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WELD COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — A Colorado police officer whose patrol car was hit by a train while a woman was detained in the backseat Friday night has been placed on leave, the police chief has confirmed. Investigators said the officer, who hasn’t been identified, stopped 20-year-old Yareni Rios-Gonzalez of Greeley in connection to an alleged road rage incident involving a gun in nearby Fort Lupton. Rios-Gonzalez stopped just beyond a set of railroad tracks on U.S. 85 north of Platteville, with the officer parked behind her on the railroad tracks. When two other officers from Fort Lupton arrived, they detained Rios-Gonzalez on suspicion of felony menacing and put her in the back of the first officer’s car. “While the officers cleared the suspect vehicle as part of the investigation, a train traveling northbound struck the [officer’s] patrol car,” the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in a news release. Rios-Gonzalez was taken to a nearby hospital with unknown injuries. Police initially reported that she had been seriously hurt but was expected to survive her injuries. An update on her condition hasn’t been released. A number of agencies are now investigating the incident, including the Fort Lupton Police Department, Colorado State Patrol, and CBI. Platteville Police Chief Carl Dwyer said Monday that the involved officer is on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues. “The Town of Platteville continues to work cooperatively with CBI and CSP during their investigation regarding this incident,” Dwyer told Nexstar’s KDVR.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/officer-on-leave-after-train-crashed-into-police-car-seriously-injured-detained-woman/	2022-09-21T03:57:28Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/officer-on-leave-after-train-crashed-into-police-car-seriously-injured-detained-woman/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WJW) — You could own your own castle in Cleveland — or at least a home that looks a lot like one. But, you’ll need to act fast. The realtor tells Nexstar’s WJW they’ve already had a “bunch” of offers. The 2,300-square-foot home is gaining popularity and was shared on the Zillow Gone Wild Facebook page. The listing says the home features a “Rapunzel Tower” in addition to stained-glass windows, a massive hearth, and hardwood floors throughout the house. The home was built in 1924 and is located on W. 44th Street, near the Cleveland Zoo. It includes three bedrooms and three bathrooms. “This handyman’s special is truly one of a kind with so much character throughout and so much potential,” reads the listing. “Would make a one-of-a-kind AirBnB experience once it is finished.” This property, which has a price tag of $249,900, is being sold “as is.” The listers are requesting “cash offers” only. If you’re interested, contact David Blond 216-292-4800.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/photos-castle-with-rapunzel-tower-for-sale-in-cleveland/	2022-09-21T03:57:36Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/photos-castle-with-rapunzel-tower-for-sale-in-cleveland/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Britain and the world said a final goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II at a state funeral Monday that drew presidents and kings, princes and prime ministers. Crowds massed along the streets of London to honor a monarch whose 70-year reign defined an age. In a country known for pomp and pageantry, the first state funeral since Winston Churchill’s was filled with spectacle. Royal Navy sailors drew the gun carriage carrying Elizabeth’s coffin to Westminster Abbey. King Charles III and his sons, Princes William and Harry, walked behind as pipers played. Pall bearers then carried the coffin into the Abbey. Around 2,000 people ranging from world leaders to health care workers gathered to mourn her. The funeral drew to a close with two minutes of silence observed across the United Kingdom. Monday has been declared a public holiday in honor of Elizabeth, who died Sept. 8.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/photos-world-bids-farewell-to-queen-elizabeth-ii/	2022-09-21T03:57:44Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/photos-world-bids-farewell-to-queen-elizabeth-ii/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Post Malone apologized to his St. Louis fans Sunday for an on-stage accident that sent him to the hospital and shortened his set the night before at the Enterprise Center. In the middle of a song Saturday, Malone fell into a hole on stage that moments before was opened to lower an instrument into. In a video message posted on Twitter on Sunday, he said the fall, “Got me pretty good.” He said he’d just gotten back from the hospital, where he was prescribed pain medication. “I just want to apologize to everyone in St. Louis,” Malone said. “Next time I’m around this way we’re going to do a two-hour show for you, so we can make up for the couple missed songs.” There should be no implications for the rest of the tour, which continues Sunday night in Columbus, Ohio.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/post-malone-sorry-after-falling-into-hole-on-stage-mid-concert/	2022-09-21T03:57:53Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/post-malone-sorry-after-falling-into-hole-on-stage-mid-concert/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(NewsNation) — During her 1953 coronation, Queen Elizabeth II was anointed by the archbishop of Canterbury and pledged to rule not just according to British Law, but “the laws of God,” in her title, among many, as “Defender of the Faith.” “Her faith was everything, and the fact that she was head of the Church of England, and she was very high on with the Church of Scotland was everything to her,” said Barrie Livingstone, a royals commentator and author. “She really felt the weight of what that meant because you think of millions and millions of people who have the same beliefs. So it’s actually very powerful, and she felt that and she carried it so majestically through to the end,” he continued. In 2016, the queen wrote “The Faith of Queen Elizabeth: The Poise, Grace, and Quiet Strength Behind the Crown,” in which she shares her faith in her own words and details her personal devotion and public service. Livingstone said the greatest part of the queen’s legacy went far beyond her faith, and her protocol and duty were just as important. “To those who said she didn’t do anything, she kept a tight schedule, every 20 minutes during the day someone came through that door, there was a phone call, there was things to sign, there was people to meet with,” he said. “It’s that sense of duty and that strong sense that she was. She was the monarch, and that had to prevail over everything, which is why the sense of duty was so extremely strong,”	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/royals-commentator-on-queen-her-faith-was-everything/	2022-09-21T03:58:01Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/royals-commentator-on-queen-her-faith-was-everything/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(The Hill) – World leaders began arriving in London this weekend to attend the state funeral service of the late Queen Elizabeth II Monday at Westminster Abbey in London. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden were among hundreds of world leaders paying their respects to the monarch as she lies in state. Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska met with the Royal Family as her country’s representative, the BBC reports. Controversial invites were also extended to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, though the BBC reports neither is expected to attend. However, not all world leaders made the invite list. Leaders of these countries will not be joining Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral service. Russia and Belarus Russia and Belarus were both sanctioned earlier this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The U.K. slapped sanctions on Russia as part of efforts by the West to isolate Moscow and hurt the country’s economy. Neighboring Belarus was also targeted because of actions by its leader, President Alexander Lukashenko, to facilitate Russia’s war on Ukraine. A spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry called the lack of an invite for Russian President Vladimir Putin”profoundly immoral,” according to the U.K.’s Sky News. Syria and Venezuela Syria and Venezuela didn’t receive invites because they don’t have full diplomatic relations with the U.K., according to Reuters. The UK closed its embassy in Syria in 2011 and was one of the first countries to recognize its opposition as the legitimate representative of Syria’s people. In 2019, the U.K. joined the U.S. in recognizing opposition figure Juan Guaidó as the leader of Venezuela, refusing to recognize President Nicolás Maduro, who remains in office. Afghanistan The Taliban has struggled to gain any international recognition since its takeover last year, blaming the U.S. for being the “biggest hurdle” to diplomatic legitimacy. The U.K. ambassador to the U.N. said last month that “the situation in Afghanistan remains critical” and that “the human rights situation is stark.” Myanmar The U.K. announced new sanctions against Myanmar earlier this year, part of a coordinated action with the U.S. and Canada to punish the country’s military regime after it took power in a violent coup last year. Ambassadors only: North Korea, Nicaragua and Iran North Korea, Nicaragua and Iran were permitted to send ambassadors, but not their heads of state, according to the Telegraph — meaning North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi are among the uninvited heads of state. The U.K. last year joined with other Western powers to condemn North Korea for its human rights violations and weapons of mass destruction programs, calling the country “one of the most repressive and totalitarian regimes in the world.” In June, the U.K. criticized China and Russia for vetoing new United Nations sanctions on North Korea. After last year’s elections in Nicaragua, the U.K. government condemned the process as “neither free, nor fair” and expressed concern for “the deterioration of political and human rights” in the country. The government sanctioned a number of high-ranking Nicaraguan politicians and officials following the election. The U.K. reports having a “sizeable Iranian population” within its borders and, along with much of the West, has long been wary of Iran’s nuclear operations. The British ambassador to the U.N. in June called Iran’s nuclear situation “a threat to international peace and security.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/these-world-leaders-were-not-invited-to-the-queens-funeral/	2022-09-21T03:58:08Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/these-world-leaders-were-not-invited-to-the-queens-funeral/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(WPRI) — A brand new purple tomato could soon be coming to a produce aisle near you, so long as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave Norfolk Plant Sciences the OK to continue growing its genetically-modified purple tomatoes. Following a review of the tomato, which the company claims was “modified to alter its color and enhance its nutritional quality,” the USDA determined the plant “may be safely grown and used in breeding in the United States.” The USDA also concluded the tomatoes don’t pose “an increased plant pest risk compared to a nonregulated plant.” The purple tomatoes, according to Norfolk Plant Sciences, have increased levels of “flavonoid antioxidants,” as well as the main antioxidant lycopene, which is present in ordinary red tomatoes. The company said “there is evidence that best protection against disease is achieved when both types of antioxidant are present in the diet.” In order for the purple tomato to hit store shelves, it has to be given the green light by the FDA.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/usda-clears-new-genetically-modified-purple-tomato/	2022-09-21T03:58:24Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/usda-clears-new-genetically-modified-purple-tomato/	1	green-iguana-35	null
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Las Vegas Metropolitan Police are investigating reports that a fan struck an NFL player at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday afternoon. A report was taken following a battery call “alleging a spectator at the stadium struck a professional football player” just before 6:30 p.m., but a suspect has not been identified, Metro police said. The alleged incident happened during celebrations of the Arizona Cardinals’ 29-23 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. A video posted on Twitter showed Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, 25, celebrating after the team won by high-fiving fans before he appeared to have been smacked in the face while turning around. Murray then appears to engage in a confrontation with someone in the crowd before walking back onto the field. While police confirmed there was a battery involving a fan and a player at the stadium, they would not confirm who the player was. The investigation is still ongoing, according to police. Cardinals spokesman Mark Dalton referred any questions about the incident to Las Vegas police. Murray was drafted by the Cardinals in 2019 after winning the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma the year before. The Associated Press contributed to this report.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/video-appears-to-show-fan-slap-nfls-kyler-murray-after-game-in-las-vegas/	2022-09-21T03:58:32Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/video-appears-to-show-fan-slap-nfls-kyler-murray-after-game-in-las-vegas/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(NewsNation) — As the November midterm election draws near, voters in several states will be subjected to new laws dictating who, where, and how people may cast their ballots. Proposed voting legislation took off after the most recent presidential election, following former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and widespread voter fraud. Below is a look at voting practices in each state and how today’s political climate is shaping election laws. Vote-by-mail Thirty-five states and Washington, D.C., allow voters to cast absentee mail-in ballots without an excuse. Eight states automatically mail a ballot to every eligible voter even if it isn’t requested, although there may still be an option to vote in person. In the early days of American democracy, people would cast their votes out loud on the courthouse steps, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Paper ballots didn’t become commonplace until the late 19th century. The use of mail-in ballots came under fire during the 2020 presidential election, after the former president claimed an “unprecedented massive amount of unsolicited ballots” would mean the election results “may never be accurately determined.” Voter fraud has proved exceedingly rare. The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004% to 0.0009%, based on studies of past elections. Last year, a federal judge struck down portions of a Florida election law that the judge said suppressed Black voters. The law tightened rules on mailed ballots, drop boxes and other popular election methods, changes that made it more difficult for Black voters who, overall, have more socioeconomic disadvantages than white voters, the judge said in his ruling. Ballot drop-off box Some states provide ballot drop boxes where voters can submit a sealed and signed envelope with their ballot, a practice that became more common in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-three states have specific laws regulating drop-box locations, how many are in each county, hours of operation and security measures. Additionally, 31 states allow someone to return an absentee or mail ballot on behalf of a voter. Those practices were recently challenged in Wisconsin, where a conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled in July that absentee ballot drop boxes may be placed only in election offices and that no one other than the voter can return a ballot in person. Republicans have argued that practice — known as ballot harvesting — is rife with fraud, although there has been no evidence of that happening in Wisconsin. Democrats and others argue that many voters, particularly the elderly and disabled, have difficulty returning their ballots without the assistance of others. Supporters argue drop boxes are a better option than mailing ballots because they go directly to the clerks and can’t be lost or delayed in transit. Voter registration In the U.S., all but one state require citizens to register to vote. North Dakota is the only one without a requirement and instead allows eligible citizens to vote with proper identification. In Wisconsin, a conservative law firm is challenging the use of a federal voter registration form, saying it doesn’t meet the requirements laid out by state law. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty recently filed a lawsuit asking a judge to declare the National Mail Voter Registration Application illegal in the state and order the Wisconsin Election Commission to withdraw its approval for the form because it doesn’t include places to fill in information including whether a voter has been convicted of a felony and how long they have lived in their district. Many states are required by federal law to use the form, which is provided by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, but Wisconsin isn’t subject to such an obligation because the state allows voters to register at the polls on Election Day. Residents can also register online, at their municipal clerk’s office or by mail with a state form, which is available in English, Spanish and Hmong on the election commission’s website. Photo Identification Eighteen states had voter photo identification laws in effect as of this spring, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and 19 states had identification laws that accepted proof other than photos. Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia have some of the most strict photo ID requirements. In Missouri, two groups are challenging a new election law requiring a photo ID to vote. The Missouri League of Women Voters and the Missouri NAACP are suing the state, claiming the law restricts voting rights, NewsNation’s local affiliate KOLR reported. The Missouri law allows people without a government-issued ID (not a voter registration card or student ID) to cast a provisional ballot. That ballot would be counted if they return to the polling location later that day to show a photo ID or an election official can verify the voter’s signature. Those opposed to the requirement have said getting a state photo ID isn’t always easy and cited concerns about voters’ provisional ballots being deemed insufficient. They also argue the new law is a barrier that disproportionately affects voters of color, seniors, voters with disabilities, young voters, and low-wage workers. Proponents of the measure say it helps prevent in-person voter impersonation and increases public confidence in the election process. Opponents say there is little fraud of this kind, and the burden on voters unduly restricts the right to vote and imposes unnecessary costs and administrative burdens on elections administrators. The Associated Press contributed to this report.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/voting-laws-are-changing-heres-how-they-look-in-your-state/	2022-09-21T03:58:38Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/voting-laws-are-changing-heres-how-they-look-in-your-state/	1	green-iguana-35	null
EUFAULA, Ala. (WRBL) – So, it turns out that finding a snake in your toilet is a real – if uncommon – possibility. Great. Friday, police officers in Eufaula, Alabama were called to a home with a slithering surprise. “We never know from one day to the next what kind of call we will receive during our shift. Today was no exception, however, a snake in the toilet wasn’t on our list of possibilities. Day shift removed the unwelcomed visitor and released it to a more suitable habitat,” shared Chief Steve Watkins on the department’s Facebook page. A home’s plumbing includes one or more pipes that vent out of the roof, but a determined snake could also wind up in the toilet in other ways. “They may be looking for water or tracking prey animals that entered leaky pipes,” herpetologist Nicole F. Angeli, a researcher at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, told Inverse. “They could also simply be looking for a nice cool place to hide.” Watkins shared pictures of the residence’s reptile. Turns out it was a harmless Gray Rat snake. Still, a new phobia has been unlocked for this author. “In the snake’s defense, he was just trying to reach the homeowner about their car’s extended warranty,” joked Watkins. Comments on the post had all the emojis and jokes one might expect, but there was something else that caught the eye of a few people – the bowl itself. “I wish I could get my toilet that clean,” one woman remarked. Jokes and clean-toilet compliments aside, the fear of reptilian eyes staring back during a late-night trip to the bathroom is now apparently real for many commenters. One even created a bedtime rhyme that was an instant hit among the other commenters: “Never ever go in the night without turning on the light.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/yes-it-can-happen-snake-finds-its-way-into-toilet-of-alabama-home/	2022-09-21T03:58:45Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/yes-it-can-happen-snake-finds-its-way-into-toilet-of-alabama-home/	1	green-iguana-35	null
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are pumping an unprecedented amount of money into advertising related to abortion rights, underscoring how central the message is to the party in the final weeks before the November midterm elections. With the most intense period of campaigning only just beginning, Democrats have already invested more than an estimated $124 million this year in television advertising referencing abortion. That’s more than twice as much money as the Democrats’ next top issue this year, “character,” and almost 20 times more than Democrats spent on abortion-related ads in the 2018 midterms. The estimated spending figures, based on an Associated Press analysis of data provided by the nonpartisan research firm AdImpact, reveal the extent to which Democrats are betting their majorities in Congress and key governorships on one issue. That’s even as large majorities of Americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction and the economy is in poor condition. The advertising numbers also reveal just how sharply Republicans have shied away from abortion in their paid advertising in the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a decades-long goal of the GOP. (The AdImpact data captures every single time a campaign ad is aired on TV, and estimates a cost associated with those airings.) Since the high court’s decision in June to eliminate the constitutional right to abortion, roughly 1 in 3 television advertising dollars spent by Democrats and their allies have focused on abortion. Much of the spending is designed to attack Republicans on the ballot this fall who have long opposed abortion rights and are currently engaged in a state-by-state push to restrict abortion rights or outlaw the practice altogether. The Democrats’ unprecedented investment in abortion messaging on TV this year through Sept. 18 is larger than the Republican Party’s combined national investment in ads relating to the economy, crime and immigration. “With less than 60 days until the election, we refuse to stand by while out-of-step, anti-choice Republicans try to control our bodies and our futures and simultaneously lie about it to voters,” said Melissa Williams, executive director of Women Vote!, EMILY’s List’s independent expenditure program which has invested more than $4 million in abortion-related ads this year. “We are ensuring that each voter knows the candidates that stand with them and against them in protecting this right.” The Democrats’ overwhelming focus on abortion may not be surprising given the reversal of Roe v. Wade and the wave of Republican-backed abortion bans in more than a dozen states that followed. But the strategy still marks a sharp departure from the party’s focus in recent years on former President Donald Trump and other issues like the economy, education and health care. In the 2018 midterm elections, for example, Democrats spent less than $6 million on abortion-related television advertising. That’s compared to the $51 million that Democrats invested in Trump-related ads, $49 million on health care and $46 million on education, according to AdImpact. Jessica Floyd, president of American Bridge, a Democrat-allied super PAC running abortion-related advertising in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania, described abortion as “the ultimate health care issue” for women and families. The Supreme Court decision and the subsequent Republican push to ban abortion in some states, she said, represent “an actual rolling back of rights, which is unprecedented.” “It’s a very powerful motivator,” Floyd said. “It flies in the face of everything we know voters care about — especially the voters who will decide this election.” Television advertising data reveals that Republicans, too, have invested millions of dollars in abortion messaging. But most of those ads ran during the primary phase of the campaign this spring and summer as Republican candidates touted their anti-abortion credentials. The number of Republican ads aired referencing abortion has gone down each month since May. As the calendar has shifted to the fall general election, the gulf between Democratic and Republican spending on abortion ads has grown even wider. So far this month, for example, Democrats and their allies have aired more than 68,000 ads on TV referencing abortion — more than 15 times as many as their Republican counterparts. They’ve spent an estimated $31 million on such ads compared with the GOP’s outlay of only $2.8 million. That’s even as Republican leaders such as GOP Chair Ronna McDaniel acknowledged in a recent interview that her party cannot allow Democrats to control the narrative on abortion. “It’s very clear that that’s the only thing that Democrats have to run on, right? They don’t run on a good economy. They can’t run on community being safer. They can’t run on education,” McDaniel said. “So what are they going to do? They’re going to make everything about abortion, which means we’re going to have to talk about it as Republicans do.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., irked Republican leaders last week by proposing a national ban on abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy. It was the kind of legislation Republicans on Capitol Hill have supported for several years. But this year, it was viewed as an unwelcome reminder to voters just eight weeks before Election Day that some Republicans in Congress hope to adopt national abortion restrictions if given the chance. McDaniel encouraged Republicans instead to go on offense on abortion by highlighting Democrats’ resistance to any limitations, a position she argued is out of step with most voters. And while Republican leaders and candidates are increasingly making that argument when asked, the party has yet to devote many resources to the issue in the one place most voters hear from GOP candidates: their screens. Democrats, meanwhile, have released a new wave of abortion-related ads targeting statewide Republican candidates across North Carolina, New Mexico, Minnesota, Arizona, Colorado and Florida. Abortion is also a regular topic for state legislative candidates in competitive districts in California and Florida. Republican House candidates are under attack for opposing abortion rights in congressional districts in upstate New York, Connecticut, Michigan and Indiana. In some cases, Republican candidates are being hit with multiple abortion-related ads running simultaneously on their local television stations. One of them is Wisconsin’s Republican candidate for governor, Tim Michels, who has been the focus of abortion-related attack ads from three groups so far this month, including his opponent, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Each of the three ad campaigns features Michels confirming that he opposes abortion rights even in cases of rape or incest. “Is that the divisive radical you want as your governor?” the narrator asks in one ad produced by the Evers campaign. Michels’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment. It’s much the same in Nevada, where Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the nation. This month, at least two anti-Republican groups and the Cortez Masto campaign itself were running abortion-related ads against GOP challenger Adam Laxalt. Cortez Masto’s campaign featured a doctor saying that Republicans are trying to interfere with women’s health care decisions. “For doctors like me, it is our job to make sure women have the support they need to make decisions that are right for them. But Adam Laxalt disagrees,” the doctor says on one ad. In an op-ed last month, Laxalt tried to push back against the flood of abortion-related advertising against him. “Cortez Masto and her allies are spending millions of dollars in campaign ads trying to … make you believe in a falsehood that I would support a federal ban on abortion as a U.S. senator, or that I am somehow ‘anti-woman’ because I value, support and defend life at all stages,” he wrote. “For my entire adult life, I have held the view that the Supreme Court should return the issue of abortion to the people and let them decide the issue on a state-by-state basis.” Abortion has been a big focus in Nevada’s Senate contest so far, but other elections have seen far more abortion-related advertising. The AdImpact data shows that the most TV ads aired this year referencing abortion took place in the Pennsylvania and Arizona Senate races, followed by gubernatorial contests for Illinois, Georgia and Wisconsin. (The now-defeated Kansas constitutional amendment ballot measure, while a unique election, also saw some of the most ads.) Georgia’s Democratic nominee for governor, Stacey Abrams, ran an ad campaign for much of August into September attacking Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, using the words of several women speaking directly to the camera. “He supports a total ban, even if I’m raped, a victim of incest,” the women say. Another woman is almost crying when she says, “Under Kemp, I could be investigated and imprisoned for a miscarriage.” Kemp spokesperson Tate Mitchell pushed back against the accuracy of the ads, charging that “Stacey Abrams and her campaign are lying in an effort to scare people and distract voters from her dangerous agenda for Georgia.” Democrats in several swing states are aggressively leaning in to some leading Republicans’ opposition to abortion exceptions in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother at risk. Cliff Schecter, a veteran Democratic ad maker and founder of Blue Amp Strategies, said Democrats are “messaging much better around abortion” this year. “It’s not just liberal women anymore, or even moderate women. It’s conservative women who are horrified by this,” Schecter said of the new abortion restrictions being implemented across the country. “It’d be malpractice not to focus on it.” ___ Peoples reported from New York.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-ad-spending-shows-dems-hinging-midterm-hopes-on-abortion/	2022-09-21T03:58:53Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-ad-spending-shows-dems-hinging-midterm-hopes-on-abortion/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton is calling on governments, businesses, philanthropies and other prominent institutions to draw together and help a world that is “on fire” as he reconvenes the Clinton Global Initiative, the meeting of international leaders, for the first time since 2016. “Somebody needs to show up and make something good happen,” he said during the conference’s opening public session Monday. “That’s what we’re trying to do.” Interest in the two-day meeting has been so intense that the Clinton Foundation had to turn away more than 1,000 potential attendees. It is convening a spectrum of luminaries, including Jordan’s Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and actor and water access activist Matt Damon. Clinton, president of the United States from 1993 to 2001, said he has been amazed by the massive response. “The world’s on fire in a lot of different ways,” he told The Associated Press in an interview. “But there are a lot of things that businesses, non-governmental groups and governments working together can do to help with a lot of these problems.” The Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, has helped more than 435 million people in more than 180 countries since it was established in 2005. It previously required attendees to create a Commitment to Action, a measurable project that addresses a global issue, though for this first year, everyone will be expected to announce or develop a partnership. Those commitments often unite new partners and encourage cooperation between the public and private sectors. “I think there is a longing for people to get together and meet with an end in mind,” Clinton said in an interview. “Not just talk about it, but knowing that when they walk away, they will have committed to doing something.” Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton calls that “a bias toward action,” which she says is part of what makes CGI special and a catalyst for global change. She said the COVID-19 pandemic has energized interest in public health and addressing health disparities because people outside of the field could see the impact. “Health is interconnected to anything and everything that anyone may care about,” Chelsea Clinton said. “There are a lot of people who now are mobilized to do something with what they have come to newly understand and which they now feel responsible for helping to solve.” Dr. David Fajgenbaum received a standing ovation as he announced plans for his new nonprofit Every Cure, which seeks to find new uses for generic drugs to treat rare diseases. The idea came from his own research to find a treatment for his own Castleman’s Disease, a rare ailment where the immune system attacks vital organs. He said his new nonprofit would work on using generic drugs to treat 106 rare disease initially, a process that would cost 500 times less than developing a new drug. “There would be no greater impact in terms of saving lives,” he said. “As long as I’m alive, we’re going to continue to chase them.” In other commitments, Andrew Kuper, founder and CEO of impact investing firm LeapFrog Investments, announced the firm planned to support 25 million enterprises offering 100 million jobs in developing countries by 2030. Israeli global venture firm OurCrowd announced a partnership with the WHO Foundation to launch a $200 million Global Health Equity Fund that focuses on breakthrough technology solutions in health care. Peter Sands, executive director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said CGI has always introduced his group to new potential partners, something even more valuable after two challenging pandemic years that made access to new donors difficult. “There’s only so much you can do with PowerPoints and Zooms,” Sands said. He is currently in the midst of a fundraising campaign of his own. President Joe Biden will host The Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York on Wednesday, delayed two days so that Biden can attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. However, he now plans to attend CGI and said the gathering has been missed during its hiatus, even though the Clinton Foundation itself has remained active. The initiative convened annually until 2016 during former Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, when questions were raised about the appearance of potential conflicts of interests if donors then had business before her administration. Bill Clinton said the initiative is counting on the special energy of its participants to tackle a growing number of issues. “We’ve got the largest number of migrants since World War II,” he said. “And the most publicity they get in America is when one governor or two turns it into some political issue and tries to make problems for other people. Sensible countries work together and try to figure out the best way to deal with it.” Clinton also hopes CGI can spotlight various solutions that need more support. He points to a study from Generation180, a nonprofit that promotes the use of clean energy. Its research shows some rural schools have installed solar panels to reduce their carbon emissions and their electric bills. The schools then used the savings to give raises to teachers. “The energy is here. The jobs are here. The benefits are here. The kids win,” Clinton said. “That shouldn’t be a political issue.” He says philanthropy can help bust through political and cultural gridlock by showing what can be done. For example, he said that when President Barack Obama proposed hiring 100,000 new STEM teachers and Congress turned him down, philanthropy stepped in to make it happen. “We got the Carnegie Corporation and the American Federation of Teachers and more than 20 other partners together and they said, ‘We will raise the money,'” Clinton said. “Nobody ever thought of that as being a purpose of philanthropy. But it got the job done, and it demonstrated why Republicans and Democrats should cooperate on such things.” ____ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-bill-clinton-the-worlds-on-fire-but-teamwork-can-help/	2022-09-21T03:59:00Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-bill-clinton-the-worlds-on-fire-but-teamwork-can-help/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday in a bid to ease tensions and maintain a fragile ceasefire between the ex-Soviet countries and rivals following the largest outbreak of hostilities in more than two years. Blinken brought Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov together at a New York hotel on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly. It was the foreign ministers’ first face-to-face meeting since two days of shelling last week by both sides killed more than 200 troops. Only Blinken spoke at the start of meeting at which the Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations sat somberly on opposite sides, separated by U.S. officials. “We are encouraged by the fact that the fighting has ceased and there has not been” a resumption of shelling, said Blinken, who has spoken several times to the leaders of both countries. “Strong, sustainable diplomatic engagement is the best path for everyone,” he said. “There is a path to a durable peace that resolves the differences.“ The meeting was held just a day after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Armenia and condemned Azeri attacks, drawing complaints from Baku. Speaking ahead of Monday’s meeting, Bayramov said his country is “satisfied with the level of relations” with the U.S. and said his direct talks with Mirzoyan were not unusual. “We are always open for meetings,” he said. The two Caucasus countries in have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region located within Azerbaijan but that had been long under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Yerevan since a separatist war ended in 1994. During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed broad swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories held by Armenian forces. More than 6,700 people died in that fighting. Armenia and Azerbaijan have each blamed the other for starting last week’s shelling attacks. ___ For more on the U.N. General Assembly, visit https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations-general-assembly.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-blinken-hosts-armenia-azerbaijan-fms-in-bid-to-boost-peace/	2022-09-21T03:59:08Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-blinken-hosts-armenia-azerbaijan-fms-in-bid-to-boost-peace/	1	green-iguana-35	null
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are voting this week on changes to a 19th century law for certifying presidential elections, their strongest legislative response yet to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The vote to overhaul the Electoral Count Act, expected Wednesday, comes as a bipartisan group of senators is moving forward with a similar bill. Lawmakers in both parties have said they want to change the arcane law before it is challenged again. Trump and his allies tried to exploit the law’s vague language in the weeks after the election as they strategized how they could keep Joe Biden out of office, including by lobbying Vice President Mike Pence to simply object to the certification of Biden’s victory when Congress counted the votes on Jan. 6. Pence refused to do so, but it was clear afterward that there was no real legal framework, or recourse, to respond under the 1887 law if the vice president had tried to block the count. The House and Senate bills would better define the vice president’s ministerial role and make clear that he or she has no say in the final outcome. Both versions would also make it harder for lawmakers to object if they don’t like the results of an election, clarify laws that could allow a state’s vote to be delayed, and ensure that there is only one slate of legal electors from each state. One strategy by Trump and his allies was to create alternate slates of electors in key states Biden won, with the ultimately unsuccessful idea that they could be voted on during the congressional certification on Jan. 6 and result in throwing the election back to Trump. “We’ve got to make this more straightforward to respect the will of the people,” said Senate Rules Committee Chairman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., whose committee will hold a vote on the legislation bill next week. The bills are a response to the violence of that day, when a mob of Trump’s supporters pushed past police, broke into the building and interrupted Biden’s certification. The crowd was echoing Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud and calling for Pence’s death after it became clear that he wouldn’t try to overturn the election. Democrats in both chambers have felt even more urgency on the issue as Trump is considering another run for president and is still claiming the election was stolen. Many Republicans say they believe him, even though 50 states certified Biden’s win and courts across the country rejected Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud. While the House vote is expected to fall mostly along party lines, the Senate bill has some Republican support and its backers are hopeful they will have the 10 votes they need to break a filibuster and pass it in the 50-50 Senate. But that could be tricky amid campaigning for the November midterm elections, and Republicans most aligned with Trump are certain to oppose it. The Senate Rules panel is expected to pass the measure next Tuesday, with some tweaks, though a floor vote will most likely wait until November or December, Klobuchar said. Even though they are similar, the House version is more expansive than the Senate bill and the two chambers will have some key differences that lawmakers will have to work out. The House legislation was introduced on Monday by House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, both members of the House panel that has been investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Like the Senate bill, the House legislation would require that there is a single set of electors from each state submitted by the governor. The House bill would also narrow the grounds on which members of Congress could object to any state’s electoral votes and raise the threshold for how many objections would be needed. Currently, the House and Senate each debate and vote on whether to accept a state’s electors if there is just one objection from each chamber. The House bill would require instead that a third of the House and a third of the Senate object to a particular state’s electors in order to hold a vote. The Senate bill would require that a fifth of each chamber object. Two such votes were held on Jan. 6, 2021, after the rioters were cleared, because GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri joined dozens of House members in objecting to Biden’s victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Both the House and Senate voted to certify the legitimate results. Lofgren said the American people should be deciding the election, not Congress. People who wanted to overturn the election “took advantage of ambiguous language as well as a low threshold to have Congress play a role that they really aren’t supposed to play,” she said. The general similarities of the House bill to the Senate version could be a signal that House members are willing to compromise to get the legislation passed. Some House members had criticized the Senate bill for not going far enough. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of both the Jan. 6 and House Administration committees, had said this summer that the Senate bill was not “remotely sufficient” to address the challenges presented by current law. House members know they will have to give in some, though, to pass it through the 50-50 Senate. The bill, which is sponsored by centrist Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Susan Collins, R-Maine., already has the backing from 10 GOP senators. Collins said Monday, “I believe we can work this out, and I hope that we do so.” The bipartisan group of senators worked for months to find agreement on a way to revamp the process, eventually settling on a series of proposals introduced in July. Cheney, a frequent Trump critic who lost her Republican primary in August, told reporters on Tuesday that the House bill was “entirely bipartisan” as her staff worked closely with Lofgren and other Democrats. But it remains to be seen if any other House Republicans will vote for it, as many have stayed loyal to Trump. “We need to take steps that another Jan 6 never happens again,” Cheney said.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-congress-eyes-strongest-response-yet-to-jan-6-attack/	2022-09-21T03:59:15Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-congress-eyes-strongest-response-yet-to-jan-6-attack/	1	green-iguana-35	null
COLUMBUS, Wis. (AP) — Sarah Motiff has voted for Sen. Ron Johnson every time his name appeared on the ballot, starting in 2010 when the Wisconsin Republican was first elected as part of the tea party wave. Fond of his tough views on spending, she began the year planning to support his reelection again. She became skeptical this summer as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection reported his office discussed giving then-Vice President Mike Pence certificates with fake presidential electors for Donald Trump from Wisconsin and Michigan, part of a broader push to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Johnson has downplayed the effort and the certificates were never given to Pence, but Motiff, a political independent, wasn’t convinced. “I’m not going to lie when I say I’ve had some concerns about some of the reports that have come out,” the 52-year-old nonpartisan city councilwoman from Columbus, Wisconsin, said. “It just put a bad taste in my mouth.” Nudged further by the June U.S. Supreme Court decision invalidating a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion, Motiff is opposing Johnson and supports his Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, in one of the most fiercely-contested Senate races this year. “Which was really a hard decision for me because I do think he’s done good things in the past,” Motiff said of Johnson. “But this is pretty damaging.” Motiff’s evolution represents the challenge for Republicans emerging from a tumultuous summer, defined by the court decision, high-profile hearings on former President Donald Trump’s actions during the insurrection and intensifying legal scrutiny of his handling of classified information and efforts to overturn the election. Now, a midterm campaign that the GOP hoped would be a referendum on President Joe Biden and the economy is at risk of becoming a comparison of the two parties, putting Republicans in an unexpectedly defensive position. In politically-divided Wisconsin where recent elections have been decided by a few thousand votes, the outcome could hinge on self-described independent voters like Motiff. “Having former President Trump so prominently in the news in so many ways makes it easier for Democrats to frame the midterm as a choice between two competing futures as opposed to a referendum on the Democrat governance,” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres. “That’s hurting Republicans. It’s distracting from the referendum message and allowing more of a focus on a choice of two different parties.” That tension is playing out in Columbia County, Wisconsin, a constellation of tidy small towns surrounded by rolling dairy farm country, all within commuting distance of Madison. Statewide, top-of-the-ticket candidates have won by barely a percentage point in the past three elections. Trump won Columbia County by a little more than 500 votes out of 33,000 cast in 2020. In interviews with more than a dozen independent voters here over two days last week, many were rethinking their support of the GOP this fall. Steve Gray, a self-described Republican-leaning independent “but never a Trump fan,” opposed the June court decision, because he backs abortion rights. But the 61-year-old school maintenance manager also resented what he saw as an unwelcome political power play by out-of-power Republicans. “Trump stacked the Supreme Court. We all knew he wanted to overturn Roe,” said Gray, of small-town Rio, where Trump won by two votes in 2020. “That decision was a partisan hand grenade Trump threw into this election.” The court decision “upended the physics of midterm elections,” said Jesse Stinebring, a pollster advising several Democratic campaigns. It gave voters the rare opportunity to judge a policy advance backed by the minority party, distracting them from a pure up-or-down vote on majority Democrats, he said. “The backlash from a political perspective isn’t directed at the traditional party in power, but is actually reframed in terms of this Republican control of the Supreme Court,” Stinebring said. The decision made Dilaine Noel’s vote automatic. The 29-year-old data analytics director for a Madison-area business said she had never affiliated with either party. Despite her grievances about Democrats’ warring moderate and liberal wings, her support for abortion rights gave her no choice than to vote for the party’s candidates this fall. “By default, I have to move in that direction,” said Noel, from small-town Poynette in the Wisconsin River valley. “I’m being forced to.” Mary Percifield is a lifelong independent voter who says the abortion decision motivated her to vote Democratic because she worries the court might overturn other rights. “A right has been taken away from us,” the 68-year-old customer service representative from Pardeeville, said. “I question if a woman’s right to vote will be taken away. A woman’s right for birth control.” Independent voters who lean neither Democrat nor Republican nationally preferred Biden over Trump, 52% to 37% in 2020, and preferred Democrats over Republicans in U.S. House races by a similar margin in the 2018 midterms, according to AP VoteCast. Independents who lean neither Democrat nor Republican made up 5% of the 2020 electorate and 12% in 2018. Independents had moved toward Republicans by early this year, seeking answers on the economy, said Republican pollster David Winston, a senior adviser to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. But they have drifted back toward Democrats as efforts by GOP leaders to focus on the economy have clashed with Republican attacks on the Justice Department and Trump’s continuing complaints about the 2020 election. “Everything is suddenly back in the context of Trump,” Winston said in light of Trump’s prominent endorsement of Senate candidates and protests of the federal investigation into classified documents recovered from his Florida home. “It’s not that Democrats are gaining. It’s that Republicans over the summer were off talking about a variety of things. And independents are thinking, ‘If you’re not talking specifically about the problems that I’m concerned about, why am I listening?’” Republicans remain optimistic about their chances in November, particularly about netting the handful of seats they need to regain the U.S. House majority. Inflation remains high and, despite a recent uptick, approval of Biden is still low for a party hoping to maintain its hold on power. The economy remains the most effective message and one that breaks through others, GOP campaign officials say. “Prices and things are so front-of-mind to people,” said Calvin Moore, the communications director for Congressional Leadership Fund, a superPAC supporting Republican U.S. House candidates. “It’s not just something that’s on the news. It’s something they are experiencing every day in their daily life. It’s something they face themselves every day when they go to the grocery store.” A shift by independents is particularly meaningful in Wisconsin, as Republicans work to overtake Democrats’ one-seat majority in the Senate. Johnson, among the most vulnerable Republicans running for reelection this fall, is locked in a tight race with Barnes, Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor. Of the most competitive Senate seats this year, his is the only one held by a Republican. Though Johnson dismissed testimony about fake electors as staff work which never reached him, it reminded Christian Wood, an independent voter from Lodi, of Johnson’s opposition to certifying the election before Jan. 6. Johnson reversed course after the riot. “It’s absolutely scary,” said Wood, who has often voted Republican. “To me that’s the most existential threat to our democracy. And to think he was even considering it makes him a non-starter.” There’s time for an economic message to win out, but it will require news about Trump fading, GOP pollster Ayres said. Meanwhile, Trump has a full schedule of fall campaign travel for candidates he has endorsed. “Any distraction from that focus undermines the best Republican message,” he said. ___ Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-gops-election-year-standing-with-independents-at-risk/	2022-09-21T03:59:23Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-gops-election-year-standing-with-independents-at-risk/	1	green-iguana-35	null
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris visited two historically Black colleges in South Carolina to push for voter registration as she focuses on places and demographics that will be key to Democrats’ chances to hold on to Congress in the midterm elections. In remarks Tuesday to first-year students at South Carolina State University, an Orangeburg HBCU where President Joe Biden addressed graduates last year, Harris highlighted what she characterized as the need for young voters to participate in political pushes to protect voting rights and oppose efforts to restrict abortion. “Once again, your nation turns to you,” Harris said, highlighting the fight for civil rights by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn — a S.C. State alumnus and South Carolina’s lone congressional Democrat — when he was arrested during protests while in his early 20s. “Because to move America forward, we need you. We need your passion, your purpose and your excellence.” The South Carolina trip, Harris’ third to the state as vice president, is part of her increased travel schedule ahead of the midterms. She talked reproductive rights in Chicago on Friday, and she’s heading to Wisconsin on Thursday to speak at the Democratic Attorneys General Conference. Earlier this month, she traveled to Houston for the National Baptist Convention. Harris’ trips are designed to prevent, or at least limit, any drop-off in turnout among voters of color and young people, important parts of the Democratic coalition. Earlier Tuesday — National Voter Registration Day — she participated in a roundtable with students at Claflin University, another HBCU, where she touted the administration’s actions around race and education and emphasized the need to invest in mental health. “We recognize that over the last couple of years through the pandemic, we literally told people to isolate, which means people were literally by themselves,” Harris said. “Suffering from all that the pandemic represented in terms of loss of life, loss of normalcy, for so many people, loss of job. And so the effects of that all still linger in a very profound way.” In South Carolina, which holds the first presidential balloting in the South, Black voters play an outsized role in the Democratic voting electorate. During a June visit to the state, Harris expressed appreciation for South Carolina Democrats, whose key support for Biden in the first-in-the-South primary in 2020 helped turn around his campaign and build momentum in later contests that led to the party’s nomination. Harris’ arrival in South Carolina follows shortly after Biden’s noncommittal response to CBS’ “60 Minutes” when asked if he would run again in 2024. “My intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again,” the president said during a wide-ranging interview that aired Sunday. “But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen.” Biden noted in the interview that declaring his intention to seek reelection would put him afoul of campaign finance laws, which could have complicated spending by the Democratic National Committee ahead of the midterms. White House officials said Biden is continuing to lay the groundwork for a 2024 run. Allies, though, acknowledge that he could always decide against seeking reelection before a formal announcement, which is expected in the first half of 2023. Earlier this year, Biden committed to tapping Harris as his running mate for the 2024 reelection campaign. Her visit comes as Republicans considering White House bids of their own — including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — continue to crisscross the state. Some native South Carolina Republicans have also been testing the 2024 waters. Nikki Haley, who served the state for six years as governor before joining the Trump administration as U.N. ambassador, lives in the Charleston area and has been visiting other early voting states, as has U.S. Sen. Tim Scott. ___ Associated Press writers Chris Megerian and Zeke Miller in Washington and James Pollard in Orangeburg, S.C., contributed to this report. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-harris-returns-to-south-carolina-to-boost-voting-in-midterms/	2022-09-21T03:59:31Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-harris-returns-to-south-carolina-to-boost-voting-in-midterms/	1	green-iguana-35	null
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United Nations said Monday it has finally reached a pledging goal to raise money to remove 1 million barrels of oil from a long-stranded and rusting oil supertanker off Yemen, moving closer toward averting an explosion or leak that could wreak environmental and economic disaster. The U.N. still has to persuade all donors to pay up on pledges for the first, $75 million phase of the emergency removal operation to begin, warned Russell Geekie, a spokesman for U.N. operations in Yemen. The rusting FSO Safer supertanker holds some four times the estimated amount of oil released in the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill that devastated the Alaskan coast. Funding delays and Yemen’s seven-year war have stymied international efforts to start addressing the threat, making the Safer a specter of looming disaster offshore throughout Yemen’s ongoing conflict. The U.N. has led a multinational effort to raise funds to start removing the oil safely. U.S. Yemen envoy Tim Lenderking has been among those pressing for donations. The U.S. this summer cited the threat that coming winter storms could breach the decaying hull. Liesje Schreinemacher, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, announced a new $7.5 million (7.5 million euros) donation from her government during a trip to Yemen over the weekend. “With this contribution, we have now reached the amount needed to start the salvage operation and we can prevent a severe disaster from happening,” Schreinemacher tweeted. The Netherlands, U.S. and Germany plan a news conference Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to announce “the successful funding of the emergency operation” to neutralize the threat from the Safer. “However, now the U.N. needs donors to convert pledges to cash so that work can begin as soon as possible,” Geekie, the spokesman with the United Nations, which is coordinating the effort, told The Associated Press in an email. After the emergency operation, another $38 million will be needed for the long-term safe storage of the oil, the United Nations says. The rusting, neglected Japanese-built tanker has been moored in its location 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) away from Yemen’s western Red Sea port of Ras Issa since the 1980s, when it was sold to the Yemeni government. Documents obtained by the AP in 2020 show that seawater has entered the abandoned tanker’s engine compartment, causing damage to pipes and increasing the risk of sinking. Rust has covered parts of the tanker and the inert gas that prevents the tanks from gathering flammable gases has leaked out. Experts say maintenance is no longer possible because the damage to the ship is irreversible. The United Nations, the United States and other governments, as well as Greenpeace and other international organizations, long have warned that a major release — or explosion — could disrupt global commercial shipping through the vital Bab el Mendez and Suez Canal routes, causing untold damage to the global economy. A major spill would be an environmental disaster as well, devastating the Red Sea and its coastlines. Experts point to potential damage to tourism throughout the region. Local impacts could devastate the fishing industry in impoverished Yemen and potentially close Yemeni ports used for lifesaving humanitarian aid, the international community says.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-un-pledge-goal-reached-for-averting-oil-disaster-off-yemen/	2022-09-21T03:59:39Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/us-politics/ap-un-pledge-goal-reached-for-averting-oil-disaster-off-yemen/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Which sandals for plantar fasciitis are best? The plantar fascia is a long ligament that attaches the heel bone to the ball of the foot. This provides support and connection between the back and the front of the foot. Plantar fasciitis occurs when the ligament becomes injured or inflamed. It can cause debilitating pain. Fortunately, treatment often starts with noninvasive solutions, such as sandals for plantar fasciitis. These offer support and comfort right where you need it. They can improve your symptoms and relieve pain. If you need more arch support in an everyday sandal, the Skechers Go Walk Arch Fit Sandal — Mission is a good choice. What to know before you buy sandals for plantar fasciitis Arch support Pain can be anywhere in the foot, but when it’s located in the arch it can make every step uncomfortable. Plantar fasciitis inserts can provide additional arch support if needed, but the sandals you select should be able to provide comfortable, firm cushioning in the arch without them. Sizing Pay careful attention to the sizing of sandals for plantar fasciitis. You want your sandal to fit comfortably without pinching or sliding. This is especially important during the acute phase when pain is at its worst. Consider also if you plan to wear plantar fasciitis socks for additional support and size up if needed. Material The material affects both the comfort of the sandal and the way it looks. Some common sandal materials include: - Closed-cell ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) foam - Leather - Rubber - Other synthetic fibers Some materials are lightweight and waterproof, while others need more care. If you plan to wear your sandals near the water, avoid leather or any other materials that shrink or stain when they get wet. What to look for in quality sandals for plantar fasciitis Heel straps Sandals without a heel strap are streamlined and sleek, but they can cause the arch of your foot to tighten, making the pain worse. Consider an adjustable strap that helps toes to better grip the shoe to keep it in place. Contoured footbed A contoured footbed is slightly raised at the arch. This relieves pressure from other areas of the foot and can help relieve pain. Cushioned sole Cushioned soles are great for reducing the impact of the ground on the foot. These prevent any further injury and also provide an extra layer of support for the sole. Look for cushioned soles that still have midsole flexibility. Tapered heels Although high heels are not a good choice for plantar fasciitis, sandals with a slightly higher heel take the pressure off the back of the foot. This can help during the most painful phases of the condition. How much you can expect to spend on sandals for plantar fasciitis The price depends on the materials and whether or not the shoes are built to last. Expect to spend $30-$100. Sandals for plantar fasciitis FAQ What are the symptoms of plantar fasciitis? A. Plantar fasciitis is easy to self-diagnose. The main symptoms include: - Pain in the arch of the foot - Pain in the heel - Sharp pain - Limping - Tenderness - Swelling Symptoms may be worse in the morning and decrease with movement. They may also increase toward the end of the day if you are on your feet for long periods. What causes plantar fasciitis? A. Plantar fasciitis is a repetitive motion injury. This means that anything like running, walking or long periods of standing can aggravate plantar fasciitis. Other risk factors for plantar fasciitis include: - Gender: Women are more likely to develop plantar fasciitis. - High BMI: Due to obesity or pregnancy. - Flat feet or high arches. - Tightness in the Achilles tendon. - Tight calf muscles. - Walking on the inside of your feet. - Regular and excessive high-impact exercise. - Wearing high heels. - Wearing flat shoes. Is going barefoot bad for plantar fasciitis? A. For those who enjoy the feel of the floor underneath their feet, the news is not good. Going barefoot can aggravate plantar fasciitis and increase the time it takes to heal. When the plantar fascial is irritated or injured, it needs comfort and support to reduce inflammation. If you are experiencing symptoms of plantar fasciitis, it’s best to wear shoes for the majority of your day. What are the best sandals for plantar fasciitis to buy? Top sandals for plantar fasciitis Skechers Go Walk Arch Fit Sandal — Mission What you need to know: These have podiatrist-certified arch support. What you’ll love: These are hiking sandals that look great for just tooling around town, too. They have a contoured sole, arch support and neoprene fabric edging. Neoprene also lines the adjustable straps to keep them comfortable. They come in three colors. What you should consider: Some people found the strap length was too long and did not adjust tight enough for narrow feet. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top sandals for plantar fasciitis for the money Funkeymonkey Women’s Comfort Slides What you need to know: If you like color in your footwear, these are the sandals for you. What you’ll love: Soft EVA foam molds to the contours of your feet. They are waterproof and washable. They come in 42 colors. What you should consider: These do not have a heel strap, so consider wearing these in places where you might normally go barefoot. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out Crocs Women’s LiteRide Stretch Sandals What you need to know: These comfortable sandals are perfect for all-day wear. What you’ll love: The footbed features signature LiteRide insoles for comfortable support. Stretchy elastic bands around the back of the heel and on top of the foot keep the sandal in place all day. They are available in nine colors. What you should consider: They run narrow and may feel restrictive if you have wide feet. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Dick’s Sporting Goods Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Suzannah Kolbeck writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/best-sandals-for-plantar-fasciitis/	2022-09-21T03:59:47Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/best-sandals-for-plantar-fasciitis/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Which Halloween pajamas are best? While everyone loves dressing up in their favorite costumes for Halloween, that’s only for one night. Taking the love of All Hallow’s Eve to the next level, there is a growing appreciation for relaxing at home all month long in Halloween themed pajamas. Enjoy cuddling up with a blanket, scary movie and hot cider with the best Halloween pajama picks, like the Nite Nite by Munki Munki Halloween Shirt & Pants Set. What to know before you buy Halloween pajamas Sets or separates Halloween pajamas can come in sets or separates, which gives more options to choose from. If deciding on whether you should pick a set or separates like lounge pants or a nightshirt, take note of the following differences. More sets will include sizes for adults and kids and may cost the same as separates. Separates may have more features and details with them, like pockets, buttons and drawstring waist. Footed pajamas Also called the onesie, footed pajamas can be very cozy and perfect for curling up on the sofa. Onesies are meant for cooler temperatures, although some have been made with thinner fleece in order to be more breathable. Fit and style Pajamas usually come in a few styles and fits, those mainly being snug or loose. Kids pajamas should be more fitted and snug with easy to pull on top and bottoms. Adult pajamas can be a mix of both and it depends on preference. For example, separates can be roomier than a set that has pants fitting to the leg with cuffs at the bottom near the ankle. What to look for in quality Halloween pajamas Fabric Pajamas are mostly made out of these three fabrics: cotton, polyester and spandex. Keep an eye out for these fabrics, as well as blends, as they are the most common and tend to be the most comfortable for pajamas. Graphic prints It’s not Halloween without finding a pair of ghoulish pajamas, so definitely have your favorite Halloween characters in mind when you start shopping. From ghosts to pumpkins, just about every spooky creature you can think of will most likely be printed on a pair of pajamas, and some Halloween pajamas may glow in the dark, too. Wearability Pajamas should be so comfortable you’ll want to wear them all day. Some sets and separates can be loose or form-fitting depending on style. Regardless of preference, pajamas’ wearability comes down to the fabric type and fit. How much you can expect to spend on Halloween pajamas Halloween pajamas are relatively inexpensive with costs ranging from $10-$20 for kids, and $20-$40 for adults. Halloween pajamas FAQ How do I keep the print from fading? A. To prevent fading, turn the clothing inside out and wash with similar colors in cold water. Be sure to follow the directions on the pajama tags. If I’m petite, what pajamas should I avoid? A. Avoid buying adult onesies as the sizing might not match your proportions or body type. Look for separates so you can be more precise with the measurements on the size chart. What are the Top Halloween pajamas to buy? Top Halloween Pajamas for men Ekouaer One Piece Footed Pajamas with Hoodie What you need to know: A comfortable onesie perfect for greeting trick-or-treaters What you’ll love: This onesie is fleece lined, with a front zipper closure, hood and two front pockets making it ideal for those cool fall nights. What you should consider: The built-in foot on the pajamas may not match the buyer’s actual shoe size and users mentioned the material being too thin. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top Halloween Pajamas for the money Bioworld Beetlejuice AOP Sleep Pants What you need to know: These pajama pants featuring the cult classic movie will get you into the Halloween spirit. What you’ll love: The Beetlejuice sandworm graphic print on these black-and-white striped pajama pants is a fun nod to the film. The elastic drawstring waistband provides you with adjustable comfort as well as the additional front pockets. What you should consider: These pants may run larger than expected, and the polyester spandex blend is more ideal for lounging rather than sleeping in. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out What you need to know: A festive pair of pants perfect for celebrating Día de los Muertos. What you’ll love: These pajama pants are all-cotton and feature two deep pockets and an adjustable waistband. The graphic design features a vibrant sugar skull pattern. What you should consider: Some users mention issues with sizing and the color fading after washing. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top Halloween Pajamas for women Nite Nite by Munki Munki Halloween Shirt & Pants Set What you need to know: A soft pajama set featuring cute Halloween creatures. What you’ll love: The jersey knit set comes in three festive patterns, and the button down top includes a notched collar paired with elastic waistband pants. What you should consider: The sizing may run small with this set. Where to buy: Sold by Kohl’s Top Halloween Pajamas for the money Ekouaer Short Sleeve Button Down Nightgown What you need to know: An adorably spooky, soft and casual sleepshirt. What you’ll love: This nightgown is roomy and has sizes up to 3XL to fit every body type. The colorful pattern includes all the Halloween character favorites like black cats, ghosts and bats to name a few, buttons and a v-neckline. What you should consider: Users mention issues with the buttons not holding and fabric quality. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out Ekouaer Long Sleeve Pajama Set with Pockets What you need to know: A cozy long-sleeve set ideal for keeping you comfortable while lounging. What you’ll love: The breathable fabric includes two front pockets and elastic waistband on the pants and features pumpkins in a cute graphic print. What you should consider: This product has inconsistencies with sizing, especially with pants, and users also mentioned the fabric being too thin. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top Halloween Pajamas for kids Disney Kids’ Minnie and Mickey Cotton Pajamas What you need to know: A cute and not so scary set suitable for both toddlers and kids. What you’ll love: Long-sleeve pajama set with easy to pull on bottoms with elastic cuffs in the hands and feet in a Minnie and Mickey graphic print. What you should consider: Users mention the fabric and print being poor quality. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top Halloween Pajamas for the money Carter’s 2-Piece Glow Skeleton PJs What you need to know: A fun glow in the dark pajama set your toddler will love to wear. What you’ll love: This all cotton spooky pajama set is form fitting. The skeleton graphic on the set glows in the dark on the fabric. What you should consider: The glow in the dark material is stiff and might be uncomfortable for some. Where to buy: Sold by Macy’s Worth checking out Toddler Carter’s 2 Piece Ghosts Pajamas What you need to know: An adorable pajama set with a ghostly festive print. What you’ll love: The cotton fabric includes a crew neck collar on the top and elastic waistband on the bottoms. The cartoon ghosts on this set will get your kid in the Halloween spirit. What you should consider: Unlike most pajamas for toddlers, these are not flame retardant. Where to buy: Sold by Kohl’s Top unisex Halloween Pajamas RAISEVERN Sweatpants with Drawstring What you need to know: A comfortable pair of joggers you’ll want to wear everywhere. What you’ll love: The deep pockets and soft stretchy spandex fabric give a casual look and feel, complete with a silly dancing skeleton design. What you should consider: The retailer notes that the sizing differs from normal, and buyers should review the size chart from the retailer and order a size up. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top Halloween Pajamas for the money Disney Mickey Mouse Pajama Set What you need to know: This set comes in both adult and kids’ sizes if you are looking for a matching set for the whole family. What you’ll love: Easy pull on bottoms and long sleeve shirt with cuffs at the wrists and pant leg for a snugger fit to give effortless comfort. What you should consider: Some users mentioned that the sizing was incorrect. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out Shelry Children’s Glow in Dark Sleepwear Set What you need to know: A glow in the dark set is great for sleepovers and telling spooky stories. What you’ll love: These pajamas are comfortably fitted with cotton, and there are no tags on the set to prevent irritation against sensitive skin. What you should consider: Reviews mention the fabric does not stretch and the openings are too small. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Shelby Sears writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/bathrobes-pajamas-br/best-halloween-pajamas/	2022-09-21T03:59:55Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/bathrobes-pajamas-br/best-halloween-pajamas/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Which Elmo costume for adults is best? While everyone’s the perfect age to don an adorable Elmo costume, if you were around for the 1996 Tickle Me Elmo craze, then it’s time for you to consider an Elmo Halloween costume for adults. The best ones have a red, fuzzy body with adorable wide eyes, an orange nose and a wide, happy smile. The Elmo Costume for Adults by Generic is a top pick because it delivers all of the above with added features to keep you cool and comfortable. What to know before you buy an Elmo costume for adults Costume options If you are fully committed to the role, you can opt for a head-to-toe Elmo Halloween costume that includes a jumpsuit with a headpiece. If that’s too much for you, a step down would be an Elmo onesie that features his likeness on a hood. If you want an even easier outfit, try wearing an Elmo sweater with a hood. Considerations If you need to match your outfit to your child’s Halloween costume or play a character at a party, feel free to go all-out in a full Elmo costume. However, it would help if you were mindful of your planned activities and the temperature of your destination. Even if it’s not sweltering outside, it can get very hot inside a heavy ensemble. Plan to take a lot of breaks, drink a lot of water and find ways to stay cool. The Elmo onesie and fuzzy red Elmo hoodie make your comfort a lot easier to manage, although they’re far less apt to fool little ones if that’s your goal. Under the full costume If you want to go with the head-to-toe Elmo Halloween costume, it’s a great idea to add a cooling vest under it. The vest will help you stay safe as you enjoy your time in character. Additionally, wearing a pair of moisture-wicking compression pants with a matching shirt will help you manage the heat and stay dry. What to look for in a quality Elmo costume for adults What’s included Full Elmo Halloween costumes include a headpiece that encloses your head, a plush red bodysuit, gloves and foot coverings. While some headpieces boast a built-in fan or ventilation, it is a rare feature you should seek. Elmo onesies are simple but should at very least be made from soft red fleece and feature a hood with the sweet Muppets’ eyes, nose and smile on it. An Elmo costume sweater can be a pullover or a zip-up as long as it’s red, fuzzy and includes a hood with Elmo’s facial features sewn on. Licensing If you want the best Elmo costume adults can buy, get an officially licensed Sesame Street product. Doing so will also ensure that the details on your Elmo costume are accurate and its creators have approved it. Seamless comfort Even if an Elmo Halloween costume looks excellent at first glance, try to find the features that the manufacturer added to help you manage your time wearing it. If it’s a full bodysuit and you will need help getting in and out of it, try looking for one that gives you a front closure. If it includes a headpiece, find out how airflow issues have been addressed. Finally, zippers, buttons and snaps should be hidden and secure. How much you can expect to spend on an Elmo costume for adults Depending on the complexity of your Elmo Halloween costume, you will spend $35-$190. Elmo costume for adults FAQ Are there any other types of Elmo costumes for adults available? A. For those who want more variety, you can get an adorable Elmo costume dress with a matching belt, headband and knee socks. How can you easily adapt your shoes to your Elmo costume? A. To easily adapt your shoes to your costume, try rubber shoe covers that will be equally helpful if it rains. Simply get a red pair to match your costume. What’s the best Elmo costume for adults to buy? Top Elmo costume for adults Elmo Costume for Adults by Generic What you need to know: This costume makes it easier for those who want to sport a full Elmo Halloween costume with a mask and stay safe, cool and dry at the same time. What you’ll love: This is a full Elmo Halloween costume with a fan built into the mask to make the heat more manageable. The jumpsuit is machine washable, the mask is dry-clean only and it comes in sizes S-L. What you should consider: It is not an officially licensed Sesame Street Elmo Halloween costume. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top Elmo costume for adults for the money Elmo Onesie for Adults by Amazing Cosplay What you need to know: This onesie is for those who want a great Elmo costume that is both comfortable and affordable. What you’ll love: This costume is an ultra-soft 100% fleece ensemble that you can wear over your clothes on Halloween and reuse as pajamas the rest of the year. It comes in sizes 2-20, and it’s machine washable. What you should consider: It might not fool a party full of kids, but it is great for a night out with friends. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out Plush Elmo Costume for Adults by The Disguise Store What you need to know: This full Elmo costume with a mask gives you a wide front vent that lets air circulate and boasts a hidden front zipper. What you’ll love: This costume is officially licensed by Sesame Street and includes a plush red jumpsuit with an authentic Elmo headpiece. It opens seamlessly in the front, making it easy to take on and off, and it’s hand washable. What you should consider: It does not include red gloves or shoe coverings, and you need a mask because the facial vent is transparent. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Ella Scott writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/holiday-br/best-elmo-costume-for-adults/	2022-09-21T04:00:02Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/holiday-br/best-elmo-costume-for-adults/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Which holiday cards are best? The time of “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” is coming fast. It’s never too soon to start preparing, and one of the simplest ways to let the important people in your life know you think of them is to send a holiday card. People celebrate different holidays, though, so it’s often easier to get nondenominational holiday cards rather than anything specific. The best holiday cards are the Bluboon 3D Holiday Greeting Cards. Seven designs are included, and they pop up when the card is opened for a little extra pizzazz. What to know before you buy holiday cards Size Holiday cards come in several sizes but the most common are 4 by 6 inches and 5 by 7 inches. This is mainly to keep shipping and postage costs low, and especially to prevent extra charges if you add weight from things such as pictures or gift cards. It also helps prevent a card from looking awkwardly large. Design Holiday cards come in just about any design you can think of. And if you think of it but can’t find it, you can always buy blank cards to create your own designs. That said, there are some common hallmarks in holiday cards, borrowed mainly from Christmas themes such as reindeer, holly and Christmas trees, or even phrases including “Peace and joy.” When it isn’t Christmas-themed, it’s usually winter-weather-themed, with images such as snowflakes, or themed to other holidays, including Hanukkah. Quantity Holiday cards typically come in packs. They can be as small as two or as large as 200-plus. Usually, the more cards included in a package the cheaper each card becomes. If you’re especially frugal, you can buy the largest package size possible, and it can last for years. However, not all cards come in packs. Special and handmade cards are sold individually, but these can be surprisingly expensive. What to look for in quality holiday cards Envelopes The best holiday cards include envelopes. This saves you time and effort, but most importantly, money. Most included envelopes are plain, usually white or brown. However, the best envelopes are just as fancy as the cards inside. Messages Some holiday cards have pre-printed messages, either on the outside, the inside or both. The messages are usually something generic such as “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings,” but they can also be more involved like those on birthday cards. Whether these messages are a good addition or a distraction is up to you. Environmentally friendly If you’re concerned about the potential waste of sending holiday cards, you can find environmentally friendly cards to lessen their effects. This friendliness usually comes from being made of recycled materials, but special plant-based inks are also a possibility. And, if you don’t want to make any impact at all, you can always send e-cards. How much you can expect to spend on holiday cards Most cards come in packs, so it’s best to look at the cost on a per-card basis. Basic cards typically cost no more than 25-50 cents, with better cards costing up to $1. Cards that are sold individually typically cost $1-$10. Holiday cards FAQ Who should I send holiday cards to? A. That’s entirely up to you. Most people send cards to their close friends and family. Others also send some to their colleagues. At the very least, it’s nice to send a card to someone who sends a card to you each year. When should I send out my holiday cards? A. There’s not really a perfect time to send out holiday cards, but there are some general guidelines. The biggest is to start sending out cards shortly after Thanksgiving, usually no more than a week later. This should see the cards arrive with plenty of time to spare. If you want your cards to arrive as close to the holiday being celebrated by the recipient as possible, you need to mail them a few days before that holiday. What are the best holiday cards to buy? Top holiday cards Bluboon 3D Holiday Greeting Cards What you need to know: These are perfect if you want to go above and beyond with your impression. What you’ll love: There are seven cards in the pack, each having a different design, and each design has a matching envelope. Most of the cards are blank for writing in a custom message. What you should consider: Most of the designs are meant for celebrating Christmas rather than being generically winter-themed. They’re heavy, so may need extra postage. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top holiday cards for the money Sustainable Greetings Rustic Holiday Cards What you need to know: This 48-card set is great if you have many cards to send. What you’ll love: It comes with six designs, each having eight cards. Plain brown envelopes are included. The interiors are blank for customization and the 4-by-6-inch size is just big enough for a family photo or a gift card. What you should consider: Most of the designs are Christmas-themed rather than generic holiday-themed. A few customers thought the cardstock used felt cheap. Others didn’t receive the full count of cards. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out Amazon Gift Card in a Greeting Card What you need to know: This greeting-and-gift card combo knocks out two birds with one stone. What you’ll love: There are three Hanukkah and 16 Christmas or generic holiday themes to choose among. The gift card can have any denomination between $10-$2,000. You can include a custom message at no extra cost and you can ship the card directly to your intended recipient. What you should consider: Only Amazon gift cards are available. The customized message is printed on the packing slip, not inside the card. Some cards arrived damaged. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Jordan Woika writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/holiday-br/best-holiday-cards/	2022-09-21T04:00:10Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/holiday-br/best-holiday-cards/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Which Halloween underwear for men is best? Halloween is no longer a holiday meant just for kids. It has become a month-long celebration of haunted houses, hayrides, corn mazes and more. Homes are lit up like it’s Christmas and there are monster movie marathons on every channel and streaming service. To celebrate, you can buy all kinds of themed clothing, even Halloween underwear! The Nightmare Before Christmas Men’s Boxer Shorts is a top choice for Halloween underwear for men. It is well made, washes easily and has a fun design that features Jack Skellington and Sally from the popular film. What to know before you buy Halloween underwear for men Types of men’s underwear When purchasing men’s underwear, there are four different types you can buy: briefs, trunks, boxer briefs and boxers. Briefs: This is the smallest and most supportive style of underwear, a “Y” design with no legs. Trunks: Trunks are similar to briefs, except they have a very short leg. Boxer briefs: This type of underwear is the go-to underwear for many men. It is a cross between boxers and briefs that provides support and has longer legs. Boxers: While boxers offer the most coverage, a relaxed fit and breathability, this type of underwear does not provide support and can bunch up under tighter pants. Types of underwear While everyone may have a personal preference, certain types of underwear are better suited for different body types. Slender build: The best underwear for an individual with a more slender build are briefs, trunks or boxer briefs. Fit build: An individual with a fit or muscular build can usually wear any type of underwear. Wide hips: The best underwear for an individual with wide hips are trunks or boxer briefs. Large waist: An individual with a large waist will do best when wearing boxer briefs or boxers. Cotton vs. polyester The materials used in the manufacturing of men’s underwear can make a big difference in how the underwear wears and feels. The two main materials are cotton and polyester. Cotton underwear: Cotton underwear is comfortable, highly breathable and can help regulate your body temperature. On the downside, cotton wrinkles easily, dries slowly and is prone to shrinking. Polyester underwear: Since polyester is a synthetic material made from petroleum, it is not as environmentally friendly as cotton and doesn’t absorb sweat as readily either. On the plus side, polyester is durable, dries quickly, is stretchable and easy to wash. What to look for in quality Halloween underwear for men True to size At the very least, underwear will not be comfortable or offer support if it doesn’t fit right. At the worst, you won’t even be able to put them on. Because of this, it is important to check reviews before purchasing to make sure other consumers feel that the product fits true to size. Design While festive underwear isn’t a full Halloween costume and not many people will be seeing it, the design should be something you like. Whether it is zombies, spiders, a character from a favorite movie or just a festive color, there are quite a few options when it comes to purchasing Halloween underwear. Make sure you get a design that expresses your individuality. Quantity If you’d like more than one option, look for a Halloween underwear set for men. These offerings will provide a selection of two or three holiday-themed options. How much you can expect to spend on Halloween underwear for men Halloween underwear for men costs roughly between $10-$20 per pair. Halloween underwear for men FAQ How do I wash Halloween underwear for men? A. Every article of clothing features a care tag. This tag gives you concise instructions on how to care for your garment. These instructions should supersede any of the following information. In general, however, you will want to wash undergarments in cold to warm water. If your underwear is excessively dirty, you may need to pretreat it. When drying, use the lowest possible setting on your dryer, as the heat will shrink your underwear. Alternatively, to ensure they last longer, you can hang your underwear up to dry, but this will lead to a stiffer feel. How often do I need to wash Halloween underwear for men? A. Because underwear is against body areas that are prone to sweating, it should be washed after each and every wear, at the very least. If you do not remove and wash your underwear each day, the sweat and oil that sit on your skin will create an offensive odor, clog your pores and increase your risk for irritation and infection. What’s the best Halloween underwear for men to buy? Top Halloween underwear for men Nightmare Before Christmas Men’s Boxer Shorts What you need to know: A must have for fans of Disney’s “Nightmare Before Christmas.” What you’ll love: These comfortable boxer shorts come in small, medium, large, X-large and XX-large. They are made using high-quality 100% cotton fabric and have double-stitched hems, an elastic waist and an open fly. To clean, simply wash using cold water. What you should consider: Some users did not like the baggy feel of these boxer shorts. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top Halloween underwear for men for the money What you need to know: If zombies are more your style, these affordable novelty boxer briefs feature a frighteningly fun undead design. What you’ll love: Manufactured using 92% polyester and 8% spandex, these horror-themed briefs feature three attacking zombies. The material is stretchy for a comfortable fit and will not fade after washing. These briefs are available in small, medium, large and X-large sizes. What you should consider: This unisex underwear does not feature a fly. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out What you need to know: These comfortable boxer briefs offer a few features not typically found in other novelty underwear. What you’ll love: These boxer briefs are manufactured using 100% polyester. They are soft, breathable and have a four-way stretch construction that allows them to move in every direction. The double-layer U-pouch provides extra support in sensitive areas. These briefs are available in small, medium, large and X-large sizes. What you should consider: These briefs are a bit smaller than some prefer. To remedy the situation, it’s best to buy a size larger than your regular underwear. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Allen Foster writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/holiday-br/the-best-halloween-underwear-for-men/	2022-09-21T04:00:17Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/holiday-br/the-best-halloween-underwear-for-men/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Which Halloween bed sheets are best? Bed sheets might not be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to Halloween decorations. However, they can be a clever and unique way to get in the spooky spirit. Halloween bed sheets often feature pumpkins, witches’ hats, black cats, skeletons and monsters. You can find them in all sizes, including for children’s beds. The best Halloween bed sheets are the Litter Star Halloween Bed Sheets which feature pumpkins, ghosts, skulls, bats, eyeballs and black stars. This set comes with a bedsheet, duvet cover and pillowcases. What to know before buying a Halloween bed sheet Halloween themes There’s no mistaking the symbols of Halloween. From ghosts and monsters to pumpkins and bats, there are tons of themes from which to choose. Halloween bed sheets can feature all kinds of themes, depending on what you like most. The most common one is a mashup of all of the symbols of Halloween together. These sheets will have all-over prints with pumpkins, brown leaves, ghosts, bats and witches. They’ll also come in the classic Halloween colors of orange, black and white. TV shows and specials There have been so many popular TV shows and made-for-TV specials over the years that represent Halloween. One of the most popular is the Peanuts special, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” Even though this show was released in 1966, it still airs today and remains a tradition in many households. You can find several bed sheets from the show, including Snoopy, dressed as a mummy, and Snoopy and Woodstock decorating a pumpkin. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” bed sheets feature the classic Walt Disney World ride, The Haunted Mansion. Halloween colors Like Christmas, Halloween has very distinct colors. Orange and black are the two main colors that represent this yearly “scarefest.” If you want to take a more straightforward approach to your Halloween bed sheets, look for plain colored sheets. For example, you can purchase an orange duvet cover for your comforter and use black pillowcases and bed sheets. You can turn things up a notch by buying some Halloween-inspired accent pillows as well. What to look for in a quality Halloween bed sheet Size options The best quality sheets will come in a variety of sizes. After all, you’ll likely have more than one size for adults, teens and children in a household. Some sets include twin, full, queen and California king sizes, including flat sheets, bed sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers. Halloween twin bed sheets are ideal for kids. You can find full sets with cartoon-style Halloween decor on pillowcases, bed sheets and duvet covers. 100% cotton When it comes to bed sheets, cotton is the top choice. The best sheets are always 100% cotton. Microfiber and polyester certainly have their benefits. They are far less expensive, but their level of comfort and durability can’t compete with cotton. You should also keep in mind thread count. Anything above a 400-thread count will be considered comfortable, but ideally, you want to get in the 600 to 800 thread count range. Complete sets Several pieces make up a bed sheet set. First, you have the elastic fitted sheet that hugs the mattress. Next, you’ll sometimes have a flat sheet that goes under the duvet. However, the flat sheet is often excluded because it’s the least important piece. Sets also come with two pillowcases and a duvet cover. For Halloween bed sheets, you want to make sure each piece has the same pattern. This will keep the entirety of the set looking complete and not as though you pieced together different designs. How much you can expect to spend on Halloween bed sheets Halloween bed sheets cost $33-$115, depending on the size and thread count. Halloween bed sheets FAQ How long will the elastic last on a bed sheet? A. The elastic on a high-quality bed sheet should last up to three years. Be sure to check the manufacturer’s instructions for washing because too much stress can cause the elastic to become weak. How often should you wash bed sheets? A. It’s best to wash your bed sheets once per week. This is ideal for removing hair, dead skin and dirt from in between the weaves. This will also help prevent your fitted sheet from getting a dark area where your body normally lays. This comes from not washing them enough and allowing dirt to build up and cause stains. What are the best Halloween bed sheets to buy? Top Halloween bed sheet Litter Star Halloween Bed Sheets What you need to know: Get more than just a bed sheet with this Halloween-inspired set covered in symbols of the spooky season. What you’ll love: Complete with a soft duvet cover, two pillowcases and a bed sheet, this Litter Star set comes in twin, full, queen and California king. It’s made with 100% polyester and has an all-over print featuring pumpkins, ghosts, eyeballs, skulls and black stars. What you should consider: This set does not include a comforter. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top Halloween bed sheet for the money Lunarable Haunted Mansion Flat Sheet What you need to know: This may just be one single flat sheet, but its design more than makes up for the lack of set pieces. What you’ll love: This cartoon-inspired flat sheet is colored from top to bottom, featuring a drawing of a haunted mansion in the moonlight. The mansion itself is all black, with yellow light shining through the windows. The swirling night sky hangs above with black bats and stars. What you should consider: This is not a set and does not come with any other pieces. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out Berkshire-Blanket-Home Peanuts Snoopy Halloween Sheet Set What you need to know: What you’ll love: This set is made with microfiber polyester making it very breathable, lightweight and cool to the touch. Snoopy is shown in a variety of mummy outfits and poses, ready for the Halloween season. It also comes in full size, making it great for a kid’s Halloween bed sheet set. What you should consider: The elastic is less than strong, which may cause the sheets to sag over time. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Jordan Beliles writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/bed-bath-br/bedding-br/best-halloween-bed-sheet/	2022-09-21T04:00:25Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/bed-bath-br/bedding-br/best-halloween-bed-sheet/	1	green-iguana-35	null
A charcuterie board is a sophisticated way to serve a variety of foods If you are searching for a unique way to serve appetizers or light fare at your next get-together, you may want to put together a charcuterie board. Charcuterie consists of meats, cheeses and other foods presented on a serving board. It is easy to prepare, doesn’t require cooking and is often served with wine. In addition to including foods that are perfect for fall and satisfying to guests, you’ll need a few items to make your charcuterie board a success. The CTFT Cheese/Charcuterie Board and Knife Set, Amazingware 8-Inch Porcelain Plates and the Oster Rechargeable Wine Opener are three of 10 items we reviewed in this article. The meaning of charcuterie The term charcuterie is French and refers to meats that are cured. Because they are pre-cooked and preserved, they are served cold. Bacon, pate, sausage, ham and other preserved meats and cold cuts are commonly included on a charcuterie board. Putting together a charcuterie board While a charcuterie board centers around different types of cooked, cold meats, there are other foods to include that complement each other. Cheeses, nuts, olives, pickles, fresh and dried fruits, raw vegetables, jams, jellies, spreads, sauces and dips are popular items to include. Crackers or bread are often added to accompany the other foods. When choosing foods for fall, it’s best to opt for those with bold flavors in an array of rich colors to fit the season. However, you can customize your charcuterie board with any items you prefer to fit you and your guests’ preferences. Arranging the items on a serving platter is key to creating an attractive and appetizing appearance. There are no set rules to designing charcuterie delicacies, but slicing foods in different thicknesses and shapes and alternating them in various ways will create a beautiful board. Choosing a wine to go with your charcuterie board is also a matter of preference. As a rule of thumb, red wine such as merlot or cabernet sauvignon pair nicely with a fall charcuterie board. Products you’ll need for a charcuterie board The key component of a charcuterie board is a board designed for serving different types of food. Models that are ideal for this purpose may be referred to as serving or cheese boards and are typically made of wood such as bamboo that’s sustainable and simple to clean. Boards that are stone are also available. Both natural materials add to the character of serving charcuterie. You can also use various serving platters and trays made of other materials. One of the most important factors to consider is size. The serving board you choose should be large enough to fit enough food to serve all of your guests. When putting together charcuterie fare, you’ll need a sharp chef’s knife to slice the food for the board and a wine opener for the wine you plan to serve. Serving the food requires utensils and a few kitchen tools. These include small forks, spoons, knives and cheese cutters. Some charcuterie boards come with these utensils, but you can also purchase them separately. Flatware will come in handy for guests to use as they indulge in the meats, cheeses and more. Small dessert-size plates, napkins and wine glasses will complete the charcuterie board experience. Top items you’ll need for a fall charcuterie board CTFT Cheese/Charcuterie Board and Knife Set This bamboo board is one of our favorites for its spacious surface and accessories, including cheese picks, cheese knives and two small ceramic bowls. It also has two side drawers and a removable plate that’s made of slate. Sold by Amazon Bambusi Cheese/Charcuterie Board and Knife Set Made of bamboo, this board comes with useful tools for hosting an event with a charcuterie board. It includes a wine opener and cheese knives that fit neatly in the on-board drawer. Prep and Savour Cheese Board/Charcuterie Platter Set A large design, cheese tools and two drawers make this model ideal for accommodating numerous types of foods for a charcuterie board. It’s made of durable bamboo and comes with a slate plate. Sold by Wayfair Linwnil 12-Piece Charcuterie Utensil Set Not all charcuterie boards come with utensils. This set has the tools you’ll need at your next gathering, including spoons, forks, cheese knives and a cheese fork. Sold by Amazon Ruvanti Multi-Color Cloth Napkins These cloth napkins are made of a durable cotton-polyester blend that holds up well to repeated laundering. They are available in a choice of colors. Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8-Inch Chef’s Knife Although it’s available at an affordable price, this knife is strong and easy to sharpen. It features a handle that’s easy to grip and resists slipping during use. Amazingware 8-Inch Porcelain Plates These small plates are 8 inches in size, which is perfect for serving food from a charcuterie board. The set includes six plates made of porcelain with eye-catching patterns. Sold by Amazon Lenox Portola 65-Piece Flatware Set Crafted by a top manufacturer, this sleek flatware set comes with 65 pieces, including 12 place settings and a hostess set. The pieces are made of 18/10 stainless steel and are backed by a lifetime warranty. Oster Rechargeable Wine Wine Opener This wine opener easily opens bottles, as it’s powered by a rechargeable battery and has a simplistic design that’s straightforward to operate. It looks great too. Sold by Amazon Schott Zwiesel Pure Light-Bodied Red Wine Glasses, Set of 6 Some wine glasses are ideal for serving red wine, like this set of six features a shape that allows the wine to breathe. They are crafted of crystal that’s notably clear and durable. Sold by Sur la table Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Jennifer Manfrin writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/entertaining-br/how-to-host-with-the-perfect-fall-charcuterie-board/	2022-09-21T04:00:40Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/entertaining-br/how-to-host-with-the-perfect-fall-charcuterie-board/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Which fall tumblers are best? As the leaves begin to change and the crisp autumn breeze makes its way through the trees, many people can’t wait to cozy up with a warm cup of coffee, hot cocoa or mulled apple cider. As the day goes on, however, our beverages don’t stand up to the cool night air, and a tumbler is the perfect solution. Insulated tumblers maintain the temperature of your beverage so you can sip slowly without losing that warm, cozy feeling. One of the top picks to keep liquid hot on cool days or nights is the CamelBak Horizon 12-Ounce Tumbler. What to know before you buy a fall tumbler Benefits of a tumbler Temperature retention: This is the main reason most people purchase a tumbler, and for good reason. Due to quality insulation, most tumblers keep beverages hot or cold throughout the day so you can enjoy some warm apple cider without it cooling down as you sit by the fire. Spill resistance: Most tumblers have carefully crafted lids with varying levels of spill resistance, allowing you to sip as you walk without risk of spilling on your flannel. Eco-friendly: Most coffee cups are single-use. With a tumbler, you can either skip the coffee shop altogether, or ask your favorite barista to make your drink in the tumbler itself and avoid the single-use cup. Economical: More coffee brought from home means fewer lattes, thus saving money on coffee. Many coffee shops also offer discounts if you bring your own cup. Types of tumbler insulation The best tumblers are well insulated, and insulated tumblers usually come in one of three methods: air insulation, foam insulation and vacuum insulation. Air insulation: This type of tumbler has an air-filled space between the inner and outer walls of the tumbler, helping to maintain temperature and prevent condensation. Air-insulated tumblers usually keep drinks hot for two hours and cold for four hours. Foam insulation: These tumblers have a layer of foam between the inner and outer walls to keep heat from transferring in or out, and typically maintain hot drinks for three hours and cold drinks for up to six hours. Vacuum insulation: This insulation type maintains beverage temperature with an airless gap between the inner and outer walls of the cup. The vacuum method is the most efficient at temperature control, keeping drinks hot for up to 12 hours and cold for up to 16 hours. What to look for in a quality fall tumbler Size You typically can find tumblers ranging from 8-30 ounces in capacity. The size you choose depends on how many servings you want to take with you. Eight to 10 ounces is about one serving of coffee, 12-16 ounces is two servings, 18-20 ounces is about three servings, and anything more than 20 ounces typically has at least four servings. Material Most tumblers are made from either plastic or stainless steel. Plastic: A fall tumbler made of this material is less expensive than steel and easier to clean in a lot of cases, but it usually is less durable, less effective at maintaining temperature and sometimes can absorb the flavors of the beverages put in them. If you opt for a plastic tumbler, try to find one with a stainless steel interior wall so the temperature is maintained and you don’t pick up unwanted odors. Stainless steel: This material is reliably better at maintaining temperature. Tumblers that use stainless steel for both the inner and outer walls outperform tumblers with only one stainless steel wall. Stainless steel is more durable and shatter-proof than plastic, doesn’t absorb flavors and maintains temperature very well. However, stainless steel usually is more expensive and often can’t go in the dishwasher or microwave. Ease of use/cleaning Since you’ll be using your tumbler throughout the day, you want it to be easy to use. Keep an eye out for lid mechanisms you can maneuver with one hand so you can sip on your autumn beverage while you drive. Also keep an eye out for tumblers you can put in the dishwasher. If you opt for a hand-wash-only tumbler, keep an eye out for ones with larger openings so you can easily reach inside for thorough cleaning. How much you can expect to spend on a fall tumbler Tumblers vary widely in price, but you can expect to spend $5-$70. For less than $16, you’ll find small plastic or stainless steel tumblers that hold no more than 10 ounces. For $10-$25, you’ll find tumblers that hold 12-20 ounces. Large plastic tumblers can be found for less than $20, but large stainless steel tumblers cost $25-$75. Fall tumbler FAQ Can you heat up your beverage by putting your tumbler in the microwave? A. Not usually. Stainless steel is never safe to put in the microwave. Some plastic tumblers are microwave safe, but be sure to check manufacturer instructions. Why would you want a tumbler that doesn’t have a handle? A. While it can be annoying to drink out of a tumbler that doesn’t have a handle, they can be beneficial for your daily commute. Most tumblers with handles don’t fit in car cup holders, so tumblers made without handles usually are designed to fit in cup holders. What are the best fall tumblers to buy? Top fall tumbler What you need to know: Made from a trusted brand, this tumbler provides quality durability and temperature control in a variety of colors perfect for any season. What you’ll love: Double-walled with stainless steel, this vacuum-insulated tumbler is tapered to fit in cup holders and features a spill-resistant lid. What you should consider: The lid is not leakproof. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Top fall tumbler for the money IRON FLASK Classic Hot/Cold Tumbler What you need to know: Colorful and feature-packed, this tumbler has everything you could want at an affordable cost. What you’ll love: Designed to keep hot drinks warm for four hours and cold drinks cool for up to 16 hours, this double-walled insulated tumbler has a sleek design that fits most cup holders. It comes with hot and cold straws as well as brushes to clean each straw. The company offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. What you should consider: It is hand-wash only. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Worth checking out Yeti Rambler 30-Ounce Insulated Tumbler What you need to know: The top of the line in temperature control, Yeti provides this stainless steel tumbler in a variety of colors. What you’ll love: Made from insulated stainless steel, this tumbler holds the temperature of your beverage for hours and features a unique lid designed to strike the perfect balance between ease of use and leak resistance. This tumbler is dishwasher safe. What you should consider: It is expensive. Some users experienced lid leaks. Where to buy: Sold by Amazon Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Collette Bliss writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/water-containers-accessories-br/best-fall-tumbler/	2022-09-21T04:00:48Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/water-containers-accessories-br/best-fall-tumbler/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Which Halloween face paint kits are best? Buying a quality face paint kit is one of the best ways to customize a Halloween costume. The best Halloween face paint kits include paints that are nontoxic and are easily applied. The top choice for a kit that contains paint that goes on effortlessly is the Blue Squid Paint Kit for Kids – 22 Colors. Other Halloween face paint kits offer hypoallergenic formulas for young children and those with sensitive skin, and some are formulated to be stronger and sweat-resistant so they won’t deteriorate and lose their vivid coloring if they come in contact with water. Here is a breakdown of the best Halloween face paint kits on the market. What to know before you buy a Halloween face paint kit Starter Halloween face paint kits For casual face painting on Halloween, a starter kit should do the trick. Basic Halloween face paint kits come with a few colors, brushes or sponges and may even contain glitter. The paint in a starter kit will either be water-based, oil-based or alcohol-based. Professional Halloween face paint kits Face painting for a large group will require a professional Halloween face painting kit. Professional Halloween face painting kits contain higher-quality paints, brushes and accessories than starter kits and carry a higher price tag. A professional Halloween face painting kit may also include stencils, glitter gel and detailed guide books to execute specific makeup looks. Sensitive skin Face paint that is worn on the skin for prolonged periods prevents the skin from breathing and may irritate sensitive skin. Since paint pigment is designed to cover the skin, it can also get stuck in pores, which leads to acne, rashes and other skin irritation. Water-based paints are considered the best for sensitive skin. The water-based paint formula washes clean with soap and water. Though water-based face paint will not offer the best coverage or brightest colors, it also causes the least skin irritation. What to look for in a quality Halloween face paint kit Glitter Loose craft glitter should never be used with Halloween face paint. Insead, purchase cosmetic glitters formulated with special ingredients that are nontoxic and safely stick to skin. Avoid use of glitter around the eyes, nose or mouth to decrease the likelihood of ingestion or skin irritation. Face paint crayons Face paint crayons offer highly saturated colors with either water-based or oil-based paints. Before purchasing, double check that face paint crayons are nontoxic and select brands that are hypoallergenic if skin sensitivity is an issue. Oil-based face paint crayons are formulated to last longer than water-based face paint crayons due to the highly saturated coloring. Keep in mind, however, that oil-based face paints are not recommended for sensitive skin or young children. Oil-based paint crayons are also more difficult to remove from the skin than water-based paint crayons. Halloween face paint brushes The most common Halloween face painting brush, often included in starter kits, is a synthetic round brush. This brush can be used for detailed line work such as swirls. Face paint sponges are recommended to apply makeup to larger areas that do not require detail. Then a face paint brush is the ideal choice to fill in detail over the sponge-painted areas. Halloween face paint sponges Face paint sponges are flexible enough to reach the various crevices of the face that need to be covered by Halloween makeup. The triangular sponge is a popular shape for evenly applying Halloween face paint. While it is difficult to do detailed lines, shapes and symbols with face paint sponges, they are the best tool for broad makeup coverage. Sponges are also a useful tool to apply paint over stencils. How much you can expect to spend on Halloween face paint kits A standard Halloween face paint kit will cost between $15-$25, depending on makeup palette size and how many accessories are included. Halloween face paint kit FAQ What are glitter tattoos? A. A complement to face painting, a glitter tattoo is a sparkling temporary tattoo that is made with a stencil template. Body glue and color glitters are applied to the skin to produce a glitter tattoo that lasts until it’s removed with mineral oil or baby oil. How long does face paint last? A. The majority of face paint manufacturers indicate unopened paint has a shelf life of 36 months. It is recommended that once face paint is opened, it should be used within 18 months. What’s the best Halloween face paint kit to buy? Top Halloween face paint kit Blue Squid Face Paint Kit for Kids – 22 Colors What you need to know: A large and inclusive paint kit with 22 washable face paints, 24 reusable stencils, 100 gems, hair chalk pens, body glitter, brushes, sponges and a design booklet. What you’ll love: Cosmetic-grade face paint that is hypoallergenic and paraben-free, which is ideal for young children and those with sensitive skin. What you should consider: This water-based paint wears off easily from sweat and rain. Where to buy: Amazon Top Halloween face paint kit for the money Face Paint Kit for Kids by Zenovika What you need to know: Specially designed for both children and adults, this large kit includes 15 face paints, 60 reusable stencils, brushes, sponges, glitter, hair chalk and an instructional booklet. What you’ll love: The makeup is easy to apply, and the instructional booklet breaks down complicated looks into easy-to-follow steps. What you should consider: This water-based paint offers thinner coverage than oil-based paints. Where to buy: Amazon Worth checking out What you need to know: Face painting crayons for Halloween makeup, body paint, sporting events and festivals. Face painting crayons are best for those who can freehand designs without stencils. What you’ll love: The crayons have broad tips that produce consistent and smooth paint strokes. They can also be firmly gripped and do not break easily. What you should consider: Due to their tip size, crayons are not ideal for painting small details. Where to buy: Amazon Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Elizabeth Foley writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/tools-br-lawn-garden-br/arts-crafts-br/best-halloween-face-paint-kit/	2022-09-21T04:00:55Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/tools-br-lawn-garden-br/arts-crafts-br/best-halloween-face-paint-kit/	1	green-iguana-35	null
What are the best backyard water toys for kids? While summer is one of the most wonderful seasons of the year, parents have the challenging task of entertaining kids. Our tester is a mom of two elementary-aged children, so limiting screen time during the summer and getting them outdoors is always a top priority. Luckily, the promise of playing with refreshing water toys is always a sure way to get the kids outside. Since the summer aisle at any store is overflowing with options, we wanted to see which backyard water toys are best for kids of all ages. So, we tested three unique water toys: Bunch O Balloons Instant Water Balloons, Water Bomb Splash Balls and Bestway H2O GO! Blobster Giant Splash Mat. Here’s what we found. What are Bunch O Balloons Instant Water Balloons? Kids will never experience the nostalgic task of slowly filling up and painstakingly hand-tying hundreds of water balloons in the backyard, thanks to Bunch O Balloons. These self-sealing rapid-fill water balloons come in bunches of 35 that all fill simultaneously. Simply attach a hose to the O-ring on each bundle and shake the balloons loose when they’re full. As a bonus, the stems and caps are made from 100% recycled plastics, while the balloons are made from natural rubber derived from plants. Our experience with Bunch O Balloons Instant Water Balloons Water balloons always elicit joy from kids young and old, so we were intrigued by this unique mechanism and appreciated its small size. The package claims to fill 100 balloons in 60 seconds, which our tester found to be fairly accurate. For instance, it took us less than 30 seconds to fill each bunch of 35 balloons. The best part is the fascinating and reliable self-sealing technology, allowing the full balloons to slide right off. They could even be used with a water balloon launcher for more fun. Based on our experience, we recommend Bunch O Balloons to anyone looking for backyard fun, even those without kids. No technical knowledge is involved, and it truly does take about a minute to prepare 100 water balloons. It’s important to note that a hose is needed to fill the Bunch O Balloons, as an outdoor fixture or sink won’t work. The only downside is that these balloons seem to be made of thinner material than individual water balloons. As a result, most balloons pop on contact or if they’re accidentally dropped. However, since they’re so effortless to fill, we didn’t mind losing a few fallen balloons. Where to buy Bunch O Balloons Instant Water Balloons Bunch O Balloons are available on Amazon. What are Water Bomb Splash Balls? Water Bomb Splash Balls are designed for those who want the water balloon experience without the hassle of cleaning up. One package comes with 12 self-sealing silicone balls in various colors. To play with the Splash Balls, users dunk them in a bucket of water for rapid filling, throw them at a target and repeat. They’re a pain-free way to have a water balloon fight. Our experience with Water Bomb Splash Balls When we received the Splash Balls, they were oddly shaped but seemed to be made of a durable material that would last through many summers. The best part about the Splash Balls is that they’re actually quite soft and don’t cause any pain when they hit a person, making them safe for old and young kids. Unfortunately, we did have an issue keeping them filled. The self-sealing tab rarely closed completely, so the water would fall out while holding or in midair. We ended up carrying them at a certain angle with the self-sealing tab at the top to prevent water from draining out. For this reason, our tester doesn’t recommend the Water Bomb Splash Balls to those looking to have a serious water fight. However, they make a fun pool toy, as they can be refilled easily. Also, the environmental factor is a huge plus. Those who want to be eco-friendly may want to opt for these Splash Balls over water balloons. Where to buy Water Bomb Splash Balls Water Bomb Splash Balls are available on Amazon. What is the Bestway H2O GO! Blobster Giant Splash Mat? The Bestway H2O GO! Blobster Giant Splash Mat is a combination of a slip ‘n’ slide, splash pad and water blob, allowing kids to slide, lay down or bounce. One end of the Blobster is a small pool with sprinklers, while the rest is designed to be a 15-foot long slip ‘n’ slide and water blob. It holds up to 238 gallons of water. Our experience with the Bestway H2O GO! Blobster Giant Splash Mat Our first thought after opening the H2O GO! Blobster was that it’s much bigger than anticipated — in a good way. Our tester could fit up to four children on it at a time. Despite its size, however, it folds up very compactly once it’s dry, which is handy for storage. The kids enjoyed the ability to play on it and get wet or stay dry by turning off the sprinklers. Even when the Blobster is dry, the water in the blob still feels cool and refreshing on a hot day. There were a few issues with the Bestway H2O GO! Blobster. Our tester noticed the first obstacle when setting it up, where they discovered that the splash mat has to be put on completely flat ground, or it will topple over itself. Because it has to be on flat ground and is only wet on one side, it’s nearly impossible to use the Blobster as a slip ‘n’ slide. Also, it took us almost two hours to fill it up, so don’t expect to use the splash mat immediately. Overall, we enjoyed the H2O GO! Blobster and had fun doing gymnastics or trying to walk on the blob. However, we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for a lawn water slide but rather to use as a fun water mat in the backyard. Where to buy Bestway H2O GO! Blobster Giant Splash Mat Bestway H2O GO! Blobster Mat is available on Amazon. Other products worth considering Kids young and old will enjoy this splash pad, which provides a shallow pool and sprinklers to run through. It’s 60 inches in diameter and fits several children at once. Sold by Amazon Max Liquidator 6-Pack Water Blaster Set While they look like pool noodles, these water blasters will suck up water to shoot at any opponent. They float in the pool or can be used with a bucket of water. Sold by Amazon Nothing is better than a slip and slide in the backyard on a hot day. This option is 20 feet long and has sprinklers along the entire slide. Sold by Amazon Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Bre Richey writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money. Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/outdoor-toys-br/backyard-water-toys-review-fun-water-toys-to-help-kids-beat-the-heat/	2022-09-21T04:01:11Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/outdoor-toys-br/backyard-water-toys-review-fun-water-toys-to-help-kids-beat-the-heat/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols could make this a milestone week for home runs. Judge hit two more Sunday, raising his season total to 59, two shy of Roger Maris’ American League record. Now the slugger returns to Yankee Stadium, where New York plays its next six games. Pujols, meanwhile, is somewhat improbably closing in on the 700-homer mark after hitting 12 since the start of August. Judge’s pursuit of Maris has stirred debate over how to put this AL record in context, should he break it. He’s unlikely to threaten Barry Bonds’ major league record of 73, but that mark, as well as the exploits of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa around the same time, have become complicated by performance-enhancing drug suspicions. There’s one way in which Judge likely will surpass both Bonds and Maris, no matter how many more homers he hits. Right now, he has an incredible 20-homer lead over Kyle Schwarber, who is second in the majors. Nobody has led baseball in homers by at least 20 since Babe Ruth finished with 54 in 1928 and nobody else had more than 31. Maris led the majors by only seven when he hit 61, and Bonds led by nine when he hit 73. Judge is also in the mix for the AL Triple Crown — he’s leading big in homers and RBIs and just one point behind batting leader Luis Arraez — but that won’t sort itself out until closer to the end of the season. The 42-year-old Pujols, who is retiring at the end of the season, is trying to become the fourth major leaguer to reach 700 homers, following Bonds, Hank Aaron and Ruth. Unlike Judge, he won’t be going for his milestone at home this week. St. Louis’ next eight games are on the road against the Padres, Dodgers and Brewers. CUTTING IT CLOSE Is it possible the Padres won’t even make the playoffs after pulling off the blockbuster trade for Juan Soto? San Diego holds the second wild card in the National League at the moment, but the Padres are only a half-game ahead of Philadelphia and 2 1/2 ahead of Milwaukee. San Diego is 24-20 since the start of August for a .545 winning percentage — after going 57-46 (.553) before that. Soto has hit only .221 since joining the Padres. San Diego did win the last three games of a series with Arizona, with Soto hitting his first homer this month Sunday. TRIVIA TIME Who is the most recent player to lead the majors in home runs by double digits? LINE OF THE WEEK While Schwarber is second in the majors in home runs with 39, Houston’s Yordan Alvarez is second to Judge in the AL with 37. He homered in his first three at-bats Friday night in the Astros’ 5-0 victory over Oakland. Honorable mention: In that same game, Justin Verlander came back from the injured list for Houston and threw five no-hit innings before being removed. COMEBACK OF THE WEEK It’s actually a double dose this week. On Tuesday night, Texas trailed Oakland 7-2 in the fifth inning before rallying for an 8-7 victory. Mark Mathias homered twice, including a solo shot in the ninth to win it. The Athletics had a 94.8% chance to win in the fifth inning, according to Baseball Savant. The next night, the script was flipped. Oakland beat Texas 8-7 after the Rangers were up 5-1 after four. The win probability for Texas peaked at 93.2%. The A’s completed their comeback with two runs in the top of the ninth, with the go-ahead run coming in on an error by shortstop Corey Seager. TRIVIA ANSWER Jose Bautista hit 54 home runs in 2010, finishing 12 ahead of Pujols. ___ Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-62-and-700-judge-pujols-closing-in-on-home-run-milestones/	2022-09-21T04:01:18Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-62-and-700-judge-pujols-closing-in-on-home-run-milestones/	1	green-iguana-35	null
A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces look to be a safe bet to win a few more WNBA titles over the next several years, a realization that can’t be ignored even though they haven’t had very much time to celebrate their organization’s first championship. “I think we found ourselves in this league where everyone has their standard of how they’ve won, and we are creating that,” Wilson said not long after the franchise won its first title on Sunday with a 78-71 victory against Connecticut in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. “Our journey is just beginning.” The Aces have several of their core players signed to deals that will keep them in Las Vegas for the next few years. None is bigger than Wilson, who has already won two MVPs and is entering her prime at just 26 years old. She also was named defensive player of the year for the first time too this season and will be the centerpiece in which the Aces hope will be a title defense next year. Las Vegas will be attempting to do something that hasn’t been done in the WNBA in 20 years. No team has won consecutive championships since the Los Angeles Sparks did it in 2001 and 2002. “You see it. You see it,” Wilson said. “This is what we’re building. This is what we’re doing. This is it. I’m so happy right now.” Wilson has been the face of the franchise since she was drafted No. 1 by the Aces in 2018. She led the team to the WNBA Finals in 2020 before they were swept by Seattle. Now she has a WNBA championship to go along with a NCAA title she won while starring for South Carolina as well as an Olympic gold medal. Besides their MVP, other key players the Aces have signed for the next few seasons included WNBA Finals MVP Chelsea Gray and backcourt mate Kelsey Plum. “Knowing that we have commitment for next season is special,” Gray said. “We’re doing it for each other and it’s created a bond.” That bond starts at the top with Las Vegas Aces owner Mark Davis. He’s invested heavily in the team on and off the court since he bought it in 2021. He lured Becky Hammon from the NBA by making her the first WNBA coach to have a $1-million-a-year contract and is building a brand new practice facility. “In Vegas, we are trying to build a culture that players want to come and take part in something special, something bigger than themselves,” said Hammon, named coach of the year as she led the Aces to the title in her first year. Hammon became the first rookie coach to win a WNBA championship. She knows the history of the franchise, starring as a player from 2007-14. The team was swept in the 2008 WNBA Finals. Now the organization is celebrating a championship. “I don’t know, it’s actually hard to put into words right now,” Hammon said. “A little surreal. You know, when I took the job in December, I thought when I started kind of breaking down their rosters that I could do something with it. I had a vision of what I wanted to do with this team.” Hammon’s vision culminated with a title this year and there could be more on the horizon. ___ More WNBA playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-playoffs and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-aces-poised-to-capture-multiple-wnba-tiles-with-wilson-gray/	2022-09-21T04:01:26Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-aces-poised-to-capture-multiple-wnba-tiles-with-wilson-gray/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills cornerback Dane Jackson suffered a neck injury in a collision with a teammate on Monday night and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Jackson had full movement in his limbs, but coach Sean McDermott didn’t have an update beyond that on the player’s condition following a 41-7 win over the Tennessee Titans. McDermott said he has a brief chat with Jackson in the stadium tunnel before the ambulance left for the hospital. “You go from being a coach to just being a human when I’m out there watching him getting loaded into the ambulance. That’s a real moment,” McDermott said. “Just praying for him. It’s an unfortunate situation but we’re praying for him and hopefully we get some more (updates) here soon.” Bills safety Jordan Poyer said Jackson informed him he was all right during a text exchange following the game. Jackson was hurt late in the second quarter against the Tennessee Titans. He tackled receiver Treylon Burks from behind following a 12-yard catch. As Jackson lay on Burks’ back, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds dived in late and struck his teammate directly in the helmet. Jackson’s neck snapped back following the collision. After the play, Titans running back Hassan Haskins pulled Jackson off Burks. Jackson lay face down and pounded the turf with his right arm. The game was delayed for nearly 10 minutes as team doctors attended to Jackson, who was moving his legs. He was then moved onto a stretcher and into an ambulance and driven off the field. Jackson is a third-year player who began the season starting in place of Tre’Davious White, who continues to recover from a left knee injury he suffered last year. ___ More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-bills-dane-jackson-driven-away-in-ambulance-after-hit/	2022-09-21T04:01:42Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-bills-dane-jackson-driven-away-in-ambulance-after-hit/	1	green-iguana-35	null
MADRID (AP) — With a goal and a dance, Real Madrid’s young Brazilian forwards made a statement against racism in soccer this weekend. With their samba-like moves after a goal in the derby against Atlético Madrid on Sunday, Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior made it clear they are not backing down from the racist language from their critics or by the racist chants from the opposing fans. “Dance wherever you want,” Vinícius wrote on Twitter in a message directed at Rodrygo after Madrid’s 2-1 win at Atlético in the Spanish league. “White and BLACK dance,” Rodrygo posted not long afterward, along with the photo of the young Brazilians celebrating together. Rodrygo had just scored Madrid’s first goal in a derby whose buildup had been surrounded by controversy over Vinícius’ recent goal celebrations. Vinícius, who is Black, was upset when a guest on a television sports talk show used racist language to criticize his dances. The 22-year-old Brazilian, who is set to make it to his first World Cup in November, said his actions on the field were “being criminalized,” and that his success as a Black Brazilian man in Europe was “annoying” to some. The controversy continued just before Sunday’s match as online videos showed some Atlético fans outside the Metropolitano Stadium chanting “Vinícius is a monkey.” “This (derby) was even more special because of everything that happened during the week, and we answered on the field,” Rodrygo said. Some Atlético fans threw objects toward Rodrygo and Vinícius as they celebrated the goal near one of the corner flags. The talk show where Vinícius was criticized for “acting like a monkey” had apologized by saying the expression was “unfortunate” but not racist, because it said those words are normally used in Spain to talk about someone doing “silly” things. Madrid had issued a statement supporting Vinícius and condemning racism, and coach Carlo Ancelotti also defended Vinícius, although he also contradicted the Brazilian by saying he didn’t think there was that type of racism in Spain. It wasn’t the first time Vinícius was subjected to racist taunts, though. It happened last year during a “clásico” against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. There were also cases against other players, including Athletic Bilbao’s Iñaki Williams. Among those who came out to publicly support Vinícius was Pelé and current Brazil forward Neymar, who told Vinícius to “keep dancing.” The duo’s celebration on Sunday was widely shared online and was praised by many in Brazil and Latin America. Some players in Europe also showed their appreciation. There will certainly be more of the same going forward. “I repeat it to you racist: I will not stop dancing,” Vinícius said. “Whether at the Sambódromo, at the Bernabéu or wherever.” MADRID’S MOMENTUM With the win over Atlético, Madrid remained the only perfect team to start the season in the top five European leagues. “We wanted a start like this before the international break,” Ancelotti said. “It’s an unusual season because of the World Cup and nobody really knows what’s going to happen. Things can change very quickly.” Madrid is being closely followed by a revamped Barcelona team, which has won five straight after opening with a home draw against Rayo Vallecano. The only other Spanish team with at least five wins is Real Betis, which defeated Girona 2-1 at home on Sunday. Betis rival Sevilla — fourth last season behind Atlético, Barcelona and Madrid — is struggling with only one win, while Atlético has three victories from its six matches. Almería, Valladolid, Cádiz, Espanyol and winless Elche are the teams closest to the bottom of the standings. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports ___ Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-by-dancing-rodrygo-and-vin%C3%ADcius-make-stance-against-racism/	2022-09-21T04:01:57Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-by-dancing-rodrygo-and-vin%C3%ADcius-make-stance-against-racism/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — If the Buffalo Bills are making some sort of loud statement by opening their season with consecutive routs, quarterback Josh Allen isn’t about to raise his voice. As he did following a 31-10 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, Allen dismissed questions about the message the Bills sent by throttling the Tennessee Titans 41-7 in Buffalo’s home opener on Monday night. “When we execute how we know we’re supposed to execute, success typically leads to success,” Allen said. “We’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves.” It made no difference to Allen whether the Bills earned some vindication against an opponent that had defeated them in each of the past two seasons. “It doesn’t matter who it’s against. Like, that’s a good team that we played,” he said. “For us to go do that was great.” Allen threw four touchdown passes, including three to Stefon Diggs, and the Bills’ defense did the rest, containing Derrick Henry and the Titans. Buffalo forced four turnovers, including linebacker Matt Milano returning the second of Ryan Tannehill’s two interceptions 43 yards for a touchdown. Buffalo never trailed and blew the game open by outscoring the Titans 24-0 in the third quarter. The surge began in the final minute of the second quarter when Buffalo went ahead 17-7 on Allen’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Diggs. Allen topped 300 yards passing for the 15th time of his career, completing 26 of 38 attempts for 317 yards, and sat out the entire fourth quarter. Diggs had 12 catches for 148 yards. He has exceeded 100 yards in each of his first two games, a feat accomplished previously for the Bills only by Hall of Famer Andre Reed. “It was a lot left on the bone, really,” Diggs said with a shrug. “We had a lot of points. I think we had one punt and I think it came back to us. But just doing your job, and at this point we’re doing OK I guess.” The Titans, coming off a 21-20 season-opening loss to the New York Giants, opened 0-2 for the first time since 2012. The two-time defending AFC South champions face numerous questions about a defense that gave up 313 yards passing a week after allowing 238 yards rushing. Meantime, their offense mustered 187 yards, managed 12 first downs and had two of 11 drives finish in Bills territory. “We got our (butts) kicked, plain and simple,” coach Mike Vrabel said after the most lopsided loss in his four-plus seasons coaching the Titans. “They outplayed us and they outcoached us, and that’s the definition of it. We’re going to go back to work and try to figure out how to win a football game.” While Tannehill was benched after throwing his second interception, the Titans’ Henry-led running game continued to be grounded. The two-time rushing champion was limited to 25 yards on 13 carries while scoring on a 2-yard plunge. “I pride myself on making plays and being a playmaker for this team. And I didn’t do that tonight,” Henry said. “They were the better team tonight in all three phases, the whole game. We just weren’t good enough. At all.” Injuries affected both teams, the most serious involving Bills cornerback Dane Jackson, who hurt his neck in a troubling collision with a teammate and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. The Bills said Jackson had full movement in his limbs. Coach Sean McDermott said Jackson was still awaiting test results. The entire Bills team gathered around Jackson as he was loaded into an ambulance on the field. “You go from being a coach to just a human. That’s a real moment,” McDermott said. “Just praying for him. It’s an unfortunate situation.” Tannehill finished 11 of 20 for 117 yards and was benched following Milano’s interception with 3:49 left in the third quarter. Rookie Malik Willis took over, and if Tannehill continues to struggle, Tennessee fans will want to see more of the young backup. Vrabel stressed he benched many of his starters to protect them from getting hurt. REMEMBERING SHOOTING VICTIMS Bills Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith asked fans for a moment of silence before the game to honor the memory of 10 people killed in shooting spree at a Buffalo supermarket in May. “We stand united with the victims and the victims’ families,” Smith said. “No one can erase their pain and suffering. But Buffalo, your acts of love and kindness will never be forgotten,” he added. “The national media, the national activists have all gone. But we are here right now. It is up to us to love these families. To be with them.” INJURIES Titans: LT Taylor Lewan did not return after hurting his right knee in the first quarter. … RB Trenton Cannon did not return after hurting his right knee on the opening kickoff. … LB Ola Adeniyi hurt his wrist. … LB Bud Dupree hurt his hip. … The Titans elevated receiver Josh Gordon from their practice squad some three weeks after he signed with the team. Bills: S Micah Hyde sustained a neck injury. … Milano did not return because of what was termed a stinger. … DT Jordan Phillips hurt his hamstring. … No. 2 WR Gabe Davis was inactive after hurting his ankle in practice on Saturday. … DTs Brandin Bryant and C.J. Brewer were elevated from the practice squad to fill in for injured starter Ed Oliver (ankle) and backup Tim Settle (calf). UP NEXT Titans: Host the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Bills: At the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. ___ More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-diggs-scores-3-tds-for-bills-in-41-7-rout-of-titans/	2022-09-21T04:02:05Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-diggs-scores-3-tds-for-bills-in-41-7-rout-of-titans/	1	green-iguana-35	null
GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Rory McIlroy likened it to landing in a “jungle” when his drives veered off line. Europe captain Luke Donald pointed to the thickness of the grass blades. U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick said the rough was simply “penal.” If there was one major takeaway from the just-concluded Italian Open at the Marco Simone club outside Rome that will host next year’s Ryder Cup, it was that the course is being set up to reward accurate tee shots with narrow fairways surrounded by nasty rough and even higher grass beyond. Coming off a record loss to the United States at Whistling Straits last year, Donald is enlisting the help of the golf course to try to reduce the gap to the big-hitting Americans. “We certainly want to put a premium on getting the ball in the fairway,” Donald told The Associated Press after Sunday’s final round, confirming plans to narrow the fairways even further. “It’s not going to be any narrower than a U.S. Open or anything like that — I think there’s plenty of width out here,” he said. “But some of (the holes) have a little bit too much width in areas. So if you want to take and hit driver, you can, but it’s going to narrow up.” At Whistling Straits, where the Americans won 19-9 for the biggest margin of victory since continental Europe became part of the Ryder Cup in 1979, the rough was trimmed to a maximum of four inches. By contrast, some of the high grass at Marco Simone reached up past players’ knees. “I think the tougher the test, the better it is for us,” said Europe vice captain Edoardo Molinari, the team’s analytics expert. Added McIlroy: “If you get it going off line here off the tee it’s very, very difficult. The rough is incredibly thick and there’s sort of jungle outside of that if you get a play way off line.” “(The Americans) are very good from 150 in, so try to set the golf course up so it’s a challenge to get your tee shots within that range,” McIlroy said. “By forcing people to play more conservative off the tee, I think that helps the Europeans a little bit.” It wasn’t just the rough that provided a challenge. Changing weather each day brought heat, rain and wind before Sunday’s near-perfect conditions. “Some of these guys who are likely to be in the Ryder Cup team next year would have seen everything this week,” said Donald, who took over the captain’s duties from Henrik Stenson last month after the Swede was stripped of the honor for joining the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf circuit. “That’s good that they’ll be very prepared.” None of the likely Ryder Cup members for the U.S. team showed up. Donald himself, who finished 13 strokes behind surprise winner Bob MacIntyre, learned a few lessons himself when he hit the wrong ball after a poor tee shot on the driveable par-4 16th on Friday and then lost a ball in a tree on 13 on Sunday. “I had a adventurous week,” he said. McIlroy, who finished two strokes back in fourth, fell out of contention Sunday when he hit into the water on 16. Fitzpatrick, who lost in a playoff to MacIntyre, was on course for victory until he found the rough on the par-3 17th and bogeyed the penultimate hole for the third time in four tries. Fitzpatrick then again drove into the rough on the first playoff hole, enabling MacIntyre to snatch his first win in nearly two years — and only the second of his career. A smooth-swinging Scot from the whisky town of Oban, MacIntyre plodded his way around the hilly course by consistently hitting the greens — never anything too spectacular — and recorded the lowest round of the week on Sunday with a 7-under 64. “For me, it’s pretty simple. If you hit it where you aim, you’ll do alright,” the 26-year-old lefty said. “Thankfully today for the majority of it, I aimed it well, I hit it all right and the putter worked.” From Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, 2023, Marco Simone will become the third venue in continental Europe to host the Ryder Cup after Valderrama in Spain (1997) and Le Golf National in France (2018). MacIntyre’s performance in the second week of the Ryder Cup qualification period may have given him a spot on next year’s team. “I played with Bob last week in Wentworth,” Donald said. “Looks like a strong player, a strong mind — he looks very fearless on the golf course, which you’ll need in a Ryder Cup. It’s a pressure packed situation.” On the eve of the tournament, Donald and many of Europe’s top players like McIlroy, Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Francesco Molinari ate dinner together. “We obviously play a very individual sport most of the time. But one week out of every two years, we try and come together as a team and unite,” Donald said. “And having those dinners helps with that.” Edoardo Molinari said the menu included “pasta, prosciutto and mozzarella” and that “nearly everyone enjoyed a glass of wine.” Donald hopes more elite players will check out Marco Simone in May when the next Italian Open is contested. “As many eyeballs or potential players come over and get a feel for this place, the better,” he said. “I know the schedule is tough and it’s busy and jam packed, but I’ll certainly be encouraging them to try and make the trip.” ___ More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports ___ Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-europe-ryder-cup-captain-donald-has-a-plan-for-beating-us/	2022-09-21T04:02:12Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-europe-ryder-cup-captain-donald-has-a-plan-for-beating-us/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The last Presidents Cup was so close the International team walked away with renewed hope that it had enough game and enough fight to conquer the mighty Americans. That now seems so long ago. Sure, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Presidents Cup back a year. Far more disruptive was the Saudi-funded LIV Golf that depleted the experience from the International side. “That’s something that we’ve been looking forward to for the last three years,” said British Open champion Cameron Smith, and then 20 days later he was officially announced as defecting to the rival league. Joaquin Niemann of Chile and Marc Leishman of Australia also took the cash to sign with LIV Golf just two days before the 12-man International team was to be filled out. Louis Oosthuizen, so good in the Presidents Cup he had a winning record while never playing on a winning team, was among the first to go back in June. U.S. captain Davis Love III was asked if he felt bad for Trevor Immelman, who was chosen International captain long before LIV was anything more than a Roman numeral. “I feel bad for the game of golf right now that this is the story going in,” Love said. “I feel bad for all of us, really. But Trevor has a job to do, and that’s to take 12 guys in there ready to play, and he’s going to be focused on that.” The 14th edition of the matches between Americans and an International team composed of players from outside Europe starts Thursday at Quail Hollow Club, and it looks to be as one-sided as the record suggests. The Americans have lost only once, in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia, matches that ended 12 days before Christmas. There was a tie in South Africa and then eight consecutive U.S. celebrations. The U.S. is not quite a year removed from giving Europe its worst beating ever in the Ryder Cup, 19-9 at Whistling Straits, with a young and hungry team. The Americans were not immune to the defections — Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau were on that Ryder Cup team — though there was no certainty they would have made this team. Johnson hasn’t won on U.S. soil since the November 2020 Masters, while the others are trying to return from injury. And the state of American golf is such that replacements are easily found. All 12 players are among the top 25 in the world ranking. The International team counters with only three players from the top 25 — former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im and Tom Kim, the 20-year-old South Korean who wasn’t even a consideration until he won the Wyndham Championship six weeks ago. Immelman brings eight Presidents Cup rookies to Quail Hollow. Only three players on his team have won tournaments this year. Only two — Matsuyama and Adam Scott — have won majors. Love’s team has only three players who haven’t won this year. That includes two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young, the PGA Tour rookie who has been a runner-up five times and twice came within one shot of a chance to win a major. Now think back to Melbourne in 2019, a Presidents Cup that was going the International team’s way until a U.S. rally on the final day and a 16-14 victory. Ernie Els was the captain who gave his side a new logo, a new identity and a fighting spirit. Els said of his team when it was over, “If you look at their record and where these guys are at the moment, they are going places, I can tell you that.” Going to a rival league for guaranteed riches was not what he had in mind. The Americans have five Presidents Cup rookies, though two of them (Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler) played in the Ryder Cup, and two others (Sam Burns and Max Homa) have collected three PGA Tour victories in the last 12 months. It’s one-sided on paper. It’s a one-sided history. If there is pressure on the Americans, it’s about not being the team that finally loses. Immelman doesn’t hide the disappointment at not having Oosthuizen and Smith and Niemann and those who were looked upon as being big contributors. What he has is 12 guys who wanted to be at Quail Hollow. Players who signed up for Saudi riches at LIV Golf knew they faced PGA Tour suspension, which meant not competing in the Presidents Cup. “When the players decided to ask me to be their captain early on in 2020 — this was before the pandemic, before the professional game was fractured and divided — I signed up to a particular set of rules, and our team is a team of loyalty,” Immelman said. “Our team is a team of their word. We’ll abide by those rules. “These are the 12 players that wanted to be eligible. These are the 12 players that wanted to be on the team. Those are the 12 that I want at the end of the day.” ___ More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-everything-stacked-in-us-favor-at-another-presidents-cup/	2022-09-21T04:02:20Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-everything-stacked-in-us-favor-at-another-presidents-cup/	1	green-iguana-35	null
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts rolled to his right, scampered down the sideline and stutter-stepped to the 5-yard-line, where he was wrapped up by a defender with another in pursuit. Hurts twisted his body, lowered his head, dragged two defenders with him and powered his way in for an adrenaline-filled 26-yard touchdown run that about broke the game open. Just maybe, or so the Eagles can hope, there are many more plays like that one ahead. Hurts had 301 total yards in the first half in the breakout game of his young career, finishing with three total touchdowns as he led Philadelphia to a 24-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night. “Big-time performance on a big-time stage,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. Trying to prove he can play like the best franchise QBs in the NFL, Hurts looked downright unstoppable from the opening drive. Hurts hit five receivers on 5-for-5 passing — highlighted by a 19-yard strike to A.J. Brown — and finished the drive himself with a 3-yard scoring run. In the opening win against Detroit, Hurts failed to complete a pass on five attempts and the Eagles turned the ball over on downs on the first drive of the game. Turn the ball over on downs? That seemed like just a rumor against the Vikings. The TD was just the liftoff for the 24-year-old Hurts throwing, running, imposing his will with all his available tools against a Vikings defense that could not solve him in his 21st career start. He finished with 333 yards passing and a touchdown, and 57 yards and two scores on the ground. “Another outstanding performance. He threw some unbelievable balls. He made a lot of plays,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said. “This was a really great, well-rounded game for him.” On the first play of the second quarter, Hurts connected with a wide-open Quez Watkins for a 53-yard TD and the 14-0 lead. “It always comes with time and as time goes on, you find more comfort with what you’re doing,” Hurts said. Darius Slay, who had two interceptions against a hapless Kirk Cousins, had called each of the Eagles’ trio of talented receivers Batman. There was, Brown, the “swole” Batman who had five catches for 69 yards; DeVonta Smith was the “skinny” Batman who had seven for 80 yards; and Watkins was the “fast” Batman who had the burners on for the easy score (and 69 total yards receiving). Why are they all Batman? “No Robins. We’ve got no sidekicks,” Slay said. Hurts dazzled with the 26-yard TD with 1:58 left in the half and Jake Elliott still had time to kick a 38-yarder and the Eagles took a 24-7 lead into halftime. “I don’t think it matters how we score as long as we’re putting points on the board,” Hurts said. In a Week 2 full of improbable comebacks, perhaps it wasn’t wise to count out the Vikings. But Cousins and wide receiver Justin Jefferson — famously passed over by the Eagles in the 2020 draft — never got anything going of substance against the Eagles and maligned defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Slay had his second interception of the game in the fourth quarter as the scoreboard soon flashed “Big Play Slay.” “It felt at times, me included, like we pressed a little bit,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. Hurts had 50 yards rushing and 251 yards passing in the first half. Cousins finished the game 27 for 46 for 221 yards and three interceptions. His lone TD was on a 2-yard pass to Irv Smith in the second quarter. Jefferson had six catches for 48 yards a week after he had 184 receiving yards and two TDs in a win against Green Bay. “I take no matchup lightly, but he is one of the best in the world. I am one of the best in the world, too. I was looking forward to the matchup,” Slay said of Jefferson. PHILLY CELEBS Bryce Harper (wearing an Eagles hat), James Harden (who was handed the ball by Slay after his first interception) and Bradley Cooper (wearing an Allen Iverson T-shirt) were among the jam-packed and fight-song singing crowd at the Eagles’ home opener. Harden was pumped with his souvenir, posting an Instagram photo of his left hand holding the ball with the caption “Gimme That!” The Philadelphia 76ers star snapped selfies with fans before he left late in the game. Harden waited in the tunnel for Slay to autograph the football. Harden good-naturedly told Slay he should have had even more interceptions. “He was shocked that I gave it to him,” said Slay, who noted he kept the ball from the second pick. FAMILIAR RING Dick Vermeil received his Hall of Fame ring at halftime. In his third season in Philadelphia, the coaching great led the Eagles to their first playoff appearance in 18 years. He guided the Eagles to their first Super Bowl appearance in the 1980 season only to lose to the Oakland Raiders, 27-10. TRAINER’S ROOM Vikings safety Harrison Smith was evaluated for a concussion. UP NEXT Vikings: Return home Sunday to play the Lions. Eagles: Start a reunion tour Sunday when they head out to play the Washington Commanders and former QB Carson Wentz. The Eagles return home Sunday, Oct. 2 and play the Jacksonville Jaguars, led by coach Doug Pederson. Wentz and Pederson, of course, played pivotal roles in helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl after the 2017 season. ___ More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-hurts-so-good-eagles-qb-dominant-in-24-7-win-over-vikings/	2022-09-21T04:02:28Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-hurts-so-good-eagles-qb-dominant-in-24-7-win-over-vikings/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW YORK (AP) — The Mets are on track to have baseball’s highest payroll for the first time since 1989, among a record-tying six teams set to pay a penalty for spending. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who started the season as the top spender, fell into second due to Trevor Bauer’s suspension. New York entered the last full month of the season with a $273.9 million payroll, according to updated figures through Aug. 31 complied by Major League Baseball. The Dodgers are second at $267.2 million, followed by the New York Yankees at $254.4 million. The Mets hope to win their first World Series title since 1986. “I have expectations of the Mets being the last team standing. What else is there? I mean, that’s why we get up in the morning every day,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said Sunday. “It’s kind of cold. It’s kind of cruel, but I’d rather know it up front what the end game’s supposed to be. Some people go through their whole life not knowing exactly what success is supposed to be. Nobody’s got to in here tell me how we’re doing. There is a scoreboard and standings. It’s right there. You don’t like it, play better.” Mets pitcher Max Scherzer, at a big league-high $43.3 million, makes roughly $5 million less than Oakland’s entire team and combines with teammates Jacob deGrom and Francisco Lindor for about $103 million — more than eight of the 30 clubs. When the Mets last topped MLB in payroll, their total was $21.3 million. The Dodgers’ payroll dropped when Bauer was suspended for two years without pay on April 29 for violating the sport’s domestic violence policy. Bauer’s 2022 salary was $32 million but was reduced to what he was owed at the time of the suspension: $3.8 million. He is challenging the discipline before an arbitrator. Los Angeles led in payroll in both 2020 and 2021. The Dodgers set a payroll record with $291 million in 2015. The Mets’ payroll has risen steadily since Steven Cohen bought the team from the Wilpon and Katz families after the 2020 season. The Mets’ spending rose from $146 million in 2019 to $199 million last year, the first season after the pandemic, and negotiators said last March a new tax threshold was aimed at him. Cohen then quipped: “It’s better than a bridge being named after you.” For purposes of the luxury tax, which uses average annual values for players on 40-man rosters, the Mets are on track to set a record at $298.8 million and eclipse the 2015 Dodgers’ $297.9 million. Luxury tax payrolls include just over $16 million per team for benefits and $1.67 million for each club’s share of the new $50 million pool for pre-arbitration players. The Mets are in line for a tax of $29.9 million, Midseason trades boosted their tax payroll from an opening-day projection of $289.3 million and past the new $290 million threshold in the March agreement that ended a 99-day lockout. The Dodgers opened this season with a $310 million tax payroll, on track to pay a record penalty of $47 million. Their tax payroll dropped to $289.96 million by Aug. 31, leaving them just under the Cohen Tax. With higher tax rates as a repeat offender, the Dodgers are on track to pay $29.4 million. The Yankees have a tax payroll of $267 million and a projected tax of $9.4 million, and the Phillies at $243 million would owe $2.6 million. Boston, just over the first threshold at $234.5 million, would owe about $900,000. After paying tax for the first time last year, San Diego is a second offender with a payroll of about $233 million and a tax of just over $800,000. This year’s four tax thresholds are $230 million, $250 million, $270 million and $290 million. First-time offenders pay 20% on the amount above the first threshold, 32% above the second, 62.5% above the third and 80% above the fourth. As a repeat offender, the Dodgers pay 30% above the first, 42% above the second, 75% above the third and 90% above the fourth. The Yankees have paid $348 million in tax since the penalties began in 2003, followed by the Dodgers’ $182 million. Only once before have six teams paid tax, with the Dodgers and Yankees joined in 2016 by the Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit and San Francisco for a total of $74 million. Oakland has the lowest regular payroll at $49 million and lowest tax payroll at $65 million. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-mets-have-top-payroll-dodgers-drop-with-bauer-suspension/	2022-09-21T04:02:36Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-mets-have-top-payroll-dodgers-drop-with-bauer-suspension/	1	green-iguana-35	null
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police in Las Vegas said Monday they’re investigating allegations that a fan in the stands struck Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray amid celebrations of Arizona’s 29-23 overtime victory over the Raiders. Murray was high-fiving front-row spectators at Allegiant Stadium following Byron Murphy Jr.’s game-ending fumble return on Sunday when a man appeared to reach out and smack Murray in the face with an open hand. Video showed Murray appear stunned, but not injured, then attempt to identify the attacker in the mostly happy crowd. Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said Monday that he hadn’t seen the video of the alleged altercation. “I was just told about it,” Kingsbury said. “But I think that guy’s a lowlife, whoever did it, and I hope they arrest him, he gets fired and can never go to another game.” Officer Larry Hadfield, a Las Vegas police spokesman, confirmed that a battery complaint was made about 6:30 p.m. at the stadium. The report was not immediately available. Hadfield did not name Murray as the reporting person, but confirmed the allegation was that “a spectator at the stadium struck a professional football player.” Hadfield said a suspect was not immediately identified and an investigation was ongoing. Cardinals spokesman Mark Dalton referred any questions about the incident to Las Vegas police. Murray had an outstanding game, leading the Cardinals (1-1) to two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions in the final 8:13 of regulation to force overtime. The victory was Arizona’s first since Murray agreed to a $230.5 million, five-year contract extension. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft after winning the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma in 2018. ___ More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-police-investigating-allegation-that-fan-struck-kyler-murray/	2022-09-21T04:02:44Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-police-investigating-allegation-that-fan-struck-kyler-murray/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BERLIN (AP) — Qatar’s ambassador to Germany was urged Monday to abolish his country’s death penalty for homosexuality at a human rights congress hosted by the German soccer federation two months before the Middle East country stages the World Cup. Fan representative Dario Minden switched to English to directly address the Qatari ambassador, Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, at the congress in Frankfurt. “I’m a man and I love men,” Minden said. “I do — please don’t be shocked — have sex with other men. This is normal. So please get used to it, or stay out of football. Because the most important rule in football is football is for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re lesbian, if you’re gay. It’s for everyone. For the boys. For the girls. And for everyone in between.” Minden continued: “So abolish the death penalty. Abolish all of the penalties regarding sexual and gender identity. The rule that football is for everyone is so important. We cannot allow you to break it, no matter how rich you are. You are more than welcome to join the international football community and also, of course, to host a big tournament. But in sports, it is how it is. You have to accept the rules.” Al Thani was to be given a chance to respond later, though his comments were to remain off the record. Only the opening 90 minutes of the federation’s congress were broadcast to the public and no journalists were invited to the event. Federation spokesman Steffen Simon said it was not the organization’s decision to hold the majority of the congress off camera, but “we received a clear request from some participants that they would like to discuss these matters internally with us. They did not want to discuss in public. We respected that.” Qatar’s laws and society have come under increased scrutiny in the past decade. Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari, a senior leader overseeing security for the tournament, previously told The Associated Press that rainbow flags could be taken from fans at the World Cup in Qatar to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights. Al Ansari insisted that LGBTQ couples would still be welcomed and accepted in Qatar for the World Cup despite same-sex relations remaining criminalized in the conservative Gulf nation. Before Minden spoke Monday, Al Thani complained to the congress that the issue of human rights was diverting attention from the tournament. “We all care about human rights. But I would have enjoyed (it) more if I saw some concentration not only on just one subject, but the enjoyment of football and the football effect on people around the world,” Al Thani said. The ambassador referred to the last World Cup in Russia, its invasion and takeover of Crimea in Ukraine, and human rights abuses in that country, “and there was not focus, neither from Germany, neither from any country in Europe.” Al Thani said Qatar abolished the controversial kafala system that required migrant workers to have a sponsor, a system that left many workers vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and that the country had introduced a minimum working wage and a compensation fund for workers to make claims of rights abuses. “Yes, we are not perfect. We are not claiming we are perfect, but it’s a journey that we will write,” Al Thani said. The ambassador invited soccer fans to go for themselves to “enjoy the football, see the different cultures,” and meet with migrant workers once they get there. “You’ll see them in hotels. You’ll see them in public transport. Ask them,” Al Thani said. He then referred to Bayern Munich’s long-standing sponsorship deal with Qatar. “Bayern Munich has been spending the last four or five years coming for a winter camp in Doha. Why don’t they speak out? Why don’t they say they’ve been to Doha? (If) they think it’s appalling, say it publicly, or just shut up,” Al Thani said. “Because you know, you have the ability to be there. You have the ability to meet the people, speak to them. If you think there is something wrong, say it. Do not hide behind the bush.” German soccer federation president Bernd Neuendorf called on the Qatari government to establish, “without any ifs or buts,” working centers where migrants can go in the event of employer violations, and a compensation fund for the relations of workers who died or were injured on World Cup construction sites. “The last demand for the fund is also addressed to FIFA,” Neuendorf said. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-qatari-ambassador-faces-lgbt-rights-appeal-before-world-cup/	2022-09-21T04:02:51Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-qatari-ambassador-faces-lgbt-rights-appeal-before-world-cup/	1	green-iguana-35	null
MILWAUKEE (AP) — For the New York Mets, a playoff spot was certainly worth celebrating. Even if they still have bigger goals on the table in the middle of a heated pennant race. Max Scherzer was pulled from his 200th win with a perfect game intact, and the Mets clinched their first trip to the postseason in six years by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 on Monday night. Reinstated from the injured list before the game, Scherzer (10-4) struck out nine in six innings. The 38-year-old ace threw only 68 pitches, but that was as far as the NL East leaders let him go in his first start in 16 days. Brewers star Christian Yelich doubled leading off the seventh against Tylor Megill, making his first major league relief appearance after 27 starts. Megill also came off the injured list earlier in the day. Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer off reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes (10-8), and the Mets won their fifth straight to wrap up at least one of the three National League wild cards. They lead their division by one game over defending World Series champion Atlanta, which beat Washington 5-2 at home. “This is what you play the game for. You play the game to go to the postseason,” Scherzer said. “We have a lot of things in front of us and we understand that. But, man, you’ve got to celebrate the good times, too.” Mets players and coaches hugged and high-fived on the field after the final out, then enjoyed a boozy but subdued celebration in the clubhouse. “This is just the first step. I have high expectations,” owner Steven Cohen, wearing a Mets cap, said after giving a postgame speech to the team. “If we can win the division, that would be great. Obviously, Atlanta is a great team, and it will probably go down to the wire, and then we’ll see what happens in the playoffs. I think this is a team that can go really far.” It is the 10th postseason appearance in the franchise’s 61-season history, and first since the Mets lost to San Francisco in the 2016 NL wild-card game. “We understand this is not the end goal, but it’s part of our destiny,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said. Mets players took a group photo and selfies on the field after the game. In the clubhouse, Scherzer held a bottle of Ace of Spades champagne while drinking out of a paper Gatorade cup. “It’s a mature group that revels, stays in the moment,” first-year Mets manager Buck Showalter said. Scherzer was activated Monday after recovering from left oblique irritation. Showalter said before the game “we’re not going to go too deep with Max physically” in his first big league start since Sept. 3. On his fourth try for win No. 200, the three-time Cy Young Award winner fanned Yelich, Willy Adames, Hunter Renfroe and Garrett Mitchell two times each. Andrew McCutchen hit a line drive to right field off Scherzer in the second, but it was caught by a sliding Tyler Naquin to end the inning. Scherzer sprinted to the mound before each inning. He often had the ball in hand before most of his teammates emerged from the dugout. A smiling Scherzer received a hearty round of high-fives from teammates when he returned to the dugout after the sixth, indicating he was done for the night. “Our chemistry is unparalleled,” said Alonso, headed to the playoffs for the first time in his career. Scherzer exited his previous start with fatigue on his left side and went on the IL with oblique irritation. He also went on the injured list with a left oblique strain in May and was activated July 5. “He didn’t give us many pitches to hit,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “Lots of strikes, got ahead of us. We didn’t do anything against him.” The loss dropped Milwaukee 8½ games behind first-place St. Louis in the NL Central and 2½ games back of Philadelphia for the third NL wild card. The Brewers had won two of three games against the Yankees in Milwaukee over the weekend. With one out in the fourth, Burnes gave up consecutive singles before Alonso hit a 1-2 changeup 437 feet for his 36th home run to stake New York to a 3-0 lead. Alonso’s 118 RBIs lead the NL. New York (94-55) extended its lead to 5-0 in the sixth after back-to-back triples by Brandon Nimmo and Lindor, and an RBI double by Daniel Vogelbach. The previous Mets players to hit consecutive triples were Jose Reyes and Jason Bay in April 2010. Rowdy Tellez hit a two-run homer off Megill in the seventh, his 32nd. It was the Mets’ first win in Milwaukee since May 2018. They had lost their last nine road games against the Brewers, and 14 of the past 15. “A lot of blood, sweat and tears poured into this. Many years of hard work to try and get to this point,” Nimmo said about reaching the playoffs. “It’s been a little bit of a drought. … We’re excited to celebrate it and enjoy this.” EXCLUSIVE CLUB Scherzer (200-101) joined Justin Verlander (243 wins) and Zack Greinke (223) as the only active pitchers with 200 career wins. UP NEXT The middle game of the series is Tuesday night. LHP Aaron Ashby (2-10, 4.58 ERA) returns from a stint on the IL with left shoulder inflammation to start a bullpen game for Milwaukee. New York goes with RHP Carlos Carrasco (15-6, 3.70). He gave up one run over six innings in each of his last two starts, striking out 17 total batters. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-scherzer-perfect-for-6-in-return-wins-200th-as-mets-clinch/	2022-09-21T04:02:59Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-scherzer-perfect-for-6-in-return-wins-200th-as-mets-clinch/	1	green-iguana-35	null
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Max Scherzer pitched six perfect innings for the New York Mets in his return from the injured list Monday night before Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich doubled in the seventh off reliever Tylor Megill. Trying for his 200th career win as the NL East-leading Mets look to clinch a playoff spot, the 38-year-old Scherzer struck out nine of the 18 batters he faced. He threw only 68 pitches, but that was as far as New York let him go in his first start in 16 days. Making his first major league relief appearance after 27 starts, Megill entered to start the seventh with the Mets ahead 5-0 and gave up a leadoff double to Yelich on his second pitch. Megill also was activated from the IL earlier in the day. A smiling Scherzer received a hearty round of high-fives from teammates when he returned to the dugout after the sixth, indicating he was done for the night. The three-time Cy Young Award winner exited his previous start Sept. 3 with fatigue on his left side and went on the IL with oblique irritation. He spent time on the injured list earlier this season with a left oblique strain. With a victory, New York secures its first postseason berth in six years. Megill started a combined no-hitter by five Mets pitchers on April 29 against Philadelphia — the second no-no in franchise history. The other one was thrown by Johan Santana on June 1, 2012, against St. Louis. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-scherzer-perfect-through-6-for-mets-in-return-from-il/	2022-09-21T04:03:07Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-scherzer-perfect-through-6-for-mets-in-return-from-il/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BALTIMORE (AP) — Detroit Tigers left-hander Tyler Alexander’s bid for a no-hitter ended when Baltimore’s Ryan Mountcastle led off the seventh inning with a single. The Tigers lead 9-0 at Camden Yards on Monday night. Alexander allowed only two runners, walking Mountcastle in the fourth inning and Austin Hays in the sixth, before Mountcastle lofted a single to center on a 1-0 changeup, his 79th pitch. Anthony Santander followed with another single. Prior to that, the closest the Orioles came to getting a hit was in the sixth, when Adley Rutschman smashed a two-out grounder down the line that third baseman Ryan Kreidler snagged before throwing to first. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-tigers-alexander-has-no-hitter-vs-orioles-after-6-innings/	2022-09-21T04:03:15Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-tigers-alexander-has-no-hitter-vs-orioles-after-6-innings/	1	green-iguana-35	null
FRISCO, TX (Silver Star Nation) – Nothing helps lighten the mood of a football team more than a win. But when it’s an improbable win under very difficult circumstances, the outcome is even sweeter. The Dallas Cowboys last second victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at AT&T Stadium was just such an event. The Cowboys were minus five starters including quarterback Dak Prescott when they took the field against Joe Burrow and the Super Bowl runner-up Bengals. The Cowboys got off to a fast start but slowed in the second half and allowed the Bengals to tie the score late in the 4th quarter. The game came down to a 50-yard Brett Maher field goal as time expired. Cowboys insider Mickey Spagnola says it was a good day in Dallas on Monday.	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/nfl/silver-star-nation/mickey-all-smiles-at-the-star-monday/	2022-09-21T04:03:23Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/nfl/silver-star-nation/mickey-all-smiles-at-the-star-monday/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Look for what will likely be our last best taste of summer heat to get worse in the coming days. Relief is in sight as a cold front will bring cooler air by the beginning of next week. Rain will be limited with a slight chance possible Sunday night. Above-normal temperatures return: The work week began with above-normal temperatures around the ArkLaTex. Lows Monday morning began in the lower 70s over most of the area. Daytime highs have soared into the middle 90s. Expect the heat to get worse over the next several days. Monday night will be another warm night with lows in the lower 70s. Daytime highs Tuesday will likely soar into the mid to upper 90s. Our hottest days in the week ahead will be Wednesday and Thursday when highs reach the upper 90s. Temperatures will slowly ease a few degrees heading into the weekend. Don’t expect any rain: Futurecast shows that we will see a clear sky over the ArkLaTex once again Monday night. Expect a mostly sunny sky Tuesday and a clear to partly cloudy sky once again Tuesday night. Wednesday will also be another dry day under a partly to mostly sunny sky. The dominating feature controlling the weather in our area is a large area of upper-level high pressure. This ridge will be at its strongest during the middle of the week which explains the timing of our hottest temperatures. Decent relief is on the way: Fortunately, it appears that the upper ridge won’t stick around too long. The upper ridge will begin to weaken a little to close the week and will retreat to the west as an upper-level trough digs into the middle of the country. The trough will push a cold front south that should move through the ArkLaTex Sunday night. It will bring a slight chance of some rain but as of right now, models do not show much with amounts of less than ¼” for most of the area. Where is Fiona headed? Fiona became a hurricane over the weekend and is forecast to become a major hurricane in the next few days. Fortunately, it appears that the storm will not impact land much once it moves away from the Dominican Republic. It will gradually weaken later this week as it moves over cooler waters over the NE Atlantic. The rest of the Atlantic basin should be quiet for the rest of this week with no threats to the Gulf of Mexico. Get daily forecasts and exclusive severe weather details on storms as they approach your area by downloading the Arklatex Weather Authority app now available in the App Store and Google Play	https://www.ktalnews.com/weather/heat-continues-until-a-late-weekend-cold-front/	2022-09-21T04:03:29Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/weather/heat-continues-until-a-late-weekend-cold-front/	1	green-iguana-35	null
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The hot and humid weather will continue to build across the ArkLaTex this week. Unlike the early summer months when there was no relief in sight, we know this week’s heat wave has an ending as we should feel some relief by the weekend, and even more heat relief is on the way next week. High pressure brings sunny and hot weather today: There won’t be a lot of heat relief today, but early morning temperatures will be in the low 70s so you’ll sweat much less early in the morning than you will this afternoon. Afternoon highs are headed into the mid-90s in all areas, which is about 6 to 8 degrees above average for the date. High humidity will push our heat index or ‘feels like’ temperatures to about 100 to 102 degrees this afternoon. A strong ridge of high pressure will center itself over the ArkLaTex today. This will nudge the jetstream into the northern half of the country and that’s where the rain will stay for much of the week while the ArkLaTex stays dry. The high will keep our skies mostly sunny other than some early morning fog for the next day or two. Some heat relief late this week with our next cold front expected late in the weekend: Highs will remain in the mid to upper 90s through at least Thursday. We may stay a few degrees below record highs, but it wouldn’t be surprising to reach 100 degrees at some point Wednesday or Thursday. Our ridge of high pressure will finally break down late this week. We should feel temperatures ease a few degrees by Friday, with a stronger cold front set to move in late in the weekend. This front will bring a chance of rain and thunderstorms late in the weekend, with highs dropping into the 80s next week. Get exclusive severe weather details on storms as they approach your area by downloading the Arklatex Weather Authority app, now available in the App Store and Google Play	https://www.ktalnews.com/weather/summer-heat-returns-most-of-this-week/	2022-09-21T04:03:35Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/weather/summer-heat-returns-most-of-this-week/	1	green-iguana-35	null
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Hospitals across Florida are seeing historically high turnover and vacancy rates. "We are experiencing one of the worst workforce shortages that our hospitals have seen in decades," said Mary Mayhew. Mayhew is the President and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. She says hospitals have increased their labor costs by 45 percent since 2019 because of their reliance on traveling nurses. "Not all of these nurses are traveling cross country in many instances they're traveling across county but still being paid this significantly higher wage as a traveling nurse through a staffing agency and again they're working shoulder to shoulder with full time employees at the hospital and there's a great disparity in their wages," added Mayhew. Florida nursing homes are also dealing with a nursing shortage. Kristen Knapp is with the Florida Health care Association and says... "We're not seeing a lot of new individuals entering the profession." What about South Georgia? "We have experienced a shortage of nursing staff," said Whitney Costin. Costin is the Nurse Recruiter at Colquitt Regional Medical Center in Moultrie. She says there's a big need for medical surgical nurses at the hospital who typically work in the intensive care unit. I asked if quality of care has been impacted… "Certainly that's something we'd never want to compromise we have worked really hard to maintain our ratios the nurse to patient ratio and so we've been able to do that," added Costin. Costin, Knapp, and Mayhew are all working with local schools to increase the pipeline of nurses to fill those workforce gaps, and are hopeful for the future… "That won't happen overnight so it's a combination of both helping to support and retain our nurses and healthcare professionals but continuing to increase the supply," said Mayhew. HCA Florida Capital Hospital is also hosting a hiring event next week to fill the nursing needs in their labor and delivery department. That is happening on September 28th from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm at Ology Brewing Company located at 2910 Kerry Forest Parkway in Tallahassee. Click here to register for the hiring event.	https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/nursing-shortage-still-on-the-rise-in-the-big-bend-and-south-georgia	2022-09-21T04:13:42Z	wtxl.com	control	https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/nursing-shortage-still-on-the-rise-in-the-big-bend-and-south-georgia	1	green-iguana-35	null
A Kansas man has been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection to an operation in which he charged fees to perform illegal autopsies. 42-year-old Shawn Lynn Parcells used his business National Autopsy Services LLC, to charge fees to over 350 clients and was able to gain $1,166,00, court documents detailed. Parcells pleaded guilty to the case in May, which detailed how he used fake credentials to convince clients that he was qualified to conduct the autopsies, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. In one incident, Parcells received $5,000 for he emailed a copy of a final report that appeared as if he had written it, but no pathologist took part in the exam, the DOJ said. US Attorney Duston Slinkard said, "It's troubling whenever criminals deceptively present themselves as professionals to commit fraud on unwitting victims, but the fact that Parcells' schemes were predicated upon exploiting the grief and bereavement of others makes his act a particularly predatory crime."	https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/kansas-man-given-over-5-year-sentence-after-performing-illegal-autopsies	2022-09-21T04:13:48Z	wtxl.com	control	https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/kansas-man-given-over-5-year-sentence-after-performing-illegal-autopsies	1	green-iguana-35	null
Families from Hawaii who were sickened by fuel-tainted drinking water during a water crisis last year in the island state went to Washington, D.C. to protest and demand that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) do more to protect water there. Their message to the EPA: "Do your job," as demonstrators stood in the streets of Washington with big yellow letters demanding action. The protesters gathered at Freedom Plaza and marched about a mile to the EPA's headquarters, Hawaii News Now reported. Traffic was stopped briefly by the massive signs. Chris Anton and her son were at the demonstration and said they were sickened in their Kapilina, Hawaii home by fuel-tainted water during what has been called the Navy's water crisis. “My kids got sick and had to go to ER,” Anton said. She said, “Itʻs emotional for a lot of people. Whenever we are in the moment, I remember how it feels. I remember how scary it is when your kid canʻt walk and you donʻt know whatʻs wrong.”	https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/protesters-in-hawaii-demand-more-action-for-clean-water	2022-09-21T04:14:00Z	wtxl.com	control	https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/protesters-in-hawaii-demand-more-action-for-clean-water	1	green-iguana-35	null
Chicago man charged with shooting 3 people, 2 fatally, who were sitting on porch in Woodlawn CHICAGO - A Chicago man has been charged with shooting three people, two fatally, who were sitting on a porch in Woodlawn Sunday afternoon. Khalil Gilmore, 20, faces two felony counts of first-degree murder, one felony count of aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm, one felony count of attempted first-degree murder and one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. SUBSCRIBE TO FOX 32 ON YOUTUBE Just before 4:40 p.m. Sunday, Gilmore allegedly fatally shot a 19-year-old man and a 31-year-old man who were on a front porch in the 6100 block of South Evans. Gilmore also allegedly shot and wounded a 35-year-old man. Moments after the shooting, Gilmore was taken into custody and charged accordingly. No additional information was released.	https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-man-charged-with-shooting-3-people-2-fatally-who-were-sitting-on-porch-in-woodlawn	2022-09-21T04:17:15Z	fox32chicago.com	control	https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-man-charged-with-shooting-3-people-2-fatally-who-were-sitting-on-porch-in-woodlawn	1	green-iguana-35	null
FDA sounds alarm over TikTok challenge that involves cooking chicken in Nyquil CHICAGO - Another warning is surfacing about a TikTok challenge that people cooked up earlier this year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is calling the Nyquil challenge foul, telling people not to try it because it could be deadly. Many videos of the challenge have been pulled from the social media site. The videos show people dousing nearly an entire bottle of Vicks Nyquil over chicken. Then, the wanna-be chefs cook it up, and some of them eat it. "Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways. Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapors while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs," the FDA said. Nyquil gives specific usage instructions to use only the dose cup provided. SUBSCRIBE TO FOX 32 ON YOUTUBE It also says do not exceed four doses per 24 hours. Adults and children 12 years and over can take 30 ml every six hours. "There are several active ingredients in Nyquil: including a sleep medication, Tylenol, or acetaminophen, to help with aches and pains," said Dr. David Zich, specializing in Internal and Emergency Medicine. "You could become extraordinarily drowsy. Acetaminophen in high dosages can lead to liver failure and death." Those cooking it up could overdose — causing seizures, severe dizziness and liver and breathing problems.	https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/fda-sounds-alarm-over-tik-tok-challenge-that-involves-cooking-chicken-in-nyquil	2022-09-21T04:17:22Z	fox32chicago.com	control	https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/fda-sounds-alarm-over-tik-tok-challenge-that-involves-cooking-chicken-in-nyquil	1	green-iguana-35	null
Fundraising event will benefit Cooper Robert's medical bills HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. - A fundraiser is being held next month to support one of the youngest victims of the Highland Park Fourth of July parade shooting. The event will raise money for Cooper Roberts, the 8-year-old who was paralyzed from the waist down in the shooting. SUBSCRIBE TO FOX 32 CHICAGO ON YOUTUBE The fundraising event is being held at Whiskey River Bar and Grill in Glenview on Sunday, October 16 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event will be family friendly, and money raised will go to supporting Cooper's medical bills.	https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/fundraising-event-will-benefit-cooper-roberts-medical-bills	2022-09-21T04:17:23Z	fox32chicago.com	control	https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/fundraising-event-will-benefit-cooper-roberts-medical-bills	1	green-iguana-35	null
#16 Mercer prepares for a road battle against Gardner-Webb 16th is the highest FCS rank in Mercer football program's history. MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — After defeating The Citadel 17-0, the Mercer football team has been ranked 16th in the FCS, the highest ranking in program history. This season, the Bears have been led by stellar defensive play, and this week, the Mercer defense has to transition from playing a run-heavy The Citadel team to a pass-heavy Gardner-Webb squad. “It’s a big change because you go from a team that’s very discipline, as far as Citadel’s offense. Everything you do, your fundamentals just change. So instead of coming off, really attacking off the ball, you got to see what they’re doing, and really hold your man,” said defensive lineman Solomon Zubairu. The Bears take on Gardner-Webb on the road this Saturday at 6 p.m.	https://www.41nbc.com/16-mercer-prepares-for-a-road-battle-against-gardner-webb/	2022-09-21T04:18:19Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/16-mercer-prepares-for-a-road-battle-against-gardner-webb/	1	green-iguana-35	null
81st minute goal propels the Mercer men’s soccer team over UAB Mercer is 3-2-3 and back in action next Tuesday against UNF at Betts Stadium. MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The Mercer men’s soccer team hosted their third consecutive game, this time taking on the UAB Blazers. The first half only saw only goal by Ousman Jabang. In the 62nd minute, the Blazers scored off a corner kick to tie the game, but less than two minutes later, the Blazers scored again, taking a 2-1 lead. Almost eight minutes later, Dylan Gaither assisted Kadeem Agard on a header as the Bears re-tied the game at two. In the 82nd minute, Michael Ille scored on a beautiful left-foot bender from outside the penalty box, giving the Bears the 3-2 victory. Mercer is 3-2-3 and back in action next Tuesday against UNF at Betts Stadium.	https://www.41nbc.com/81st-minute-goal-propels-the-mercer-mens-soccer-team-over-uab/	2022-09-21T04:18:25Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/81st-minute-goal-propels-the-mercer-mens-soccer-team-over-uab/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Baldwin County School District opens splash pad for students Superintendent Noris Price says the splash pad will help expose young children to water, and promote water safety at a early age. MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT)– Baldwin County School District opened a new splash pad for Early Learning Center Students. Superintendent Noris Price says the splash pad will help expose young children to water, and promote water safety at a early age. “It’s a great opportunity for our kids to be exposed to water at a early age and also learn about water safety,” Dr. Price said. “So I think this really important and just to have fun, like they’re having this afternoon.” The district received funding from a $145,000 grant to complete the splash pad. Chairman of the Baldwin County School Board, John Jackson, says the splash pad was a long time coming, and he’s glad it’s finally up and running. “We’ve followed this all through Covid with the building delays and supply chain issues, and here we are today.” Jackson said. “I’ve heard so much excitement from the children and then the families of children here it’s just and outstanding day.” According to Doctor Price, the Baldwin County School District is now the only on in Georgia to offer a splash pad for students.	https://www.41nbc.com/baldwin-county-school-district-opens-splash-pad-for-students/	2022-09-21T04:18:31Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/baldwin-county-school-district-opens-splash-pad-for-students/	1	green-iguana-35	null
City of Dublin appoints new Police Chief Chief Moon has been with the Police Department since 1998, and brings over 30 years of experience. DUBLIN, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT)— The Dublin Police Department has a new Police Chief. Keith Moon was appointed to the position on September 15, after serving as Interim Police Chief since December 2021. Chief Moon has been with the Police Department since 1998, and brings over 30 years of experience. Since being with the department, Chief Moon has taken on several rolls. He has worked in the Patrol Division and served as an Instructor for the Tactical team. We spoke with Chief Moon on what he’s most looking forward to in the new role. “My favorite part has always been, even when I was at the Sheriff’s Department just being out with the community. I just love it. You know there’s times when we have to do our job and I get that, but most of the time our interactions with the public are positive,” he said. According to Chief Moon, he has three goals in his new position: - Be attentive to the support and safety of his officer. Second, to interact with the community. - Three is to make sure his officers are properly trained. - Moon encourages the community to reach out to him and the department.	https://www.41nbc.com/city-of-dublin-appoints-new-police-chief/	2022-09-21T04:18:37Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/city-of-dublin-appoints-new-police-chief/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Georgia College and State University holds Constitution Week lectures Students gathered at Atkinson Hall Tuesday, to dicuss the topic the "Stop Woke Act and Free Speech." MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT)–Georgia College and State University is hosting a variety of events this week in celebration of the college’s annual Constitution Week. Students gathered at Atkinson Hall Tuesday, to dicuss the topic the “Stop Woke Act and Free Speech.” Assistant Professor of Public Law at Georgia College, Dr. Adam Lamparello, says students are learning the limits of free speech. They’re also learning how expansive the free speech clause in the constitution has been interpreted. “It’s gonna give them a clear vision of what the First Amendment protects, and it’s also gonna challenge them to consider whether there should be more limitations on speech such as hate speech, such as racist,” Dr. Lamparello said. “So it’s going to involve a balance between what we should allow, and what we should prohibit based on the needs of preventing discrimination and ensuring equality to all Americans.” Georgia College will have more discussions about the constitution this week. There will also be concerts, leadership programs and workshops.	https://www.41nbc.com/georgia-college-and-state-university-holds-constitution-week-lectures/	2022-09-21T04:18:43Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/georgia-college-and-state-university-holds-constitution-week-lectures/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Today is National Voter Registration Day, a great reminder to make sure you are registered to vote for November's election. If you want to register to vote in person, or by mail, you have until October 11th. The deadline to register through the Geaux Vote online registration system is October 18th. You can also check your registration status online or at your Parish's registrar of voters office.	https://www.katc.com/news/around-acadiana/national-voters-registration-day-just-in-time-for-novembers-election	2022-09-21T04:18:44Z	katc.com	control	https://www.katc.com/news/around-acadiana/national-voters-registration-day-just-in-time-for-novembers-election	1	green-iguana-35	null
WASHINGTON — Celebrities are back at the White House following a pop-culture backlash during the Trump years, when just about anyone considered high-wattage refused to show up. Rocker Elton John is bringing his farewell tour to the South Lawn on Friday, the White House announced Tuesday, one week after singer James Taylor and hosts Jonathan and Drew Scott, of HGTV's “Property Brothers,” helped celebrate a new health care and climate change law. John is among a slew of entertainers who refused to perform for then-President Donald Trump. Taylor sang and strummed his guitar to open last week's event while the Scotts were among hundreds of people in the audience. They also joined second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, to film a snazzy video promoting the law's climate change provisions. Since taking office during a pandemic, which put a pause on too much togetherness, the 79-year-old Biden has also opened the White House to teen singer Olivia Rodrigo, to talk about young people and COVID-19 vaccinations, and the South Korean boy band BTS, to discuss Asian inclusion and representation. Last year, the Democratic president resumed the tradition of hosting an in-person White House reception for the artists receiving honors from the Kennedy Center. Actor Jennifer Garner accompanied first lady Jill Biden to West Virginia last year to visit a school-based COVID-19 vaccination site in Charleston. Garner also hosted a PBS “In Performance” special celebrating the holidays at the White House. John's concert is called “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” a reference to a poem by Irishman Seamus Heaney that Biden often quotes. The performance is part of a collaboration with A+E Networks and the History Channel that “will celebrate the unifying and healing power of music, commend the life and work of Sir Elton John and honor the everyday history-makers in the audience,” the White House said. Guests will include teachers, medical professionals, students, LGBTQ+ advocates and others. John also has a gig scheduled for Saturday night at Nationals Park in Washington as part of a tour wrapping up his 50-plus-year career. He opened the final leg of his North American farewell series in Philadelphia in July. The 75-year-old British singer is among celebrities who avoided the Trump White House, starting with the Republican's 2017 inauguration. John had declined an invitation to play at Trump's inaugural festivities, saying he didn't think it was appropriate for someone with British heritage to play at the swearing-in of an American president. Trump had included high praise for John in a few of his books and played John’s songs at his presidential campaign rallies, including “Rocket Man” and “Tiny Dancer.” Trump had also nicknamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “rocket man” because of Kim’s habit of test-firing missiles. Country music singers Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood were among the more notable entertainers who performed to help usher Trump into office. Bigger names from other genres refused or weren't considered. Hollywood has always leaned heavily Democratic. For the inauguration of Democrat Biden, singers Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks were among those who performed. Aretha Franklin and Beyonce were among celebrities who turned out in a huge show of force for Democrat Barack Obama, from fundraising to his two inaugurations to performances inside the White House or on the grounds. They disappeared under Trump, but are returning for Biden. Biden relied on celebrities during his 2020 presidential campaign, when in-person schmoozing was largely suspended because of the coronavirus. A parade of movie and TV stars, pop icons and sports standouts stepped up to help Biden raise money and energize supporters. Sir Elton — he was knighted in 1998 by Queen Elizabeth II — has sold over 300 million records worldwide, played over 4,000 shows in 80 countries and recorded one of the best-selling singles of all-time, his 1997 reworking of “Candle In The Wind” to eulogize Princess Diana, which sold 33 million copies. He has scored over 70 top 40 hits, including nine No. 1s, and released seven No. 1 albums in the 3 1/2-year period from 1972 to 1975, a pace second only to that of the Beatles. John has five Grammy awards, a Tony award for “Aida,” and Academy Awards for songs from “The Lion King” and “Rocketman.” He has played at the White House in the past. John and Stevie Wonder performed together at a 1998 state dinner hosted by Democratic President Bill Clinton honoring British Prime Minister Tony Blair. They performed under a tent on the West Colonnade roof. John was critical of Republican President George W. Bush, telling a British magazine in November 2004 that Bush and his administration “are the worst thing that has ever happened to America.” But he was more diplomatic at a reception at the White House in December 2004 for a group of Kennedy Center honorees that included himself. The rock legend said receiving the honor “is about the icing on the cake. ... It's incredible for someone who's British to be given such an accolade from America, which has given me so much already in my career.”	https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/celebrities-coming-back-to-white-house/507-cc074cc8-283f-45c9-af6f-bb4d00193897	2022-09-21T04:18:44Z	krem.com	control	https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/celebrities-coming-back-to-white-house/507-cc074cc8-283f-45c9-af6f-bb4d00193897	1	green-iguana-35	null
(iSeeCars) – When you compare the cost of driving a gas-powered car one mile to the price of going the same distance in an electric vehicle, the EV almost always comes out ahead. Drivers of gas-powered cars always know gas prices because they are advertised in big numbers at every local gas station. Not as many people know the cost to use an EV charging station to fill up an EV, largely because the cost of electricity is not as prominent in people’s minds. Yet it’s possible to calculate EV charging costs pretty quickly. If you don’t want to dive into public charging station rates, the associated rebates and incentives, or studying your own electric bill, the Department of Energy (DOE) has said the average cost for electric car charging is about 60 percent lower than the equivalent fueling costs for an internal combustion vehicle. But if you’re an EV owner, or potential owner, and want to figure out a more specific number, here are three ways to calculate the cost to charge and drive electric. This chart shows the cost to fully charge a Volkswagen ID.4 as well as the cost per mile and annual cost to charge for each state in the U.S., using average residential electricity costs and annual driving range. We’ll show you how we arrived at these numbers below. Energy costs sourced from U.S. Energy Information Administration Cost Per “Gallon” In 2013, when mass-market electric vehicles were still relatively new, the DOE created the eGallon, which attempted to calculate the cost of a “gallon” of electricity. Electricity can’t be measured in gallons, so the DOE came up with a formula that uses the average efficiency of the top five best-selling EVs to calculate a realistic national average. The formula looks like this: eGallon ($/gal) = FE EC * EP, and we can use it to calculate the cost of an eGallon for any EV: Step 1: Find the miles per gallon (MPG) rating of a comparable gas-powered car. This is the fuel economy (FE) in the formula above. You can also use the average U.S. rating of 25.4 mpg for model year 2020 vehicles, the most recent data available. Step 2: Find the electricity consumption (EC) of the EV. This number, expressed as kilowatt-hour (kWh) per mile, can be found on the EPA’s fuel economy website. As an example, we will use the Tesla Model Y, which was the best-selling EV in the U.S. last year. There are multiple versions, each with different ratings. We will use the most efficient model, the Tesla Model Y RWD, which uses 26 kWh per 100 miles. We need to express this number by the mile, so we will divide by 100, or .26 kWh. Step 3: Find your electricity price (EP). For home charging, you can use the monthly number from a recent utility bill or calculate your annual average. If you’re OK with rough estimates, you can use the average cost for your state (which you can find in the table below) or the national residential average, which was 15.42 cents in June 2022 according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the most recent month for which data is available. Step 4: Break out the calculator. Following the formula above with national averages, the cost of an eGallon in the Model Y looks like this: 25.4 x .26 x 15.42 = $1.02. That means using an EV charger to fill up a Model Y is like gassing up a traditional vehicle for around a dollar a gallon. Cost Per Charge If you want to move beyond gallons, you could calculate the actual charging cost. You will need to know two things: the cost of the electricity and how much you need. Average residential electricity costs vary wildly around the country, from 10.49 cents per kWh in Washington State to 28.98 cents in California and 44.09 cents in Hawaii. Remember, the national average is 15.42 cents. The amount of electricity an EV driver needs depends on the distance traveled and the EV’s battery size. Automakers provide the total capacity for electric car batteries in each EV, and today’s packs range from around 30 kWh to around 100 kWh. The usable battery capacity is what determines driving range, and is not always equal to the stated full capacity. But for our purposes you can estimate usable battery capacity by reducing total capacity by around 10 percent. An empty 70-kWh pack would require around 63 kWh for a full charge. Some automakers provide a battery’s net capacity, which will make your calculations more accurate. Now, all you need to do is some multiplication. A 2022 Volkswagen ID.4 Pro RWD, for example, with its 82-kWh battery (77 kWh net), it will cost around $11.87 to charge from zero to full (77 kWh x 15.42 cents = 1,187 cents). Calculating costs at public fast charging stations works the same, but it’s difficult to discuss average costs. Charging networks charge different rates, usually somewhere around 30 or 40 cents per kWh, with everything from the charging network you’re using (Tesla SuperCharger network Electrify America? EVgo?), to the time of day (peak hours versus off-peak hours) potentially impacting your cost. Generally speaking, the faster charging options out there, such as DC fast charging public chargers or the SuperCharger network, will cost you more than charging with a 240-volt level 2 system at your house. But fast chargers can get you from 10 to 80 percent battery capacity in less than 30 minutes, assuming your EV has a compatible charging system capable of taking full advantage of this technology. Many newer EVs, like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Tesla Model 3, can take advantage of fast charging, while most older EVs like the Nissan Leaf can not. That kind of charging speed can mean up to 250-plus miles of range recaptured in less than an hour, versus 4 miles of range an hour from a standard 110-volt wall outlet or 30 miles of range from a level 2, 240-volt home system. (For more information on charging time, refer to our How Long Does it Take to Charge an Electric Car? guide.) Cost Per Mile Finally, it’s useful to know an EV’s cost per kWh, since that allows you to calculate cost per mile. Start with the cost to refill the battery ($11.87 for our ID.4 example above) and then divide by the vehicle’s range of 275 miles: 4.32 cents per mile. The average American drives 14,263 miles each year, according to the most recent data from the Department of Transportation. That would mean the average cost to drive the ID.4 for a year is just over $600, as reflected in the table above. More from iSeeCars: If you’re in the market for a new or used electric vehicle you can search over 4 million used electric cars, SUVs, and trucks with iSeeCars’ award-winning car search engine that helps shoppers find the best car deals by providing key insights and valuable resources, like the iSeeCars free VIN check report and Best Cars rankings. Filter by vehicle type, front or all-wheel drive, and other parameters in order to narrow down your car search.	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/how-much-does-it-cost-to-charge-an-electric-car/	2022-09-21T04:18:48Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/how-much-does-it-cost-to-charge-an-electric-car/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Highs in the 90s are returning across Middle Georgia this afternoon. MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – High temperatures are returning to the lower 90s around Middle Georgia as the sunny pattern keeps its grip on the Peach State. Today It was another clear morning around Middle Georgia to begin our Tuesday, and the skies are still clear heading into the later morning hours. We will see cloud fields begin to fill in as we head into lunchtime. Highs will peak in the lower 90s in most Middle Georgia towns today, however heat indices will be pushing into the mid 90s for the warmest spots. Dew points are slowly returning to the upper 60s around the region, indicating a gradual return of our humidity. Luckily winds blowing generally out of the north will continue to keep that trend gradual. On brand with the humidity rising is, of course, a chance for some rain. More than likely we will see no rain today in Middle Georgia as the dry pattern continues, however we could see a spotty shower or two somewhere in Middle Georgia this afternoon. The odds are slightly higher in the northwestern counties. Tonight any clouds that filled in during the afternoon will fade, giving clear skies the rest of the night. We should see no rain overnight. The wind will blow out of the southeast at about 5 mph during the first half of the night. We will see it return to more towards the east heading into tomorrow morning. Lows will be in the mid to upper 60s as dew points continue to rise. Tomorrow Sunny skies will be with us around Middle Georgia once again tomorrow, and we are actually expecting slightly less cloud cover. More than likely we will still have a few cloud fields out there, and we shouldn’t see any rain. Ambient winds will come from the northeast at about 5-10 mph as highs push into the mid 90s in the warmest spots. Heat indices will push towards the upper 90s, however dew points should stay in the upper 60s. Tomorrow night will be a bit muggier, however cloud cover will still be hard to come by. Lows will drop into the mid and upper 60s again as ambient winds blow variably from the south at about 5 mph. Thursday and Beyond Thursday will be the hottest day of the week as highs reach the mid and upper 90s around Middle Georgia. Heat indices could get close to triple digits in a couple of locations. Skies will be sunny for the most part, however we could see some decent breezes in the afternoon. An approaching cold front will bring cooler and drier conditions, however we likely will not begin to observe those until Friday afternoon. Friday will be a good bit cooler than Thursday as highs return to the mid and upper 80s around Middle Georgia. Expect breezy conditions from the east northeast throughout the afternoon. The drier and cooler conditions will carry into the overnight hours as lows drop into the low and mid 50s heading into Saturday. Those with early morning plans on Saturday will likely want a light sweater out the door. Tropics There are no immediate threats to the Peach State in regards to the tropics at this time, however we do need to continue to monitor them. Fiona is a powerful storm that will miss the US, however there is a cluster of storms to the northeast of South America and several hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands that is trying to organize itself. As of now it has a 50% chance for development over the next 5 days, at which point it will likely be in the southern Caribbean Sea. Follow Meteorologist Aaron Lowery on Facebook (Aaron Lowery 41NBC) and Twitter (@ALowWX) for weather updates throughout the day. Also, you can watch his forecasts Monday through Friday on 41NBC News at Daybreak (6-7 a.m.) and 41Today (11 a.m).	https://www.41nbc.com/highs-in-the-90s-are-returning-across-middle-georgia-this-afternoon/	2022-09-21T04:18:50Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/highs-in-the-90s-are-returning-across-middle-georgia-this-afternoon/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Hot weather continues Wednesday Highs will be warming back to the mid 90s Wednesday under sunny skies. A late week front will bring relief for the weekend. We got our first 90 degree highs in almost two weeks here in Macon this afternoon, and it starts a trend of more hot days this week. Lows tonight will be falling into the mid 60s with mostly clear skies continuing into Wednesday morning. Wednesday will be another hot day with clear skies and highs in the mid 90s. Thursday is the Autumnal Equinox and, of course, our hottest day of the week. The intense heat won’t be lingering too long, as a dry cold front moves in on Thursday evening. This front will bring cooler temperatures, as well as drier air. It should be a nice break as we head into the weekend and highs are limited to the low and mid 80s. The weekend will be mostly quiet until a front pushes through Sunday evening. This front will bring our next chance of rain, but the lack of moisture could limit shower coverage. There are still quite a few questions about the forecast for next week, especially in regards to tropical development. Right now it looks like we will be seeing dry conditions to start the week, as well as a bit of a cool down by Tuesday. Now to the tricky part of the forecast… We are monitoring an area of storm activity in the Atlantic, nearing the Caribbean Sea. Several models are hinting that this could be the next tropical system that could impact Middle Georgia. Any forecast this early out will be flawed, but regarding timing, if it does move into the Gulf of Mexico, next Thursday/Friday would be my best guess. At this point there is no reason to freak out, but definitely something to keep an eye on.	https://www.41nbc.com/hot-weather-continues-wednesday/	2022-09-21T04:18:56Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/hot-weather-continues-wednesday/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Racing driver Randy Pobst recently brought a 1970 Porsche 914/6 GT to Jay Leno’s Garage, and the resulting video provides an in-depth look at a rare version of Porsche’s 1970s entry-level sports car. While the 914 itself was fairly common, just 16 examples of the 914/6 GT racing version were built. This particular example is still racing; Pobst recently drove it at Laguna Seca and claims to have overtaken a much newer 911 GT2 RS. The 914 was the result of a partnership between Porsche and Volkswagen which was looking for a replacement for the Karmann Ghia. Porsche was still a small company at the time, and projects like this helped keep it afloat. VW later backed out of the partnership, but the 914 entered production under Porsche’s auspices in 1969, and was still sold with VW-Porsche badging in Europe. The base version also had a VW engine. While it was a smart cost-cutting move, the 1.7-liter flat-4 produced just 79 hp. But Porsche also offered the 914/6 with a 108-hp 2.0-liter flat-6 developed in-house. Some Porsche fans sneered at the VW connection, and the styling—which was a big departure from the 911—took some getting used to as well. But the mid-mounted engine is much easier to access than the one in a modern 718 Cayman, Pobst noted, and the 914 still sold in respectable numbers. Porsche built 115,631 4-cylinder models between 1969 and 1975, and 3,338 6-cylinder models between 1969 and 1972. To make it competitive on the track, the 914/6 GT was upgraded with a more powerful 2.0-liter flat-6 from the Porsche 906, good for about 220 hp, and this was coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission. The car also weighed just 1,940 lb—even with added stiffening bars in the rear trunk. The flat-6 was fed from a 26-gallon fuel tank mounted under the front hood. It provided plenty of range and helped balance weight distribution when full, Pobst said, but that would obviously change as the tank drained and the front end got lighter. But the mid-engine design still made it better balanced than the rear-engined 911, Pobst noted. While other Porsche race cars generally get more attention from enthusiasts, the 914/6 GT had some success in competition, including finishing 6th overall at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 914 itself laid the foundation for the later Porsche Boxster and Cayman. You’re unlikely to see a car with a Le Mans pedigree cruising around on public roads, especially one that’s just one of 16 built. So definitely check out the video to see this 914/6 GT on the streets of Los Angeles. Related Articles - Duck tales: History of the Porsche ducktail and Carrera RS 2.7 - 2023 Porsche 963 LMDh completes successful test at Daytona - Michigan company offers EV conversion for original Jeep Grand Wagoneer - Track-focused 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse targets a 500-hp Coyote V-8 - Preview: 2024 Ford Mustang injects modern tech into the traditional pony car	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/rare-1970-porsche-914-rolls-through-jay-lenos-garage/	2022-09-21T04:18:55Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/rare-1970-porsche-914-rolls-through-jay-lenos-garage/	1	green-iguana-35	null
A Kansas man has been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection to an operation in which he charged fees to perform illegal autopsies. 42-year-old Shawn Lynn Parcells used his business National Autopsy Services LLC, to charge fees to over 350 clients and was able to gain $1,166,00, court documents detailed. Parcells pleaded guilty to the case in May, which detailed how he used fake credentials to convince clients that he was qualified to conduct the autopsies, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. In one incident, Parcells received $5,000 for he emailed a copy of a final report that appeared as if he had written it, but no pathologist took part in the exam, the DOJ said. US Attorney Duston Slinkard said, "It's troubling whenever criminals deceptively present themselves as professionals to commit fraud on unwitting victims, but the fact that Parcells' schemes were predicated upon exploiting the grief and bereavement of others makes his act a particularly predatory crime."	https://www.katc.com/news/national/kansas-man-given-over-5-year-sentence-after-performing-illegal-autopsies	2022-09-21T04:18:56Z	katc.com	control	https://www.katc.com/news/national/kansas-man-given-over-5-year-sentence-after-performing-illegal-autopsies	1	green-iguana-35	null
ICYMI: Stories you may have missed today on 41NBC News Top stories from September 20, 2022 - Man hospitalized, 15-year-old boy in custody after Fort Valley shooting - Restaurant Report Card: Food service inspection scores September 12-16 - Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections encourages voter registration - For other stories you may have missed today on 41NBC News, click here.	https://www.41nbc.com/icymi-stories-you-may-have-missed-today-on-41nbc-news-144/	2022-09-21T04:19:02Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/icymi-stories-you-may-have-missed-today-on-41nbc-news-144/	1	green-iguana-35	null
PRAGUE (AP) — Vlado Milunić, a Czech architect of Croatian ancestry who co-designed Prague’s iconic Dancing House building together with his colleague Frank Gehry, has died at 81. Czech public radio announced his death on Sunday and said it was confirmed by his family. No details were given. He was battling an unspecified serious illness. The Dancing House is an unusual building that resembles a pair of dancers; It’s is a rare example of top contemporary architecture in Prague, which otherwise abounds with picturesque historical buildings, churches and monuments. Due to its shape, the building is also known as Ginger and Fred after famed dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It’s formed by two central towers; the one known as Ginger is made of glass and steel, while Fred has a concrete body and a metal head. It’s located on the bank of the Vltava River next to the building where the late President Vaclav Havel used to live. It was built on a plot of land that earlier housed a 19th-century neo-Renaissance building that was destroyed in a World War II air bombardment. Havel is said to have been the first who talked to Milunić about making an architectural study for a possible arts center on the plot. In 1992, the Dutch company Nationale Nederlanden acquired it, seeking to build an office building ,and Milunić approached Gehry to participate. He agreed. Their nine-story project was completed in 1996 and was named among “The Best Design of 1996” by Time magazine. The unusual architecture initially caused some controversy, with critics saying it didn’t fit its historical surroundings. But such arguments gradually disappeared and the building became a must-seen site for tourists alongside Prague’s historical landmarks like the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. Born on March 3, 1941, in Zagreb, Milunić lived in Prague with his family since he was 16. He studied architecture at the Czech Technical University where he later became a lecturer. In the late 1960s, he spent three years in Paris on internships. Among his other projects, the architect is known for an apartment complex and several retirement homes in the Czech capital as well as well a day-care center for disabled children in the city of Ceske Budejovice.	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-architect-vlado-miluni%C4%87-dies-at-81-linked-to-prague-icon/	2022-09-21T04:19:02Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-architect-vlado-miluni%C4%87-dies-at-81-linked-to-prague-icon/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections encourages voter registration The deadline to register to vote for the upcoming election in November is October 11. MACON, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT)— The third Tuesday of September is known as ‘National Voter Registration Day’, and the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections is pushing for your vote. According to Mike Kaplan, Chairman for the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections, there has been an increase in voter registration this year. You can register in person at the Board of Elections or you can register online here. He says it only takes about 10 minutes to complete. “When we have a 12 percent turnout for our local elections, voting is equally as important as registering,” said Kaplan. “Now I do believe in this stat elections our turnout should be in the 70’s which is a really great turnout.” The Board of Elections is located at 2525 Pio Nono Avenue, and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The deadline to register to vote for the upcoming election in November is October 11. Early voting kicks off on October 17.	https://www.41nbc.com/macon-bibb-county-board-of-elections-encourages-voter-registration/	2022-09-21T04:19:08Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/macon-bibb-county-board-of-elections-encourages-voter-registration/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BOSTON (AP) — Venezuelan migrants flown to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his transportation secretary Tuesday for engaging in a "fraudulent and discriminatory scheme" to relocate them. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, alleges that the migrants were told they were going to Boston or Washington, "which was completely false," and were induced with perks such as $10 McDonald's gift certificates. "No human being should be used as a political pawn," said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, which is seeking class-action status in the lawsuit filed on behalf of several migrants who were aboard last week's flights and Alianza Americas, a network of advocacy groups. DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, which also names Secretary of Transportation Jared W. Perdue as a defendant. The lawsuit alleges that migrants were induced to cross state lines under false pretenses, a line that some Democratic officials are using to urge a federal investigation. On Monday, Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, opened an investigation into the flights, but the elected Democrat did not say what laws may have been broken. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, whose district includes San Antonio, have asked the Justice Department to begin a probe. Guesswork was rampant among government officials, advocates and journalists Tuesday about DeSantis' next move, consistent with the element of surprise that he and another Republican governor, Greg Abbott of Texas, have sought to achieve by busing and flying migrants across the country to Democratic strongholds with little or no notice. Asked Tuesday about speculation that DeSantis may send migrants to his home state of Delaware, President Joe Biden said: "He should come visit. We have a beautiful shoreline." DeSantis declined to confirm speculation, based on flight-tracking software, that more migrants were on the move. He again defended his decision to fly about 50 Venezuelans to Martha's Vineyard, saying their decisions were completely voluntary and, without evidence, that they were in awful condition when Florida got involved.	https://www.katc.com/news/national/migrants-sue-florida-governor-over-marthas-vineyard-flights	2022-09-21T04:19:09Z	katc.com	control	https://www.katc.com/news/national/migrants-sue-florida-governor-over-marthas-vineyard-flights	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW YORK (AP) — Henry Silva, a prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films, has died at age 95. Silva’s son Scott Silva told Variety that his father died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. Silva was a New York City native who dropped out of school as a teenager, in the 1940s. He was accepted the following decade into the Actors Studio, where fellow students included Shelley Winters and Ben Gazzara. He went on to have a long and busy career in film and television, with hundreds of credits before retiring from acting in 2001. He had a breakthrough role on stage and screen in the 1950s as a drug dealer in “A Hatful of Rain” and supporting parts in two of Frank Sinatra’s best known movies, both from the early 1960s: “Ocean’s Eleven,” the Las Vegas heist film that was a showcase for Sinatra, Dean Martin and other “Rat Pack” members; and “The Manchurian Candidate,” the Cold War thriller about brainwashing and the attempted assassination of a presidential nominee that starred Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Janet Leigh. (In his last film appearance, Silva was cast in the “Ocean’s Eleven” remake from 2000 that starred George Clooney and Brad Pitt). “Our hearts are broken at the loss of our dear friend Henry Silva, one of the nicest, kindest and most talented men I’ve had the pleasure of calling my friend,” Dean Martin’s daughter, Deana Martin, tweeted. “He was the last surviving star of the original Oceans 11 Movie.” Silva was also seen on such television series as “Wagon Train” and “The F.B.I.,” and in such films as Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy,” Jerry Lewis’ “Cinderfella” and “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,” in which he played a mobster in the 1999 release directed by one of his admirers, Jim Jarmusch. ___ The story has been corrected to show the plot of “The Manchurican candidate” involved the attempted assassination of a presidential nominee, not the assassination of a president.	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-henry-silva-prolific-character-actor/	2022-09-21T04:19:10Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-henry-silva-prolific-character-actor/	1	green-iguana-35	null
PHOTOS: Deputies investigating thefts at two Macon storage facilities Can you help locate or identify the suspects involved? MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is investigating two separate storage facility break-in cases. The first involves storage units at 5410 Hawkinsville Road. According to the Sheriff’s Office, several suspects broke into multiple storage units. The suspects were seen in a possible gray 2018 or newer Kia Forte. The vehicle has noticeable rear end damage. If you can help locate or identify the suspects, please contact Investigator Sgt. Neil Moore at 478-310-3985 or nmoore@maconbibb.us. The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is also investigating break-ins at I-Storage at 4480 Riverside Drive. Deputies say two men rammed the gate of the storage facility using a stolen 15-foot U-Haul truck. The truck was stolen from 3555 Mercer University Drive. It has an Arizona tag AH55353. And the truck number is DC7311W with a VIN: 1FDXE4FS9HDC49865. The suspects are described as two men. One is wearing overalls. And the other was wearing a long sleeved white T-shirt. Deputies say the stolen items include: - 1967 Mercury Cougar GA Tag RYP2710, Partial VIN: 7F91501190 - HUSTLER ZERO TURN MOWER / MODEL: FR691 FASTRACK 933432 / COLOR: YELLOW SERIAL # 18045869 - WHITE 16 X 10 ENCLOSED BOX TRAILER / 2002 INTERSTATE 16X10 TRAILER VIN: 4RACS10142N018896 TAG: TL4SD54 - MISC. TOOLS, SELF-PROPELLED / PUSH MOWER - 10-GALLON GAS CAN If you have any information that might help solve this case, please contact Investigator Dennis Terry at 478-951-4011 or dterry@maconbibb.us.	https://www.41nbc.com/photos-deputies-investigating-thefts-at-two-macon-storage-facilities/	2022-09-21T04:19:14Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/photos-deputies-investigating-thefts-at-two-macon-storage-facilities/	1	green-iguana-35	null
LONDON (AP) — All eight of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchildren stood in silent vigil beside her coffin Saturday, capping another huge day in which thousands came to pay their respects. Mourners huddled in a line that snaked across London, enduring the city’s coldest night in months and waits that stretched up to 16 hours. Authorities warned that more chilly weather was expected Saturday night. “Tonight’s forecast is cold. Warm clothing is recommended,” the ministry in charge of the line tweeted. As U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders and dignitaries flew into London ahead of the queen’s state funeral on Monday, a tide of people wanting to say goodbye streamed into Parliament’s Westminster Hall for another day Saturday. That’s where the queen’s coffin is lying in state, draped in her Royal Standard and capped with a diamond-studded crown. The numbers of mourners have grown steadily since the public was first admitted on Wednesday, with a queue that snakes around Southwark Park and stretches for at least 5 miles (8 kilometers). Honoring their patience, King Charles III and his eldest son Prince William made an unannounced visit Saturday to greet people waiting to file past Elizabeth’s coffin, shaking hands and thanking mourners in the queue near Lambeth Bridge. Later, all the queen’s grandchildren stood by her coffin. William and Prince Harry, Charles’ sons, were joined by Princess Anne’s children, Zara Tindall and Peter Philips; Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie; and the two children of Prince Edward – Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn. William, now the heir to the throne, stood, his head bowed, at the head of the coffin and Harry at the foot. Both princes, who are military veterans, were in uniform. Mourners continued to file past in silence. Harry, who served in Afghanistan as a British army officer, wore civilian clothes earlier in the week as the queen’s coffin left Buckingham Palace because he is no longer a working member of the royal family. He and his wife Meghan quit royal duties and moved to the United States in 2020. The king, however, requested that both William and Harry wear their military uniforms at the Westminster Hall vigil. Before the vigil, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie issued a statement praising their “beloved grannie.” “We, like many, thought you’d be here forever. And we all miss you terribly. You were our matriarch, our guide, our loving hand on our backs leading us through this world. You taught us so much and we will cherish those lessons and memories forever,” the sisters wrote. People queuing to see the queen have been of all ages and come from all walks of life. Many bowed before the coffin or made a sign of the cross. Several veterans, their medals shining, offered sharp salutes. Some people wept. Others blew kisses. Many hugged one another as they stepped away, proud to have spent hours in line to offer a tribute, even if it lasted only a few moments. Overnight, volunteers distributed blankets and cups of tea to people in line as temperatures fell to 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit). Despite the weather, mourners described the warmth of a shared experience. “It was cold overnight, but we had wonderful companions, met new friends. The camaraderie was wonderful,” Chris Harman of London said. “It was worth it. I would do it again and again and again. I would walk to the end of the earth for my queen.” People had many reasons for coming, from affection for the queen to a desire to be part of a historic moment. Simon Hopkins, who traveled from his home in central England, likened it to “a pilgrimage.” “(It) is a bit strange, because that kind of goes against my grain,” he said. “I’ve been kind of drawn into it.” Saturday’s vigil followed one on Friday in which the queen’s four children — Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward — stood vigil at the coffin. Edward said the royal family was “overwhelmed by the tide of emotion that has engulfed us and the sheer number of people who have gone out of their way to express their own love, admiration and respect (for) our dear mama.” On Saturday, the new king was holding audiences with incoming prime ministers, governor generals of the realms and military leaders. The Metropolitan Police arrested a man Friday night during the viewing for a suspected public order offense. Parliamentary authorities said someone got out of the queue and tried to approach the coffin. Tracey Holland told Sky News that her 7-year-old niece Darcy Holland was pushed out of the way by a man who tried to “run up to the coffin, lift up the standard and try to do I don’t know what.” She said police detained the man in “two seconds.” The lying-in-state continues until early Monday morning, when the queen’s coffin will be borne to nearby Westminster Abbey for a state funeral, the finale of 10 days of national mourning for Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. Elizabeth, 96, died at her Balmoral Estate in Scotland on Sept. 8 after 70 years on the throne. After the service Monday at the abbey, the late queen’s coffin will be transported through the historic heart of London on a horse-drawn gun carriage. It will then be taken in a hearse to Windsor, where the queen will be interred alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who died last year. Late Saturday, the government revealed details of where the public can watch the day’s services and processions. In addition to a number of viewing areas along the route, mourners will be able to watch on screens set up in Hyde Park, close to Buckingham Palace. There also will be screening sites at several towns and cities across the U.K and about 125 cinemas will open to screen the funeral. Hundreds of troops from the British army, air force and navy held an early-morning rehearsal Saturday for the final procession. As troops lined the picturesque path leading to Windsor Castle, the thumping of drums echoed in the air as marching bands walked ahead of a hearse. London police say the funeral will be the largest single policing event the force has ever handled, surpassing even the 2012 Summer Olympics and the Platinum Jubilee in June celebrating the queen’s 70-year reign. ___ Follow AP coverage of Queen Elizabeth II at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-man-arrested-after-disturbance-as-line-to-see-queen-swells/	2022-09-21T04:19:22Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-man-arrested-after-disturbance-as-line-to-see-queen-swells/	1	green-iguana-35	null
‘Summer Breeze’ drug sweep nets multiple arrests in Washington County Deputies set out to arrest about 27 people Tuesday SANDERSVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – More than two dozen people are facing drug charges under a law enforcement operation known as Summer Breeze Drug Sweep. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office sent out deputies Tuesday to arrest about 27 people for the sale of illegal drugs. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says 15 individuals had been taken into custody. And the search continues for those who have outstanding arrest warrants for the sale of illegal drugs. Drug sales range from crack cocaine, morphine, MDA and methamphetamine. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocmulgee Drug Task Force first initiated the investigation. As this investigation grew, other agencies were called to assist. The include the following: - Sandersville Police Department - Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office - Johnson County Sheriff’s Office - Wilkinson County Sheriff’s Office - Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office - Laurens County Sheriff’s Office - Georgia Bureau of Investigations - Georgia State Patrol - Georgia Department of Community Supervision - U.S. Marshals Southern Fugitive Squad	https://www.41nbc.com/summer-breeze-drug-sweep-nets-multiple-arrests-in-washington-county/	2022-09-21T04:19:26Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/summer-breeze-drug-sweep-nets-multiple-arrests-in-washington-county/	1	green-iguana-35	null
The End Zone Game of the Week Preview: Perry vs. Howard The End Zone Game of the Week is scheduled for Friday, September 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Herb St. John Stadium. PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — High school football season is flying by, as it’s already week six, and our End Zone Game of the Week features the Perry Panthers vs. the Howard Huskies. After falling in a heartbreaker in their first game of the season to Houston County, the Panthers have won three straight contests against quality opponents. This week, they take on the undefeated Huskies in region play. Scheduling tough teams early in the season is all a proactive strategy for Perry’s head coach Kevin Smith. “When I think of non-region, I’m thinking of playoff-type atmospheres. And the stronger competition you play, the better you’re going to do against your region opponent. We play a really tough region schedule. It prepares us mentally. It prepares us physically,” said Smith. The End Zone Game of the Week is scheduled for Friday, September 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Herb St. John Stadium.	https://www.41nbc.com/the-end-zone-game-of-the-week-preview-perry-vs-howard/	2022-09-21T04:19:32Z	nbc.com	treatment	https://www.41nbc.com/the-end-zone-game-of-the-week-preview-perry-vs-howard/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW YORK (AP) — When word came that Queen Elizabeth II was close to her death, media organizations around the world sprang to life, dispatching reporters to a royal castle in Scotland and breaking out coverage plans decades in the making. At age 96, the queen’s passing was hardly a surprise. Still, the British royal succession is a media event on steroids that will culminate in Monday’s live coverage of funeral services from Westminster Abbey. “It’s something I’ve always sort of dreaded and anticipated and worried about,” said Deb Thompson, assistant London bureau chief for CBS News in the United States, recalling nights spent obsessing over the details. So far, it’s all gone smoothly and she pronounces herself awed by the spectacle. Woe to those who didn’t plan ahead, however. The director of U.K.’s Foreign Press Association said the organization has been inundated with requests for accreditation from television and radio broadcasters all over the world. The association tries to help them navigate government and royal protocols. “You’d have thought the royal weddings reached the maximum level of interest, but no,” said director Deborah Bonetti. “It’s a tsunami of people who have no idea what to do in order to broadcast these proceedings from London.” Even accredited journalists are fighting for positions, “so if you’re just flying in … you’re unlikely to get one,” she said. Within Britain, the well-rehearsed coverage of remembrances and ceremonial events has been deferential to a fault, said Steven Barnett, communications professor at the University of Westminster. Critical reflection on the queen’s life or the monarchy’s role in modern society — of which there has been coverage around the world — has almost entirely been banished to social media, he said. In a circling of the wagons, The New York Times was criticized in Britain for an article that talked about the “hefty” price tag of a royal funeral being paid for by state funds at a time many Britons are hurting financially. “There are no depths to which the @nytimes won’t stoop to in its anti-British propaganda,” journalist Andrew Neil, a former editor at the Sunday Times in London said on Twitter. In the United States, the coverage has mostly focused on the passing of an era, and the solemn services, said Marlene Koenig, who manages the Royal Musings blog from her Virginia home. “It has been respectful,” she said. “I won’t use the term reverential. We have to remember the British monarch is very much a part of our history and heritage.” Mourners who sought to pay their last respects to the queen as her coffin was lying in state this week were met with a crowd of reporters, microphones and video cameras as they waited to enter Westminster Hall and again as they left. Why did they come? What did the moment mean to them? How did it feel to see the coffin? Reporters asked to check the wristbands of people in line to get a sense of how many were waiting. On Thursday, the media’s desire to show as much as it could of mourners passing by the monarch’s coffin conflicted with the control-conscious palace’s desire for dignity and decorum. The palace issued a list of rules for video coverage that included, for example, no depiction of the royal family “showing visible signs of distress” or “any inappropriate conduct” by members of the public or otherwise. When one of the ceremonial guards beside the queen’s coffin fainted, the BBC cut off its live feed, and the use of video that showed what happened was restricted, even though still pictures showed up on newspaper websites. Many news organizations had long-term agreements on where their journalists would be placed for the signature events. NBC News, for example, is using the same location it used to cover King Charles III’s wedding to Diana and Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton. “The Brits do pomp and circumstance like no others,” said Tom Mazzarelli, executive producer of NBC’s “Today” show in the U.S. American broadcasters have been all-in on queen coverage, too. Television networks are sending their biggest news stars to anchor Monday’s funeral coverage: Robin Roberts and David Muir of ABC News; Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt and Hoda Kotb of NBC; Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell of CBS. Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 was watched by a huge audience: 33 million in the United States alone on a Saturday morning. Even without royalty, funerals of major figures symbolize an era’s end and are often big television draws. Former President Ronald Reagan’s prime-time burial in 2004 had 35 million viewers, the Nielsen company said. The queen’s death received major coverage elsewhere in the world, often dictated or complicated by Britain’s relationships with the countries where it was shown. In Hong Kong, a former British colony turned over to China in 1997, most local news outlets ran reports on the British ceremonies. But some television channels have been careful reporting on the city’s own tributes to the queen. The Now TV network edited a Facebook post and news report that showed Hong Kong residents leaving flowers at the British consulate to remove an interview with one resident who said a long line of people waiting to pay respects to the queen “shows what people want.” Local media reported the pro-Beijing head of news at Now TV ordered the changes. The network did not give an explanation. Heavy coverage of the queen’s death in India, once Britain’s largest colony, quickly faded. For older residents, the British royal family represents a painful part of history, but to most Indians they’re just another celebrity family. In Syria, where President Bashar Assad considers Britain part of a coalition funding insurgents in the country’s 11-year conflict, state TV gave little attention to the news. Co-hosts of the major morning TV shows in Australia, a constitutional monarchy where the queen was sovereign, traveled to London to cover the events. Regular guests of the programs were required to dress in dark clothing. Widespread coverage in Japan often drew parallels to the increasingly controversial state funeral plans later this month for the assassinated former leader Shinzo Abe. British ceremonial events are “catnip for television networks,” said Mark Lukasiewicz, a veteran American network executive now dean of Hofstra University’s School of Communication. But after more than a week, they have their limits, said Barnett, the British professor. “It’s gotten to the point where a lot of people are thinking, ‘we’ve kind of had enough now,’” he said. ___ Sylvia Hui, Samya Kullab and Jill Lawless from London; Bassem Mroue from Beirut, Lebanon; Mari Yamaguchi from Tokyo, Japan; Zen Soo from Hong Kong; Krutika Pathi from New Delhi, India; and Rod McGuirk from Canberra, Australia contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of Queen Elizabeth II at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-queens-death-triggers-media-bonanza-in-works-for-decades/	2022-09-21T04:19:34Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-queens-death-triggers-media-bonanza-in-works-for-decades/	1	green-iguana-35	null
LONDON (AP) — Royal fans have poured into the heart of London to experience the flag-lined roads, pomp-filled processions and, above all, brave a mileslong line for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to bid adieu to Queen Elizabeth II, who died after an unprecedented seven decades on the throne. And while they’re here, they’re packing hotels, restaurants and shops. Visitors crowding into central London from as far away as the U.S. and India for the historic moment are giving a boost to businesses at a time when the British economy is facing a cost-of-living crisis fueled by the highest inflation in four decades and predictions of a looming recession. “This is the history, you know, this happens once in the lifetime,” said Kanakkantt Benedict, who was visiting from India with his wife and filed past the queen’s flag-draped coffin this week. “So we became a part of it.” The pomp and pageantry leading up to the funeral for Britain’s longest-reigning monarch underscored the royal family’s power as a global attraction, from an elaborate military procession for her crown-topped coffin drawing live viewers around the world to piles of flowers filling up Green Park near Buckingham Palace and gift shops hastily churning out souvenirs commemorating the queen’s life as people clamor for mementos. Hundreds of thousands are expected to pay tribute to the queen in the four days that her body lies in state ahead of her state funeral Monday, pushing up demand for hotel rooms in central London that in some cases have doubled in price. Hundreds of world leaders, from U.S. President Joe Biden to Japan’s emperor and empress, plus their entourages need places to stay as they arrive for the queen’s funeral. So do police officers coming from around Britain to help with security. Occupancy levels could reach an all-time high of 95%, according to London-based group-booking platform Hotelplanner.com. “That’s not surprising when you consider that the eyes of the world really are on the capital and the media, dignitaries and members of the public, just like myself, who just want to be part of such a historic occasion,” said Thomas Emanuel, senior director of hotel analytics firm STR. All 35 rooms at the two-star Corbigoe Hotel in London’s Victoria neighborhood, near Buckingham Palace, were booked, duty manager Riaz Badar said. “Nowadays, rooms are full in this area, not only in our hotel but around all the hotels in this area,” Badar said. On the Thames, the Riverside Cafe that’s next to the mileslong, round-the-clock line for people to get a glimpse of the queen’s coffin, has been “extremely busy,” manager Zab Istanik said. He’s been opening two hours earlier than normal, at 7 a.m. “We were busy like this when the Queen Mum passed away in 2002. But it wasn’t as busy as it is … this week,” Istanik said. Also on the route, Jason Rich’s food stall, Fed By Plants, was doing brisk business selling lentil burgers. “It’s a long queue,” Rich said. “So definitely it had a good boost on the business.” The U.K. was already an attractive place to visit as demand rebounds for international travel since the COVID-19 pandemic and the weakened pound, especially for American visitors, makes transatlantic travel more affordable. University professor Chad Broughton, 51, who was visiting London from Chicago with two friends after a long pandemic delay, said their hotel room in the tourist-heavy Covent Garden neighborhood was pricey at 400 pounds ($456) a night. But the trip to London was unique. “Seeing all these people queued up, seeing the reaction on BBC and just feeling this, you get a sense of how important it is to the people here,” he said. Plus, costs were offset by the currency’s fall, friend Josh Walsman said. “We’ve found everything to be a pretty surprising value,” Walsman, 51-year-old musician, said as they walked by Westminster Hall, where mourners inside paid homage to the queen and tourists outside snapped photos on streets closed to traffic. Walsman said they went to a Champions League soccer match, had tickets for a play and a dinner reservation at the upscale Cinnamon Club Indian restaurant. “We’ve been mostly spending our money at pubs,” he said. “The conversion rate has meant that each time a bill comes, it’s like, ‘Oh, I thought it was about 30% more.’” The pound briefly slumped to a 37-year low against the dollar on Friday after U.K. retail sales volumes slid more than expected in August — a fresh sign of economic weakness. The British economy is reeling from rising energy prices spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine, driving the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. The government said it will cap energy bills for households and businesses, but prices are still painfully high. Inflation is the highest in the Group of Seven economies, at 9.9%. With that backdrop, the money being spent by visitors offered a glimmer of hope. “Speaking to our hospitality sector, not just our hotels, but restaurants, bars and pubs, they’ve had an awful three years because of this pandemic,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said. Budget hotel operator Travelodge said it’s ordered extra breakfast supplies for its 78 London hotels for Monday, saying it expects many mourners to start their day with a “traditional full English” breakfast. Pub chain JD Wetherspoon says it will keep its pubs in central London open Monday during the queen’s funeral. Some analysts predicted the overall economic boost for the U.K. from the royal mourning period would be limited. That’s because it would be offset by supermarkets, retailers, hardware stores and other businesses closing for the funeral Monday, which has been made a public holiday. However, renewed interest in the royal family could give an extended boost to the travel and tourism industry, said Tim Hentschel, co-founder and CEO of Hotelplanner.com. “Yes, short term, the bank holiday will probably cut down productivity a little bit,” Hentschel said. But “the overall momentum that the U.K. is going to gain from all the tourism that’s going to flock here over the next few days and then over the next few months will far outweigh” the short-term loss. ___ AP journalists Kwiyeon Ha, Jeffrey Schaeffer and Tian Macleod Ji contributed from London. ___ Follow AP coverage of Queen Elizabeth II at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii.	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-royal-fans-give-london-tourism-a-bump-amid-uk-economic-woes/	2022-09-21T04:19:40Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-royal-fans-give-london-tourism-a-bump-amid-uk-economic-woes/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(WXIN) — Grab your popcorn, light a pumpkin-scented candle, and get ready to binge these Halloween movies coming to Netflix scarily soon! Netflix and chills, anyone? Here’s what to look out for (according to whatsonnetflix.com): - DAHMER (Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story): September 21 (subject to change) - LOU: September 23 - The Munsters: Sept. 27. Horror director/rocker Rob Zombie (“Halloween,” “The Devil’s Rejects”) takes a stab at a big-screen adaptation of the classic 1960s sitcom of the same name. - Phantom Pups (Season 1): September 30 - Mr. Harrigan’s Phone: October 5 - Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes (Limited Series): October 7 - The Midnight Club (Season 1): October 7. Based on the 1994 book by horror novelist Christopher Pike, this 10-episode first season focuses on hospice patients telling ghastly tales at midnight. Director/creator Mike Flannigan (“Doctor Sleep,” “The Haunting of Bly Manor”) lends writing to most of the episodes. - Dead End: Paranormal Park (Season 2): October 13 - The Curse of Bridge Hallow: October 14 - Unsolved Mysteries (Volume 3): - The School for Good and Evil: October 19 - Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities: October 25-28. This anthology series created by Academy Award-winning director Del Toro features different horror creations by several filmmakers. Del Toro (“The Shape of Water,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”) directs the first two episodes. - Daniel Spellbound (Season 1): October 27 - Wendell and Wild: October 28. This stop-motion animated film from the director of 2009’s “Coraline,” is also written and produced by current horror darling Jordan Peele (“Get Out,” “Nope”). The series follows two demon brothers trying to cross over into the human world. - Wednesday: October TBD - 1899: November 7 - Capturing the Killer Nurse: November 11 - Troll: December 1. A Netflix original monster movie featuring — you guessed it — a troll. Can the humans stop it from destruction? - Morbius: TBD In case you’re wondering what’s leaving Netflix in October, you’ve got half a month to watch hit films like “Catch Me If You Can,” “Dirty Harry,” “Dumber and Dumber” and “I Am Legend.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/netflix-and-chills-whats-coming-to-netflix-this-halloween/	2022-09-21T04:19:46Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/netflix-and-chills-whats-coming-to-netflix-this-halloween/	1	green-iguana-35	null
MUNICH (AP) — The beer is flowing at Munich’s world-famous Oktoberfest for the first time since 2019. With three knocks of a hammer and the traditional cry of “O’zapft is” — “It’s tapped” — Mayor Dieter Reiter inserted the tap in the first keg at noon on Saturday, officially opening the festivities after a two-year break forced by the coronavirus pandemic. The Oktoberfest has typically drawn about 6 million visitors every year to packed festival grounds in Bavaria’s capital, The event did not take place in 2020 and 2021 as authorities grappled with the unpredictable development of COVID-19 infections and restrictions. Those worries were put aside this year. The city announced in late April that Oktoberfest would go ahead, and Reiter said Saturday that “it was a good decision.” “I’m glad that we can finally celebrate together,” Bavarian governor Markus Soeder said at the opening ceremony. “There are many who say, ‘Can we, can we not? Is it appropriate now?’ I just want to say one thing: We have two or three difficult years behind us, no one knows exactly what this winter will be like, and we need joie de vivre and strength.” Three hours before Reiter tapped the first keg, revelers rushed to secure seats in the huge beer tents as the gates to the festival opened. They will need significantly deeper pockets than at the last Oktoberfest, with brewers and visitors facing pressure from inflation. A 1-liter (2-pint) mug of beer costs between 12.60 and 13.80 euros (dollars) this year, which is an increase of about 15% compared with 2019, according to the festival’s official homepage. This year’s Oktoberfest, the 187th edition of the event, runs through Oct. 3. Soeder told the daily Muenchner Merkur newspaper in comments published earlier Saturday that the number of coronavirus infections would probably rise following the Oktoberfest but “at the same time, thankfully, we aren’t measuring an undue strain on hospitals anywhere.” “That speaks for us being in new phase of corona,” he said, adding that authorities would try to protect vulnerable people but not prevent celebrations.	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-its-tapped-germanys-oktoberfest-opens-after-2-year-hiatus/	2022-09-21T04:19:52Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-its-tapped-germanys-oktoberfest-opens-after-2-year-hiatus/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — Wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the word “PEER,” Joy Bogese approaches people struggling with drug addiction the way a teacher might approach a reluctant student — gently, calmly and armed with experience in a subject that has stymied each of them. Bogese, a recovering heroin addict, breaks the ice by telling them a bit about herself. “I’ve been homeless, I did time in jail. I remember thinking, there’s no hope. I’m always going to be a junkie,” she tells a homeless man while standing next to a uniformed police officer. “I made it and you can, too,” she quickly adds. Bogese is one of four peer recovery specialists who have been working in central Virginia this year as part of “Project Recover.” The specialists are embedded with ambulance crews and police officers so they can offer guidance and resources to victims during one of the most difficult times of their lives — immediately following an overdose. The program began after Courtney Nunnally, a recovering addict who founded a nonprofit organization to help get people into treatment, partnered with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. For its first year, the project received a $302,000 federal grant to hire peer recovery specialists who have turned their lives around after waging long battles with addiction. The program’s supporters are currently searching for funding for a second year. Most days, Bogese and Nunnally are out on patrol with police in Richmond and Chesterfield. They respond to 911 overdose calls and also patrol areas around abandoned buildings, cheap motels and parking lots, looking for the signs of addiction. On a recent Monday, Bogese spots Adam Hall, a homeless man she first met two weeks earlier, in the parking lot of a shuttered shopping plaza. She and Chesterfield Patrol Officer Travis Adams reintroduce themselves and ask him how he’s been. Hall, 49, tells her he was shaken recently after a young man who stayed at the same campsite he stays at died of a drug overdose. “Did you think about what we talked about?” Bogese asks, reminding him about some treatment options she suggested during their first meeting. “It’s not something I’m into yet, but I’m definitely thinking about it,” Hall says. Bogese says she respects his honesty and hands him some naloxone nasal spray, a prescription medicine used to treat opioid overdose emergencies. “He has those ideas and options we talked about, and those seeds are planted,” she says as she walks away. On this particular day, Adams and Bogese are not called to the scene of any overdoses during several hours of patrol. But they know it probably won’t be long before they will. Like many communities around the country, Chesterfield County has struggled with the opioid addiction crisis. In 2021, police here responded to 308 calls for overdoses of heroin, fentanyl or a combination of both; 77 of those calls involved fatal overdoses. So far this year, they’ve responded to 161 overdoses; 27 of them have been fatal, said Lt. Edward Pierpont. The use of peer recovery specialists gained popularity in the late 1990s, when the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration began to fund grant programs specifically focused on peer recovery support services. During the opioid crisis over the last decade, peer recovery specialists have become even more prevalent. In 2015, a police chief in Massachusetts announced that opiate addicts who walked into the police station for help would not be charged with a crime. Former Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello’s Facebook post received national attention and led to the creation of the Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative, a nonprofit that helps law enforcement agencies create early diversion and other “non-arrest” programs to reduce overdose deaths and expand access to treatment. Since its inception seven years ago, the initiative has grown to a national network of nearly 700 police departments in 34 states. Some departments encourage people to self-report to police stations, while others, like Project Recover, focus on outreach to addicts. “The goal is to get people into a treatment program rather than arrest their way out of the problem,” said Zoe Grover, PAARI’s executive director. In Berea, Ohio, a city of about 20,000 just outside Cleveland, the police department created Safe Passages, a program that encourages people to walk in the front door of the police station. There, they meet with an officer and then a peer support specialist who helps determine placement for detox or treatment services. The program also helps participants with issues that can often hinder their ability to get treatment, including transportation, insurance and child care. From 2016 to 2020, about 150 people reported to the police station and sought help, said Sgt. Patrick Greenhill. Another 13 area police departments also participated, providing services to hundreds more. “People didn’t believe it at first — that they wouldn’t get arrested — but then people started bringing their friends to us for help,” Greenhill said. In Chesterfield, Adams says having Bogese with him on patrol sometimes eases the fear and distrust people struggling with addiction have of police. “It’s important for them to be able to see that she’s been through what they have,” he said. Bogese grew up wanting to be a police officer and got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice. But she struggled with alcohol and prescription drugs for two decades and then became addicted to heroin. After nine months of increasing heroin use, Bogese was arrested, an event she said saved her life. During more than four years in jail, she trained to become a certified peer recovery specialist and began working for Project Recover in April. She’s been clean for seven years. “I was so focused on myself before, and the emptiness of feeling, ‘Why am I here? What’s my purpose?'” she said. “I definitely (still) have struggles and challenges, but having that meaning and purpose of helping people gives me that sense of direction so I don’t feel lost.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-recovering-addicts-work-to-help-others-in-project-recover/	2022-09-21T04:20:00Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-recovering-addicts-work-to-help-others-in-project-recover/	1	green-iguana-35	null
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, a Republican who is running for governor in Arkansas, was released from a hospital Saturday after undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer. “Following successful surgery on Friday to remove her thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes and in consultation with her physician, Sarah was discharged from an Arkansas hospital—cancer free,” said Sanders spokesperson Judd Deere. “She will spend the remaining portion of her recovery at home.” Deere told The Associated Press that Sanders, 40, plans to resume campaigning “soon,” but it was not known precisely when she would return. Sanders said Friday when announcing the surgery that a biopsy earlier this month revealed she had thyroid cancer. Dr. John R. Sims, a surgeon at CARTI Cancer Center in Little Rock who is one of Sanders’ doctors, said Sanders’ cancer was a stage 1 papillary thyroid carcinoma, the most common type of thyroid cancer and said she has an “excellent” prognosis. Sims said Sanders will need adjuvant treatment with radioactive iodine and long-term continuing care. Sanders, who served as former President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman until 2019, is running against Democratic nominee Chris Jones. She is the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Jones and his wife, Jerrilyn, on Friday issued a statement saying their family was thinking of Sanders and praying for her. Sanders is heavily favored in the predominantly Republican state of Arkansas to win the office currently held by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is leaving office in January due to term limits. She’s run primarily on national issues in the Arkansas race, promising to use the governor’s office to fight President Joe Biden and the “radical left.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-sarah-sanders-released-from-hospital-after-cancer-surgery/	2022-09-21T04:20:08Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-sarah-sanders-released-from-hospital-after-cancer-surgery/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The World Health Organization raised the alarm Saturday about a “second disaster” in the wake of the deadly floods in Pakistan this summer, as doctors and medical workers on the ground race to battle outbreaks of waterborne and other diseases. The floodwaters started receding this week in the worst-hit provinces but many of the displaced — now living in tents and makeshift camps — increasingly face the threat of gastrointestinal infections, dengue fever and malaria, which are on the rise. The dirty and stagnant waters have become breeding grounds for mosquitos. The unprecedented monsoon rains since mid-June, which many experts link to climate change, and subsequent flooding have killed 1,545 people across Pakistan, inundated millions of acres of land and affected 33 million people. As many as 552 children have also been killed in the floods. “I am deeply concerned about the potential for a second disaster in Pakistan: a wave of disease and death following this catastrophe, linked to climate change, that has severely impacted vital health systems leaving millions vulnerable,” WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a statement. “The water supply is disrupted, forcing people to drink unsafe water,” he said. “But if we act quickly to protect health and deliver essential health services, we can significantly reduce the impact of this impending crisis.” The WHO chief also said that nearly 2,000 health facilities have been fully or partially damaged in Pakistan and urged donors to continue to respond generously so that more lives can be saved. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif left for New York on Saturday to attend the first fully in-person gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly since the coronavirus pandemic. Sharif will appeal for more help from the international community to tackle the disaster. Before his departure, Sharif urged philanthropists and aid agencies to donate baby food for children, along with blankets, clothes and other food items for the flood victims, saying they were desperately waiting for aid. The southern Sindh and southwestern Baluchistan provinces have been the worst hit — hundreds of thousands in Sindh live now in makeshift homes and authorities say it will take months to completely drain the water in the province. Nationwide, floods have damaged 1.8 million homes, washed away roads and destroyed nearly 400 bridges, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. Imran Baluch, head of a government-run district hospital in Jafferabad, in the district of Dera Allah Yar in Baluchistan, said that out of 300 people tested daily, nearly 70% are positive for malaria. After malaria, typhoid fever and skin infections are most commonly seen among the displaced, living for weeks in unhygienic conditions, Baluch told The Associated Press. Pediatrician Sultan Mustafa said he treated some 600 patients at a field clinic established by the Dua Foundation charity in the Jhuddo area in Sindh, mostly women and children with gastrointestinal infections, scabies, malaria or dengue. Khalid Mushtaq, heading a team of doctors from the Alkhidmat Foundation and the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, said they are treating more than 2,000 patients a day and were also providing kits containing a month’s supply of water-purification tablets, soaps and other items. On Friday, the representative of the U.N. children’s agency in Pakistan, Abdullah Fadil, said after visiting Sindh’s flood-hit areas that an estimated 16 million children had been impacted by the floods. He said UNICEF was doing everything it can “to support children and families affected and protect them from the ongoing dangers of water-borne diseases.” ___ Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-who-raises-alarm-on-disease-in-flood-hit-areas-of-pakistan/	2022-09-21T04:20:16Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-who-raises-alarm-on-disease-in-flood-hit-areas-of-pakistan/	1	green-iguana-35	null
A former White House aide told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) sought a pardon from former President Trump over the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into sex trafficking allegations against him, The Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the testimony. Former Trump aide Johnny McEntee said Gaetz told him he had asked former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for a preemptive pardon, the Post reported. McEntee told the committee that he understood the pardon to be in connection with the DOJ probe. The Justice Department is investigating allegations that Gaetz paid for sex, paid for women to travel across state lines to have sex and had a sexual relationship with a minor. Gaetz denies the allegations. The committee previously showed McEntee saying in a videotaped deposition that Gaetz told him he asked Meadows for a pardon during a June hearing. It also presented testimony from other former Trump aides naming Gaetz as one of several Republican lawmakers who sought pardons from Trump. Gaetz and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) advocated for a “blanket pardon” for lawmakers who participated in a December 2020 meeting where efforts to overturn the election were discussed, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified. When asked by the committee if Gaetz was seeking a pardon, Eric Herschmann, a former Trump White House attorney, responded in a taped deposition that he believed so and that Gaetz’s pardon request was “for any and all things.” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a member of the committee, also presented an email from Brooks in which the Alabama congressman requested presidential pardons for himself, Gaetz, and lawmakers who objected to the Electoral College vote for Arizona and Pennsylvania. However, McEntee’s testimony as reported by the Post is the first to indicate that Gaetz sought a pardon in connection with the Justice Department’s investigation into the sex trafficking allegations, though there has been speculation. The New York Times reported in April 2021 that Gaetz had sought a blanket pardon from Trump in the last weeks of his presidency, noting this came as the congressman was being investigated by the DOJ for allegedly violating sex trafficking laws. Trump denied the allegations that Gaetz had directly asked for a blanket pardon. “Congressman Matt Gaetz discussed pardons for many other people publicly and privately at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term,” a spokesperson for Gaetz said in a statement. “As for himself, President Trump addressed this malicious rumor more than a year ago stating, ‘Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon.’ Rep. Gaetz continues to stand by President Trump’s statement.” The Jan. 6 committee and Trump’s team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.	https://www.ktalnews.com/hill-politics/gaetz-sought-pardon-from-trump-over-doj-probe-into-sex-trafficking-allegations-report/	2022-09-21T04:20:23Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/hill-politics/gaetz-sought-pardon-from-trump-over-doj-probe-into-sex-trafficking-allegations-report/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW DELHI (AP) — Seven decades after cheetahs died out in India, they’re back. Eight big cats from Namibia made the long trek Saturday in a chartered cargo flight to the northern Indian city of Gwalior, part of an ambitious and hotly contested plan to reintroduce cheetahs to the South Asian country. Then they were moved to their new home: a sprawling national park in the heart of India where scientists hope the world’s fastest land animal will roam again. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the cats into their enclosure Saturday morning. The cats emerged from their cage, tentatively at first while continuously scanning their new surroundings. “When the cheetah will run again … grasslands will be restored, biodiversity will increase and eco-tourism will get a boost,” said Modi. Cheetahs were once widespread in India and became extinct in 1952 from hunting and loss of habitat. They remain the first and only predator to die out since India’s independence in 1947. India hopes importing African cheetahs will aid efforts to conserve the country’s threatened and largely neglected grasslands. There are less than 7,000 adult cheetahs left in the wild globally, and they now inhabit less than 9% of their original range. Shrinking habitat, due to the increasing human population and climate change, is a huge threat and India’s grasslands and forests could offer “appropriate” homes for the big cat, said Laurie Marker, of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, an advocacy and research group assisting in bringing the cats to India. “To save cheetahs from extinction, we need to create permanent places for them on earth,” she said. Cheetah populations in most countries are declining. An exception to this is South Africa, where the cats have run out of space. Experts hope that Indian forests could offer these cats space to thrive. There are currently a dozen cheetahs in quarantine in South Africa, and they are expected to arrive at the Kuno National Park soon. Earlier this month, four cheetahs captured at reserves in South Africa were flown to Mozambique, where the cheetah population has drastically declined. Some experts are more cautious. There could be “cascading and unintended consequences” when a new animal is brought to the mix, said Mayukh Chatterjee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. For example, a tiger population boom in India has led to more conflict with people sharing the same space. With cheetahs, there are questions about how their presence would affect other carnivores like striped hyenas, or even prey like birds. “The question remains: How well it’s done,” he said. The initial eight cheetahs from Namibia will be quarantined at a facility in the national park and monitored for a month to make sure they’re not carrying pests. Then they will be released into a larger enclosure in the park to help them get used to their new environment. The enclosures contain natural prey — such as spotted deer and antelope, which scientists hope they’ll learn to hunt — and are designed to prevent other predators like bears or leopards from getting in. The cheetahs will be fitted with tracking collars and released into the national park in about two months. Their movements will be tracked routinely, but for the most part, they’ll be on their own. The reserve is big enough to hold 21 cheetahs and if they were to establish territories and breed, they could spread to other interconnected grasslands and forests that can house another dozen cheetahs, according to scientists. There is only one village with a few hundred families still residing on the fringes of the park. Indian officials said they’d be moved soon, and any livestock loss due to cheetahs will be compensated. The project is estimated to cost $11.5 million over five years, including $6.3 million that will be paid for by state-owned Indian Oil. The continent-to-continent relocation has been decades in the making. The cats that originally roamed India were Asiatic cheetahs, genetically distinct cousins of those that live in Africa and whose range stretched to Saudi Arabia. India had hoped to bring in Asiatic cheetahs, but only a few dozen of these survive in Iran and that population is too vulnerable to move. Many obstacles remain, including the presence of other predators in India like leopards that may compete with cheetahs, said conservation geneticist Pamela Burger of University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. “It would be better to conserve them now where they are than to put effort in creating new sites where the outcome is questionable,” she said. Dr. Adrian Tordiffe, a veterinary wildlife specialist from South Africa associated with the project, said the animals need a helping hand. He added that conservation efforts in many African countries hadn’t been as successful, unlike in India where strict conservation laws have preserved big cat populations. “We cannot sit back and hope that species like the cheetah will survive on their own without our help,” he said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-cheetahs-make-a-comeback-in-india-after-70-years/	2022-09-21T04:20:31Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-cheetahs-make-a-comeback-in-india-after-70-years/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BEIJING (AP) — Two Chinese astronauts went on a spacewalk Saturday from a new space station that is due to be completed later this year. Cai Xuzhe and Chen Dong installed pumps, a handle to open the hatch door from outside in an emergency, and a foot-stop to fix an astronaut’s feet to a robotic arm, state media said. China is building its own space station after being excluded by the U.S. from the International Space Station because its military runs the country’s space program. American officials see a host of strategic challenges from China’s space ambitions, in an echo of the U.S.-Soviet rivalry that prompted the race to the moon in the 1960s. The latest spacewalk was the second during a six-month mission that will oversee the completion of the space station. The first of two laboratories, a 23-ton module, was added to the station in July and the other is to be sent up later this year. The third member of the crew, Liu Yang, supported the other two from inside during the spacewalk. Liu and Chen conducted the first spacewalk about two weeks ago. They will be joined by three more astronauts near the end of their mission in what will be the first time the station has six people on board. China became the third nation to send a person into space in 2003, following the former Soviet Union and the United States. It has sent rovers to the moon and Mars and brought lunar samples back to Earth.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-chinese-astronauts-go-on-spacewalk-from-new-station/	2022-09-21T04:20:38Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-chinese-astronauts-go-on-spacewalk-from-new-station/	1	green-iguana-35	null
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A strong earthquake struck southeastern Taiwan on Saturday evening, toppling objects from store shelves, collapsing a house and interrupting rail service on the island, but there were no immediate reports of deaths, media reported. Taiwan’s Central News Agency said the 6.4 magnitude shallow quake was centered north of Taitung County on the island’s eastern shore. It partially collapsed an uninhabited house in Hualien County, about 165 kilometers (100 miles) north along the coast, causing no casualties. Trains linking Hualien and Taitung had been temporarily halted and five other high speed rail services canceled until safety checks are performed, the Taiwan Railways Administration said. Metro systems in the capital, Taipei, and southern Kaohsiung City were temporarily suspended.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-6-4-mag-quake-strikes-southeast-taiwan-topples-objects/	2022-09-21T04:20:46Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-6-4-mag-quake-strikes-southeast-taiwan-topples-objects/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt said on Saturday that it will increase transit fees for vessels, including oil-laden tankers, passing through Suez Canal, one of the world’s most crucial waterways. The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement on Saturday that it will add 15% to the fees for tankers carrying oil and petroleum products, and 10% for dry bulk carriers and cruise ships. The authority’s chief, Osama Rabie, said the hikes, which will take effect on Jan. 1, are “inevitable and a necessity.” He blamed booming global inflation rates, which have increased the cost of the waterway’s operations, maintenance, and maritime services. About 10% of global trade, including 7% of the world’s oil, flows through the Suez Canal, a major source of foreign currency to Egypt, the most Arab populous country with over 103 million people. Egypt has faced towering economic challenges and is running low on foreign currency needed to buy essentials such as grain and fuel. Authorities said 20,649 vessels passed through the canal last year, a 10% increase compared to 18,830 vessels in 2020. The annual revenues of the canal reached $6.3 billion in 2021, the highest in its history. Canal authorities have been working to widen and deepen the waterway’s southern part, since a hulking vessel ran aground and closed off the canal in March 2021. The six-day blockage disrupted global shipment. In August 31, an oil tanker ran aground and briefly blocked the waterway before it was feed.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-egypt-to-raise-suez-canal-transit-fees-for-ships-in-2023/	2022-09-21T04:20:54Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-egypt-to-raise-suez-canal-transit-fees-for-ships-in-2023/	1	green-iguana-35	null
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s top leaders celebrated the opening Saturday of a new — albeit unfinished — canal that they say will mean ships no longer must secure Russia’s permission to sail from the Baltic Sea to the ports of the Vistula Lagoon. The event was timed to mark 83 years since the Soviet invasion of Poland during World War II and to demonstrate symbolically the end of Moscow’s say on the economy and development of a region that borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. The government says the waterway gives Poland full sovereignty in the northeastern region, which needs investment and economic development. “The idea was to have this waterway opened and not to have to ask permission anymore from a country that is not friendly and whose authorities do not hesitate to attack and subdue others,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said. He said the investment will pay off through the increase in the value of the land around it, through the development of the cities and ports on the lagoon thanks to increased trade, business and tourism. A few thousand people with national white-and-red flags gathered in rain to watch the Zodiak II technical ship pass through the water gates to inaugurate the canal. The national anthem was played and ships sounded their horns. Small ships and yachts are expected to be allowed in on Sunday. The leader of Poland’s right-wing ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, told the crowd this is “the start of Poland’s fourth big port (Elblag) and a new impulse for the development of this land” that will cut unemployment, which is among Poland’s highest levels now at 7.6%. Kaczynski stressed the construction of the canal shows that “Poland is a truly independent, sovereign and strong nation that matters. “ The canal, built at a cost of almost 2 billion zlotys ($420 million), cuts across the Vistula Spit, east of Gdansk, to allow ships to sail from the Baltic Sea and the Bay of Gdansk to Elblag and smaller ports of the lagoon without obtaining authorization to travel through Russia’s Strait of Pilawa. It also shortens the Baltic-to-Elblag route by some 100 kilometers (54 nautical miles). However, cargo ships cannot use the passage until the approach to the Port of Elblag is deepened to 5 meters (16 feet). The work is expected to cost 100 million zlotys ($21 million), which is a source of controversy between the national government and city authorities.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-poland-opens-new-sea-waterway-to-cut-dependence-from-russia/	2022-09-21T04:21:01Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-poland-opens-new-sea-waterway-to-cut-dependence-from-russia/	1	green-iguana-35	null
HAVANA (AP) — Mediation talks to restructure more than $9 billion in debt held by Puerto Rico’s power company failed, officials announced Saturday, raising concerns about the future of the bankrupt government agency. A federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances said the impasse with bondholders means it would resume litigation against them in an attempt to restructure the debt, warning that any cost associated with debt repayment would be passed along to consumers. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said the mediation did not achieve the desired outcome: “My administration cannot accept a deal that unduly strains the wallets of our hard-working families, or the resources businesses need to fuel our economy and create and maintain jobs on the island.” In a press conference on Saturday, Pierluisi said the power company will remain in a state of bankruptcy given pending litigations. Creditors could not be immediately reached for comment. Board member Justin Peterson criticized the board for abandoning mediation efforts as he advocated for bondholders to be paid and said that a deal to end bankruptcy and avoid expensive and lengthy litigation “was clearly in reach.” “It would have catalyzed much-needed private sector investment to rebuild and modernize Puerto Rico’s grid and would have provided the citizens…with cleaner, more reliable and more affordable power,” he said. “Now, all of this could be delayed for years.” Puerto Rico’s power grid remains frail after Hurricane Maria razed it in 2017, with outages reported daily. The grid was already crumbling before the storm hit as a result of aging infrastructure and a lack of maintenance. The failed talks come after Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced in early March that his administration was scrapping a proposed debt restructuring deal for the island’s Electric Power Authority that was several years in the making because it wasn’t feasible or in Puerto Rico’s best interest. The power company’s debt is the largest of any government agency, and economists have said that restructuring it would help boost economic development on an island mired in a deep economic crisis. It is one of two government agencies whose debt have yet to be restructured more than five years after Puerto Rico’s government filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in history. Puerto Rico’s Highways and Transportation Authority still holds $5.8 billion in debt.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-talks-to-restructure-puerto-rico-power-company-debt-fail/	2022-09-21T04:21:09Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-talks-to-restructure-puerto-rico-power-company-debt-fail/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(NEXSTAR) – Family Dollar is asking locations in 11 states to stop selling certain varieties of Colgate toothpaste that had been “stored outside of labeled temperature requirements,” according to a voluntary Family Dollar recall notice shared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). News of the recall follows similar notices issued by Family Dollar in July and August, which also concerned products that were improperly stored before being shipped to stores. The latest recall, which affects Colgate Optic White toothpaste and mouthwash, concerns products shipped between May and June 21 to stores in Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Utah. The recalled products include six different varieties of Colgate Optic White: - Colgate Optic White Stain Prevention Toothpaste, 2.1 ounces - Colgate Optic White Charcoal Toothpaste, 4.2 ounces - Colgate Optic White Mouthwash, 16 fluid ounces - Colgate Optic White High Impact Toothpaste, 3 ounces - Colgate Optic White Toothpaste Icy Fresh, 3 ounces - Colgate Optic White Stain Fighter Toothpaste Clean Mint, 4.2 ounces Any customer who may have purchased the recalled products can return their items to the place of purchase for a refund “without a receipt,” according to the recall notice. Those with questions can contact Family Dollar Customer Service at 844-636-7687 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST. There have been no reports of adverse reactions as a result of using the products. The FDA, however, urges those who may have experienced problems to contact a doctor and report their issue to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting Program. In July, Family Dollar recalled 425 over-the-counter products, which included toothpaste, lip balms, deodorants, lotions, sleep aids and more, that were inadvertently shipped to stores between May and mid-June, saying they had been stored at improper temperatures. Family Dollar expanded the recall in August, due to additional products having been stored outside of required temperatures.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/consumer-alerts/family-dollar-recalls-toothpaste-mouthwash-sold-in-11-states/	2022-09-21T04:21:16Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/consumer-alerts/family-dollar-recalls-toothpaste-mouthwash-sold-in-11-states/	1	green-iguana-35	null
MOORINGSPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Louisiana State Police say they have arrested the mayor of Mooringsport after an eight-month investigation into allegations of fraud by a public official. According to state police, investigators with their Bossier City Field Office (LSP BCFO) were contacted in January by the Caddo Parish Constable’s Office to investigate allegations involving Mooringsport Mayor William Chester Coffman. As the investigation progressed, state police say their investigators found Coffman, 54, committed contract fraud involving the completion of a town construction project. As a result of the investigation and information obtained, state police investigators were able to get a warrant for Coffman’s arrest. Coffman turned himself in Friday and was booked into the Caddo Correctional Center, charged with public contract fraud. LSP BCFO is leading the investigation, which they say remains active and ongoing. Included in its statement on Coffman’s arrest, Louisiana State Police notes that its online reporting system is also available to the public through a convenient and secure reporting form that is submitted to the appropriate investigators. Citizens can access the form by visiting www.lsp.org and clicking the Suspicious Activity link.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/lsp-mooringsport-mayor-arrested-for-public-contract-fraud/	2022-09-21T04:21:22Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/lsp-mooringsport-mayor-arrested-for-public-contract-fraud/	1	green-iguana-35	null
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Some of the most loyal of Disney enthusiasts say one specific thing is keeping them from visiting Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando more often — they even say it’s causing “the Happiest Place on Earth” to completely lose its magic. It’s the cost. A family vacation to Walt Disney World Resort is more expensive than ever and fans are noticing, according to a new poll. The gambling website time2play recently released a study based on data from 1,927 “self-described Disney World enthusiasts” about the rising costs to visit the park. According to the study, 92.6% of those surveyed believed the cost of a Disney World vacation is out of reach for an average family. Additionally, 68.3% of people said increases made it feel like the theme park has lost all its magic. As of Tuesday, the cost for a standard one-park day ticket on Friday, Sept. 16 is $134, though prices of tickets vary by date. Standard Walt Disney World tickets range between $139 and $154 through October, according to Disney World’s website. Almost 50% of respondents said they postponed a Disney World trip in recent years due to price increases. According to a study by “Koala“, a company based in Brooklyn that connects vacationers with timeshare owners online, a single-day ticket Walt Disney World could cost $253.20 in just nine years. When Walt Disney World Resort opened in 1971, a ticket cost only $3.50. Adjusting for inflation, that would be $22.61 today. According to Koala calculations, there has been an average price increase of 7.4% each year since the park opened. Meanwhile, the cost for standard one-park day tickets at Disneyland, Disney’s California park, cost about $149 for Sept. 16. Standard Disneyland tickets range between $135 and $165 through the month of October, per Disneyland’s website. Disney enthusiasts polled by time2play also said by a large majority (66.9%) that they felt they wouldn’t get a true Disney World experience if they didn’t pay for upgrades like the Genie+ service, which offers “Lighting Lanes” — which lets users wait in shorter lines for rides. Genie+ service is an extra $15 per person each day (though prices may vary), in addition to admission cost. Genie service doesn’t come complete with all Lightning Lanes, however. Guests must purchase even more lanes within the Genie app for full lane skipping.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/68-of-disney-world-fans-say-the-parks-lost-its-magic-poll/	2022-09-21T04:21:35Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/68-of-disney-world-fans-say-the-parks-lost-its-magic-poll/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(NerdWallet) – President Biden’s highly anticipated federal student loan cancellation announcement last month created as many questions as it answered, prompting at least one major loan servicer’s website to crash as borrowers hustled to check their eligibility. What is clear: Individuals making less than $125,000 and couples filing jointly making less than $250,000 may receive up to $10,000 in student debt cancellation — and that maximum goes up to $20,000 if the borrower ever received a Pell Grant. What has been murky: Which loans will the cancellation apply to first? Will payment amounts on any remaining student debt change after cancellation? And what happens with FFELP loans? Here’s the latest about how student loan cancellation will actually work. 1. When can I apply? The application for student loan cancellation will be available by early October, according to the Education Department. While about 8 million borrowers may see cancellation automatically, most will need to submit an application. The application will initially be available only online, but borrowers can expect access to a paper version at a later date. Borrowers must apply for cancellation before the window closes on Dec. 31, 2023. So, if you have access to the online application, don’t wait around for the paper one, to ensure your application is handled in as timely a manner as possible. 2. How can I get ready for cancellation? There are two main steps you can take to prepare for cancellation: - Verify you meet the income eligibility criteria. - Make sure your contact information is up to date on Studentaid.gov and with your servicer. To be eligible, your annual federal income for 2020 or 2021 must be less than $125,000 if you filed as an individual. If you filed jointly, the cutoff is $250,000. If you earned above the maximum in one of the two years but met the threshold in the other, you can qualify with the lower annual income. While it may seem safe to assume adjusted gross income is what qualifies for federal annual income, the Education Department has not clarified explicitly. 3. How much will I get? Here’s the deal on the Pell Grant qualification: If you have ever received a Pell Grant of any amount and meet the income requirement, you get $20,000 in cancellation ($10,000 based on income requirements, plus an extra $10,000 for being a Pell Grant recipient). The Pell Grant award does not have to correlate with the time, school or program for which you used your federal student loans. For example, let’s say you received a Pell Grant for your community college and didn’t use loans. Ten years later, you went back and finished your undergraduate degree with loans. Those loans can qualify for the $20,000 cancellation. This is particularly critical for Parent PLUS borrowers. A Parent PLUS loan is not necessarily eligible for the extra $10,000 in cancellation just because the child who benefited from the loan was a Pell Grant recipient. In order for a Parent PLUS loan to get the extra relief, the parent borrower must have received a Pell Grant for their own education at some point. The extra $10,000 is not prorated based on the amount of your Pell Grant. A Pell Grant award of any amount qualifies for the extra $10,000 in full. 4. Do FFELP loans count? Some FFELP loans will receive cancellation. Here are all the loan types that are eligible: - All loans under the Direct Loan Program. - Federally-owned FFELP loans. - Defaulted FFELP loans held at a guaranty agency. - Federally-owned Perkins loans. - Other defaulted loans, including commercially-serviced Stafford loans. Commercially-owned FFELP loans can count if you consolidate them into a direct loan. Consider the pros and cons of consolidation to make sure it’s worth it. Check Studentaid.gov to verify which types of loans you have. Here’s how to find that information on the portal. - Log in to Studentaid.gov. - Select “My Aid” in the dropdown menu under your name. - See your loans listed in the “Loan Breakdown” section. - Expand “View Loans” and select “View Loan Details” next to each loan to see more details. 5. Will a payment refund increase my cancellation amount? You can request a refund on student loan payments made during the pandemic forbearance if payments weren’t required. However, Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, recommends only asking for a refund if you’re experiencing a financial hardship. The Education Department hasn’t announced the official date it will use to determine your cancellation loan balance, but Buchanan expects a clarification will be posted on the department website in the next couple of weeks. “If you are trying to get a refund to maximize or optimize your loan forgiveness, my suggestion to borrowers is to wait,” says Buchanan. 6. Will my payment change after cancellation? Borrowers will see their loans reamortized based on their post-cancellation balances. Monthly payments will likely decrease as a result. However, the remaining payment term will stay the same. “Ideally if everything is still in order, if you can afford that (original) payment, continue making that bigger payment,” says Damian Dunn, certified financial planner and vice president for corporate financial wellness platform Your Money Line. Borrowers “know how painful student loan debt can be,” he says. “If they can get from under that faster, even better.” 7. Can I pick which loans are canceled? Borrowers with multiple loans cannot select how they want their cancellation applied. Here is the order in which loans will receive relief: - Defaulted federally-owned loans. - Defaulted commercially-owned FFELP loans. - Direct loans and federally-owned FFELP loans in good standing. - Federally-owned Perkins loans. The Education Department will use the following order to cancel loans if you have several loans of the same type: - Loans with the highest statutory interest rate. - If interest rates are the same, unsubsidized loans get relief before subsidized loans. - If interest rate and subsidy are the same, newest loans get relief. - If all other factors are the same, the loan with the lowest combined principal and interest balance gets relief. How can I get updated information? You can find the latest updates on the Education Department’s website. Once the application is live, borrowers should call 833-932-3439 for help.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/7-new-details-on-how-student-loan-cancellation-will-actually-work/	2022-09-21T04:21:42Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/7-new-details-on-how-student-loan-cancellation-will-actually-work/	1	green-iguana-35	null
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Stillman College’s first female president, Cynthia Warrick, has announced plans to retire after leading the Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based historically Black college for five years. Stillman’s Board of Trustees has launched a national search for Warrick’s replacement. The college plans to find her successor by the June 30, 2023, end of Warrick’s contract. Warrick, 68, said she is choosing to retire because she wants to relax and spend more time with family, especially her grandchildren. She plans to return to her hometown of San Antonio. Warrick was named Stillman’s seventh president in April 2017. She was originally appointed as an interim president but said the role began to feel like a mission she was called to fulfill, The Tuscaloosa News reported. “I … didn’t expect to be here this long,” Warrick said during a news conference to announce her plans. “But you know, the job called me, God called me and we were able to accomplish miracles. Believe me, we were able to accomplish a lot in a short period of time … I’m ready to pass the torch on to the next person to take up the race.” When she arrived, Stillman was at a critical point financially and academically, Warrick said. “I was tasked with a real challenge, and my husband’s a finance guy and he said, ‘You’ll be home in three months.’ It was just that bad,” Warrick said. “But I figured God didn’t send me here to close the college down. And we were going to do what we had to do, to make sure that the college was going to be strong again and flourish. And now, after five and a half years, we’re there.” According to a news release, Warrick is leaving Stillman debt-free after $40 million in debt has been either paid off or forgiven. “The college has gone through some very rocky times and she has been the anchor that has kept us on track. She has raised the brand of the institution and enhanced the college’s reputation,” said Donald Comer, chair of the school’s board. The school was founded in 1876 and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA. Warrick, who previously served as interim president at South Carolina State University and Grambling State University, said she will continue to play a role at Stillman after her departure. “I will cherish the outpouring of support from the local community, the state and the alumni that has contributed to the success that we have achieved during my tenure,” Warrick said. “Stillman is now a place where a new president can build on the teaching, research and the community service that we established in the past five years.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-1st-female-president-at-alabamas-stillman-college-to-retire/	2022-09-21T04:21:49Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-1st-female-president-at-alabamas-stillman-college-to-retire/	1	green-iguana-35	null
When 14-year-old Michael Carneal opened fire on his fellow students during a before-school prayer meeting in 1997, school shootings were not yet a part of the national consciousness. The carnage that left three students dead and five more injured at Heath High School, near Paducah, Kentucky, ended when Carneal put down his weapon and the principal walked him to the school office — a scene that seems unimaginable today. Also stretching today’s imagination — Carneal’s life sentence guaranteed an opportunity for parole after 25 years, the maximum sentence permissible at the time given his age. A quarter century later, Carneal is 39 with a parole hearing next week that comes at a very different time in American life — after Sandy Hook, after Uvalde. Today police officers and metal detectors are an accepted presence in many schools, and even kindergartners are drilled to prepare for active shooters. “Twenty-five years seemed like so long, so far away,” Missy Jenkins Smith recalls thinking at the time of the sentencing. Jenkins Smith was 15 when she was shot by Carneal, someone she considered a friend. The bullet left her paralyzed, and she uses a wheelchair to get around. Over the years, she has counted down the time until Carneal would be eligible for parole. “I would think, ‘It’s been 10 years. How many more years?’ At the 20-year anniversary memorial, I thought, ‘It’s coming up.’” Ron Avi Astor, a professor of social welfare and education at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has studied school violence, said public opinion around school shootings and juvenile punishment has changed a lot over the last 25 years. In the 1980s and 1990s, Astor provided therapy to children who had committed very serious crimes, including murder, but were rehabilitated and not jailed. “Today all of them would have been locked up,” he said. “But the majority went on to do good things.” Jenkins Smith knows first-hand that troubled children can be helped. She worked for years as a counselor for at-risk youth, where her wheelchair served as a stark visual reminder of what violence can do, she said. “Kids who would threaten school shootings, terroristic threatening, were sent to me,” she said. Some are now adults. “It’s great to see what they’ve accomplished and how they’ve changed their lives around. They’ve learned from their bad decisions.” But that doesn’t mean she thinks Carneal should be set free. For one thing, she worries that he is not equipped to handle life outside of prison and could still harm others. She also doesn’t think it would be right for him to walk free when the people he injured are still suffering. “For him to have a chance at 39. People get married at 39. They have children,” she said. “It’s not right for him to possibly have a normal life that those three girls he killed will never have.” Killed in the shooting were 14-year-old Nicole Hadley, 17-year-old Jessica James, and 15-year-old Kayce Steger. Astor said that when it comes to the worst crimes, like many people, he struggles with the question of what age children should be held strictly accountable for their actions. As a class exercise, he has his students consider the appropriate punishment for a perpetrator at different ages. Should a 16-year-old be treated the same as a 12-year-old? Should a 12-year-old be treated the same as a 40-year-old? Without any national consensus, you end up with a patchwork of laws and policies that sometimes result in very different punishments for nearly identical crimes, he said. The shooting at Heath High School took place on Dec. 1, 1997, the Monday after Thanksgiving break. Less than four months later, 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson shot and killed four classmates and a teacher at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro, Arkansas. They wounded another nine children and one adult. The pair were tried as juveniles and released on their 21st birthdays. Two decades later, in 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. At the same time Carneal is being considered for possible release, a Florida juryis decidingwhether to sentence Cruz to death. Jenkins Smith has tried for years to understand why Carneal opened fire on his fellow students that day. She was in the marching band with Carneal, and, before the shooting, “I loved being around him because he made a boring day fun,” she said. She met with Carneal in prison in 2007 and had a long conversation with him. He apologized to her, and she said she has forgiven him. “A lot of people think that exonerates him from consequences, but I don’t think so,” she said. Carneal’s parole hearing is scheduled to start on Monday with testimony from those injured in the shooting and close relatives of those who were killed. Jenkins Smith said she knows of only one victim who supports some form of supervised release for Carneal — less confining than prison but not unrestricted freedom. On Tuesday, Carneal will make his case from the Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange. If the board rules against release, they can decide how long Carneal should wait before his next opportunity for parole. The parole hearing will be conducted by videoconference, but Jenkins Smith said she will position her camera to show her full body so the parole board can see her wheelchair. It will be, she said, “a reminder that everyone who experienced that impact 25 years ago is still dealing with it, for the rest of their lives.” ___ News Researcher Jennifer Farrar contributed to this report from New York City.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-25-years-after-kentucky-school-shooting-a-chance-at-parole/	2022-09-21T04:21:57Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-25-years-after-kentucky-school-shooting-a-chance-at-parole/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BALTIMORE (AP) — A court hearing has been set for Monday in Baltimore to consider a request from prosecutors to vacate the 2000 murder conviction of Adnan Syed, whose case was chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial.” Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn scheduled the hearing for 2 p.m., The Baltimore Sun reported. The development comes after Baltimore prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday saying a lengthy investigation conducted with the defense had uncovered new evidence that could undermine the conviction of Syed. Syed has served more than 20 years in prison for the strangling of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, who was 18 when she was killed in 1999. Her body was found buried in a Baltimore park. Syed, 42, has maintained his innocence for decades and captured the attention of millions in 2014 when the debut season of the “Serial” podcast focused on the case and raised doubts about some of the evidence, including cellphone tower data. Prosecutors said in their motion that they weren’t asserting that Syed is innocent but they lacked confidence “in the integrity of the conviction” and recommended he be released on his own recognizance or bail. “We believe that keeping Mr. Syed detained as we continue to investigate the case with everything that we know now, when we do not have confidence in results of the first trial, would be unjust,” State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said. According to a motion filed in the case, Maryland law says prosecutors generally have 30 days after a conviction is vacated to decide whether to drop the charges or to retry the case, the Sun reported.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-court-hearing-set-for-monday-in-baltimores-adnan-syed-case/	2022-09-21T04:22:04Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-court-hearing-set-for-monday-in-baltimores-adnan-syed-case/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — After his headline performance at Hungary’s Sziget Festival last month, pop star Justin Bieber held a grandiose party for his staff in a luxurious countryside setting — a 19th century castle owned by the son-in-law of the country’s prime minister. The castle, to the critics of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is emblematic of the corruption, nepotism and largesse of which the populist leader and his government have been accused for years — the kinds of behavior which now threaten to cost Hungary billions in European Union funding. Standing beside the iron gates of Schossberger Castle this week, an independent Hungarian lawmaker who has made a name for himself as an anti-corruption crusader snapped pictures of the structure and its expansive manicured grounds. A former member of Orban’s ruling Fidesz party, Akos Hadhazy left the nationalist-populist party in 2013 after becoming aware of what he describes as a clientelistic system of unchecked corruption taking shape in the Central European nation. “When Fidesz came to power, I saw more and more that a very serious organization was beginning to develop throughout the country, whose main task was to steal as much of the European Union’s money as possible,” Hadhazy told The Associated Press. Now, Orban is facing a reckoning with the EU, which appears set to impose financial penalties on his government over corruption concerns and alleged rule-of-law violations that could cost Budapest billions and cripple its already ailing economy. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, has for nearly a decade accused Orban of dismantling democratic institutions, taking control of the media and infringing on minority rights. Orban, who has been in office since 2010, denies the accusations. The longstanding conflict could culminate Sunday when the commission is expected to announce a funding cut for Hungary, one of the 27-nation EU’s largest net beneficiaries, if the country does not change course. Peter Kreko, director of the Budapest-based think tank Political Capital, said the EU appeared to be hardening its stance against Orban after previous disciplinary measures failed to bring Europe’s longest-serving leader into compliance with its values. “EU institutions learn slowly, but they learn. More and more people in the Commission and in the European Union know about the negotiation deception tactics of Hungary, as well as about the nature of the Hungarian political regime,” Kreko said. While it is not clear how much money Hungary stands to lose, funds cut from its 22 billion-euro (dollar) share of the EU’s 2021-27 budget could affect around 70% of funding from some programs, according to an internal July document by Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn. Many of the potential cuts are related to public procurements — purchases by the state of goods and services or for the execution of projects using EU funds. According to Hadhazy, improper processes for awarding of such contracts have allowed Orban’s government to channel large sums of EU money into the businesses of politically connected insiders. “Huge fortunes were made from such things, and they are essentially the source of this astonishing luxury mansion behind us,” Hadhazy said of the castle in the town of Tura. “The system is about having its tentacles … in the highest levels of government.” EU commissioner Hahn’s memo also pointed to irregularities in public procurements in Hungary and to “an increase of the odds of winning of politically connected companies.” Hadhazy, who has investigated and documented hundreds of cases of alleged corruption, borrowed a car from his mother to visit several places this week where he suspects EU funds were misused. One was the site of a planned server farm near Budapest where the government said it would store the state’s most important data. Receiving more than $50 million in EU funding, construction of the facility — awarded to a company owned by a childhood friend of Orban who is Hungary’s richest man — began in 2016, and completion was set for the following year. But when Hadhazy visited the site on Wednesday, only a concrete skeleton stood where the server park was planned — a sign, he said, that the funds may have been misused. “The whole process is a charade,” Hadhazy said of Hungary’s public procurement process, which ordinarily should involve competition between several bidding companies. “It’s decided at the very beginning who can win, and it’s decided who will do the work at the end.” He pointed to a case involving Istvan Tiborcz, the owner of the castle in Tura who is married to Orban’s daughter. The European Anti-Fraud Office found serious irregularities in the awarding of funds to a company he owned. As a result of the office’s investigation, the EU demanded the return of more than 40 million euros (dollars). The sum was ultimately footed by Hungarian taxpayers, not Tiborcz’s company, and an investigation into the case by Hungarian authorities was dropped for lack of evidence of a crime. Tiborcz was Hungary’s 36th wealthiest person this year, according to an analysis by Forbes Hungary. Orban’s government recently made conciliatory efforts to unlock nearly 6 billion euros (dollars) in pandemic recovery funds that the EU withheld over corruption concerns, and to head off further cuts to Hungary’s portion of the EU budget. Earlier this month, the Hungarian government pledged to set up its own anti-corruption agency. It has reportedly prepared additional legislation aimed at increasing transparency in public procurements. But the European Commission faces pressure from EU lawmakers to fully enforce rules on corruption and rule of law requirements. In a resolution passed Thursday with an overwhelming majority, the European Parliament said the Hungarian government had become “a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” that could no longer be considered a democracy. Hungary’s Ministry of Justice did not respond to a request for comment. Speaking in Serbia on Friday, Orban dismissed the resolution as a “joke” and maintained that his government’s conservative credentials were the reason for the EU’s tough stance. Kreko, the analyst, said it was doubtful Orban’s government was serious about changing its ways. “I would say that the engine of the Orban regime is nepotistic corruption,” he said. “So I think we can be rather skeptical about that how much the government really wants to step up against corruption, which is part of the nature of the regime.” In 2021, Hungary’s government opted out of joining the European Public Prosecutors Office — an independent EU body tasked with combating crimes affecting the financial interests of the bloc. It argued that joining would amount to a loss of national sovereignty. But Hadhazy said that unless Orban’s government agrees to join the office, there will be no real guarantee that graft reforms will be able to achieve any meaningful results. “I say that if the EU gives Hungary one eurocent without us having joined the EU prosecutor’s office, then the EU really is as stupid as Orban says it is,” he said.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-hungary-faces-reckoning-with-eu-that-could-cost-it-billions/	2022-09-21T04:22:13Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-hungary-faces-reckoning-with-eu-that-could-cost-it-billions/	1	green-iguana-35	null
HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico’s southwest coast on Sunday as it unleashed landslides, knocked the power grid out and ripped up asphalt from roads and flung the pieces around. Hundreds of people were evacuated or rescued across the island as floodwaters rose swiftly. Rushing rivers of brown water enveloped cars, first floors and even an airport runway in the island’s southern region. Forecasters said the storm threatened to dump “historic” levels of rain on Sunday and Monday, with up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) possible in eastern and southern Puerto Rico. “The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic,” said Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. The storm washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that police say was installed by the National Guard after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017. Large landslides also were reported, with water rushing down big slabs of broken asphalt and into gullies. Fiona was centered 45 miles (75 kilometers) south-southeast of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph) on Sunday night, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was moving to the west-northwest at 10 mph (17 kph). Fiona struck on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which hit Puerto Rico 33 years ago as a Category 3 storm. The storm’s clouds covered the entire island and tropical storm-force winds extended as far as 140 miles (220 kilometers) from Fiona’s center. U.S. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in the U.S. territory as the eye of the storm approached the island’s southwest corner. Luma, the company that operates power transmission and distribution, said bad weather, including winds of 80 mph, had disrupted transmission lines, leading to “a blackout on all the island.” “Current weather conditions are extremely dangerous and are hindering our capacity to evaluate the complete situation,” it said, adding that it could take several days to fully restore power. Health centers were running on generators — and some of those had failed. Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said crews rushed to repair generators at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where several patients had to be evacuated. Fiona hit just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that struck on Sept. 20, 2017, destroying the island’s power grid and causing nearly 3,000 deaths. More than 3,000 homes still have only a blue tarp as a roof, and infrastructure remains weak, including the power grid. Outages remain common, and reconstruction started only recently. “I think all of us Puerto Ricans who lived through Maria have that post-traumatic stress of, ‘What is going to happen, how long is it going to last and what needs might we face?’” said Danny Hernández, who works in the capital of San Juan but planned to weather the storm with his parents and family in the western town of Mayaguez. He said the atmosphere was gloomy at the supermarket as he and others stocked up before the storm hit. “After Maria, we all experienced scarcity to some extent,” he said. The storm was forecast to pummel cities and towns along Puerto Rico’s southern coast that have not yet fully recovered from a string of strong earthquakes starting in late 2019. More than 1,000 people with some 80 pets had sought shelter across the island by Sunday night, the majority of them in the southern coast. Ada Vivian Román, a 21-year-old photography student, said the storm knocked down trees and fences in her hometown of Toa Alta. “I’m actually very anxious because it’s a really slow-moving hurricane and time does not move,” she said. “You look at the clock and it’s still the same hour.” She said she is also worried about whether the public transportation she relies on to get to her job at a public relations agency will be operating by the time she has to go back to the office. “But I know that I’m privileged compared with other families who are practically losing their homes because they are under water,” she said. In the southwest town of El Combate, hotel co-owner Tomás Rivera said he was prepared but worried about the “enormous” amount of rain he expected. He noted that a nearby wildlife refuge was eerily quiet before the storm hit. “There are thousands of birds here, and they are nowhere to be seen,” he said. “Even the birds have realized what is coming, and they’re preparing.” Rivera said his employees brought bedridden family members to the hotel, where he has stocked up on diesel, gasoline, food, water and ice, given how slowly the government responded after Hurricane Maria. “What we’ve done is prepared ourselves to depend as little as possible on the central government,” he said. Puerto Rico’s governor, Pierluisi, activated the National Guard as the Atlantic hurricane season’s sixth named storm approached. “What worries me most is the rain,” said forecaster Ernesto Morales with the National Weather Service in San Juan. Fiona was predicted to drop 12 to 16 inches (30 to 41 centimeters) of rain over eastern and southern Puerto Rico, with as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) in isolated spots. Morales noted that Hurricane Maria in 2017 had unleashed 40 inches (102 centimeters). Fiona was forecast to swipe the Dominican Republic on Monday and then northern Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands with the threat of heavy rain. It could threaten the far southern end of the Bahamas on Tuesday. A hurricane warning was posted for the Dominican Republic’s eastern coast from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo. Fiona previously battered the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in the French territory of Guadeloupe when floods washed his home away, officials said. The storm also damaged roads, uprooted trees and destroyed at least one bridge. St. Kitts and Nevis also reported flooding and downed trees, but announced its international airport would reopen on Sunday afternoon. In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Madeline was forecast to cause heavy rains and flooding across parts of southwestern Mexico. The storm was centered about 160 miles (260 kilometers) west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes on Sunday night, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph).	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-hurricane-threat-as-tropical-storm-fiona-aims-at-puerto-rico/	2022-09-21T04:22:20Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-hurricane-threat-as-tropical-storm-fiona-aims-at-puerto-rico/	1	green-iguana-35	null
MOSCOW (AP) — The president of Kazakhstan on Saturday signed constitutional amendments that extended the presidential term to seven years and brought back the old name of the country’s capital. The changes are among political and economic reforms that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for after violent protests rocked the country in January, killing more than 200 people. The unrest was sparked by a sharp rise in fuel prices, but also reflected widespread dismay with the country’s politics, which for over 30 years had been dominated by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his party. The Kazakh parliament unanimously supported the amendments in two readings on Friday, and Tokayev signed them into law the next day. They extend the presidential term to seven years from the current five, but also bar any president from running for a second term in office. The changes also rename the country’s capital, now called Nur-Sultan, back to Astana. Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997 when Nazarbayev, who led the country for three decades under the Soviet Union and after it gained independence in 1991, moved it there from Almaty. After he stepped down in 2019, his successor Tokayev moved to name it Nur-Sultan — in honor of Nazarbayev, who retained enormous influence as head of the county’s ruling party and security council. But Tokayev removed him from those posts after the deadly unrest in January that hinged partly on dissatisfaction with the power that Nazarbayev still wielded, and announced sweeping reforms. Earlier this month, he called for an early presidential election and announced the move to bring back the old name of the country’s capital. Tokayev has previously said that he would run in the election. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the new amendments would allow him to, but similar constitutional changes in Russia and Belarus allowed incumbent leaders to run again under the amended constitution.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-kazakhstan-renames-capital-extends-presidential-term/	2022-09-21T04:22:27Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-kazakhstan-renames-capital-extends-presidential-term/	1	green-iguana-35	null
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — A U.S. congressional delegation headed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi arrived Saturday in Armenia, where a cease-fire has held for three days after an outburst of fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan that killed more than 200 troops from both sides. The U.S. Embassy said the visit will include a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. On Friday, Pelosi told reporters in Berlin that the trip “is all about human rights and the respecting the dignity and worth of every person.” Other members of the U.S. delegation include Rep. Frank Pallone, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and congresswomen Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo. A cease-fire took effect on Wednesday evening following two days of heavy fighting that marked the largest outbreak of hostilities in nearly two years. Armenia and Azerbaijan traded blame for the shelling, with Armenian authorities accusing Baku of unprovoked aggression and Azerbaijani officials saying their country was responding to Armenian attacks. Pashinyan said at least 135 Armenian troops were killed in the fighting. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Friday it had lost 77. The two ex-Soviet countries have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed broad swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories held by Armenian forces. More than 6,700 people died in the fighting, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement. Moscow deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-pelosi-other-us-lawmakers-visit-armenia-as-cease-fire-holds/	2022-09-21T04:22:35Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-pelosi-other-us-lawmakers-visit-armenia-as-cease-fire-holds/	1	green-iguana-35	null
HAVANA (AP) — Tropical Storm Fiona headed for Puerto Rico on Saturday night, with forecasters warning it likely would grow into a hurricane before hitting on Sunday with extremely heavy rains with the potential to cause landslides, severe flooding and power outages. The storm already lashed several eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe. More than 20 other people were rescued amid heavy wind and rain that left 13,000 customers without power, with the storm tearing up roads, downing trees and destroying at least one bridge. Fiona was centered 150 miles (240 kilometers) southeast of Ponce, Puerto Rico, late Saturday and had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph). It was moving west-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph) on a path forecast to pass near or over Puerto Rico on Sunday. Fiona was expected to become a hurricane before reaching Puerto Rico’s southern coast. “We are already starting to feel its effects,” Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said at a news conference in which the lights briefly went out as he spoke, prompting groans and laughs across the island. “We should not underestimate this storm.” Officials said the heavy rains anticipated would be dangerous because the island’s soil is already saturated. “We’re not saying that the winds aren’t dangerous, but we are preparing for a historic event in terms of rain,” said Ernesto Morales, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan. Many Puerto Ricans worried about serious power outages since the reconstruction of the island’s power grid razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017 only recently began. The grid remains fragile and power outages occur daily. Luma, the company that operates the transmission and distribution of power on the island, said it flew in an extra 100 lineworkers ahead of the storm but warned of “significant” outages over the weekend. Fiona was forecast to swipe past the Dominican Republic on Monday as a potential hurricane and then Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands with the threat of extreme rain. Forecasters posted a hurricane warning for the coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo. In Puerto Rico, authorities opened shelters and closed public beaches, casinos, theaters and museums as they urged people to remain indoors. Officials also transferred hundreds of endangered Puerto Rican parrots to their shelter. “It’s time to activate your emergency plan and contact and help your relatives, especially elderly adults who live alone,” said Dr. Gloria Amador, who runs a nonprofit health organization in central Puerto Rico. The governor said an elderly man died shortly after arriving at a shelter in the tiny island of Culebra that lies just east of Puerto Rico. He said that the man was living in squalid conditions and that the mayor had been trying to relocate him, calling it “quite an unfortunate incident.” Pierluisi said $550 million in emergency funds were available to deal with the storm’s aftermath along with enough food to feed 200,000 people for 20 days three times a day. At least one cruise ship visit and several flights to the island were canceled, while authorities in the eastern Caribbean islands canceled school and prohibited people from practicing aquatic sports as Fiona battered the region. On Guadeloupe, authorities said they recorded wind gusts of up to 74 mph (120 kph). They also said 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain fell in three hours in the Gros Morne area. Fiona, which is the Atlantic hurricane season’s sixth named storm, was predicted to bring 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain in eastern and southern Puerto Rico, with as much as 20 inches (51 centimeters) in isolated spots. Rains of 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) were forecast for the Dominican Republic, with up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) in places. Life-threatening surf also was possible from Fiona’s winds, forecasters said. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Lester in the eastern Pacific dissipated Saturday afternoon after making landfall to the south of Acapulco on Mexico’s southwestern coast. The hurricane center said Lester’s remnants could still drop from 8 to 12 inches (20 to 31 centimeters) of rain on the coasts of upper Guerrero state and Michoacan state, with isolated areas getting 16 inches (41 centimeters). Tropical Storm Madeline formed deeper in the Pacific, but forecasters predicted it would not pose any threat to land as it moved farther out to sea.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-puerto-rico-under-hurricane-watch-as-ts-fiona-approaches/	2022-09-21T04:22:50Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-puerto-rico-under-hurricane-watch-as-ts-fiona-approaches/	1	green-iguana-35	null
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Liz Truss took office less than two weeks ago, impatient to set her stamp on government and facing an overflowing inbox of crises: soaring inflation, a plummeting national currency and skyrocketing energy bills. Then the death of 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II ripped up Truss’ carefully laid plans. The epochal event has been both a challenge and a reprieve for the U.K.’s untested new leader. The monarch’s demise has put everyday politics in the U.K. on hold as the country plunged into an emotional mourning period. “It’s given her space to think with the media off her, to plan,” said political historian Anthony Seldon. “The one thing (a) prime minister most lacks is time to think.” Truss won a Conservative Party leadership contest on Sept. 5 and was appointed prime minister by the queen at Balmoral Castle the next day, in one of Elizabeth’s final acts. Truss was informed that the queen was gravely ill as she announced an emergency energy package in the House of Commons on Sept. 8 that was designed to ease the impact of steep fuel bill increases driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The monarch’s death was announced a few hours later, leaving many questions about the support package unanswered as Parliament was suspended during 10 days of official mourning. The prime minister’s appearances since then have been largely ceremonial. She has traveled to memorial services for the queen in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and attended the accession ceremony of King Charles III. On Monday, Truss will join hundreds of political leaders and dignitaries from around the world in the 2,000-strong congregation for the queen’s funeral in Westminster Abbey. After that, politics will return with a vengeance and Truss will try to make up for lost time. She will launch herself onto the world stage, travelling to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly next week. Even before the funeral, Truss is quietly getting to know other world leaders. She is holding private meetings this weekend with key allies, including the prime ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Irish leader Micheal Martin and President Andrzej Duda of Poland, whose country is in the front line of support for Ukraine. A planned weekend meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden will now be held Wednesday at the U.N. in New York, Truss’ office said Saturday. “The fact that so many leaders from around the world … are flooding to London gives the new prime minister ample time for soft diplomacy, those quiet conversations before and after the funeral, which will help her achieve her objective — if it is achievable — of ‘global Britain,’” Seldon said. Truss wants to reassure allies that she will continue the strong political and military support for Ukraine begun under her predecessor, Boris Johnson. At the U.N., she is also likely to urge the world’s democracies to work more closely together in what she has labeled a “network of liberty.” But Truss also has some bridge-building to do, especially with Biden. The U.S. leader has expressed concerns about the impact of Britain’s departure from the European Union on the delicate peace in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland shares a border with EU member Ireland, and Brexit has brought new checks on goods that have spiraled into a political crisis in Belfast. British Unionist politicians are refusing to form a power-sharing government with Irish nationalists, saying the Brexit border checks undermine Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K. Johnson’s government announced plans to suspend the checks and rip up part of its Brexit treaty with the EU — a move that angered the bloc and alarmed Washington. Biden has warned that no side should do anything to undermine the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, cornerstone of Northern Ireland’s peace process, which the U.S. was instrumental in negotiating. Truss says she wants to reach an agreement with the EU, but will push ahead with Johnson’s plan to rewrite the rules if that fails. It’s unclear whether U.K.-EU relations, which hit rock bottom during Johnson’s turbulent tenure, will improve under Truss. She ruffled French feathers last month when she said the “jury is out” on whether French President Emmanuel Macron is a friend or a foe. At home, Truss — a small-state, free-market conservative — has been forced to leave her political comfort zone and spend billions capping energy prices for homes and businesses that had been facing an 80% increase next month as Russia’s war in Ukraine sends energy prices surging. The government will reveal more details of its energy package — and face sharp questions from the opposition — when lawmakers return to Parliament on Wednesday. Then on Friday, Truss-appointed Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng is due to make an emergency budget statement to address the U.K.’s deteriorating economic picture. Inflation eased slightly in August but remains at 9.9%, the highest in four decades, while the pound is at a 37-year low against the dollar. The Bank of England has forecast a long recession to start later this year. Kwarteng is likely to announce cuts to personal or corporate tax — or both — in hopes that will spur economic growth, though critics say such measures help the well-off more than the poorest. Newspapers report that Kwarteng also wants to remove a cap on bankers’ bonuses imposed after the 2008 global financial crisis. That would be highly contentious, and would abruptly end the political truce that has followed the queen’s death. “We’re beginning to see … the signs of what the new economics of Liz Truss is all about,” opposition Labour Party lawmaker Margaret Hodge told the BBC. “Thinking about bankers at this stage is obscene.” ___ Follow AP coverage of Queen Elizabeth II at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-queens-death-upends-the-debut-of-new-uk-leader-liz-truss/	2022-09-21T04:22:57Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-queens-death-upends-the-debut-of-new-uk-leader-liz-truss/	1	green-iguana-35	null
LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) — Two small airplanes collided in midair near Denver on Saturday, killing three people, authorities said. It wasn’t known what might have caused the crash between the four-seater Cessna 172 and the Sonex Xenos, a light, aluminum, homebuilt aircraft that can seat two. Nearby residents who heard the crash and rushed outside told CBS affiliate 9News in Denver they were surprised the planes could have struck each other on such a clear morning. One of the planes crashed in a field, the other in a stand of trees, near Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, Colorado, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Denver. Two people were found dead in one wreckage, and one person in the other, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. The NTSB said a preliminary report would be released in about 15 days. The collision happened just before 9 a.m. Saturday. The identities of the victims were not immediately released.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-sheriff-2-small-planes-collide-mid-air-near-denver-3-dead/	2022-09-21T04:23:05Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-sheriff-2-small-planes-collide-mid-air-near-denver-3-dead/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike on the Damascus International Airport and nearby military posts south of the Syrian capital killed five soldiers, state media reported Saturday. State news agency SANA, quoting an unnamed military official, said the strikes happened after midnight Friday, causing “material losses” as well. It added that some of the Israeli missiles were shot down before reaching their targets. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strikes killed five Syrian soldiers and two members of Iran-backed groups. The Israeli army declined comment, saying it does not react to “foreign reports.” The strike on the Damascus International Airport came 10 days after Israel launched a missile attack Syria’s Aleppo airport in the north that put it out of commission for a few days. It was the second attack on Aleppo’s airport within a week. On June 10, Israeli airstrikes on Damascus International Airport caused significant damage to infrastructure and runways and rendered the main runway unserviceable. The airport opened two weeks later following renovation work. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces. The Israeli strikes comes amid a wider shadow war between the country and Iran. The attacks on the airports in Damascus and Aleppo are over fears it was being used to funnel Iranian weaponry into the country.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-state-media-israel-strike-on-syria-airport-kills-5-soldiers/	2022-09-21T04:23:12Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-state-media-israel-strike-on-syria-airport-kills-5-soldiers/	1	green-iguana-35	null

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