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Nellis Airmen throw color packets in the air for a photo after a 5K color fun run put on by the 99th Force Support Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, August 19, 2022. 99FSS oversees military and civilian personnel support, education services, enlisted professional education, and family support. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Josey Blades)
This work, Nellis hosts 5K color fun run [Image 10 of 10], by A1C Josey Blades, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7379699/nellis-hosts-5k-color-fun-run | 2022-08-19T22:13:57Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7379699/nellis-hosts-5k-color-fun-run | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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August 19, 2022
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Warren Buffett boosts Big Tech bets as other billionaires dump stocks
August 16, 2022 | 11:21am
"The Oracle of Omaha" bought stocks despite mounting fears of a market crash. | https://nypost.com/tag/hedge/ | 2022-08-19T22:15:11Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/tag/hedge/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Lucasfilm Announces a New Star Wars Novel Featuring Cal Kestis
Earlier this year, Lucasfilm confirmed that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (a sequel to 2019’s Fallen Order) will hit stores next year with Cameron Monaghan reprising his role as Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis. The success of the original video game made Monaghan’s character one of the most promising new additions to the Star Wars universe. But before Survivor hits next-gen consoles in 2023, Cal will embark on another journey in the spring. Lucasfilm has announced a new Star Wars novel that takes place after Fallen Order, but before its highly-anticipated sequel.
The book is titled Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars and it was written by author Sam Maggs. Story details are slim, but it features Cal leading his allies from the first game on a new adventure. Presumably, this includes Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, Nightsister Merrin, and BD-1—which means the novel might explain why most of these characters were absent from Survivor’s first trailer, which debuted at Star Wars Celebration back in May. The trailer also showed their starship, the Mantis, crash-landing on a desert planet.
Maggs is no stranger to the sci-fi and fantasy realms. Her most recent novel, The Unstoppable Wasp: Built on Hope, was published by Marvel in 2020. Additionally, she has written comics based on Rick & Morty, Transformers, and Critical Role campaigns. Maggs has also dabbled in the video game industry, writing for titles like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Call of Duty: Vanguard. She was also involved with development of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake. It’s unclear what her role was, but she ultimately left the project after nine months.
RELATED: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Trailer Debuts At Star Wars Celebration
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Battle Scars isn’t the only Star Wars Jedi book coming our way next year. Dark Horse has also revealed plans to release The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which chronicles the upcoming sequel’s production. Gamers can expect to see the usual assortment of concept illustrations and new insights from the developers themselves.
Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars will hit bookstores on March 7, 2023. It will be followed by the release of The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on May 2, 2023.
Are you excited to check out both books next year? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order – Dark Temple
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. Also. However. Regardless. Additionally. Also. However. | https://www.superherohype.com/geek-culture/518092-lucasfilm-announces-a-new-star-wars-novel-featuring-cal-kestis | 2022-08-19T22:20:16Z | superherohype.com | control | https://www.superherohype.com/geek-culture/518092-lucasfilm-announces-a-new-star-wars-novel-featuring-cal-kestis | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Lawrence Shankland set for a Celtic Park first as Hearts try to extend unbeaten league run after European trip
The ear-piercing cacophony of noise Lawrence Shankland absorbed taking Hearts' penalty-kick against FC Zurich was probably useful preparation. He has never experienced a Celtic Park crowd and will do so for the first time on Sunday.
Shankland's only appearance at the Parkhead ground came during Covid lockdown for Dundee United. They suffered a 3-0 defeat in December 2020 in the eerie closed-doors atmosphere.
A boisterous Celtic support shouldn't overly faze him. As Zurich ultras baited, booed and whistled behind their goal on Thursday in Switzerland, Shankland was the epitome of composure holding the ball after Adrian Guerrero fouled Nathaniel Atkinson inside the penalty area.
He calmly placed it on the spot and drove it unreservedly low into the net, silencing the locals as Hearts played out a 2-1 loss in their Europa League play-off first leg.
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"I think the linesman gave the penalty eventually. The ref said 'no' at first but the linesman has obviously seen something," explained the forward. "I was just keen to grab the ball and it took a wee while. I just had to stay composed.
"The noise level lifted a fair bit because it was at the Zurich end. I was confident and managed to stay calm. I hit a good penalty and thankfully it went in. I've probably been in that situation before but probably not of that magnitude in an important game. As always, I was just delighted to see it hit the net."
Should Shankland find himself placing the ball on the spot 12 yards out in front of a baying Celtic support tomorrow, he will be slightly surprised. The Zurich penalty gives him an idea of how to deal with such a scenario in any case.
"That will be good preparation if we get one there [at Celtic]. I doubt it, right enough," he laughed. "The more practice you can get in those situations the better because then you can deal with that pressure.
"I've only played there once with Dundee United and it was during lockdown so the place was empty. We lost 3-0 in the end. I've always been in the lower leagues and then the place was empty when we went there in the Premiership. It will be good. I'm going there with a good team so hopefully we can make our mark."
A result in Glasgow's east end would help Hearts' domestic aspirations considerably. Their last win away to Celtic was almost 13 years ago.
"That's who we want to compete with and that's who were above us in the table last year," said Shankland. "The message is clear: We want to get up there and get closer to Celtic and Rangers. To do that, we need to give them a game when we go through to Glasgow."
A striker in scoring form always helps. Shankland has three goals in four competitive Hearts appearances and five in five overall since completing a transfer from the Belgian club Beerschot.
"Long may it last,” he said. “I just want to keep getting into positions and hopefully the goals keep going in. I'm playing with good players and if they can find me in good areas then great. Thursday was a penalty but I'll take them as they come.
"I felt good coming off and we all seemed to finish the game pretty strongly. Zurich had a couple of counter-attacks near the end and Craigy [Gordon] had two really good saves. I felt we were quite in control of the game at that point. That shows we have good fitness levels. We need it for Sunday and going into next Thursday."
The unforgiving nature of European football combined with domestic expectation is about to properly dawn on Hearts. They face midweek and weekend games through to next month's international break, with another frenetic period of fixtures waiting thereafter.
"We knew what we were entering into," said Shankland. "We've known from the start of the season we would be facing this situation of playing midweek and weekends. Sunday is a big game going to Celtic Park and we will be ready. The recovery has started.
"My pre-season was a bit different. When I got here, the boys were working a bit more intensely. I'm starting to feel good now. That's four games where I've played 90 minutes or close to it so I'm started to feel sharp again. It was always going to take a bit of time but I'm getting there."
Manager Robbie Neilson stressed the need for full focus on Celtic. If Hearts intend to make European competitions a yearly thing, they must maintain consistent domestic form.
"It’s a cliché but it’s the bread and butter," declared Neilson. "The league form last year got us into Europe and we need to do that again so we go to Parkhead and we need to be ready.
"We might make a couple of changes but not massive because we’ll try and win that game. Once we are through that we’ll try and focus on the home leg against Zurich next Thursday.
"We had already started preparing for Celtic. As a staff we know what we’re going to do. We’ve been there numerous times and know it’s going to be difficult.
"Our focus is totally on Celtic, we stayed overnight in Switzerland on Thursday, it’s about recovery and making sure we’re in as good a condition as possible. If you don’t bring 100 per cent then you’ll get turned over.
"Our objective this season is the same as last season. We spoke about it: 'Can we go to Glasgow and win?' It’s been a long time since we’ve done that and Sunday is an opportunity.
"There is no point in going there thinking: 'Let's put this game to bed then we can look forward to Thursday.’ We want to try and go there and win." | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/lawrence-shankland-set-for-a-celtic-park-first-as-hearts-try-to-extend-unbeaten-league-run-after-european-trip-3812146 | 2022-08-19T22:31:57Z | scotsman.com | control | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/lawrence-shankland-set-for-a-celtic-park-first-as-hearts-try-to-extend-unbeaten-league-run-after-european-trip-3812146 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Edinburgh Monarchs KO Cup dreams on a knife-edge after narrow first-leg victory
The Edinburgh Monarchs will take a slender four-point lead to the Redcar Bears as their KO Cup final hopes hang in the balance.
The Capital side edged out their opponents 47-43 in an intriguing semi-final first leg at Armadale, the all-important return fixture on Teesside in a fortnight's time.
Skipper and No.1 Sam Masters was back in the saddle for the first time since breaking his right shoulder, and dislocating his left, three weeks ago. He had the broken bone plated in Poland and, after a couple of weeks rest, was 'good to go'.
However, just to add to his woes, the 31-year-old Australian is also currently managing the pain for a broken foot. But Masters' involvement is integral to Monarchs' quest for a league and cup double.
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Indeed, it was the captain who shot out of the gate as he took the opening heat win of the night much to the delight of the home supporters. The skipper was back.
Conditions on the fourth bend was giving the riders some problems in the early stages of the meeting, Redcar's Kasper Andersen, in particular, coming to grief in heat three. The Dane was taken from the track in an ambulance and was subsequently withdrawn from the meeting.
With a place in the cup final up for grabs, riders weren't prepared to give an inch. Heat seven needed three attempts to produce a result with the air fence on the second bend also needing replaced.
Monarchs had built up an eight-point lead by the midway point before the Bears laid down a marker with their first 5-1 of the evening courtesy of Jordan Jenkins and Jason Edwards. But Monarchs returned the compliment in the very next race to restore their eight-point advantage.
Josh Pickering produced a remarkable last to first heat 11 win, but anything the 25-year-old Aussie does on the track is now of little surprise. He is simply a joy to watch on a motorbike.
Paco Castagna, who was on top form all night, won a crucial heat 14, but Monarchs were just six in front ahead of a crucial 15.
And when Lewis Kerr and guest Richard Lawson combined for a Bears 4-2, Monarchs must now bring their A-game to Redcar if they are to progress. | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/other-sport/edinburgh-monarchs-ko-cup-dreams-on-a-knife-edge-after-narrow-first-leg-victory-3813258 | 2022-08-19T22:32:03Z | scotsman.com | control | https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/other-sport/edinburgh-monarchs-ko-cup-dreams-on-a-knife-edge-after-narrow-first-leg-victory-3813258 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple disclosed serious security vulnerabilities for iPhones, iPads and Macs that could potentially allow attackers to take complete control of these devices.
Apple released two securityreports about the issue on Wednesday, although they didn’t receive wide attention outside of tech publications.
Apple’s explanation of the vulnerability means a hacker could get “full admin access” to the device. That would allow intruders to impersonate the device’s owner and subsequently run any software in their name, said Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security.
Security experts have advised users to update affected devices — the iPhone6S and later models; several models of the iPad, including the 5th generation and later, all iPad Pro models and the iPad Air 2; and Mac computers running MacOS Monterey. The flaw also affects some iPod models.
Apple did not say in the reports how, where or by whom the vulnerabilities were discovered. In all cases, it cited an anonymous researcher.
Commercial spyware companies such as Israel’s NSO Group are known for identifying and taking advantage of such flaws, exploiting them in malware that surreptitiously infects targets’ smartphones, siphons their contents and surveils the targets in real time.
NSO Group has been blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department. Its spyware is known to have been used in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America against journalists, dissidents and human rights activists.
Security researcher Will Strafach said he had seen no technical analysis of the vulnerabilities that Apple has just patched. The company has previously acknowledged similarly serious flaws and, in what Strafach estimated to be perhaps a dozen occasions, has noted that it was aware of reports that such security holes had been exploited. | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/apple-warns-of-security-flaw-for-iphones-ipads-and-macs/article_fbaef0a2-1ff4-11ed-b54a-57b4c885da56.html | 2022-08-19T22:34:02Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/apple-warns-of-security-flaw-for-iphones-ipads-and-macs/article_fbaef0a2-1ff4-11ed-b54a-57b4c885da56.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK — Friends and fellow authors spoke out on Salman Rushdie's behalf during a rally Friday on the steps of the main branch of the New York Public Library, one week after he was attacked onstage in the western part of the state and hospitalized with stab wounds.
Rushdie's condition has improved, and, according to his literary agent, he has been removed from a ventilator.
Jeffrey Eugenides, Tina Brown and Kiran Desai were among those who shared wishes for a full recovery, told stories of Rushdie as an inspiration and defender of free expression, and read passages from his books, essays and speeches, including from “The Satanic Verses,” the 1988 novel that was condemned by some Muslims as blasphemous.
Rushdie spent years in hiding after Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 edict, a fatwa, calling for his death, but had traveled freely over the past two decades.
The hourlong “Stand With Salman" gathering was presented in part by the library, by Rushdie's publisher, Penguin Random House, and by the literary and human rights organization PEN America. Hundreds were in attendance, many affiliated with PEN, of which the 75-year-old Rushdie is a former president.
“He's been a constant, indefatigable champion of words and of writers attacked for the purported crime of their work,” said the day's first speaker, PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel. “Today, we will celebrate Salman for what he has endured, but even more importantly, because of what he has engendered — the stories, characters, metaphors and images he has given to the world."
The rally did not include any new words from Rushdie, but Nossel said he was aware of the event and even made suggestions for what to read. Rushdie's son Zafar Rushdie, who has been with his father, tweeted that “it was great to see a crowd gathered” outside the library.
“Stand With Salman” took place the day after a judge in Mayville, New York, denied bail to 24-year-old Hadi Matar, who has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault. While in jail, Matar told the New York Post that he disdained Rushdie as anti-Muslim and expressed admiration for the Ayatollah.
On Friday, other readers included the author and journalist Gay Talese, author and former PEN president Andrew Solomon, and the poet, lawyer and activist Reginald Dwayne Betts. Actor Aasif Mandvi read from Rushdie’s upcoming novel, “Victory City,” which he completed before the attack and includes the passage “I myself am nothing now. All that remains is the city of words. Words are the only victors.”
Eugenides, whose novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Middlesex,” remembered traveling to London in the early 1980s. Eugenides was 20 and Rushdie's breakthrough novel “Midnight's Children” had recently been published. He knew Rushdie lived there and decided he wanted to meet him. It was years before “The Satanic Verses,” and Eugenides found his name and address in the phone book.
“I took the tube out to his house. As it turned out, Salman wasn't at home; he was in Italy, vacationing," said Eugenides, who was greeted by Rushdie's then-mother-in-law and left a note for the author.
“That was the world we used to live in," Eugenides added. | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/authors-and-friends-rally-and-read-for-salman-rushdie/article_bed9c326-2005-11ed-845c-4fff3d1bd8b7.html | 2022-08-19T22:34:08Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/authors-and-friends-rally-and-read-for-salman-rushdie/article_bed9c326-2005-11ed-845c-4fff3d1bd8b7.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON — 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. | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/buttigieg-warns-airlines-to-help-travelers-or-face-new-rules/article_68e681d0-1ff5-11ed-b718-8fc336cadde8.html | 2022-08-19T22:34:14Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/buttigieg-warns-airlines-to-help-travelers-or-face-new-rules/article_68e681d0-1ff5-11ed-b718-8fc336cadde8.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
HELENA, Mont. — Part of a human foot found in a shoe floating in a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park earlier this week is believed to be linked to the death of a person last month, park officials said Friday.
The July 31 death is being investigated but officials do not suspect foul play, park officials said in a statement. The statement did not disclose details about how the death is believed to have happened, identify the person who died or say why officials do not suspect foul play.
The shoe was recovered from the park's Abyss Pool on Tuesday after an employee spotted it, park officials said.
News of that discovery led a man from Maryland to contact the National Park Service to report that he and his family had spotted a shoe, floating sole up, in the hot spring on the morning of Aug. 11.
Chris Quinn of Pasadena, Maryland, said in an interview that he sent a photo of the shoe to the park service.
Park spokesperson Linda Veress said in an email that officials could not confirm whether the shoe that was found was the same type of shoe in Quinn's photo.
Abyss Pool, west of the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake, is 53 feet (16 meters) deep and the temperature is about 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 Celsius), park officials said.
Park visitors are warned to stay on the boardwalks and trails in thermal areas, where some of the pools and springs have a thin, breakable crust covering the scalding and sometimes acidic water.
At least 22 people are known to have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile (9,000 square kilometer) national park since 1890, park officials have said.
The most recent death happened in June 2016 when a man from Portland, Oregon, left a boardwalk in the the park's Norris Geyser Basin, slipped on gravel and fell into a boiling, acidic spring. No significant human remains were recovered.
The nation's first national park has drawn more than 4 million visitors annually in recent years, with the exception of 2020, when it was briefly closed due to the pandemic.
Historic flooding forced the closure of the entire park for part of June. The park's northern and northeastern entrances are still closed to vehicles. | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/foot-found-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-linked-to-july-death/article_db7b80a6-1ff5-11ed-8885-ef0f9a54d55b.html | 2022-08-19T22:34:20Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/foot-found-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-linked-to-july-death/article_db7b80a6-1ff5-11ed-8885-ef0f9a54d55b.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a body found floating in the lower Niagara River late Friday morning.
A boater spotted the body in the river off the shores of the Town of Porter. The U.S. Coast Guard retrieved the body and brought it to the Coast Guard station at Fort Niagara State Park.
The deceased is described as a male, unknown age and or race. If you have any information pertaining to this incident, sheriff’s officials ask that you call Investigator Hetrick at 716-438-3335. | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/mans-body-found-in-lower-niagara-river-friday/article_a602319a-1ffa-11ed-988d-67dfa0ca257e.html | 2022-08-19T22:34:26Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/mans-body-found-in-lower-niagara-river-friday/article_a602319a-1ffa-11ed-988d-67dfa0ca257e.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ALBANY — A New York state trooper should have been disciplined for getting romantically involved with one of Andrew Cuomo’s adult daughters while serving on the Democrat's security detail when he was governor, the state inspector general said in a report.
The watchdog report released Friday comes two years after the relationship — and the trooper's apparent banishment to a post near the Canadian border — became the subject of newspaper headlines.
There was public speculation at the time that Cuomo had personally ordered the trooper transferred to a post about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of the governor's mansion because he was upset about the relationship.
The report by Inspector General Lucy Lang does not address whether the governor requested the trooper's transfer.
A top aide to Cuomo told the commander of the governor's security detail about the relationship May 22, 2020, the day after the governor found out from his daughter, according to the inspector general's report.
Word of the relationship was then passed up to Kevin Bruen, who is now the superintendent of the state police but at the time was the first deputy. Bruen told a colleague at the time that the governor was “very upset.”
The trooper, Dane Pfeiffer, who got involved with Cuomo's daughter told state police that the relationship began about two months earlier and that he never physically interacted with her while on duty. He described his actions as “professional." But Bruen thought Pfeiffer was “compromised.”
“You can’t be in this position and have that kind of a relationship with one of the protectees," Bruen told the inspector general's investigators. "You might be ... at a particular assignment, and if there’s a fire in the house, you run to your beloved. Right. But that’s not your job.”
Bruen declined to formally discipline Pfeiffer for a consensual relationship but wanted him removed from the protective services unit. Pfeiffer soon afterward requested a transfer to a troop in northernmost New York. Pfeiffer told inspector general investigators he didn't actually want to go but was “voluntold” to change assignments.
“On paper I volunteered, but no, I don’t want to go up there, never want to go there again,” Pfeiffer testified.
Pfeiffer was promoted to sergeant in November and had reportedly been posted to New York City.
The inspector general's report does not conclude Cuomo did anything wrong but faulted state police for not following their own procedures after finding out about the relationship.
The inspector general concluded that Pfeiffer should have been disciplined. The report notes that regulations require officers to refrain from activities that could “interfere with the proper, impartial, and effective performance of official duties.”
In contrast, the report noted that Bruen decided to discipline Pfeiffer’s supervisor for failing to notify superiors upon learning about the relationship. The supervisor, a sergeant, chose to retire.
The troopers' union, the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said it was “shocked and appalled” by the conclusion that the trooper should have been disciplined.
The union said he had engaged in “off-duty conduct that was personal in nature and had nothing to do with his duties or responsibilities.”
State police said in an emailed statement the protective services unit was overhauled last year “and we are already working with the Inspector General to ensure the recommendations in the report are implemented.”
Cuomo resigned a year ago in a sexual harassment scandal. | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/relationship-with-cuomo-daughter-led-to-troopers-transfer/article_3ab6520c-2006-11ed-9474-576527b4db81.html | 2022-08-19T22:34:33Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/relationship-with-cuomo-daughter-led-to-troopers-transfer/article_3ab6520c-2006-11ed-9474-576527b4db81.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
When Stephen Nixon recently noticed a “beautiful” spotted lanternfly by his bag as he skateboarded in Brooklyn, he heeded the request of city officials.
He stomped on it.
“I don’t like killing things. Not many people do. I’ll catch and release cockroaches if I find them in my apartment,” Nixon said. But he said it “seems like something worse” if the insect’s population explodes.
Kill-on-sight requests in New York City and elsewhere are a part of public campaigns to fight an invasive insect now massing and feeding on plants around much of the eastern United States. Pretty with red wing markings, the spotted lanternfly is nonetheless a nuisance and a threat — the sort of insect that inspires people to post about squishing and stomping them on social media.
In cities, it swarms outside buildings and lands on pedestrians. It excretes a sticky substance called honeydew that can collect on outdoor furniture. The sap-sucking insect also poses a danger to grapes and other agricultural crops, which is raising alarms this summer in New York state wine country.
Across mid-Atlantic states, officials are asking people to help them track and slow its spread, even if they have to put their foot down.
“Be vigilant,” said Chris Logue of New York’s Department of Agriculture.
A native of Asia, the spotted lanternfly was first identified in the United States in 2014, northwest of Philadelphia. It’s likely that insect eggs came over with a load of landscaping stones. Eight years later, there are reported infestations in thirteen states, mostly on the East Coast, according to the New York State Integrated Pest Management program at Cornell University. Individual insects have been spotted in more states, with two turning up in Iowa this summer.
The insect has been able to spread so far, so fast because it is a stealthy hitchhiker. Drivers this time of year unwittingly give lifts to adults, which look like moths, perched inside trunks, on wheel wells or on bumpers.
“Check your vehicle,” warned Logue. “What you’re really after is anything that maybe is alive, that is kind of hunkered down in there and is not going to get blown off the vehicle during the trip. Really, really important.”
People also unknowingly transport spotted lanternfly eggs, which are laid later in the season. Females leave masses of 30 or more eggs on all sorts of surfaces, from tree trunks to patio furniture. Eggs laid on portable surfaces, like camping trailers and train cars, can hatch in the spring many miles away.
Spotted lanternfly fighters are doing everything from applying pesticides to cutting down trees of heaven, another invasive species that is a favored host of the spotted lanternfly. But public involvement is front and center.
In Pennsylvania, residents in quarantined counties are asked to check for the pests on dozens of items — ranging from their vehicles, to camping gear to lumber and shrubs — before heading to non-quarantined destinations.
Around the East, people are being asked to report sightings to help track the spread.
And if you see one? Show no mercy.
“Kill it! Squash it, smash it ... just get rid of it,” reads a post by Pennsylvania agricultural officials.
New York City parks officials agree, advising: “please squish and dispose.”
“Join Jersey’s Stomp Team,” read billboards in New Jersey showing a shoe about to stamp out an insect.
Heide Estes did just that after seeing a spotted lanternfly on a Sunday walk in Long Branch, New Jersey this month.
“I came back and I said to my partner, ‘You know, I saw a spotted lanternfly,’” Estes said, “and she was like, ‘Oh, I’m sure there’s more. Let’s go look.’”
There were more.
Her partner, an entomologist, put four in a plastic bottle to show co-workers on campus what they look like. They killed at least a dozen more. Many were massed on trees of heaven.
“Clearly, the whole spot was infested,” she said.
Infestations in New York state had been concentrated in the metropolitan area, but have spread close to the state’s wine-growing vineyards. Agricultural officials are concerned about the fate of vineyards in the Finger Lakes, the Hudson Valley and Long Island if infestations spread. Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday the insect could cost the state millions.
“The spotted lanternfly sucks the sap out of the vines,” said Brian Eshenaur, an expert with the Cornell pest program. “And it makes them less hardy for the winter, so vines can be lost over the growing season.”
Eshenauer said they’re more likely to spread into vineyards later in the season, when trees of heaven enter dormancy. Though vineyards around New York are already on the lookout.
At Sheldrake Point Winery in the Finger Lakes, vineyard manager David Wiemann said workers in the rows already know to be on guard.
“We’ve talked about how detrimental it would be to the vineyards,” Wiemann said. “So if they see one, they would let me know.” | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/see-it-squish-it-fighting-the-invasive-spotted-lanternfly/article_dd07b554-1ff3-11ed-8f05-0f91a73d5ecd.html | 2022-08-19T22:34:39Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/see-it-squish-it-fighting-the-invasive-spotted-lanternfly/article_dd07b554-1ff3-11ed-8f05-0f91a73d5ecd.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK — 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.lockportjournal.com/news/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees/article_4a4b281a-1ff6-11ed-afcd-072bd8f4f0b0.html | 2022-08-19T22:34:45Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees/article_4a4b281a-1ff6-11ed-afcd-072bd8f4f0b0.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
On Aug. 11, American Airlines put together a special crew on the ground and in the air for a historic flight from Texas to Arizona. Everyone involved in the flight, which went from Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix, from the pilots and flight attendants to the gate and technician crews, were Black women. American Airlines organized the flight as a tribute to Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to receive a pilot’s license, in 1921.
“She bravely broke down barriers within the world of aviation and paved the path for many to follow,” American Airlines said in an Aug. 19 press release about the historic trip.
American Airlines invited members of the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars to be passengers on the commemorative flight. This group works with students to “promote the legacy of Bessie Coleman through STEM programming” as well as introduce young people to possible careers in aviation.
Gigi Coleman, CEO and president of the organization, as well as the grandniece of the pioneering pilot, joined the contingency of students who had the chance to experience this historic event.
“I am grateful for American Airlines to give us this opportunity to highlight my great aunt’s accomplishments in the field of aviation,” Coleman said in a video posted on the airline’s YouTube Channel.
Dr. Sheila Chamberlain, the organization’s national chair, said that the flight represented everything Bessie Coleman advocated for in her life.
“Her dream has been fulfilled,” Chamberlain said in the video. “From the bottom up, African American women are doing it in the field of aviation and aerospace.”
Unfortunately, organizing such a flight still takes more work than it should, due to the scarcity of women who look like Coleman working in the skies. The airline said it is intentionally trying to boost efforts to include more women of color on the flight deck, with trips like this being used to raise awareness.
“Black women have been notably underrepresented in the aviation industry, especially as pilots, representing less than 1% in the commercial airline industry,” American Airlines said in its press release about the commemorative flight.
Crew members who participated in the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars flight said they were honored to be role models for the younger generation of Black women who are exploring their career options.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be part of the crew where we’re inspiring young girls, young girls of color, to see the various roles that these women play in every aspect to make this flight possible,” said Capt. Beth Powell, the pilot of the flight, in the YouTube clip.
Powell’s career has been impressive in its own right, as she grew up in Jamaica, finished high school at 16 years old and got her pilot’s license before she was 21. She’s been with American Airlines since 2014, starting as a first officer.
To its credit, American Airlines was on the cutting edge when it came to putting women in the cockpit. In 1973, the company became the first major U.S. carrier to hire a woman pilot, Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo. It wasn’t until 1992 that the company had its first Black woman pilot, Brenda Robinson, who also made history with the U.S. Navy.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.katc.com/all-black-female-crew-honors-pilot-bessie-coleman-flight | 2022-08-19T22:40:46Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/all-black-female-crew-honors-pilot-bessie-coleman-flight | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The disturbance we have been tracking for the last several days has been designated as potential tropical cyclone four in the Bay of Campeche.
Further development into a depression or tropical storm in the next 24-36 hrs is anticipated.
Regardless, the core of this feature will be heading towards Mexico/Texas bringing a heavy rainfall threat.
The system remains no concern for Acadiana.
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Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers | https://www.katc.com/news/disturbance-in-bay-of-campeche-now-designated-as-potential-tropical-cyclone-four | 2022-08-19T22:40:58Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/disturbance-in-bay-of-campeche-now-designated-as-potential-tropical-cyclone-four | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Authorities in Iowa say a woman whose body was found dead in a ditch was killed by her own dogs.
According to NBC affiliate KTIV, Clay County Sheriff's Office said that on Monday, the body of Mindy Kiepe was found in a ditch by a man who initially thought she'd been involved in a motorcycle accident.
The news outlet reported that the sheriff's office said the man told them he couldn't get close because several large dogs were beside her.
Authorities later pronounced Kiepe dead at the scene, KTIV reported.
The 43-year-old lived on a farm near where her body was found, the Associated Press reported
CBS affiliate KIMT reported that an autopsy conducted by the Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office on Aug. 17 ruled that multiple dog bite injuries caused Kiepe's death.
According to the news outlets, an investigation determined that Kiepe's five Great Danes caused her death.
The news outlets reported that the sheriff's office said they were later euthanized. | https://www.katc.com/news/national/officials-iowa-womans-death-caused-by-her-5-great-danes | 2022-08-19T22:41:04Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/national/officials-iowa-womans-death-caused-by-her-5-great-danes | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A fire at a munitions depot inside Russia forced the evacuation of two villages near the border with Ukraine, an official said Friday, while two civilians were reported wounded by Russian shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as both sides traded accusations about fighting near the facility in southern Ukraine.
The fire late Thursday struck the munitions storage building near the village of Timonovo in Russia's Belgorod region on Ukraine's northeastern border. About 1,100 people live in Timonovo and Soloti, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the border. No one was hurt, said Belgorod regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The fire came days after another ammunition depot exploded on the Crimean Peninsula, a Russian-occupied territory on the Black Sea that was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Last week, nine Russian warplanes were reported destroyed at an airbase on Crimea, demonstrating both the Russians' vulnerability and the Ukrainians' capacity to strike deep behind enemy lines.
Ukrainian authorities have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility. But President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alluded to Ukrainian attacks behind enemy lines after the blasts in Crimea, which Russia has blamed on "sabotage."
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in televised remarks Friday that statements from Ukrainian officials about striking facilities in Crimea mark "an escalation of the conflict openly encouraged by the United States and its NATO allies."
Ryabkov said Russian officials had warned the U.S. against such actions in phone calls with high-level members of the Biden administration, adding that "deep and open U.S. involvement" in the war in Ukraine "effectively puts the U.S. on the brink of becoming a party to the conflict."
In spite of the latest incidents, a Western official said the war is at a "near operational standstill," with neither side able to launch major offensives.
"The whole tempo of the campaign has slowed down, partly because both sides have become more conscious that this is a marathon not a sprint and that expenditure rates and conserving their munitions is important," said official said who spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to discuss intelligence matters publicly.
Later Friday, a Ukrainian official said two civilians were wounded by Russian shelling of Ukrainian communities neighboring the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the latest in a long string of such shelling accusations over the past weeks.
"A new enemy attack on the Nikopol district. Five shells fired by Russian cannon artillery flew into the residential areas of Marhanets," Valentyn Reznichenko, the regional governor, said on Telegram. Both Nikopol and Marhanets are Ukrainian-controlled towns which face the nuclear plant across the Dnieper River.
"According to preliminary reports, two people have been wounded: an 18-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man. Both are in hospital," Reznichenko added.
Kyiv and Moscow continued to accuse each other for the shelling near Europe's largest nuclear power plant.
A senior official at the Ukrainian presidential office told reporters "the threat of an environmental catastrophe on a global scale" remains due to the "periodic shelling" of the plant by the Russian army.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, said at the same briefing that Russian shelling had destroyed "more than 3,700 infrastructure objects" in the vicinity of the plant, including heating, electricity, gas and water supply facilities.
Zelenskyy also stressed the situation around the Zaporizhzhia plant in his Friday evening address.
"If Russia's radiation blackmail continues, this summer may go down in the history of various European countries as one of the most tragic of all time. Because not a single instruction at any nuclear power plant in the world provides a procedure in case a terrorist state turns a nuclear power plant into a target," he said.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in their first phone conversation since May 28 that Ukrainian shelling around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "raised the threat of a large-scale catastrophe that could lead to radioactive contamination of large territories."
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility in Ukraine's south has been controlled by Russian forces since shortly after the invasion began on Feb. 24. Ukraine has accused Russia of storing troops and weapons at the plant and using its grounds to launch strikes against Ukrainian-controlled territory. Ukrainian officials and military analysts say Moscow's forces have cynically employed the plant as a shield, knowing that the Ukrainians would be hesitant to fire back.
Russia has denied the accusations and, in turn, accused Ukrainian forces of repeatedly shelling the plant.
The French presidency said in a statement that Macron "underlined his concerns" regarding the situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant and expressed his support for the deployment of a International Atomic Energy Agency mission to the site "as soon as possible."
Putin agreed to the mission's deployment under the discussed terms, according to the French statement. The Kremlin said that "the Russian side reaffirmed its readiness to offer the necessary assistance to the agency's experts."
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-backed chief of temporary administration for the Russia-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhia region, said Friday that an IAEA mission could approach the plant from Ukrainian-held territory, a shift in Moscow's position which previously had suggested that the mission should travel to the plant from Crimea.
"I believe they may also come from the side of Ukraine," Balitsky said in televised remarks. "We can safely bring them to the plant and show where the fire is coming from and who is shooting."
Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russian envoy to international organizations in Vienna where the IAEA is based, said he believes a visit by the agency could realistically take place in early September.
___
Jill Lawless in London contributed.
___
Follow the AP's coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.katc.com/news/national/russia-ukraine-spar-over-fighting-near-nuclear-facility | 2022-08-19T22:41:10Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/national/russia-ukraine-spar-over-fighting-near-nuclear-facility | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
DELCAMBRE, L.a. — The 70th Delcambre Shrimp Festival wraps up this weekend and organizers are preparing for a record-high turnout after a pandemic-long hiatus — but they say the meaning behind the celebration is more than shell deep.
"We're basically celebrating a way of life that has been around for many years in Delcambre," festival board Vice President Jason Migues says. "Shrimpin' is a really big part of this community, has been, and still is."
And while you'll be able to find a variety of shrimp-based delicacies, you'll also come across some local live music this weekend.
KATC met up with local country music artist Dustin Sonnier, who's set to play Saturday night at the event.
"I'm just excited to be out here in Delcambre, I'm gonna be honest with you," Sonnier tells KATC. "I just love the people out here, you folks need to show up this weekend in Delcambre, it's gonna be amazing."
To find a full list of the live entertainment and everything else you need to know before you go, click here — and if you're worried about the possibility for inclement weather, don't — organizers say to bring your "Cajun Reeboks" as the good times roll rain or shine.
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Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers | https://www.katc.com/news/shrimp-festival-crew-prepares-for-weekend-fun | 2022-08-19T22:41:16Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/shrimp-festival-crew-prepares-for-weekend-fun | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Two Port Barre people have been booked on exploitation charges, accused of spending money that belongs to a man one of them was a caretaker for.
Bryan Charles Vidrine, 46, and Amanda Renee Briscoe, 40, both of Port Barre, were booked with exploitation of the infirm following an investigation that began in April.
The sheriff's office was called by a person who said they had the power of attorney for a disabled family member and noticed some $30,000 in transactions on the family member's credit card that shouldn't have been there.
The complainant identified Briscoe as the family member's caretaker for the past five years.
Deputies found out that several online transactions between July 2020 and February 2022 had been made using the disabled man's credit card, including a state hunting license application that was purchased by Vidrine in November 2021.
Detectives checked with the bank, and found that $18,000 of the funds had been credited back to the man's account, leaving $12,000 lost.
Upon questioning by detectives, Vidrine allegedly said he used Briscoe's phone to get his hunting license, and found the credit card stored on the phone. Briscoe allegedly said she had the credit card in her phone because she purchased things for him. She also said other household members had used her phone for purchases. | https://www.katc.com/news/st-landry-parish/port-barre-pair-arrested-accused-of-exploitation-of-disabled-person | 2022-08-19T22:41:23Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/st-landry-parish/port-barre-pair-arrested-accused-of-exploitation-of-disabled-person | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 2 |
Two Port Barre people have been booked on exploitation charges, accused of spending money that belongs to a man one of them was a caretaker for.
Bryan Charles Vidrine, 46, and Amanda Renee Briscoe, 40, both of Port Barre, were booked with exploitation of the infirm following an investigation that began in April.
The sheriff's office was called by a person who said they had the power of attorney for a disabled family member and noticed some $30,000 in transactions on the family member's credit card that shouldn't have been there.
The complainant identified Briscoe as the family member's caretaker for the past five years.
Deputies found out that several online transactions between July 2020 and February 2022 had been made using the disabled man's credit card, including a state hunting license application that was purchased by Vidrine in November 2021.
Detectives checked with the bank, and found that $18,000 of the funds had been credited back to the man's account, leaving $12,000 lost.
Upon questioning by detectives, Vidrine allegedly said he used Briscoe's phone to get his hunting license, and found the credit card stored on the phone. Briscoe allegedly said she had the credit card in her phone because she purchased things for him. She also said other household members had used her phone for purchases. | https://www.katc.com/news/st-landry-parish/port-barre-pair-arrested-accused-of-exploitation-of-disabled-person | 2022-08-19T22:41:23Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/st-landry-parish/port-barre-pair-arrested-accused-of-exploitation-of-disabled-person | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 2 |
DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Radiance Technologies (Radiance) has been awarded a prime contract with the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) to provide scientific and technical intelligence support services under the NOVASTAR program. The multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a shared ceiling value of $4.8B and a base period of performance of five years with one six-year option period. NOVASTAR involves research, development, sustainment, and production across all of NASIC's missions and disciplines for USAF, DoD, and national level intelligence efforts, supporting the creation, evaluation, and analysis of intelligence data on foreign developments in current and future weapon systems, subsystems, and technologies.
Bill Bailey, Chief Executive Officer at Radiance, said, "We are humbled and excited to have this opportunity to continue supporting the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base community and NASIC under NOVASTAR. This is the culmination of 20 years of hard work by a lot of Radiance employee-owners with our customer, NASIC. Over those 20 years, our goal has simply been to provide NASIC the best support possible. We are honored to continue that on NOVASTAR."
About Radiance Technologies:
Radiance Technologies is an employee-owned small business prime contractor founded in 1999. Radiance has over 1000 employee-owners across the United States serving the Department of Defense, national intelligence community and other government agencies. From concepts to capabilities, Radiance leads the way in developing customer-focused solutions in the areas of cyber security, systems engineering, prototyping and integration as well as operational and strategic intelligence including scientific and technical intelligence.
Contact:
Julia Parrish
(256) 746-6133
julia.parrish@radiancetech.com
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SOURCE Radiance Technologies | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/19/radiance-technologies-wins-novastar-contract-national-air-space-intelligence-center/ | 2022-08-19T22:42:39Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/08/19/radiance-technologies-wins-novastar-contract-national-air-space-intelligence-center/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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On Saturday, Aug. 22, Peter Savio is launching his newest opportunity for local farmers. Approximately 222-acres of farm lots at Ohana Farm Parcels will be available to local farmers at below market value.
WAHIAWA, O'ahu (KITV4) -- On Saturday, Aug. 22, Peter Savio is launching his newest opportunity for local farmers. Approximately 222-acres of farm lots at Ohana Farm Parcels will be available to local farmers at below market value.
The lots are located adjacent to Dole Plantation in Wahiawa. Zoned as AG-1 of 2,3,4, and 5 acres sites are now available for purchase at a below market price of $109,000 per acre.
Developer Savio Growth Ohana Farms LLC, an entity managed by Developer Peter Savio and Savio Realty Ltd., is offering the fee simple farm lots for sale.
Centrally located on Oahu 1/4 mile from the Dole Plantation Visitor Center, the land zoned only for agriculture use and positioned at 1,000-foot elevation, receives plenty of sun, has fertile soil and water for farming, and breath-taking views of the North Shore beaches and Haleiwa Town.
In order to farm the land, the original developer, Aloun Farms graded it, tilled it, prepared it by amending the soil and irrigated it. The land has produced fruits and vegetables for many decades which has been sold and distributed to market throughout Hawaii.
If you are interested, there is an Open House being held Saturday, Aug. 22 and Sunday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on the Haleiwa side of Dole Plantation, Kam. Highway at Paalaa Uka Road in Wahiawa.
After nearly 10-years away, this local girl is home! In November 2021, Lia started at KITV as the weekend GMH anchor and a weekday reporter. The 2011 Kamehameha Kapālama graduate worked all across the country and even overseas before finding her way home. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/newly-available-farm-lots-for-local-farmers-parcels-being-offered-at-below-market-value/article_f40ad5c8-2003-11ed-ad09-27523ebe22d7.html | 2022-08-19T22:44:26Z | kitv.com | control | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/newly-available-farm-lots-for-local-farmers-parcels-being-offered-at-below-market-value/article_f40ad5c8-2003-11ed-ad09-27523ebe22d7.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
An aerial view of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen on August 10 in Palm Beach, Florida. White House officials have privately expressed deep concern over classified material taken to Trump's home in Florida.
White House officials have privately expressed deep concern over the tranche of classified material taken to former President Donald Trump's home in Florida, including some documents that are only meant to be viewed only in secure government facilities, CNN has learned.
As more information has emerged in the days since FBI agents combed the former President's private residence, current administration officials have become increasingly concerned about what Trump took and whether that information -- some located in a basement-level storage facility at Mar-a-Lago -- could potentially put the sources and methods of the US intelligence community at risk.
"There is a deep concern," one senior administration official told CNN.
Intelligence officials have also expressed concern about what Trump might have taken, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Intelligence community representatives have had discussions with the Justice Department, congressional intelligence committees, and the National Archives in recent months about potentially missing sensitive documents, the source said.
White House officials have steadfastly maintained near-silence on the matter, insisting it is for the Justice Department to comment on the ongoing investigation. President Joe Biden hasn't been briefed on the criminal probe, officials say, and information about it has arrived at the West Wing via media reports.
Asked Wednesday whether Biden needs to be briefed on the national security implications, White House chief of staff Ron Klain insisted the President would maintain his distance.
"One reason why Joe Biden got elected President is he promised that he would stay out of meddling like his predecessor did in investigations being conducted by the Justice Department, that he would not politically interfere in the Justice Department enforcing our laws," he told CNN's Don Lemon.
Without knowing precisely what is in the material taken from Mar-a-Lago, officials have raised concerns internally about whether it could hamper the nation's spy agencies by putting at risk the ways officials gather intelligence. There have also been discussions about the potential diplomatic fallout, including whether the information found at Mar-a-Lago may cause tensions with allies.
The Justice Department removed 11 sets of classified documents from Trump's home, according to documents unsealed by a judge last week. The inventory shows that some of the materials recovered were marked as "top secret/SCI," which is one of the highest levels of classification. The matter that was retrieved by the FBI included material about French President Emmanuel Macron, which has also raised concerns inside the White House.
The French Embassy in Washington declined to say whether they'd had discussions with the White House about the material. The White House also declined to comment on internal concerns about the classified information taken to Mar-a-Lago.
Biden as president has previously raised concern about Trump's handling of sensitive information. He took the unprecedented step early in his term of cutting off Trump's access to intelligence briefings, a courtesy previously extended to all former presidents.
"What value is giving him an intelligence briefing?" Biden said in an interview with CBS News in February 2021. "What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?"
Biden aides have previously questioned whether Trump could reveal classified or sensitive information he learned during his days as president in speeches or interviews, which are often delivered off-the-cuff. | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/white-house-officials-privately-express-concern-about-classified-information-taken-to-mar-a-lago/article_ca4d1e54-ab74-526a-abb5-44f03726f815.html | 2022-08-19T22:44:32Z | kitv.com | control | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/white-house-officials-privately-express-concern-about-classified-information-taken-to-mar-a-lago/article_ca4d1e54-ab74-526a-abb5-44f03726f815.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Opponents, advocates spent $22 million on Kansas abortion vote
More than $22 million was spent on a ballot question this month regarding an amendment that would have gotten rid of abortion protections in the state's constitution, per AP.
Driving the news: Abortion rights supporters spent $11.3 million on a campaign that successfully defeated the proposed amendment, while abortion opponents backing the measure spent nearly $11.1 million, AP reported, citing finance reports.
Of note: Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg contributed $25,000 to the effort opposing the proposed amendment, AP reported. Spielberg's wife, actress Kate Capshaw, also gave another $25,000.
- Former New York City Mayor and 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg contributed $1.25 million.
- The Sixteen Thirty Fund, which finances liberal causes, gave about $1.5 million, according to AP.
The other side: Roman Catholic dioceses and the Kansas Catholic Conference contributed more than $4.3 million to efforts supporting the proposed amendment.
The big picture: It was the first time since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that U.S. voters cast ballots on abortion.
Background: On Aug. 2, Kansas voters rejected the amendment that would have added language to the state Constitution that said that "[b]ecause Kansans value both women and children, the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion."
- Republican activists forced a recount although it won't change the outcome of the vote due to the margins. | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/19/22-million-spent-kansas-abortion-bill | 2022-08-19T22:45:53Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/19/22-million-spent-kansas-abortion-bill | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
What have Sascha and Laurel learned, discovered, and laughed about in the first season of Sound Currents?
Reflect on the first 48 episodes as we start season two with a two-part retrospective.
Hosts
Sascha Groschang
Laurel Parks
Program
A Gozar Con Mi Combo
by Cachao, Ernesto Lecuona
Toomai String Quintet
Zambra Gitana
by Cachao, Ernesto Lecuona
Toomai String Quintet
Gitanerias
by Cachao, Ernesto Lecuona
Toomai String Quintet
Concerto for Orchestra - I. Intrada. Allegro maestoso
by Witold Lutoslawski
Jukka-Pekka Saraste with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Piano Quartet No. 1 - Despondency in Silence
by Amber Schnake
newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble: Christina Webster - flute, Sharra Wagner - clarinet, Kevin Clarke - percussion, Charles Dickinson - piano, Zsolt Eder - violin, Sascha Groschang - cello
Liverpool Oratorio - Movement 1
by Paul McCartney
Carl Davis with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, Choristers of Liverpool Cathedral, Jerry Hadley - tenor
Zero is the River
by the Wires
Sascha Groschang - cello, Laurel Parks - violin | https://www.kcur.org/show/sound-currents/2022-08-19/take-a-look-back-on-the-first-season-of-sound-currents | 2022-08-19T22:55:19Z | kcur.org | control | https://www.kcur.org/show/sound-currents/2022-08-19/take-a-look-back-on-the-first-season-of-sound-currents | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MIAMI (AP) — Practice ended at Florida International on a steamy Friday morning, and coach Mike MacIntyre gathered the team to go over the plan for the rest of the day.
When he was finished, there was one last order of business.
“Let’s have a prayer,” MacIntyre said. “A prayer for Luke’s family.”
Football resumed at FIU two days after 22-year-old linebacker Luke Knox — the brother of Buffalo Bills tight end Dawson Knox — died in a Miami hospital. The cause of death still has not been announced, though police have said foul play is not believed to have been involved.
MacIntyre has been close with Knox’s family for decades. He’s known David Knox, Luke Knox’s father, for more than 40 years. MacIntyre went to Brentwood Academy in Tennessee, the same prep school that many in the Knox family attended.
He coached Luke Knox at Mississippi, and MacIntyre taking over at FIU after last season is part of the reason why Knox transferred there.
MacIntyre and his team spent Thursday off the field grieving, snacking on pizza and chicken sandwiches, trying to watch a movie, telling stories about Knox, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, often hugging. On Friday, they got back to football.
“There’s no perfect formula, but you love the kids, you’re with them, you’re listening to what they say,” MacIntyre said. “And like I told every one of them, and our coaches reiterated it multiple times, everybody grieves differently. You don’t know when it’s going to hit you. So, we allowed our kids to say, ‘I want to practice, I don’t want to practice,’ and I think that they’ve you handled it the best they can.”
Most players chose to practice Friday. Some asked to be excused, instead spending time with counselors and psychologists.
Luke Knox was unresponsive Wednesday night when found in his dorm room there by a teammate, police said. Police officers administered CPR upon arrival, and county rescue personnel took over when they came to transport Knox to a nearby hospital.
MacIntyre spent hours there, hoping for a miracle. He then went to the airport to pick up Knox’s parents in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
“We’re in the process of working through this,” MacIntyre said.
He has had to deal with something similar before, at Georgia Tech in the late 1980s, when one of his teammates, tight end Chris Caudle, drowned in a boating mishap. MacIntyre said he also had been getting calls from other coaches who have lost a player.
Lane Kiffin, who coached Knox at Ole Miss, said he was thankful for having known him.
“Really neat kid,” Kiffin said. “Got to spend a lot of 1-on-1 time with him. I’m fortunate for that. Sometimes you don’t because you’ve got so many players. Just happened to with him. It’s very unfortunate. ... He impacted a lot of people. Probably more than he imagined, and you can see that from the reaction from so many people hurt.”
Some of that hurt has been turned to good.
Dawson Knox has helped raise funds for the P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative in the Buffalo area during his time with the Bills. In a span of about 24 hours following the announcement of Luke Knox’s death, the organization received more than $100,000 in donations.
Most of those donations were for exactly $16.88. The 16 signifies Luke Knox’s jersey number at FIU, the 88 signifying Dawson Knox’s number with the Bills.
Funeral arrangements have not been made public. FIU is also deciding how it wants to honor Knox throughout this season, with MacIntyre saying he would leave that primarily up to the leaders on the team.
The first of their many tributes came Friday, after the post-practice prayer. Their final chant as they broke the huddle was “1, 2, 3, Luke.”
“I thought that was very fitting,” MacIntyre said.
And when he said that, he was no longer able to hold back his tears.
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25 | https://www.wtxl.com/media/v/content/538b05cb9367fbb84a7b87b9fe113aeb | 2022-08-19T22:59:25Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/media/v/content/538b05cb9367fbb84a7b87b9fe113aeb | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji, on Friday, raised alarm over the spate of kidnapping and general insecurity in Nkanu East/West Federal Constituency of Enugu State.
The lawmaker who expressed grave concern over the kidnapping of two Law Students in the area underscored the need for President Muhammadu Buhari by ensuring the deployment of military and police force with a view to ensuring the safety of citizens’ lives and property.
Hon. Nnaji stated that the situation has grounded businesses in the area adding that even farming activities have also been affected as his constituents could no longer move freely to carry out their routine activities.
He, therefore, called for urgent intervention from the Federal Government and the heads of security agencies to arrest the ugly development from further escalation.
He specifically singled the Agbani community as the worst hit by the marauders stating that “the danger is that Agbani houses the campuses of the Nigerian Law School and the Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT) plus the Air Force School.”
The lawmaker who chairs the Aviation Committee in the House of Representatives observed that “in the last one week an average of two persons are abducted daily and just yesterday, two Law School students were kidnapped.
“My fear is that the increasing insecurity in the community might likely lead to the closure of the institutions domiciled in Agbani if the ugly trend persists.”
The kidnapping according to him has continued unchallenged by the security agencies, adding that, “the lack of responses from the police and any other security agencies have further emboldened the hoodlums and made them more daring.”
Hon. Nnaji however called for immediate deployment of a combined team of military and police forces to his Constituency to complement the Governor of Enugu State’s efforts to restore normalcy and to also avoid imminent collapse of law and order.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- ‘39.6 percent of unmarried university students use sexual performance-enhancing drugs’
- Tips on building a happy and healthy relationship
- Safety precautions to observe at the airport
- Safety tips to observe when boarding a ride from a ride-hailing app | https://tribuneonlineng.com/reps-member-seeks-presidencys-intervention-over-spate-of-kidnapping-in-enugu/ | 2022-08-19T22:59:40Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/reps-member-seeks-presidencys-intervention-over-spate-of-kidnapping-in-enugu/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(WTXL) — Week 1 of the the 2022 high school football season in Georgia begins Friday with a full slate of games along with, marquee matchups Saturday at Lowndes.
LIVE SCOREBOARD
FRIDAY
CEDAR GROVE @ BAINBRIDGE
THOMASVILLE @ BROOKS COUNTY
FREDERICA ACADEMY @ BROOKWOOD
CAIRO @ THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL
PELHAM @ COOK
NORTH MIAMI BEACH @ VALDOSTA
CLINCH COUNTY @ BERRIEN
FLINT RIVER ACADEMY @ GEORGIA CHRISTIAN
BACON COUNTY @ LANIER COUNTY
EARLY COUNTY @ MILLER COUNTY
MITCHELL COUNTY @ MONROE
SEMINOLE COUNTY @ KENDRICK
SATURDAY
DEERFIELD BEACH VS. COLQUITT COUNTY (AT LOWNDES) – 5 p.m.
AMERICAN HERITAGE VS. LOWNDES (AT LOWNDES) – 8 p.m. | https://www.wtxl.com/sports/abc27s-friday-night-overtime/abc-27s-friday-night-overtime-georgia-week-1 | 2022-08-19T22:59:49Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/sports/abc27s-friday-night-overtime/abc-27s-friday-night-overtime-georgia-week-1 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Whether the Buccaneers want to admit it or not, something strange is happening in Tampa Bay. Tom Brady has been in and out of training camp, and there’s no definite date for his return. On today’s Gold Diggers podcast, Michelle Magdziuk and I discussed whether the Bucs would trade for Jimmy Garoppolo if Tom Brady suddenly walked away.
Before you try and dismiss the idea out of hand, let’s just look at a factual timeline:
August 2, 2022: Miami Dolphins get punished for tampering violations involving Tom Brady
August 3: Tom Brady absent from training camp (also his birthday)
August 4 and 5: Brady absent from training camp for personal reasons
August 6-10: Brady practices with the team four times
August 11: Bucs announce Brady will be away from the team until after their preseason game on August 20
August 18: Todd Bowles says, “there’s no definitive date” for Tom Brady to return to the team
I’ll be the first to admit that if none of the stuff with the Dolphins had ever happened, I never would have thought to go down this road.
But it did.
We already know that Brady didn’t want to play for the Buccaneers this year. He literally retired. He was doing everything in his power, including participating in tampering violations, to get to the Miami Dolphins and be coached by Sean Payton. That isn’t speculation or conjecture. It’s a fact that has been stated by the NFL.
Now he’s taking time away from training camp in an extended fashion for the first time in his legendary career. Is it so crazy to think that he might not want to play football in Tampa anymore?
That brings us to the matter at hand. Are the Buccaneers a fit for Jimmy Garoppolo? When Bruce Arians were the head coach there, I would have said no. Arians is known for loving deep passes down the field at all costs. “No risk it, no biscuit,” as he always says. We all know that doesn’t fit Jimmy Garoppolo’s style. Now that Arians is no longer the head coach there, however, the Bucs are more likely to modify their offense - particularly without Rob Gronkowski due to retirement and Chris Godwin after ACL surgery.
Unlike other potential Garoppolo fits like Cleveland and Seattle, the Bucs don’t have the luxury of simply writing off 2022 as a rebuilding year. They’re all in. It’s one thing for the Browns and Seahawks to decide that Garoppolo isn’t worth the price. Deshaun Watson is gone for 11 games, and Seattle’s roster is in the midst of an overhaul. The Bucs are at a different point in their competitive life cycle. Their chips are already in the middle of the table, so to speak.
No one has given a definitive explanation for Brady’s absences this year. Fortunately, there were reports that they were not due to health issues within the Brady family. Tom told Howard Stern in 2020 that his wife, Gisele Bundchen, has expressed dissatisfaction with his work/life balance. If the hiatus is related to that, good for Tom Brady to walk away to work on his marriage. There have also been other unsubstantiated rumors that Brady is a contestant on Fox’s The Masked Singer. If that were the case, however, wouldn’t the Buccaneers know when he was coming back?
Until we see otherwise, there’s certainly enough reason to believe that Tom Brady might not be back with the Buccaneers this season. If that’s the case, they absolutely need a better quarterback than Kyle Trask or Blaine Gabbert if they want to compete for a Super Bowl. The 49ers are one of the few teams in a position to be able to provide that at this point in the calendar. While one Bucs coach might not love the idea, a coach is not the GM, and the situation may be a lot different than it was on July 8.
As unbelievable as it would be to see Jimmy Garoppolo succeed Tom Brady for a second time, we can’t rule it out just yet.
Other topics in today’s show
- Why the Bucs need Jimmy Garoppolo (5:26)
- How the 49ers could stick it to Jimmy G. if they wanted to (11:14)
- Michelle’s 49ers trivia questions (13:51)
- Fred Warner pisses off the Vikings (21:09)
- How serious is Jimmie Ward’s injury (25:52)
- Michelle’s home made over/unders
- Trey Lance over 4,000 pass yards (32:09)
- Deebo Samuel over 1,200 receiving yards (34:31)
- Brandon Aiyuk over 1,000 receiving yards (35:40)
- Elijah Mitchell over 1,200 yards from scrimmage (36:41)
- Nick Bosa over 16 sacks (37:53)
- Who has the second most sacks this year? (39:06) | https://www.ninersnation.com/2022/8/19/23313471/gold-diggers-are-the-buccaneers-a-legit-trade-partner-for-jimmy-garoppolo | 2022-08-19T23:03:14Z | ninersnation.com | control | https://www.ninersnation.com/2022/8/19/23313471/gold-diggers-are-the-buccaneers-a-legit-trade-partner-for-jimmy-garoppolo | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Grand JiVante CEO, Korey DeBerg, and his assistant, Deb Spieker, check out the progress on the patio as they prepared for Friday’s opening of the new patio at Beans on Butler.
Tonight marks a milestone that has been in the works at Beans on Butler for the past three years. Korey DeBerg, CEO of the organization, has long wanted a way for residents and their families to enjoy the experience of an evening out without actually having to leave the facility.
Over the summer, construction on a new patio just outside Beans on Butler was undertaken. Completed just days ago, it makes DeBergs plans a reality. As construction began, so did the process of what the evenings would look like for not only the residents, but for the entire community. The final construction process, planting of flower beds and landscaping, was finished just days before the first Evening Out.
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Park Fest 2022 is over, with only memories of the fun remaining. The annual event held Aug. 12 through 14 was a huge success with numbers of those taking part in the festivities up from last year.
Final financials for the event have not yet been determined, though funding is slated to be used toward the new shelter house in the Back Forty.
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Georgia and Georgina Arevalo have been working on the building at 631 Main for nearly a year. They hope to have the doors open to the restaurant next summer. It will include a shop inside which will offer a variety of art and other merchandise straight from Mexico.
For Georgia Arevalo and her mother, Georgina Arevalo, it’s been a long time coming. And realistically, their work on the building at 631 Main will continue for some time before they can open the Mexican restaurant they’ve been dreaming of. Georgia has high hopes of opening next summer.
Georgia owned and operated a similar and very successful restaurant in Waverly which she closed as the property was put up for sale. She came across the Ackley property on social media, deciding the community would be a great place to call home and continue on her dream.
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WELLSBURG-Leon Duane Boelts, 65, of Wellsburg, died Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, at his home in Wellsburg from natural causes. Funeral services were on Monday, Aug. 22, at the Parkersburg United Methodist Church in Parkersburg with burial at Oak Hill Cemetery, in New Hartford. Memorials may be directed to family. Redman Funeral & Cremation Services in Parkersburg is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.redmanfuneral.com.
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We’re glad Gov. Kathy Hochul was shamed into ordering the arrest of Bui Van Phu on Friday, but even with three editions a day we don’t have enough front pages to highlight every outrageous, instantaneous release of a violent alleged perp thanks to the no-bail law and other criminal-justice “reforms” that she now fully owns.
Yes, it was insane of Bronx DA Darcel Clark’s office to reduce the charges against the convicted sex offender and alleged sucker-puncher who put an innocent man in a coma this week, which led the judge to grant the perp supervised release Thursday.
Thanks to Hochul’s action, now he won’t be able to notch up another assault before trial. But this is just one high-profile case, with New Yorkers lucky that the gov is desperate to shore up her crime cred before the November election. The real issue is that such releases are now typical, all across the state.
And, just for one example, Hochul has no similar way to intervene in all the violent under-18s let loose (with juice and cookies!) under the Raise the Age law.
Consider: Despite video evidence damning Phu, his reported confession to a parole officer and the violent and unprovoked nature of the crime, the DA’s office still lowered the charges from attempted murder to assault and harassment.
That might be defensible — if prosecutors had found a lesser charge that was still bail-eligible, rather than two misdemeanors that aren’t under the disastrous “reforms” that Hochul pretends she’s already fixed.
She insists the remaining issue is only that judges are “confused” about the laws; not in this case, gov, nor in all too many others. Anyway, why not pass a law making it unmistakable that prosecutors and courts should aim to lock up clearly dangerous perps?
Instead, Phu — already on parole after serving time for sex abuse — was let out to walk the streets. This, when major crimes in New York City through Sunday are up 36.1% compared to last year and other cities have it even worse. The inability of judges to even consider dangerousness when it comes to remanding suspects has created a perpetual, vicious cycle of violent perps getting nabbed and let out to do more mayhem.
Who’s to blame? Ultimately the same state leader who snatched up Phu in embarrassment: Kathy Hochul. Instead to going to the mat with the Legislature to fix those disastrous reforms, she signed off with much fanfare on empty tweaks. And though she has the power to boot un-prosecutors like Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, she won’t.
That leaves New Yorkers on their own, to defend themselves. Queens lawyer James Galleshaw vanquished the psycho (with a possible July bust for disorderly conduct on his rap sheet) who attacked him. But civilians shouldn’t have to fight like vigilantes to feel safe. And it’s too late for Jesus Cortes, Phu’s alleged victim, in his hospital bed.
Hochul’s overall cowardice on the issue makes the clearest case why New Yorkers should vote for her GOP opponent Lee Zeldin in November. | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/gov-hochul-ordered-arrest-of-bui-van-phu/ | 2022-08-19T23:15:02Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/gov-hochul-ordered-arrest-of-bui-van-phu/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Are you looking for something to do over the weekend? We've got you covered. Here's a list of five things you could do today, Saturday and Sunday in Hardin County. And if you're looking for more area fun, check out our online calendar. Be sure to enjoy the Iowa River Greenbelt.
Check out some history in Eldora
An open house will be held from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21 featuring dresses from 1870 to 1970 at the Historical House/Museum located at 1601 Washington St. in Eldora. One such dress is a wedding dress that is completely hand-stitched, even the long row of covered buttons were made by hand. The Society is also celebrating 50 years as an organization.
Head to Wellsburg for the Farm Fresh Market
Wellsburg's Farm Fresh Market will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on North Adams Street on Saturday morning. Baked goods, produce, plants and other vendors are planned. New vendors are welcome as well.
Head to the Boat Club for kayaking and games
The Scenic City Empress Boat Club will host its Summer End Event on Saturday from 4 - 7 p.m. The event is open to the public and family friendly. There will be a short kayak trip from Weaver Cove to the Boat Club from 4-5 p.m. A limited number of kayaks will be available (you're welcome to bring your own) and the price is a freewill donation for "grilled goodies" at the boat club. The donations will go toward holding more family events. Yard games and music will take place as well. If you'd like to call to reserve a space and kayaks, please call the boat club at 641-648-9517.
Get your kids signed up for fall sports
Fall is almost here and that means youth sports via the Iowa Falls Parks and Rec Department. There are multiple programs available and they must be signed up for at City Hall, which is open from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday - Friday. Programs include:
- Flag football for kids in 3rd - 5th grades with an Aug. 26 registration deadline.
- Flag football instructional for second graders with an Aug. 26 registration deadline.
- Volleyball for 3rd-6th graders with a Sept. 2 registration deadline.
Stop by the Times Citizen office or City Hall to get a brochure with the full list and description of all the fall and winter activities.
Show at the Rock-n-Row
A free show will be provided tonight at the Rock-n-row featuring DJ Fisher at 7 p.m. in Eldora. Please bring your own lawn chair and bringing your own alcohol is allowed. Sondra's concession will be open. No glass bottles or pets. | http://www.timescitizen.com/kifg/get-out-in-the-greenbelt-this-weekend/article_b0be8b20-1f04-11ed-87b8-37b8cbb13a22.html | 2022-08-19T23:15:07Z | timescitizen.com | control | http://www.timescitizen.com/kifg/get-out-in-the-greenbelt-this-weekend/article_b0be8b20-1f04-11ed-87b8-37b8cbb13a22.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
This year may mark the final year of the Barlow Family Foundation Community Challenge (BFFCC) fundraising event, but the participants are excited to fundraise.
The Barlow Challenge, entering its tenth year is part of the Barlow Family Foundation which is the philanthropic arm of Iowa Falls State Bank, asks for applications to enter from non-profit organizations. When chosen those organizations solicit donations between $25 and $100 that are then matched up to the organization's goal. Six organizations entered last year raising a total of more than $148,000.
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The Print Shop Boys gather to discuss their progress during a short break from their work. They include (left to right) Dave Seat, Ron Hylton, Tim Fay, Jay Endress and Mike Herbert. This is the second time they have gathered at the Ackley location.
A reunion of sorts took place last week in Printers Alley in Ackley. It included a small group of men who gathered for the second year at the shop which houses the extensive collection of letterpresses once owned by former Ackley mayor and printer, Jim Daggs.
Daggs passed in October of 2020. Like others in the letterpress community, Jay Endress of Peru, Ill. Knew of Daggs and his massive collection of presses. A year after Daggs’ death, his beloved collection of letterpresses was acquired by Endress.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
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accounts, the history behind an article. | http://www.timescitizen.com/news/the-print-shop-boys/article_2bb7722a-1fc2-11ed-a405-7b1e8c1fdf91.html | 2022-08-19T23:15:20Z | timescitizen.com | control | http://www.timescitizen.com/news/the-print-shop-boys/article_2bb7722a-1fc2-11ed-a405-7b1e8c1fdf91.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Leda Mae Ibeling, 82, of Ackley, passed away at her home on Saturday Aug. 13, 2022, in the care of Hospice and her family. Dale Dean Ibeling, 90, passed away at Eldora Specialty Care on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, in the care of hospice. Iowa Cremation is caring for Leda, Dale and their family.
Leda Mae Coordes was born to Elmer and Letha (Van Eschen) Coordes Sept. 11, 1939. Leda graduated from Ackley High School in 1957 and then worked for the Ackley Reminder and many other side jobs in the Ackley community. | http://www.timescitizen.com/obituaries/ibeling-leda-sept-11-1939-aug-13-2022-ibeling-dale-sept-20-1931-aug-18/article_6603f01a-1f23-11ed-b103-ab238d4b0d90.html | 2022-08-19T23:15:26Z | timescitizen.com | control | http://www.timescitizen.com/obituaries/ibeling-leda-sept-11-1939-aug-13-2022-ibeling-dale-sept-20-1931-aug-18/article_6603f01a-1f23-11ed-b103-ab238d4b0d90.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Observations from Jets practice on Friday:
The good
Rookie RB Breece Hall exploded through the Falcons defense and delivered a nice move on the way to a 75-yard touchdown in Friday’s joint practice. The Jets have called Hall a “home run hitter” and he showed it.
The bad
DE Bradlee Anae was throwing punches at the Falcons during a brief fight in practice. The session between the Jets defense and Falcons offense was stopped and the coaches spoke to their teams before practice resumed.
Caught my eye
The Jets offensive line did a nice job on Friday. They opened some big holes in the running game and did a good job protecting QB Joe Flacco. LT Duane Brown still is not participating in 11-on-11 drills so Chuma Edoga was at that spot for most of practice.
Medical report
DE Vinny Curry left practice with what coach Robert Saleh said he believes was a hamstring injury. Curry recently returned to practice after dealing with a hamstring problem. … DE Bryce Huff (oblique), DT Quinnen Williams (ankle) and S Lamarcus Joyner (illness) did not practice. … CB Brandin Echols returned to practice. | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/jets-rookie-breece-hall-showcases-home-run-capability/ | 2022-08-19T23:15:33Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/jets-rookie-breece-hall-showcases-home-run-capability/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The boys of Massapequa Coast have become the pride and joy of Long Island, and are set to kick off their quest to capture the Little League World Series title against the heavily favored 2018 championship team from Honolulu.
live
The boys of Massapequa Coast have become the pride and joy of Long Island, and are set to kick off their quest to capture the Little League World Series title against the heavily favored 2018 championship team from Honolulu.
Share Selection | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/massapequa-coast-honolulu-llws-live-updates-and-scores/ | 2022-08-19T23:16:03Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/massapequa-coast-honolulu-llws-live-updates-and-scores/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has lifted its restriction that banned more than 3,200 donors who have traveled or lived in Europe from donating blood.
It's all part of a long-standing policy that's been in place since 1999.
The FDA lifted that policy this week, and now, those who were donating blood have a second chance to give back.
The policy was put in place more than 20 years ago, because of concerns over 'Mad Cow' Disease.
It's sickness usually spread from cows to humans through contaminated meat.
President and CEO of Blood Assurance, J.B. Gaskins says while that was a concern then, there wasn't enough evidence to support that claim now.
"There was never a case of a transmitted transfusion in the United States and there were only 4 in the u.k," said Gaskins.
Since the was lifted this week, Blood Assurance wants the community to know, now is the time to come in.
"It's impacted over 3,200 donors that have been deferred over those years from our blood center alone," he explained.
They hope to see numbers go up from when they started to see numbers drop back in 2014.
'I can't tell you the thousands of people
<SOT 6 (:09) "I can't tell you the thousands of people I've interacted with over the years that know that they aren't able to donate they don't even try.">
ACCORDING TO GASKINS, THE DEMOGRAPHIC THAT SEEMS TO DONATE THE LEAST ARE YOUNGER AGE GROUPS...HE SAYS MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE.
<SOT 9: mostly the age demographic that continues to show a rise in donations is 50 and above.":7>
BLOOD ASSURANCE SAYS ABOUT 400 UNITS OF BLOOD...AND MORE THAN 175- PLATELETS PRODUCTS IS NEEDED TO MEET THE CITY'S NEED.
HOWEVER, THINGS LIKE CORONORA VIRUS, HAS IMPACTED NUMBERS ALOT...
<SOT 7 (:06) "as you can see behind me, the chairs are pretty bare in our location downtown. >
{*butted with*}
{***TAKE SOT***}
< SOT 8 "this place should be filled with people especially with this news.":07>
HE SAYS NOW THAT THE FDA HAS REVERSED THIS POLICY...THE BLOOD BANK COULD SEE A RISE IN DONATIONS.
<SOT 10: we have the means to do it…we just need the donors to step and see that its there social responsibility to help those in need." :11> | https://www.local3news.com/germyah-is-still-working-on-web-copy/article_54683d6e-2006-11ed-8830-b320d701ac78.html | 2022-08-19T23:16:04Z | local3news.com | control | https://www.local3news.com/germyah-is-still-working-on-web-copy/article_54683d6e-2006-11ed-8830-b320d701ac78.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The increase in pits suddenly opening in city streets is tied to the fate of the Earth.
Borough sidewalks are rupturing at record rates, and elected leaders say there’s not a ton to be done — as the problem is far larger than New York.
“The issue right now is we don’t know exactly what we would do with more money that would systematically reduce the likelihood of sinkholes,” Rohit Aggarwala, NYC’s chief climate officer and the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, said at a City Council meeting this Tuesday, referring to the recent uptick in gaping voids appearing where cement was moments earlier (also known as a sinkhole) and its connection to global warming, Crain’s reported. “If something is random, you could fix whatever you want and it may not have any impact.”
This past fiscal year saw a 38% rise in sinkhole sightings to a total of 3,920. Among other factors, including infrastructure issues, climate change is significantly to blame, Aggarwala said at the meeting.
Virtually all pavement cave-ins are a result of water leaks, with 45% due to city water mains and sewers, and 23% officially “undetermined,” but generally a result of natural drainage, the Department of Environmental Protection told Crain’s. Inconsistent sewer infrastructure across boroughs in addition to the uncontrollable forces of nature make predicting where the next collapse is going to be more or less impossible.
“We just can’t pinpoint that this location is more vulnerable to a cave-in than another location,” Department of Transportation assistant commissioner for highway inspection and quality assurance Vincent Maniscalco told the publication. “We’ve seen brand-new streets develop cave-ins and older streets that have none at all.”
Thus, New York is unfortunately in a “defensive position versus a proactive position,” vice president of energy and environment for the Regional Plan Association Robert Freudenberg said. “I think what’s playing out is how the climate crisis is hitting the city in ways that we might not have even considered.” | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/nycs-sinkhole-surge-due-to-climate-crisis-dep-commissioner/ | 2022-08-19T23:16:15Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/nycs-sinkhole-surge-due-to-climate-crisis-dep-commissioner/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A Maryland couple has sued a local real estate appraiser and an online mortgage loan provider, alleging that the housing appraisal they received was unfairly low due to their race, in violation of the Fair Housing Act, after a second appraisal returned a result nearly $300,000 higher.
Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott filed suit against 20/20 Valuations LLC, its owner Shane Lanham, and loanDepot.com on Monday, alleging the defendants 20/20 Valuations LLC and its owner "discriminated against Plaintiffs by dramatically undervaluing their home in an appraisal because of Plaintiffs' race and their home's location adjacent to a Black census block, notwithstanding that it is also located within Homeland, an affluent, mostly white neighborhood," and loanDepot.com discriminated against them by relying on that appraisal in denying their refinance loan.
According to the complaint, Connolly and Mott are Black professors at Johns Hopkins University who applied to loanDepot.com to refinance the mortgage on their four-bedroom home in Homeland, Maryland, a predominantly White Baltimore neighborhood.
Lanham's company, 20/20 Valuations, performed the appraisal for loanDepot and returned a valuation that was more than $75,000 below the conservative estimate of valuation which loanDepot had given the couple, according to the lawsuit. LoanDepot denied the couple the mortgage refinance because of the low valuation, according to the complaint.
"Plaintiffs were shocked at the appraisal and recognized that the low valuation was because of racial discrimination. They told this to their loanDepot loan officer and challenged the appraisal in a detailed letter," the suit reads.
Gabriel Diaz, an attorney for the couple, told CNN the lawsuit represents his clients' point of view.
Connolly and Mott later re-applied with another lender, and "whitewashed" their home, according to the lawsuit. This included removing photos of their Black family from the home, and having a White colleague present the property to the appraiser. The suit claims this valuation came back at $750,000, more than a quarter of a million dollars higher than 20/20 Valuations' appraisal of $472,000.
According to the lawsuit, Lanham allegedly used an appraisal method where he compared the couple's home to properties in a majority-Black local area, instead of the rest of Homeland.
"Defendant Lanham's decision to geographically limit the area from which he selected comparable sales reflected his belief that, because of their race, Dr. Connolly and Dr. Mott did not belong in Homeland, an attractive and predominantly white neighborhood, and that a home with Black homeowners located adjacent to a predominantly Black area is worth less than if it were in the whiter areas that he deemed 'the heart' of Homeland," the lawsuit alleges.
CNN has reached out to Lanham for comment.
Jonathan Fine, VP of Public Relations with loanDepot told CNN the company "strongly" opposes housing discrimination.
"While appraisals are performed independently by outside expert appraisal firms, all participants in the home finance process must work to find ways to contribute to eradicating bias," Fine said.
The couple allege that Lanham's "dramatically lower valuation reflected his beliefs that a Black family did not genuinely belong in Homeland and could not be the owners of a higher valued home."
"Lanham violated professional standards to devalue Plaintiffs' home because of these racist beliefs. Defendant loanDepot relied on Lanham's appraisal despite being informed that it was infected by discrimination and stopped answering or returning Plaintiffs calls once they challenged the appraisal on that basis," the suit states.
The couple is seeking damages and relief from Lanham, 20/20 Valuations LLC, and loanDepot for violations of the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and Maryland Fair Housing Laws, according to the complaint.
The couple's lawsuit is the latest example of the difficulties and discrimination some Black homeowners say they face.
Last year, a Black California couple filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco, arguing that racial discrimination played a role in the low valuation of their home.
Tenisha Tate-Austin and her husband became suspicious when the Northern California home they spent years renovating was valued by an appraiser far lower than they expected. When they asked for a second opinion, a White friend pretended to own their home and they removed all artwork and photos that could show that it belonged to a Black family. The new appraisal for their home in Marin County was more than $1.4 million and nearly half a million dollars higher than the previous estimate, they told CNN at the time. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in the case, which is still pending.
And in Indiana last year, when Carlette Duffy concealed that she was Black, she told CNN her home's appraised value more than doubled.
Home appraisals fall within the scope of fair housing and fair lending laws. More than 50 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, the racial homeownership gap is wider than ever. In 2021, for example, the Black homeownership rate was 44% while the White homeownership rate reached 74% according to the Census Bureau.
Homeownership is the primary contributor to multi-generational wealth building for Black and Brown households, according to research highlighted in a report from the National Association of Realtors (NARS).
But bias in home valuations limits the ability of Black and Brown families to see equitable financial returns associated with homeownership, the NARS report said.
"The goal with the lawsuit is to get a measure of justice for [Connolly and Mott] and what they experienced in the form of monetary compensation, but I think relatedly there is the question of education," Diaz told CNN.
"I think that this is an issue that is not properly understood, not widely understood. Hopefully, the case will allow people to understand and appreciate and also change the anger so that this doesn't happen to people going forward," Diaz said.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/black-couple-sues-after-they-say-home-valuation-rises-nearly-300-000-when-shown-by/article_b2b8e47b-1e82-51f0-b6ac-310a71cf8d46.html | 2022-08-19T23:16:22Z | local3news.com | control | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/black-couple-sues-after-they-say-home-valuation-rises-nearly-300-000-when-shown-by/article_b2b8e47b-1e82-51f0-b6ac-310a71cf8d46.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Starting August 22, 2022, unvaccinated travelers will be able to visit Bermuda again, as the island is easing the entry requirements. The local health minister revealed a series of adjustments that will make it easier for tourists to come to the beautiful island.
While good news for cruisers, neither Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or Norwegian Cruise Line have reacted so far. However, the cruise lines are expected to follow the protocols set out by the Bermuda government, especially since they align closely with what the cruise industry has been implementing recently.
Bermuda to Allow Unvaccinated Visitors Back on the Island
Following announcements by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that it would let go of the voluntary program for cruise ships, the Bermuda government is updating its COVID-19 protocols.
“The pandemic is not over, but today, Bermuda has the necessary tools and processes in place to protect ourselves and our communities,” said BTA Interim CEO Tracy Berkeley. “Our updated travel protocols will streamline the process for visiting our island, further boosting Bermuda’s tourism comeback in 2022.”
Starting August 22, 2022, all visitors will be able to visit the island again, although visitors are still bound to testing requirements. Previously, unvaccinated visitors 12 years and over were required to apply for a medical exemption from vaccination to enter Bermuda at least ten days before arrival to the island.
The new protocols include that unvaccinated cruise passengers require a COVID test taken no more than two days before departing the port. Depending on the time it takes to travel to Bermuda, they may need to test again before disembarking in Bermuda.
This is familiar territory for the cruise lines as Bermuda already requires additional testing for vaccinated travelers when the journey to Bermuda is longer than four days.
Unvaccinated visitors must have valid travel health insurance to enter Bermuda and upload proof of travel health insurance to their Travel Authorisation application for approval.
Cruise Line Yet To Make Changes
The announcement from the government and the newly announced protocols align closely with how the cruise lines operate, although the cruise companies have not yet announced any changes to their protocols.
Carnival Cruise Line brand Ambassador John Heald had the following to say: “The beards continue to work through this and to update our Have Fun Be Safe protocols and I will of course share that news with you too. So thank you for your patience, and your Bermuda cruise adventure is going to be absolutely fabulous”
As for Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, both companies have not yet updated their requirements on their websites. Both companies still state that unvaccinated guests will not be allowed to disembark. However, this is likely to be changed in the upcoming days, and guests will be informed as soon as changes are made.
Carnival Cruise Line sails to Bermuda with the Carnival Legend from Baltimore, Maryland, and with the Carnival Magic from New York City. Royal Caribbean operates six-night Bermuda cruises with the Enchantment Of The Seas out of Baltimore.
Sailing from Boston, Massachusetts, Norwegian Pearl operates seven-night Bermuda cruises. From New York City, Norwegian Joy sails nine-night Bermuda cruises. Besides Bermuda, these longer cruises also call to Norfolk, Virginia; Port Canaveral, Florida; Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas; and Kings Wharf, Bermuda. | https://www.cruisehive.com/bermuda-updates-protocols-eases-requirements-for-visitors/79407 | 2022-08-19T23:16:44Z | cruisehive.com | control | https://www.cruisehive.com/bermuda-updates-protocols-eases-requirements-for-visitors/79407 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
QUEEN ANNE'S -- An automated lane closure system, or ALCS, will be up and running at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge by this fall. The system will aim to alleviate traffic issues by alerting driving to lane closures farther ahead of the bridge. It will include several new features that will make the trip safer for both drivers and construction workers. Will Pines, executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, provided WBOC with a statement on the project.
"The system will transition MDTA from the manual barrel and cone process for our seven different lane closure scenarios, including two-way operations, to an automated process," said Pines.
The automated process will include 46 horizontal swinging gates, illuminated pavement markers, and overhead lane-use signals. The overhead signals will begin 2.5 miles ahead of the bridge on the Western Shore, and 1.5 miles ahead of the bridge on the Eastern Shore. A few drivers we spoke with are glad additional measures are being taken to help with traffic issues.
"It's a very good idea," said Sandy Stellmann.
Milton DeVaughn agrees.
"Yes that should help with traffic, if people are paying attention," said DeVaughn. "It should make it easy both ways if people really pay attention and look at the signs and indications before they get to their main lane."
However, Sandy's son, Rob Patterson, is a bit more skeptical about this plan actually working.
"I mean it sounds like it might be helpful, you don't know until they do it, but it seems like it's worth a try," said Patterson.
Robs skepticism will be answered when the ALCS is fully up and running this fall. | https://www.wboc.com/news/automated-lane-closure-system-for-the-bay-bridge/article_d079ad3c-200d-11ed-a0b6-5b6ab2f1ce75.html | 2022-08-19T23:16:46Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/automated-lane-closure-system-for-the-bay-bridge/article_d079ad3c-200d-11ed-a0b6-5b6ab2f1ce75.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
After a whirlwind past few weeks, the end of the midterm primary season is in sight.
Over the next four weeks, the remaining seven states on the calendar will complete their primary elections, locking in the Senate, House and gubernatorial landscape for the fall. (Louisiana, which uses a majority-vote system where all candidates, regardless of party, appear on the same ballot in November, is the unique exception.)
Here's an overview of the most important primary races left to be decided, roughly 80 days out from the general election.
August 23
Much of the attention next Tuesday will be on Florida, a once-perennial swing state that has trended in the GOP's direction over the past decade. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is already eyeing the 2024 presidential campaign, must first win re-election this fall. The leading Democratic candidates to take him on are Rep. Charlie Crist and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. Democrats are also expected to officially nominate Rep. Val Demings in the race against GOP Sen. Marco Rubio.
Democrats' intraparty tensions will be on display in New York, where the redistricting process has left some House incumbents in vulnerable positions. Longtime Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler will square off against each other in the state's newly drawn 12th District. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who chairs the Democrats' House campaign arm, is facing a progressive challenger backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in the 17th District, which had been represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones under the old map. Jones is now instead running in the new 10th District, but faces a tough race against a large field that includes Dan Goldman, who was one of the House's impeachment lawyers in Donald Trump's first impeachment hearing.
Ruby red Oklahoma is also holding their primary runoff elections on this day, most notably to decide the Republican nominee for the special election to fill the seat Sen. Jim Inhofe will vacate in January. The winner of the contest between Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon will be a heavy favorite in November.
September 6
Massachusetts has the Tuesday after Labor Day all to itself. With Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, one of the most popular governors in the country, declining to run for reelection, Democrats are confident they can take back the seat in the deep blue state.
State Attorney General Maura Healey has a clear path to the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, while Republicans are deciding between former state Rep. Geoff Diehl and businessman Chris Doughty.
September 13
The final piece of the Senate puzzle will fall into place on the last primary day of the year in New Hampshire. Retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, state Senate President Chuck Morse, former Londonderry Town Manager Kevin Smith and cryptocurrency investor Bruce Fenton are among the Republicans vying to face Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. Last month, CNN ranked Hassan's seat as the sixth most likely to flip party control in November.
After declining to run for Senate himself, GOP Gov. Chris Sununu is running for reelection instead. State Sen. Tom Sherman is expected to win the Democratic nomination.
Delaware and Rhode Island will also hold their primaries on this day.
The Point: In less than a month, the full midterm election playing field will come into view and the sprint to November will truly pick up pace.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/the-key-races-left-on-the-2022-primary-calendar/article_12a094a1-af8b-5bae-bcfd-cdc07342fd55.html | 2022-08-19T23:16:46Z | local3news.com | control | https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/the-key-races-left-on-the-2022-primary-calendar/article_12a094a1-af8b-5bae-bcfd-cdc07342fd55.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, provided a glimpse into the build process and an update on Carnival Cruise Line’s third Excel-class cruise ship, Carnival Jubilee.
The shipyard uses a process called the block construction method, where the vessel is put together using different blocks of steel. These form huge parts of the vessel, including the bridge, which was fitted on Friday.
Also, the huge engine room block arrived in the shipyard from Rostock, Germany, this week and will be fitted as soon as another Excel-class ship, P&O Cruises’ Arvia, moves to the next stage of her build.
Carnival Jubilee Engine Room to Be Fitted This Week
The modern manner in which ships are being built is certainly something that surprises at times. This week, the construction of Carnival Jubilee received a number of updates, pushing the build time along with German precision.
Carnival Jubilee is being constructed at the Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, and while the cutting of the first steel and the laying of the keel is only a few weeks ago, the vessel is already looking like a cruise ship. The bridge wings were installed earlier today, and at the same time, the FERU unit arrived in the shipyard.
The FERU unit, or Floating Engine Room Unit, is equally as important as the bridge section of the vessel. It houses the power units that will propel the 180,000 gross tons cruise ship forward. The unit was constructed at the Neptun shipyard in Rostock, Germany, and towed to the Meyer Werft, some 400 kilometers away.
In the near future, the FERU unit will be joined to the Carnival Jubilee structure. However, before that happens, the P&O Arvia, a sister ship to Carnival Jubilee, which is also currently under construction, will be moving to the outfitting stage of construction.
Although the images already make her look as striking as her sisters, Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration, construction on Carnival Jubilee will take another year at least.
The Ninth and Last Excellence-Class Cruise Ship
Carnival Jubilee will be the ninth and last of the Excel-class cruise ships when she sets sail. The groundbreaking class of ships has been a game-changer in the cruise industry, both in terms of low environmental impact due to them being LNG-powered, as well as facilities and features such as the BOLT roller coaster.
Besides Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration, there are excellence-class ships sailing for Costa Cruises, Costa Smeralda and Costa Toscana; P&O Cruises, Iona and Arvia; and AIDA, AIDAnova and AIDAcosma.
Originally scheduled to sail for AIDA Cruises, last year Carnival Corporation decided to transfer the Carnival Jubilee to Carnival Cruise Line. Given the huge success Carnival Cruise Line had with Mardi Gras and the excitement that is building over Carnival Celebration, this came as no surprise.
Jubilee is the first Excel-class ship for Carnival being built in Germany; her sisterships were both constructed at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. Carnival Jubilee is scheduled for her first cruise in November of next year from Galveston, Texas.
Christine Duffy, Carnival Cruise Line’s President: “Our plans for Texas are as big as the state itself, and we’re looking forward to bringing guests aboard our third Excel-class ship that will be just as magnificent as her sister ships Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration.
Read Also: All Carnival Cruise Ships By Age – Newest to Oldest
From her Texas homeport, she will be operating seven-day cruises to the Western Caribbean starting November 18, 2023, including voyages to Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico and Mahogany Bay on Isa Roatan, Honduras. | https://www.cruisehive.com/construction-update-on-carnival-cruise-lines-third-new-mega-ship/79414 | 2022-08-19T23:16:50Z | cruisehive.com | control | https://www.cruisehive.com/construction-update-on-carnival-cruise-lines-third-new-mega-ship/79414 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
POCOMOKE CITY, Md. - Longtime General Manager and Operator of WGOP-AM 540 Mike Powell is saddened to see his once vibrant station, now destroyed.
"I can't explain it, it's just terrible. I can see in that back room how whatever happened happened in that roof area," he said.
WGOP, once WDMV is a Pocomoke City institution.
An employee tells us the legendary Patsy Cline once sang inside the station's studio.
George Richards is a longtime listener, who hopes the station will return to the airwaves soon.
"The 540 AM station was the first station in the area, has been here for many, many years. Has been part of the history of this area," he said.
Powell is already working on plans of getting the station back on the air.
"We've got a shed in the back of the building and I've already got my eye on it and that's what I plan on doing," he said.
The fire started in a back room, and was caused by an electrical failure according to the Worcester County Fire Marshal.
It took about 50 firefighters some 3 hours to get the fire under control. | https://www.wboc.com/news/pocomoke-city-radio-station-manager-vows-to-rebuild-after-devastating-fire/article_dcd8e420-200e-11ed-9704-f7574020c9eb.html | 2022-08-19T23:16:52Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/pocomoke-city-radio-station-manager-vows-to-rebuild-after-devastating-fire/article_dcd8e420-200e-11ed-9704-f7574020c9eb.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
On the last day of a 5-night sailing, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Breakaway assisted and ultimately rescued approximately 20 refugees from a small, overloaded craft in considerable distress.
The ship’s bridge crew spotted the boat, contacted the proper authorities, and brought the refugees onboard the cruise ship.
Norwegian Breakaway Rescue
Norwegian Breakaway was enjoying a sea day en route from Cozumel, Mexico, back to the ship’s homeport of Miami, Florida, when the small boat was spotted adrift approximately 30 miles west of Cuba on Thursday, August 18, 2022.
The cruise ship’s captain, Andreas Karlstroem, assessed the situation and determined that the refugees could not remain in the small boat, which appeared overloaded with 20-30 individuals crowded into inadequate space.
Observers reported that the refugees appeared to be bailing out the boat, which would indicate even greater distress.
One of Norwegian Breakaway‘s lifeboats was dispatched to the refugees’ boat to transfer everyone to the cruise ship. The entire transfer took approximately 3.5 hours, moving cautiously to ensure safety for both the refugees as well as the assisting crew members.
Once aboard, the refugees were given food, water, and medical care as needed.
The empty refugee craft was left adrift as the cruise ship resumed its journey. It is unknown as to whether or not all the refugees’ possessions were able to be brought onboard the cruise ship.
The U.S. Coast Guard was notified of the situation as the rescue was in progress and will take responsibility for the refugees, who will likely be returned to Cuba. Authorities were waiting when the cruise ship returned to Miami.
The 145,655-gross-ton Norwegian Breakaway continued on its return to Miami, arriving back as scheduled on Friday, August 19.
Many Rescues in 2022
There have been many different refugee rescues made just this year, with cruise ships from different lines offering assistance whenever a vessel is spotted in distress.
For some incidents, the refugees are taken aboard the cruise ship if it is determined that their original craft is unstable.
In other cases, the cruise ship may provide extra food, water, or fuel so the original craft can continue on its way, if it can safely do so. There is no requirement that individuals from a smaller craft must be accommodated on a cruise ship.
Less than three weeks ago, on July 31, Carnival Paradise rescued at least 20 refugees from a similarly overcrowded small boat in the same general area west of Cuba, and on July 29, Carnival Sunrise rescued 12 Cuban refugees adrift south of Key West.
Carnival Cruise Line’s flagship, Mardi Gras, participated in two separate refugee rescue incidents in June, while Carnival Magic, Celebrity Cruise Line’s Celebrity Apex, and Royal Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas have all also affected similar rescues this year.
Most incidents are in similar regions near Cuba. The rescued individuals all receive appropriate medical care, but are returned to their home country by the U.S. Coast Guard.
This is a busy time of year for such incidents, as relatively mild weather before the busiest time of the Atlantic hurricane season makes it easier for small, less reliable craft to sail further distances.
This makes it more likely that refugees may make it safely to their desired destinations, but should a storm develop quickly, the situation could quickly become dire for anyone stranded in a small craft. | https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-ship-rescues-overloaded-boat/79431 | 2022-08-19T23:16:56Z | cruisehive.com | control | https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-ship-rescues-overloaded-boat/79431 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Authorities in New Zealand say the human remains found in suitcases that a family bought as part of a storage unit auction online belonged to two children.
At a press conference, New Zealand Police Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said Thursday that they were working on identifying the children, who they believe had been dead “a number of years,” The Washington Post reported.
Vaaelua said the children were likely between the ages of 5 and 10, the New York Times reported.
The Counties Manukau Police said they were alerted about the discovery by the unsuspected family on Aug. 11 after they went through the suitcases back at their residence.
The newspapers reported that during the press conference, Vaaelua said the suitcases had been in the storage center for three or four years before the family purchased them.
Police said they the family who made the discovery were not involved in the incident, the newspapers reported.
Police said they are investigating the incident as a homicide.
Police said they were working with Interpol, the newspapers reported. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/police-remains-found-in-suitcases-by-new-zealand-family-were-of-2-children | 2022-08-19T23:20:01Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/police-remains-found-in-suitcases-by-new-zealand-family-were-of-2-children | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge on Thursday denied bond — again — for Atlanta rapper Young Thug, one of nearly 30 people charged in a 65-count indictment alleging he is the leader of a criminal street gang.
Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville heard a slew of outstanding motions in the case against the musician, whose real name is Jeffery Williams. Rapper Gunna, whose legal name is Sergio Kitchens, is also charged in the racketeering and gang case. Both men have been in jail since their May arrests.
The musicians are accused of conspiring to violate Georgia’s criminal racketeering law, but the indictment outlines more serious crimes allegedly carried out by “Young Slime Life” associates ranging from drug possession to murder.
Of the 28 people charged, three remain at large, while at least eight who are in custody still don’t have attorneys, prosecutors told the judge, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
So far, Glanville has not granted bond to any of the defendants, citing concerns about witness intimidation and the possibility that additional felonies may be committed ahead of January’s trial. Williams’ attorneys have repeatedly asked that their client be given an ankle monitor and allowed to await trial on house arrest.
Appearing via video conferencing from the Cobb County jail, Williams smiled and blew kisses at relatives gathered in the courtroom during breaks in Thursday’s proceedings.
“Mr. Williams is an artist, a role model, a father and a son,” attorney Brian Steel told the judge, urging the rapper be released.
But his request was denied for the third time when Glanville sided with prosecutors to keep the musician behind bars.
The decision came after Glanville heard of at least one associate planning to testify against Williams being placed in protective custody after a document posted online showed his willingness to cooperate.
Fulton County prosecutor Don Geary asked the judge to further restrict the disclosure of certain evidence ahead of trial, saying a page from discovery that was recently shared online jeopardizes the witness’ safety.
“We found a lot of information concerning one of our witnesses on basically a (celebrity news) outlet,” Geary told Glanville.
Defense attorneys contend that YSL, or Young Stoner Life, is simply the name of Young Thug’s record label, not a violent Atlanta street gang as prosecutors allege.
Thursday’s hearing wasn’t the first time prosecutors have raised concerns about the safety of state’s witnesses. Glanville previously issued a temporary order instructing defense attorneys to withhold witness contact information from their clients.
But Kristen Novay, one of Kitchens’ attorneys, asked prosecutors for proof that potential witnesses are actually being threatened.
“We want to know what specific threats there are,” Novay said. “There have been many allegations that there are threats to witnesses, and to date we have received no discovery, not a single shred of evidence from a witness who was actually threatened.”
In June, an 18-year-old relative of one of the defendants was arrested after allegedly threatening to kill the Fulton County sheriff and his wife unless Williams were released, authorities said, the newspaper reported. | https://www.wspa.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/atlanta-rapper-young-thug-again-denied-bond-in-criminal-case/ | 2022-08-19T23:29:48Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/atlanta-rapper-young-thug-again-denied-bond-in-criminal-case/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Police who arrested a man with an arsenal of weapons in his car are trying to determine a motive for three seemingly random shootings along Interstate 85 in Alabama and Georgia, including one that critically wounded another motorist.
Jerel Raphael Brown, 39, of Montgomery was arrested without incident Wednesday near the courthouse in LaFayette with more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition and an alarming number of firearms in his 1996 white Cadillac Fleetwood, police said.
Auburn Assistant Police Chief Michael Harris said they had not found a motive for the “seemingly random shootings” as of Thursday night, but would be investigating Brown’s “digital footprint” for clues.
Authorities responded first to a 45-year-old man who had left his car and collapsed on the pavement with a gunshot to his head, apparently fired through his rear window as the interstate passes through Auburn. The victim was taken by helicopter to a Montgomery hospital.
Harris said police began investigating the Auburn shooting at about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday, and later learned that a shooting had occurred an hour earlier in Montgomery, Alabama and then an hour later in Troup County, Georgia. The three communities are about 55 miles (88 kilometers) apart.
A stretch of Interstate 85 in Auburn was closed for hours while police investigated.
No one was injured in the Georgia shooting. No details on the Montgomery shooting were immediately released.
Harris said a dozen local, state and federal agencies aided in the investigation. Deputies in western Georgia’s Troup County said they identified the suspect vehicle using a traffic camera, allowing information about the car to be broadcast around the region. A deputy in Chambers County, Alabama, then spotted the car and arrested Brown, who was handed over to Auburn police.
Police released images of a table covered with what appeared to be three handguns, at least seven long guns with scopes, clips and boxes of ammunition they said were recovered from the car.
“Because of the alarming amount of weaponry recovered, combined with the actions of the suspect, there can be little doubt that the immediate collaborative efforts of all the agencies involved ended an act of danger to the public that spanned multiple communities and into multiple states,” Harris said.
Brown is charged with attempted murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle in connection with the Auburn shooting. Brown also faces charges in Georgia of aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a felony and first-degree criminal damage, authorities said.
He was ordered held without bond, and court records did not indicate if he has an attorney to speak on behalf. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/police-suspect-in-i-85-shootings-had-2000-rounds-of-ammo/ | 2022-08-19T23:30:15Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/ap-us-news/police-suspect-in-i-85-shootings-had-2000-rounds-of-ammo/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s leader said Friday that it’s upsetting Indonesia has further reduced the prison sentence of the bombmaker in the Bali terror attack that killed 202 people — which could free him within days if he’s granted parole.
The most recent reduction of Umar Patek’s sentence takes his total reductions to almost two years and means Patek could be released on parole ahead of the 20th anniversary of the bombings in October.
“This will cause further distress to Australians who were the families of victims of the Bali bombings,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Channel 9. “We lost 88 Australian lives in those bombings.”
Albanese said he would continue making “diplomatic representations” to Indonesia about Patek’s sentence and a range of other issues, including Australians currently jailed in Indonesia. Albanese described Patek as “abhorrent.”
“His actions were the actions of a terrorist,” Albanese told Channel 9. ”They did have such dreadful results for Australian families that are ongoing, the trauma which is there.”
Indonesia often grants sentence reductions to prisoners on major holidays such as the nation’s Independence Day, which was Wednesday.
Patek received a 5-month reduction on Independence Day for good behavior and could walk free this month from Porong Prison in East Java province if he gets parole, said Zaeroji, who heads the provincial office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
Zaeroji, who goes by a single name, said Patek had the same rights as other inmates and had fulfilled legal requirements to get sentence reductions. “While in the prison, he behaved very well and he regrets his radical past which has harmed society and the country and he has also vowed to be a good citizen,” Zaeroji said.
Patek was arrested in Pakistan in 2011 and tried in Indonesia, where he was convicted in 2012. He was originally sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
With his time served plus sentence reductions, he became eligible for parole on Aug. 14. The decision from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in Jakarta is still pending, Zaeroji said. If refused parole, he could remain jailed until 2029.
Patek was one of several men implicated in the attack, which was widely blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant group with ties to al-Qaida. Most of those killed in the bombing on the resort island were foreign tourists.
Another conspirator, Ali Imron, was sentenced to life. Earlier this year, a third militant, Aris Sumarsono, whose real name is Arif Sunarso but is better known as Zulkarnaen, was sentenced to 15 years following his capture in 2020 after 18 years on the run.
Jan Laczynski, a survivor of the bombings, told Channel 9 that many Australians will be “devastated” by Patek’s potential release. “This guy should not be going out unsupervised, unmonitored,” he said. | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/australia-upset-at-indonesia-reducing-bali-bombers-sentence/ | 2022-08-19T23:30:30Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/australia-upset-at-indonesia-reducing-bali-bombers-sentence/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Biden bill to help millions escape higher health care costs
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of people in the United States will be spared from big increases in health care costs next year after President Joe Biden signed legislation extending generous subsidies for those who buy plans through federal and state marketplaces.
The sweeping climate, tax and health care bill sets aside $70 billion over the next three years to keep out-of-pocket premium costs low for roughly 13 million people, just before the reduced prices were set to expire in a year beset by record-high inflation.
As the calendar pushed closer to the Nov. 1 open enrollment date, Sara Cariano was growing nervous about her work helping people across Virginia sign up for subsidized, private health insurance on the HealthCare.gov website.
“I expected very difficult conversation with folks to explain why their premiums were spiking,” said Cariano, a policy specialist at the Virginia Poverty Law Center.
But the passage of the “Inflation Reduction Act” erased those worries.
“Things aren’t going to change for the worst for individuals who are purchasing coverage through the market,” she said.
The bill will extend subsidies temporarily offered last year when Congress and Biden signed off on a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that significantly lowered premiums and out-of-pocket costs for customers purchasing plans through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. It also continues reduced costs for more individuals and families who live well above the poverty line.
Only Democrats supported the extended health care subsidies and the other proposals in the bill that Biden signed on Tuesday. Republicans criticized the measure as big government overreach that will only worsen inflation. In reality, economists say, the bill will do little to either fan or extinguish the flames of exorbitant prices.
Health insurance premiums in the marketplace are expected to rise significantly next year — roughly 10 percent — according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The extended subsidies, which determine premium payments based on income, will guard most people from those price increases, said Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the foundation.
“Generally speaking, people should not see increases in their premiums,” Cox said.
Those who bought plans on the government marketplace saved on average about $700 in premium payments from the subsidies this year, according to estimates by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
As costs dropped, more people signed up for the coverage over the last year and the number of those without health insurance dropped to an all-time low of 8% in August, the Department of Health and Human Services announced. Roughly 26 million people, 2 percent of them children, remain uninsured in the U.S.
In California, many of the 1.7 million people who purchase health insurance through Covered California, the state-operated insurance marketplace will continue to see savings ranging from $29 and $324 per month, depending on their income level.
State officials predict about 220,000 people will be saved from being priced out of coverage. Between 2 million and 3 million people in California might also turn to the state marketplace if they lose coverage through Medicaid when the federal government’s COVID-19 public health emergency expires. About 15 million people in the U.S. have been extended Medicaid coverage during the pandemic.
Cost is the biggest factor driving whether a person signs up for coverage or not, said Joseph Poindexter, the senior director of health insurance programs at HealthCare Access Maryland.
Some parents, for example, sign their children up for Medicaid but skip buying coverage for themselves, he said.
“It’s really sad to see folks who will say, I’ll forgo treatment, or won’t go visit the doctor,” Poindexter said.
Fewer people have had to make that calculation with the subsidies, Poindexter said, attributing the lowered prices to a 9% increase in new enrollees in the state last year.
___
Associated Press writer Adam Beam in Sacramento, Calif., contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of health care costs at https://apnews.com/hub/health-care-costs. | https://www.41nbc.com/biden-bill-to-help-millions-escape-higher-health-care-costs/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:25Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/biden-bill-to-help-millions-escape-higher-health-care-costs/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 35 |
Biden bill to help millions escape higher health care costs
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of people in the United States will be spared from big increases in health care costs next year after President Joe Biden signed legislation extending generous subsidies for those who buy plans through federal and state marketplaces.
The sweeping climate, tax and health care bill sets aside $70 billion over the next three years to keep out-of-pocket premium costs low for roughly 13 million people, just before the reduced prices were set to expire in a year beset by record-high inflation.
As the calendar pushed closer to the Nov. 1 open enrollment date, Sara Cariano was growing nervous about her work helping people across Virginia sign up for subsidized, private health insurance on the HealthCare.gov website.
“I expected very difficult conversation with folks to explain why their premiums were spiking,” said Cariano, a policy specialist at the Virginia Poverty Law Center.
But the passage of the “Inflation Reduction Act” erased those worries.
“Things aren’t going to change for the worst for individuals who are purchasing coverage through the market,” she said.
The bill will extend subsidies temporarily offered last year when Congress and Biden signed off on a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that significantly lowered premiums and out-of-pocket costs for customers purchasing plans through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. It also continues reduced costs for more individuals and families who live well above the poverty line.
Only Democrats supported the extended health care subsidies and the other proposals in the bill that Biden signed on Tuesday. Republicans criticized the measure as big government overreach that will only worsen inflation. In reality, economists say, the bill will do little to either fan or extinguish the flames of exorbitant prices.
Health insurance premiums in the marketplace are expected to rise significantly next year — roughly 10 percent — according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The extended subsidies, which determine premium payments based on income, will guard most people from those price increases, said Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the foundation.
“Generally speaking, people should not see increases in their premiums,” Cox said.
Those who bought plans on the government marketplace saved on average about $700 in premium payments from the subsidies this year, according to estimates by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
As costs dropped, more people signed up for the coverage over the last year and the number of those without health insurance dropped to an all-time low of 8% in August, the Department of Health and Human Services announced. Roughly 26 million people, 2 percent of them children, remain uninsured in the U.S.
In California, many of the 1.7 million people who purchase health insurance through Covered California, the state-operated insurance marketplace will continue to see savings ranging from $29 and $324 per month, depending on their income level.
State officials predict about 220,000 people will be saved from being priced out of coverage. Between 2 million and 3 million people in California might also turn to the state marketplace if they lose coverage through Medicaid when the federal government’s COVID-19 public health emergency expires. About 15 million people in the U.S. have been extended Medicaid coverage during the pandemic.
Cost is the biggest factor driving whether a person signs up for coverage or not, said Joseph Poindexter, the senior director of health insurance programs at HealthCare Access Maryland.
Some parents, for example, sign their children up for Medicaid but skip buying coverage for themselves, he said.
“It’s really sad to see folks who will say, I’ll forgo treatment, or won’t go visit the doctor,” Poindexter said.
Fewer people have had to make that calculation with the subsidies, Poindexter said, attributing the lowered prices to a 9% increase in new enrollees in the state last year.
___
Associated Press writer Adam Beam in Sacramento, Calif., contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of health care costs at https://apnews.com/hub/health-care-costs. | https://www.41nbc.com/biden-bill-to-help-millions-escape-higher-health-care-costs/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:25Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/biden-bill-to-help-millions-escape-higher-health-care-costs/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 35 |
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. | https://www.41nbc.com/buttigieg-warns-airlines-to-help-travelers-or-face-new-rules/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:31Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/buttigieg-warns-airlines-to-help-travelers-or-face-new-rules/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 15 |
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. | https://www.41nbc.com/buttigieg-warns-airlines-to-help-travelers-or-face-new-rules/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:31Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/buttigieg-warns-airlines-to-help-travelers-or-face-new-rules/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 15 |
CDC confirms Nebraska child died of brain-eating amoeba
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.41nbc.com/cdc-confirms-nebraska-child-died-of-brain-eating-amoeba/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:37Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/cdc-confirms-nebraska-child-died-of-brain-eating-amoeba/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 30 |
CDC confirms Nebraska child died of brain-eating amoeba
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.41nbc.com/cdc-confirms-nebraska-child-died-of-brain-eating-amoeba/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:37Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/cdc-confirms-nebraska-child-died-of-brain-eating-amoeba/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 30 |
China’s response to Pelosi visit a sign of future intentions
BANGKOK (AP) — China’s response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was anything but subtle — dispatching warships and military aircraft to all sides of the self-governing island democracy, and firing ballistic missiles into the waters nearby.
The dust has still not settled, with Taiwan this week conducting drills of its own and Beijing announcing it has more maneuvers planned, but experts say a lot can already be gleaned from what China has done, and has not done, so far. China will also be drawing lessons on its own military capabilities from the exercises, which more closely resembled what an actual strike on the island claimed by Beijing as its own territory would look like, and from the American and Taiwanese response.
During the nearly weeklong maneuvers that followed Pelosi’s early August visit, China sailed ships and flew aircraft regularly across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, claiming the de facto boundary did not exist, fired missiles over Taiwan itself, and challenged established norms by firing missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
“I think we are in for a risky period of testing boundaries and finding out who can achieve escalatory dominance across the diplomatic, military and economic domains,” said David Chen, an analyst with CENTRA Technology, a U.S.-based consulting firm.
Pelosi was the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years, and her visit came at a particularly sensitive time, as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to seek a third five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party later this year.
Under Xi, China has been increasingly forceful in declaring that Taiwan must be brought under its control — by force if necessary — and U.S. military officials have said that Beijing may seek a military solution within the next few years.
Tensions were already high, with China conducting regular military flights near Taiwan and the U.S. routinely sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait to emphasize they are international waters.
China accuses the U.S. of encouraging the island’s independence through the sale of weapons and engagement between U.S. politicians and the island’s government.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying called Pelosi’s visit a “serious provocation” and accused Washington of breaking the status quo and “interfering in China’s internal affairs.”
“China is not the old China of 120 years ago, and we are not Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan — we will not allow any foreign force to bully, suppress or enslave us,” she told reporters in Beijing. “Whoever wants to do so will be on a collision course with the Great Wall of steel forged by the 1.4 billion Chinese people.”
The U.S. continues to insist it has not deviated from its “one-China” policy, recognizing the government in Beijing while allowing for informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
China held off on its maneuvers until Pelosi had left Taiwan, and turned back its forces before they approached Taiwan’s coast or territorial airspace, which showed a “modicum of restraint,” Chen said. But, he noted, another congressional visit following Pelosi’s triggered the announcement of more exercises.
“We are likely entering a period of regular military demonstrations in and around China’s maritime domain,” he said.
“The Chinese Communist Party is also quite capable in creating cross-domain responses, as has been seen in the cyber realm. Beyond that, we could see escalatory moves in space, in the South China Sea, Africa, the Indian Ocean, or the South Pacific.”
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said the scale and coordination of the exercises suggested China was looking past Taiwan toward establishing dominance in the western Pacific. That would include controlling the East and South China Seas via the Taiwan Strait, and having the capability to impose a blockade to prevent the U.S. and its allies from coming to the aid of Taiwan in the event of an attack.
Short of an armed conflict, a blockade of the Taiwan Strait — a significant thoroughfare for global trade — could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world is already facing disruptions.
In particular, Taiwan is a crucial provider of computer chips for the global economy.
Though ostensibly a reaction to Pelosi’s visit, it is clear China’s exercises had been long planned, said Mareike Ohlberg, a senior fellow in the Asia Program of the German Marshall Fund think tank.
“I do think they were looking for an opportunity to escalate,” she said. “This is not something you prep after the announcement (of the visit) and then pull off that quickly and that easily.”
The U.S. held back throughout the maneuvers, keeping an aircraft carrier group and two amphibious assault ships at sail in the region, but not close to the island. Taiwan avoided any active countermeasures.
Kurt Campbell, the Biden administration’s coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, said this week that the U.S. was taking a “calm and resolute” long-view approach that would include continued transits of the Taiwan Strait, supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, and otherwise deepening ties with the island.
To that end, the U.S. announced Thursday that it was opening talks with Taiwan on a wide-ranging trade agreement.
Campbell said Washington sees China’s actions as “part of an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan, which has not ended.”
“We expect it to continue to unfold in the coming weeks and months,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Defense has acknowledged China’s increasingly capable military, saying it has become a true rival and has already surpassed the American military in some areas, including shipbuilding, and now has the world’s largest navy.
The reserved American response to the recent exercises seemed calculated to avoid any accidental confrontation that could have escalated the situation, but could also feed China’s confidence, Ohlberg said.
“The base of China’s thinking is that the U.S. is in decline and that China is on the rise, and I guess the response would have been seen in Beijing as confirming that thinking,” she said.
The U.S. and China came perhaps the closest to blows in 1996, when China, irked by what it saw as increasing American support for Taiwan, fired missiles into the waters some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Taiwan’s coast ahead of Taiwan’s first popular presidential election.
The U.S. responded with its own show of force, sending two aircraft carrier groups to the region. At the time, China had no aircraft carriers and little means to threaten the American ships, and it backed down.
China subsequently embarked on a massive modernization of its military and the recent exercises demonstrate a “quantum leap” of improvement from 1996, showing a joint command and control coordination not seen before, Chen said.
Before being confident enough to launch an actual invasion of Taiwan, however, the Chinese military still needs to do more to assure the country’s political leadership it would be successful, he said.
“These latest exercises are probably part of proving that capability, but more needs to be hammered out before they could be confident in conducting a full-scale Taiwan amphibious invasion,” he said. “They’ve only demonstrated the maritime blockade and air control parts of that campaign, without opposition.”
Following the visit, China released an updated “white paper” on Taiwan outlining how it envisioned an eventual annexation of the island would look.
It said it would follow the “one country, two systems” format applied in Hong Kong, which critics say has been undermined by a sweeping national security law that asserts Beijing’s control over speech and political participation. The concept has been thoroughly rejected in Taiwanese public opinion polls in which respondents have overwhelmingly favored their current de facto independence.
Tellingly, the new white paper discarded a pledge in its previous iteration not to send troops or government officials to an annexed Taiwan.
China has refused all contact with Taiwan’s government since shortly after the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. Tsai was overwhelmingly reelected in 2020.
China’s bellicose response to Pelosi’s visit may have the unintended effect of strengthening the DPP in midterm elections later this year, said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the College of International Affairs at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University.
Ideally, it would be in Taiwan’s best interest if both sides backed off and found “reasoned ways” to settle differences, he said.
“There’s an old saying that when two big elephants fight, the ant and the grass suffer,” he said.
___
AP journalist Johnson Lai in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this story. | https://www.41nbc.com/chinas-response-to-pelosi-visit-a-sign-of-future-intentions/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:43Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/chinas-response-to-pelosi-visit-a-sign-of-future-intentions/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 32 |
China’s response to Pelosi visit a sign of future intentions
BANGKOK (AP) — China’s response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was anything but subtle — dispatching warships and military aircraft to all sides of the self-governing island democracy, and firing ballistic missiles into the waters nearby.
The dust has still not settled, with Taiwan this week conducting drills of its own and Beijing announcing it has more maneuvers planned, but experts say a lot can already be gleaned from what China has done, and has not done, so far. China will also be drawing lessons on its own military capabilities from the exercises, which more closely resembled what an actual strike on the island claimed by Beijing as its own territory would look like, and from the American and Taiwanese response.
During the nearly weeklong maneuvers that followed Pelosi’s early August visit, China sailed ships and flew aircraft regularly across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, claiming the de facto boundary did not exist, fired missiles over Taiwan itself, and challenged established norms by firing missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
“I think we are in for a risky period of testing boundaries and finding out who can achieve escalatory dominance across the diplomatic, military and economic domains,” said David Chen, an analyst with CENTRA Technology, a U.S.-based consulting firm.
Pelosi was the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years, and her visit came at a particularly sensitive time, as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to seek a third five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party later this year.
Under Xi, China has been increasingly forceful in declaring that Taiwan must be brought under its control — by force if necessary — and U.S. military officials have said that Beijing may seek a military solution within the next few years.
Tensions were already high, with China conducting regular military flights near Taiwan and the U.S. routinely sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait to emphasize they are international waters.
China accuses the U.S. of encouraging the island’s independence through the sale of weapons and engagement between U.S. politicians and the island’s government.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying called Pelosi’s visit a “serious provocation” and accused Washington of breaking the status quo and “interfering in China’s internal affairs.”
“China is not the old China of 120 years ago, and we are not Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan — we will not allow any foreign force to bully, suppress or enslave us,” she told reporters in Beijing. “Whoever wants to do so will be on a collision course with the Great Wall of steel forged by the 1.4 billion Chinese people.”
The U.S. continues to insist it has not deviated from its “one-China” policy, recognizing the government in Beijing while allowing for informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
China held off on its maneuvers until Pelosi had left Taiwan, and turned back its forces before they approached Taiwan’s coast or territorial airspace, which showed a “modicum of restraint,” Chen said. But, he noted, another congressional visit following Pelosi’s triggered the announcement of more exercises.
“We are likely entering a period of regular military demonstrations in and around China’s maritime domain,” he said.
“The Chinese Communist Party is also quite capable in creating cross-domain responses, as has been seen in the cyber realm. Beyond that, we could see escalatory moves in space, in the South China Sea, Africa, the Indian Ocean, or the South Pacific.”
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said the scale and coordination of the exercises suggested China was looking past Taiwan toward establishing dominance in the western Pacific. That would include controlling the East and South China Seas via the Taiwan Strait, and having the capability to impose a blockade to prevent the U.S. and its allies from coming to the aid of Taiwan in the event of an attack.
Short of an armed conflict, a blockade of the Taiwan Strait — a significant thoroughfare for global trade — could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world is already facing disruptions.
In particular, Taiwan is a crucial provider of computer chips for the global economy.
Though ostensibly a reaction to Pelosi’s visit, it is clear China’s exercises had been long planned, said Mareike Ohlberg, a senior fellow in the Asia Program of the German Marshall Fund think tank.
“I do think they were looking for an opportunity to escalate,” she said. “This is not something you prep after the announcement (of the visit) and then pull off that quickly and that easily.”
The U.S. held back throughout the maneuvers, keeping an aircraft carrier group and two amphibious assault ships at sail in the region, but not close to the island. Taiwan avoided any active countermeasures.
Kurt Campbell, the Biden administration’s coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, said this week that the U.S. was taking a “calm and resolute” long-view approach that would include continued transits of the Taiwan Strait, supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, and otherwise deepening ties with the island.
To that end, the U.S. announced Thursday that it was opening talks with Taiwan on a wide-ranging trade agreement.
Campbell said Washington sees China’s actions as “part of an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan, which has not ended.”
“We expect it to continue to unfold in the coming weeks and months,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Defense has acknowledged China’s increasingly capable military, saying it has become a true rival and has already surpassed the American military in some areas, including shipbuilding, and now has the world’s largest navy.
The reserved American response to the recent exercises seemed calculated to avoid any accidental confrontation that could have escalated the situation, but could also feed China’s confidence, Ohlberg said.
“The base of China’s thinking is that the U.S. is in decline and that China is on the rise, and I guess the response would have been seen in Beijing as confirming that thinking,” she said.
The U.S. and China came perhaps the closest to blows in 1996, when China, irked by what it saw as increasing American support for Taiwan, fired missiles into the waters some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Taiwan’s coast ahead of Taiwan’s first popular presidential election.
The U.S. responded with its own show of force, sending two aircraft carrier groups to the region. At the time, China had no aircraft carriers and little means to threaten the American ships, and it backed down.
China subsequently embarked on a massive modernization of its military and the recent exercises demonstrate a “quantum leap” of improvement from 1996, showing a joint command and control coordination not seen before, Chen said.
Before being confident enough to launch an actual invasion of Taiwan, however, the Chinese military still needs to do more to assure the country’s political leadership it would be successful, he said.
“These latest exercises are probably part of proving that capability, but more needs to be hammered out before they could be confident in conducting a full-scale Taiwan amphibious invasion,” he said. “They’ve only demonstrated the maritime blockade and air control parts of that campaign, without opposition.”
Following the visit, China released an updated “white paper” on Taiwan outlining how it envisioned an eventual annexation of the island would look.
It said it would follow the “one country, two systems” format applied in Hong Kong, which critics say has been undermined by a sweeping national security law that asserts Beijing’s control over speech and political participation. The concept has been thoroughly rejected in Taiwanese public opinion polls in which respondents have overwhelmingly favored their current de facto independence.
Tellingly, the new white paper discarded a pledge in its previous iteration not to send troops or government officials to an annexed Taiwan.
China has refused all contact with Taiwan’s government since shortly after the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. Tsai was overwhelmingly reelected in 2020.
China’s bellicose response to Pelosi’s visit may have the unintended effect of strengthening the DPP in midterm elections later this year, said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the College of International Affairs at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University.
Ideally, it would be in Taiwan’s best interest if both sides backed off and found “reasoned ways” to settle differences, he said.
“There’s an old saying that when two big elephants fight, the ant and the grass suffer,” he said.
___
AP journalist Johnson Lai in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this story. | https://www.41nbc.com/chinas-response-to-pelosi-visit-a-sign-of-future-intentions/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:43Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/chinas-response-to-pelosi-visit-a-sign-of-future-intentions/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 32 |
City of Perry designated ‘Broadband Ready Community’
Perry joins more than 50 communities across Georgia.
PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The City of Perry is now considered a “Broadband Ready Community.” The Georgia Department of Community Affairs announced the designation earlier this week.
“The City of Perry’s Broadband Ready designation demonstrates we are embracing technology and recognize this infrastructure is important to continue attracting businesses and remote workers to Perry,” said Ashley Hardin, City of Perry Economic Development Administrator.
A “Broadband Ready Community” exhibits collaboration and innovation by identifying broadband as essential infrastructure in furthering the community.
Perry joins more than 50 communities across Georgia when it comes to expanding broadband services. | https://www.41nbc.com/city-of-perry-designated-broadband-ready-community/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:50Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/city-of-perry-designated-broadband-ready-community/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
City of Perry designated ‘Broadband Ready Community’
Perry joins more than 50 communities across Georgia.
PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The City of Perry is now considered a “Broadband Ready Community.” The Georgia Department of Community Affairs announced the designation earlier this week.
“The City of Perry’s Broadband Ready designation demonstrates we are embracing technology and recognize this infrastructure is important to continue attracting businesses and remote workers to Perry,” said Ashley Hardin, City of Perry Economic Development Administrator.
A “Broadband Ready Community” exhibits collaboration and innovation by identifying broadband as essential infrastructure in furthering the community.
Perry joins more than 50 communities across Georgia when it comes to expanding broadband services. | https://www.41nbc.com/city-of-perry-designated-broadband-ready-community/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:50Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/city-of-perry-designated-broadband-ready-community/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Doctors stay in Ukraine’s war-hit towns: ‘People need us’
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.41nbc.com/doctors-stay-in-ukraines-war-hit-towns-people-need-us/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:56Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/doctors-stay-in-ukraines-war-hit-towns-people-need-us/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 35 |
Doctors stay in Ukraine’s war-hit towns: ‘People need us’
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.41nbc.com/doctors-stay-in-ukraines-war-hit-towns-people-need-us/ | 2022-08-19T23:33:56Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/doctors-stay-in-ukraines-war-hit-towns-people-need-us/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 35 |
Dublin High School celebrating 1,000th game, start of 100th season
"It makes us more ready for the game, and our intensity and everything is more up, all time high."
DUBLIN, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT)— Dublin High School is cheering on its football team as they kick off their 100th season of football, and play in its 1,000th game. The school celebrated with a parade on Friday.
Head Football Coach Roger Holmes says he’s excited for the season.
“It’s wonderful feeling going around and with this historic event the involvement in the community has been tremendous.”
He’s already looking towards the future of his team.
“Our goal every year is the same here in Dublin Georgia, we want to be a good enough football team to get into the playoffs, and when the first round of the playoffs come around we’re playing our best football of the year,” said Holmes.
Coach Holmes is asking the community to bring the energy each game this year.
Quarterback Jaquairius Evans says he’s excited to get the season started.
“It makes us more ready for the game, and our intensity and everything is more up, all time high,” he said.
Of course, when going to a game you have to tailgate. Ronald Pierce is in charge of the tailgating festivities, and is known as the “Tailgating King”. His children were also part of the football team.
“We’re having fun and we just love doing what we do to support the community and support our kids, we’re Dublin Irish all the way,” said Pierce.
The team says their goal is to win, but to also have fun.
The team is facing Wilkinson County High School Friday night. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. | https://www.41nbc.com/dublin-high-school-celebrating-1000th-game-start-of-100th-season/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:02Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/dublin-high-school-celebrating-1000th-game-start-of-100th-season/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 1 |
Dublin High School celebrating 1,000th game, start of 100th season
"It makes us more ready for the game, and our intensity and everything is more up, all time high."
DUBLIN, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT)— Dublin High School is cheering on its football team as they kick off their 100th season of football, and play in its 1,000th game. The school celebrated with a parade on Friday.
Head Football Coach Roger Holmes says he’s excited for the season.
“It’s wonderful feeling going around and with this historic event the involvement in the community has been tremendous.”
He’s already looking towards the future of his team.
“Our goal every year is the same here in Dublin Georgia, we want to be a good enough football team to get into the playoffs, and when the first round of the playoffs come around we’re playing our best football of the year,” said Holmes.
Coach Holmes is asking the community to bring the energy each game this year.
Quarterback Jaquairius Evans says he’s excited to get the season started.
“It makes us more ready for the game, and our intensity and everything is more up, all time high,” he said.
Of course, when going to a game you have to tailgate. Ronald Pierce is in charge of the tailgating festivities, and is known as the “Tailgating King”. His children were also part of the football team.
“We’re having fun and we just love doing what we do to support the community and support our kids, we’re Dublin Irish all the way,” said Pierce.
The team says their goal is to win, but to also have fun.
The team is facing Wilkinson County High School Friday night. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. | https://www.41nbc.com/dublin-high-school-celebrating-1000th-game-start-of-100th-season/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:02Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/dublin-high-school-celebrating-1000th-game-start-of-100th-season/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 1 |
Jordan River, Jesus’ baptism site, is today barely a trickle
ALONG THE JORDAN RIVER (AP) — Kristen Burckhartt felt overwhelmed. She needed time to reflect, to let it sink in that she had just dipped her feet in the water where Jesus is said to have been baptized, in the Jordan River.
“It’s very profound,” said the 53-year-old visitor from Indiana. “I have not ever walked where Jesus walked for one thing.”
Here, tourists and pilgrims, many driven by faith, come to follow in Christ’s footsteps, to touch the river’s water, to connect to biblical events.
Symbolically and spiritually, the river is of mighty significance to many. Physically, the Lower Jordan River of today is a lot more meager than mighty.
By the time it reaches the baptismal site, its dwindling water looks sluggish, a dull brownish green shade.
Its decline is intertwined with the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict and rivalry over precious water in a valley where so much is contested.
A stretch of the river, for instance, was a hostile frontier between once-warring Israel and Jordan. The waterway also separates Jordan to the east from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, seized by Israel in a 1967 war and sought by the Palestinians for a state.
“It’s a victim of the conflict, definitely. It’s a victim of people, because it’s what we did as people to the river, basically, and now adding to all this it’s a victim of climate change,” said Yana Abu Taleb, the Jordanian director of EcoPeace Middle East, which brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists and lobbies for regional collaboration on saving the river. “So it’s a victim in every way.”
EcoPeace has said for years that the Lower Jordan, which runs south from the Sea of Galilee, is threatened by decades of water diversions and by pollution. Only a tiny fraction of its historical water flow now reaches its terminus in the Dead Sea.
Standing at the Jordanian baptismal site Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Burckhartt grappled with many emotions — among them, sadness for the river’s dwindling.
“I am sure God above is also sad.”
___
The river’s opposing banks are home to rival baptismal sites where rituals of faith unfold, a reflection of the river’s enduring allure.
The river holds further significance as the scene of miracles in the Old Testament.
At the Jordanian baptismal site on a recent day, a woman dipped her feet in the waters and then cupped some with her hands, rubbing it on her face and head. Others crossed themselves or bent to fill bottles.
Rustom Mkhjian, director general of the Baptism Site Commission in Jordan, spoke passionately about the Jordanian site’s claim to authenticity — UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage Site “of immense religious significance to the majority of denominations of Christian faith, who have accepted this site as the location where Jesus” was baptized.
“Every year we celebrate interfaith harmony, and among my happiest days in my life is days when I see Jews, Christians and Muslims visit the site and the three of them cry,” Mkhjian said.
The Jordanian and West Bank sites give visitors access to a narrow stretch of the river, where they face people on the other side. An Israeli flag at the West Bank’s Qasr al-Yahud serves as a reminder that the river is a frontier separating the two worlds.
That site is also billed as the place where Jesus was baptized. Jordan and Israel, which signed a peace treaty in 1994, compete for these people’s tourism dollars.
Several people in flowing white robes waded in from the West Bank. Visitors in another group there stood on the bank or in the water as two men in black poured river water over their heads.
“Oh, Brothers, let’s go down. … Down in the river to pray,” some sang.
___
Such serene moments contrast with the hostilities that have played out on the river’s banks.
“Any fresh water left in the river would have in the past been seen as empowering the enemy,” said Gidon Bromberg, EcoPeace Middle East’s group’s Israeli director. “You take everything that you can.”
“Israel, from a historical perspective, has taken about half the water, and Syria and Jordan have taken the other half,” Bromberg said.
Palestinians can no longer access or use water from the Jordan, a 2013 U.N.-German report noted. Syria doesn’t have access either but has built dams in the Yarmouk River sub-basin, which is part of the Jordan River basin, it added.
“The Jordan River in the past, for Palestinians, meant livelihoods and economic stability and growth,” said Nada Majdalani, EcoPeace’s Palestinian director. Now, she added, it has been reduced to an “ambition of statehood and sovereignty over water resources.”
The river’s decline, she said, is especially disappointing to elderly Palestinians who remember “how they used to go fishing, how they used to have a dip in the river.”
Bromberg said that “from a Jewish tradition, you know, the river and its banks are a place of miracles … (but) it doesn’t reflect a place of miracles in its current depleted state.”
___
In July, Israel approved plans to rehabilitate a stretch of the Lower Jordan, a decision Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg called “historic.”
“For decades it was neglected and most of its waters were taken, and it effectively turned into a sewage canal,” Zandberg said in a statement. “In an era of climate crisis and a serious ecological crisis, there is double significance to rehabilitating the River Jordan.”
Speaking by phone, Zandberg said the plan focuses on a stretch that runs in Israeli territory and reflects Israel’s improved water situation given its desalination program, which has left it much less reliant on water it has been using from the Sea of Galilee.
“It can provide a success story on that segment, and then it will enable more successful partnerships in the future” in the region.
That’s something that hasn’t always come easily
A regional rehabilitation and development master plan announced in 2015 by EcoPeace and others was adopted by Jordan but not by the Israelis or Palestinians due to outstanding “final-status” peace process issues, according to the group.
Political tensions have stalled other efforts.
And not everyone welcomes, or trusts, EcoPeace’s work.
“We’re always accused of being ‘normalizers,’” or having normal relations with Israel, said Abu Taleb, the group’s Jordanian director. That is a contentious topic, unpopular among many Arabs, due to factors such as Israeli occupations and a lack of a resolution to the Palestinian issue.
Bromberg said he, too, has encountered criticism from a vocal minority in Israel “inappropriately” branding the group’s advocacy as benefiting Jordanians and Palestinians at the expense of Israeli interests.
Water woes also complicate revival efforts.
Jordan is one of the world’s most water-scarce nations, its challenges compounded by a growing population swelled by waves of refugees. Climate change threatens to exacerbate such problems.
“We are under stress, so we don’t have a surplus to add to the Jordan River and to revive it,” said Khalil Al-Absi, a Jordanian official with the Jordan Valley Authority. He added: “We have many beautiful ideas for the Jordan River, but there are limitations.”
For all the challenges facing the river, Al-Absi said he remains optimistic. The alternative could be grim.
“Water is life,” Al-Absi said. “Without water, there is no life.”
___
Fam reported from Bethany Beyond the Jordan and Amman in Jordan. Associated Press writer Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. | https://www.41nbc.com/jordan-river-jesus-baptism-site-is-today-barely-a-trickle/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:08Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/jordan-river-jesus-baptism-site-is-today-barely-a-trickle/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 26 |
Jordan River, Jesus’ baptism site, is today barely a trickle
ALONG THE JORDAN RIVER (AP) — Kristen Burckhartt felt overwhelmed. She needed time to reflect, to let it sink in that she had just dipped her feet in the water where Jesus is said to have been baptized, in the Jordan River.
“It’s very profound,” said the 53-year-old visitor from Indiana. “I have not ever walked where Jesus walked for one thing.”
Here, tourists and pilgrims, many driven by faith, come to follow in Christ’s footsteps, to touch the river’s water, to connect to biblical events.
Symbolically and spiritually, the river is of mighty significance to many. Physically, the Lower Jordan River of today is a lot more meager than mighty.
By the time it reaches the baptismal site, its dwindling water looks sluggish, a dull brownish green shade.
Its decline is intertwined with the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict and rivalry over precious water in a valley where so much is contested.
A stretch of the river, for instance, was a hostile frontier between once-warring Israel and Jordan. The waterway also separates Jordan to the east from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, seized by Israel in a 1967 war and sought by the Palestinians for a state.
“It’s a victim of the conflict, definitely. It’s a victim of people, because it’s what we did as people to the river, basically, and now adding to all this it’s a victim of climate change,” said Yana Abu Taleb, the Jordanian director of EcoPeace Middle East, which brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists and lobbies for regional collaboration on saving the river. “So it’s a victim in every way.”
EcoPeace has said for years that the Lower Jordan, which runs south from the Sea of Galilee, is threatened by decades of water diversions and by pollution. Only a tiny fraction of its historical water flow now reaches its terminus in the Dead Sea.
Standing at the Jordanian baptismal site Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Burckhartt grappled with many emotions — among them, sadness for the river’s dwindling.
“I am sure God above is also sad.”
___
The river’s opposing banks are home to rival baptismal sites where rituals of faith unfold, a reflection of the river’s enduring allure.
The river holds further significance as the scene of miracles in the Old Testament.
At the Jordanian baptismal site on a recent day, a woman dipped her feet in the waters and then cupped some with her hands, rubbing it on her face and head. Others crossed themselves or bent to fill bottles.
Rustom Mkhjian, director general of the Baptism Site Commission in Jordan, spoke passionately about the Jordanian site’s claim to authenticity — UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage Site “of immense religious significance to the majority of denominations of Christian faith, who have accepted this site as the location where Jesus” was baptized.
“Every year we celebrate interfaith harmony, and among my happiest days in my life is days when I see Jews, Christians and Muslims visit the site and the three of them cry,” Mkhjian said.
The Jordanian and West Bank sites give visitors access to a narrow stretch of the river, where they face people on the other side. An Israeli flag at the West Bank’s Qasr al-Yahud serves as a reminder that the river is a frontier separating the two worlds.
That site is also billed as the place where Jesus was baptized. Jordan and Israel, which signed a peace treaty in 1994, compete for these people’s tourism dollars.
Several people in flowing white robes waded in from the West Bank. Visitors in another group there stood on the bank or in the water as two men in black poured river water over their heads.
“Oh, Brothers, let’s go down. … Down in the river to pray,” some sang.
___
Such serene moments contrast with the hostilities that have played out on the river’s banks.
“Any fresh water left in the river would have in the past been seen as empowering the enemy,” said Gidon Bromberg, EcoPeace Middle East’s group’s Israeli director. “You take everything that you can.”
“Israel, from a historical perspective, has taken about half the water, and Syria and Jordan have taken the other half,” Bromberg said.
Palestinians can no longer access or use water from the Jordan, a 2013 U.N.-German report noted. Syria doesn’t have access either but has built dams in the Yarmouk River sub-basin, which is part of the Jordan River basin, it added.
“The Jordan River in the past, for Palestinians, meant livelihoods and economic stability and growth,” said Nada Majdalani, EcoPeace’s Palestinian director. Now, she added, it has been reduced to an “ambition of statehood and sovereignty over water resources.”
The river’s decline, she said, is especially disappointing to elderly Palestinians who remember “how they used to go fishing, how they used to have a dip in the river.”
Bromberg said that “from a Jewish tradition, you know, the river and its banks are a place of miracles … (but) it doesn’t reflect a place of miracles in its current depleted state.”
___
In July, Israel approved plans to rehabilitate a stretch of the Lower Jordan, a decision Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg called “historic.”
“For decades it was neglected and most of its waters were taken, and it effectively turned into a sewage canal,” Zandberg said in a statement. “In an era of climate crisis and a serious ecological crisis, there is double significance to rehabilitating the River Jordan.”
Speaking by phone, Zandberg said the plan focuses on a stretch that runs in Israeli territory and reflects Israel’s improved water situation given its desalination program, which has left it much less reliant on water it has been using from the Sea of Galilee.
“It can provide a success story on that segment, and then it will enable more successful partnerships in the future” in the region.
That’s something that hasn’t always come easily
A regional rehabilitation and development master plan announced in 2015 by EcoPeace and others was adopted by Jordan but not by the Israelis or Palestinians due to outstanding “final-status” peace process issues, according to the group.
Political tensions have stalled other efforts.
And not everyone welcomes, or trusts, EcoPeace’s work.
“We’re always accused of being ‘normalizers,’” or having normal relations with Israel, said Abu Taleb, the group’s Jordanian director. That is a contentious topic, unpopular among many Arabs, due to factors such as Israeli occupations and a lack of a resolution to the Palestinian issue.
Bromberg said he, too, has encountered criticism from a vocal minority in Israel “inappropriately” branding the group’s advocacy as benefiting Jordanians and Palestinians at the expense of Israeli interests.
Water woes also complicate revival efforts.
Jordan is one of the world’s most water-scarce nations, its challenges compounded by a growing population swelled by waves of refugees. Climate change threatens to exacerbate such problems.
“We are under stress, so we don’t have a surplus to add to the Jordan River and to revive it,” said Khalil Al-Absi, a Jordanian official with the Jordan Valley Authority. He added: “We have many beautiful ideas for the Jordan River, but there are limitations.”
For all the challenges facing the river, Al-Absi said he remains optimistic. The alternative could be grim.
“Water is life,” Al-Absi said. “Without water, there is no life.”
___
Fam reported from Bethany Beyond the Jordan and Amman in Jordan. Associated Press writer Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. | https://www.41nbc.com/jordan-river-jesus-baptism-site-is-today-barely-a-trickle/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:08Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/jordan-river-jesus-baptism-site-is-today-barely-a-trickle/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 26 |
Morning Business Report: Americans still awaiting tax refunds could accrue interest on return
Millions of Americans are still awaiting their tax refunds from the IRS. The money coming in may be accruing interest. The IRS generally pays interest on refunds that are delayed by more than 45 days after the filing deadline.
Proctor & Gamble is developing a bamboo-based toilet paper as part of its efforts to reduce its reliance on wood pulp.
Layoffs are in the works at half of companies. A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey says half of executives said they’re reducing headcount or plan to. | https://www.41nbc.com/morning-business-report-americans-still-awaiting-tax-refunds-could-accrue-interest-on-return/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:14Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/morning-business-report-americans-still-awaiting-tax-refunds-could-accrue-interest-on-return/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Morning Business Report: Americans still awaiting tax refunds could accrue interest on return
Millions of Americans are still awaiting their tax refunds from the IRS. The money coming in may be accruing interest. The IRS generally pays interest on refunds that are delayed by more than 45 days after the filing deadline.
Proctor & Gamble is developing a bamboo-based toilet paper as part of its efforts to reduce its reliance on wood pulp.
Layoffs are in the works at half of companies. A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey says half of executives said they’re reducing headcount or plan to. | https://www.41nbc.com/morning-business-report-americans-still-awaiting-tax-refunds-could-accrue-interest-on-return/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:14Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/morning-business-report-americans-still-awaiting-tax-refunds-could-accrue-interest-on-return/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Prince William charity invests with bank tied to dirty fuels
LONDON (AP) — The conservation charity founded by Prince William, second in line to the British throne and who launched the Earthshot Prize, keeps its investments in a bank that is one of the world’s biggest backers of fossil fuels, The Associated Press has learned.
The Royal Foundation also places more than half of its investments in a fund advertised as green that owns shares in large food companies that buy palm oil from companies linked to deforestation.
“The earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice,” the prince, a well-known environmentalist, is quoted saying on the websites of the Earthshot Prize and Royal Foundation.
Yet in 2021, the charity kept more than 1.1 million pounds ($1.3 million) with JPMorgan Chase, according to the most recent filings, and still invests with the corporation today. The foundation also held 1.7 million pounds ($2 million) in a fund run by British firm Cazenove Capital Management, according to the 2021 filing. As with JPMorgan, it still keeps funds with Cazenove, which in May had securities linked to deforestation through their use of palm oil. The foundation invested similar amounts in both funds in 2020, its older filings show. As of December 2021, the charity also held more than 10 million pounds ($12.1 million) in cash.
The investments, which the Royal Foundation didn’t dispute when contacted by the AP, come as top scientists repeatedly warn that the world must shift away from fossil fuels to sharply reduce emissions and avoid more and increasingly intense extreme weather events.
Financial experts say investments like those of the foundation can be blind spots for charities and philanthropies. As climate change is an increasing area of attention for foundations and others, organizations have sometimes struggled to recognize where their own investments lie and align them with more environmentally friendly choices, despite growing numbers of ways to steer clear of funds linked to fossil fuels.
Like the Royal Foundation, in recent years other foundations, including high profile British charities like the National Trust and Wellcome Trust, also have faced criticism for investments with strong connections to fossil fuels or environmentally harmful practices. Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates announced that he divested his foundation’s direct oil and gas holdings in 2019.
Charities that are talking the talk “also need to walk the walk,” said Andreas Hoepner, professor of Operational Risk, Banking and Finance at University College Dublin, who helped design several European Union climate benchmarks and has sat on its sustainable finance group.
“There are funds that are more sustainably oriented,” Hoepner added, pointing to a dozen alternatives to the JPMorgan product that are marketed as sustainable.
There are also alternatives to Cazenove’s sustainability fund. For example, funds manager CCLA caters to churches and charities and does not invest in businesses that get more than 10% of their revenue from oil and gas. Another option is Generation Investment Management, founded in part by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
The Royal Foundation said by email that it had followed Church of England guidelines on ethical investment since 2015, and goes beyond them.
“We take our investment policies extremely seriously and review them regularly,” the statement said.
The foundation said management fees paid to JPMorgan were small, but declined to provide a figure.
It’s not clear what role, if any, Prince William had in investment decisions, as he did not respond to AP requests for comment. JPMorgan Asset Management in an email declined to comment on questions about charities investing in their products despite its record of financing fossil fuels.
Bloomberg data show JPMorgan has underwritten more bonds and loans for the fossil fuel industry and earned greater fees than its competitors in the five years up to 2021.
Environmental NGO Rainforest Action Network looked at direct loans and stock ownership along with bonds and estimated that between 2016 and 2021, JPMorgan’s banking arm financed fossil fuel companies with some $382 billion. This was more than any other bank.
“Major investors have their pick of companies to manage their assets, and mission-driven institutions have options well beyond the world’s worst fossil fuel bank,” said Jason Disterhoft, senior energy campaigner with Rainforest Action Network.
As one of the world’s biggest banks, JPMorgan is also a leading financier of green projects, and has set a target of investing $1 trillion in these over the next decade. However, it made about $985 million in revenue from fossil fuels compared to $310 million from green projects since the Paris Agreement in 2015, about three times more, according to Bloomberg Data.
Compared to some other charities, the Royal Foundation’s investments are small, with little impact on climate change. But they are not in line with the ethos of the foundation, which lists conservation and mental health as main points of emphasis, or Prince William’s public statements. His Earthshot Prize, a “global search for solutions to save our planet,” awards grants of up 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) each year to projects confronting environmental challenges, according to the the charity’s website, which suggests banks as among potential recipients. In July, the Royal Foundation announced that the Earthshot Prize had become an independent charity and Prince William would be its president.
Through launching and awarding the prize and in other public appearances, Prince William has been outspoken on the environment for years. He has argued that entrepreneurs should focus their energies on saving the Earth before investing in space tourism, encouraged parents to consider how their children don’t have the same outdoor opportunities they had and urged conservation.
“Today, in 2022, as the queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, the pressing need to protect and restore our planet has never been more urgent,” the prince said in June during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
The policies of the Royal Foundation do not allow ownership of stock in oil companies, tobacco or alcohol. But profits from the Royal Foundation’s account could enable JPMorgan to loan more money to the many oil companies it backs, allowing their expansion. In the same way, investing in companies tied to problems with palm oil supply could help fund unsustainable practices.
While the Cazenove fund is marketed as “sustainable,” as of May 31 the fund held almost $6 million of shares in Nestlé, and shares worth $8.1 million in Reckitt Benckiser, according to Morningstar Direct data. Both Nestlé and Reckitt Benckiser have faced controversy over their palm oil supply. Clearing rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations is one of Southeast Asia’s biggest drivers of deforestation.
Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturer, while Reckitt manufactures popular U.S. brands including Lysol and Woolite, and Vanish and Dettol, familiar in the U.K.
A 2021 investigation by the environmental NGO Global Witness said both companies were sourcing palm oil via intermediaries from illegally deforested areas in Papua New Guinea. The plantations responsible were also accused of corruption, use of child labor and paying police to attack protesters.
Another 2021 report, by sustainability analysts Chain Reaction Research, said both companies purchased palm oil from an Indonesian firm that has an affiliated mining project accused of deforestation in an orangutan habitat.
An investigation in 2020 by Chain Reaction Research found that more than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) — over 1,000 American football fields — of rainforest in Indonesia’s Papua province were felled by a supplier to Wilmar, a giant food and oils producer, from which both source their palm oil.
David Croft, head of sustainability at Reckitt, said no tainted palm oil entered its products from the Papua New Guinea properties, while conceding their mills were previously in its supplier list. An intermediary company linked Reckitt to the Indonesian mining conglomerate in its supply chain, he said, and it was investigating. Croft said they have had “active discussions” with Wilmar, which stopped sourcing from the Papua plantation in January 2022. In a public statement published in response to Chain Reaction’s investigation, Wilmar disputed the cleared area was high conservation value forest.
Despite being a “relatively small user of palm oil,” Reckitt knows there is more to do, said Croft, and is accelerating its progress. Croft said Reckitt could not get all the product it needs from certified producers before 2026.
Emma Keller, head of sustainability at Nestlé U.K. and Ireland, said the Wilmar case was to be investigated. Nestlé engages with suppliers that fall short to help them change and monitors performance, she said.
Sixty percent of Nestlé’s palm oil supply was certified as sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an industry-organized effort, in 2021, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature. For Reckitt, that figure was 15.3%.
Keller said that by winter 2021, more than 90% of Nestlé palm oil was deforestation-free and it will achieve zero-deforestation status by the end of 2022. It uses supply chain maps, on-the-ground verification and satellite monitoring for verification. Nestlé was moving towards “a model for conserving and restoring the world’s forests,” Keller said.
Lily Tomson, of the responsible investment charity ShareAction, said Cazenove had shown some leadership on sustainable investing, but there “remain areas charities such as the Royal Foundation can push them on.”
Investors can vote on key environmental issues in companies where they hold shares, for example setting targets to align with the Paris Agreement, or on climate lobbying. Yet Cazenove’s parent company, Schroders, voted against 22% of environmental resolutions last year, ShareAction research has found.
Kate Rogers, head of sustainability at Cazenove Capital, said the company engaged with Nestlé and Reckitt, and has seen progress on deforestation.
Environmental factors are ingrained in the company’s decision-making, she said, every investment assessed for sustainability. Cazenove has committed to eliminating commodity-driven deforestation from its investments by 2025 and said a new voting policy meant that as of June 2022, the firm had voted against 60 directors of companies it invests in over a lack of climate action.
Dr. Raj Thamotheram, former head of responsible investing at both a $109 billion British university pension fund and AXA Investment Managers, said foundations should be better regulated, with annual reports made to detail how well their investment strategy aligns with their mission.
Thamotheram, now an independent adviser, called unsustainable investments a “cultural and governance blind spot of huge proportions,” and said they were endemic in the charity sector.
“It’s the status quo approach and it needs shaking up,” he said.
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.41nbc.com/prince-william-charity-invests-with-bank-tied-to-dirty-fuels/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:20Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/prince-william-charity-invests-with-bank-tied-to-dirty-fuels/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 32 |
Prince William charity invests with bank tied to dirty fuels
LONDON (AP) — The conservation charity founded by Prince William, second in line to the British throne and who launched the Earthshot Prize, keeps its investments in a bank that is one of the world’s biggest backers of fossil fuels, The Associated Press has learned.
The Royal Foundation also places more than half of its investments in a fund advertised as green that owns shares in large food companies that buy palm oil from companies linked to deforestation.
“The earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice,” the prince, a well-known environmentalist, is quoted saying on the websites of the Earthshot Prize and Royal Foundation.
Yet in 2021, the charity kept more than 1.1 million pounds ($1.3 million) with JPMorgan Chase, according to the most recent filings, and still invests with the corporation today. The foundation also held 1.7 million pounds ($2 million) in a fund run by British firm Cazenove Capital Management, according to the 2021 filing. As with JPMorgan, it still keeps funds with Cazenove, which in May had securities linked to deforestation through their use of palm oil. The foundation invested similar amounts in both funds in 2020, its older filings show. As of December 2021, the charity also held more than 10 million pounds ($12.1 million) in cash.
The investments, which the Royal Foundation didn’t dispute when contacted by the AP, come as top scientists repeatedly warn that the world must shift away from fossil fuels to sharply reduce emissions and avoid more and increasingly intense extreme weather events.
Financial experts say investments like those of the foundation can be blind spots for charities and philanthropies. As climate change is an increasing area of attention for foundations and others, organizations have sometimes struggled to recognize where their own investments lie and align them with more environmentally friendly choices, despite growing numbers of ways to steer clear of funds linked to fossil fuels.
Like the Royal Foundation, in recent years other foundations, including high profile British charities like the National Trust and Wellcome Trust, also have faced criticism for investments with strong connections to fossil fuels or environmentally harmful practices. Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates announced that he divested his foundation’s direct oil and gas holdings in 2019.
Charities that are talking the talk “also need to walk the walk,” said Andreas Hoepner, professor of Operational Risk, Banking and Finance at University College Dublin, who helped design several European Union climate benchmarks and has sat on its sustainable finance group.
“There are funds that are more sustainably oriented,” Hoepner added, pointing to a dozen alternatives to the JPMorgan product that are marketed as sustainable.
There are also alternatives to Cazenove’s sustainability fund. For example, funds manager CCLA caters to churches and charities and does not invest in businesses that get more than 10% of their revenue from oil and gas. Another option is Generation Investment Management, founded in part by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
The Royal Foundation said by email that it had followed Church of England guidelines on ethical investment since 2015, and goes beyond them.
“We take our investment policies extremely seriously and review them regularly,” the statement said.
The foundation said management fees paid to JPMorgan were small, but declined to provide a figure.
It’s not clear what role, if any, Prince William had in investment decisions, as he did not respond to AP requests for comment. JPMorgan Asset Management in an email declined to comment on questions about charities investing in their products despite its record of financing fossil fuels.
Bloomberg data show JPMorgan has underwritten more bonds and loans for the fossil fuel industry and earned greater fees than its competitors in the five years up to 2021.
Environmental NGO Rainforest Action Network looked at direct loans and stock ownership along with bonds and estimated that between 2016 and 2021, JPMorgan’s banking arm financed fossil fuel companies with some $382 billion. This was more than any other bank.
“Major investors have their pick of companies to manage their assets, and mission-driven institutions have options well beyond the world’s worst fossil fuel bank,” said Jason Disterhoft, senior energy campaigner with Rainforest Action Network.
As one of the world’s biggest banks, JPMorgan is also a leading financier of green projects, and has set a target of investing $1 trillion in these over the next decade. However, it made about $985 million in revenue from fossil fuels compared to $310 million from green projects since the Paris Agreement in 2015, about three times more, according to Bloomberg Data.
Compared to some other charities, the Royal Foundation’s investments are small, with little impact on climate change. But they are not in line with the ethos of the foundation, which lists conservation and mental health as main points of emphasis, or Prince William’s public statements. His Earthshot Prize, a “global search for solutions to save our planet,” awards grants of up 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) each year to projects confronting environmental challenges, according to the the charity’s website, which suggests banks as among potential recipients. In July, the Royal Foundation announced that the Earthshot Prize had become an independent charity and Prince William would be its president.
Through launching and awarding the prize and in other public appearances, Prince William has been outspoken on the environment for years. He has argued that entrepreneurs should focus their energies on saving the Earth before investing in space tourism, encouraged parents to consider how their children don’t have the same outdoor opportunities they had and urged conservation.
“Today, in 2022, as the queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, the pressing need to protect and restore our planet has never been more urgent,” the prince said in June during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
The policies of the Royal Foundation do not allow ownership of stock in oil companies, tobacco or alcohol. But profits from the Royal Foundation’s account could enable JPMorgan to loan more money to the many oil companies it backs, allowing their expansion. In the same way, investing in companies tied to problems with palm oil supply could help fund unsustainable practices.
While the Cazenove fund is marketed as “sustainable,” as of May 31 the fund held almost $6 million of shares in Nestlé, and shares worth $8.1 million in Reckitt Benckiser, according to Morningstar Direct data. Both Nestlé and Reckitt Benckiser have faced controversy over their palm oil supply. Clearing rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations is one of Southeast Asia’s biggest drivers of deforestation.
Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturer, while Reckitt manufactures popular U.S. brands including Lysol and Woolite, and Vanish and Dettol, familiar in the U.K.
A 2021 investigation by the environmental NGO Global Witness said both companies were sourcing palm oil via intermediaries from illegally deforested areas in Papua New Guinea. The plantations responsible were also accused of corruption, use of child labor and paying police to attack protesters.
Another 2021 report, by sustainability analysts Chain Reaction Research, said both companies purchased palm oil from an Indonesian firm that has an affiliated mining project accused of deforestation in an orangutan habitat.
An investigation in 2020 by Chain Reaction Research found that more than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) — over 1,000 American football fields — of rainforest in Indonesia’s Papua province were felled by a supplier to Wilmar, a giant food and oils producer, from which both source their palm oil.
David Croft, head of sustainability at Reckitt, said no tainted palm oil entered its products from the Papua New Guinea properties, while conceding their mills were previously in its supplier list. An intermediary company linked Reckitt to the Indonesian mining conglomerate in its supply chain, he said, and it was investigating. Croft said they have had “active discussions” with Wilmar, which stopped sourcing from the Papua plantation in January 2022. In a public statement published in response to Chain Reaction’s investigation, Wilmar disputed the cleared area was high conservation value forest.
Despite being a “relatively small user of palm oil,” Reckitt knows there is more to do, said Croft, and is accelerating its progress. Croft said Reckitt could not get all the product it needs from certified producers before 2026.
Emma Keller, head of sustainability at Nestlé U.K. and Ireland, said the Wilmar case was to be investigated. Nestlé engages with suppliers that fall short to help them change and monitors performance, she said.
Sixty percent of Nestlé’s palm oil supply was certified as sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an industry-organized effort, in 2021, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature. For Reckitt, that figure was 15.3%.
Keller said that by winter 2021, more than 90% of Nestlé palm oil was deforestation-free and it will achieve zero-deforestation status by the end of 2022. It uses supply chain maps, on-the-ground verification and satellite monitoring for verification. Nestlé was moving towards “a model for conserving and restoring the world’s forests,” Keller said.
Lily Tomson, of the responsible investment charity ShareAction, said Cazenove had shown some leadership on sustainable investing, but there “remain areas charities such as the Royal Foundation can push them on.”
Investors can vote on key environmental issues in companies where they hold shares, for example setting targets to align with the Paris Agreement, or on climate lobbying. Yet Cazenove’s parent company, Schroders, voted against 22% of environmental resolutions last year, ShareAction research has found.
Kate Rogers, head of sustainability at Cazenove Capital, said the company engaged with Nestlé and Reckitt, and has seen progress on deforestation.
Environmental factors are ingrained in the company’s decision-making, she said, every investment assessed for sustainability. Cazenove has committed to eliminating commodity-driven deforestation from its investments by 2025 and said a new voting policy meant that as of June 2022, the firm had voted against 60 directors of companies it invests in over a lack of climate action.
Dr. Raj Thamotheram, former head of responsible investing at both a $109 billion British university pension fund and AXA Investment Managers, said foundations should be better regulated, with annual reports made to detail how well their investment strategy aligns with their mission.
Thamotheram, now an independent adviser, called unsustainable investments a “cultural and governance blind spot of huge proportions,” and said they were endemic in the charity sector.
“It’s the status quo approach and it needs shaking up,” he said.
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.41nbc.com/prince-william-charity-invests-with-bank-tied-to-dirty-fuels/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:20Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/prince-william-charity-invests-with-bank-tied-to-dirty-fuels/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 32 |
Russia probe memo wrongly withheld under Barr, court rules
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. | https://www.41nbc.com/russia-probe-memo-wrongly-withheld-under-barr-court-rules/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:26Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/russia-probe-memo-wrongly-withheld-under-barr-court-rules/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 28 |
Russia probe memo wrongly withheld under Barr, court rules
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. | https://www.41nbc.com/russia-probe-memo-wrongly-withheld-under-barr-court-rules/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:26Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/russia-probe-memo-wrongly-withheld-under-barr-court-rules/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 28 |
Tech Report: Streaming breaks record, Gen Z relies on TikTok instead of Google
Netflix along with major streaming services are breaking records– last month along they represented a 34.8 % share of total television consumption.
FOX, CBS, AND NBC will conjointly pay over $1 Billion to broadcast conference sports.
Experts have mixed reviews about the Metaverse.
Gen Z is now starting to use TikTok as a search engine instead of Google. | https://www.41nbc.com/tech-report-streaming-breaks-record-gen-z-relies-on-tiktok-instead-of-google/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:32Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/tech-report-streaming-breaks-record-gen-z-relies-on-tiktok-instead-of-google/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Tech Report: Streaming breaks record, Gen Z relies on TikTok instead of Google
Netflix along with major streaming services are breaking records– last month along they represented a 34.8 % share of total television consumption.
FOX, CBS, AND NBC will conjointly pay over $1 Billion to broadcast conference sports.
Experts have mixed reviews about the Metaverse.
Gen Z is now starting to use TikTok as a search engine instead of Google. | https://www.41nbc.com/tech-report-streaming-breaks-record-gen-z-relies-on-tiktok-instead-of-google/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:32Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/tech-report-streaming-breaks-record-gen-z-relies-on-tiktok-instead-of-google/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | null |
THE END ZONE SCOREBOARD: Scores from Week 1 of high school football
Here are Middle Georgia's high school football scores from Week 1.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Here are Middle Georgia’s high school football scores from Week 1.
Games featured on The End Zone:
Peach County , Baldwin
Lee County , Warner Robins
Richmond Academy , Veterans
Westside , Central
Southwest , Howard
Schley County , Tattnall
Other scores:
Houston County , Sumter County
Dooly County , Crisp County
Dodge County , Bleckley County
Crawford County , ACE Charter
Portal , Hawkinsville
Lamar County , Wilcox County
GMC , Wheeler County
Wilkinson County , Dublin
John Milledge , Brentwood
Mount de Sales , Strong Rock Christian | https://www.41nbc.com/the-end-zone-scoreboard-scores-from-week-1-of-high-school-football-2/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:38Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/the-end-zone-scoreboard-scores-from-week-1-of-high-school-football-2/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
THE END ZONE SCOREBOARD: Scores from Week 1 of high school football
Here are Middle Georgia's high school football scores from Week 1.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Here are Middle Georgia’s high school football scores from Week 1.
Games featured on The End Zone:
Peach County , Baldwin
Lee County , Warner Robins
Richmond Academy , Veterans
Westside , Central
Southwest , Howard
Schley County , Tattnall
Other scores:
Houston County , Sumter County
Dooly County , Crisp County
Dodge County , Bleckley County
Crawford County , ACE Charter
Portal , Hawkinsville
Lamar County , Wilcox County
GMC , Wheeler County
Wilkinson County , Dublin
John Milledge , Brentwood
Mount de Sales , Strong Rock Christian | https://www.41nbc.com/the-end-zone-scoreboard-scores-from-week-1-of-high-school-football-2/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:38Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/the-end-zone-scoreboard-scores-from-week-1-of-high-school-football-2/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | null |
US senator urges Kenyan president to aid peaceful transition
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A visiting U.S. senator says he has encouraged Kenya’s outgoing president to participate in a “peaceful transition of power” amid the latest election crisis in East Africa’s most stable democracy.
“I’ll let the president speak for himself, but that was certainly a hope I expressed today,” Sen. Chris Coons told The Associated Press after his meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday. He said they discussed ways in which Kenyatta can play a “constructive peacemaking role” after leaving office.
Kenyatta has remained publicly silent since the Aug. 9 vote, adding to the anxiety as Kenya again faces post-election uncertainty and a likely court challenge by the losing candidate, Raila Odinga. Coons, leading a congressional delegation on a five-country Africa visit, was in Kenya in part to meet the key parties and urge that calm continue.
Kenyatta had backed longtime rival and opposition leader Odinga in the close race against his own deputy president, William Ruto, who fell out bitterly with Kenyatta years ago. Ruto on Monday was declared the winner, but not before Kenya’s most peaceful election ever slid into chaos in the final moments.
The electoral commission split in two, each side accusing the other of trying to tinker with the results. It came as a shock to many Kenyans after an election widely seen as the country’s most transparent ever, with results from the more than 46,000 polling stations posted online.
Now Odinga almost certainly will challenge the results in Supreme Court. His campaign has seven days from Monday’s declaration to do so, and the court will have 14 days to rule. Odinga has urged supporters to remain patient instead of taking to the streets in a country with a history of sometimes deadly post-election violence.
After meeting with Kenyatta, Odinga and Ruto, Coons told the AP “I was encouraged that in all three meetings we heard a commitment to a call for calm and tranquility, to respect the legal processes established in the 2010 constitution.” He said the conversations were about the rule of law, the importance of free and fair elections and peaceful transitions.
“Obviously, the United States has had a very difficult experience with these issues for the past few years,” Coons said, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as former President Donald Trump tried to remain in power. “I said in all three meetings we have things to learn from Kenya.”
Kenyatta told Coons that Kenya would uphold “its position of a shining example of democracy in the continent by maintaining peace during this transition period,” according to a statement issued by the president’s office.
Coons said he did not come to Kenya seeking anything like the handshake that Kenyatta and Odinga, after prodding, famously shared to end months of crisis after the 2017 election, whose results were overturned by the Supreme Court over irregularities, a first in Africa. Odinga boycotted the fresh vote and declared himself the “people’s president,” bringing allegations of treason.
This time, with Kenyatta’s backing, the Odinga campaign felt he would win the presidency after a quarter-century of pursuing it.
Kenyatta is stepping down after two terms, itself a notable act in a region where longtime presidents like Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda have been accused of clinging to power through changes in term limits, manipulation of elections and crackdowns on dissenting voices.
The U.S. delegation is also visiting Rwanda, where human rights and violent tensions with neighboring Congo are almost certainly on the agenda following Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit there last week. Coons said he looks forward to visiting again with Kagame.
Kenyatta has played a leading role in efforts to calm the Rwanda-Congo tensions and in trying to mediate in neighboring Ethiopia’s deadly Tigray conflict, with support from the U.S. Coons did not say what kind of peacemaking role he hoped to see Kenyatta play after stepping down.
Ruto’s public comments this week have been on domestic matters, not foreign, but Coons said the president-elect made an “expression of concern and intent in trying to help lead to positive resolutions” in such regional crises.
Coons also has played a role in trying to calm the Ethiopia conflict. But he told the AP the delegation was not having a meeting with Ethiopia’s government or the Tigray forces while in Kenya.
Coons, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and his delegation have already visited Cape Verde and Mozambique and will visit Tunisia as well. | https://www.41nbc.com/us-senator-urges-kenyan-president-to-aid-peaceful-transition/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:44Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/us-senator-urges-kenyan-president-to-aid-peaceful-transition/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 23 |
US senator urges Kenyan president to aid peaceful transition
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A visiting U.S. senator says he has encouraged Kenya’s outgoing president to participate in a “peaceful transition of power” amid the latest election crisis in East Africa’s most stable democracy.
“I’ll let the president speak for himself, but that was certainly a hope I expressed today,” Sen. Chris Coons told The Associated Press after his meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday. He said they discussed ways in which Kenyatta can play a “constructive peacemaking role” after leaving office.
Kenyatta has remained publicly silent since the Aug. 9 vote, adding to the anxiety as Kenya again faces post-election uncertainty and a likely court challenge by the losing candidate, Raila Odinga. Coons, leading a congressional delegation on a five-country Africa visit, was in Kenya in part to meet the key parties and urge that calm continue.
Kenyatta had backed longtime rival and opposition leader Odinga in the close race against his own deputy president, William Ruto, who fell out bitterly with Kenyatta years ago. Ruto on Monday was declared the winner, but not before Kenya’s most peaceful election ever slid into chaos in the final moments.
The electoral commission split in two, each side accusing the other of trying to tinker with the results. It came as a shock to many Kenyans after an election widely seen as the country’s most transparent ever, with results from the more than 46,000 polling stations posted online.
Now Odinga almost certainly will challenge the results in Supreme Court. His campaign has seven days from Monday’s declaration to do so, and the court will have 14 days to rule. Odinga has urged supporters to remain patient instead of taking to the streets in a country with a history of sometimes deadly post-election violence.
After meeting with Kenyatta, Odinga and Ruto, Coons told the AP “I was encouraged that in all three meetings we heard a commitment to a call for calm and tranquility, to respect the legal processes established in the 2010 constitution.” He said the conversations were about the rule of law, the importance of free and fair elections and peaceful transitions.
“Obviously, the United States has had a very difficult experience with these issues for the past few years,” Coons said, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as former President Donald Trump tried to remain in power. “I said in all three meetings we have things to learn from Kenya.”
Kenyatta told Coons that Kenya would uphold “its position of a shining example of democracy in the continent by maintaining peace during this transition period,” according to a statement issued by the president’s office.
Coons said he did not come to Kenya seeking anything like the handshake that Kenyatta and Odinga, after prodding, famously shared to end months of crisis after the 2017 election, whose results were overturned by the Supreme Court over irregularities, a first in Africa. Odinga boycotted the fresh vote and declared himself the “people’s president,” bringing allegations of treason.
This time, with Kenyatta’s backing, the Odinga campaign felt he would win the presidency after a quarter-century of pursuing it.
Kenyatta is stepping down after two terms, itself a notable act in a region where longtime presidents like Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda have been accused of clinging to power through changes in term limits, manipulation of elections and crackdowns on dissenting voices.
The U.S. delegation is also visiting Rwanda, where human rights and violent tensions with neighboring Congo are almost certainly on the agenda following Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit there last week. Coons said he looks forward to visiting again with Kagame.
Kenyatta has played a leading role in efforts to calm the Rwanda-Congo tensions and in trying to mediate in neighboring Ethiopia’s deadly Tigray conflict, with support from the U.S. Coons did not say what kind of peacemaking role he hoped to see Kenyatta play after stepping down.
Ruto’s public comments this week have been on domestic matters, not foreign, but Coons said the president-elect made an “expression of concern and intent in trying to help lead to positive resolutions” in such regional crises.
Coons also has played a role in trying to calm the Ethiopia conflict. But he told the AP the delegation was not having a meeting with Ethiopia’s government or the Tigray forces while in Kenya.
Coons, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and his delegation have already visited Cape Verde and Mozambique and will visit Tunisia as well. | https://www.41nbc.com/us-senator-urges-kenyan-president-to-aid-peaceful-transition/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:44Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/us-senator-urges-kenyan-president-to-aid-peaceful-transition/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 23 |
US to hold trade talks with Taiwan, island drills military
HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. government will hold trade talks with Taiwan in a sign of support for the island democracy that China claims as its own territory, prompting Beijing to warn Thursday it will take action if necessary to “safeguard its sovereignty.”
The announcement of trade talks comes after Beijing fired missiles into the sea to intimidate Taiwan after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this month became the highest-ranking American official to visit the island in 25 years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government criticized the planned talks as a violation of its stance that Taiwan has no right to foreign relations. It warned Washington not to encourage the island to try to make its de facto independence permanent, a step Beijing says would lead to war.
“China firmly opposes this,” Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said. She called on Washington to “fully respect China’s core interests.”
Also Thursday, Taiwan’s military held a drill with missiles and cannons simulating a response to a Chinese missile attack.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war and have no official relations but are bound by billions of dollars of trade and investment. The island never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the ruling Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.
President Joe Biden’s coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region, Kurt Campbell, said last week that trade talks would “deepen our ties with Taiwan” but stressed policy wasn’t changing. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, its ninth-largest trading partner, but maintains extensive informal ties.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s announcement of the talks made no mention of tension with Beijing but said “formal negotiations” would develop trade and regulatory ties, a step that would entail closer official interaction.
Being allowed to export more to the United States might help Taiwan blunt China’s efforts to use its status as the island’s biggest trading partner as political leverage. The mainland blocked imports of Taiwanese citrus and other food in retaliation for Pelosi’s Aug. 2 visit.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry expressed “high welcome” for the trade talks, which it said will lead to a “new page” in relations with the United States.
“As the situation across the Taiwan Strait has recently escalated, the U.S. government will continue to take concrete actions to maintain security and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it said in a statement.
U.S.-Chinese relations are at their lowest level in decades amid disputes over trade, security, technology, and Beijing’s treatment of Muslim minorities and Hong Kong.
The U.S. Trade Representative said negotiations would be conducted under the auspices of Washington’s unofficial embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan.
“China always opposes any form of official exchanges between any country and the Taiwan region of China,” said Shu, the Chinese spokesperson. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty.”
Washington says it takes no position on the status of China and Taiwan but wants their dispute settled peacefully. The U.S. government is obligated by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself.
“We will continue to take calm and resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the face of Beijing’s ongoing efforts to undermine it, and to support Taiwan,” Campbell said during a conference call last Friday.
China takes more than twice as much of Taiwan’s exports as the United States, its No. 2 foreign market. Taiwan’s government says its companies have invested almost $200 billion in the mainland. Beijing says a 2020 census found some 158,000 Taiwanese entrepreneurs, professionals and others live on the mainland.
China’s ban on imports of citrus, fish and hundreds of other Taiwanese food products hurt rural areas seen as supporters of President Tsai Ing-wen, but those goods account for less than 0.5% of Taiwan’s exports to the mainland.
Beijing did nothing that might affect the flow of processor chips from Taiwan that are needed by Chinese factories that assemble the world’s smartphones and consumer electronics. The island is the world’s biggest chip supplier.
A second group of U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, arrived on Taiwan on Sunday and met with Tsai. Beijing announced a second round of military drills after their arrival.
Taiwan, with 23.6 million people, has launched its own military drills in response.
On Thursday, drills at Hualien Air Base on the east coast simulated a response to a Chinese missile attack. Military personnel practiced with Taiwanese-made Sky Bow 3 anti-aircraft missiles and 35mm anti-aircraft cannon but didn’t fire them.
“We didn’t panic” when China launched military drills, said air force Maj. Chen Teh-huan.
“Our usual training is to be on call 24 hours a day to prepare for missile launches,” Chen said. “We were ready.”
The U.S.-Taiwanese talks also will cover agriculture, labor, the environment, digital technology, the status of state-owned enterprises and “non-market policies,” the U.S. Trade Representative said.
Washington and Beijing are locked in a 3-year-old tariff war over many of the same issues.
They include China’s support for government companies that dominate many of its industries and complaints that Beijing steals foreign technology and limits access to an array of fields in violation of its market-opening commitments.
Then-President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods in 2019 in response to complaints that its technology development tactics violate its free-trade commitments and threaten U.S. industrial leadership. Biden has left most of those tariff hikes in place.
___
McDonald reported from Beijing. | https://www.41nbc.com/us-to-hold-trade-talks-with-taiwan-island-drills-military/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:50Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/us-to-hold-trade-talks-with-taiwan-island-drills-military/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 34 |
US to hold trade talks with Taiwan, island drills military
HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. government will hold trade talks with Taiwan in a sign of support for the island democracy that China claims as its own territory, prompting Beijing to warn Thursday it will take action if necessary to “safeguard its sovereignty.”
The announcement of trade talks comes after Beijing fired missiles into the sea to intimidate Taiwan after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this month became the highest-ranking American official to visit the island in 25 years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government criticized the planned talks as a violation of its stance that Taiwan has no right to foreign relations. It warned Washington not to encourage the island to try to make its de facto independence permanent, a step Beijing says would lead to war.
“China firmly opposes this,” Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said. She called on Washington to “fully respect China’s core interests.”
Also Thursday, Taiwan’s military held a drill with missiles and cannons simulating a response to a Chinese missile attack.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war and have no official relations but are bound by billions of dollars of trade and investment. The island never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the ruling Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.
President Joe Biden’s coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region, Kurt Campbell, said last week that trade talks would “deepen our ties with Taiwan” but stressed policy wasn’t changing. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, its ninth-largest trading partner, but maintains extensive informal ties.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s announcement of the talks made no mention of tension with Beijing but said “formal negotiations” would develop trade and regulatory ties, a step that would entail closer official interaction.
Being allowed to export more to the United States might help Taiwan blunt China’s efforts to use its status as the island’s biggest trading partner as political leverage. The mainland blocked imports of Taiwanese citrus and other food in retaliation for Pelosi’s Aug. 2 visit.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry expressed “high welcome” for the trade talks, which it said will lead to a “new page” in relations with the United States.
“As the situation across the Taiwan Strait has recently escalated, the U.S. government will continue to take concrete actions to maintain security and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it said in a statement.
U.S.-Chinese relations are at their lowest level in decades amid disputes over trade, security, technology, and Beijing’s treatment of Muslim minorities and Hong Kong.
The U.S. Trade Representative said negotiations would be conducted under the auspices of Washington’s unofficial embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan.
“China always opposes any form of official exchanges between any country and the Taiwan region of China,” said Shu, the Chinese spokesperson. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty.”
Washington says it takes no position on the status of China and Taiwan but wants their dispute settled peacefully. The U.S. government is obligated by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself.
“We will continue to take calm and resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the face of Beijing’s ongoing efforts to undermine it, and to support Taiwan,” Campbell said during a conference call last Friday.
China takes more than twice as much of Taiwan’s exports as the United States, its No. 2 foreign market. Taiwan’s government says its companies have invested almost $200 billion in the mainland. Beijing says a 2020 census found some 158,000 Taiwanese entrepreneurs, professionals and others live on the mainland.
China’s ban on imports of citrus, fish and hundreds of other Taiwanese food products hurt rural areas seen as supporters of President Tsai Ing-wen, but those goods account for less than 0.5% of Taiwan’s exports to the mainland.
Beijing did nothing that might affect the flow of processor chips from Taiwan that are needed by Chinese factories that assemble the world’s smartphones and consumer electronics. The island is the world’s biggest chip supplier.
A second group of U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, arrived on Taiwan on Sunday and met with Tsai. Beijing announced a second round of military drills after their arrival.
Taiwan, with 23.6 million people, has launched its own military drills in response.
On Thursday, drills at Hualien Air Base on the east coast simulated a response to a Chinese missile attack. Military personnel practiced with Taiwanese-made Sky Bow 3 anti-aircraft missiles and 35mm anti-aircraft cannon but didn’t fire them.
“We didn’t panic” when China launched military drills, said air force Maj. Chen Teh-huan.
“Our usual training is to be on call 24 hours a day to prepare for missile launches,” Chen said. “We were ready.”
The U.S.-Taiwanese talks also will cover agriculture, labor, the environment, digital technology, the status of state-owned enterprises and “non-market policies,” the U.S. Trade Representative said.
Washington and Beijing are locked in a 3-year-old tariff war over many of the same issues.
They include China’s support for government companies that dominate many of its industries and complaints that Beijing steals foreign technology and limits access to an array of fields in violation of its market-opening commitments.
Then-President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods in 2019 in response to complaints that its technology development tactics violate its free-trade commitments and threaten U.S. industrial leadership. Biden has left most of those tariff hikes in place.
___
McDonald reported from Beijing. | https://www.41nbc.com/us-to-hold-trade-talks-with-taiwan-island-drills-military/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:50Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/us-to-hold-trade-talks-with-taiwan-island-drills-military/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 34 |
Walmart expands abortion coverage for employees
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.41nbc.com/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:56Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 20 |
Walmart expands abortion coverage for employees
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.41nbc.com/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees/ | 2022-08-19T23:34:56Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 20 |
Witness about R. Kelly: I didn’t want to ‘carry his lies’
CHICAGO (AP) — A woman who says she was sexually abused hundreds of times by R. Kelly before she turned 18 testified Friday that she agonized several years ago about whether to cooperate with federal investigators who were looking into child abuse allegations involving the singer, but that she ultimately did because she didn’t want to “carry his lies.”
But the witness — who is now 37 years old and going by the pseudonym “Jane” at the trial — also conceded that even after she began cooperating, she lied at one point when she told federal agents that she wasn’t sure if Kelly had abused minors other than her. She said she lied because she didn’t want to get others in trouble.
Jane testified for over four hours Thursday, saying it was her and Kelly in a videotape that was at the heart of his 2008 child pornography trial, at which he was acquitted. She also said Kelly sexually abused her hundreds of times from the late 1990s before she turned 18. Kelly, 55, was around 30 years old at the time.
While cross-examining her Friday, Kelly’s lead attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, sought to cast the imprisoned R&B singer in a more favorable light after Jane testified the day before about how Kelly pursued her sexually starting when she was around 14 years old.
Kelly has been trailed for decades by complaints and allegations about his sexual behavior. The scrutiny intensified during the #MeToo era and following the 2019 release of the Lifetime television docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly.”
Under questioning, Jane said her relationship with Kelly lasted 12 years and continued for two years after his 2008 trial, until she was 26. Bonjean asked if, “after you broke up, you cared about him and he cared about you?” Jane said that was true.
As “Surviving R. Kelly” was coming out, Jane said she was concerned for Kelly and reached out to him. In one text to him, she wrote, “I love you. Don’t let the devil win.”
She said she repeatedly tried to contact him in 2019 for advice as she pondered whether to speak to authorities at length about Kelly for the first time. She told jurors: “I felt comfortable enough to reach out to him because I was afraid.”
She said she decided shortly thereafter to speak to investigators.
“I no longer wanted to carries his lies,” she said.
Kelly, who denies any wrongdoing, is serving a 30-year prison sentence following his conviction in a New York federal court last year for using his fame to sexually abuse fans.
At his current trial in his hometown of Chicago, he faces charges of child pornography and conspiring to rig his 2008 trial by intimidating and paying off the girl — Jane — to ensure she didn’t testify. He also faces four counts of enticement of minors for sex at the Chicago trial — one each for four other accusers. They, too, are expected to testify.
On Thursday, Jane said publicly for the first time that the girl in the videotape that was central to that 2008 trial was her and that the man was Kelly. She said she was about 14 years old at the time it was shot.
Some of that trial’s jurors said afterward that they had no choice but to acquit Kelly because the girl — by then an adult — didn’t testify. On the stand Thursday, Jane conceded that she lied to a grand jury in 2002 when she said it wasn’t her in the video. She said she did so because she was afraid “something bad would happen” to Kelly and because she was ashamed.
Jane said she grew up in a musical family in a Chicago suburb and was home-schooled because she was in a touring musical group that she joined when she was about 12. She said she met Kelly through an aunt who worked with him, and that she asked him to be her godfather when she was 13 because she viewed him as an inspiration and a mentor. She said within weeks, Kelly would call her and say sexual things. She told jurors she was 15 when they first had intercourse.
She described her parents confronting Kelly in the early 2000s about whether he was having sex with their daughter. Kelly dropped to his knees and begged her parents to forgive him, Jane testified. She said she later implored her parents not to do anything to get Kelly in trouble, telling them she loved him.
Kelly, who rose from poverty on Chicago’s South Side to become a star singer, songwriter and producer, knew a conviction in 2008 would effectively end his life as he knew it, and so prosecutors say he conspired to fix that trial. | https://www.41nbc.com/witness-about-r-kelly-i-didnt-want-to-carry-his-lies/ | 2022-08-19T23:35:03Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/witness-about-r-kelly-i-didnt-want-to-carry-his-lies/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 10 |
Witness about R. Kelly: I didn’t want to ‘carry his lies’
CHICAGO (AP) — A woman who says she was sexually abused hundreds of times by R. Kelly before she turned 18 testified Friday that she agonized several years ago about whether to cooperate with federal investigators who were looking into child abuse allegations involving the singer, but that she ultimately did because she didn’t want to “carry his lies.”
But the witness — who is now 37 years old and going by the pseudonym “Jane” at the trial — also conceded that even after she began cooperating, she lied at one point when she told federal agents that she wasn’t sure if Kelly had abused minors other than her. She said she lied because she didn’t want to get others in trouble.
Jane testified for over four hours Thursday, saying it was her and Kelly in a videotape that was at the heart of his 2008 child pornography trial, at which he was acquitted. She also said Kelly sexually abused her hundreds of times from the late 1990s before she turned 18. Kelly, 55, was around 30 years old at the time.
While cross-examining her Friday, Kelly’s lead attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, sought to cast the imprisoned R&B singer in a more favorable light after Jane testified the day before about how Kelly pursued her sexually starting when she was around 14 years old.
Kelly has been trailed for decades by complaints and allegations about his sexual behavior. The scrutiny intensified during the #MeToo era and following the 2019 release of the Lifetime television docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly.”
Under questioning, Jane said her relationship with Kelly lasted 12 years and continued for two years after his 2008 trial, until she was 26. Bonjean asked if, “after you broke up, you cared about him and he cared about you?” Jane said that was true.
As “Surviving R. Kelly” was coming out, Jane said she was concerned for Kelly and reached out to him. In one text to him, she wrote, “I love you. Don’t let the devil win.”
She said she repeatedly tried to contact him in 2019 for advice as she pondered whether to speak to authorities at length about Kelly for the first time. She told jurors: “I felt comfortable enough to reach out to him because I was afraid.”
She said she decided shortly thereafter to speak to investigators.
“I no longer wanted to carries his lies,” she said.
Kelly, who denies any wrongdoing, is serving a 30-year prison sentence following his conviction in a New York federal court last year for using his fame to sexually abuse fans.
At his current trial in his hometown of Chicago, he faces charges of child pornography and conspiring to rig his 2008 trial by intimidating and paying off the girl — Jane — to ensure she didn’t testify. He also faces four counts of enticement of minors for sex at the Chicago trial — one each for four other accusers. They, too, are expected to testify.
On Thursday, Jane said publicly for the first time that the girl in the videotape that was central to that 2008 trial was her and that the man was Kelly. She said she was about 14 years old at the time it was shot.
Some of that trial’s jurors said afterward that they had no choice but to acquit Kelly because the girl — by then an adult — didn’t testify. On the stand Thursday, Jane conceded that she lied to a grand jury in 2002 when she said it wasn’t her in the video. She said she did so because she was afraid “something bad would happen” to Kelly and because she was ashamed.
Jane said she grew up in a musical family in a Chicago suburb and was home-schooled because she was in a touring musical group that she joined when she was about 12. She said she met Kelly through an aunt who worked with him, and that she asked him to be her godfather when she was 13 because she viewed him as an inspiration and a mentor. She said within weeks, Kelly would call her and say sexual things. She told jurors she was 15 when they first had intercourse.
She described her parents confronting Kelly in the early 2000s about whether he was having sex with their daughter. Kelly dropped to his knees and begged her parents to forgive him, Jane testified. She said she later implored her parents not to do anything to get Kelly in trouble, telling them she loved him.
Kelly, who rose from poverty on Chicago’s South Side to become a star singer, songwriter and producer, knew a conviction in 2008 would effectively end his life as he knew it, and so prosecutors say he conspired to fix that trial. | https://www.41nbc.com/witness-about-r-kelly-i-didnt-want-to-carry-his-lies/ | 2022-08-19T23:35:03Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/witness-about-r-kelly-i-didnt-want-to-carry-his-lies/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 10 |
YKK opens medical clinic at Macon plant
The clinic is staffed by a physician assistant and medical technologist.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Employees at YKK USA can now receive on-site medical care at a clinic at the Macon Plant. The health clinic is for full-time Macon manufacturing plant employees thanks to a joint venture with Macon Occupational Medicine (MOM).
“We are so excited to be able to provide our YKK Macon team with this on-site access for their health and wellness needs,” said John Smith, president of YKK USA. “We appreciate our partnership with MOM, which has enabled us to facilitate a high level of professional care for our employees.”
According to a YKK news release, the health clinic is open Tuesdays and Thursdays during normal working hours. It includes an on-site pharmacy. The clinic is staffed by a physician assistant and medical technologist. Employees will now be able to receive treatment on-site for simple aches and pains to more complex conditions like diabetes and asthma.
Patients will also be able to undergo blood work and have access to rapid flu, COVID-19, strep, and pregnancy tests. | https://www.41nbc.com/ykk-opens-medical-clinic-at-macon-plant/ | 2022-08-19T23:35:09Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/ykk-opens-medical-clinic-at-macon-plant/ | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 1 |
YKK opens medical clinic at Macon plant
The clinic is staffed by a physician assistant and medical technologist.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Employees at YKK USA can now receive on-site medical care at a clinic at the Macon Plant. The health clinic is for full-time Macon manufacturing plant employees thanks to a joint venture with Macon Occupational Medicine (MOM).
“We are so excited to be able to provide our YKK Macon team with this on-site access for their health and wellness needs,” said John Smith, president of YKK USA. “We appreciate our partnership with MOM, which has enabled us to facilitate a high level of professional care for our employees.”
According to a YKK news release, the health clinic is open Tuesdays and Thursdays during normal working hours. It includes an on-site pharmacy. The clinic is staffed by a physician assistant and medical technologist. Employees will now be able to receive treatment on-site for simple aches and pains to more complex conditions like diabetes and asthma.
Patients will also be able to undergo blood work and have access to rapid flu, COVID-19, strep, and pregnancy tests. | https://www.41nbc.com/ykk-opens-medical-clinic-at-macon-plant/ | 2022-08-19T23:35:09Z | nbc.com | treatment | https://www.41nbc.com/ykk-opens-medical-clinic-at-macon-plant/ | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 1 |
by Michael E. Bigelow, INSCOM Command Historian
On 21 August 1918, Maj. Thomas S. Bowen gave up command of the Second Corps Aeronautical School to assume the G-3 position of the 1st Army’s Air Service. Bowen was the third commander of the school, which trained aerial observers for the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I.
The 34-year-old aviator was a classmate of George S. Patton at the United States Military Academy. Upon graduation in 1909, Bowen served several years as an infantry officer. In 1914, however, Bowen became a pilot for the Army’s fledgling air service. Two years later, he was one of the 1st Aero Squadron pilots who flew for Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing’s Punitive Expedition in Mexico. After the U.S. entered World War I, he was promoted to major in May 1917 and proceeded to France in August. After service with the British in early 1918, he assumed command of the Second Corps Aeronautical School at Chatillon on 29 May 1918.
About four months earlier, on 8 February, the AEF established the aeronautical school to train aerial observers. The school was located on the outskirts of the French town of Chatillon-sur-Seine, about thirty-five miles southwest of AEF General Headquarters at Chaumont. Within ten days, Maj. Joseph T. McNarney and his 89th Aero Squadron began work on the school’s physical layout. McNarney’s men oversaw the preparation of the field, three hangers, and barracks and mess halls for the students. The school also included a headquarters building, shop and armory buildings, and lecture hall.
In late April, Maj. Shepler W. Fitzgerald assumed school command and formulated the initial training program. To practice adjustment of artillery fire, a critical task for aerial observers, he coordinated with Lt. Col. Richard C. Burleson, commander of the Second Corps Artillery School at Montigny-sur-Aube, about fifteen miles northeast of Chatillon. Two French Army officers assisted the Americans. Lieutenants Etienne Blanc and Maurice Gateau instructed artillery adjustment and photography, respectively. Before the first student’s arrived, however, Major Bowen replaced Major Fitzgerald.
On 18 May, eleven student observers reported to the school. For the instruction, the 89th Aero Squadron’s pilots flew the students, weather permitting, on daily missions. Major Bowen and his crews kept a daily average of fourteen planes in the air. Every afternoon, Burleson’s artillerymen and
Bowen’s observers adjusted artillery fire. Initially, they adjusted fire for a single gun; later as ammunition became more plentiful, they trained with a gun platoon. The observers also practiced with the aerial cameras. To evaluate their results, 1st Lt. Edwin H. Fort’s photographic detachment developed and printed the photographs.
In addition, Bowen soon began training the aerial observers to properly liaison with infantry over a trench system. He arranged for an infantry detachment to be attached to the aeronautical school. The observers and the infantrymen held joint exercises twice a week. Later, Bowen’s student observers worked with divisions training within a forty-mile radius of Chatillon.
By midsummer, AEF’s demand for trained observers at the front led to Chatillon’s expansion. Major Bowen oversaw the enlargement, including facilities for 180 student officers, 48 pilots, and 57 aircraft. By the end of August, seventy-two aerial observers had completed the course and were ready to serve in the AEF’s offenses in September. After Bowen departed, the Second Corps Aeronautical School trained another 188 observers before the end of the war. It continued to operate into 1919.
This work, Second Corps Aeronautical School Farewells Commander, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427692/second-corps-aeronautical-school-farewells-commander | 2022-08-19T23:35:11Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/427692/second-corps-aeronautical-school-farewells-commander | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Finland's prime minister said Friday that she has taken a drug test following public backlash to videos that surfaced this week showing her dancing and singing with her friends.
"I consider these accusations to be very serious, and, though I consider the demand for a drug test unjust, for my own legal protection and to clear up any doubts, I have taken a drug test today, the results of which will come in about a week," Sanna Marin told reporters on Friday.
Objections to her partying and behavior came after two private videos were leaked. In them, Marin can be seen dancing and singing with her friends, who include Finnish celebrities and Finnish pop star Olavi Uusivirta, the BBC reported.
Marin said she did know that she was being filmed, the Finnish outlet Yle reported, but added that the videos were supposed to remain private.
"I am upset that these videos have become public," Marin said. "It was about me having a night out with friends. Partying — even in a boisterous way — dancing and singing."
The prime minister said previously that she did not consume any drugs, and just had some drinks containing alcohol.
Reactions have been mixed
Calls for a drug test came from members of opposition parties. And while some have criticized the prime minister for the behavior on social media, others have celebrated it. And it's not the first time Marin's after-work behavior has been commented on.
The 36-year-old has been photographed at music festivals in the past wearing cut-off denim shorts and a leather jacket. While some have called into question her professionalism, others have applauded her relatability and her ability to have a work-life balance.
Her time in office hasn't only been full of partying. Marin was elected to the prime minister position in 2019 and became Finland's youngest prime minister ever. She represents the Social Democratic Party and in her time in office the country has gone through the global pandemic, dealt with its neighbor, Russia launching a war in Ukraine, and most recently, Finland became poised to join NATO along with Sweden.
Many have asked how gender is playing into the scrutiny
The scrutiny that Marin has been under this week has made many ask the question if this behavior and the subsequent reactions would be the same if a man was in the prime minister position and filmed doing the same activities.
"There's a tendency to focus on women's personal lives, their appearance, and in general, I'd say that compared to men, women are more likely to have to really prove their credentials in terms of being capable politicians," said Farida Jalalzai, associate dean of global initiatives and engagement at Virginia Tech.
Women are often caught in a trap of having to go above and beyond what is expected of other people to prove that they are professional, Jalalzai said, adding that Marin's gender and age are likely playing a role in the coverage of these videos.
On the other hand, men in positions of power are not discussed as often in such personal ways, Jalalzai said, leaving women to pay the higher price in terms of the language used to describe them.
"Women have to sort of go out of their way to do even more than a male politician to try to stay out of those types of situations. And it's like, did [Marin] really do anything wrong if we're really just talking about dancing?" Jalalzai said.
"It just hearkens back [to] this time where women's behavior had a lot to do with the respect that they were given or their families were given in society — and it just seems sort of archaic," Jalalzai added.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/2022-08-19/finlands-prime-minister-takes-a-drug-test-after-criticism-over-her-partying | 2022-08-19T23:36:50Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/2022-08-19/finlands-prime-minister-takes-a-drug-test-after-criticism-over-her-partying | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Former President Donald Trump's pick to oversee the parent agency of the Voice of America paid a prestigious private law firm so extravagantly to investigate his own agency's senior executive officials that it constituted a "waste or gross waste of government resources," a federal watchdog concluded Friday.
Michael Pack, the former CEO of VOA-parent U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO, awarded the contract without any bidding process to the politically connected Richmond, Va., law firm McGuireWoods, which ultimately received more than $1.6 million in taxpayer money.
Friday's report from the U.S. State Department's Inspector General found the service the law firm provided "were duplicative of existing resources and involved the payment of billable hours far in excess of the salary of federal employees who can perform the same work." The inspector general also found "serious violations of federal law and regulation" in the payment of a subcontractor without any authorization.
Neither Pack nor two representatives of McGuireWoods replied to efforts requesting comment on the findings on Friday.
Pack's initial nomination to the job by Trump languished for two years; shortly after showing up at USAGM headquarters in early June 2020, he all but declared war on his new colleagues. Pack told conservative media outlets that, like Trump himself, he was there to "drain the swamp" at Voice of America and its sister networks.
In such appearances, Pack claimed, without evidence, that opportunities for espionage were rife within its networks. He embarked on efforts to investigate and stamp out what he alleged was rampant anti-Trump bias in Voice of America's coverage.
The government-owned service seeks to provide independent news reporting for more than 312 million people overseas every week across multiple platforms. His advisers ordered investigations of individual reporters; he rejected the employee visa renewals of some foreign nationals, forcing them to scramble for new posts or to return home, often to regimes hostile to the U.S.
Pack's criticisms span a period that includes the tenure of former USAGM CEO John Lansing, who is now CEO at NPR. (Under NPR's protocols, top newsroom leaders cannot review any of the network's coverage that touches on USAGM because of his prior position there.)
In the summer of 2020, Pack moved swiftly to fire most of his top leadership team, including his chief financial officer, his general counsel, and his chief strategic officer, enraged that they blocked some of his initiatives and warned others could prove illegal. Told that it was also probably illegal to fire them, Pack placed seven on administrative leave and revoked the security clearance of six of them. In August 2020, Pack commissioned McGuireWoods to conduct an inquiry into them.
A July 2021 review by the same government watchdog exonerated the officials with the suspended clearances of any wrongdoing. In addition, it found that Pack had targeted them for raising red flags over his actions. The inspector general rebuked USAGM for failing to refer concerns about him to its office, which is charged with conducting such reviews under federal law. But it also said the costs were extreme and contrary to federal rules and regulations.
One McGuire Woods attorney charged the federal agency $930 an hour for his work; That was about 12 times the cost that would have been incurred by relying on a government attorney, the inspector general's office found. "USAGM paid for over 1,600 hours of McGuireWoods attorneys' time who billed at a rate in excess of $500 per hour," it stated.
NPR obtained documents reflecting that McGuireWoods intended to charge USAGM $2.1 million, but its actual billings ultimately ebbed.
Pack had ties to the Richmond law firm. The conservative filmmaker had become close to U.S. Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni, interviewing the couple for a sympathetic documentary. John Adams, McGuireWoods' lead partner on the USAGM contract, had served as Thomas's law clerk at the Supreme Court.
McGuireWoods' contract
Starting in late 2020, NPR did a series of stories detailing McGuireWoods' activities for USAGM, including the law firm's decision to shed a client that could have impeded its ability to secure the lucrative contract.
The Open Technology Fund, a not-for-profit almost wholly dependent on USAGM for money, had sought free advice from McGuireWoods lawyers on legal matters in spring 2020. In June 2020, Pack decided to take over the fund, to redirect all his agency's subsidies to it, and to fire its leaders and board. He instead wanted to use the money for anti-censorship software tied to Falun Gong. Attorneys for the fund shared sensitive materials with McGuireWoods as they strategized with the firms' lawyers over a potential lawsuit to block the moves.
After reviewing the materials and dragging their feet, senior partners at McGuireWoods cited concerns that the case might be too political, three people with knowledge told NPR, and the firm dropped the technology fund as a client. Pack granted McGuireWoods its contract just weeks later.
In December 2020, Pack unveiled a plan to strip the Open Technology Fund of federal dollars and ban it from receiving any government funds. In so doing, he relied on material from McGuireWoods.
The inspector general's report did not address that element. A complaint to the Virginia State Bar over McGuireWoods' actions toward the Open Technology Fund has not resulted in any action against the firm, according to a review of publicly available records.
Pack's moves drew condemnation internally and externally; the U.S. Congress passed legislation to insulate Voice of America from political meddling and, in one case, a federal judge called Pack's actions unconstitutional.
Pack resigned at President Biden's request just two hours after the new president took the oath of office in January 2021. The new leadership of USAGM embraced the inspector general's findings on Friday. And Biden's nominee for the USAGM CEO position, former Voice of America director Amanda Bennett, still awaits a vote from the U.S. Senate.
Disclosure: This story was reported by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi. Because of NPR CEO John Lansing's prior role as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, no senior news executive or corporate executive at NPR reviewed this story before it was published.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-08-19/trumps-voa-chief-paid-extravagantly-to-investigate-critics-watchdog | 2022-08-19T23:37:08Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-08-19/trumps-voa-chief-paid-extravagantly-to-investigate-critics-watchdog | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (KCAU) — Aaron McCoy is a firefighter and a paramedic in South Sioux City. He created the academy to bridge the experience gap between career firefighters and new volunteers.
According to McCoy, the first academy a few years ago was a hit and they haven’t stopped since.
“Our first academy we ran, at the end of that 12 week academy, they came with us to that house fire and they performed just as well as any of our career staff did,” said McCoy.
During the academy, volunteers work on how to operate and use equipment effectively and quickly and while it is only one day a week for 12 weeks, volunteers are encouraged to spend as much time as they can at the firehouse.
Kolter Lieber is a volunteer at South Sioux City Fire Department. He said memorization is a big part of the job.
“The hardest thing is the mental aspect of there’s a lot of information to retain and be precise,” said Lieber.
Terry Johnson, South Sioux City Fire Chief, said recruits not only need a strong mind for training, but also a strong body.
“Everything we do is physically demanding because our job is physically demanding. When you put on turnout gear that’s an extra 60 to 70 pounds of equipment that you have to wear to go in and fight fires,” said Johnson.
The job is sometimes more stressful than it appears before joining the academy. As a result, some volunteers realize during training that becoming a firefighter isn’t for them.
“I tell people, ‘when you come into the fire service to volunteer, you’re looking at a lifestyle change.’ You’re not looking at just volunteering like you would with any other organization. You’re looking at changing you and your family’s lifestyle. This is a profession, whether you get a paycheck or not it doesn’t matter, this is a profession.”
Chief Johnson said four people are currently enrolled and the goal of the Fire Academy is to make sure when crews show up to a fire, the community will not be able to tell the difference between a career and volunteer firefighter. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/local-news/south-sioux-city-fire-academy-paving-the-way-for-newest-generation-of-volunteer-firefighters/ | 2022-08-19T23:37:55Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/local-news/south-sioux-city-fire-academy-paving-the-way-for-newest-generation-of-volunteer-firefighters/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(KTLA) – Ferris Bueller is getting his own “universe.”
Paramount Pictures is planning a spin-off of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” focusing on two characters whom we barely got to know in the 1986 hit comedy, Variety reported Friday.
Titled “Sam and Victor’s Day Off,” the film will focus on the two valets who took Cameron’s father’s red Ferrari for a spin through the streets of Chicago. Cameron, played by Alan Ruck, had begrudgingly agreed to pick up Bueller’s girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara), in the restored 1961 Ferrari 250 GT “California” after she faked a death in the family to get out of school.
If you don’t remember hearing the names of the valets, you’re in good company. They went unnamed in the movie.
Jon Hurwtiz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald, who created the hit “Karate Kid” streaming series, “Cobra Kai,” are producing the film, Variety reports.
It is unknown if, or how, Ferris Bueller, Cameron or Sloan will make appearances. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/ferris-buellers-day-off-spin-off-reportedly-in-the-works-will-be-an-alternate-story/ | 2022-08-19T23:37:59Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/ferris-buellers-day-off-spin-off-reportedly-in-the-works-will-be-an-alternate-story/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Fed minutes reveal interest rates could remain ‘restrictive’ for some time
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its most recent July meeting, which showed that it will likely need to continue raising rates as inflation remains high.
"In light of elevated inflation and the upside risks to the outlook for inflation, participants remarked that moving to a restrictive stance of the policy rate in the near term would also be appropriate from a risk-management perspective because it would better position the committee to raise the policy rate further, to appropriately restrictive levels, if inflation were to run higher than expected," the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting stated.
The record showed that Fed members reiterated this narrative multiple times in the meeting, saying that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy should be "restrictive."
"Participants noted that expectations of inflation were an important influence on the behavior of actual inflation and stressed that moving to an appropriately restrictive stance of policy was essential for avoiding an unanchoring of inflation expectations," the FOMC minutes stated.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, increased by 8.5% annually in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This was down slightly from the 9.1% increase in June but remains near its 40-year high.
If you are struggling with rising inflation, you could consider taking out a personal loan to help you pay down debt at a lower interest rate, reducing your monthly payments. Visit Credible to find your personalized interest rate without affecting your credit score.
INFLATION HITS 8.5% ANNUALLY IN JULY, MONTHLY RATE REMAINS UNCHANGED
Fed awaits inflation data to determine future rate hikes
Although annual inflation fell in July, the cause behind it is not completely clear. While this could indicate that the Fed’s actions are starting to cool inflation, it could also be based on lower energy costs, experts said.
"While the latest CPI report was encouraging and possibly showing a peak, inflation is being driven by energy volatility, making us skeptical the current numbers represent a trend," Mace McCain, Frost Investment Advisors' managing director and chief investment officer, said in a statement. "Given the Fed’s comments that they are data dependent, they are hoping for additional clarity on inflation and employment before their next rate hike decision."
Other experts agreed that energy volatility is influencing inflation and that the Federal Reserve will likely continue on its current course with raising interest rates.
"While we saw CPI drop to 8.5% last week, down from 9.1%, the US consumer is still showing financial strength at historical levels as well as historically low unemployment levels," Rusty Vanneman, Orion Advisor Solutions' chief investment strategist, said in a statement.
"While these areas of strength are positive for the US economy at face value, this looks more negative through the lens of easing inflation," Vanneman said. "The FOMC noted that headlines such as falling gasoline prices may lower inflation rates in the short term, there is very little evidence that inflation pressures are broadly easing."
If you want to take advantage of interest rates before they rise higher, you could consider refinancing your private student loans to lower your interest rate and monthly payment. Visit Credible to compare multiple student loan lenders at once and choose the one with the best interest rate for you.
HOUSEHOLD DEBT SURGES PAST $16T IN Q2: NEW YORK FED REPORT
Fed could raise rates by up to 75 basis points in September
The FOMC raised rates at its July meeting by 75 basis points in an effort to combat rising inflation. This brought the target range for the federal funds rate to 2.25% to 2.5% and marked the fourth time in 2022 that the Fed raised rates.
Although inflation was slightly lower in July, many economists expect the Fed to continue raising rates in the coming months. But it's unclear if it'll be by 50 or 75 basis points.
"These comments are much more hawkish than dovish, once again, and a 50 to 75 basis point increase in the federal funds rate should be expected at the next Fed meeting, while these increases will only begin to slow ‘at some point' in the future,’" Vanneman said.
If you want to take advantage of interest rates before the central bank imposes another rate hike, you could consider refinancing your mortgage to lower your monthly payments. To see if this is the right option for you, contact Credible to speak to a home loan expert and get all of your questions answered.
Have a finance-related question, but don't know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at moneyexpert@credible.com and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/money/fed-minutes-interest-rates-restrictive | 2022-08-19T23:38:03Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/money/fed-minutes-interest-rates-restrictive | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 10 |
Fed minutes reveal interest rates could remain ‘restrictive’ for some time
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its most recent July meeting, which showed that it will likely need to continue raising rates as inflation remains high.
"In light of elevated inflation and the upside risks to the outlook for inflation, participants remarked that moving to a restrictive stance of the policy rate in the near term would also be appropriate from a risk-management perspective because it would better position the committee to raise the policy rate further, to appropriately restrictive levels, if inflation were to run higher than expected," the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting stated.
The record showed that Fed members reiterated this narrative multiple times in the meeting, saying that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy should be "restrictive."
"Participants noted that expectations of inflation were an important influence on the behavior of actual inflation and stressed that moving to an appropriately restrictive stance of policy was essential for avoiding an unanchoring of inflation expectations," the FOMC minutes stated.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, increased by 8.5% annually in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This was down slightly from the 9.1% increase in June but remains near its 40-year high.
If you are struggling with rising inflation, you could consider taking out a personal loan to help you pay down debt at a lower interest rate, reducing your monthly payments. Visit Credible to find your personalized interest rate without affecting your credit score.
INFLATION HITS 8.5% ANNUALLY IN JULY, MONTHLY RATE REMAINS UNCHANGED
Fed awaits inflation data to determine future rate hikes
Although annual inflation fell in July, the cause behind it is not completely clear. While this could indicate that the Fed’s actions are starting to cool inflation, it could also be based on lower energy costs, experts said.
"While the latest CPI report was encouraging and possibly showing a peak, inflation is being driven by energy volatility, making us skeptical the current numbers represent a trend," Mace McCain, Frost Investment Advisors' managing director and chief investment officer, said in a statement. "Given the Fed’s comments that they are data dependent, they are hoping for additional clarity on inflation and employment before their next rate hike decision."
Other experts agreed that energy volatility is influencing inflation and that the Federal Reserve will likely continue on its current course with raising interest rates.
"While we saw CPI drop to 8.5% last week, down from 9.1%, the US consumer is still showing financial strength at historical levels as well as historically low unemployment levels," Rusty Vanneman, Orion Advisor Solutions' chief investment strategist, said in a statement.
"While these areas of strength are positive for the US economy at face value, this looks more negative through the lens of easing inflation," Vanneman said. "The FOMC noted that headlines such as falling gasoline prices may lower inflation rates in the short term, there is very little evidence that inflation pressures are broadly easing."
If you want to take advantage of interest rates before they rise higher, you could consider refinancing your private student loans to lower your interest rate and monthly payment. Visit Credible to compare multiple student loan lenders at once and choose the one with the best interest rate for you.
HOUSEHOLD DEBT SURGES PAST $16T IN Q2: NEW YORK FED REPORT
Fed could raise rates by up to 75 basis points in September
The FOMC raised rates at its July meeting by 75 basis points in an effort to combat rising inflation. This brought the target range for the federal funds rate to 2.25% to 2.5% and marked the fourth time in 2022 that the Fed raised rates.
Although inflation was slightly lower in July, many economists expect the Fed to continue raising rates in the coming months. But it's unclear if it'll be by 50 or 75 basis points.
"These comments are much more hawkish than dovish, once again, and a 50 to 75 basis point increase in the federal funds rate should be expected at the next Fed meeting, while these increases will only begin to slow ‘at some point' in the future,’" Vanneman said.
If you want to take advantage of interest rates before the central bank imposes another rate hike, you could consider refinancing your mortgage to lower your monthly payments. To see if this is the right option for you, contact Credible to speak to a home loan expert and get all of your questions answered.
Have a finance-related question, but don't know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at moneyexpert@credible.com and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/money/fed-minutes-interest-rates-restrictive | 2022-08-19T23:38:03Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/money/fed-minutes-interest-rates-restrictive | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 10 |
Mortgage rates drop as inflation improves
Rates for the 30-year mortgage dropped slightly this week but remained above the 5% mark, indicating that concerns over inflation may be beginning to wane, according to new data from Freddie Mac.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage registered at 5.13% for the week ending Aug. 18, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. This is a slight decrease from last week when it averaged 5.22% and is significantly higher than last year when it was 2.86%.
Other loan terms also dropped this week. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) decreased to 4.39%. This is down from 4.43% last week and up from 2.43% last year. Similarly, the 15-year mortgage also decreased to 4.55%, down from 4.59% last week and up from 2.16% last year.
"Inflation appears to be beyond its peak, which has stopped the rapid increase in mortgage rates that the housing market was experiencing earlier this year," Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said.
If you are looking to purchase a home or refinance your current mortgage, comparing multiple lenders can help you get the best rate. Visit Credible to find your personalized interest rate without affecting your credit score.
Inflation, other economic factors impact mortgage rates
The decrease in mortgage rates comes against the backdrop of positive economic indicators, rounded out by the latest retail sales figures reported this week. July data from the Commerce Department showed that retail sales rose 0.4% for the month, indicating that consumers are still spending on products and services despite high inflation.
"With gas prices taking a noticeable step back last month, there are expectations that inflation may slowly abate in the second half of the year," George Raitu, Realtor.com's manager of economic research, said in a statement. "In addition, moderating home price and rent growth may further contribute to a slowdown in consumer prices."
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, rose 8.5% annually in July, dropping from 9.1% the month prior, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a monthly basis, inflation remained unchanged after rising 1.3% in June.
The price of gasoline fell 7.7% in July, offsetting increased costs in food and shelter, according to the report. The energy index declined 4.6% over the month, even as electricity costs increased.
Separately, non-farm payroll employment increased by 528,000 in July, according to the latest employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). During this time, the unemployment rate decreased to 3.5%. The job gains were led by increases in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and healthcare.
If you want to take advantage of mortgage rates after this week's decrease, you could consider refinancing your home loan. Visit Credible to compare multiple lenders at once and find your best interest rate.
Mortgage applications tumble
Homebuyers' continued struggle with higher borrowing costs and rising home prices has resulted in a slowdown in home sales and is likely to keep demand for housing muted, according to Khater.
"The market continues to absorb the cumulative impact of the large price and rate increases that led to a plunge in affordability," Khater said. "As a result, over the rest of the year, purchase demand will likely continue to drag, supply will modestly increase, and home price growth will decelerate."
The proof is in lower mortgage application figures. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released data for the week ending Aug. 12 that showed mortgage applications decreased 2.3% from one week earlier. Overall, applications have declined to their lowest levels since 2000, the MBA’s weekly mortgage applications survey said.
However, home price growth has slowed, which could bring some buyers back to the market. CoreLogic predicted that home price growth will slow to 4.3% year-over-year by June 2023.
"If home price growth slows more significantly and mortgage rates move lower, we might see some purchase activity return later in the year," Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said.
If you want to take out a mortgage or get a mortgage refinance, using an online marketplace like Credible can help you compare lenders and save money. If you have any questions, you can also contact Credible to speak to a home loan expert.
Have a finance-related question, but don't know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at moneyexpert@credible.com and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/money/mortgage-rates-inflation-freddie-mac | 2022-08-19T23:38:09Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/money/mortgage-rates-inflation-freddie-mac | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Chicago Fire Department pays tribute to MaShawn Plummer who died last year
CHICAGO - The Chicago Fire Department paid tribute to one of their own on Friday.
Officials joined the family of firefighter and EMT MaShawn Plummer for a ceremony, adding his badge to the Memorial Wall at the Quinn Fire Academy.
Plummer collapsed last December while battling a fire in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. He passed away a few days later.
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Plummer had been on the job for only a year before his death.
Plummer was a member of the Engine 94 Firehouse in Portage Park.
The services Friday also included a brick dedication at the Firefighter Memorial Park at McCormick Place Lakeside Center. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-fire-department-pays-tribute-to-mashawn-plummer-who-died-last-year | 2022-08-19T23:38:21Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-fire-department-pays-tribute-to-mashawn-plummer-who-died-last-year | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Countdown Begins For Humanity’s Return To The Moon
17:12 minutes
NASA’s largest and most powerful rocket ever began inching its way to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday night.
Over twelve years in the making, the long-delayed, over-budget Space Launch System rocket is finally nearing its first chance for liftoff at the end of this month. The August 29th targeted launch will mark the beginning of the Artemis program—NASA’s series of missions designed to send humans to the Moon and, eventually, Mars.
The multi-billion dollar orange rocket now stands taller than the Statue of Liberty, resembling a colossal upside-down carrot. Its maiden uncrewed flight will carry a trio of mannequins equipped with radiation sensor vests in preparation for crewed flights slated for 2024. These future missions will be the first to return people to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
NASA named the program Artemis after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology, but humanity’s journey to the Moon will look a bit different this time around. While Apollo focused on American ingenuity and geopolitical power, Artemis embraces a new level of international and commercial partnership. It also plans to land the first woman and person of color on the Moon.
Ira talks with Dr. Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist at NASA, about the Artemis generation of space exploration.
Want to follow along? Watch a live broadcast of the event through NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Invest in quality science journalism by making a donation to Science Friday.
Jacob Bleacher is the Chief Exploration Scientist at NASA in Washington, D.C.
The transcript is being processed. It will be available the week after the segment airs.
Christie Taylor is a producer for Science Friday. Her day involves diligent research, too many phone calls for an introvert, and asking scientists if they have any audio of that narwhal heartbeat.
Mackenzie White was Science Friday’s 2022 AAAS Mass Media Fellow. Her favorite things to talk about are space rocks and her dog, Rocky.
Ira Flatow is the host and executive producer of Science Friday. His green thumb has revived many an office plant at death’s door. | https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/artemis-first-launch/ | 2022-08-19T23:38:23Z | sciencefriday.com | control | https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/artemis-first-launch/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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