmotorized water sports or beachfront yoga. Additional amenities include top-shelf liquor at the three bars, an on-site fitness tiki hut equipped with Peloton bikes, live entertainment (including karaoke, trivia, calypso sounds, and acoustic tunes), and six stylish bars and restaurants. (All but one, Bogie & Bacall’s—the resort’s fine-dining restaurant that serves steak and seafood—are included.) Alternatively, indulge in a spa treatment (price varies) or a floating tiki boat ride ($50 per person).
3. Twin Farms, Vermont
Book Now: Twin Farms
Twin Farms spans 300 acres in the picture-perfect Vermont countryside (about 90 minutes from Burlington and three hours from Boston). The uber-luxe Relais & Château resort’s accommodations—guest rooms, suites, and free-standing cottages—feature ornate furnishings and decor (including mosaic or marble fireplaces, hand-stenciled walls, antique claw-foot tubs, stone hot tubs, and museum-quality artwork). Travelers also enjoy three house-made meals per day (a picnic lunch in the meadow, anyone?); evening cocktails and canapés; wine, beer, and spirits; and all activities (such as fly-fishing, paddleboarding, archery, and, in winter, skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing, and ice skating). Also, don’t miss the Bridge House Spa (treatments cost extra) or the on-site Japanese furo (similar to a giant hot tub).
4. Miraval Berkshires, Massachusetts
Book Now: Miraval Berkshires
Catch up on some much-needed R&R at Miraval Berkshires Resort & Spa in the town of Lenox (about a 2.5-hour drive from Boston). The daily schedule here is packed with complimentary activities—meditation, hiking, Pilates, farm tours, honey tastings, gluten-free baking, snowshoeing—to entice all types of travelers. Guests also can enjoy the swimming pool or splurge on a treatment at the Balinese-inspired Life in Balance Spa. Relaxation continues in the guest rooms, which come with wellness-centric amenities like Tibetan singing bowls and meditation cushions. While alcoholic beverages are not included, guests can enjoy a rotating menu of chef-prepared meals and snacks made with locally sourced seasonal ingredients—some straight from the property’s gardens, beehives, and chicken coops—including burgers made with grass-fed beef and cheese charcuterie served with fresh honeycomb. Also, for an additional cost, foodies can experience Miraval’s extensive culinary programming, including farm-to-table picnics, chef’s garden tours, sustainable seafood demonstrations, and kombucha brewing, to name a few.
5. Canyon Ranch, Arizona
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Get your zen on at Canyon Ranch. This 150-acre swanky spa resort is ideally situated near the Sonoran Desert and Santa Catalina Mountains, less than a half-hour from Tuscon. On-site amenities include nine fitness studios, a spa and salon, a labyrinth, a ropes course, a meditation garden, and three outdoor pools. Travelers will also enjoy a wide array of daily activities like chef-led cooking demos, yoga, pickleball, hiking, and biking. Sit-down meals and grab-and-go items like salads and smoothies are included in the room rate so guests can dig in at their own pace. The inviting guest rooms and suites, in warm color palettes inspired by the desert surroundings, elevate the experience.
6. Golden Door, California
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While a seven-night stay at this 600-acre SoCal retreat—about 40 minutes from San Diego—clocks in at over $10,000 (excluding tax and gratuity), guests can enjoy an array of noteworthy amenities, such as up to four personal training sessions (over the course of the week), two labyrinths, all meals and snacks, 30 miles of private hiking trails, and 80 fitness and wellness classes. The 4:1 guest-to-staff ratio ensures bespoke service and top-notch hospitality. Plus, unlike most all-inclusive resorts, guests can enjoy complimentary spa treatments like daily in-room massages, five skincare or body treatments, two herbal wraps, and manicure-pedicure. The farm-to-table cuisine offers fresh fruits and veggies harvested from the on-site farm, plus locally sourced seafood and poultry to ensure peak freshness and a lower carbon footprint. Meanwhile, all accommodations have private decks or patios overlooking the tranquil Japanese garden.
7. The Green O, Montana
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For a romantic adults-only, all-inclusive experience, look no further than the Green O, a hotel-within-a-hotel at the 37,000-acre Resort at Paws Up (about 38 miles from Missoula International Airport). Green O guests can take their pick of one of 12 “hauses,” all of which offer postcard-worthy forest views, 1,000+ square feet of indoor-outdoor space, and, depending on the accommodation, amenities like hot tubs or fireplaces. Adventure enthusiasts will also love the variety of activities: horseback riding, archery, skiing, and even hot air balloon rides (additional cost). Perhaps the best amenity of all is the locally raised, farmed, and foraged food, prepared and plated to look like edible works of art. Guests can catch a glimpse of the live-fire cooking (think: fresh, ranch-raised meats flame-grilled to perfection) thanks to the open kitchen layout: a culinary masterpiece itself.
8. The Point, New York
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This upstate New York retreat, which welcomes guests age 21 and older, was initially built by the Rockefeller family in the early 20th century. Today, the waterfront property pays homage to its past with 19th-century-era artwork and antiques. Each guest room is distinctively decorated with rustic-chic touches like handcrafted beds and en suite fireplaces. Upon arrival, travelers are greeted with a glass of bubbly, setting the scene for a relaxing stay. Guests can also lounge in one of the common areas, watch the sunset from the wooden terraces, sip cocktails in the on-site bars (including the Pub, a fully stocked bar and game room), or cozy up in one of the fireplace lounges. Other options include a gourmet picnic lunch, a dip in the lake, a boat ride, or a scenic hike. The impressive food and drink offerings (three-course lunches and four-course dinners) feature seasonally inspired dishes paired with fine wines from the resort’s private cellar. Also, every Wednesday and Saturday evening, the Point hosts black-tie dinners—extravagant seven-course affairs. | https://www.afar.com/magazine/best-all-inclusive-resorts-in-us | 2022-08-19T19:22:37Z | afar.com | control | https://www.afar.com/magazine/best-all-inclusive-resorts-in-us | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Those looking to ditch the haul out to La Guardia, JFK, or Newark Airport (and their lengthy TSA lines) or avoid a nearly four-hour Amtrak ride when traveling between New York City and Washington, D.C., will soon have another option—a seaplane.
Tailwind Air, a seaplane company based in New York, recently announced a new route connecting the two major metropolitan areas by an 80-minute flight. The planes will run between Manhattan’s Skyport Marina and Washington, D.C.’s College Park Airport up to twice a day, beginning September 13. The company’s fares start at $395 one way and go up to $795 one-way for last-minute bookings.
“When factoring in the full journey—one hour and 20 minutes in the air (comparable to DCA-LGA service except with no need to access crowded and congested airports on both ends) or the three hours 50 minutes for the Acela—Tailwind Air will offer the fastest, least stressful, premium way to travel between D.C. and Manhattan,” Peter Manice, Tailwind Air cofounder and director of scheduled services, said in a press release.
Part of Tailwind’s pitch to travelers is that they’ll have up until 10 minutes before departure to check in for their flight. Their departure terminals are also more centrally located—their Manhattan base is in the Kip’s Bay neighborhood on East 23rd Street, roughly 10 minutes from the Empire State Building. There, guests board from a dock in the marina, taxi 1,000 feet from the shore into the East River, and take off from the water. Once it arrives at the College Park airport (where it’ll land on the tarmac), it is just 25 minutes from the Capitol and Georgetown. (The airport also happens to be the world’s oldest airport and home of the Wright Brothers.)
Cessna Grand Caravans, a turboprop plane that can land on water or ground, will be used to ferry guests from city to city. The planes feature eight leather seats for passengers (plus two for the pilots). Ticket prices include a carry-on-size suitcase that weighs up to 20 pounds. Additional bags up to 50 pounds will cost $250 each. Dogs are also allowed—those under 25 pounds can fly in an approved carrier for free, whereas larger dogs will need to have a seat purchased for them adjacent to their owner. Complimentary snacks and beverages are provided in the Manhattan lounge, as well as on board.
To celebrate the new route, Tailwind is offering a “buy one seat, and a companion flies with you free” promotion. It’s good for all flights on the new route from September 13 through December 21, 2022, if purchased by September 10 on Tailwind’s website with the promo code TWDCBOGO.
Beyond D.C., Tailwind also offers service to Boston Harbor, Bridgeport, East Hampton, Montauk, Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Plymouth, and Provincetown from Manhattan.
For the complete flight schedule, you can visit Tailwind’s website. | https://www.afar.com/magazine/tailwind-air-launches-seaplane-flights-from-manhattan-to-d-c | 2022-08-19T19:22:43Z | afar.com | control | https://www.afar.com/magazine/tailwind-air-launches-seaplane-flights-from-manhattan-to-d-c | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LONDON (AP) — A smaller dose of the monkeypox vaccine appears to still be effective and can be used to stretch the current supply by five times, the European Medicines Agency said Friday, echoing a recommendation made earlier this month by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The EU drug regulator said in a statement that injecting people with just one fifth the regular dose of the smallpox vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic appeared to produce similar levels of antibodies against monkeypox as a full dose.
The approach calls for administering Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine with an injection just under the skin rather than into deeper tissue, a practice that may stimulate a better immune response. People still need to get two doses, about four weeks apart.
The EMA said national authorities could decide, “as a temporary measure” to use smaller doses of the vaccine to protect vulnerable people during the ongoing monkeypox outbreak.
EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the decision would allow the vaccination of five times as many people with the continent’s current supply.
“This ensures greater access to vaccination for citizens at risk and healthcare workers,” she said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the U.S. FDA authorized a similar plan to extend the country’s monkeypox vaccine stocks. The technique has previously been used to stretch supplies of vaccines during other outbreaks, including yellow fever and polio.
The unusual recommendations from both regulators acknowledge the extremely limited global supplies of the Jynneos vaccine, originally developed against smallpox. Bavarian Nordic is the only company that makes it and it expects to have about 16 million doses available this year. On Thursday, the U.S. also announced a new agreement with a Michigan manufacturer to help speed production of 5.5 million vaccine vials recently ordered by the government.
The EMA authorized the vaccine in July based on experimental data that suggested it would work; the World Health Organization has estimated the shot is about 85% effective at preventing monkeypox.
Globally, there are more than 40,000 cases of monkeypox, of which about half are in Europe. Earlier this week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there has been a 20% increase in cases reported in the last two weeks and that nearly all infections have been reported in men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with other men.
Tedros said WHO was in talks with vaccine manufacturers and countries to see if any might be willing to share doses. Africa has reported the highest number of suspected monkeypox deaths and although the disease has been endemic in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it has only a small supply of vaccines being used as part of a research study.
About 98% of monkeypox cases beyond Africa have been reported in men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with other men. WHO said there is no sign of sustained transmission beyond men who have sex with men, although a small number of women and children have also been sickened by the disease.
Monkeypox spreads when people have close, physical contact with an infected person’s lesions, their clothing or bedsheets. Most people recover without needing treatment, but the lesions can be extremely painful and more severe cases can result in complications including brain inflammation and death.
In the U.K., which at one point had the biggest outbreak outside Africa, officials said earlier this week they have seen signs the outbreak is slowing down. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/ap-top-headlines/eu-regulator-oks-plan-to-increase-monkeypox-vaccine-supplies/ | 2022-08-19T19:25:03Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/ap-top-headlines/eu-regulator-oks-plan-to-increase-monkeypox-vaccine-supplies/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — British national El Shafee Elsheikh was sentenced to life in prison Friday for his role in an Islamic State scheme that took roughly two dozen Westerners hostage a decade ago.
Elsheikh’s hostages gave him a somewhat whimsical nickname — he was dubbed a “Beatle” along with other English-accented captors — but the moniker belied the viciousness of his conduct.
“This prosecution unmasked the vicious and sadistic ISIS Beatles,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh, noting that Elsheikh and the other Beatles always wore masks when they appeared in front of their hostages.
He is the most notorious and highest-ranking member of the Islamic State group to ever be convicted in a U.S. Court, prosecutors said Friday at his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The life sentence was a foregone conclusion after a jury convicted him of hostage taking resulting in death and other crimes earlier this year.
The convictions revolved around the deaths of four American hostages: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller. All but Mueller were executed in videotaped beheadings circulated online. Mueller was forced into slavery and raped multiple times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.
They were among 26 hostages taken captive between 2012 and 2015, when the Islamic State group controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
The convictions carried a mandatory life sentence. The U.S. agreed not to pursue death sentence as part of a deal that ensured extradition of Elsheikh and his friend, Alexanda Kotey, who has already been sentenced to life.
Parekh said it was difficult to convey the brutality of Elsheikh’s actions. “We lack the vocabulary of such pain,” he said, paraphrasing Dante’s Inferno.
Still, victims of Elsheikh and the Beatles testified at Friday’s hearing and gave voice to what they experienced. Danish photographer Daniel Rye Ottosen, who was released after paying a ransom, said the worst moments were times of silence during and after captivity when he was alone with his thoughts.
He said when Elsheikh and the Beatles beat him up, it was almost a relief.
“Now I knew I could only concentrate on my pain, which is much easier than being alone with your thoughts,” he said.
Ottosen was particularly close to Foley, and memorized a goodbye letter that Foley wrote to his family so he could dictate it to Foley’s parents when he was released.
Foley’s mother, Diane Foley, said holding Elsheikh accountable at trial sends a message of deterrence to other would-be hostage takers.
“Hatred truly overwhelmed your humanity,” she told Elsheikh on Friday, which was the eighth anniversary of James Foley’s beheading.
At trial, surviving hostages testified that they dreaded the Beatles’ appearance at the various prisons to which they were constantly shuttled and relocated. Elsheikh and the other Beatles played a key role in the hostage negotiations, getting hostages to email their families with demands for payments.
They also routinely beat and tortured the hostages, forcing them to fight each other to the point of passing out, threatening them with waterboarding and forcing them view images of slain hostages.
Elsheikh did not speak during Friday’s hearing. His lawyer, Zachary Deubler, said Elsheikh will appeal his conviction. Elsheikh’s lawyers had argued that his confessions should have been ruled inadmissible because of alleged mistreatment after he was captured by Kurdish-led Syrian Defense Forces in 2018.
At Friday’s hearing, Deubler confined his arguments to a request that Elsheikh not be sent to the supermax prison facility in Florence, Colorado, where he would face solitary confinement for the rest of his life. Deubler said a designation to Florence is almost a certainty unless the judge recommends otherwise.
Judge T.S. Ellis III declined to make any recommendation to the Bureau of Prisons.
“The behavior of this defendant and his co-defendant can only be described as horrific, barbaric, brutal, callous and, of course, criminal,” Ellis said. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/ap-top-headlines/islamic-state-beatle-gets-life-term-for-us-hostage-deaths/ | 2022-08-19T19:25:09Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/ap-top-headlines/islamic-state-beatle-gets-life-term-for-us-hostage-deaths/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ZOLOCHIV, Ukraine (AP) — Dr. Ilona Butova almost looks out of place in her neatly pressed lavender scrubs as she walks through a door frame that hangs from a crumbled wall into what used to be an administrative office of her hospital in Zolochiv.
Not one building in the facility in the northeastern Ukrainian town near the Russian border has escaped getting hit by artillery shells.
Since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, space to treat patients at the hospital has shrunk constantly because of damage. Her staff has dwindled to 47 from 120. And the number of people seeking treatment in the small town 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the border is often higher now than before the fighting began.
Ukraine’s health care system struggled for years because of corruption, mismanagement and the COVID-19 pandemic. But the war has only made things worse, with facilities damaged or destroyed, medical staff relocating to safer places and many drugs unavailable or in short supply. Care is being provided in the hardest-hit areas by doctors who have refused to evacuate or have rushed in as volunteers, putting themselves at great risk.
“It’s very hard, but people need us. We have to stay and help,” said Butova, a neurologist who also is the administrator of the hospital in the town near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. She added that she has had to do more with fewer resources.
The World Health Organization declared its highest level of emergency in Ukraine the day after the invasion, coordinating a major relief effort there and in neighboring countries whose medical systems also are under strain.
About 6.4 million people have fled to other European countries, and a slightly higher number are internally displaced, according to U.N. estimates. That presents a major challenge to a health care system built on family doctor referrals and regionally separate administrations.
Across Ukraine, 900 hospitals have been damaged and another 123 have been destroyed, said Health Minister Viktor Liashko, noting: “Those 123 are gone, and we’re having to find new sites to build replacements.”
In addition, scores of pharmacies and ambulances have been destroyed or are seriously damaged, and at least 18 civilian medical staff have been killed and 59 others seriously wounded, he said.
“In occupied areas, the referral system has totally broken down,” Liashko told The Associated Press. “People’s health and their lives are in danger.”
Kyiv’s economy was drained by the conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that began in 2014. When he came to power five years later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inherited a health care system that was undermined by reforms launched under his predecessor that had slashed government subsidies and closed many small-town hospitals. During the pandemic, people in those communities had to seek care in large cities — sometimes waiting as long as eight hours for an ambulance in severe cases of COVID-19.
As Russia has expanded the territory it controls in eastern and southern Ukraine, the supply of drugs in those areas has dwindled, along with medical staff to administer them. In the southern front-line town of Mykolaiv, “things have been very difficult,” volunteer Andrii Skorokhod said.
“Pharmacies have not been working, and shortages have become increasingly acute: Hospital staff were among those evacuated, including specialists. We just need more staff,” said Skorokhod, who heads a Red Cross initiative to provide residents with free medications.
Volunteers like Skorokhod saved the life of 79-year-old Vanda Banderovska, whose home near Mykolaiv was destroyed by Russian artillery. Her 53-year-old son, Roman, was killed, and she was brought to the hospital badly bruised and barely conscious.
“My son went out to the car to get his mobile phone when the Russians started shelling. He was hit in the head,” she said at a recovery ward, her voice trembling with emotion. “They’ve destroyed everything and I have nothing left.”
Banderovska said she was deeply grateful to the people who saved her life but also overcome by grief and anger.
“The pain I feel is so great. When doctors took me to the hospital I was bruised black and blue but I slowly recovered,” she said.
___
Derek Gatopoulos reported from Kyiv. Vasilisa Stepanenko and Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report from Kyiv.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/business/doctors-stay-in-ukraines-war-hit-towns-people-need-us/ | 2022-08-19T19:25:58Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/business/doctors-stay-in-ukraines-war-hit-towns-people-need-us/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart, the nation’s largest employer, is expanding its abortion coverage for employees after staying largely mum on the issue for months following the Supreme Court ruling that scrapped a nationwide right to abortion.
In a memo sent to employees on Friday, the company said its health care plans will now cover abortion for employees “when there is a health risk to the mother, rape or incest, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or lack of fetal viability.”
The new policy will also offer “travel support” for workers and dependents covered under their health care plans so they can access services that are not available within 100 miles of their locations, Donna Morris, the retailer’s chief people officer, said in the memo.
Walmart employs nearly 1.6 million people in the U.S. In Arkansas, where the company is based, abortion is banned under all circumstances unless the procedure is needed to protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.
A Walmart spokesperson did not immediately reply for a request for comment on whether the company’s health plan — or travel support — will cover elective abortions.
Previously, the company’s benefits plan had covered abortion only in cases “when the health of the mother would be in danger if the fetus were carried to term, the fetus could not survive the birthing process, or death would be imminent after birth,” according to a copy of the policy viewed by The Associated Press but not confirmed by Walmart.
Many companies — including Meta, American Express and Bank of America — have said they will cover travel costs for their employees in the aftermath of the high court ruling that tossed out Roe v. Wade. But dozens of others corporations, and organizations that represent some of the nation’s most powerful companies. have continued to stay quiet. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/business/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees/ | 2022-08-19T19:26:35Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/business/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
In a case dubbed the "Fitbit murder," a Connecticut man was sentenced to 65 years in prison Thursday for the 2015 fatal shooting of his wife at their home.
During his trial, Richard Dabate concocted a story that two days before Christmas, a masked intruder broke into their home, killed his wife, Connie Dabate, and tied him up, the Associated Press reported.
According to the news outlet, law enforcement said the timeline Dabate gave them did not match the data on Connie Dabate's Fitbit, which showed her moving around an hour after she was supposedly shot.
Police also added that the news outlet reported no signs of a struggle inside the residence.
According to the Associated Press, prosecutors said Richard Dabate chose to kill his wife because details of his affair with another woman he got pregnant at the time of the killing were about to unravel.
The 46-year-old was convicted in May by a jury, the Associated Press reported.
The news outlet reported that Debate plans to appeal, claiming he's innocent and saying someone else killed his wife. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/connecticut-man-sentenced-to-65-years-in-fitbit-murder-case | 2022-08-19T19:26:45Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/connecticut-man-sentenced-to-65-years-in-fitbit-murder-case | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Buttigieg warns airlines to help travelers or face new rules
WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has warned airlines that his department could draft new rules around passenger rights if the carriers don’t give more help to travelers trapped by flight cancellations and delays.
Buttigieg is asking airline CEOs to, at a minimum, provide lodging for passengers stranded overnight at an airport and give out meal vouchers for delays of three hours or longer when the disruption is caused by something in the airline’s control.
The Transportation Department on Friday released a copy of the letters, which it said were sent to CEOs of the major U.S. airlines, their regional affiliates, and budget carriers.
A spokeswoman for Airlines for America, a trade group whose members include American, United, Delta and Southwest, said airlines “strive to provide the highest level of customer service.” She said the airlines are committed to overcoming challenges including a tight labor market.
Buttigieg’s agency recently proposed rules around refunds for passengers whose flights are canceled or rescheduled. He told the CEOs the department is considering additional rules “that would further expand the rights of airline passengers who experience disruptions.”
Buttigieg has been sparring with the airlines since late spring over high numbers of canceled and delayed flights. In his latest salvo, he told airline CEOs he appreciates that airlines have stepped up hiring and trimmed schedules to better match the number of flights they can handle.
“Still, the level of disruption Americans have experienced this summer is unacceptable,” he wrote.
So far this year, airlines have canceled about 146,000 flights, or 2.6%, and nearly 1.3 million flights have been delayed, according to tracking service FlightAware. The rate of cancellations is up about one-third from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, and the rate of delays is up nearly one-fourth.
Federal officials have blamed many of the disruptions on understaffing at airlines, which encouraged employees to quit after the pandemic started. The airlines have countered by blaming staffing problems at the Federal Aviation Administration, which hires air traffic controllers.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbko.com/2022/08/19/buttigieg-warns-airlines-help-travelers-or-face-new-rules/ | 2022-08-19T19:26:52Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/2022/08/19/buttigieg-warns-airlines-help-travelers-or-face-new-rules/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
To have you enjoy what our service team offers us all the customers may need from every service station as a result of that, all are satisfied because what is not available by others should come by you since what it will meet our customer’ and the same needs this why your should buy more so our services we all enjoy so long and with quality too since a lot our of us does understand and respect what have to done and in time this what every business person should enjoy a success all because some factors Wayfair is laying off nearly 900 employees, the company's CEO announced.
In a letter to employees, Niraj Shah said that the company has not grown as anticipated.
"Our team is too large for the environment we are now in, and unfortunately we need to adjust," he said.
Wayfair is offering a minimum of 10 weeks pay to outgoing employees in the U.S. Bonuses will also be paid out to eligible employees, Shah said.
"The individuals being impacted have not only made tremendous contributions to the company as colleagues but have enriched us all as our partners and friends," Shah stated.
Wayfair is based in Boston. According to ABC News, about 400 employees at its headquarters will be losing their jobs.
CNN reports that shares of Wayfair are down about 70% since the start of the year. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/wayfair-cutting-nearly-900-jobs | 2022-08-19T19:26:57Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/wayfair-cutting-nearly-900-jobs | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — After working as an overnight security guard at a church in Harare’s impoverished Mabvuku township, Jeffrey Carlos rushes home to help his wife fetch water to sell.
Prolonged water shortages mean most residents of the capital city of more than 2.4 million must source their own water. Carlos is lucky because the property he rents has a well and his family can haul up buckets of water to sell to neighbors.
“This is our gold,” he says of the well water.
“If we are lucky, we can sell up to 12 buckets of water (per day) for $2,” said the 50-year-old father of three. That’s about enough money to buy the family’s food for the day, he said.
Rising prices and a fast depreciating currency have pushed many Zimbabweans to the brink, reminding people of when the southern African country faced world-record inflation of 5 billion% in 2008. With inflation jumping from 191% in June to 257% in July, many Zimbabweans fear the country is heading back to such hyperinflation.
To prevent a return of such economic disaster, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government last month took the unprecedented step of introducing gold coins as legal tender. The country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said that because the value of the one-ounce, 22-carat coins would be determined by the international price of gold they will help tame the runaway inflation and stabilize the nation’s currency.
The glitter of the gold coins is hard to see for Zimbabweans struggling each day to eke out a living. The government sees things differently and is pleading for time.
Although expensive at an average price of just below $2,000 per coin, central bank governor John Mangudya said the coin will have a trickle-down effect that will eventually help average folk.
“The ordinary man will benefit more from the stability (provided by) these gold coins. Where there is stability, money will have value and stability in prices,” said Mangudya ahead of the launch. He said the central bank plans to introduce smaller denominated gold coins in November to allow ordinary people to also use them as a saving mechanism. The smaller coins will be half an ounce, a quarter of an ounce and 10% of an ounce, he said.
But many such as Carlos say they can hardly afford a meal, let alone earn enough to save.
“Where will I get the money to buy the gold coins? It is for them, the rich. Poor people like me do not see any difference. Things continue to be hard in this country,” he told The Associated Press between trips to the well to pull up buckets of water.
“Gold coins are a scheme for the elite. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer,” said Gift Mugano, an economics professor during an online roundtable debate titled: “Is there gold in the coins?”
With so many Zimbabweans scrambling to get food to eat each day, there are questions if the gold coins will help them.
“People are struggling. They are living from hand to mouth so most people may not actually have the money to save in the first place. Most people are in survivalist mode because of inflation,” said Prosper Chitambara, a Harare-based economist.
To get by, many are forced to take up multiple jobs.
Carlos, in Mabvuku, says he gets about $100 dollars a month from his job as an overnight security guard for a church and the bar next door. That’s hardly enough to pay rent, school fees and other basic needs. Sometimes, he exchanges water for food items.
“If we fetch water for someone but they don’t have money, so we get tomatoes, vegetables, beans or maize. That’s how we get food,” he said.
His wife, Christwish, 43, prepares the day’s evening meal — the staple maize (corn) meal and vegetables plucked from a small home garden — over a wood fire. Because of Zimbabwe’s lengthy power cuts, the children do their homework by a candle, although their parents press them to use it sparingly.
“The firewood costs a dollar for a small bundle enough (to cook) for a single meal. The candles are also expensive,” lamented Christwish, who supplements the family income by doing household chores for better-off families in exchange for money or food items.
Items previously regarded as basics are now out of reach, she said.
“We last ate bread with margarine on Christmas Day,” she said. “Now we just see these things in the shops and leave them there.” | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/business/zimbabweans-hit-by-soaring-inflation-will-gold-coins-help/ | 2022-08-19T19:26:59Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/business/zimbabweans-hit-by-soaring-inflation-will-gold-coins-help/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge on Friday blocked county prosecutors from enforcing the state’s 1931 ban on abortion for the foreseeable future, after two days of witness testimony from abortion experts, providers and the state’s chief medical officer.
The ruling follows a state Court of Appeals ruling this month that county prosecutors were not covered by a May order and could enforce the prohibition following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
“The harm to the body of women and people capable of pregnancy in not issuing the injunction could not be more real, clear, present and dangerous to the court,” Oakland County Judge Jacob Cunningham said during his ruling Friday.
David Kallman, an attorney for two Republican county prosecutors, said an appeal is planned.
“The judge ignored all of the clear legal errors and problems in this case, it appears to me, simply because the issue is abortion,” Kallman told The Associated Press following the hearing.
Cunningham filed a restraining order against county prosecutors hours after the Aug. 1 appeals court decision and following a request from attorneys representing Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Although a majority of prosecutors in counties where there are abortion clinics have said they will not enforce the ban, Republican prosecutors in Kent, Jackson and Macomb counties have said they should be able to enforce the 1931 law. Macomb, which is just north of Detroit, and Kent, in western Michigan, are the state’s third- and fourth-most populated counties, respectively.
Cunningham listened to arguments Wednesday and Thursday in Pontiac before granting the preliminary injunction, which is expected to keep abortion legal throughout the state until the Michigan Supreme Court or voters could decide in the fall.
In his ruling, Cunningham found all three of the state’s witnesses “extremely credible” while dismissing testimony from the defense witnesses as “unhelpful and biased.”
The 1931 law in Michigan, which was triggered after the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, bans abortion in all instances except the life of the mother. The dormant ban was retroactively blocked from going into effect in May when Judge Elizabeth Gleicher issued a preliminary injunction.
The state Court of Appeals later said that the preliminary injunction only applied to the attorney general’s office, meaning that providers could get charged with a felony by some county prosecutors.
While Kallman said during closing arguments Thursday that granting a preliminary injunction isn’t how laws should be changed, attorneys representing Whitmer argued that allowing county prosecutors to decide whether to enforce the 1931 ban would cause confusion.
“I’m relieved that everyone in this state knows that it doesn’t matter what county you live in now, you are not as a provider going to be prosecuted,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said following the ruling. Oakland is the second-most populated Michigan county. The prosecutor for Wayne County, which includes Detroit and is the state’s most populous, had also said she would not pursue such cases.
A ballot initiative seeking to enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution turned in 753,759 signatures in July and is expected to ultimately decide the status abortion access in Michigan. The amendment awaits final approval for the November ballot by the state’s Board of Canvassers.
“This court finds it is overwhelmingly in the public’s best interest to let the people of the great state of Michigan decide this matter at the ballot box,” Cunningham said Friday.
The status of abortion in Michigan is expected to drastically impact the battleground state’s November general election, where Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, also a Democrat, have made abortion rights a centerpiece of their reelection campaigns.
“Absent this preliminary injunction, physicians face a very real threat of prosecution depending on where they practice,” Nessel said in a statement issued following Friday’s ruling.
___
Joey Cappelletti 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. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national/judge-prosecutors-cannot-enforce-michigans-abortion-ban/ | 2022-08-19T19:29:19Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national/judge-prosecutors-cannot-enforce-michigans-abortion-ban/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr improperly withheld portions of an internal memo Barr cited in announcing that then-President Donald Trump had not obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, a federal appeals panel said Friday.
The department had argued that the 2019 memo represented private deliberations of its lawyers before any decision was formalized, and was thus exempt from disclosure. A federal judge previously disagreed, ordering the Justice Department to provide it to a government transparency group that had sued for it.
At issue in the case is a March 24, 2019, memorandum from the head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and another senior department official that was prepared for Barr to evaluate whether evidence in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation could support prosecution of the president for obstruction of justice.
Barr has said he looked to that opinion in concluding that Trump did not illegally obstruct the Russia probe, which was an investigation of whether his campaign had colluded with Russia to tip the 2016 election.
A year later, a federal judge sharply rebuked Barr’s handling of Mueller’s report, saying Barr had made “misleading public statements” to spin the investigation’s findings in favor of Trump and had shown a “lack of candor.”
Friday’s appeals court decision said the internal Justice Department memo noted that “Mueller had declined to accuse President Trump of obstructing justice but also had declined to exonerate him.” The internal memo said “the Report’s failure to take a definitive position could be read to imply an accusation against President Trump” if released to the public, the court wrote.
The Justice Department turned over other documents to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington as part of the group’s lawsuit, but declined to give it the memo. Government lawyers said they were entitled under public records law to withhold the memo because it reflected internal deliberations before any formal decision had been reached on what Mueller’s evidence showed.
Sitting presidents are generally protected from criminal charges on grounds it would undermine their ability to perform the office’s constitutional duties. The Justice Department, like Mueller, “took as a given that the Constitution would bar the prosecution of a sitting President,” the appeals court wrote, which meant the decision that Trump wouldn’t be charged had already been made and couldn’t be shielded from public release.
Had Justice Department officials made clear to the court that the memo related to Barr’s decision on making a public statement about the report, the appellate panel wrote, rulings in the case might have been different.
“Because the Department did not tie the memorandum to deliberations about the relevant decision, the Department failed to justify its reliance on the deliberative-process privilege,” wrote the panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Appellate judges also noted that their ruling was “narrow,” saying that it should not be interpreted to “call into question any of our precedents permitting agencies to withhold draft documents related to public messaging.”
Attorneys for the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment. The department can appeal the ruling to the full appeals court.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
___
Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/politics/panel-rules-justice-improperly-withheld-memo-in-russia-probe/ | 2022-08-19T19:29:39Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/politics/panel-rules-justice-improperly-withheld-memo-in-russia-probe/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Fort Collins food truck attempting world record pizza party
Converting a school bus into a wood-fired pizza restaurant was no small feat, but the owners of Fort Collins' Project Pizza are trying to outdo themselves by reaching another lofty goal.
The Fort Collins-born pizza food truck will attempt to host the world's biggest pizza party in City Park on Aug. 27, according to Project Pizza founder and chef Isaiah Ruffin and co-owner Colleen Constant.
"It's been a goal (of ours) to break a world record, and why not combine that with our business and our passion?" Ruffin told the Coloradoan Thursday.
Project Pizza has rented the slice of City Park that runs along the southern section of Sheldon Drive. All told, about seven different pizza food truck vendors have signed up to take part in the pizza party — serving up pizza by the slice from noon to 4 p.m.
Ruffin and Constant hope to draw around 1,200 people to the party. The current record was set in 2019, when 1,046 people attended a pizza party hosted by Istituto Romano della Pizza and Marco Di Pietro in Rome, according to Guinness World Records.
In the home stretchThere are 4 more weeks of the FoCo Food Truck Rally. Here are some trucks to expect.
Ruffin said he and Constant plan to visually record the party to certify the amount of attendees for Guinness World Records. From there, Guinness World Records' records management team will assess submitted evidence and either verify the attempt as successful or unsuccessful, according to its website.
The pizza party will be set up much like the FoCo Food Truck Rally that takes over Sheldon Drive on summer Tuesday nights, Ruffin said. There is no sort of registration required.
"Just show up," Ruffin said, "and come with an appetite for pizza."
Fort Collins restaurants5 openings in July, with 3 more on the way | https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/food-drink/2022/08/19/fort-collins-project-pizza-seeks-to-host-world-record-pizza-party/65409477007/ | 2022-08-19T19:30:04Z | coloradoan.com | control | https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/food-drink/2022/08/19/fort-collins-project-pizza-seeks-to-host-world-record-pizza-party/65409477007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Half Fast Subs opens in Fort Collins with new CSU-themed sandwiches
Colorado State University is getting the Half Fast Subs treatment as the longtime Boulder sub shop opens its first Fort Collins location — debuting a trio of CSU-themed sandwiches in the process.
Half Fast Subs, known for its expansive menu of more than 100 subs and 32-ounce cocktail pitchers, opened its new location at 649 S. College Ave. Friday. It marks the second location for the shop, which started on Boulder's University Hill in 1996.
Located just across from CSU's main campus, the sub shop's Fort Collins location is leaning into its proximity to the university with the unveiling of its Ram Green Turkey sub, Ram Fam Sammy and The Sonny, a turkey sub named after CSU football coaching legend Sonny Lubick.
The shop will celebrate its ribbon-cutting ceremony with CSU cheerleaders and the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce at noon Saturday.
What's going on next door?Starbucks to open new location in former Laurel Street Coldstone Creamery
“After decades of success thanks to Boulder residents and CU students, we knew it was finally time to share the love,” Half Fast Subs Owner Fred Liskowski said in a news release. “Fort Collins has amazing community spirit, a lively CSU student body and a growing local food and beer scene. We knew it would be the perfect place to expand our beloved sandwich shop.”
Half Fast Subs' new Fort Collins location will be open 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 10:30 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday. Its happy hour will run daily from 3-6 p.m.
During its opening weekend, it will be giving 10% of its sales to CSU's Title IX Fund.
Previous coverageBoulder's Half Fast Subs to open location across from CSU campus | https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/food-drink/2022/08/19/fort-collins-restaurants-half-fast-subs-brings-csu-themed-sandwiches/65409908007/ | 2022-08-19T19:30:10Z | coloradoan.com | control | https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/food-drink/2022/08/19/fort-collins-restaurants-half-fast-subs-brings-csu-themed-sandwiches/65409908007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Everything you need to know about carbonation
It seems like everything we want or need has been affected by either a supply shortage or inflation. Even things we never thought could be impacted, such as CO2, are becoming harder to get. Whenever supply goes down and demand remains consistent, it creates a problem.
Fortunately, the shortage isn’t hitting the home market as much. If you can’t find your favorite carbonated beverage ready-made, there are ways to make them at home.
In this article: SodaStream Terra Sparkling Water Maker Bundle, SodaStream Fizzi One Touch and Bubly Drops
What is carbonation?
Carbonation is simply carbon dioxide dissolved in water. The process is fairly straightforward. For mass production, sodium bicarbonate is added to cold water in a pressurized container, such as a keg. CO2 gas is pumped to the bottom of the water through a tube where it enters as tiny bubbles. Since the water is pressurized, the CO2 cannot escape. Instead, it dissolves in the water, much in the same way that sugar dissolves in water. A side effect is this makes the water slightly acidic. Sodium bicarbonate is added because it helps reduce some of that acidity.
Why do carbonated beverages go flat?
In order for the CO2 bubbles to remain in the beverage, the container has to stay sealed and pressurized. Once the lid has been removed, those tiny bubbles of CO2 start traveling up through the water and release into the air. The process is like slowly letting the air out of a balloon until there is no pressure left. Once all the CO2 has escaped from the beverage, it becomes normal water once again.
Where does CO2 come from?
If you take a brief look at the word, you see that carbonation has the word “carbon” in it. It’s kind of a giveaway that you need carbon dioxide to make the process work. We all know that carbon dioxide is a gas made up of one part carbon and two parts oxygen, but where does it come from?
In nature, carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere whenever an organism breathes or decomposes. It also enters the atmosphere whenever there is a forest fire, a volcano erupts or when carbonate rocks dissolve.
In commercial industries, CO2 is created in synthesis gas plants. It can also be reclaimed during the fermentation process at breweries. And CO2 is formed whenever a company burns fossil fuels.
There are different grades of CO2
CO2 isn’t always pure. It can be contaminated by substances, such as ammonia, benzene, oxygen and carbon monoxide. Since it is not healthy to ingest these substances in any appreciable amount, the CO2 that is used in food and beverages must be 99.9% pure. Any contaminant that drops the purity level below this amount makes the CO2 unsuitable for food and beverage purposes.
What is CO2 used for?
Besides making carbonated water, CO2 has many other uses. For example, it extends the shelf life of grains, fruits and vegetables. It can also preserve meat, poultry and ready-to-eat meals. In solid form (dry ice), CO2 can keep foods cold during transit. In the food industry, CO2 is also used to stun animals before slaughter. A shortage can impact nearly everything we eat and drink.
Why is there a CO2 shortage?
Although people like to pinpoint a single reason for a problem, it’s not always possible to place the blame on one thing. The most important bit of information to realize is there has been a CO2 shortage for over two years, so this situation is not something new. Yes, the problem has been compounded by several recent events, but it has been an issue for a while.
Much of the blame is being dumped on the contamination of the Jackson Dome in Mississippi — one of the largest naturally occurring CO2 sources in the country. However, this particular issue is only impacting the southeastern states. Additionally, the majority of CO2 in the food and beverage industry is a byproduct of industrial processes. It doesn’t come from naturally occurring sources.
There are several other issues in play. Workforce shortages, supply chain challenges and even the shipment of the Pfizer vaccine is a contributing factor because it must be packed in dry ice, which is the solid form of CO2. All of these issues have combined to create problems that have diminished the availability of CO2.
The good news
The good news is that companies that supply the small CO2 canisters for home carbonation are currently not reporting any supply issues. If you visit the SodaStream website, you will find the following message regarding CO2: “We are not currently experiencing any supply issues. We shall continue to regularly monitor the situation and act accordingly, making sure to prioritize informing our consumers of any issues.” This means that now is the perfect time to start making carbonated beverages at home. All you need is a portable sparkling beverage maker and a way to flavor your drink.
What you need to make carbonated drinks at home
SodaStream Terra Sparkling Water Maker Bundle
This comprehensive bundle gives you everything you need to make carbonated beverages at home. You get the soda maker, two CO2 cylinders, three reusable bottles and two bottles of flavoring. Sold by Amazon
This offering from SodaStream is powered by electricity to give you carbonated water at the touch of a button. It comes with a soda maker, one CO2 cartridge and one reusable carbonating bottle. Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
SodaStream 60-liter CO2 Refill Cartridge
The one thing you need to buy to keep your soda maker working is the CO2. This offering from SodaStream will make up to 63 quarts of carbonated water. Sold by Home Depot and Staples
Unlike SodaStream, DrinkMate says you can carbonate other beverages besides water. This model is suitable for adding carbonation to juices, iced tea, coffee, wine, cocktails or even flat beer. Sold by Home Depot
The Isi Classic MeshSodamaker has an elegant design that makes it perfect for display on your bar. It uses one Isi Soda Charger per filling (sold separately). Sold by Amazon
Making sparkling water is fun, but to get the most out of any soda maker, you need flavoring. This variety pack includes blackberry, cherry, strawberry, mango, lime and grapefruit flavoring. Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
Torani is a top-shelf name in flavoring. This set of four syrups includes blue raspberry, lime, strawberry and orange. Sold by Amazon
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Allen Foster writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/specialty-br/with-co2-shortage-now-may-be-the-perfect-time-to-make-carbonated-drinks-at-home/ | 2022-08-19T19:30:20Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/specialty-br/with-co2-shortage-now-may-be-the-perfect-time-to-make-carbonated-drinks-at-home/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
How to choose the best backpack blower
Backpack blowers are a quick and easy way to remove dead leaves and grass clippings from your lawn. You can blow debris away instead of having to rake it up manually. All backpack blowers are powered by gas engines or batteries. Each has varying levels of power, performance and comfort. So which one should you buy? This comprehensive guide will help you make your decision.
What is a backpack blower?
Backpack blowers are bigger and more powerful versions of handheld leaf blowers. The backpack design distributes the weight of the leaf blower across the operator’s shoulders and back, so they are less fatiguing to use than handheld blowers.
How do backpack blowers work?
These mechanical devices use engines to spin fans that push air down long tubes and through narrow nozzles at speeds well over 100 miles per hour. You aim the powerful, focused blast of air in the direction you want your leaves or grass clippings to go and blow them in front of you as you walk along.
Can I use one where I live?
Hundreds of cities and towns have restricted the use of leaf blowers because they’re noisy and emit pollutants, so check with your local municipality. Most of the restrictions involve two-stroke engines, so if your community has banned them, take a look at four-stroke and battery-powered backpack blowers.
What is a backpack blower used for?
- Fallen leaves: Backpack blowers are used to do the work of raking or sweeping leaves. Responsible homeowners blow their leaves into a pile, collect them and dispose of them properly, while others just blow them away for others to deal with.
- Lawn mowing cleanup: Mowing grassy areas leaves small leaf cuttings behind. Blowers are used to blow away the clippings to leave a cleaner look. Operators are often seen blowing debris into the street.
- Snow: High-speed air jets easily blow light, dry snow away from driveways and sidewalks.
- Sand: Backpack blowers are used by some to spread sand across the top of icy driveways so people and cars won’t slip and slide.
Power sources
- Two-stroke engines burn a mixture of gasoline and oil. They are so named because they complete a power cycle with only two movements of a piston inside a cylinder.
- Four-stroke engines burn the same gasoline you put in your car. They’re cleaner, more efficient and more powerful than two-stroke engines. However, they’re bigger, heavier and costlier too.
- Electric power is supplied by batteries. They don’t have as much power as gas-powered backpack blowers but are quieter, release no emissions into the surrounding air and are adequate for light duty.
Measurements you can use to compare models
- Engine size: Gas engines are measured by their size, usually expressed in cubic centimeters. Bigger numbers mean more power, more weight and more expense.
- Air speed: Most manufacturers advertise this number as a measure of performance. It is expressed in miles per hour. The faster the air moves through the tube, the easier it is for the machine to blow away leaves and loose debris. Some gas-powered blowers achieve speeds around 250 mph, while battery power pushes air only a bit more than half that.
- Air volume: Efficiency is measured not only in how fast the blower moves the air, but how much air it can push through the tube. This measurement is expressed most often in cubic feet per minute. Backpack blower volumes range from 400 to 750 cubic feet of air per minute.
The backpack
- Frame: The power source, fan and hose coupling are fitted to the back of the frame and the harness to the front. The best frames are lightweight, strong and designed to distribute the weight of the machine across the operator’s back and shoulders to reduce strain.
- Straps: Better backpacks have shoulder straps that are adjustable, padded and wide enough to not cut into your shoulders. They also have waist straps that help distribute the load.
- Back: Gas engines get hot, so look for a blower that has a ventilated area on the back.
Best backpack blowers
Two-cycle backpack blowers
These are the cheapest and least efficient of the backpack blowers and are banned in some places.
Poulan Pro Two-Cycle Backpack Leaf Blower
This 48cc engine pushes 475 cubic feet of air per minute at up to 200 mph. It weighs 22 pounds with its heavy-duty frame that has a load-reducing harness for a custom fit, greater comfort, minimal strain and reduced operator fatigue.
Sold by Amazon
Husqvarna 150BT Professional Two-Cycle Backpack Leaf Blower
This 22-pound blower moves 434 cubic feet of air per minute at 251 mph. Dampers between the 50cc engine and the chassis reduce vibration, and the variable fan speed has cruise control.
Sold by Amazon
LawnMaster No-Pull Backpack Two-Cycle Backpack Leaf Blower
This 31cc gas engine has an electric starter, a muffler with a spark arrestor, variable speeds and a cruise control. This 18.5-pound backpack has a harness with adjustable shoulder straps and a waist strap.
Sold by Amazon
Four-cycle backpack blowers
These are engines that run cleaner and more efficiently, usually with more power than two-cycle engines.
PX-Trunk Four-Cycle Gas Backpack Leaf Blower
The 52cc engine spins a turbine fan at 7,500 revolutions per minute to blow 700 cubic feet of air per minute at 230 mph. The back of the frame is ventilated and padded, the shoulder straps are adjustable and the machine weighs 27 pounds.
Sold by Amazon
Makita Four-Stroke Backpack Leaf Blower
The 75cc engine uses 3.8 horsepower to move 706 cubic feet of air per minute at 206 mph. The unit weighs 11 pounds, and the shoulder straps are padded and adjustable.
Sold by Amazon
Yoleny Four-Stroke Backpack Leaf Blower
The frame has a breathable back and adjustable straps for operator comfort. It weighs 27 pounds and has a 76cc engine that blows air at 750 cubic feet of air per minute.
Sold by Amazon
Battery-powered backpack blowers
These are the quietest of all.
Ego Power-plus 600 CFM Variable Speed Backpack
This 29-pound variable speed turbine fan leaf blower has a battery run time of 180 minutes. It delivers a maximum air velocity of 145 mph and can move air anywhere from 260 to 600 cubic feet of air per minute through the adjustable-length tube.
Sold by Amazon
Ryobi Whisper Series Cordless Battery Backpack
This 40-volt blower is 85% quieter than a gas blower. It delivers 730 cubic feet of air per minute at 165 mph, and the contoured back support has adjustable straps to carry its 30-pound weight.
Sold by Home Depot
Ryobi 40-Volt Cordless Battery Backpack
This blower comes with two lithium-ion batteries and a rapid charger that takes less than 60 minutes. It blows 625 cubic feet of air per minute at 145 mph and weighs 30 pounds.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/reviews/which-backpack-blower-should-i-buy/ | 2022-08-19T19:30:40Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/reviews/which-backpack-blower-should-i-buy/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the stability of the Chad Republic and all other neighbouring countries is in the interest of Nigeria.
The President spoke Friday while receiving a Special Envoy from the Transitional President of Chad, General Mahamat Idris Derby at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Chad holds a Sovereign National Dialogue on August 20, 2022, and according to the Special Envoy, Mr Brah Mahamat Dallah, “the outcome would be respected, and not tampered with.”
President Buhari said relations between Nigeria and Chad transcended that of neighbours, as the late President, Marshal Idris Derby Itno “kept me constantly briefed on developments in the country.”
Speaking further on the virtues of good neighbourliness, the President said “common sense makes it extremely important that we are interested in the stability of Chad Republic, as it is in our own interest.
“We are genuinely concerned, and I am sincerely impressed with the leadership of the country in stabilizing the polity.
“It was the belief in good neighbourliness that made me first visit Chad, Niger Republic, Cameroon, and the Benin Republic when I came in 2015. The more exclusion we create, the more we endanger present and future generations of our countries.”
President Buhari said he would “keep an ear to the ground, monitor developments closely,” as Chadians hold the National Dialogue, and offered the support of Nigeria in any form required.
The Special Envoy, who is also the country’s Minister of Public Works, extolled the long relationship between Nigeria and Chad, and indicated that over 99% of Chadians were interested in, and taking part in the National Dialogue, including main rebel groups.
He said the parley was sovereign, and the conclusions would be scrupulously implemented.
“We need the support of Nigeria during and after the event,” he added.
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- Safety tips to observe when boarding a ride from a ride-hailing app | https://tribuneonlineng.com/chad-republics-stability-in-nigerias-interest-%E2%80%95-buhari/ | 2022-08-19T19:31:06Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/chad-republics-stability-in-nigerias-interest-%E2%80%95-buhari/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MATTAPOISETT, Mass. (AP) — Several boats have been consumed by a large fire at a Massachusetts boatyard Friday.
Aerial video taken by WCVB-TV showed several boats and vehicles at the boatyard in Mattapoisett either burned out shells or being consumed by flames.
People who picked up the phones at the Mattapoisett fire and police departments said no one was available to comment. It was unclear if anyone was hurt.
The area of the fire was part of a Weather Service warning Friday of elevated fire risk due to drought and high winds. It sent a plume of dense black smoke over southeastern Massachusetts.
The National Weather Service said on Twitter that its radar had detected “what is most likely a smoke plume” in Mattapoisett.
Several other people posted images of the fire and smoke on social media. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national/large-fire-consumes-boats-vehicles-at-boatyard/ | 2022-08-19T19:31:07Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national/large-fire-consumes-boats-vehicles-at-boatyard/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Olu of Warri, Ogiame III, has inaugurated the Iwere royal society to harness Itsekiri cultural heritage in commemoration of his first coronation anniversary in Warri, Delta State.
He unveiled the society during Iwere music concert, on Thursday night, at Brown Hill Event Centre, Ogunnu, Warri south local government area as part of the events outlined for the five-day coronation anniversary celebration.
The colourful third-day event saw several sterling performances and renditions of poetry, choral songs, classical gospel songs by individuals and the Iwere royal choir.
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- Olu of Warri unveils royal Iwere society to harness Itsekiri cultural potential
Ogiame, Atuwatse III said the society would be saddled with the coordination and harnessing of the historical, cultural, literary and intellectual potentials of the Itsekiri people from time immemorial till date.
“Itsekiri has potential and the choir is an example of the treasure embedded in Itsekiri.
“This society shall help to coordinate and organise a central resource centre for all Itsekiris.
“This society has the aim to revive the Iwere identity and bring it to the era of the 21st century.
“Today, I am calling for every piece of literature written about or in the interest of Itsekiri in whatever form to be brought to the society.
“Every degree, judgement, treaty, document about or in the interest of should be submitted.
“There will debate, lectures, plays, dance dramas and specific examination of our relations and interaction with all of our neighbours- Urhobos, Ijaws, Isoko, Nembe, Benin, Yorubas Igalas and so on.
“This society will be chaired by myself and the various individuals who will be heading departments of the society will be communicated in due time,” he noted. | https://tribuneonlineng.com/olu-of-warri-unveils-royal-iwere-society-to-harness-itsekiri-cultural-potential/ | 2022-08-19T19:31:33Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/olu-of-warri-unveils-royal-iwere-society-to-harness-itsekiri-cultural-potential/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(Mass Appeal) – Buying CD’s was the thing to do! However, with technology we have these days we don’t need CD’s anymore. Let’s face it, do you even have a CD player? They can be recycled and transformed into a beautiful and unique piece of jewelry. Malena Chipps, owner of Fancy That Antiques, shows us how. | https://www.wwlp.com/massappeal/transform-an-old-cd-into-beautiful-piece-of-jewelry/ | 2022-08-19T19:38:30Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/massappeal/transform-an-old-cd-into-beautiful-piece-of-jewelry/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2019, there were five high school graduates for every housing unit permitted in the state of California.[1] As housing supply fails to adjust to California's growing population, home prices have risen to $900,000 as of May.[2] This is driving young adults back into their parents' homes, with 40% of Californians ages 18 to 34 living with their parents.[3]
To help local policymakers and homeowners deal with this crisis, the American Enterprise Institute is holding a series of conferences throughout California promoting "Light Touch Density". These conferences bring together the best minds in housing across a wide swath of the industry to help cities deal with their housing shortages. Academics, policymakers, lawyers, developers, and activists are coming together, bringing their expertise and proposing solutions.
The burden of California's inability to build enough housing has fallen disproportionally on younger generations. The AEI Housing Center's work shows that six of the biggest markets in California—San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego—all rank among the most unaffordable cities for first-time homebuyers.
Light Touch Density is a tested solution that has provided more affordable housing in Palisades Park, NJ; Charlotte, NC; and Houston, TX. Increasing housing diversity, even for single-family detached homes, can dramatically increase housing supply and create more affordable new homes, according to a new study of 200 metros released by the AEI's Housing Center.
The lack of affordable housing is holding back younger Californians from moving up the economic ladder and accessing homeownership. If you are interested in solving this problem, please join AEI the week of September 19th.
Registration is open for 6 California free conferences to be held the week of September 19, 2022.
These conferences are free and open to all—please forward to anyone else who might have an interest. Each conference will be packed with information and presentations to help to tackle the most pressing housing issues facing Californians.
Visit aei.org/california-housing-conference to register
Conference dates, times, and locations
[1] EdSource, FRED
[2] The Sacramento Bee
[3] Census Bureau
Media Contact Details:
Arthur Gailes
American Enterprise Institute Housing Center
Washington, DC
aei.org/california-housing-conference
Arthur.gailes@aei.org
804-662-0874
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/19/californias-young-adults-cant-afford-live-where-they-were-raised-join-nations-leading-housing-experts-finding-solution/ | 2022-08-19T19:40:10Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/19/californias-young-adults-cant-afford-live-where-they-were-raised-join-nations-leading-housing-experts-finding-solution/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) – A Memphis woman who ordered a box of cigars couldn’t believe what she got instead.
She agreed to tell her story about the cigars as long as her identity was kept hidden. She said what happened is just too bizarre.
The woman’s story starts online. She said she ordered cigars from Thompson Cigar Company, which were shipped from their fulfillment center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A box arrived July 27.
“When I lifted it, my first sign was, ‘Wow these are heavy,'” she said. “When I open it, to my surprise it was filled with new blue license plates.”
That’s right: There were no cigards in the box. Instead, she saw 100 Tennessee license plates — an item many in Shelby County are desperate to get.
This year, the state rolled out its new plates, which caused a giant backlog at the county clerk’s office. Some residents had previously told Nexstar’s WREG that they had waited months to get theirs in the mail.
The wait for license plates in Shelby County is so long that there are even calls to bring in the state to take over.
“My own license plate expired in July, but because I have two vehicles, I was in no hurry because I didn’t want to stand in line to get them,” the woman said. “It’s just perplexing to me. Of course, maybe I’m overthinking it.”
Or maybe not.
The woman showed WREG the return address on the box, which shows the cigar company is listed. Even a packaging slip, sealed inside the box and underneath the plates, was from the cigar company.
“So I immediately call the cigar company,” she said. “Tell them what just happened. Of course they tell me that’s not possible. You could not have gotten license plates from our warehouse.”
Thompson Cigar told WREG the same thing. In an emailed statement, the company said it does not have “any affiliation with license plates.”
The woman said she was then told that UPS, the company that delivered the package, would come get the plates. That didn’t happen.
“I thought, ‘Let me call the police.’ Because again, I’m seeing on the news that license plates have been ordered and not showing up,” she said.
A Memphis police spokesperson had yet to find any evidence that a crime was committed, so they told the woman to try UPS again. She ended up driving them over to an outlet.
“When I told them what happened, they looked at me like I had a box of rattlesnakes,” she said.
But UPS told her they can’t help, because “the box has been opened.”
“By then I’m just frustrated. I don’t know what to do,” she said.
WREG reached out to the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the Shelby County Clerk, the latter telling the station that the license plates do not belong in the Shelby County inventory.
Hours later, state agents contacted WREG for the woman’s information. They showed up at her house shortly afterward and eagerly took the plates. The state, however, would not disclose the identity of the intended recipient of the plates, or whether they believed this incident was related to a crime, or simply an accident.
“We are still investigating this issue,” a spokesperson for the state said. “We are now working with our common carrier to help us determine what happened.”
The state added that this incident is “extremely unusual,” and it “will not cause issues or delays.”
UPS wouldn’t answer any of WREG’s other questions. The woman said they were ignoring her questions, too.
But she did receive a new package in the mail — and this time, it was a box of cigars. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/woman-orders-cigars-gets-100-tennessee-license-plates-instead/ | 2022-08-19T19:43:32Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/woman-orders-cigars-gets-100-tennessee-license-plates-instead/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Dow industrial average is now down over 300 points or -0.88% at 33697.21. That now takes the index below the closing level from last Friday. The level closed at 33761.06. The current price is at 33697.21. The price is also back below its 200 day moving average at 33858.74.
The biggest losers today in the Dow industrial average is Boeing (-3.28%), J.P. Morgan (-2.53%), and salesforce (-2.38%)
the S&P index is down -56.73 points or-1.33% at 4226. At the highs this week, this index found sellers just ahead of its 200 day MA currently at 4320.86. The index is retesting its 50% midpoint of the range since the 2022 high in January at 4227.75... | https://www.forexlive.com/news/dow-industrial-average-joins-the-sp-and-nasdaq-in-negative-territory-for-the-week-20220819/ | 2022-08-19T19:48:17Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/dow-industrial-average-joins-the-sp-and-nasdaq-in-negative-territory-for-the-week-20220819/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Priya Varghese, whose appointment as an associate professor at Kannur University was annulled by the Governor has once again taken to social media to explain her eligibility.
The other day, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, in his capacity as Chancellor of universities, had ordered a stay on the appointment of Priya who is the wife of CPM leader KK Ragesh, private secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Priya, who dubbed the Governor's move a 'political drama', continued her outbursts on her Facebook page on Friday evening.
"Appointments of teachers to universities are held as per the UGC norms. It applies to not just Kannur University but all universities in the country. Those who have read the UGC norms should realise that no norms were violated in the appointment of associate professor to the Kannur University," Priya Varghese wrote on her Facebook.
Reiterating that the eligibility for the post was eight years of teaching/research experience, she cited the UGC guidelines to validate her case.
She cited an order issued by the Governor in 2016 that accorded "sanction for the deputation of Smt Priya Varghese, Assistant Professor in Malayalam, Sree Vivekananda College, Kunnamkulam, Thrissur for undergoing Ph.D. Course for the period from 29-07-2015 to 28-07-2017, under the FIP scheme".
With questions being raised on the grounds that she does not meet the eligibility criteria, Priya Varghese argued that under the Faculty Development Programme (FDP) that was started as Faculty Improvement Programme (FIP) in the tenth plan she had not availed leave to pursue her Ph.D., hence her period of research counted as experience.
The other day, soon after the Governor stayed "all further proceedings pursuant to the selection procedure", Kannur University Vice-Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran had met mediapersons and said they would challenge the order in a court.
This had reportedly upset the Governor who is mulling strict action as he considers the response from the VC gross misconduct and serious violation. The Governor will return to Kerala from Delhi on August 25. | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/20/kannur-university-priya-varghese-facebook-post-ugc-norms-eligibility.html | 2022-08-19T19:58:15Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/20/kannur-university-priya-varghese-facebook-post-ugc-norms-eligibility.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Four months after he was shot by Yakima police, José Trindad De Alba was in court on charges of attacking the officers.
De Alba, 27, of Zillah, was arrested after failing to appear in court Aug. 8 on a summons. He is charged with three counts of first-degree assault and two counts of illegally possessing a firearm in connection with the April 16 incident.
He is also charged with first-degree domestic violence robbery, second-degree assault of a child, theft of a firearm, unlawful firearms possession and violation of a protection order for an incident the day before his encounter with Yakima police.
Officers were pursuing De Alba on the domestic violence allegations in the 800 block of North 20th Avenue around 5:35 p.m. April 16, according to court documents. In the domestic violence incident, De Alba was accused of robbing his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint, taking money, a cellphone and a 9mm pistol April 15, court documents said.
When officers tried to stop De Alba, he ran, holding his right waistband as if he had a gun, court documents said.
During the chase, De Alba pointed a gun at the officers, who took cover behind their vehicles, where they grabbed additional body armor and rifles, according to court documents. De Alba, court documents said, then ran to the 1800 block of Jerome Avenue, where he first pointed a gun at his own head and then at officers, who fired on him.
The officers who fired on De Alba were Sgt. Erik Jones and Officer Les Henderson, according to Yakima police.
Police found a 9mm pistol that was reported stolen the day before at De Alba’s feet. He was taken first to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital and then to Harborview Medical Center.
Yakima County Superior Court Judge Richard Bartheld set bail at $500,000 for each case, ordering them to run consecutively, making his total bail $1 million. Bartheld said De Alba’s unwillingness to show up when required, as demonstrated by his failure to appear when summoned Aug. 8, indicated he was a flight risk.
Also, Bartheld said De Alba posed a threat to public safety based on the allegations that he threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and had threatened to fire on police officers the next day.
Yakima Valley Special Investigations Unit conducted its own investigation of the shooting to determine it were legally justified, and have turned its report over to Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic for final determination.
Brusic said he was still reviewing the report.
A YPD administrative review of the incident determined Jones and Henderson followed department policy in the incident. | https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/man-shot-in-confrontation-with-yakima-police-held-on-1-million-bail/article_e1de05e6-1f5e-11ed-b55f-3fcbd00c5d96.html | 2022-08-19T19:59:31Z | yakimaherald.com | control | https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/man-shot-in-confrontation-with-yakima-police-held-on-1-million-bail/article_e1de05e6-1f5e-11ed-b55f-3fcbd00c5d96.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Congressman Adam Schiff has held a front row seat to the Trump presidency and its continuing impact on American democracy and politics.
Schiff served as lead manager in the first impeachment of the former president and is a member of the January 6 committee.
He offered an unvarnished character assessment of the 45th president, voiced concern over the continuation of the "Big Lie," and said now is the time to ask what we each can do to make a difference "in the life of our democracy."
- U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), author of "Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could"
"Adam Schiff in Conversation," hosted by Rainy Day Books, from 12:00-1:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 24, at Unity Temple on The Plaza, Sanctuary, 707 W 47th Street, Kansas City, Missouri, 64112. Tickets are available through Rainy Day Books. | https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2022-08-19/ahead-of-kansas-city-visit-house-intel-chair-schiff-says-democracy-is-more-at-risk-now-than-on-jan-6 | 2022-08-19T20:01:14Z | kcur.org | control | https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2022-08-19/ahead-of-kansas-city-visit-house-intel-chair-schiff-says-democracy-is-more-at-risk-now-than-on-jan-6 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
What key events and releases will be driving the markets next week?
Tuesday , August 23
- various flash PMI estimates for Europe and UK
- US/services and manufacturing PMI indices, 9:45 AM ET. Manufacturing PMI 52.0 vs. 52.2 last month. Services PMI 50.0 vs. 47.3 last month
- US new home sales, 10 AM ET. Estimate 574K vs. 590K last
- Richmond Fed manufacturing index for August. 10 AM ET. Estimate -6 vs. 0 last month
Wednesday, August 24
- US durable goods orders. 8:30 AM ET. Estimate 0.9% vs. 2.0% last month
- US pending home sales. 10 AM ET. Estimate -2.1% vs. -8.6% last month
Thursday, August 25
- New Zealand retail sales Q/Q. 6:45 PM ET (Wednesday). Estimate 1.7% vs. -0.8% last quarter
- German Ifo business climate. 4 AM ET. Estimate 86.7 vs. 88.6 last month
- US preliminary GDP for 2Q. 8:30 AM ET. -0.8% vs. -0.9%.
- US unemployment claims. 8:30 AM ET. Estimate 250K unchanged from last week
- Jackson Hole symposium. All day
Friday, August 26
- US core PCE price index. 8:30 AM ET. Estimate 0.3% vs. 0.6% last month.
- US personal income/consumption. 8:30 AM ET. Personal income estimate 0.6% vs. 0.6% last. Personal consumption 0.5% vs. 1.1% last
- US University of Michigan consumer sentiment. 10 AM ET. Estimate 55.3 vs. 55.1 preliminary
- Fed Chair Powell speaks at the Jackson Hole symposium. 10 AM ET. | https://www.forexlive.com/news/key-events-and-releases-for-the-week-starting-august-22-20220819/ | 2022-08-19T20:01:14Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/key-events-and-releases-for-the-week-starting-august-22-20220819/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
KCUR's Up To Date was joined by Kansas State President Richard Linton, who talked about his background in education, the school's focus on agriculture, how to address a declining student population and his vision for the future of K-State.
- Dr. Richard Linton, president of Kansas State University | https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2022-08-19/new-k-state-president-pushes-for-more-agricultural-innovation | 2022-08-19T20:01:20Z | kcur.org | control | https://www.kcur.org/podcast/up-to-date/2022-08-19/new-k-state-president-pushes-for-more-agricultural-innovation | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Prospective swimmers in Franklin County will need to stay out of the Green River for the rest of the season.
Greenfield officials said Friday, they’ll be closing the swimming and recreation areas early. The recreation area will be closed beginning Monday, August 22nd for the season.
The river was closed to swimming in late July after tests revealed the presence of parasites that can be harmful to humans. Testing of the water found evidence of both cryptosporidium and giardia, parasites that can cause gastrointestinal illness and other symptoms.
Symptoms of cyclosporiasis begin an average of 7 days (range, from 2 days to under 2 weeks) after ingestion of sporulated oocysts (the infective form of the parasite).
Symptoms of cyclosporiasis may include the following:
- Watery diarrhea (most common)
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Cramping
- Bloating
- Increased gas
- Nausea
- Fatigue
Other symptoms that may occur but are less common include the following:
- Vomiting
- Low-grade fever
Contact your doctor if you have any of these symptoms. Infected persons with healthy immune systems may recover quickly without treatment but medication is available.
Retests have shown that those parasites are still there and health officials say they can’t do any more comprehensive re-testing until the river is flushed by rainfall. There’s no telling when that will happen as the state continues to struggle with drought conditions. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/franklin-county/green-river-recreation-closing-for-season-on-monday/ | 2022-08-19T20:04:11Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/franklin-county/green-river-recreation-closing-for-season-on-monday/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The body of the younger of two Jamaican brothers who died jumping from the so-called “Jaws” bridge in Martha’s Vineyard last weekend was recovered on Thursday, police announced.
Massachusetts State Police said a shell fisherman discovered a body matching the description of 21-year-old Tavaughn Bulgin on the edge of a pond at about 11:30 a.m., agency spokesperson David Procopio wrote in a statement.
The grim discovery was made in a marshy area in about 15 feet of water.
The body of Tavaris Bulgin, 26, Tavaughn’s brother, was found on Monday morning.
The Bulgin siblings — the sons of a pastor from Jamaica — were among four people who leaped from the popular bridge that was featured in the 1975 horror classic “Jaws” on Sunday night.
The two other jumpers, who were the brothers’ co-workers at a local restaurant, made it to shore safely, but the Bulgins went missing.
The US Coast Guard, state and local police responded and recovered the older brother’s body early the next day.
After being unable to find Tavaughn Bulgin, rescuers returned on Tuesday with a side-scan sonar device, but were forced to halt the operation that afternoon because of dangerous weather conditions.
The Bulgins were seasonal workers at Nomans Restaurant in Martha’s Vineyard. Their father, the Rev. Keith Bulgin, is a pastor at a church in the family’s hometown of Clarendon, Jamaica, where a vigil was held in their honor on Monday, reported the Jamaica Gleaner.
Tavaris had recently graduated from the University of Technology in Jamaica, and Tavaughn was studying business at the University of West Indies.
“Tavaris and Tavaughn left an impression on everyone they met — at 26 and 21 years old, their bright smiles, charismatic personalities, unshakeable faith and unrelenting positive attitude made them an absolute joy to be around,” wrote Doug Abdelnour in the description of a GoFundMe campaign seeking donations to help transport the brothers back to Jamaica for burial.
George Omar, a family friend, wrote on Facebook that Tavaris and Tavaughn were like his “blood sons.”
Commonly called the “Jaws” bridge, it links the towns of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown. Also known as the Big Bridge, it is officially the American Legion Memorial Bridge, and spans an inlet that connects Nantucket Sound with Sengekontacket Pond.
Despite signs prohibiting the activity, thrill seekers are frequently seen leaping from the span.
With Post wires | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/body-recovered-of-second-brother-who-died-at-jaws-bridge/ | 2022-08-19T20:08:49Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/body-recovered-of-second-brother-who-died-at-jaws-bridge/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Report: ’21-’22 school year saw most gun violence in a decade
(CNN) – A new report shows no school year in nearly a decade in the United States saw as much gunfire as last year.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-partisan group that advocates against gun violence, published the report.
It shows there were 193 instances of gunfire between Aug. 1, 2021, and May 31, 2022.
That’s more than double the total from the previous year. No other year going back to 2013-2014 ever had more than 75 incidents of gunfire.
The report said homicides, assaults, suicides and suicide attempts make up nearly 60% of all gun violence at schools.
The authors of the report found most school shootings are carried out by a student or former student at a school, and usually, the guns used come from the student’s home.
Because of this, the authors of the report say most shootings are preventable by keeping guns secured, locking school doors and gates and taking care of students in distress.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wave3.com/2022/08/19/report-21-22-school-year-saw-most-gun-violence-decade/ | 2022-08-19T20:09:10Z | wave3.com | control | https://www.wave3.com/2022/08/19/report-21-22-school-year-saw-most-gun-violence-decade/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Sports gambling websites are weighing the odds on who will be Kim Kardashian’s next boyfriend — and fans are not in love with it.
The 41-year-old media mogul and mom of four is newly single after ending her 9-month relationship with “Saturday Night Live” alum Pete Davidson.
Sites like Bovada and OddsChecker are now offering odds on her next suitor — including some former flames, rumored beaus and pure wild cards.
In the top spot is CNN contributor Van Jones with +800 odds or an 11.1% implied chance of happening, according to OddsChecker. He and Kardashian have become friendly over the past few years as the Skims founder studies to become a lawyer.
Kardashian’s ex-lovers Ray J and Nick Cannon tie with +1,000.
In 2007, a leaked sex tape of Kardashian and Ray J arguably launched her career — which soon took off when E’s “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” premiered that same year.
Earlier this year, during the first season of the family’s new Hulu series “The Kardashians,” Kim’s ex-husband Kanye West met up with Ray J to retrieve the computer where the tape was stored. However, the “I Hit It First” rapper later claimed that the show’s portrayal of the events didn’t exactly go that way in real life.
As for Cannon, he’s now infamously a busy father of eight kids.
Other top contenders include Jamie Foxx (+1,200), Cincinnati Bengals running back Chris Evans (+1,400) and even Harry Styles (+2,000).
Evans reacted to his honorable mention in a tweet last week, captioning the list with the side-eye and thinking emojis.
And then there are the odds of Kardashian and West reconciling in the wake of their very public divorce. OddsChecker gives that +2,200 odds, or a 4.3% implied chance of happening.
Kardashian’s second husband, Kris Humphries, has an even lesser shot with a +3,500 odds or 2.8% implied chance.
Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt are given just a 1% chance, but that’s still better than the odds given to nine teams to win the Super Bowl this year, including both the New York Jets and the New York Giants, according to the site.
Wild-card options include Eminem, Elliot Page, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
While many have found the list humorous, some Kardashian fans weren’t laughing — such as TikTok user @laurenisgossip, who compiled several of the lists into one video with the caption “how is this even legal, it’s messed up.”
Commenters sounded off with their takes.
“This is sad,” one said. “Are there running bets on who will be Pete Davidson’s new gf,” another challenged.
Meanwhile, outside fans pleaded, “LEAVE MY BOY CHRIS EVANS OUTTA THIS,” and “Free my boy Harry” — whose odds were +2,000.
“Y’all I won’t even lie — Elon Musk almost makes sense,” one admitted.
The Post has contacted a rep for Kardashian for her thoughts on the lists. | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/kim-kardashians-next-boyfriend-sparks-betting-war-on-gambling-sites/ | 2022-08-19T20:09:32Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/kim-kardashians-next-boyfriend-sparks-betting-war-on-gambling-sites/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist and founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, may seem to have it all — but he isn’t as fortunate when it comes to having his own property in New Zealand.
Specifically, that’s building his dream “doomsday” home on his 477-acre mega-estate which he purchased in 2015 for $13.5 million in the South Pacific nation where he holds citizenship.
Thiel, 54, applied under his Second Star Ltd company to build a sprawling bunker-like compound containing a spa, a theater lounge, a “meditation pod” and a library on the property overlooking Lake Wānaka on New Zealand’s pristine South Island, according to records from the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
But plans for his 10-bedroom oasis were thwarted entirely on Thursday after growing calls from environmentalists, citing “sufficient adverse landscape and visual effects on the environment.”
“The applicants seek to develop a lodge for visitor accommodation purposes, which comprises three individual structures but constructed as one building, which are described in the landscape assessment as a series of pods,” the application says. “The Owner’s Pod, back of house and a meditation pod will also be constructed. All buildings will be constructed near the building platform identified on the title.”
What’s more, according to the application, “The lodge is designed in a manner that integrates the building forms into the context of the landscape and the site whilst providing each guest room with uninterrupted north-facing views towards Lake Wanaka and the Southern Alps.”
Still not everyone is pleased with the grand plan.
According to the ruling by independent commissioners on behalf of the council, the lodge would have a “distinctive visual appearance” and would be visible from many viewpoints.
“It will be of a sufficiently large scale and impact that it will draw the eye and be inappropriately dominant,” they said.
The Post has reached out to a rep for Thiel for comment.
Wānaka, a town of about 8,500 people, has been distinguished as an upscale town for tech, venture capitalist and business moguls.
The self-proclaimed Donald Trump ally, in turn, argued that his home would appeal to a “high caliber” of visitors attracted to the exquisitely preserved views and the isolated location, adding that the environmentalists fighting against him were exaggerating on the basis of environmental protection at all costs. He even proposed abandoning the meditation pod to limit some of the visual influence.
The plan for the compound was designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates — the Japanese architecture firm behind the Tokyo Olympics stadium.
According to documents, the design was described as meant to be in “harmony with the landscape” and would’ve consisted of many stand-alone buildings.
Thiel, worth an estimated $7.7 billion, has owned several properties in the country over the years and is just one of many who believe New Zealand is the ultimate place for riding out a global catastrophe.
Google co-founder Larry Page was granted residency in the country last year.
Reid Hoffman, who co-founded PayPal with Thiel, and Elon Musk, and later created the career platform LinkedIn, previously told the New Yorker, New Zealand was seen as insurance for the collapse of the United States.
Meanwhile, Thiel is an investor in Bluebook Cities, which aims to build semi-autonomous cities without “dumb regulations.” | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/peter-thiels-plans-for-dream-home-in-new-zealand-are-gone/ | 2022-08-19T20:10:20Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/peter-thiels-plans-for-dream-home-in-new-zealand-are-gone/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal health officials confirmed Friday that a Nebraska child died from a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in a river near Omaha.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the presence of the naegleria fowleri amoeba in the child, according to the Douglas County Department of Health in Omaha.
Health officials believe the child became infected while swimming Sunday in the Elkhorn River, a few miles west of Omaha. Authorities have not released the child’s name.
People are usually infected when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose while swimming in or diving into lakes and rivers. Other sources have been documented, including tainted tap water in a Houston-area city in 2020.
It is the second death in the Midwest this summer from primary amebic meningoencephalitis, an infection caused by the amoeba that has proved fatal in 97% of reported cases. A Missouri resident died of the infection in July after swimming at Lake of Three Fires in southwestern Iowa, health officials have said.
Symptoms of the infection include fever, headache, nausea or vomiting, progressing to a stiff neck, loss of balance, hallucinations and seizures.
The CDC says naegleria fowleri infections are rare, with about three cases in the United States every year. There were 154 cases reported between 1962 and 2021 in the U.S., with only four survivors. Only about 430 cases have ever been documented globally.
In the U.S., infections from the amoeba typically occur in southern states because the amoeba thrives in waters that are warmer than 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius). But infections have migrated north in recent years, including two cases in Minnesota since 2010. | https://www.wpri.com/news/national/cdc-confirms-nebraska-child-died-of-brain-eating-amoeba-2/ | 2022-08-19T20:12:37Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/national/cdc-confirms-nebraska-child-died-of-brain-eating-amoeba-2/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Never mind the grass being greener, the internet may be faster across the street. You may have to put up with buffering every time you try to watch something on Netflix while your neighbor isn’t just streaming video, their kids are playing online video games and there are 6 computers and smartphones all connected to their WiFi router.
What gives?
It's entirely possible that your neighbor is getting faster internet speeds than you do if they’re using a different internet provider. It can vary from street to street, even house to house. If you don't know what's available at your address, you could be paying too much for speeds too slow.
Now there's a map where you can find out.
You'll find it on the FCC website.
Here's how it works:
Search for your home address when you get to that homepage which will show your home and street on a map. There are different shades of blue but you can ignore the colors. It only tells you how many choices are available in that area.
What you’ll want to see is the Information on the right side of the page which shows all of the providers you can choose from, along with the download and upload speeds provided by each company.
One address I searched for shows that AT&T Fiber and Comcast Cable are both available with 1 gig or 1,000 megabytes per second for downloads. That's the important number for streaming video, playing games, and connecting multiple devices to your WiFi network.
If you frequently upload files to cloud servers, you'll want to pay attention to the upload speeds and there's a huge difference. In that same location search, AT&T fiber offers 1 Gig upload while Comcast is just 35 megabytes per second.
Some rural areas have fewer companies to choose from. It’s common to see many rural communities topping out at just 100 megabytes per second for downloads.
You can search any street address in the country, so for people who are thinking of buying a new house, this is valuable research.
The broadband map is about a year old and the FCC is updating it regularly. | https://www.local3news.com/local-news/what-the-tech-how-to-determine-the-speed-of-your-internet/article_d11a83b2-1fe8-11ed-bf19-87cb9af159fe.html | 2022-08-19T20:13:05Z | local3news.com | control | https://www.local3news.com/local-news/what-the-tech-how-to-determine-the-speed-of-your-internet/article_d11a83b2-1fe8-11ed-bf19-87cb9af159fe.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Texas school districts have begun receiving donated posters and framed copies of the national motto, "In God We Trust," that they will now be required to display in accordance with a new state law.
The law says a public elementary or secondary school or an institution of higher education "must" display a durable poster or framed copy of the motto in a "conspicuous place" in each building if the poster or framed copy is "donated for display at the school or institution" or "purchased from private donations and made available to the school or institution."
State Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican co-author of the law, tweeted last week, "The national motto, In God We Trust, asserts our collective trust in a sovereign God."
The people and organizations behind the donations have wasted no time in sending them out to schools.
The Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, a suburb of Dallas, on Monday received "In God We Trust" framed posters for each school in the district from Patriot Mobile, which describes itself as "America's only Christian conservative wireless provider."
Scott Coburn, the company's chief marketing officer, told the school board, "Patriot Mobile is honored to donate these posters to CISD and we're very excited to see them amongst all of our schools."
The posters will be displayed in the front entrance areas of each Carroll ISD campus, Brandie Egan, the district's communications coordinator, told CNN.
Some in the community object, including the Southlake Anti-Racism Coalition (SARC).
"SARC is disturbed by the precedent displaying these posters in every school will set and the chilling effect this blatant intrusion of religion in what should be a secular public institution will have on the student body, especially those who do not practice the dominant Christian faith," the community group said in a statement following the donation.
Hughes said he is encouraged to see groups like Patriot Mobile "coming forward to donate these framed prints to remind future generations of Texans of our national motto."
CNN has requested a comment from Hughes about SARC's criticism but has yet to hear back.
Other school districts throughout the state have also received poster donations, including Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston. "As part of the National Motto program, The Yellow Rose of Texas Republican Women (TYRTRW) are generously donating a copy to every instructional facility in CFISD," Leslie Francis, assistant superintendent for communication, said.
Keller ISD outside Fort Worth received posters for all of its facilities donated by an individual resident, according to the district.
"In compliance with the amended Texas Education Code 1.004, they have been posted in conspicuous locations, as determined by campus administrators, which is the front office reception area for most of our campuses," Keller ISD told CNN.
Other states, in recent years, have also mandated the display of the motto.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/public-schools-receive-in-god-we-trust-poster-donations-as-new-texas-law-requires-their/article_42e47cf4-9426-509e-ad79-8497817f30cb.html | 2022-08-19T20:13:48Z | local3news.com | control | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/public-schools-receive-in-god-we-trust-poster-donations-as-new-texas-law-requires-their/article_42e47cf4-9426-509e-ad79-8497817f30cb.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Wyoming’s lone member of Congress, Liz Cheney, lost her seat to Trump-backed Republican Harriet Hageman this week– and she didn’t seem surprised at the outcome. In her concessionspeech, Cheney said, “This is when the real work begins.”
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act Tuesday. Gallup polling from July shows inflation is the biggestproblem Americans are worried about at the moment.
CDC Director RochelleWalenskyannouncedthe organization was hitting reset after falling short in its response to COVID-19. The CDC also announced a new strategy in its distribution and dosage of the monkeypoxvaccine.
We cover the most important stories from around the nation on the domestic portion of the News Roundup.
Copyright 2022 WAMU 88.5 | https://www.klcc.org/2022-08-19/the-news-roundup-domestic | 2022-08-19T20:22:34Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/2022-08-19/the-news-roundup-domestic | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — British national El Shafee Elsheikh was sentenced to life in prison Friday for his role in an Islamic State scheme that took roughly two dozen Westerners hostage a decade ago.
Elsheikh's hostages gave him a somewhat whimsical nickname — he was dubbed a "Beatle" along with other English-accented captors — but the moniker belied the viciousness of his conduct.
"This prosecution unmasked the vicious and sadistic ISIS Beatles," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh, noting that Elsheikh and the other Beatles always wore masks when they appeared in front of their hostages.
He is the most notorious and highest-ranking member of the Islamic State group to ever be convicted in a U.S. court, prosecutors said Friday at his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The life sentence was a foregone conclusion after a jury convicted him of hostage taking resulting in death and other crimes earlier this year.
The convictions revolved around the deaths of four American hostages: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller. All but Mueller were executed in videotaped beheadings circulated online. Mueller was forced into slavery and raped multiple times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.
They were among 26 hostages taken captive between 2012 and 2015, when the Islamic State group controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
The convictions carried a mandatory life sentence. The U.S. agreed not to pursue death sentence as part of a deal that ensured extradition of Elsheikh and his friend, Alexanda Kotey, who has already been sentenced to life.
Parekh said it was difficult to convey the brutality of Elsheikh's actions. "We lack the vocabulary of such pain," he said, paraphrasing Dante's Inferno.
Still, victims of Elsheikh and the Beatles testified at Friday's hearing and gave voice to what they experienced. Danish photographer Daniel Rye Ottosen, who was released after paying a ransom, said the worst moments were times of silence during and after captivity when he was alone with his thoughts.
He said when Elsheikh and the Beatles beat him up, it was almost a relief.
"Now I knew I could only concentrate on my pain, which is much easier than being alone with your thoughts," he said.
Ottosen was particularly close to Foley, and memorized a goodbye letter that Foley wrote to his family so he could dictate it to Foley's parents when he was released.
Foley's mother, Diane Foley, said holding Elsheikh accountable at trial sends a message of deterrence to other would-be hostage takers.
"Hatred truly overwhelmed your humanity," she told Elsheikh on Friday, which was the eighth anniversary of James Foley's beheading.
At trial, surviving hostages testified that they dreaded the Beatles' appearance at the various prisons to which they were constantly shuttled and relocated. Elsheikh and the other Beatles played a key role in the hostage negotiations, getting hostages to email their families with demands for payments.
They also routinely beat and tortured the hostages, forcing them to fight each other to the point of passing out, threatening them with waterboarding and forcing them view images of slain hostages.
Elsheikh did not speak during Friday's hearing. His lawyer, Zachary Deubler, said Elsheikh will appeal his conviction. Elsheikh's lawyers had argued that his confessions should have been ruled inadmissible because of alleged mistreatment after he was captured by Kurdish-led Syrian Defense Forces in 2018.
At Friday's hearing, Deubler confined his arguments to a request that Elsheikh not be sent to the supermax prison facility in Florence, Colorado, where he would face solitary confinement for the rest of his life. Deubler said a designation to Florence is almost a certainty unless the judge recommends otherwise.
Judge T.S. Ellis III declined to make any recommendation to the Bureau of Prisons.
"The behavior of this defendant and his co-defendant can only be described as horrific, barbaric, brutal, callous and, of course, criminal," Ellis said.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-08-19/an-islamic-state-member-is-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-in-the-deaths-of-hostages | 2022-08-19T20:22:52Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-08-19/an-islamic-state-member-is-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-in-the-deaths-of-hostages | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Industry, the buzzy HBO finance drama, is back for a second season – the lofty trading floor with its swivelly chairs, wrap-around screens and glass meeting rooms is as bleak as where they left off. But my god is it gripping: described as ‘HBO’s halfway point between Succession and Euphoria’ – this is a workplace drama that is as triggering for bankers as it is TV gold for everyone else. Money never sleeps, true. Money corrupts, also true. But how accurate is it really? According to the viral YouTube series ‘Ex-Goldman Sachs reacts to Industry’ – viewed 364k times – it is on the money. Helped by the fact that it’s written by two ex-bankers: Konrad Kay and Mickey Down who lived and breathed the dizzying, high-rolling world before calling it quits (and monetising the experience).
‘They were often on set,’ explains Indy Lewis, 21, who plays Venetia Berens, part of the new cohort of grad bankers, ‘because sometimes, when rehearsing, it might feel more natural to change one word for another – but still, if you did that, it would have to be checked by one of the producers who would send them a message and they'd be like, “yeah, that’s fine”.’ Additionally there was a financial advisor on set. ‘So you could go and talk to him if you were like: “I have no idea what this means…is it good or is it bad?”’ | https://www.tatler.com/article/indy-lewis-new-star-industry-hbo-bbc-banking-series | 2022-08-19T20:34:59Z | tatler.com | control | https://www.tatler.com/article/indy-lewis-new-star-industry-hbo-bbc-banking-series | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
How to get your feet yacht ready
The right shoe can disguise all manner of foot sins, cracked heels can be cleverly concealed by a pump or strategically placed strap and unmanicured toenails can be disguised behind an espadrille or closed-toe sandal, however when aboard a boat and shoes have been confiscated, there is nowhere to hide.
The medical pedicure
Beauchamp Foot Clinic
Any time your feet are majorly on display those in the know pay Victoria Wilson a visit, the exceptional podiatrist, whose no-frills Beauchamp Place clinic is just over the road from San Lorenzo, the former society haunt. Under her expert scalpel, corns, calluses, dead and dry skin are painlessly brushed away, leaving tired-looking toes and unsightly dry heels transformed beyond recognition.
The medical pedicure treatment, £112 beauchampfootcare.com
The ultimate pedicure
Hershesons, Belgravia & Fitzrovia
Expect to find magazine editors and fashion insiders sipping on lavender lattes at the Belgravia and Fitzrovia salons. Its proprietors, the hair stylists Luke and Daniel Hersheson, are adored by the upper echelons of celebrity, just ask Dua Lipa, Keira Knightley and Victoria Beckham. However, both the spaces also offer exceptional pedicures by Dry By. Feet are scrubbed and buffed, nails are immaculately tidied and polish is applied with precision.
Pedicure from £70 hershesons.com
The at-home pedicure
Looky Beauty
Reliable and highly professional, Agata, the founder of Looky Beauty, is London’s best kept mobile beauty secret – and is adored by some of the hardest-to-please women in London. Why? Because her pedicures (and manicures) are immaculate: her attention to detail is unparalleled and her gels last for five weeks without a chip. She’s also a whizz at hair and make up, so, if time allows, why not opt in for the full works.
Pedicure with gel polish, £70, at Looky Beauty (at home) lookybeauty.com
Lymphatic drainage
Ana Trida
The social set are infatuated with the depuffing benefits of lymphatic drainage, and Ana Trida, a Brazilian nurse and lymphatic drainage expert, with 18 years of experience under her belt, is the woman to have on speed dial. Trida tends to some of society’s most beautiful women in the comfort of their homes – Iris Law and Lady Jean Campbell, to name just two. So if swollen feet and ankles are causing pre-holiday woes, Trida is the woman to call.
Lymphatic drainage £200 anatridatherapist.co.uk
The products
The oils, creams, peels and balms to ensure you put your best foot forward | https://www.tatler.com/gallery/how-to-get-beautiful-feet | 2022-08-19T20:35:05Z | tatler.com | control | https://www.tatler.com/gallery/how-to-get-beautiful-feet | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The streaming war does not have a clear winner yet. However, one thing that came out of the streaming war was that in July, for the first time ever, streaming content viewership surpassed that of cable TV in America. Here are two stocks that we think can weather the streaming war and benefit from the rise in cord-cutting.
Cable TV is Losing to Streaming
Research firm Nielsen revealed that 34.8% of total U.S. TV viewing time was spent on streaming, whereas 34.4% was spent on cable TV.
While this may seem like a narrow difference, it looks meaningful when each is compared to their respective year-ago viewership details. Cord-cutting continued to weigh on cable TV viewership last month, with viewers spending 9% less time watching cable TV year-over-year.
On the other hand, 23% more time was spent over the past year watching streaming content on Netflix (NFLX), YouTube (owned by Alphabet (GOOGL)), and Discovery, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
The streaming war has been going on among entertainment media giants for almost three years now to compete with the concept that was pioneered by Netflix. However, more than being a war, it has become chaos now. Numerous services are cropping up or closing down all at once, and there does not seem to be any clear winner.
Nonetheless, streaming is the future of the film world; hence, the streaming service is not going anywhere. The question is, who will benefit? Given the overcrowded industry, maybe many, but Netflix and Disney (DIS) have a long growth runway, in particular.
1. Netflix
Yes, Netflix has seen better days and has lost its first-mover advantage to an overcrowded industry. Neck-and-neck competition and inflation have increased subscriber churn rates. However, it is its efforts to regain its lost glory that is keeping investors hooked.
Netflix is looking to enhance its content portfolio and tighten its password-sharing options in an attempt to bring more subscribers to its platform. Also, the company’s choice to stick to original content, which is also its key differentiator, is expected to ensure consistent free cash flow for Netflix.
Earlier this month, Oppenheimer analyst Jed Kelly saw the password-sharing crackdown and ad-supported tier as the main top-line growth accelerators.
Last month, upgrading his rating on Netflix to a Buy, Stifel analyst Scott Devitt believes that the prolonged period of declining subscribers is slowly easing.
Wall Street is not entirely bearish on the stock, suggesting investors wait for a better time to accumulate more shares. NFLX stock has a Hold consensus rating, with seven Buys, 19 Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months. On average, Netflix’s stock price forecast stands at $229.61, implying 3.9% downside potential.
2. Disney
Disney, a chief competitor of Netflix, recently hit a major milestone — it outpaced the latter’s subscriber volume last quarter.
For a long time, Disney had been reluctant to leave the comfort of its thriving cable TV and enter the world of streaming. However, the cord-cutting has accelerated over the past couple of years, giving the company a solid reason to finally jump in.
Disney also believes that its strong roster of franchises, including Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar, has the potential to pull numerous users onto its platform.
Moreover, its theme parks are also proving to be a significant source of revenue. Rosenblatt Securities analyst Barton Crockett, who reiterated a Buy rating on Disney and raised the price target to $140 from $124, is upbeat about the company’s domestic park business.
Also, Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne believes that Disney’s content is undervalued. Learning from the struggles of Netflix, Swinburne believes that Disney is aware of the difficulties in monetizing a streaming platform and sustaining it, which is why it is approaching it one step at a time.
Right now, it is focusing on growing its subscriber base and is succeeding in that. The analyst believes that this will eventually lead to revenue growth and, consequently, profit growth.
Wall Street is bullish on the stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 17 Buys and three Holds. Disney’s stock price projection indicates an average price target of $139.58, which reflects an upside of 16% from current levels.
Conclusion: Both Companies Have Their Own Advantages
Both Netflix and Disney have their own advantages over each other. For instance, Disney is fast growing and has overtaken Netflix in subscriber volume despite coming into the game much later. On the other hand, in the previous quarter, Netflix’s streaming service pulled in $3 billion more in revenues than Disney’s did in Q2, and it has a far better operating income situation than Disney’s.
Nonetheless, given that streaming is here to stay, there is immense upside potential for the pioneer of streaming, i.e., Netflix, as well as the rapidly and strategically growing Disney. Most importantly, both have the means to overcome the hurdles of changing customer preferences and take their businesses to new heights. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/2-stocks-in-focus-as-streaming-overtakes-cable-tv | 2022-08-19T20:38:10Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/2-stocks-in-focus-as-streaming-overtakes-cable-tv | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
U.S. Air Force 60th Security Forces Squadron military working dog, Daria, waits with her handler during a training session at Travis Air Force Base, California, Aug. 11, 2022. MWD handlers personally train their assigned canine in law enforcement procedures, including how to detect drugs and explosives. (U.S. Air Force photo by Heide Couch)
This work, 60th SFS K-9 [Image 17 of 17], by Heide Couch, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7379391/60th-sfs-k-9 | 2022-08-19T20:41:24Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7379391/60th-sfs-k-9 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
John Forbes, Senate Appropriations Committee (left), shakes hands with Maj. Gen. John B. Richardson IV, 1st Cavalry Division commanding general (right), as he enters the 1st Cavalry Division Headquarters on August 18, Fort Hood, TX. Forbes visited the installation to assess issues with outdated facilities and equipment. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Froylan Grimaldo, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs)
This work, John Forbes, Senate Appropriations Committee, visits the First Team [Image 3 of 3], by SGT Froylan Grimaldo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7379448/john-forbes-senate-appropriations-committee-visits-first-team | 2022-08-19T20:42:33Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7379448/john-forbes-senate-appropriations-committee-visits-first-team | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Illinois health officials report 25,084 new COVID cases, 56 deaths since last Friday
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 25,084 new cases of COVID-19 in Illinois Friday, including 56 deaths since Aug. 12.
The CDC says 42 counties in the state are rated at High Community Level for COVID-19, and an additional 39 counties are rated at Medium Community Level.
State health officials are reporting a total of 3,645,961 cases, including 34,595 deaths, in 102 counties since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of Thursday night, 1,434 individuals in the state were reported to be in the hospital with the virus. Of those, 152 were in the ICU, and 56 were on ventilators.
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The counties in Illinois that are listed at High Community Level include:
Adams, Alexander, Champaign, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, DeKalb, Douglas, Edwards, Ford, Franklin, Gallatin, Hardin, Henderson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kendall, Lake, Lawrence, Lee, Macoupin, Mason, Massac, Montgomery, Ogle, Perry, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Richland, Saline, Stephenson, Wabash, Wayne, Whiteside, Williamson and Winnebago.
For information on COVID, visit https://www.covid.gov/. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/illinois-health-officials-report-25084-new-covid-cases-56-deaths | 2022-08-19T20:45:30Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/illinois-health-officials-report-25084-new-covid-cases-56-deaths | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Indiana Dunes State Park closed to swimming beginning Saturday
CHICAGO - If you're trying to find a way to cool off this weekend in Northwest Indiana, you may need to look for a location other than Indiana Dunes State Park.
Beginning Saturday, the beach will be closed to swimming due to a lack of available lifeguards, park officials announced Friday.
The swimming ban will be in effect until further notice, officials said.
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Guests will still be permitted to enjoy the beach and wade up to waist-deep waters, but Indiana Conservation Officers and park staff will be on hand to make sure visitors don't swim or venture deeper into Lake Michigan.
A public beach seen through a metal grid at Indiana Dunes State Park. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Park officials encouraged guests who are planning a visit during the last weekend of August or Labor Day weekend to monitor the Indiana Dunes State Park Facebook page for updates on beach status.
Swimming at the beach is only permitted while lifeguards are on duty due to frequently changing conditions and dangerous rip currents along the shoreline.
For more information, visit the Indiana Dunes State Park's website. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/indiana-state-dunes-park-closed-to-swimming-beginning-saturday | 2022-08-19T20:45:36Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/indiana-state-dunes-park-closed-to-swimming-beginning-saturday | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
'Sexually motivated serial killer' convicted of killing two SoCal women in 1980s
LOS ANGELES - A man described by a prosecutor as a sexually motivated serial killer was convicted Thursday of murdering two women in the 1980s.
A downtown Los Angeles jury deliberated for about three hours before convicting 67-year-old Horace Van Vaultz Jr. of first-degree murder for the July 16, 1981, strangulation of Selena Keough, a 21-year-old mother who was killed in San Bernardino County and dumped under bushes in Montclair, and the June 9, 1986, asphyxiation of Mary Duggan, a 22-year-old Reseda resident whose body was found in the trunk of her car in an empty parking lot in Burbank.
The nine-man, three-woman panel also found true the special- circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder during a rape involving both women and murder during sodomy involving Keough.
Vaultz testified in his own defense and denied any involvement in the killings.
The case marked the first criminal prosecution in Los Angeles County involving investigative genetic genealogy, in which detectives access commercial DNA databases, load DNA material from the crime and find a relative's match that can point toward a suspect and collect their DNA, then- Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said at the time.
Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman told jurors in her closing argument the killings were "sexually motivated homicides" that were "committed by the same serial killer between 1981 and 1986," and she urged jurors to find Vaultz guilty of both killings.
The prosecutor said Vaultz has been "unable to explain any of the evidence tying him to the murders in this case," including DNA evidence found on or in the bodies of each of the women, who were discovered either fully or partially nude.
She cited "a ton of evidence" that points "only to the defendant."
"The defendant chose these victims," Silverman said. "The defendant is sitting here because he's a serial killer ... a sexual predator."
The deputy district attorney noted that DNA evidence -- which now links Vaultz to DNA from semen found in her mouth, vagina and anus -- was not available for testing when Vaultz was acquitted of the 1986 killing of 25-year- old Janna Rowe in Ventura County, noting that he cannot be retried for that crime but the jury can use it as "pattern evidence."
The prosecutor urged jurors to "hold him accountable" and to "tell him that his reign of terror ends now."
Vaultz's attorney, Damon Lamont Hobdy, countered that the prosecution "didn't prove it."
"If the evidence shows he's not guilty, which it does, do your duty," he told jurors, urging them to acquit Vaultz of both killings.
He acknowledged that his client -- an admitted swinger who cheated on his wives and girlfriends -- is "not perfect." But the defense attorney said that doesn't prove his client is a serial killer.
While on the stand, Vaultz told jurors he didn't remember Keough or Duggan and was not responsible for their killings or that of Rowe, whom he admitted that he knew.
"My semen means I may have had sex with the person. It doesn't mean I killed them," said Vaultz, a former Marine.
"I'm telling you I didn't kill anyone," he said, when questioned about DNA evidence.
Vaultz, by then a Bakersfield resident, was arrested in Inglewood during a November 2019 traffic stop by Burbank police in connection with the killings of Keough and Duggan.
Then-Burbank Police Department Chief Scott LaChasse credited "more contemporary technology" with helping to identify Vaultz as the suspect.
Vaultz has remained behind bars without bail since his arrest, telling jurors that he has spent the past two years and nine months "courtesy of the L.A. County jail."
After the verdict, the prosecutor said it was a "great moment to see the end of this reign of terror."
Keough's sister, Sabrina Plourde, told reporters, "I'm feeling incredibly grateful for everybody that helped us get to this point. You think for so many years nobody cares. ... They do care and they won't forget and they won't forget about the family if you're missing someone."
She said it was "heart-wrenching" to hear graphic details during the trial about what had happened to her sister, and said she holds Vaultz responsible for her mother's death at age 54 from a massive stroke five years after her sister's murder.
Burbank police Sgt. Aaron Kay lauded the initial investigators who handled the Keough and Duggan killings, saying that evidence was preserved when "DNA wasn't even a thing back in 1986, 1981" but that DNA technology "caught up" by the time he was handed the case to re-investigate it.
He said there were "two times when my heart pounded in this case" -- first when he identified Vaultz as a suspect in the killings and then when he was in court to hear the guilty verdict being read.
"It's been incredible to be able to deliver something to the victims' families," the sergeant said.
One of the jurors, Tyler Razo, said after the verdict that he considered himself fortunate to be a part of delivering the verdict knowing that the victims' families had been "waiting so many years for this moment."
"It held a lot of weight. It was really impactful," he said.
Vaultz's attorney told City News Service outside court that what happened was a "tragedy" and said his heart goes out to family members of both the victim and the defendant.
"I think Mr. Vaultz got a fair trial," Hobdy said.
Vaultz is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole, with sentencing set Sept. 19. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/sexually-motivated-serial-killer-convicted-of-killing-two-socal-women-in-1980s | 2022-08-19T20:45:59Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/sexually-motivated-serial-killer-convicted-of-killing-two-socal-women-in-1980s | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Days Gone Movie in the Works with Sam Heughan Circling the Lead Role
PlayStation Productions is adding yet another video game adaptation to its development slate. According to Deadline, the studio is turning its attention to a feature based on Days Gone, the survival horror adventure originally released in 2019. Additionally, Outlander star Sam Heughan is hoping to play the game’s protagonist, Deacon St. John.
Developed by Bend Studio, Days Gone took place in Oregon several years after a global pandemic began turning humans into ravenous zombies called Freakers. Players controlled Deacon, an ex-biker gang member who traversed the game’s open-world environment using his motorcycle. After learning that his long-lost wife, Sarah, might be alive, Deacon sets off on a quest to find her, fending off countless hordes of infected creatures along the way. Sam Witwer provided the voice and motion capture for Deacon in the game.
Sony has already hired Sheldon Turner to write the script for its Days Gone movie. Turner previously received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing Up in the Air with director Jason Reitman. He also penned the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard and contributed to the script for X-Men: First Class. Apparently, his Days Gone script is “a love ballad to motorcycle movies,” with Deadline calling it a modern-day western.
RELATED: Takashi Doscher Will Write Sony’s Ghost of Tsushima Film
Last year, game directors John Garvin and Jeff Ross confirmed that Sony rejected their pitch for a Days Gone sequel, making this latest news all the more surprising. They couldn’t reveal much due to a non-disclosure agreement. However, the original game’s lukewarm reception and lengthy development process might have been to blame.
Days Gone is only the latest PlayStation game adaptation to get the greenlight following the box office success of Sony’s Uncharted movie earlier this year. Aside from HBO’s live-action take on The Last of Us, the studio is also developing films based on Gran Turismo, Ghost of Tsushima, and Jak and Daxter. TV shows based on Twisted Metal, God of War, and Horizon are currently in the works as well.
What are you hoping to see from a Days Gone film? Do you think Heughan is a good choice to play Deacon? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: The Art of Days Gone
We are also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This affiliate advertising program also provides a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. | https://www.superherohype.com/movies/518084-days-gone-movie-in-the-works-with-sam-heughan-circling-the-lead-role | 2022-08-19T20:50:00Z | superherohype.com | control | https://www.superherohype.com/movies/518084-days-gone-movie-in-the-works-with-sam-heughan-circling-the-lead-role | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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Now that we’re in the final weeks of summer, people are looking for ways to get outside and try something new before we enter fall—and that includes Lady O.
Last weekend, Oprah enjoyed some sun and fun with Kirby Bumpus, who is Gayle King’s daughter and Oprah’s goddaughter, and Kirby’s son, Luca. The trio spent the day in Oprah’s lush garden, where they made memories and celebrated milestones, including the first time Oprah pushed a baby stroller. Oprah said it was a “first for Auntie O.”
Kirby later told Oprah Daily that their garden day also served as an opportunity for her and her husband, Virgil Miller, to introduce Luca to the importance of fresh food and being aware of how food is sourced. “We want Luca to understand and appreciate where his food comes from as he grows up,” Kirby says.
Kirby was raised in Connecticut, where she frequently got out in nature to take part in her favorite activities, like going on hikes or biking trips. Growing up, Kirby also spent time with Oprah at her Indiana farm, fishing and adventuring throughout the space.
“I have so many great memories of being active and outside as a family when I was a child, so it’s important to me to be able to create moments like that for Luca as he gets older,” Kirby tells us.
At one point during their excursion, Oprah, Kirby, and Luca stopped at a Romanesco broccoli plant. Oprah stood behind a very curious Luca to help him feel the texture of both the leaves and the veggies. The adorable moment was captured on video—watch it above.
Luca also spent a great deal of time observing the garden from the comfort of his stroller, and the Bumbleride speed stroller was up for the challenge. Kirby was introduced to the stroller through her local baby store Traveling Tikes, and learned during the garden day that it’s perfect for handling even more rugged terrain. “We had no idea it was so great for off-roading until this garden adventure, and it handled grass, dirt, mulch, and hills like a pro,” Kirby says.
Kirby also shared that Luca was thrilled watching as Oprah plucked carrots from the ground, pointed out leaves and dirt, and showed Luca what was ready to be harvested. “Luca loved it!” Kirby says. “He seemed curious while smelling the lavender, grabbing at flowers, tasting microgreens, touching and examining cauliflower, and playing with the carrots.”
Another adorable detail: The trio all sported hats that were as cute as they were protective. Kirby, who shared that she has practiced methods of sun protection from the time she was a preteen, opted to wear a Sungrubbies hat for UV protection. Sungrubbies is one of Kirby’s favorite brands because it makes hats that fit larger heads well. Luca wore a Swimzip adventure hat, which provides UPF 50+.
Kirby’s interest in sun protection products has led her to discover options that are not only effective but safe for her and Luca. She’s currently seeking “a baby-safe and mineral-based sunscreen that doesn’t turn my brown baby chalky white” so that she, Luca, and Oprah can keep having more sun-filled garden adventures.
Next time, maybe Gayle can join in on the outdoor fun. Until then, we know we’re guaranteed at least a few more adorable pictures soon. The proud grandmother—whose sweet nickname for Luca is Luca-uke-lele—Kirby, and Virgil will help little Luca mark another milestone next month: He’s turning one already! Boy, time flies when you’re cute and having fun.
Cailey Griffin (She/Her) is the Editorial Assistant to Oprah Daily’s General Manager. In addition to assisting the GM, she also writes for Oprah Daily. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Columbia University. She has interned at 60 Minutes, NBC News, and her work has appeared in Foreign Policy magazine. Outside of Oprah Daily, she can be found running around Harlem or listening to the Wicked soundtrack on repeat. | https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a40932520/oprah-kirby-bumpus-luca-miller-garden/ | 2022-08-19T20:52:02Z | oprahdaily.com | control | https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a40932520/oprah-kirby-bumpus-luca-miller-garden/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LAFAYETTE, LA- A poetry reading by Louisiana's Poet Laureate took place yesterday at the Episcopal Church of Ascension on Johnson Street.
In addition to being Louisiana's Poet Laureate, Mona Lisa Saloy is an Author & Folklorist, Educator, and Scholar.
An award-winning author of contemporary Creole culture in poems about Black New Orleans before and after Katrina, as a Folklorist, Saloy documents sidewalk songs, jump-rope rhymes, and clap-hand games to discuss the importance of play.
"The neat thing about her poetry is that she's also a folklorist and that makes her notice everyday activities, children's games, backyard barbecues, ad she writes about these things and so her poems appeal to people who don't even think they like poetry," said Ann Dobie, professor emerita of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
As a poet, Saloy's first book, Red Beans & Ricely Yours, won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award and tied for a third. She's written on the significance of the Black Beat poets, on the African American Toasting Tradition, on Black & Creole talk, on conditions and keeping Creole after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and her new book, Second Line Home, is a refreshing collection of poems that captures the day-to-day New Orleans speech, contemplates family dynamics, celebrates New Orleans, and all in a way everyday people can enjoy.
The free event was held Thursday morning, and included an introduction by former poet Laureate of Louisiana Darrell Bourque. | https://www.katc.com/community/louisianas-poet-laureate-honored-yesterday-in-lafayette | 2022-08-19T20:52:03Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/community/louisianas-poet-laureate-honored-yesterday-in-lafayette | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
One thing Game of Thrones fans can expect from House of the Dragon, which premieres on HBO on August 21, besides, well, dragons, is the sprawling landscapes and gorgeous sets the original series is known for. Throughout its eight-season run, Game of Thrones filmed largely on location in areas of Northern Ireland, Spain, Croatia, and Iceland to achieve the otherworldly landscapes of Westeros. But not all scenes could be accomplished on location, considering the height of the drama the show required. As producer Christopher Newman told Variety in 2019, they “knew that no historical city could agree for us to shoot in it with what the script would call for.”
Plot-wise, House of the Dragon is expected to dive into the Targaryens’ family history and the civil war that tore them apart. It’s possible that some sets will look familiar, as the show will take fans back to the Red Keep in King’s Landing, and the show also filmed at many of the same locations as Game of Thrones. But House of the Dragon may be able to go places Game of Thrones never did: Not only is the show already more expensive to produce at $20 million per episode, it will reportedly include 17 unique dragons.
If you're looking to book a flight soon, here are some of the striking locations where House of the Dragon was filmed.
Cáceres, Spain
Cáceres is a medieval city located in the Extremadura region of Spain. Its architecture is a mixture of Islamic, Roman, and Italian Renaissance styles that reflect the city’s history. Much of the city was used to create King’s Landing in Game of Thrones, like the Arco de la Estrella, Cuesta de la Compañía, and the Plaza de Santa María. The House of the Dragon cast was spotted filming there in October 2021.
Monsanto, Portugal
Monsanto is a small village in central Portugal that is often said to look like it rose out of the boulders surrounding it. House of the Dragon filmed at the Castle of Monsanto, a medieval castle built from local granite, much like the surrounding town.
St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall, England
St. Michael’s Mount in Cornwall is a 12th-century castle that now serves as the family home of the St. Aubyn family. According to the estate’s website, the St. Aubyn family has a 999-year lease that allows them to continue living in the castle and run the visitor business for the estate. Fans speculated the island could be used to depict Driftmark, the home of House Velaryon. Pictures taken during filming at St. Michael’s Mount showed a large stone archway that looked like it bore a seahorse, which is the House Velaryon sigil. House of the Dragon stars Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith were spotted filming in Cornwall on Holywell Beach.
La Calahorra, Granada, Spain
Located in the south of Spain in Andalucía, La Calahorra is a small municipality that boasts one of the first Italian Renaissance castles outside Italy. According to the Granada newspaper Ideal, most of the filming at La Calahorra was done at night. Explosions and flares tied to the show were also reportedly seen in the area.
Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, England
Though filming spanned much of Europe, House of the Dragon also filmed at Leavesden Studio, outside London. The Hollywood Reporter recently reported that “much of the show’s action” will take place in the Red Keep, most of which was built on set as a “united playscape of interconnected rooms and staircases, where directors can stage action that seamlessly flows from one room to another.” Leavesden Studio is the same Warner Bros-owned studio where the Harry Potter movies were filmed.
The series premiere of House of the Dragon airs on HBO and HBO Max on August 21. | https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a40771393/house-of-the-dragon-filming-locations/ | 2022-08-19T20:52:04Z | oprahdaily.com | control | https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a40771393/house-of-the-dragon-filming-locations/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Moving into a dorm room is a big deal. It's not as simple as packing your favorite luggage set and heading to class. The typical dorm room comes with nothing more than a bed, a wardrobe, a dresser, and a desk, so you have to totally set up shop.
To make the often sterile space more homey, you'll need everything your average bedroom needs: comfy sheets and pillows. You'll also need decluttering solutions to make the space feel larger than it is: closet organizers, over-the-door hangers, and a rolling utility cart for miscellaneous items. And though it may not be obvious to newbies, it's helpful to have products that can help you build a makeshift kitchen of sorts, too. Think: a microwave, a mini fridge, and even a small set of dishes and silverware. Of course, it's nice to have some decor—pictures, string lights, and more—too.
The good news: You can find everything you need at all of the most popular retailers, from online giants like Amazon to brick-and-mortar stores like Walmart, where you can check out all of the must-haves in person. Bed, Bath & Beyond—one of the most popular outlets for dorm room essentials—also stocks big checklists to minimize the chance you'll forget something important.
Ready to shop until you drop and make your new digs just as comfy as the home you grew up in? Here, the functional and decor items parents and students alike say you can't live in a dorm room without. | https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/g40929131/dorm-room-essentials/ | 2022-08-19T20:52:05Z | oprahdaily.com | control | https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/g40929131/dorm-room-essentials/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
McDonald's Chicken Big Mac was a huge hit in the United Kingdom. Now it's crossing the pond.
Beginning later this month, the burger chain is testing the fan favorite at select restaurants in Miami for a limited time. The Chicken Big Mac is similar to its meaty sibling, however it replaces the two burgers with two tempura chicken patties. Of course, it also includes the signature Big Mac sauce, pickles, shredded lettuce and a slice of American cheese.
McDonald's briefly sold the limited-time offering earlier this year in the UK. The Chicken Big Mac was so popular that it sold out about 10 days after it made its debut. The chain said that it was its "most popular launch ever" in the UK and Ireland.
In a statement, McDonald's said that it's "always looking to give our fans more ways to enjoy the classic menu items they know and love." However, it cautioned that the Chicken Big Mac is just being tested and it will use "this time to gather feedback from both customers and restaurant crew as we consider opportunities to offer more delicious options in the future."
Chicken is cheaper than beef and is a favorite among fast food eaters (see: the ongoing chicken sandwich war). Poultry is also a "priority area" for the company, according to McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski.
"Chicken continues to be a significant opportunity for us," he said in an recent earnings call. "We've got some great global equities already in our McNuggets and with McChicken, but we also have some equities in McCrispy and McSpicy that we think we've got an opportunity to do more with globally."
McDonald's said in July that sales at its US restaurants open at least 13 months jumped 3.7% in the second quarter, with growth being driven by higher menu prices and "value offerings" on its regular menu as well as through its app. | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/mcdonalds-is-bringing-a-british-hit-to-the-us/article_49c76782-f077-591b-ba73-df1ad1fbd506.html | 2022-08-19T20:52:05Z | kitv.com | control | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/mcdonalds-is-bringing-a-british-hit-to-the-us/article_49c76782-f077-591b-ba73-df1ad1fbd506.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Chances are, if you're like most people, you enjoy a little alone time—and, by the way, that's not a bad thing. In fact, research shows it can be beneficial: In addition to giving you the chance to unwind and actually rest, it can also boost creativity and productivity, and improve your overall happiness. Not to mention that it can also enhance your relationships with friends, family members, and colleagues. Just take it from Oprah, who in a 2005 “What I Know for Sure” column said, "Alone time is when I recharge and go back to my center, distancing myself from the voices of the world so I can hear my own with clarity."
Of course, though, that doesn't mean spending more time alone is effortless. You may need some new ideas for fun things to do by yourself, especially when you're bored. Which is exactly why we've compiled a list of things to do alone at home, many of which can also be done outside when the weather is good. You can try to meditate or step up your fitness routine. You can make a dent in your to-be-read pile or finally catch up on your favorite Netflix shows. You can learn a new skill, like cooking or gardening. You can even spend a night (or weekend) catching up on sleep.
The best part? Getting started is easy—because all you need is yourself.
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Fire Up a Workout App
If you aren't able to get to the gym, there are plenty of ways to shake up your workout routine from the comfort of your home. Want to practice yoga, for example? These apps can get you started.
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Try Yoga or Gentle Stretching
Maybe you're not in the mood to go for an all-out sweat sesh. No biggie! Even taking a few minutes to hit the mat for some stretching or yoga is a solid way to connect mind, body, and spirit. Yoga, in particular, is known for its many mental health benefits, boosting mood and cognitive function while reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, according to the American Psychological Association.
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Let a Celeb Read You a Bedtime Story
You don't have to be a kid to enjoy the soothing voices of Oprah, Betty White, and Chrissy Metz reading children's books. StorylineOnline’s YouTube channel features 62 different clips.
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Learn a New Language
It's never too late to pick up a new language, and there are a multitude of apps that can teach you from home. One of our favorites? Duolingo.
Have a party of one and master a new boozy beverage. With practice, you'll impress the next time you have friend over for drinks.
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Engage in Solo Karaoke
Try an app like Smule which lets you sing live karaoke with folks around the world, complete with audio effects and visual features. You can also join your friends for a "House Party" where you're all welcome to sing.
If you've been meaning to play around with that new eyeshadow palette or are trying to figure out how to style those curls, or get beach waves, YouTube is full of inspiring and simple tutorials that will keep you busy. Really feeling adventurous? Maybe film one yourself.
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Meditate
Slow down, breathe, and clear your mind with whatever form of mediation works best for you—whether you practice early in the morning before your day starts or at night. Not sure where to star? Black Girl in Om's Lauren Ash has six easy tips to help get you started.
Looking for a glossy escape? There's Bling Empire on Netflix. Or, if you haven't given the hit period drama Bridgerton a watch yet, we suggest you stop reading now and go press play.
sveeteskapes.com
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Rearrange Your Bookshelf
Whether you color-coordinate your library (a trendy option right now), organize based on genre, or spend the day creating one of these bookshelf DIYs, this will help you remember which reads are worth revisiting.
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Finally Tackle the Clutter
Channel your inner Marie Kondo and tackle any problem spot in your home that doesn't spark joy. Whether it's the garage, an over-stuffed dresser, or a messy closet, it'll feel amazing to get everything sorted, cleaned, and organized.
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Knit Something Warm and Fuzzy
According to Mental Health America, knitting not only results in some pretty comfy scarves and sweaters but can also help reduce anxiety and lower blood pressure.
Journaling can be a great way to express yourself, but what about if you have some things you wish you could share with someone in your life? Writing a letter with no intention of ever sending it is a great way to get your thoughts and feelings out without the chance of the other person ever knowing. Maybe you're missing a loved one who has since passed on, or you have some emotions you never shared with an ex-partner or friend. You could even write a letter to your past or future self—and "give" yourself the letter on a date of your choosing as a way to reflect on where you've been and how far you've come.
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Catch Up on Sleep
Indulge in the time-honored tradition of listening to a soothing story podcast and letting a nurturing voice lull you to sleep.
Though it happens everyday, it's easy to take the wonder of a beautiful sunrise (or sunset) for granted. Whenever you have the time, find the perfect perch that will allow you to take in and appreciate the colorful sight.
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Disconnect from the Tech
Close the laptop or even shut down your phone for an hour. Challenge yourself to unplug and stay away from screens for an allotted amount of time, and see what happens. Studies suggest that decreasing screen time can help your sleep improve and increase your productivity.
The Mayo Clinic recommends at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, and walking is a great way to get in that time (and some fresh air). Even if you're just walking around the block, a regular stroll will boost your mood.
Photo by Girlgaze for Getty Images: Andrea Gjestvang
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Channel Your Inner Top Chef
Whip up that recipe you've been eyeing on your Pinterest board. And once you're done? Keep it all for yourself because you earned it.
If you have an iPhone, you can explore through your podcast app; for Droid users, there are free apps like Stitcher or Overcast. And if you need some ideas, choose from our handy list of programming.
McKenzie Jean-PhilippeEditorial AssistantMcKenzie Jean-Philippe is the editorial assistant at OprahMag.com covering pop culture, TV, movies, celebrity, and lifestyle. | https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/health/g22875071/things-to-do-alone/ | 2022-08-19T20:52:06Z | oprahdaily.com | control | https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/health/g22875071/things-to-do-alone/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Our editors handpick the products that we feature. We may earn commission from the links on this page.
The 18 Best Toiletry Bags That’ll Help You Stay Organized in Style
From $10 Amazon finds to high-end luxuries.
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How do you pack your toiletries when you travel? Do you shove 'em all into a plastic baggie? Do you store them in your weekender bag willy-nilly? If you answered "yes," to either of these questions, it's time to invest in a toiletry bag. Yup, it's true: You needn't be a die-hard organization aficionado to own a stylish and functional toiletry bag. It's a wise investment that makes packing for vacation and lugging around your serums, creams, hair must-haves (and more) so much easier.
Toiletry bags run the gamut in terms of size, shape, material, and price, which means there's a fun option suited for every lifestyle, from homebodies and avid vacationers to hikers and gym-obsessives. There are waterproof mesh designs for bringing into the gym shower and ultra-chic leather options that look like they were made for royalty. That's just a tiny sampling; there are plenty more where that came from, like cotton styles decked out in pretty patterns and designer bags you'll hold on to for eternity.
To curate a comprehensive guide to the best toiletry bags on the market right now, we searched the internet far and wide, studying options from Amazon, J. Crew, L.L. Bean, and more. There are options that practically double as artwork on your vanity, as well as transparent, TSA-approved ones for the travel-conscious. Without further ado, keep scrolling to shop our 18 favorite toiletry bags ahead. | https://www.oprahdaily.com/style/g40902767/best-toiletry-bags/ | 2022-08-19T20:52:06Z | oprahdaily.com | control | https://www.oprahdaily.com/style/g40902767/best-toiletry-bags/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LAFAYETTE, LA— The United States Postal Service hosted a job fair yesterday seeking motivated employees to help deliver for America.
Accepting the position with UPS would act as the first step to a long, fulfilling career with a dynamic organization committed to delivering for the American people.
Immediate positions looking to be filled were retail and delivery. They are also looking for City Carrier Assistants that offer a salary of $18.92 per hour, Postal Support Employees at $18.96 per hour, Rural Carrier Associates at $19.06 per hour, and Mail Handler Assistants at $17.32 per hour.
The job fair lasted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lafayette Post Office on Moss St. | https://www.katc.com/community/usps-hosted-a-job-fair-in-lafayette | 2022-08-19T20:52:09Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/community/usps-hosted-a-job-fair-in-lafayette | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/man-49-in-serious-condition-after-stabbing-in-waipahu-honolulu-police-investigating/article_248d16d6-1fee-11ed-9d3f-d79d9c84a7c5.html | 2022-08-19T20:52:12Z | kitv.com | control | https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/man-49-in-serious-condition-after-stabbing-in-waipahu-honolulu-police-investigating/article_248d16d6-1fee-11ed-9d3f-d79d9c84a7c5.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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