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Attorneys delivered opening statements Wednesday in the trial of Michael Jason Meade, the now-retired Franklin County Sheriff's Office SWAT deputy charged with murder after he shot and killed 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. in Dec. 2020.
Meade is white and Goodson was a Black man.
Meade's attorneys say he pursued Goodson after seeing him handling a gun in a vehicle, while the two were stopped at an intersection.
The prosecutors say Goodson was driving home from a dentist appointment and picking up sub sandwiches when Meade chased him down.
The defense and the prosecution outlined the cases they intend to present to the jury over the next few weeks before Judge David Young in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The statements showed where each side differs on some key elements of the case, though they do agree on some facts. Goodson was wearing ear buds, he was carrying a bag of sub sandwiches as he walked into his home on Estates Place in North Linden and a gun was found with Goodson after he was shot six times by Meade.
Special prosecutor Gary Shroyer said Meade shot Goodson in the back through a storm door as he walked into his grandmother's house. Shroyer argued the shooting was not justifiable, because Goodson wasn't a threat to anyone. He claims Goodson was oblivious to Meade's commands.
"Casey did not pose a reasonable threat to the defendant or anyone else at the time he pulls his trigger. Because the evidence in our case shows Casey wasn't even facing him," Shroyer said.
Defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens said Meade pursued Goodson because he thought he was a danger because of the weapon he saw. He said Goodson pointed the gun at him when they drove past each other and said that Goodson ran from him after after making eye contact with him. Meade fired the gun as Goodson walked into the house, after Goodson turned toward him and pointed his gun at him, making Meade fear for his life.
"It is every officer's worst nightmare to stare down the barrel of a gun. Both of them will tell you that leveling the gun in the direction of an officer is absolutely an immediate threat," Stephens said.
The defense is disputing whether or not all six shots were in Goodson's back.
Stephens said Meade pulled the trigger once while Goodson was turned toward him, but the other bullets struck Goodson because the rifle's rapid fire feature fires in six-round bursts.
Shroyer said all six shots were in Goodson's back and emphasized how Goodson fell, face forward with his palms down on the floor.
Each side says they have medical experts who can confirm which direction Goodson was facing when the first bullet hit him.
The attorneys are also offering differing perspectives on why Goodson's gun was lying next to him after he was shot.
Shroyer said Goodson had a concealed carry permit and was legally allowed to carry the weapon, and implied it likely fell from the holster when Goodson was shot in the back and fell forward.
"Casey's gun was found on the floor, with its safety still engaged. The gun had not been fired. He also had a soft-sided holster in the front of his pants. The holster does not have a strap to hold the gun in place. It's just you put it there. There's nothing there to hold it in," Shroyer said.
Stephens, though, said the weapon was found outside of a holster, within arm's reach of Goodson's body, because Goodson had the gun out when he went into the house as Meade followed.
She argues that these circumstances would mean Meade was justified in shooting Goodson.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the suspect turns toward the officer, looks in Jason's direction as he lifts his hand up, leveling the barrel of the gun toward my client. And in that split second, Jason steps to the left and fires in accordance with his training, one shot until he sees the suspect fall," Stephens said.
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https://www.wyso.org/2024-01-31/opening-statements-delivered-in-murder-trial-of-ex-franklin-co-deputy-who-killed-casey-goodson-jr
| 2024-01-31T23:35:24Z
|
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's continued pursuit of baseless election fraud theories is taking him to Wisconsin this weekend, where he will throw his support behind an effort to recall the state's staunchly conservative Assembly speaker from office.
Lindell and some other allies of former President Donald Trump are backing a petition to recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. The petition cites a past comment from Vos opposing Trump and his reluctance to impeach Wisconsin's top elections official. Trump's allies have been angry with Vos for years because he rejected requests to decertify the state's 2020 election results.
President Joe Biden narrowly defeated Trump in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has withstood partial recounts, lawsuits and a conservative-led independent audit. Wisconsin is expected to be a highly contested battleground in this year's presidential election.
"[Vos] blocked anything that had to do with election fraud, election crime, anything to help Wisconsin," Lindell said in an interview. "He was the biggest blocker this country's ever seen, other than Brad Raffensperger down in Georgia."
Raffensperger was a staunch defender of Georgia's 2020 election results and rejected a call from Trump to "find" more Republican votes.
"The worst two in the United States, bar none, are crooked Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia, and Robin Vos, the speaker of the House of Wisconsin. There's my quote," Lindell said.
Lindell will headline a "Recall Vos" petition event in Sturtevant, Wis., on Sunday afternoon. Another Trump ally, Roger Stone, amplified the recall petition on his podcast earlier this month.
Vos ordered an investigation into the 2020 election and tapped former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to lead it. Gableman's probe uncovered no evidence that Biden had lost, and Vos later fired him for endorsing the speaker's 2022 election opponent.
Vos did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. In a statement reported by the Associated Press earlier this month, Vos called the recall petition "a waste of time, resources and effort."
"The effort today is no surprise since the people involved cannot seem to get over any election in which their preferred candidate doesn't win," Vos said in a statement.
The recall petition alleges that Vos "is blocking fair elections in the state" and misled the Assembly about his intentions to impeach Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe. It also cites a 2022 statement opposing Trump as the party's nominee and support for absentee ballot drop boxes.
Wolfe, who administered Wisconsin's election in 2020, has become a target of Republicans who believe without evidence that there was widespread fraud or wrongdoing.
"They get a chance to clean up [the Wisconsin Elections Commission], get rid of Meagan Wolfe and clean up the people that are in charge of the elections," Lindell said, and "they did nothing."
"Robin Vos has to go," Lindell said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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https://m.startribune.com/mike-lindell-other-trump-allies-back-effort-to-recall-wisconsin-assembly-speaker-from-office/600340043/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:24Z
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Elisabeth Moss has revealed she is going to be a mother for the first time during an appearance on Jimmy Kendell Live. When Jimmy asked, ‘Are you pregnant or just an incredibly committed method actor?’, Elisabeth replied ‘A little bit of both.’ She added that she feels ‘really lucky’ as her pregnancy journey has been ‘going really well.’
The news follows weeks of speculation that Elisabeth might be pregnant. Rumours first started circulating after she was seen rubbing her tummy on the set of her latest project last month. Most recently, Elisabeth was pictured covering her baby bump with a large pink bathrobe on the set her new thriller Shell earlier this week.
Elisabeth is notoriously private about her personal life, although in the past she has suggested she would like to be a mother. The news of her pregnancy comes two years after she told You magazine that she 'definitely' wants children of her own someday. 'I’ve been very inspired by the kind of mother my mum is,' she said. 'She did a beautiful thing with me.'
However, some outlets reporting the story have framed Elisabeth's pregnancy as a 'surprise', and have focused on how she is expecting her 'first child' at '41' - all because Elisabeth chose not to make her pregnancy known to the public and hasn't revealed her due date. But in reality, she doesn't owe us any of those intimate details. We shouldn’t assume that every mum-to-be actress is going out of their way to ‘tell the world’ about their pregnancy, especially when it’s something that’s potentially quite private.
People are also already speculating about how the father of her unborn child could be. Right now, ‘Elisabeth Moss partner’ is a breakout search term under her name on Google, as are ‘husband’ and ‘boyfriend.’ All too often, people are quick to scrutinise a pregnant woman's personal life, even when they are a notoriously private person.
This is an all too familiar story for famous women - just take the reaction to Naomi Campbell announcing the arrival of her daughter last year age 51. Like Elisabeth, Naomi chose to keep her pregnancy private, but at the time Google Trends was awash with search terms like 'Naomi Campbell surrogate' and 'Did Naomi Campbell have a baby biologically?' as well as 'Naomi Campbell pregnant photos'.
Having only ever gone public with two relationships in the past, it's clear that Elisabeth wants to keep this side of her life private. So until she decides she wants to publicise the details of her conception, if at all, then her pregnancy shouldn’t be a topic of speculation. Instead, let's allow Elisabeth to enjoy her pregnancy in peace - because, after all, that's the only thing that really matters.
How old is Elisabeth Moss?
Elisabeth was born on 24 July 1982, making her 41 years old.
Is Elisabeth Moss pregnant?
Yes, Elisabeth has confirmed she is pregnant with her first child during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
When Elisabeth asked Jimmy – who has four children with his wife Molly McNearney – for parenting tips, he shared the same advice Molly received from Bill Murray: ‘Bring Christmas lights to hang (in the delivery room), beads, a night light, (and) he said bring music, which everybody tells you.’ He added battery-powered candles to the list because ‘the lighting is terrible in the room, it’s like Walmart style lighting for this blessed event that is going to happen and you don’t want that.’
Is Elisabeth Moss married?
Elisabeth is very private about her personal life, so it’s not known if she is married or who the father of her child is. Her last public relationship was with Fred Armisen, who she dated for two years from 2008 – 2010.
What happened between Elisabeth Moss and Fred Armisen?
Elisabeth was previously married to Fred Armisen. The couple met after Elisabeth made a cameo on Saturday Night Live, where Fred was a cast member. They got married in 2009 after a whirlwind romance.
After just eight months of marriage, the couple split up. Elisabeth filed for divorce from Fred in 2010 citing irreconcilable differences, according to People.
Elisabeth has since reflected on the couple's tumultuous marriage in several interviews. 'Looking back, I feel like I was really young, and at the time I didn’t think that I was that young,' she told Vulture magazine. ‘It was extremely traumatic and awful and horrible. At the same time, it turned out for the best. I'm glad that I'm not there. I'm glad that it didn't happen when I was 50. I'm glad I didn’t have kids. And I got that out of the way. Hopefully. That's probably not going to happen again.’
In 2012, Elisabeth elaborated on her relationship with Fred, telling Page Six she found it painful to think about. ‘It's so hard to talk about,’ she said. ‘One of the greatest things I heard someone say about him is, 'He's so great at doing impersonations. But the greatest impersonation he does is that of a normal person.' To me, that sums it up. And I think that's it. I've never told anyone that. And I don’t want to waste any more of my life talking about it.’
Fred also addressed their marriage in an interview with Howard Stern in 2013. ‘I think I was a terrible husband,’ he said. ‘I think I'm a terrible boyfriend. I want it all fast. I want to be married. The amount of girls I've lived with right away and then somewhere around a year, two years, I get freaked out... I feel bad for everyone I've gone out with.’
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https://graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/elisabeth-moss-pregnancy/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:26Z
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Sun Museum has launched a special exhibition in collaboration with social welfare-related government bureaus, showcasing artworks created by approximately 200 people with disabilities from 17 charitable organisations across Hong Kong. These individuals, who live with disabilities ranging from visual and hearing impairments to autism and ADHD, have created works including sketches, paintings, pottery, sculptures, and even handicrafts such as rattan weaving and leatherwork. This is an opportunity to see more into the lives and minds of a group of Hong Kong citizens that often goes unmentioned.
Infinite Creativity in Art
Time Out says
A showcase of artworks created by approximately 200 people living with disabilities
Details
- Address:
- Sun Museum
- 4/F
- SML Twr
- 165 Hoi Bun Rd
- Kwun Tong
- Hong Kong
Dates and times
Discover Time Out original video
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/infinite-creativity-in-art
| 2024-01-31T23:35:26Z
|
Roxy Jacenko has signed on for the upcoming season of The Amazing Race Australia, to be filmed in France - and is already hunting for a holiday home there.
The PR guru, 43, shared a video to Instagram on Wednesday taken from an airplane, confirming she would be appearing in the upcoming celebrity edition.
'So, the rumours are true. Dorsy [her mother Doreen] is joining me on The Amazing Race, she just doesn't realise that private jets are not included yet,' she said.
She then added a hilarious message for the show's host: 'Beau Ryan, I am warming her up with a quick trip to Paris. She'll be all for TAR in no time.'
The bombshell also posted a photo of a spacious backyard with a large swimming pool and revealed she was on the hunt for a holiday home in Paris.
Roxy Jacenko (pictured) has signed on for the upcoming season of The Amazing Race Australia, to be filmed in France - and is already hunting for a holiday home there
'Summer home hunt starts now, France,' she wrote next to the photo.
It comes after Roxy dropped hints she's already set to move again, mere months after relocating from Sydney to Singapore.
During an Instagram Q&A, the PR maven invited her followers to ask her personal questions.
The bombshell also posted a photo of a spacious backyard with a large swimming pool and revealed she was on the hunt for a holiday home in Paris
One fan asked 'do you prefer Singapore or Sydney?' to which the mother-of-two replied: 'Monsoon weather right now - and the permanent tan is fading quick - my time in Sydney is done and Singapore has been...interesting.'
Jacenko then shared a sunny picture of a modern house by the water and wrote underneath: 'feeling Dubai next...'
Since moving to Singapore with her family, the PR queen has been living it up in style, spending up big on luxury items for herself, her children and even her dogs.
But it hasn't been all fun and glam for the mother-of-two, who admitted that the move took a toll on her emotions.
'I literally cried every day for the first four weeks — and I am not much of a crier — it's been so, so hard,' she told the Daily Telegraph.
The Sweaty Betty founder revealed back in June she was leaving Sydney to live with her husband in Singapore.
She admitted her life in the harbour city has a stark difference to her new life overseas.
The PR guru, 43, also shared a video to Instagram on Wednesday taken from an airplane, confirming she would be appearing in the upcoming celebrity edition
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13030273/Roxy-Jacenko-confirms-appearance-upcoming-season-Amazing-Race-Australia-PR-queen-goes-hunt-holiday-home-France.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2024-01-31T23:35:26Z
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Boeing released its 2023 earnings Wednesday, but the company's CEO spent most of a call with investors talking about safety and quality.
Boeing is facing big questions about quality control after a door plug panel blew off one of its 737 Max 9 jets in midair earlier this month.
"We are not issuing financial outlook for 2024 today. Now is not the time for that," chief executive Dave Calhoun said during an earnings call.
Instead, Calhoun focused much of the call seeking to reassure analysts — and the flying public — that the plane maker is taking the incident seriously.
"We will simply focus on every next airplane, and ensuring we meet all the standards that we have, all the standards that our regulator has and that our customers demand," he said.
Calhoun did not offer any information about the cause of the incident on January 5th, which is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. No one was seriously injured, but the incident touched off another crisis for Boeing. The troubled plane maker was still working to rebuild public trust after 346 people died in two 737 Max 8 jets that crashed in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing said Wednesday it lost $30 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. That's a better performance than the final quarter of 2022, when the company lost more than $600 million. Overall, Boeing lost $2.2 billion last year — its best result in 5 years.
But any improvement in the company's financials has been overshadowed by the latest safety incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration is allowing Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to fly again after an inspection and maintenance. Calhoun said airlines have now returned 129 Max 9 planes to service, out of a total of 171 that were grounded by the FAA.
Earlier this week, Boeing formally withdrew its request for an exemption from federal safety rules in order to speed up certification of its new Boeing Max 7 jet to start flying. The company had been hoping to begin delivering those smaller planes to airlines this year, despite a design flaw with the Max's engine de-icing system that could be potentially catastrophic.
Boeing wanted to use the same workaround that's already in use on its Max 8 and Max 9 jets. Now the company says it will focus on a permanent engineering fix instead.
Calhoun told analysts on Wednesday that process is expected to take about nine months, likely pushing certification of the Max 7 back into 2025.
The FAA has also taken the unusual step of ordering production caps at Boeing's factories. Calhoun said the company will continue producing 737s at the rate of 38 per month until the FAA agrees to lift that limit. And Calhoun told analysts that slowing down production at the behest of regulators would help the company fix problems in its factory and supply chain.
"I'm sort of glad they called out a pause. That's an excuse to take our time, and do it right," Calhoun said. "This is what we do, and how we get better."
But some longtime observers are skeptical that Boeing management is ready to confront the true scale of the problem.
"I'm sure they're hoping for a quick fix," said Peter Lemme, a former Boeing engineer who's now an aviation consultant. "But this is like a cancer in the system. And how far has it infiltrated, and what are you gonna do to eradicate it? I think it's going to take years for Boeing to really get back to where they should be on quality and manufacturing."
The NTSB is expected to release preliminary findings from its investigations of the Alaska Airlines incident in the coming days.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.wmot.org/2024-01-31/boeing-declines-to-give-a-financial-outlook-as-it-focuses-on-quality-and-safety
| 2024-01-31T23:35:27Z
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TULSA — The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has come under fire, from within prison walls and from outside the agency.
This week, KRMG reached out to the DOC’s Chief of Public Relations, Kay Thompson, who addressed several of the issues raised by lawmakers, prisoners, and private citizens.
[Hear Part Three of the KRMG In-Depth Series on Oklahoma prisons HERE]
Staffing levels, she admitted, are not where they need to be, with only 85% of positions filled agency-wide, and a vacancy rate of 19.5% for security staff.
“Our staffing, inmate to security staff ratio, is fifteen to one,” Thompson said. “Ideally, we would like to be less than probably ten to one. I think Texas right now is seven to one.”
On a more hopeful note, she says the attrition rate for employee leaving service has declined sharply since DOC Director Steven Harpe assumed his role in late 2022.
The annual rate of employee attrition was 27.9% at the time; under Harpe, she says, it has dropped to less than ten percent.
And, she added, Harpe has a passion for changing the culture of the prison system in Oklahoma.
“We have moved away from warehousing inmates,” Thompson said. “Our new vision statement is ‘We Change Lives,’ and honestly that is what our goal is to do.”
In furtherance of that goal, the Oklahoma DOC has established what may be the first Offender Advocacy Unit in the country, and has fielded an extensive survey of prisoners.
“Director Harpe wanted the voice of the inmate at his executive table,” Thompson told KRMG. “We have over 21,000 people that we take care of, we need to hear from them directly.”
The results of the survey are in, but the DOC hasn’t released them yet because the agency is following up to get more information about the answers it received from inmates, who were asked to score several things on a scale of one to five.
“That team is going out and they’re asking inmates ‘why did you rank it, you know, this number? Why did you rank the food this number?’” she explained. “And so, we’re finding reasonings behind these numbers.
Another recent initiative is to equip correctional officers with body cams, and Thompson admits the reaction from the COs has been mixed.
She says the goal is not to catch anyone doing wrong, but to help ensure safety for prisoners and staff alike.
Thompson admits that contraband remains an issue - and one could argue that body cams could help curtail some of that activity.
They should also help protect both staff and inmates from violence, or false accusations of violence.
She points out that the large majority of these inmates will one day walk out of prison and re-enter society.
“We exit, I think the last number I got was like 110 people a week from our prison system,” she told KRMG. “So, they’re going to move next door. They’re going to be working next to you.”
It’s to everyone’s benefit that those former prisoners have the training and/or education they need to be successful on the outside, for many reasons.
So, she added, “It’s our job to make sure that they serve their time as humanely - and as properly - and that they get the most out of their time with us” as possible.
Still, she admits, it will take time.
You can read part one of this series, and hear the KRMG In-Depth version, HERE.
You can read part two of this series, and hear the KRMG In-Depth version, HERE.
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https://www.k95tulsa.com/news/local/krmg-in-depth-oklahoma-department-corrections-under-fire-within-without-part-three/GHPLXELYOJDXXDZHJFNQQT775E/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:28Z
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WASHINGTON — (AP) — The House looked to accomplish something unusual Wednesday in passing with broad, bipartisan support a roughly $79 billion tax cut package that would enhance the child tax credit and boost three tax breaks for business, a combination that gives lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle coveted policy wins.
Prospects for the measure becoming law are uncertain with the Senate still having to take it up, but for a House that has struggled to get bills of consequence over the finish line, the tax legislation could represent a rare breakthrough. Debate and a final vote on the measure are scheduled for the evening.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., threw his support behind the bill on Wednesday morning. He spent part of the previous day meeting with GOP lawmakers who were concerned about features of the bill, namely the expanded child tax credit. Some were also unhappy that it fails to address the $10,000 cap on the total amount of property taxes or state or local taxes that consumers can deduct on their federal returns. Raising the cap is a top priority of lawmakers from members of the New York congressional delegation.
Johnson committed to moving a bill that addresses the cap, but there is no bill text yet and legislation would have to move through the House Rules Committee, which leaves the timing very much in flux. Athina Lawson, a spokeswoman for Johnson, said the speaker and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., agreed to work with members to “find a path forward."
Johnson called the tax cut bill on the House floor important, bipartisan legislation that would revive "conservative pro-growth tax reform." He also said that it would bring an early end to a "wasteful COVID-era program" that has been plagued with fraud. Moving up the deadline for claiming the employee retention tax credit is expected to largely offset the cost of the tax cuts in the legislation.
Johnson also emphasized the importance of the bill moving through the House Ways and Means Committee before coming to the full House for a vote, saying it was a good example of how Congress is supposed to work.
House Republicans were anxious to restore full, immediate deductions that businesses can take for the purchase of new equipment and machinery, and for domestic research and development expenses. They argue such investments grow the economy and incentivize American companies to keep their manufacturing facilities and operations in the United States. The bill also provides businesses more flexibility in determining how much borrowing can be deducted.
“Each of these policies will help American businesses grow, create jobs and sharpen their competitive advantage against China,” Smith said as debate began on the House floor.
Democrats focused on boosting the child tax credit. The tax credit is $2,000 per child, but not all of that is refundable. The bill would incrementally raise the amount of the credit available as a refund, increasing it to $1,800 for 2023 tax returns, $1,900 for the following year and $2,000 for 2025 tax returns. The bill also adjusts the topline credit amount to temporarily grow at the rate of inflation.
Households benefitting as a result of the changes in the child tax credit would see an average tax cut of $680 in the first year, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Democrats pushed to restore the more generous tax credit they passed in 2021 in President Joe Biden's first year in office with payments occurring on a monthly basis. The credit was $3,600 annually for children under age 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6 to 17. But most lawmakers were willing to take what gains they could get through the compromise bill.
“I'll continue to do what I can to fight for more,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. “...We aren't reaching all the families who really can use the child tax credit the most.”
The bill also would enhance a tax credit for the construction or rehabilitation of rental housing targeted to lower-income households, adding an estimated 200,000 housing units around the country. And it would ensure victims of certain wildfires and the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment don't get hit with a big tax bill for payments they received as compensation for their losses.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.wpxi.com/news/politics/house-tees-up-vote/STWKGBFCEYIL7Z24GNGYVCNSRE/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:29Z
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Tour announces $3 billion investment from SSG
January 31, 2024 01:44 PM
Rich Lerner, Todd Lewis and Rex Hoggard join Golf Central to discuss the PGA Tour's recent deal with Strategic Sports Group, which is a financial and strategic investment from SSG of up to $3 billion.
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https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/golf-central/hughes-discusses-state-of-pga-tour-ssg-deal
| 2024-01-31T23:35:29Z
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JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi could allow Medicaid coverage earlier in pregnancy in an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies in a poor state with the nation's worst rate of infant mortality.
With wide bipartisan support, the state House passed a bill Wednesday to allow up to 60 days of ''presumptive eligibility'' for Medicaid, starting July 1. This means a pregnant woman's outpatient medical care would be paid by Medicaid as her application for coverage by the government insurance program is being considered.
Processing Medicaid applications can take weeks, and physicians say early prenatal care is important.
House Medicaid Committee Chairwoman Missy McGee of Hattiesburg pointed out that Mississippi has high rates of fetal mortality, infant mortality and maternal mortality.
''I think this will go a long way in helping moms and babies be healthy ... and give babies the best shot for a healthy life," McGee said.
Mississippi ranks worst in the U.S. for infant mortality, with Black infants nearly twice as likely as white ones to die over the past decade, according to a report unveiled Jan. 18 by the state Department of Health.
Presumptive Medicaid eligibility during pregnancy would be based on questions about income, asked by health care providers such as employees of county health departments. If a woman's Medicaid application is ultimately rejected because her income is too high, Medicaid would still pay health care providers for services they provided during the time of presumptive eligibility.
McGee said presumptive eligibility could cost the Medicaid program just under $600,000 a year.
Medicaid is funded by federal and state governments, with the federal government paying at least 50% of costs in all states and a higher share in poorer states. The federal government pays for nearly 77% of Medicaid expenses in Mississippi.
In Mississippi, Medicaid coverage for pregnant women 19 and older is based on income. A woman who is in that age category and has no dependents can earn up to about $29,000 and qualify for Medicaid during pregnancy. A pregnant woman in that age category who has three dependents can earn up to $59,700 and qualify.
Mississippi Medicaid coverage is available to all income levels for those who are pregnant and younger than 19.
Democratic Rep. John Hines Sr. of Greenville said earlier eligibility for Medicaid coverage during pregnancy could help the state in recruiting OB-GYNs.
''Where we are right now is that we are last in everything," Hines said. "This is a step toward making Mississippi a better place.''
The bill passed the House 117-5. It moves to the Senate for more work in coming weeks. Republicans control both chambers.
About 41% of births in the U.S. and 57% in Mississippi were financed by Medicaid in 2022, according to the health policy research group KFF. Only Louisiana had a larger share of births covered by Medicaid that year, at 61%.
In 2023, Mississippi extended postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to a full year, with Republican Gov. Tate Reeves saying the change was part of a ''new pro-life agenda'' to help mothers in a state where abortion is tightly restricted.
____
Associated Press/Report For America reporter Michael Goldberg contributed to this report.
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https://m.startribune.com/mississippi-eyes-quicker-medicaid-coverage-in-pregnancy-to-try-to-reduce-deaths-of-moms-and-babies/600340056/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:31Z
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This touring exhibition is a response to a 1972 exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art titled ‘Italy: The New Domestic Landscape’. 100 Italian designers all under the age of 35 were challenged to explore the possibilities of design that fit the current global moment with the values of systemic, rational, and regenerative in mind. A wide array of projects have therefore been designed, from apps and furniture pieces to clothing, prints, and more – this could well be what our future looks like.
Italy: A New Collective Landscape
Time Out says
100 young Italian designers share innovative new projects
Details
- Event website:
- www.hkdi.edu.hk/en/hkdi_gallery/exhibition/adi-italy
- Address:
- Hong Kong Design Institute
- 3 King Ling Road, Tseung Kwan O
- Hong Kong
Dates and times
Discover Time Out original video
|
https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/italy-a-new-collective-landscape
| 2024-01-31T23:35:32Z
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Much as I wish it weren't the case, sometimes being plus size makes things a little bit more complicated. These days, it's always doable - and stylish - but sometimes it can take a bit more effort when you have to shop for things outside your comfort zone, especially when it comes to sportswear. So, when it came to having to find a plus size skiwear wardrobe for a once in a lifetime trip to Courmayeur in the Italian Alps, I'll admit I panicked.
Shopping for skiwear full stop was scary enough as a first-timer, but I panicked when I saw that lots of the great high street skiwear offerings stop at a 16 or 18. Because even if you're in that range of sizing, when it comes to skiing and the need for layers, often you'll want to size up for comfort.
After a little Google, however, I discovered lots of great brands that assuaged my panic. ASOS's 4505 has a great range of plus size skiwear, for instance, at affordable price-points. And while some of my regular high street favourites might not necessarily cater to me in every product (thoughZara's skiwearis still worth checking out as some pieces are available in larger sizes online), it turns out specialist places like Mountain Warehouse do go up to sizes like 4XL and 24. It's also worth remembering that not everything you need or want will be labelled as skiwear; the ever brilliant Good Move collection at Marks and Spencer, for example, has lovely fleeces and layers in the brand's usual inclusive size offering up to a 24.
So, when it comes to plus size skiwear, there's actually no need to panic at all - there's loads to choose from. If it's something you're trying for the first time, I'd offer one more tip I tried to stick to – whether it's your first time or not, try to buy things that you might also wear at home and use another time. Warm clothes and skiwear can be pricier and, in these times, it's tricky to justify new pieces that can only be used once a year, not to mention the environmental impact that has. Check out the weather at your ski resort in advance – you might not actually need to prepare yourself for minus 35 degrees, so a fleece in a great colour that you could just as easily wear on a Saturday for a coffee date might just be the thing.
So, here's some of my favourite pieces I found if you're looking to shop for plus size skiwear.
SHOP: The Best Plus Size Skiwear – Tried And Tested
www.animal.co.uk
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As mentioned, my search for plus size skiwear taught me to look outside of my usual shops and so I
www.animal.co.uk
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There are matching leggings, too, up to size 24. I really loved the waistband on these, which came
www.marksandspencer.com
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Marks & Spencer has a great range of under clothes, whether you're packing for a ski trip or a
www.marksandspencer.com
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The leggings are great - they're not too thick, so didn't leave me feeling sticky legged after a
www.asos.com
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This is such a nice cosy fleece and looks really smart on, too. This definitely falls into the
www.marksandspencer.com
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Do you ever try on an item of clothing and already panic about a future when it warms up and you
www.asos.com
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If you're worried about feeling too bulky, these skinny ski pants are a great option. I loved how
8.
Animal Alpine Womens Snow Pants
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These are such a great find - proper ski trousers that will take you through everything from
www.mountainwarehouse.com
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There are loads of great offers on ski jackets at the moment, and this one is such a bargain. If
www.simplybe.co.uk
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If you're not facing super cold temperatures, you could just get away with packing a really great
www.mountainwarehouse.com
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These boots are SUCH a find. Of all the things to buy, boots can be the toughest for me. I tend to
www.falke.com
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I also panicked when I realised I'd be needing specialist ski socks, ideally ones like this Falke
Rhiannon Evans is Senior Editor at Grazia - she launched and runs Grazia’s parenting platform The Juggle. The unique community is a place for parenting advice, laughs and discussion - and constantly campaigns for working parents. Rhiannon led The Juggle’s partnership with Pregnant Then Screwed, which called for Childcare Change Now - more than 100,000 parents signed a petition calling on the government to review childcare in the UK.
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https://graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/shopping/best-plus-size-ski-jackets-clothes/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:32Z
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Blueface's mother SLAMS Chrisean Rock's 'absolutely f***ng crazy' face tattoo of the rapper's mugshot
Blueface's mother, Karlissa Saffold Harvey, voiced her disapproval over Chrisean Rock’s massive new face tattoo of her the rapper's mugshot.
When asked about her reaction to the 23-year-old reality star's latest piece of ink, Harvey said it looks 'absolutely f***ng crazy.'
'I really hope that it's fake because I don't want to feel like my son owes her, like he did for the other seven tattoos,' the Respect My Cryppin hitmaker's mom told TMZ.
She continued: 'When he comes home, and wants to get his mind right, and position himself to not have to deal with all that.'
Blueface's mother, Karlissa Saffold Harvey, voiced her disapproval over Chrisean Rock’s massive new face tattoo of her the rapper's mugshot
Harvey also questioned Rock’s love for Blueface as she speculated that this was another antic to make him 'feel guilty' and 'obligated' to deal with her because 'no one else will.'
As for what guidance she has for Rock, who is originally from Baltimore, Harvey admitted to being at a loss for words.
'I can't even tell her to go get Jesus 'cuz one day she's holier than thou, worshipping the Lord, then the next day she's asking for me to die,' Harvey explained.
She went on to quip: 'If I could give her any advice, it would be to find another family to play Fatal Attraction with. 'Cuz we're done with this.'
Blueface is currently in jail for more than six months after violating his probation.
Over the weekend, Rock unveiled the tattoo drawn out on the right side of her face on Instagram.
With her eyes almost completely shut, the rapper showcased the piece, which looks like a spot-on replica of Blueface (born Johnathan Jamall Porter), by remaining still for a few moments.
The Baby Father Drama star (born Chrisean Eugenia Malone) also used the social media post as a show of support for the Holy Moly rapper, who's been back behind bars for a probation violation.
When asked about her reaction to the 23-year-old reality star's latest piece of ink, Harvey said it looks 'absolutely f***ng crazy'
'I really hope that it's fake because I don't want to feel like my son owes her, like he did for the other seven tattoos,' the Respect My Cryppin hitmaker's mom told TMZ (Rock pictured with Blueface in 2022)
'#freeblueface free my Daddy I love you papa @bluefasebabyy,' Rock wrote in the caption, in a reference to him being arrested one again, in connection to a 2021 assault case.
The new ink is situated right next to another one of Rock's tattoo tributes, which includes his birth name in bold cursive letters, just above her eyebrow.
TMZ also reported that Blueface's 'side chick' Bonnie, who was on his short-lived reality show Blue Girls Club, also got a large tat of Blueface. She opted to have it placed on her left butt cheek.
Fans are again expressing their concern for Rock, considering she and Blueface have been known to have a toxic and abusive relationship, which has been chronicled by a number of publications like HNHH (Hot New Hip Hop).
A slew of people had been taking to her posts to share their concerns for her, especially in the wake of her announcement that she had moved back in with the Los Angeles native.
Many of them sounded like they were fed up with her latest token of affection, with some of them hoping that this was just a stunt to gain attention.
'I really pray this is fake,' one worried fan wrote that seemed to sum up the thoughts of others, while another follower posted, 'You ruined your face girl.'
Blueface's legal concerns started when he was arrested in November 2022 on charges of attempted murder in connection to a shooting in Las Vegas the previous month.
Over the weekend, Rock unveiled the tattoo drawn out on the right side of her face on Instagram
The new Blueface face tattoo had a strong resemblance to the rapper's mugshot
Blueface (born Johnathan Jamall Porter) has been behind bars for a probation violation in connection to his assault case in Las Vegas in November 2022
After being imprisoned in the Clark County Detention Center, a judge sentenced him to nearly seven months in jail and three years probation the following October, with a possible two-to-five year prison sentence if he violates probation, as reported by Fox 11 Los Angeles
He previously pleaded guilty in October to charges related to a shooting outside at a Las Vegas strip club.
Record show his current release date is set for July 2, 2024.
The Baddies star and the Chose Me rapper dated for about three years, beginning in 2020, until their split in 2023.
TMZ also reported that Blueface's 'side chick' Bonnie, who was on his short-lived reality show Blue Girls Club, also got a large tat of Blueface. She opted to have it placed on her left butt cheek
Rock and Blueface are the parents to son Chrisean Jesus Malone, Jr., who was born in September 2023; this is her first child and his third
During that time she went public and announced her pregnancy, and then gave birth to their son, whom they named Chrisean Jesus Malone, Jr.
Blueface signed Rock to his BluefaceLLC label after he witnessed how popular she had become with her OnlyFans platform.
In 2020, she released her debut single Lonely, a collaboration with the label head.
Not long later, she released her popular tune Vibe, which has garnered over eight million streams on Spotify.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13030533/Bluefaces-mother-SLAMS-Chrisean-Rocks-face-tattoo.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2024-01-31T23:35:32Z
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Jorge Rubiano arrived alone in Chicago, but his pain and trauma came with him.
For months, he tried to find steady work. For months, he's been sleeping in a crowded temporary shelter, worrying about his wife and mother back in Colombia. Are they safe? Did I make the right decision?
He recalls a frightening phone call with his wife in Colombia, cut short when the bus she was riding on was being robbed.
Rubiano, 43, is also haunted by memories of his harrowing journey to Chicago, during which he says he was kidnapped for a month, before escaping.
He left his country, he says, over a land dispute in which the government threatened his life.
"I'm still in between two dangers," Rubiano says in Spanish. "If I return it's very possible they kill me, and if I stay I don't know what can happen here."
More than 30,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since August of 2022 — most of them from South and Central America. They are fleeing the collapse of their economies, a lack of food and jobs, and violence back home.
Many came here on a bus from Texas, sent by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who said Chicago — and other so-called sanctuary cities that embrace immigrants — would provide much-needed relief "to our small, overrun border towns."
The buses haven't stopped since.
Migrants fleeing hardship, danger, fear and loss
Interviews with more than 30 people reveal the emotional toll migrants face, and the efforts of individuals and organizations that are trying to fill the gaps of a frayed mental health system.
Some of those efforts are catching the attention of leaders in other big U.S. cities also coping with large influxes of newly-arrived migrants.
For many, their journeys here were terrifying. A young girl who fell into a river, her pregnant mother struggling to hold her small hand, so the current wouldn't whisk her away. Women who were forced to have sex with gang members to get from country to country. People who walked over the dead in the jungle, or are wracked with guilt over the sick and injured left behind.
Their stories have unfolded across Chicago: in the quiet space of a therapist's office, at an informal healing circle in the back of a store, with a nurse at a folding table propped up outside a police station.
But for many migrants, taking care of their mental health might not be a priority.
"They're in survival mode," says Sharon Davila, a school-based social worker who has screened migrant families. "They need their basic needs met. The number one thing is they're looking for jobs."
Just getting in front of a therapist or a social worker can be extremely difficult for even the most savvy and persistent. With a shortage of mental health workers, wait lists for an appointment can be months long.
Layer on being new to this country, speaking a different language, and having no health insurance. Getting help can seem impossible.
Therapist Susie Moya worries about a mental health crisis brewing for many migrants.
"Right now it's on the back burner," says Moya, who has worked with migrants on Chicago's Lower West Side. "But I'm thinking a year from now when these families are settled in. Who is going to be providing that support?"
Informal support, with a side of soup
It's a Monday night in the back room of an insurance agency on the Southwest Side. About 20 migrants have arranged their chairs in a circle. Each person takes a turn describing how they feel on a scale of one to 10, as social worker Veronica Sanchez gently encourages them to share why.
Warm homemade chicken soup and arepas await them for dinner.
A woman says her husband got deported, and she's heartbroken that she left her children behind. A man says he worked several days that week, but never got paid. Another says he is grateful to God for bringing him to America, but he misses his mom, dad and brothers.
Finding work and reuniting with family is important, Sanchez tells them. But right now she's concerned about their mental health.
"Maybe we have answers. Maybe we don't. But when you open up a safe space where you can share your sorrows... you don't feel so alone," Sanchez says in Spanish.
Sanchez understands the migrants' desperation. She comes from a long line of pottery makers in Mexico. Sanchez was just four years old when her father left to work in Cicero, a suburb outside Chicago. She didn't see her father for almost seven years, until they were reunited as a family in Cicero.
Those memories fuel her work with the healing circle. "When I was talking to them, it really came from the heart," Sanchez says. "I was seeing the migrants' faces, that they were so scared."
Informal support groups like this one have popped up around Chicago in shelters, storefronts, churches and schools, led by volunteers or mental health professionals.
Many of these support groups don't last long. Volunteers get burned out. Migrants prioritize other needs. Or the city moves them from place to place.
The costs of ignoring loss and trauma
Some volunteers and mental health providers emphasize that not every migrant might be experiencing severe trauma.
But for many, trauma can have lasting impact. Trauma can change the wiring in a person's brain and make someone more vulnerable to depression and anxiety.
Daily or ongoing stressors can add up to what Chicago psychologist Laura Pappa calls "little t trauma" — like not feeling welcomed right away.
"A lot of people come here seeking the American dream and they realize that that's not there," says Pappa, who came to the U.S. from Argentina as a teen. "A lot of people were not expecting that, how hard it is on this side. I've had a lot of parents who've come alone and ask themselves, was it worth it?"
It can be hard to persuade migrants to seek help, however. There's a stigma about the need for mental health care in many immigrant communities, particularly among Latino men, Pappa says.
But, she adds, the stigma is easing as talking about emotions becomes more common.
Training the front-line workers in shelters
One effort to provide faster help involves training hundreds of peoplewho don't have a medical background, but work in city-run shelters. These front-line workers, such as case managers and shelter supervisors, are learning to lead support groups called Café y Comunidad charlas — coffee and community talks.
The initiative is led by the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health, the University of Chicago's Crown Family School, and Lurie Children's Center for Childhood Resilience.
The idea is to help migrants feel less isolated and try to prevent the most extreme outcomes, such as suicide.
"We have to help people the minute they arrive," explainsAimee Hilado, an assistant professor at UC's Crown School and chair of the coalition. "That's actually going to promote healing down the line."
Case manager Albert Ayala has led a charla in the ballroom of a downtown shelter. He recalls moments of joy, such as when a woman said she was searching for love — and hands shot up hoping to catch her attention.
Ayala says he's watched migrants who arrive scared and shy blossom after attending a charla.
"We try to tell them we're no different from you," says Ayala, who is Mexican American. "Your dream is possible."
Leaders in Philadelphia and San Jose have reached out asking how to replicate the effort, Hilado says.
Outside his shelter, Rubiano, the migrant from Colombia, says he hasn't attended one of these support groups. He says he tries to keep busy working on his English skills. And he recently found a full-time job in a supermarket.
He longs for his family, and for the chance to bring them here — once there is a stable life he can offer them.
WBEZ is part of the Mental Health Parity Collaborative, a group of newsrooms covering stories on mental health care access and inequities in the U.S. The Collaborative's partners include The Carter Center, the Center for Public Integrity and newsrooms in select states across the country.
WBEZ's Manuel Martinez contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 WBEZ
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https://www.wmot.org/2024-01-31/for-chicagos-new-migrants-informal-support-groups-help-ease-the-pain-and-trauma
| 2024-01-31T23:35:33Z
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Smith & Nephew plc (LON:SN – Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 1,051.18 ($13.36) and traded as high as GBX 1,109 ($14.10). Smith & Nephew shares last traded at GBX 1,105 ($14.05), with a volume of 1,701,964 shares traded.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Smith & Nephew from GBX 1,600 ($20.34) to GBX 1,500 ($19.07) and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a GBX 1,150 ($14.62) target price on shares of Smith & Nephew in a report on Thursday, November 30th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 1,500 ($19.07) target price on shares of Smith & Nephew in a report on Thursday, November 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a GBX 1,248 ($15.87) target price on shares of Smith & Nephew in a report on Thursday, November 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 1,361.60 ($17.31).
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew Trading Up 0.4 %
Insider Activity at Smith & Nephew
In other Smith & Nephew news, insider Deepak Nath sold 1,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 988 ($12.56), for a total value of £12,103 ($15,386.47). In other news, insider Jeremy (Jez) Maiden bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 1,008 ($12.81) per share, with a total value of £10,080 ($12,814.65). Also, insider Deepak Nath sold 1,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 988 ($12.56), for a total transaction of £12,103 ($15,386.47). 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Smith & Nephew Company Profile
Smith & Nephew plc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells medical devices and services in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine & ENT, and Advanced Wound Management. The company offers knee implant products for knee replacement procedures; hip implants for revision procedures; and trauma and extremities products that include internal and external devices used in the stabilization of severe fractures and deformity correction procedures.
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https://www.com-unik.info/2024/01/31/smith-nephew-lonsn-stock-price-crosses-above-200-day-moving-average-of-1051-18.html
| 2024-01-31T23:35:34Z
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WASHINGTON — (AP) — Interest rate cuts are coming. Just not yet.
The Federal Reserve delivered that message Wednesday, first in a policy statement and then in a news conference at which Chair Jerome Powell reinforced it.
The Fed did signal that it's nearing a long-awaited shift toward cutting rates, evidence that its officials have grown confident that they're close to fully taming inflation. No longer does its policy statement say it's still considering further rate hikes.
Yet the officials made clear that the first rate cut is likely months away. Their statement said they don't think it would be time to cut rates “until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably” to their 2% target.
Investors and some economists had been holding out the possibility that the Fed might cut as early as its next meeting in March. That now appears off the table.
“I don’t think it’s likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting” to start cutting rates, Powell said at his news conference.
The central bank kept its key rate unchanged at about 5.4%, a 22-year high. But the changes to its statement — compared with its last meeting in December — show that it has moved toward considering rate reductions while still maintaining flexibility.
“There is nothing in Powell’s remarks or the statement that leads us to worry about the basic story of ‘good news’ cuts starting soon enough,” Krishna Guha, an economics analyst at investment bank Evercore ISI, said in a note to clients.
In December, the Fed's policymakers had indicated that they expected to carry out three quarter-point rate cuts in 2024. Yet they have since said little about when those cuts might begin, and some senior officials stressed that the Fed will proceed cautiously.
On Wednesday, Powell said the Fed doesn't need to see significant changes in the inflation data for it to cut rates. It just needs to see the inflation slowdown continue. Prices have increased at just a 2% annual rate in the past six months, according to the Fed's preferred measure.
“It's not that we're looking for better data — it's just that we're looking for a continuation of the good data that we've been getting," he said. “We just need to see more.”
The central bank's message Wednesday — that it's edging closer to cutting rates but not planning to do so anytime soon — disappointed traders on Wall Street. Losses in the stock market accelerated after Powell's news conference began.
The change in the Fed's stance comes as the economy is showing surprising durability after a series of 11 rate hikes helped drastically slow inflation, which had hit a four-decade high 18 months ago. Growth remains healthy: In the final three months of last year, the economy expanded at a 3.3% annual rate, the government said last week.
The Fed is assessing inflation and the economy at a time when the intensifying presidential campaign is pivoting in no small part on voters' perceptions of President Joe Biden's economic stewardship. Republicans in Congress have attacked Biden over the high inflation that gripped the nation beginning in 2021 as the economy emerged from recession. But the latest economic data — ranging from steady consumer spending to solid job growth to the slowdown in inflation — has been bolstering consumer confidence.
At his news conference, Powell said the Fed welcomes signs of economic strength.
“We want to see strong growth and a strong labor market,” the Fed chair said. "We’re looking for inflation to come down, as it has been coming down for the last six months.”
Most economists have said they expect the Fed to start cutting its benchmark rate in May or June. Rate cuts would eventually lead to lower borrowing costs for America’s consumers and businesses, including for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.
A year ago, many analysts were predicting that widespread layoffs and sharply higher unemployment would be needed to cool the economy and curb inflation. Yet job growth has been steady. The unemployment rate, at 3.7%, isn’t far above a half-century low.
Labor costs are easing, too. On Wednesday, the government reported that pay and benefits for America's workers, which accelerated in 2022, grew in the final three months of 2023 at the slowest pace in 2 1/2 years. That slowdown reduces pressure on companies to raise prices to cover higher labor costs.
The Fed appears on the verge of achieving a rare “soft landing,” in which it manages to conquer high inflation without causing a recession. Should the pace of economic growth strengthen, though, it could complicate the challenge for the Fed.
Powell said that faster growth could potentially cause inflation to stall at a rate above 2%, which could complicate the Fed's timetable for rate cuts. For now, with the economy performing well, he said, the Fed doesn't need to rush to reduce borrowing costs.
“If we saw an unexpected weakening in the labor market, that would certainly weigh on cutting sooner," Powell said.
Asked whether he thought the Fed has already achieved a soft landing, Powell suggested it would be premature to say so.
“We have a ways to go,” he said. "Core inflation is still well above target on a 12-month basis. Certainly, I’m encouraged and we’re encouraged by the progress, but we’re not declaring victory at this point. We think we have a ways to go.”
Some cracks in the job market have begun to emerge and, if they worsen, could spur the Fed to cut rates quickly. For several months, most of the nation's job growth has occurred in just a few sectors — health care, government and hotels, restaurants and entertainment. Any weakening in those areas of the economy could threaten hiring and the overall expansion.
A report Tuesday showed that the number of workers who quit in December reached its lowest level in three years. That suggested that fewer Americans are being recruited for new, higher-paying jobs or are willing to search for and take new positions. Though quits remain at a level consistent with a solid job market, they have fallen about one-third from their peak in mid-2022.
Still, the U.S. economy is outdoing its counterparts overseas. During the October-December quarter, the 20 countries that share the euro currency barely avoided a recession, posting essentially no growth.
Still, as in the United States, unemployment is very low in the euro area, and inflation has slowed to a 2.9% annual rate. Though the European Central Bank could cut rates as soon as April, many economists think that might not happen until June.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.wpxi.com/news/powell-federal/FB46DTECNHYRWVHV3OHDKWQXKI/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:35Z
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Hailey Whitters is working on something new for Valentine's Day. The "I'm In Love" singer shared a clip on X, formerly known as Twitter, of her at a photoshoot while eating heart-shaped chocolates, wearing red-colored shades and more. "valentine's day mode loading… y'all get ready," Hailey teased.
Dylan Scott is holding a Valentine's Day sale in his merch store. Select CDs and vinyl records are available at a discounted price of $5 and $15, respectively, until February 9. You can grab yours now at dylanscottcountry.com.
William Michael Morgan has shared that he's releasing a new song, "Not Letting Go," on February 2. You can presave now to hear it as soon as it drops.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
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https://www.k95tulsa.com/news/nashville-notes/JYZ4VKUFALRO5R2PS5HWFSBO4I/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:34Z
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Updated January 31, 2024 at 5:33 PM ET
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but signaled that rates could fall in the coming months if inflation continues to cool.
Policy makers have kept their benchmark interest rate between 5.25% and 5.5% — the highest in over two decades — since July.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell told reporters Wednesday that interest rates are unlikely to go any higher, and that he and his colleagues are beginning to contemplate cutting rates.
"If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year," Powell said.
He cautioned, however, that the economy remains unpredictable and said the central bank would proceed cautiously.
"The economic outlook is uncertain and we remain highly attentive to inflation risks," Powell said.
The Fed has been pleasantly surprised by the rapid drop in inflation in recent months. Core prices in December — which exclude food and energy prices — were up just 2.9% from a year ago, according to the Fed's preferred inflation yardstick. That's a smaller increase than the 3.2% core inflation rate that Fed officials had projected in December.
If that positive trend continues, the Fed may be able to start cutting interest rates as early as this spring. First, though, Powell said he and his colleagues will need to see additional evidence that inflation is easing.
And he sounded doubtful about a rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in March as many investors in Wall Street had hoped for.
"Based on the meeting today, I would tell you that I don't think it's likely the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting," Powell said. "But that's to be seen."
The comments disappointed investors, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 317 points.
Investors are still hopeful about a rate cut by the following Fed meeting in May, with markets putting the likelihood of that at better than 90%.
Good omens in the economy
Both the economy and the job market have performed better than expected over the last year, despite the highest interest rates since 2001. The nation's gross domestic product grew 3.1% in 2023, while employers added 2.7 million jobs
Unemployment has been under 4%for nearly two years. And average wages in December were up 4.1% from a year ago.
While that strong economy is welcome news for businesses and workers, it also raises the risk of reigniting inflation. As a result, Fed policymakers say they'll be cautious not to cut interest rates prematurely.
"We have history on this," Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic told the Rotary Club of Atlanta this month. "In the '70s, the Fed started removing accommodation too soon. Inflation spiked back up. Then we had to tighten. Inflation came down. Then we removed it again. Inflation went back up. And by the time we were done with that, all Americans could think about was inflation."
The Fed is determined not to repeat that '70s show. At the same time, waiting too long to cut interest rates risks slowing the economy more than necessary to bring inflation under control.
A report from the Labor Department Wednesday showed employers' cost for labor rose more slowly than expected in the final months of last year. Labor costs increased just 0.9% in the fourth quarter. That's a smaller increase than the previous quarter, suggesting labor costs are putting less upward pressure on prices.
Fed officials promised to keep an eye on upcoming economic data and adjust accordingly.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.wyso.org/npr-news/2024-01-31/the-federal-reserve-holds-interest-rates-steady-but-signals-rate-cuts-may-be-coming
| 2024-01-31T23:35:36Z
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Senate Republicans demanded that President Biden's national security funding package for Ukraine be tied to policy changes to address the crisis at the southwest border. But now that negotiators say they are ready to release details of a bipartisan plan to reduce the surge of migrants at the border, Republican divisions could scuttle the plan.
Months of negotiations between the Republicans, Democrats and the Biden administration officials are now threatened by politics. Former President Trump, the GOP's likely 2024 presidential nominee, has been publicly slamming the deal and urging lawmakers to oppose it.
Negotiators started the week promising to release a bill in the coming days. But by Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to signal he's ready to move on, and focus on getting money to two key U.S. allies at war.
"It's time for us to move something, hopefully including the border agreement, but we need to get help to Israel and Ukraine, quickly," McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.
McConnell has consistently argued that divided government is the moment to extract demands on border policy from Democrats.
Pressed about what voters would think of GOP lawmakers who sink a bill because Trump directed them to, McConnell sidestepped the question. "I still favor trying to make law when you can" and said what the bipartisan group is working on is better than current immigration law, adding, "you're asking me, a question I can't answer right now, which is the fate of it."
Senators already know key details
The top Democratic negotiator working on a border plan, Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has signaled for days that the deal is basically done, but getting sign off from the GOP to move ahead is the hold up.
"We have a bipartisan agreement to help address the crisis at the border. Republicans have been desperate for that. Why would they walk away from it?"
Senate Republicans huddled at their weekly lunch on Wednesday to discuss next steps, but the consensus coming out of the meeting was that lawmakers want to see the details.
But after weeks of negotiations, the key provisions have already been explained to lawmakers from both parties.
The bill includes several tools to address the border, including: giving the president the ability to shutdown the border if the numbers of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. climbs above a certain threshold, adjusting the rules for who qualifies for asylum and allowing migrants authorization to work while awaiting adjudication of their asylum claim.
Extended negotiations opened space for critics
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the effort is "an uphill climb" because as the talks have continued, some members have impressions about what the proposal will do and "there are certain people who will never change their mind."
Tillis has said a border plan needs to get the majority of Senate Republicans in order to move ahead. But Trump injecting himself into the process has caused many lawmakers to refrain from backing the framework, making it tougher to meet that test.
Oklahoma GOP Sen. Jim Lankford is crafting the plan along with Murphy and Independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Lankford spent time on Sunday talk shows swatting down leaks about the plan that conservative media outlets are painting as a green light for 5,000 additional migrants a day.
Texas Republican Sen, John Cornyn, who was an early advocate of linking money for Ukraine to changes to the Biden administration's policies, said people need time to see an official piece of legislation.
"People are talking about what they think is in it, and what they've heard is in it, what's not in it,' Cornyn told reporters. "I think the first thing we need to do is see where the conference is based on the text rather than just based on rumors and hearsay."
Tillis called Wednesday's meeting "a good discussion." But added, "I would ask those same members who are calling for time to read it, but not judge something they haven't read."
Others who came out against the bill already are already dismissing the proposals.
"I think this is a bad bill," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx., told reporters. "And the simplest reason is it doesn't solve the problem."
Cruz blamed Senate Democrats for crafting a bill that "allows Joe Biden to continue the open borders," despite the months of bipartisan negotiations that have taken place. President Biden endorsed the proposal and said last week if Congress passes it he would immediately shutdown the border.
Some optimisim remains
Murphy remained optimistic on Wednesday that the deal would survive and come to the floor for a vote, possibly as soon as this week.
He said a "sizable, important group of Republican senators" are making a good faith effort to get something done on the border, and suggested that others are making disingenuous arguments about needing to see the full text.
"This is not a detailed study of the issue. This is a question as to whether they are going to put Trump before solving the problem," Murphy said.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.wmot.org/2024-01-31/senate-gop-split-threatens-bipartisan-border-deal-as-trump-looms-large
| 2024-01-31T23:35:39Z
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Ma’s first-ever large-scale solo exhibition in Hong Kong is adapted from his exhibition at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning which ran last year. Rather than art, explore significant urban projects by architectural collective MAD, which is headed by Ma – including the soon-to-be-completed Shenzhen Bay Cultural Park, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, and the Fenix Museum of Migration in Rotterdam. If you want a glimpse into the future of urban civilisation, where urban landscapes, historical sites, and natural environments coexist seamlessly, then check out this exhibition.
Ma Yansong: Landscapes in Motion
Time Out says
Peek into the future of urban civilisation with these architectural projects
Details
- Address:
- Hong Kong Design Institute
- 3 King Ling Road, Tseung Kwan O
- Hong Kong
Dates and times
Discover Time Out original video
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/ma-yansong-landscapes-in-motion
| 2024-01-31T23:35:39Z
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A checkered mesh of mysteries have accompanied the release of Matthew Vaughn's ''Agylle.'' There is the promoted one: Who is the ''real'' Agent Argylle? Then there's all the (baseless) conjecture over whether argyle aficionado Taylor Swift had anything to do with the film. But most of all: Why two L's? While we can finally put to rest the first two puzzles, we're left to posit that the spelling must be to differentiate the movie for those who just want to buy a pair of socks.
The socks would be a wiser investment. ''Argylle,'' a $200 million production from Apple Films opening in theaters Thursday, is a big bet to kickstart a new spy series, presumably with iterations to follow such as ''Plaidd'' and ''Herringbonne.''
Criss-crossing patterns of ridiculousness and self-satisfaction run through ''Argylle,'' a tiresome meta movie that puts an awful lot of zest into an awfully empty high-concept story.
There are all kinds of dumb movies. It can even be a good quality. ''Step Brothers,'' for instance, is a brilliantly dumb movie. ''Argylle'' knows it's preposterous and it's trying to have fun with that. But it's a strained, unimaginative effort, over-reliant on twists and needle drops, that leaves ''Argylle'' on the bad side of dumb. The best that you can say about ''Argylle'' is that it comes by its dumbness genuinely.
Bryce Dallas Howard stars as Elly Conway, a bestselling spy novelist who lives quietly with her (CGI enhanced) cat, Alfie, while conjuring globe-trotting adventures for her agent Argylle. The movie's clunky prologue plunges us into his world, as Argylle (Henry Cavill) dances with and then pursues a slinky target (Dua Lipa, whose few minutes in the film may be its best).
While Elly mulls a new ending for her fifth book, she's thrown into a real-world espionage thriller. While on the train, an actual, more scruffy-looking spy, Adrian (Sam Rockwell), approaches her just as mean-looking guys are closing in. Throughout the encounter, Elly blinks and sees Argylle in the place of Adrian, a bit of fiction-vs-reality that will play throughout ''Argylle'' in mostly uninteresting ways.
It's a premise familiar from better movies like ''Romancing the Stone'' or ''The Lost City.'' But while those films filled their adventures with comedy, ''Argylle'' is surprisingly unfunny, a lacking Jason Fuchs' script tries to make up for with one switcheroo after another. Eventually, the whole movie feels like a joke, even if contains few of them.
The actors nearly keep the movie's absurd plate-spinning going. Among them are Bryan Cranston as the head of a shadowy organization called the Division, and Catherine O'Hara as Elly's mother. But roles are fluid in ''Argylle.'' It's a testament to Howard's charm that ''Argylle'' is watchable, at all, and Rockwell, too, elevates the material.
Vaughn's knack for combining a smirky sense of humor with flashy, slo-mo ultra-violence has previously won him fans in the ''Kingsman'' film series. He delights in running spy tropes through an irreverent wringer. (If ''Kingsman'' was a 007 riff, ''Argylle'' cribs from ''Bourne.'') His movies, while often colorful and spirited, are slyly nasty with a slightly obnoxious juvenile underpinning of ''can you believe I'm really doing this in a studio movie?''
With enough plot twists to make a daytime soap blush, ''Argylle'' shows just how little that can add up to. You might think: spy movie, fun actors, pleasing diagonal lines — how bad can it be? As much as we all could use a fun movie for fun's sake, you, too, may have your concerns about the limits of such pointlessness around the time when Bryce Dallas Howard glides across an oil spill on skates of knives. Plus, no movie genuinely interested in a good time would dare not give Catherine O'Hara room to be funny. All she needs is an inch.
In the end, the mysteries that surrounded ''Argylle'' ahead of its release were far more intriguing than those that play out during its lengthy runtime. Those questions go more like: Are they really repeatedly using the Apple Music tie-in Beatles song ''Now and Then''? And: This film can't be 139-minutes long, can it?
If there's one person who seems to have the right idea in ''Argylle,'' it's, as usual, Samuel L. Jackson. He has some vague role that requires him to await an important transmission from Adrian. But this effectively means he spends much of the movie far from the action, drinking red wine and watching the Lakers game. Smart guy.
''Argylle,'' a Universal Studios/Apple Studios release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for strong violence and action and some strong language. Running time: 139 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
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https://m.startribune.com/movie-review-argylle-wont-blow-your-socks-off/600340038/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:38Z
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You’ve heard of road rage. Everyone in the country has experienced cancelled-train rage. Well I’m adding clubcard rage to the list of irritations to be fist-clenchingly infuriated by when it comes to modern living. For the lucky few who don’t know what I’m talking about, you must live in the countryside, and even there I bet the only café in the village has a loyalty scheme.
Clubcard rage is the simmering anger that starts to boil inside you when you go to pay for a sandwich and realise the price you saw on the shelf was for loyalty card holders only. By the time you’re walking out of the store, you're seething - because without a clubcard your soup and a roll just cost you the same as an entire night out in 2005.
Pret A Manger’s prices for non-cult, sorry, Club members caused headlines recently when a journalist went viral for tweeting in outrage at the price of a cheese and pickle sandwich (£7.15) if you aren’t a Club Pret member and want to dine-in. Only royalty can afford the dine-in option these days; the rest of us nibble our extortionate Ploughman’s as we walk back to the office in the rain.
It’s not just café chains. Supermarkets are notorious for punishing you if you don’t sign over your first born the moment you walk through their automatic doors. ‘Great, a box of Lindt chocolates for £5, perfect for Jane’s birthday’ you think, except.. when you get to the till it’s £12 without a loyalty card. And I’m sorry but Jane just isn’t worth £12.
We’re asked to hand over our data just to buy basics like loo roll. (And when it’s £2.50 cheaper for the Supreme Quilted with a loyalty card you’d be mad not to sign up). But then what? Another conglomerate keeping track of your every purchase, and another clubcard bursting out of an already bulging purse – or clogging up valuable app space on your phone.
Even when you do have a clubcard, any satisfaction you get from watching the total discount ker-ching from £24 to £18 is overshadowed by the battle to scan the damn thing. The same ordeal plays out every time:
‘Hello assistance? It won’t scan my clubcard.’
‘Just hover it next to the scanner.’
‘Yeah that’s what I’m doing!’
‘Try it closer’
‘It’s touching’
‘Move it away - no that’s too far. Try it upside down. Stand on one leg and make sure your elbow is facing the sun..’
It’s also as if the clubcard senses when it’s pushed you to the absolute limit; when you’re one failed-scan attempt away from flinging your sack of satsumas at the machine it suddenly pings. ‘It’s not the machine that’s broken,’ it seems to wink. ‘You just weren’t holding me right.’ We’re being gaslit by a QR code.
So what do we do? On the surface, clubcard rage is about missing out on a discount when you can’t be bothered to sign up to Yet. Another. Thing. But the rage goes deeper. Capitalism was meant to mean we could shop around freely, choosing the best deal for us. But the clubcard actually restricts our freedom by tying us to a store.
The anger goes deeper still, because we know they’ve tricked us. But what can we do if we want to pay less? We’re simply their play thing, falling for their seductions of slightly cheaper silky applicator tampons.
And we know it’s just another way for big brands to surveil us. Just as Ariel got screwed over in The Little Mermaid, swapping her voice and freedom for some legs (ok, and some human lungs), we’ve handed over data on our preferred menstrual products in return for… a 50p saving?
The dilemma is that the discounts are big enough to enrage - when your full-price poke bowl is almost double the price of the loyalty member's it's maddening - but the discount is not quite enough to warrant the admin of signing up to everything. I know a family of five who spend around £12k in one supermarket over the course of a year. ‘We worked out the savings we get in vouchers annually for staying loyal and it’s about £40. After £12k that £40 is repackaged as "our gift to you",’ the mum tells me.
Another friend said: ‘I always go to Sainsbury’s because I’m building up my Nectar points. Then I realised one Nectar point is worth 0.5p....’
So, it looks like we have two options: become a disciple of money saving guru Martin Lewis and devote our lives to hounding bargains, carefully picking which we sign up to based on their reward scheme. Or, remember time is too scarce to shop around, money's tight and Big Brother already knows more about us than our Year 8 diaries. We might as well slut our data out to whichever chain we find ourselves in that day if it means cheaper stuff. After all, the world is burning, our children won’t see grass, and Donald Trump could be back in the White House this time next year. So what if the robots have access to all our intimate details? I just got 27p off Perelló olives.
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https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/clubcard-rage/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:39Z
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Love Island All Stars fans go wild as Casey O'Gorman 'exposes' Georgia Steel while questioning her about messy 'love triangle'
Love Island fans went while during Wednesday's episode of All Star when Casey O'Gorman 'exposed' Georgia Steel while questioning her about messy 'love triangle.'
Previously, Georgia S and Molly Smith went head to head after Georgia's flirtations with Tom Clare were finally exposed in the villa.
The stars spent the day at the Island Beach Club where Molly had confronted Georgia about why she didn't tell her she'd been flirting with Tom, who had a fling with Georgia before the show and is now coupled up with Molly.
Completing the messy situation, Georgia is currently coupled up with Molly's ex boyfriend of three years Callum Jones.
And adding yet more fuel to the fire, Casey decided to ask Georgia S how her 'love triangle was going' within five minutes of entering the villa as a bombshell.
Love Island fans went while during Wednesday's episode of All Star when Casey O'Gorman 'exposed' Georgia Steel while questioning her about messy 'love triangle.
Viewers were delighted when Casey, having watched the drama unfold at home, appeared to take Molly's side in the argument.
Sharing their thoughts to X, one person posted: 'I am so glad Casey pinned the love triangle drama on Georgia S in front of all of the girls he has been watching after all, Georgia.
'He knows what you’ve been doing just like the rest of us. And yet she still lies about it.'
Another added: 'Casey exposing Georgia and with the crazy eyes deep stare down!!??? I'm screaming.'
'Casey wasted nooooo time to drop that in to Georgia S did he,' a third wrote.
Someone else shared: 'Not Casey snitching on Georgia.'
In Tuesday's furious row Molly accused Georgia of 'not being a girl's girl' for 'letting her know she was flirting'.
An enraged Georgia retorted back: 'I don't appreciate you calling me not a girl's girl. I had two conversations with Tom and I knew him from before!'
Previously, Georgia S (pictured) and Molly Smith went head to head after Georgia's flirtations with Tom Clare were finally exposed in the villa
Molly (pictured) had confronted Georgia about why she didn't tell her she'd been flirting with Tom, who had a fling with Georgia before the show and is now coupled up with Molly
Viewers were delighted when Casey, having watched the drama unfold at home, appeared to take Molly's side in the argument
Molly then went to say she disagreed before Georgia said: 'Don't interrupt me! You're so rude!
'There is no need for that attitude, you are speaking to me like a child. Get your facts right before you say something to all the girls that makes me look a certain way!'
Viewers at home were quick to react to the argument where Molly made valid points about her pulling Tom for flirty chats.
The drama had originally kicked off when Tom confided in Molly about a previous conversation he had with Georgia.
Unimpressed, Molly sought advice from the girls as she made an attempt to understand Georgia's intentions.
As she confided in the girls, Molly added: 'I think that maybe now, obviously G's been pulling him and she's made it apparent that she still likes him and wants to get to know him.'
Molly continued: 'I've been allowing things to happen thinking they're just friends, knowing full well that she has been trying to crack on with him everyday and every night, has she not and I'm sat there like a mug.'
The girls suggested she spoke to Georgia but Molly had other ideas, telling the others: 'It's embarrassing, I can't be a**ed speaking to her, she can have my ex and my next.'
Later, Molly confronted Georgia, before their second row at the beach club.
'I understand that you might be angry that I spoke to Tom on the terrace without you being here. Yes, I did. Hold my hands up,' Georgia told Molly. 'I did do that but I think I had every right to do that.'
Molly told her: 'It wasn't that I had a problem with. The problem was that you've been pulling him every day since.'
Denying she had been speaking to her ex every day, Georgia then asked Molly what Tom had told her. 'Basically you don't know if you like Callum more than Tom,' Molly told her. 'Which I didn't at that point, no. I was quite confused,' admitted Georgia.
In Tuesday's furious row Molly accused Georgia of 'not being a girl's girl' for 'letting her know she was flirting'
Molly pointed out: 'In the situation of you and him having a lot of conversations you've got to understand from my point of view that it doesn't look great,' before telling her she 'feels like a mug.'
'No, no, no, you are very very far from a mug,' insisted Georgia.
Molly then pointed put that she had not got involved in Georgia's relationship with her ex boyfriend Callum, telling her: 'I think I am very far from a mug because I've taken a massive step back for you to get to know my ex, never got involved, let you completely crack on.'
'But when I'm trying to get to know someone else, to then know you've took him to the terrace and been speaking to him. That to me I'd have rather been in the loop'.
Georgia agreed, before telling her: 'If Tom was someone I didn't have a past with it would have been wrong...but it's not.'
'I feel like a bit of a mug,' Molly replied. 'I've been sat there thinking, oh no, they're just friends when in reality I don't know what the conversations have held. Now he's told me that, I'm thinking there might be more to it than meets the eye.'
Georgia admitted to Molly that she has shared 'flirty conversations' with Tom 'but we never shared a kiss, we never did anything like that. If that was the case I would have relayed it to you.'
Earlier in the episode the truth finally came out about Georgia's steamy conversations with her ex fling Tom, who is coupled up with Molly
Georgia's head is currently in a complete spin, as she continues to make romantic admissions to both Callum and Tom (seen with Callum in the Hideaway)
Georgia's head is currently in a complete spin, as she continues to make romantic admissions to both Callum and Tom.
Following a game of truth or dare with their other Islanders during Friday's episode, Georgia and Tom held their own private version around the fire pit.
Tom didn't hold back as he asked Georgia: 'Would you rather be with Callum or me?'
Admitting she would rather be with Tom, she replied: 'I think my impulse would be you because I think there's a connection we share.'
Leaning in so only Tom can hear, she whispered: 'I fancy you the most.'
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13030623/Love-Island-Casey-OGorman-exposes-Georgia-Steel-love-triangle.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2024-01-31T23:35:39Z
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Is Luka already in same atmosphere as MJ, Kobe?
January 31, 2024 02:18 PM
Dan Patrick sits down with analyst Jim Jackson to discuss if there is a scoring problem in the NBA, Jason Kidd's comments on Luka Doncic, why Joel Embiid is the most unstoppable NBA scorer, and more.
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https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/nba/is-luka-already-in-same-atmosphere-as-mj-kobe
| 2024-01-31T23:35:39Z
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WASHINGTON — (AP) — U.S. officials said Wednesday they disrupted a state-backed Chinese effort to plant malware that could be used to damage civilian infrastructure, as the head of the FBI warned that Beijing is positioning itself to disrupt the daily lives of Americans if the United States and China ever go to war.
The operation, announced just before FBI Director Chris Wray addressed House lawmakers, disrupted a botnet of hundreds of U.S.-based small office and home routers owned by private citizens and companies that had been hijacked by the Chinese hackers to cover their tracks as they sowed the malware. Their ultimate targets included water treatment plants, the electrical grid and transportation systems across the United States.
Speaking before the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Wray said there's been far too little public focus on a cyber threat that affects “every American.”
“China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities, if or when China decides the time has come to strike,” Wray said.
Jen Easterly, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, voiced a similar sentiment at the hearing.
“This is a world where a major crisis halfway across the planet could well endanger the lives of Americans here at home through the disruption of our pipelines, the severing of our telecommunications, the pollution of our water facilities, the crippling of our transportation modes — all to ensure that they can incite societal panic and chaos and to deter our ability" to marshal a sufficient response, she said.
The comments align with assessments from outside cybersecurity firms including Microsoft, which said in May that state-backed Chinese hackers had been targeting U.S. critical infrastructure and could be laying the technical groundwork for the potential disruption of critical communications between the U.S. and Asia during future crises.
At least a portion of that operation, attributed to a group of hackers known as Volt Typhoon, has now been disrupted after FBI and Justice Department officials obtained search-and-seizure orders in Houston federal court in December. U.S. officials did not characterize the disruption’s impact, and court documents unsealed Wednesday say the disrupted botnet was just “one form of infrastructure used by Volt Typhoon to obfuscate their activity.” The hackers have infiltrated targets through multiple avenues, including cloud and internet providers, disguising themselves as normal traffic.
The U.S. has in the past few years become more aggressive in trying to disrupt and dismantle both criminal and state-backed cyber operations, with Wray warning Wednesday that Beijing-backed hackers aim to pilfer business secrets to advance the Chinese economy and steal personal information for foreign influence campaigns.
“They are doing all those things. They all feed up ultimately into their goal to supplant the U.S. as the world’s greatest superpower," he said.
Complicating the threat is that state-backed hackers, especially Chinese and Russian, are good at adapting and finding new intrusion methods and avenues.
U.S. officials have long been concerned about such hackers hiding in U.S.-based infrastructure, and the end-of-life Cisco and NetGear routers exploited by Volt Typhoon were easy prey because they were no longer supported by their manufacturers with security updates. Because of the urgency, law enforcement officials said, U.S. cyber operators deleted the malware in those routers without notifying their owners directly — and added code to prevent re-infection.
A Justice Department official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the government said officials were determined to disrupt the Volt Typhoon operation as soon as possible because the hackers were using the botnet as a stepping stone to hide in U.S. internet traffic while burrowing into the networks of critical infrastructure, ready to maliciously exploit that access at a time of their choosing.
“The truth is that Chinese cyber actors have taken advantage of very basic flaws in our technology,” Easterly said. “We’ve made it easy on them.”
Cybersecurity veteran Amit Yoran, the CEO of Tenable, called Wray’s warning “an urgent call to action. Continuing to turn a blind eye to the risk sitting inside our critical infrastructure is the definition of negligence.”
Cybersecurity experts say major software providers too often sacrifice security for convenience, and that's biting back.
On the eve of a June visit to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, state-backed Chinese hackers foiled Microsoft cloud-based security in hacking the email of officials at multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China.
On Wednesday, U.S. officials said allies were also affected by Volt Typhoon's critical infrastructure hacking but, asked by reporters, would not discuss any countermeasures they might be taking.
China has repeatedly denounced the U.S. government's hacking allegations as baseless. Beijing has accused the U.S. of “almost daily” and “huge amounts of intrusions against Chinese government, with Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, saying last year that “China is the biggest victim of cyber attacks.”
But Gen. Paul Nakasone, the outgoing commander of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, said “responsible cyber actors” do not target civilian infrastructure.
“There's no reason for them to be in our water,” Nakasone said. “There's no reason for them to be in our power.”
On Tuesday, testifying before the same committee, Leon Panetta, who served as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the defense secretary in the Obama administration, said he believed that the Chinese agents had “planted malware within our own computer networks” and warned that the Chinese government would use artificial intelligence to spread disinformation.
The committee, chaired by Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, was established last year with a mandate of countering China, kicking off with a prime-time hearing. The Chinese government has lashed out at the committee, demanding that its members "discard their ideological bias and zero-sum Cold War mentality."
____
Bajak reported from Boston.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.wpxi.com/news/technology/us-says-it-disrupted/6K344IMNCSDJ5RGCGWDJKX6NPM/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:42Z
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The full group buying the Baltimore Orioles at a $1.725 billion valuation was revealed Wednesday, and it had a very big name for the club's fans.
Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. is one of nine names that was revealed in the Orioles' announcement of the sale by the Angelos family, which was reported Tuesday. The group is led by two billionaires in Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein and Ares Management co-founder Michael Arougheti, with Rubenstein as the controlling owner.
In addition to Ripken, other shareholders include NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill, former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg, former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke and business names Michele Kang, Mitchell Goldstein and Michael Smith.
The deal is still pending approval from MLB's other owners. Per previous reports, the new group will acquire 40% control of the Orioles, with the remainder transferring following the death of patriarch Peter Angelos. The Angelos family will reportedly still retain a "sizable interest" in the team.
Ripken is the Orioles' all-time leader in games played, hits, home runs and many other statistics. Since his retirement in 2001, the 63-year-old has built up a business portfolio that includes the Aberdeen Ironbirds, an Orioles minor-league affiliate.
Ripken had signaled an interest in purchasing a stake of the Orioles as far back as 2007. Now, he'll be part of the group steering the team where he, his brother Billy and his father Cal Sr. played or coached for a combined 64 years.
The Orioles have been a part of my life since I was a child, and this is a special day. I look forward to this opportunity and will do whatever I can to help the organization. Let’s go O’s!
— Cal Ripken, Jr. (@CalRipkenJr) January 31, 2024
Bringing in Ripken is a good way for a group of billionaires to endear themselves to the fanbase, but the team's fans will obviously be wanting more.
The Orioles are being sold at promising, but pivotal time in franchise history. The team is coming off a 2023 season in which it went 101-61, its best record since 1979, and boasts one of the most impressive collections young talent in MLB between young stars like Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson and a farm system led by baseball's top prospect in Jackson Holliday.
At this point, the Orioles' priority will be finding supporting pieces for their young stars and trying to sign them to long-term extension. The Angelo family earned the fanbase's ire with its hesitance to spend in a sport where payroll size heavily correlates with consistent winning and it will be up to the new ownership group to show it will do business differently.
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https://www.k95tulsa.com/news/national/cal-ripken-jr-grant/OE7XKTC6RQ42EFF6WPMRSSPZ7E/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:42Z
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Household living costs rose 7 per cent in the 12 months to the December 2023 quarter, outpacing inflation, Stats NZ said today.
But the cost of living for the average household may have peaked, as it was lower than the 7.4 per cent increase recorded in the September 2023 quarter.
“Inflation, as measured by the consumers price index [CPI], eased more than the cost of living over 2023‚” said Stats NZ’s consumer prices manager James Mitchell.
“This is because our cost of living measure includes different ongoing costs that aren’t included in the CPI, such as interest payments, which have increased by 31 per cent for the average household over the past 12 months.”
The largest contributors to households’ living costs were interest repayments (up 31.2 per cent), private transport supplies and services (such as petrol) which increased 9.0 per cent and rent (up 5.1 per cent).
Highest-spending households were the hardest-hit group, with living costs rising 7.3 per cent. This was followed by Māori, who saw their costs increase 7.1 per cent.
Beneficiaries experienced a 6.2 per cent increase in living costs.
The household living-costs price indexes (HLPIs) measure how inflation affects 13 different household groups.
“For each of the household groups, the cost of living increase was above 6 per cent for the 2023 year,” Stats NZ’s Mitchell said.
“Groups with a higher proportion of spending on mortgages had interest payments as the largest annual contributor to their cost of living. For groups that paid less in interest payments, their cost of living was still being driven by food and housing costs.”
The average household living cost of 7 per cent compares to an annual inflation figure of 4.7 per cent for the December quarter.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/household-living-costs-increased-7-per-cent-last-quarter-who-was-hit-hardest/JU3HUMV5WVGAVIXKPOD2P2LO6M/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:44Z
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Thick fog settling into Kelowna, B.C., caused days of delays and diversions at the airport, though conditions are currently looking up.
Sam Samaddar, Kelowna International Airport’s chief executive officer, said on Wednesday morning alone, there were nine delays, three diverted flights, and another two cancellations. Backtracking several days, fog caused more delays and diversions as well.
“There’s no airport in the world where you can land in what we call zero-zero visibility,” Samaddar said.
“Technically it’s possible but the regulations, for safety reasons, don’t allow you to do that. We have the most advanced navigational aids for guidance of aircraft here at the airport, given the geography and terrain we have in Kelowna.”
However, he explained, when you’re down to a quarter of a mile visibility, as was the case Wednesday, flights aren’t able to land.
It’s not an unusual set of conditions, but it is coming up at an unusual time of year.
“We typically get fog in seasonal transitions. In October or November, we’ll get a few days like this,” Samaddar said.
“Certainly with the warm weather that we’ve had, we’re getting what we call a lot of radiation fog… it’s been a while since I’ve seen, you know, successive days like this where we’re getting hit by fog in early in the morning, or late at night.”
While the forecast indicates better weather ahead, Samaddar said it’s still best if people check their flights before heading to the airport.
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https://globalnews.ca/news/10263518/fog-kelowna-airport-jan-31-2024/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:44Z
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Honda confirms NSX successor in the works
Honda boss has again confirmed the car maker is working on an electric sports car which may see the hallowed NSX badge return to showrooms.
A successor to the Honda NSX supercar is coming, after Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe once again confirmed the car maker is working on a new halo electric sports car.
Mibe told UK publication Autocar that work was ‘progressing’ with a ‘good analysis’ on an electric sports car being carried out by the Japanese brand’s research and development department.
“We have not decided on mass production or timing but, personally, I would like to make it happen.”
Honda – which began in September 1948 – has hinted that it would have a halo sports car in showrooms to celebrate its 75th anniversary year.
Honda teased two electric sports car concepts in 2022, seen as successors to the S2000 and the NSX, as it announced a $AU53.7 billion (five trillion Japanese yen) investment in electric technology.
Honda also said it would introduce 30 electric cars by 2030 – and specifically noted this would include sports cars.
The latest comments followed Honda revealing its ‘0 Series’ electric vehicle line-up at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, USA.
The 0 Series concepts included a large electric car platform that will be used for a saloon (sedan) but may be suitable for the new battery-powered sports car.
The first saloon version of the 0 Series is, according to Honda, due in showrooms in 2026.
A sports car using the 0 Series underpinnings would have a distinctly different character to the saloon and other 0 Series electric cars, suggested Mibe.
“The first priority of making these kinds of cars is that they need to be fun to drive, no matter what powertrain they use,” he said.
Autocar pointed to comments Mibe made in 2011 – when he was in charge of Honda’s research and development department – about a third-generation NSX using an electric powertrain.
Mibe said “electric or hybrid vehicles can be fun as well as economical”.
In 2021, Jon Ikeda, the vice president of Acura – the Honda sub-brand the previous NSX was sold under in the US – added further weight to speculation surrounding the return of the halo sports car.
Ikeda suggested the NSX would make a comeback as an electric sports car, saying, “The first-gen was gas [petrol]. Second-gen was a hybrid. There's going to be another one.”
The Acura Electric Vision Design Study revealed at Monterey Car Week in August 2023 may also offer a glimpse of what an NSX successor may look like.
The Electric Vision Concept was designed in Acura’s California studio and has similar low-slung proportions to the previous NSX.
Produced between 2016 and 2022 – with only nine making it to Australia – the previous NSX was also designed and engineered in the US and used a mid-mounted engine as part of a hybrid powertrain.
The Electric Vision Design Study also showed features such as the rear light design paying homage to the first Honda NSX, introduced in 1990 and sold until 2005.
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https://www.drive.com.au/news/honda-confirms-nsx-successor-in-the-works/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:44Z
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Sprinklr, Inc. (NYSE:CXM – Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,890,000 shares, an increase of 9.9% from the December 31st total of 7,180,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.
Sprinklr Stock Down 2.7 %
Shares of CXM traded down $0.35 on Wednesday, reaching $12.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,872,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,029,320. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 116.64, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.82 and a 200 day moving average of $13.75. Sprinklr has a twelve month low of $9.79 and a twelve month high of $17.14.
Sprinklr (NYSE:CXM – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 6th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $186.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.42 million. Sprinklr had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 4.96%. Sprinklr’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.02) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprinklr will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Transactions at Sprinklr
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprinklr
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Sprinklr by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 996,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,004,000 after buying an additional 221,618 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Sprinklr by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 4,710 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Sprinklr by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 63,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sprinklr in the 4th quarter worth $589,000. Finally, Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Sprinklr by 200.1% in the 4th quarter. Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd now owns 59,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 39,434 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.19% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
CXM has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded Sprinklr from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. BTIG Research downgraded Sprinklr from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. JMP Securities cut their target price on Sprinklr from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Sprinklr from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Sprinklr from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.17.
Sprinklr Company Profile
Sprinklr, Inc provides enterprise cloud software products worldwide. The company offers Unified Customer Experience Management platform, a purpose-built to analyze unstructured customer experience data, built to scale across future and modern channels, and integrates all stages of the customer journey.
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https://www.com-unik.info/2024/01/31/sprinklr-inc-nysecxm-short-interest-up-9-9-in-january.html
| 2024-01-31T23:35:44Z
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Senate Republicans demanded that President Biden's national security funding package for Ukraine be tied to policy changes to address the crisis at the southwest border. But now that negotiators say they are ready to release details of a bipartisan plan to reduce the surge of migrants at the border, Republican divisions could scuttle the plan.
Months of negotiations between the Republicans, Democrats and the Biden administration officials are now threatened by politics. Former President Trump, the GOP's likely 2024 presidential nominee, has been publicly slamming the deal and urging lawmakers to oppose it.
Negotiators started the week promising to release a bill in the coming days. But by Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to signal he's ready to move on, and focus on getting money to two key U.S. allies at war.
"It's time for us to move something, hopefully including the border agreement, but we need to get help to Israel and Ukraine, quickly," McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.
McConnell has consistently argued that divided government is the moment to extract demands on border policy from Democrats.
Pressed about what voters would think of GOP lawmakers who sink a bill because Trump directed them to, McConnell sidestepped the question. "I still favor trying to make law when you can" and said what the bipartisan group is working on is better than current immigration law, adding, "you're asking me, a question I can't answer right now, which is the fate of it."
Senators already know key details
The top Democratic negotiator working on a border plan, Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has signaled for days that the deal is basically done, but getting sign off from the GOP to move ahead is the hold up.
"We have a bipartisan agreement to help address the crisis at the border. Republicans have been desperate for that. Why would they walk away from it?"
Senate Republicans huddled at their weekly lunch on Wednesday to discuss next steps, but the consensus coming out of the meeting was that lawmakers want to see the details.
But after weeks of negotiations, the key provisions have already been explained to lawmakers from both parties.
The bill includes several tools to address the border, including: giving the president the ability to shutdown the border if the numbers of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. climbs above a certain threshold, adjusting the rules for who qualifies for asylum and allowing migrants authorization to work while awaiting adjudication of their asylum claim.
Extended negotiations opened space for critics
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the effort is "an uphill climb" because as the talks have continued, some members have impressions about what the proposal will do and "there are certain people who will never change their mind."
Tillis has said a border plan needs to get the majority of Senate Republicans in order to move ahead. But Trump injecting himself into the process has caused many lawmakers to refrain from backing the framework, making it tougher to meet that test.
Oklahoma GOP Sen. Jim Lankford is crafting the plan along with Murphy and Independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Lankford spent time on Sunday talk shows swatting down leaks about the plan that conservative media outlets are painting as a green light for 5,000 additional migrants a day.
Texas Republican Sen, John Cornyn, who was an early advocate of linking money for Ukraine to changes to the Biden administration's policies, said people need time to see an official piece of legislation.
"People are talking about what they think is in it, and what they've heard is in it, what's not in it,' Cornyn told reporters. "I think the first thing we need to do is see where the conference is based on the text rather than just based on rumors and hearsay."
Tillis called Wednesday's meeting "a good discussion." But added, "I would ask those same members who are calling for time to read it, but not judge something they haven't read."
Others who came out against the bill already are already dismissing the proposals.
"I think this is a bad bill," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx., told reporters. "And the simplest reason is it doesn't solve the problem."
Cruz blamed Senate Democrats for crafting a bill that "allows Joe Biden to continue the open borders," despite the months of bipartisan negotiations that have taken place. President Biden endorsed the proposal and said last week if Congress passes it he would immediately shutdown the border.
Some optimisim remains
Murphy remained optimistic on Wednesday that the deal would survive and come to the floor for a vote, possibly as soon as this week.
He said a "sizable, important group of Republican senators" are making a good faith effort to get something done on the border, and suggested that others are making disingenuous arguments about needing to see the full text.
"This is not a detailed study of the issue. This is a question as to whether they are going to put Trump before solving the problem," Murphy said.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kgou.org/politics-and-government/2024-01-31/senate-gop-split-threatens-bipartisan-border-deal-as-trump-looms-large
| 2024-01-31T23:35:44Z
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Updated January 31, 2024 at 5:33 PM ET
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but signaled that rates could fall in the coming months if inflation continues to cool.
Policy makers have kept their benchmark interest rate between 5.25% and 5.5% — the highest in over two decades — since July.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell told reporters Wednesday that interest rates are unlikely to go any higher, and that he and his colleagues are beginning to contemplate cutting rates.
"If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year," Powell said.
He cautioned, however, that the economy remains unpredictable and said the central bank would proceed cautiously.
"The economic outlook is uncertain and we remain highly attentive to inflation risks," Powell said.
The Fed has been pleasantly surprised by the rapid drop in inflation in recent months. Core prices in December — which exclude food and energy prices — were up just 2.9% from a year ago, according to the Fed's preferred inflation yardstick. That's a smaller increase than the 3.2% core inflation rate that Fed officials had projected in December.
If that positive trend continues, the Fed may be able to start cutting interest rates as early as this spring. First, though, Powell said he and his colleagues will need to see additional evidence that inflation is easing.
And he sounded doubtful about a rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in March as many investors in Wall Street had hoped for.
"Based on the meeting today, I would tell you that I don't think it's likely the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting," Powell said. "But that's to be seen."
The comments disappointed investors, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 317 points.
Investors are still hopeful about a rate cut by the following Fed meeting in May, with markets putting the likelihood of that at better than 90%.
Good omens in the economy
Both the economy and the job market have performed better than expected over the last year, despite the highest interest rates since 2001. The nation's gross domestic product grew 3.1% in 2023, while employers added 2.7 million jobs
Unemployment has been under 4%for nearly two years. And average wages in December were up 4.1% from a year ago.
While that strong economy is welcome news for businesses and workers, it also raises the risk of reigniting inflation. As a result, Fed policymakers say they'll be cautious not to cut interest rates prematurely.
"We have history on this," Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic told the Rotary Club of Atlanta this month. "In the '70s, the Fed started removing accommodation too soon. Inflation spiked back up. Then we had to tighten. Inflation came down. Then we removed it again. Inflation went back up. And by the time we were done with that, all Americans could think about was inflation."
The Fed is determined not to repeat that '70s show. At the same time, waiting too long to cut interest rates risks slowing the economy more than necessary to bring inflation under control.
A report from the Labor Department Wednesday showed employers' cost for labor rose more slowly than expected in the final months of last year. Labor costs increased just 0.9% in the fourth quarter. That's a smaller increase than the previous quarter, suggesting labor costs are putting less upward pressure on prices.
Fed officials promised to keep an eye on upcoming economic data and adjust accordingly.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.wmot.org/2024-01-31/the-federal-reserve-holds-interest-rates-steady-but-signals-rate-cuts-may-be-coming
| 2024-01-31T23:35:45Z
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With love, from the island
Chinese artist Jess Xiaoyi Han is presenting a solo exhibition of her new works at Sens Gallery. Referencing her recent trip to Hawaii, the ribbon-like flowing elements against vivid backdrops emulate the colourful island tropics. Han is one of those artists who make it great fun to contemplate a series of vibrant lines and shapes and come up with personal interpretations of the work.
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/sens-gallery
| 2024-01-31T23:35:45Z
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The first major overhaul of St. Paul's bike plan since 2015 recommends 119 miles of new bikeways throughout the capital city.
The proposal calls for more separated bikeways, like the raised one planned for Summit Avenue that sparked months of fierce debate last year.
Without a dedicated funding source, additions to the existing 218-mile network would likely take place over decades. The plan would serve as the new blueprint for city planners when opportunities to build new bikeways arise.
St. Paul's Planning Commission is accepting feedback on the proposed bike plan, with a public hearing scheduled for Friday morning. Here's what you need about the plan.
What is a bike plan?
If passed by the City Council, the 97-page bike plan will be an addendum to St. Paul's 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the city's roadmap for development for the next two decades.
"It might not affect you right now," said Jimmy Shoemaker, a planner for St. Paul's Public Works Department who is leading the bike plan update. "But 10 years from now, when there's a project on your street, where we start is the bike plan."
Bikeways are often built or improved when streets are reconstructed to minimize costs and disturbances, Shoemaker said, though standalone projects also happen.
He emphasized that the bike plan is a starting point. Once a project gets funding, it goes through the city's regular design and community engagement processes.
What's new in this proposal?
The city's original bike plan, adopted in 2015, prioritized additions to the St. Paul Grand Round, the downtown Capital City Bikeway and the Highland Bridge development. Since then, St. Paul has added 65 miles of bikeways.
The new plan aims to substantially expand the city's network of separated bikeways — those with physical barriers between cars and bikers. Shoemaker said national best practices have changed to favor separated bikeways over painted on-street bike lanes. This allows for narrower streets, which reduces driving speeds, he said.
"City staff routinely hear from members of the community that people want to ride, but they feel unsafe and uncomfortable riding in on-street bike lanes," Shoemaker said. "We want to make biking a comfortable option for all ages and abilities. We want to attract new bikers."
The plan identifies priority areas, including the segments of the Grand Round and the Capital City Bikeway that have not been completed and streets that are going to be reconstructed with money raised by St. Paul's new 1% sales tax.
What is the city trying to achieve?
Boosting bike ridership is key to the city's longer-term goals. Thirty percent of St. Paul emissions came from the transportation sector, according to the city's 2019 Climate Action and Resilience Plan. St. Paul's 2040 Plan set a goal to reduce vehicle miles traveled by 40% to combat climate change.
The plan also says forecasted population growth will lead to higher density in the city, which in turn will increase traffic and reduce parking. "We're trying to give people more options," said Shoemaker, adding that a full build-out of the proposed network would give people a bikeway within a quarter mile of every destination in the city.
What are people saying about it?
Many bike advocates, such as Matt Privratsky, have praised city staff for proposing ambitious upgrades. Even though the plan will take years to realize, Privratsky noted that the plan instructs the city to consider smaller-scale improvements to bikeways in the meantime.
"It's just a really big step to put this forward — because then you have what you need to go fight for the funding and fight for the political buy-in," Privratsky said.
"Every single municipal, county, regional, state plan in Minnesota has incredibly ambitious goals for reducing the amount of dependence we have on single-occupancy vehicles," he added. "This is one of the very few times where a plan is meeting that level of ambition."
Neighbors who opposed the Summit Avenue regional trail approved by the council last year are rallying to raise concerns about the bike plan. Many of those concerns echo the arguments they previously made.
Opponents of the trail said the elevated trail will reduce green space and lead to the loss of mature trees. They expressed concerns about a loss of parking. Some have warned that poorly designed separated bikeways can be more dangerous than on-street lanes.
Critics have also questioned whether there's enough interest in biking to justify the costs of building out bike infrastructure, particularly given the cold and snowy Minnesota winter months. While it may be cost effective to add a bike lane during a street reconstruction, it's not cost neutral — the 5-mile Summit Avenue trail will add an estimated $12 million to the $100 million street project.
What are the next steps?
The Planning Commission will host a public hearing Friday at 8:30 a.m. in room 40 (in the basement) of City Hall. Members of the public also have until Monday afternoon to submit comments by mail or by emailing bikes@stpaul.gov.
The city may revise the plan based on feedback before submitting a final version for consideration by the Planning Commission's Transportation Committee and the full Planning Commission. If passed by those entities, the bike plan will be taken up by the City Council.
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https://m.startribune.com/st-paul-bike-plan/600340037/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:45Z
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The Baylor women’s basketball program will be retiring Brittney Griner’s No. 42 jersey next month, the university says.
The Phoenix Mercury star is a former Baylor Bear, and will have her jersey retired during a ceremony before the game on Feb. 18. The Bears will be playing Texas Tech at 3 p.m. that day, Baylor said.
“I’m honored to return home to Baylor and celebrate where so much of my journey started,” Griner said. “I’m grateful to Coach Nicki (Collen) and the entire Baylor community and looking forward to the opportunity to be back on campus, spend time with the team and have my family beside me to share in this incredible moment. Sic ‘Em Bears.”
Griner’s jersey will be the seventh jersey retired by the Baylor women’s program, ESPN reported. Two others include her former teammates, Odyssey Sims and Melissa Jones.
Griner was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA’s 2013 draft, according to ESPN. She led Baylor to the NCAA Women’s Final Four. She also had a perfect 40-0 national championship season while she was a junior at Baylor. Griner is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Griner is also a WNBA champion, capturing the 2014 title with the Phoenix Mercury.
Griner finished her college basketball career with 3,282 points and 1,305 rebounds, according to The Associated Press.
“We are excited to welcome Brittney back to Baylor and share this special day with her,” Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades said. “There’s no doubt she is one of the most decorated student-athletes in Baylor athletics history and we’re thrilled the timing has worked out for all of us to celebrate and honor her. She always has been, and always will be, a significant member of the Baylor Family.”
“We’re excited to have Brittney back on campus and honor her with the retirement of her jersey,” Baylor Coach Nicki Collen said. “I have been saying this since I arrived at Baylor that she deserves to have her jersey retired and I wanted to make sure that happened when the timing was right. With the opening of Foster Pavilion, and the WNBA offseason fitting into our season, this seemed like the right time to honor Brittney and welcome her back home. She is one of the best basketball players in Baylor’s history and we’re thrilled that the time has come to celebrate Brittney and all of her accomplishments.”
© 2024 Cox Media Group
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https://www.wpxi.com/news/trending/baylor-university-retire-no-42-jersey-next-month-honor-brittney-griner/7YZ22XDWC5GPXGEVQ62HKB56SE/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:48Z
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Liverpool's win v. Chelsea was 'men against boys'
January 31, 2024 05:24 PM
Paul Burmeister, Tim Howard, and Robbie Mustoe react to Liverpool's dominant 4-1 victory over Chelsea and praise Conor Bradley for his man of the match performance for the Reds.
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https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/premier-league/al-dakhil-scores-consolation-goal-for-v-man-city
| 2024-01-31T23:35:50Z
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MADISON, Wisconsin (LifeSiteNews) – Wisconsin Democrat Gov. Tony Evers pledged to veto legislation currently working its way through the state legislature that would submit a 14-week abortion ban to the voters of the Dairy State.
AB 975 would place on Wisconsin’s April 2024 ballot a referendum asking whether to “prohibi[t] under Wisconsin Statutes an abortion if the probable postfertilization age of the unborn child is 14 or more weeks, except in the case of a medical emergency.” Wisconsin Public Radio reported that it passed the Wisconsin Assembly 53-46, though several of the 11 Republicans who joined Democrats in voting against it because they considered it far too weak.
“I support this bill because I believe that the people should decide without having to be put in one bucket or the other,” moderate Republican state Rep. Angie Sapik said. “Put the referendum directly to the people without allegiance to their political party, and let’s see how many people are actually standing in the mud with me.”
The bill now moves to the Wisconsin Senate for consideration, but Evers has already declared it will not survive his desk, and Republicans are not expected to amass the votes needed to override his veto.
The people of Wisconsin have already made themselves clear on this issue, and so have I.
I promised to veto any bill that takes away Wisconsinites’ reproductive freedom or makes reproductive healthcare any less accessible than it is today. I’ll keep that promise. https://t.co/RZBhv4IUUy
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) January 25, 2024
In reality, abortion is technically already illegal from conception onward in Wisconsin, thanks to an 1849 law that makes it a felony for an abortionist (but not a pregnant mother) to commit an abortion for any reason other than to save the mother’s life. That law was among scores of old laws that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed to be reactivated when it overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 but was soon met with a fresh round of left-wing judicial activism and Democrat refusal to enforce.
Shortly after Roe’s fall, Evers threatened to give clemency to any abortionist prosecuted under the law, and Democrat Attorney General Josh Kaul said he would not prosecute anyone who violates it. But the threat of the law being enforced by lower levels of government has still gotten Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to suspend abortions until the legal landscape changed. It also filed a legal challenge to the law, claiming that modern state laws effectively canceled it out and that it was too old to have the consent of current Wisconsinites (a premise that, if adopted, would have drastic ramifications for all corners of U.S. law).
Last July, Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper ruled that the 1849 law, which explicitly prohibits “intentionally destroy[ing] the life of an unborn child,” was not actually an abortion ban because its language supposedly did not specifically use the word “abortion” (despite the word appearing elsewhere in the law), and only applies to violence against pregnant women that happens to harm their babies. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin resumed committing abortions last September. Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski filed an appeal of Schlipper’s ruling to the more conservative Second District Court of Appeals in December.
Fourteen states currently ban all or most abortions, with available data so far indicating that now-enforceable pro-life laws could effectively wipe out an estimated 200,000 abortions a year.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, abortion allies have pursued a variety of tactics to keep the abortion industry going, including easy access to abortion pills, enshrining “rights” to abortion in state constitutions, legal protection and financial support of interstate abortion travel, constructing new abortion facilities near borders shared by pro-life and pro-abortion states, and making liberal states sanctuaries for those who want to evade or violate the laws of more pro-life neighbors.
President Joe Biden has called on Congress to codify a “right” to abortion in federal law, which would not only restore but expand the Roe status quo by making it illegal for states to pass virtually any pro-life laws. The 2024 elections will determine whether Democrats retain the White House and keep or gain enough seats in Congress to make that happen.
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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/wisconsin-gov-tony-evers-says-he-will-veto-referendum-on-14-week-abortion-ban/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:50Z
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Everyone is aging. Right now, as you read this, you are aging. Regardless of external factors like socioeconomic status or personal factors like gender or sexual orientation, everyone is getting older all the time.
Pew Research Center found that depending on what stage of life someone is in, the perception of what is considered old changes. Respondents 18 to 29 consider 60 to be old; 60-year-olds, however, think it happens in the mid-70s.
For content creator Jordan Howlett, 26, "looking old" for his age means looking like he's in his mid-30s — which is what he talks about in his viral TikTok video that has over 22 million views.
“We live in a time nowadays where millennials look way younger for their age, while Gen Z looks way older,” Howlett claims in the video. “It is mainly because of the stress.”
Howlett does not specify what “stress” could be causing increased physical aging for this age demographic or even what stress is impacting him specifically.
Raghu Kiran Appasani, a San Francisco-based psychiatrist, told Yahoo News that there could be a connection between Gen Z and the generation's chronic stress, fueled by overexposure to breaking news and tragic events. A 2021 study from Google found that not only does Gen Z have lots of exposure to news, but they have exposure to different sources and opinions too.
“There's a lot more information overload at their fingertips,” Appasani explained. “What I would say is that they probably have a much higher degree of exposure to chronic stress than any prior generation has had.”
Stress can cause inflammation which can turn into accelerated aging. Although Appasani did not outright confirm that Gen Z is aging faster than other generations, he did say "it's not great."
“If you have a high level of stress, you're at higher risk for cardiac issues, for health issues,” he said.
But to Appasani, accelerated aging might not be the main issue for Gen Z. Instead, he argues that there’s a more internal issue at hand that should be addressed first.
The video that spawned a thousand think pieces.
Howlett told Yahoo News that he thought the somewhat self-deprecating commentary on aging would just be funny.
“I had no idea it was going to reach the magnitude that it did,” he said. “I had no idea it was going to then start a grander conversation about millennials and Gen Z aging.”
Howlett's video opened up a conversationaboutwhether all of Gen Z is "aging like milk" and aging faster than previous generations. The Gen Z age range is considered to be between 11 and 27 years old.
There was already a spark of discourse surrounding whether Gen Z's concerns with aging were valid when tweens and teenagers were filmed shopping for retinol — an anti-aging product — at Sephora. Howlett's video coincided with the internet's debate about how young is too young for anti-aging skin care — and if it's actually one of the perceived problem's causes.
“Just from my own determination, I genuinely feel like I look in my mid-30s,” Howlett told Yahoo News. “I have more wrinkles on my face than maybe the average 26-year-old. Also, I would say my beard does add a bit more age to my aesthetic.”
In terms of his day-to-day look, Howlett explained that, in addition to his beard and glasses, he dresses comfortably and prefers wearing thermal sweaters and sweatpants — clothing items he says he can understand someone associating with an older person.
Writer Ryan Broderick made a similar argument in his Garbage Day newsletter. He argues that Gen Z leans into what he's dubbed "Boca Raton-core."
“Millennials dress young and Gen Z dresses old,” Broderick writes. “[Gen Z] gravitates towards styles that are both comfortable — they are the Zoom school generation — and also flashy. They either didn’t live through or don’t remember the recession, so they don’t have the same hangups millennials do about showing off wealth.”
Outfits and facial hair aside, is there real proof that Gen Z is aging at an accelerated rate that no other generation has ever dealt with?
According to Appasani, whether Gen Z’s aging is real or imagined is beside the point. The conversation is focusing on the wrong problem.
Physical aging shouldn’t be the main concern.
What Appasani and his colleagues are actually concerned about with this generation is their mental development.
“Psychologically, the developmental stages are actually being a little bit more extended,” Appasani explained, referring to Gen Z patients. “So normally, what we would see as a normal stage as a young adult or teen is kind of extending a little bit more into their 20s.”
Appasani argues that older members of Gen Z being so preoccupied with how old they appear to other people is in fact a juvenile concern. It’s just now being experienced in their late 20s.
“It doesn't allow for them to actually dive into that developmental aspect of life, of really diving into identity and independence,” he added. “That comes back to what I was seeing initially about that stage of identity versus role, which typically happens when you're a teenager, has been extended out now into their 20s.”
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https://www.k95tulsa.com/news/national/discourse-around-gen/ISN7URAN44F5VIFZMJVZ3ABEHQ/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:49Z
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Think traffic is bad at times in the Central Okanagan? Give it 20 years, when the region’s population will be significantly larger than it is now.
In 2046, it’s estimated that the Central Okanagan will be home to 383,000 people –120,000 more than the current population figure of 255,000.
This week, the provincial government released population figures across B.C., with Kelowna having an estimated 153,000 residents in 2022. But by 2046, that number is expected to grow 61.3 per cent to 247,000.
That’s an increase of 94,000 residents for the Interior’s largest city – by far the largest growth in the region.
In 2021, Kelowna’s population was 146,409, and the 2023 estimate is projected at 159,857. For 2024, Kelowna’s population estimate is 165,997.
Elsewhere in the Okanagan, West Kelowna is expected to grow 62.3 per cent by 2046, from its 2022 population estimate of 38,745 to 62,000.
Notably, West Kelowna recently moved past Penticton (36,821) as the region’s third-largest city. The population for 2023 is estimated at 40,506, with 2024 projected at 42,133.
Vernon, the Okanagan’s second-largest city at 45,54, is expected to grow 47.9 per cent to 67,356.
Growth of 48 to 62 per cent is massive. However, Lake Country is projected to grow a stunning 87.5 per cent by 2046.
Currently, the small community has a population of 17,370, but that should reach 32,566 in two decades.
Penticton is projected to grow 37 per cent to 50,436 by 2046, while Salmon Arm could see it expand from its current population of 20,096 to 29,000 (48.3 per cent).
More information is available on the provincial government’s website.
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https://globalnews.ca/news/10264576/central-okanagan-population-2046/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:50Z
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Howzat! NSW driver fined for watching a cricket match at traffic light
Authorities said the motorist was fully immersed in the game and didn’t notice when police drove up next to the vehicle.
A New South Wales driver has been issued a $387 fine and 10 demerit points after police allegedly caught him watching the Australia Day cricket match on his smartphone while in traffic.
In a Facebook post, police say the man was so invested in the sporting event he did not notice the marked police motorcycle line up alongside the vehicle while waiting at a set of traffic lights.
NSW Highway Patrol identified the Honda Accord Euro at an intersection between Victoria Road and Macarthur Street in North Parramatta – a suburb approximately 24 kilometres northwest of Sydney – on 26 January 2024.
Authorities say the man continued to drive when the lights turned green and when stopped by police, the man said: "I was caught in the moment."
This comes as double demerit points were enforced during the Australia Day long weekend – with police reportedly targeting speeding, mobile phone, seatbelt and helmet offences from 25 January to 28 January 2024.
The public holiday road operation resulted in 3682 speed infringements issued, 244 drink-driving offences from 122,617 preliminary breath tests detected by police and a further 543 positive roadside drug tests identified.
Various road authorities are continuing to advise NSW drivers to practice safe driving habits as the state has recorded 24 road-related fatalities in January 2024.
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https://www.drive.com.au/news/howzat-nsw-driver-fined-for-watching-a-cricket-match-at-traffic-light/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:51Z
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Top tech CEOs were being grilled in Washington by lawmakers, who said the companies have failed to protect children from being subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation on their websites.
The executives include Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, X's Linda Yaccarino and TikTok's Shou Zi Chew, among others.
The social media apps have "given predators powerful new tools to exploit children," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., at the kickoff of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. He noted that the powerful apps "have changed the way we live, work and play."
The hearing is one of several over the past year as pressure builds for federal regulators to do more to hold tech companies accountable for children's safety online. Lawmakers have spoken out, have written letters to the CEOs and are pushing five separate bills that cover social media and child safety.
States have also targeted the social media companies. Last year, 13 states passed laws to protect kids on social media, and more states are expected to do the same.
"You have blood on your hands," Sen. Lindsey Graham tells Zuckerberg
Of the companies testifying on Wednesday, Meta has especially come under fire for allegedly creating a toxic environment for children. In October, a group of more than 40 states sued the company for allegedly designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive.
Separately, New Mexico's attorney general filed another suit against Meta, alleging it fails to remove child sexual abuse material from its platforms and also makes it easy for adults to solicit minors.
That lawsuit came after a Facebook whistleblower, Arturo Bejar, testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in November. Based on data he collected while working at Facebook, he said he found that 24% of teens had received unwanted sexual advances. And when harmful posts are reported, he said, only 2% are taken down.
During Wednesday's hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., laid into Zuckerberg.
"Mr. Zuckerberg," Graham began, "you have blood on your hands. You have a product that's killing people."
The packed audience, which included parents, survivors and child advocates, erupted in applause.
Zuckerberg has testified several times before members of the Senate, and he voluntarily agreed to speak again on Wednesday. In his opening statement, he said, "Keeping young people safe online has been a challenge since the internet began."
"No matter how much we invest or how effective our tools are, there's always more to learn and more improvements to make," Zuckerberg added.
Internal emails show Zuckerberg declined to hire staff to protect children online
In the lead-up to Wednesday's hearing, Meta rolled out new tools geared toward protecting kids online. Those include barring children under age 18 from seeing posts about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. The company says it has around 40,000 people working on safety and security issues.
But just hours before the hearing began, lawmakers released 90 pages of internal emails that showed Meta has refused to fully commit to improving child safety on its platforms. At one point in 2021, the emails show, Zuckerberg declined a proposal to hire 45 new staff members dedicated to children's well-being.
The emails show top executives at Meta discussing budget and head count, as well as the fact that if they didn't address the issue they'd face increased regulatory risk and external criticism.
"This work & narrative has of course become a more critical focal point for policymakers, regulators et al in recent weeks — this is not likely to diminish going forward," Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs wrote in a 2021 email to Zuckerberg.
The internal emails were produced in response to a letter that Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sent to Meta in November.
Five federal bills introduced
Of the other executives to testify, TikTok's Chew has also appeared before Congresslast year, but this is the first time lawmakers have grilled X's Yaccarino and the two other CEOs: Snap's Evan Spiegel and Discord's Jason Citron. Chew volunteered to speak on Wednesday, but Yaccarino, Spiegel and Citron agreed only after being subpoenaed.
Snap has come out as the sole social media company to throw its support behind the Kids Online Safety Act, which is one of the bills that lawmakers are hoping to bring to the Senate floor this year. If passed, it would hold tech companies accountable for feeding teens toxic content.
"Many of the largest and most successful internet companies today were born here in the United States of America, and we must lead not only in technical innovation but also in smart regulation," Snap's Spiegel said in his opening remarks on Wednesday.
Throughout the hearing, several of the senators tried to get the tech CEOs to agree to back legislation. All of the executives said more had to be done and they agree with regulation, but besides Spiegel, none said they'd fully back one of the bills.
At one point Senator Chris Coons, D-Del., tried to get the CEOs to support legislation he and several other senators introduced, the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act.
"Is there any one of you willing to say now that you support this bill?" Coons asked the CEOs.
After the question didn't elicit a response, he followed up with: "Mr. Chairman, let the record reflect a yawning silence from the leaders of the social media platforms."
Child safety groups and parents joined lawmakers for several press conferences on Wednesday. They echoed the senators' demands that more has to be done to protect kids online.
"Parents used to worry about where their kids were at 10 p.m.," said Imran Ahmed, CEO and founder of the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate. "These days, they may be physically present, but we don't know who they're spending time with online and what they're being exposed to every day."
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.wmot.org/2024-01-31/you-have-blood-on-your-hands-senator-tells-mark-zuckerberg-for-failing-kids-online
| 2024-01-31T23:35:51Z
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M+ Museum’s new thematic exhibition aims to explore the connection between landscape and humanity in our post-industrial and increasingly virtual world. Literally translating to ‘mountain and water’, shanshui is a Chinese cultural concept that has inspired Asian ink paintings across millennia. Almost 130 works split into nine thematic sections will reimagine landscape through art, moving images, sound, design, architecture, and other large-scale mediums from a range of international artists, architects, and creators.
Shanshui: Echoes and Signals
Time Out says
Exploring landscapes in an increasingly virtual world through different artistic mediums
Details
- Address:
- M+
- West Kowloon Cultural District
- Hong Kong
Dates and times
Discover Time Out original video
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/shanshui-echoes-and-signals
| 2024-01-31T23:35:51Z
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St. Thomas had lost its position of MIAC strength in women's basketball when athletic director Steve Fritz hired Ruth Sinn from Apple Valley High School to take over in 2005.
There were a couple of rebuilding seasons, and then the Tommies tied for the MIAC title in 2007-08 and were back on their usual righteous path.
The Tommies and Sinn had a 10-season run from 2010 to 2021 with a record of 250-31 in Division III. And now, coach, for your next assignment, we present Division I competition and the Summit League, which at the top has been more prominent in women's basketball than any sport.
Sinn's time with the Tommies went back to playing her freshman season of 1980-81 in the "Hot Box,'' the cramped, wonderful third-floor gym in the old O'Shaughnessy athletic building.
There have been two versions of Schoenecker Arena since then, and the plan is to replace the current D3-sized arena with a larger one that will be the site for both hockey and basketball games.
You could call a new 5,000-seat arena a game-changer for the Tommies, yet Sinn's program already has proven to be dramatically more competitive in Season 3 than when this all started in 2021-22.
"We were competing with 18-year-olds against great programs like South Dakota and South Dakota State that had fourth- and fifth-year standouts," Sinn said.
"We have more juniors and seniors now. We have made it to the middle. The goal would be competing at the top of this league.
"There are now two Division I programs in Minnesota. I think Dawn [Plitzuweit] with the Gophers and I are both looking at all the great young players in this state and saying, 'If we can keep most of them home, we're going to be very good.'"
Sinn was able to get both Iowa State and Wisconsin to come to St. Paul for games this season. The results were decisive losses, which wasn't all bad in the coach's view.
"Embrace failures; chase excellence; grow from it,'' Sinn said. "That's the attitude I've seen from our players."
The Tommies were 20-38 overall and 11-25 in the Summit in the first two DI seasons. They are now 12-9 overall, 4-3 in the conference, and play home games — Thursday night, Saturday at noon — against Omaha and Kansas City.
The best win so far was 73-72 over Oral Roberts (6-2 in the Summit) in mid-January, when Jade Hill hit a three with 0.01 left on the clock.
Was there any doubt?
"No, it was off in time,'' Hill said Wednesday. "I'd never hit a buzzer-beater like that in any game I've played."
Which have been plenty, since Jade is the fourth of among the six siblings of Paul and Monique Hill in south Minneapolis — a Minnesota basketball family of renown.
"St. Thomas going Division I made all the difference for me, because I wanted to stay home so my family could watch me play," Hill said. "That support is important to me.''
There has been a complication in Hill's sphere of relationships. She started dating Andrew Rohde, a freshman standout on the Tommies' basketball team, last year.
The lanky, dynamic guard tested the transfer portal and wound up taking a sizable Name, Image and Likeness deal with Virginia. I tried to hedge the Rohde question to Hill, but she figured out immediately, laughed and said:
"We're still dating. The difference is, we were together constantly here last year … and now, I have a lot more free time."
My suggestion was Jade send her boyfriend a video on shooting, because Rohde has been a starter for the Cavaliers despite making a low percentage of shots.
"He's doing OK there," she said. "He had a stress fracture in a foot for a while."
Amber Scalia, sister of Big Ten standout Sara, leads the Tommies at 17.3 points per game. Hill is averaging 14.3. The only holdover from the DIII days, fifth-year senior Jordyn Glynn from Grand Meadow, Minn., is a veteran presence in the starting lineup.
I referred to her as a former Lark, and was corrected: "We're the Super Larks now. We upgraded.''
Just like St. Thomas.
"I had a lot of friends on the DIII team that chose not to continue playing,'' Glynn said. "I decided, 'Why not just try?'"
"I'm still here, starting as the guard … doing the dirty work, facilitating our offensive players like Amber, Jade and Jo [Langbehn].
"That Oral Roberts game was a huge turning point for us. It was a moment you say, 'We belong. We can compete.'"
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https://m.startribune.com/st-thomas-womens-basketball-ruth-sinn-division-i-jade-hill/600340052/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:53Z
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NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN CUBA,
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https://www.brighteon.com/9bead99a-53fd-4e3e-9c9c-e6efcd35d054
| 2024-01-31T23:35:55Z
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Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO – Get Free Report)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 273.78 ($3.48) and traded as high as GBX 295.80 ($3.76). Tesco shares last traded at GBX 292.50 ($3.72), with a volume of 12,174,888 shares trading hands.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
TSCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Tesco in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Tesco from GBX 325 ($4.13) to GBX 335 ($4.26) and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Tesco from GBX 250 ($3.18) to GBX 240 ($3.05) and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 5th.
View Our Latest Report on TSCO
Tesco Price Performance
Insider Activity at Tesco
In other Tesco news, insider Dame Carolyn Fairbairn purchased 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 300 ($3.81) per share, with a total value of £105,000 ($133,485.89). Insiders acquired 35,095 shares of company stock valued at $10,527,830 over the last ninety days. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Tesco
Tesco PLC, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a grocery retailer in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. It offers grocery products through its stores, as well as online. The company is also involved in the food and drink wholesaling activities.
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https://www.com-unik.info/2024/01/31/tesco-lontsco-shares-cross-above-200-day-moving-average-of-273-78.html
| 2024-01-31T23:35:55Z
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Actress Elisabeth Moss confirmed on Tuesday that she is pregnant with her first child.
Moss, 41, who won an Emmy Award in 2017 for her role as Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” made the announcement on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” program, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Kimmel got right to the point.
“Are you pregnant or just an incredibly committed method actor?” Kimmel asked.
“A little bit of both,” Moss answered.
“I’ve been really lucky,” Moss continued. “It’s been going really well.”
When Moss asked Kimmel for advice, the talk show host said he was reminded of what comedian Bill Murray told him and his wife, Molly McNearney, when they were expecting one of their four children, Entertainment Tonight reported.
“He said, ‘Bring Christmas lights to hang up (in the delivery room),’” Kimmel said, adding that Murray also suggested bringing in battery-powered candles.
The “Mad Men” star did not share further details about her pregnancy, including when the baby is due, People reported.
©2024 Cox Media Group
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https://www.wpxi.com/news/trending/handmaids-tale-actress-elisabeth-moss-pregnant-with-first-child/VR7LGBR3XZF5HJCMV2VEQ2BJCU/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:55Z
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Volkswagen Golf GTI to go electric, ID.3 facing the axe
The next-generation Volkswagen Golf – which is set to be electric – will reportedly spawn a GTI hot hatch version in 2029, and kill th ID.3, according to a new report.
The Volkswagen Golf GTI hot hatch is set to enter the electric era – with the next-generation, electric Golf range due later this decade – according to UK magazine Top Gear.
Kai Grunitz, Volkswagen's head of technical development, told the outlet the next-generation Golf range – set to go electric when it arrives in 2028 – will be followed by a GTI version.
The electric Golf range is reportedly planned to replace Volkswagen’s ID.3 – the company's current Golf-sized electric hatchback – as the two models compete in the same category, and the Golf is a stronger name with 50 years of history.
“It's the heart of our brand. We won't kill the Golf,” Mr Grunitz told Top Gear.
The Volkswagen tech boss was speaking at the announcement of the ‘Mark 8.5’ Golf – due in Australian showrooms in late 2024 or early 2025 – which VW has confirmed will be the final petrol-powered Golf.
“If we bring an electric vehicle with the name Golf, it has to be [a] real Golf. It has to look like a Golf. It has to be affordable like a Golf. It has to be [capable] like a Golf. And there has to be a GTI.”
The move would see the Golf GTI follow the ID.2 GTI – an electric successor to the petrol-powered Volkswagen Polo GTI due in 2026 or 2027, which is not yet confirmed for Australia – as the brand electrifies the famed GTI badge.
The electric Golf GTI is expected to be joined by the high-performance Golf R, also using electric power.
The Golf name is far more recognisable to customers, but Grunitz said an electric Golf would not simply be a renamed ID.3.
“We’ve started to work on a fully-electric Golf. We have concrete ideas of how it will look like, but we will see how the market develops. There will be an overlap [between ID.3 and electric Golf],” Grunitz said.
“There is not enough space to have two or three different models fitting to the same customer.”
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https://www.drive.com.au/news/volkswagen-golf-gti-to-go-electric-id-3-facing-the-axe/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:57Z
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Rod Picott was possibly the first “real” songwriter I met in Nashville. I arrived in the fall of 1996 with an interest in at least exploring avenues of writing and performing, and the first place I was able to do that on a stage was a tiny pizza joint on 21st Ave. with a by-invitation weekly showcase called the Fireside Whiskey Hour. Rod was the host and curator. Happily, he made it easy to get an invitation if you were reasonably serious, and I made myself a regular there for most of a year, meeting some of my early friends and enjoying Rod’s own material, including songs that would come out on his debut album, Tiger Tom Dixon’s Blues, in 2001. It was working class, literary, visceral and honest. And before long, Rod was out touring with some major names in roots and folk music and able to give up his day job hanging sheetrock.
Now he’s a veteran with 12 studio albums to his credit and a trail of great reviews, though not the recognition his steady hand and persistence deserve. We do know that he’s playing the hallowed stage of 3rd & Lindsley on Finally Friday where he’ll be celebrating release day for his new album Starlight Tour, produced with East Nashville guru Nielson Hubbard. Also on this Friday’s bill are 1970s throwback country-rock band Gwen Levey & The Breakdown, vocally gifted English trio The Wandering Hearts.
While you plan to join us, here’s a catch-up conversation I had early this week with Rod Picott, edited for length and clarity.
You seem like you've been in a bit of a tear recently, I counted four new releases since 2019. What's going on?
Fear of death? (laughs) Mortality sneaking up on me? I don't know. I love the work. I'm not married. I don't have kids. I don't have pets. And I like building things. So you keep building - albums and beds and tables and chairs and all kinds of things.
Do you feel like your motivation behind writing the next song, the next record, has changed in profound ways since early on?
No, I don't think it's fundamentally changed. Because when I went into this, I made myself a promise, and it might sound silly or pretentious in an interview, that I was not going to make an album until I felt like I had 10 songs that were worth people hearing. So I got started a little late, you know? I was 36 I think when the first record came out. And I just kept my head down, kept swinging my hammer, and just kept going, you know?
We’ll step back in a minute, but tell me more about this stretch of the last four years, and apparently coming up with 10 songs every few months? Have you been you've been prolific? And do you feel like you've been in a good space writing and producing?
A lot of people won't tell you this, but the truth is, for a lot of musicians, for a lot of songwriters, it gets harder as you get older. You use up good ideas. You use up good titles and great metaphors. You use up the ideas that kind of simmer in the back your head for a long time. I'm not comparing myself, but like, Guy Clark was in the same position. He did a lot of co-writing towards the end of his career, because he basically said, you know, it just got harder to get fresh ideas. So bring in a co-writer, you know, and if just the concept is good, I've honed my tools. I know how to write if I can get an idea that's worth hanging four minutes on. Sometimes a co-writer can be helpful that way.
I met you in about 1997 through your Fireside Whiskey Hour, which was a wonderful welcoming kind of community and place. What do you remember about that and getting established in town?
It was a complete accident and one of the smartest things that I ever did, okay? I was brand new in town, going around and playing for publishers. I had a great manager. But I didn't have an outlet. This pizza place had an open mic in the basement. I was there a few times. And they seemed to think I’d be good at hosting. I said let me think about it for a couple days. And then I realized I don't want to do an open mic. But I would if I could book it. Because I know who I want to hear. Like you couldn't just walk in. So that was the agreement that we made. And you know it didn't really last that long. It's like a myth. But it was like a home for a lot of great writers who ended up being really successful. Dave Berg and Georgia Middleman both had number one hit songs. Jason White had that hit with “Red Ragtop.” So it was really fun. I surrounded myself with incredibly talented people.
You recently did a marathon tour in Europe. How important has your overseas audience been?
It's been really important. You know, I didn't realize how radio worked in England. If you got played on a BBC 2 show, that was national. This wonderful DJ named Bob Harris, who was a real tastemaker, took my first record and played a few songs, but it went out to millions of people, right? So I got to just walk into a career in the UK, which translated to, you know, going to Italy and Belgium and the Netherlands and getting a good strong following.
I've been told that European audiences can be almost intimidatingly quiet for songwriters and that there’s a more substantial audience for pure writers than often in the US.
I would say that that's accurate. They're great listeners. They're incredibly focused. And the English are very polite people. So hardly anybody would think about getting up during your set to, you know, go to the bar and order a drink. And also, Europeans are not afraid of the dark stuff. Which is great for me, because it's what I specialize in, you know? You have a lot more freedom in terms of material when you put a set together in Europe than you do in the States. In Europe, you're free man. You can you can play six ballads in a row, and they'll sit and listen to all six of them!
Yes your work can be dark, including on the new album. What’s going on there?
I'm attracted to art that has a certain amount of weight to it. I'm attracted to the big emotions, you know? And this will sound funny on the radio, but I'm even fascinated by violence, you know, as men, how we view our masculinity and how that's changed. You know, I had a very, very hard time with my dad, when I was a kid. He was a really tough guy. He wasn't a mean guy. He was a wonderful, wonderful man. But he was really tough. And I was not built from that same armor. So those things have just always been interesting to me. (Also) people's jobs - what they choose to do with their lives. And the sad parts of life, the hard parts of life - losing people, falling out of love. We all understand those things. And we all have some common and some unique understanding of how those things affect us. And so I'm looking for the commonalities in the details.
I think of the new song “A Puncher’s Chance” which is one you didn’t write lyrics to. But you have history writing about boxers and your dad was a boxer. Why have you related to that universe for character and story?
I just always found the sport fascinating, you know? I have a kind of love/hate relationship with boxing. You see the damage that it's done to so many of these poor guys, now that we really know, but there's so much money to be made in boxing. It's an interesting sport. It's one person versus another person, and you're both agreeing that we're gonna go into this space and we're gonna follow these rules and be incredibly violent with each other - try to knock each other out, but only in this particular way. So it's just kind of interesting to me, you know, the kind of mind that that is willing to accept the intensity of that, you know, to challenge themselves. And of course, for a lot of the older boxers, there was no opportunity, so it was a sport that they went to out of desperation sometimes.
In the song “Combine,” you investigate a different kind of desperation. A farmer is right at the edge of holding it together and praying for a break and one last chance.
Yeah, he's reaching out to somebody. He's looking for a small loan. He’s squandered the family money, and he's just trying to get through one more year. To me songs like that are interesting. People that are desperate are fascinating. They're so incredibly, highly motivated for something that they're looking for. And sometimes it might not even be a thing. I mean, in this in the song, obviously, the guy's trying to get through one more year with this machinery. But you know, I think for a lot of people, they don't even know what they're desperate for. I mean, who was who was it that said, most men live lives of quiet desperation.
Take me inside the title track “Starlight Tour.” I've looked at the lyrics and there's a situation and I'm still kind of wrapping my head around what It is.
Let's see, was it Saskatchewan? The police in a certain area of Canada used to pick up indigenous drunk guys in the middle of the night and drive them out to the edge of town and leave them in the winter. They were taking them on “a starlight tour.” You can look this up on the internet. But nobody ever went to jail for this. And this is a thing that went on from the 70s to as recently as the 90s. They would find these people out on the edge of town dead of hypothermia. The idea for the song was brought to me by a young guy named Nick Nace who's quite a good writer here in Nashville. And yeah, we just kind of hammered it out, you know, tried to find that balance of being truthful and vivid, but also not being too graphic about it.
You and Nielsen Hubbard, your producer here, have done four albums together and are a great match. What's your history with him?
I did a drywall job for him 20 years ago, I think! That's where I met Nielsen. You know, I just kept hearing records that he was making that sounded great. He's recorded a couple of those Amy Speace records that sound great. And just a lot of different people. And when Nielsen and I first talked, I knew immediately that he was an artist. Know what I mean? It's that old John Lennon thing. You could give him a piece of macaroni and a can of paint, and he'll make you something. So I like working with a producer like that, who doesn't have rules. I like guys who can fly by the seat of their pants. And Nielsen has that.
Now that it’s about to come out, where does this album land for you in your heart and your body of work as you close in on 60? This is a really exceptional project. But it's not your only one.
The whole group of people that worked on this album, we were all proud of the record. When we finished, we knew we had something really good. What I do is not for everybody. I do know that, and that's totally fine. Because I'm driven to do what I do. I think this is probably one of the best three records I've made. And out of out of the 12 studio albums, and with just a little bit of distance, you know, because we finished recording it last summer, I do think it's one of the best. Everybody wants to say that about their new record. But I can honestly say there are times I put records out where I felt like this one falls short a little bit. And it's inevitable. You know, not every Faulkner book is as good as every other Faulkner book.
I'm so glad you're feeling satisfied about that and fulfilled at this point.
I feel great about it. And, you know, here's the big test, too. I like playing the songs live. I want to play the whole album when I when I play a show now. I think the songs fit together nicely. There's a tone that sort of runs through - my tone melancholy and striving, but also a tone of defiance and strength. And so yeah, I'm really happy with it. You know, in some ways, it's no different from any of the others. I got records. It's just a really good version of a Rod Picott record.
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https://www.wmot.org/roots-radio-news/2024-01-31/rod-picott-master-of-the-dark-stuff-plays-finally-friday
| 2024-01-31T23:35:57Z
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Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons is out for Wednesday's matchup with the Phoenix Suns, the team announced.
The 27-year-old sustained played his first game in nearly three months on Monday, coming back from a nearly three-month long absence. He recorded 10 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds vs. the Utah Jazz in the comeback.
But the return came at a cost, as he suffered a left knee contusion after taking a hit during the game, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. After the knee began to swell, Simmons reportedly underwent tests that showed no further issue.
It's unclear how long Simmons will be sidelined, but it seems unlikely that the injury will keep him out for as long as the last one did. He was previously hampered by a pinched nerve in his back that he began to recover from on Nov. 6.
This story will be updated.
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https://www.k95tulsa.com/news/national/nets-ben-simmons/JIJJ3T3TYDHP3ZPTNGZQOQQNX4/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:57Z
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Police in Auckland have taken five children into custody after two stolen cars were seen crashing into each other in Papakura last night.
Counties Manukau South area prevention manager Inspector Matt Hoyes says police were called to the Battalion Dr area about 11.34pm after a member of the public saw two vehicles being driven dangerously and “seemingly crashing into each other”.
The vehicles were then both identified as stolen after a speedy police response.
Police spotted one of the vehicles on Battalion Dr and signalled for the driver to stop.
The driver did stop - before taking off at speed.
“Police decided not to pursue, due to the manner of driving,” Hoyes said.
The police Eagle helicopter then monitored the car and relayed its position to ground staff, who were able to get ahead of it, deploying road spikes to stop it on Airfield Rd in Takanini.
“It has continued on for about another 300 metres before coming to a stop, and the five occupants fled on foot.
“Police quickly located all five and took them into custody without further incident,” Hoyes said.
The offenders, aged between 11 and 13, will all be referred to Youth Aid.
“This was excellent work from all staff involved, as they managed to bring what was a dangerous incident to a swift and safe conclusion.”
A police spokesperson told the Herald they had no confirmed information on the second vehicle.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-crime-five-children-taken-into-custody-after-fleeing-police-in-stolen-car-in-papakura/Y2MOY4DYOJD65CMXOK3LQ56I5U/
| 2024-01-31T23:35:57Z
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Taiwanese artist Kuo Yen Fu will be having a solo exhibition with his paintings themed around athletes and films – inspired by his personal experience of being an athlete before transitioning to the entertainment industry. His athletes series depict muscles and movements with tense, dynamic lines, while the works inspired by films playfully look at pop culture and stereotypes in the industry.
Take the Field, Take the Stage
Time Out says
Painting series themed around athletes and films
Details
- Event website:
- www.wkm.gallery/kuo-yen-fu-soloshow
- Address:
- WKM Gallery
- 20/F, Coda Designer Building, 62 Wong Chuk Hang Road
- Hong Kong
- 999077
Dates and times
Discover Time Out original video
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/take-the-field-take-the-stage
| 2024-01-31T23:35:58Z
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Liverpool's win v. Chelsea was 'men against boys'
January 31, 2024 05:24 PM
Paul Burmeister, Tim Howard, and Robbie Mustoe react to Liverpool's dominant 4-1 victory over Chelsea and praise Conor Bradley for his man of the match performance for the Reds.
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https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/premier-league/bradley-i-feel-like-im-in-a-dream
| 2024-01-31T23:36:00Z
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The budding love story featuring music superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs' tight end Travis Kelce took an unexpected turn into the world of political conspiracy theories this week after the team advanced to the Super Bowl.
Myriad baseless rumors emerged on social media — everything from claims that Swift has played a part in Pentagon psychological operations to the idea that she and her two-time Super Bowl champion boyfriend are key assets in a secret plot to help President Joe Biden get reelected in 2024. Another variant: That the Chiefs' success was rigged as part of the plan for the game on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.
Political and media figures on the right, including former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, political activist Laura Loomer and One America News Network host Alison Steinberg, have amplified the allegations.
The claims are ludicrous and may well reflect the fear on the right that someone as famous as Swift, whose landmark Eras Tour is the first tour to cross the billion-dollar mark, could indeed influence the presidential race should she urge her legion of fans in one direction.
Pop culture and politics have long been entwined. The entertainment industry has been a deep well of political contributions. And candidates often try to draft on the celebrity of stars to add to their own allure.
The potency of the impact is less clear. In Swift's case, there is some proof that she can at minimum generate more voter registration.
In September, Swift posted a short message on her Instagram account encouraging her 272 million followers to register to vote. The post led to more than 35,000 registrations on the nonpartisan nonprofit Vote.org.
Swift's massive fan base gives her a powerful voice. An SSRS poll conducted in October 2023 found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults called themselves at least casual fans of the singer, with 8% saying they're big fans. The poll also found that 8 in 10 U.S. adults said they had heard of her relationship with Kelce and the majority of those familiar with it considered it a real relationship, rather than a publicity stunt.
''Pop culture people identify with this stuff, they pay attention to it. And that's what moves politics now. It's attention and identity,'' Joel Penney, an associate professor at Montclair State University whose research includes the intersection of politics and pop culture, said. Indeed, Donald Trump's improbable march to the presidency in 2016 was propelled in part from the celebrity he gained as a reality television star.
But the false claims about Swift are of such an extreme nature that they will test the limits of how potent a conspiracy theory can be. Penney sees the recent deluge of posts aimed at Swift as an attempt to preemptively blunt her impact by discrediting her.
Penney said Swift's influence could prove a difficult force to contend with, especially if she publicly supports Biden, as she did in the 2020 race.
The attacks on Swift could also galvanize young voters who want to rally around her.
''Young people are fighting their political battles through a language drawn from pop culture,'' said Henry Jenkins, a professor at the University of Southern California who also studies politics and pop culture. ''That's what connects them. That's what they're engaged with.''
Both Swift and Kelce have made public statements about politics and other issues that put them at odds with the far-right.
Swift broke her long-standing refusal to discuss her political views in 2018 when she announced in an Instagram post that she would be voting for Tennessee's Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen and Democratic House incumbent Rep. Jim Cooper. She also slammed then-U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the Republican candidate, citing Blackburn's opposition to certain LGBTQ+ rights and her vote against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013. Blackburn won election to the Senate.
In 2020, Swift endorsed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview with V Magazine, noting that ''under their leadership, I believe America has a chance to start the healing process it so desperately needs.''
Kelce faced criticism in September for appearing in an ad promoting the double dose of the flu and COVID-19 vaccines, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ad was part of a partnership with Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company that developed a vaccine in response to the pandemic and has since become a common mark for anti-vaccine activists and conspiracy theorists.
Pop culture figures and the industry that surround them have been enmeshed in political campaigns long before the duo some fans refer to as Swelce. Former President Bill Clinton first appeared on MTV during his 1992 campaign while he was still governor of Arkansas. Major stars including Johnny Cash, Mary Tyler Moore and Willie Nelson endorsed former President Jimmy Carter more than 40 years ago when he made his second run for the White House. Ronald Reagan got his start in politics after a career as an actor.
''That question of, does this stuff work in pop culture? It absolutely can,'' Penney said. ''And it does. And history has shown that.''
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https://m.startribune.com/taylor-swift-super-bowl-conspiracy-theories-the-claims-are-baseless/600340054/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:00Z
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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — For the first time in her 65-year history, Barbie will be decked out in the colors of this year’s Super Bowl champion.
Ahead of the Feb. 11 game between the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, Mattel Creations announced its first Super Bowl Champion doll, which will be decked out in the colors of the winning team.
According to a news release, the world’s most famous doll will be one of three items offered after the big game. There will also be a Fisher-Price Little People Collector and a UNO Fandom deck available for purchase.
Toy manufacturer Mattel is returning to what it says was a winning game plan last year, and adding some new plays, in a bid to sell collectible toys tied to this year’s Super Bowl. https://t.co/j79io1DTML
— Forbes (@Forbes) January 30, 2024
The toys can be pre-ordered, but they will only be issued in the uniform jersey and hat of the winning team, USA Today reported. The Barbie doll will have a $30 price tag, and so will the Little People collectible. The UNO Fandom deck will be sold for $12.
The Little People figurines will feature three players from the winning team, plus a “super fan,” Mattel said in its release.
The Fandom deck will feature the winning team’s official logo, cards featuring players from the champions and a collectible foil card in each pack.
“As football fans across the country get ready for The Big Game, we’re thrilled to offer San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs superfans the chance to commemorate a historic win with these special collectibles from our Fisher-Price, Barbie, and UNO brands,” Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s executive vice president and chief brand officer, said in a statement. “Whichever team reigns supreme on February 11th, Mattel Creations is the place to find that must-have piece of Super Bowl LVIII memorabilia worthy of any collection.”
Last year’s Little People Collector line from Super Bowl LVII included Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, defensive tackle Chris Jones and a Kansas City super fan.
The Barbie and Fisher-Price items are officially licensed NFL products. Fans and collectors can preorder the items through Feb. 25 at MattelCreations.com/thebiggame. Items will begin shipping in August, Mattel said.
People who preorder the losing team will have their money refunded.
Orders are only valid for U.S. customers.
The Fandom deck will be available in March.
Last year, Mattel asked fans to vote for their Super Bowl favorite by preordering sets featuring the Chiefs or Eagles, Forbes reported. While the Eagles got more preorders, the Chiefs got the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
© 2024 Cox Media Group
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https://www.wpxi.com/news/trending/super-bowl-lviii-mattel-creating-barbie-doll-commemorate-big-game/ZMZWHWSLKVEVRI2CE33NEILQXE/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:02Z
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It’s been a long wait since the award-winning band Sister Sadie negotiated big lineup changes and worked up their newest album No Fear. But never fear. It’s here, as of January 26, and we jumped on it by opening TOF #92 with the single “Cannonball,” a song that its lead vocalist and cowriter Dani Flowers says is about “falling in love and being hopeful that person you’re falling for will be careful with your heart.” Dani and bass player Maddie Dalton are newest to the project. Jaelee Roberts who we’ve played here a lot thanks to her fine solo album, has been on board for some time. Fiddler Deanie Richardson and banjo player Gina Britt are co-founders. We won’t be surprised if this new quintet wins more IBMA prizes. Otherwise, we’ve got new music from Armchair Boogie, The Price Sisters, Thomas Cassell, and Missy Raines. The Lilly Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs bring the vintage wine.
Fiddlers Four - Pickin' The Devil's Eye
Sister Sadie - Cannonball
Hannah Read - Stinkhorn
The Price Sisters - There's A Song In There Somewhere
Charm City Junction - Prairie Fire
Armchair Boogie - Liquor Store
Lilly Brothers with Don Stover - Are You Tired Of Me My Darling
Libby Weitnauer - Sixteen King's Daughters
Snowglobe Stringband - Goodbye Columbus
Snowglobe Stringband - High Up On Tug
Thomas Cassell - Anything But The Truth
New Valley String Band - Ways Of The world
Slocan Ramblers - Won't You Come Back Home
Flatt and Scruggs - Doin' My Time
Wood Box Heroes - Cross The Line
Fiddlers Four - Danse Caribe
Missy Raines - Ghost Of A Love
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https://www.wmot.org/show/the-old-fashioned/2024-01-31/the-old-fashioned-92
| 2024-01-31T23:36:03Z
|
The popular Hawke’s Bay cafe where your brunch could be served up by a former All Black is closing.
The owners of eatery Brother, Halle and Bryn Evans, announced on Thursday the Havelock North establishment will close on February 25.
One-test All Black Bryn, the brother of fellow All Black Gareth Evans, is in Wellington taking on a lineout and kickoff coaching role with the Hurricanes this Super Rugby season.
Halle said the pair had a bittersweet realisation over summer that “we simply cannot be in two places at once”.
Brother was the Evans’ first foray into hospitality and became a fast staple of the Havelock North food scene.
While Brother plans to close its doors, Halle said Village Vineyards, operated by winemaker Rhys Evans, is open for business as usual.
The winery remains in full swing and will continue to offer exceptional wine for purchase on its website, www.villagevineyards.co.nz. Bookings for tastings are also available online.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/havelock-north-cafe-brother-closes-due-to-former-all-blacks-owners-hurricanes-coaching-move/4OT2IUUP5VELDA6BKWGPHQGF4Y/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:03Z
|
Subscribe to The College Football Enquirer
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger & SI’s Pat Forde devote today’s episode to Tennessee’s lawsuit against the NCAA after reports that the University of Tennessee is under investigation for NIL violations. The school has received help from both the Tennessee and Virginia attorneys general in a lawsuit against the NCAA in attempts to get a court’s ruling to absolve them. The guys dive into whether or not Tennessee committed any violations, as well as if the NCAA can retroactively enforce any punishments.
The podcast then debates about whether or not the current college athletics structure should involve guardrails and, if found guilty, whether or not the NCAA could invoke the death penalty on the Volunteers.
Later in the show, with March Madness nearing, the podcast takes a look at this weekend’s packed college hoops action.
To close out the episode, The People's Court opens up a case on a gassy airplane passenger.
1:00 - Tennessee is suing the NCAA over NIL violations
48:40 - College basketball is heating up with a big weekend
54:08 - The People’s Court: Airplane flatulence
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2024 MLB season]
Follow Dan @DanWetzel
Follow Pat @ByPatForde
Follow Ross @RossDellenger
🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube
Check out all the episodes of the College Football Enquirer and the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts
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https://www.k95tulsa.com/news/national/tennessee-v-ncaa/KYY2QBEEW7C7QNZDZWY3YRWDJI/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:03Z
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Eight artists will be exhibiting under one event at De Sarthe Gallery, which brings together videos, photography, as well as canvas works that peer into the motivations and complexities behind subconscious human behaviour. Dong Jinling, Lin Jingjing, Lin Zhipeng (aka 223), Ma Sibo, Mak2, Xin Yunpeng, Zhong Wei, and Zhou Wendou gather to ask: what defines humanity on the most fundamental level? What are humans as a collective entity? Visit the exhibition from now until March 16.
What We Are
Time Out says
Eight artists examine what goes on behind subconscious human behaviour
Details
- Event website:
- www.desarthe.com/exhibitions/what-we-are.html
- Address:
- de Sarthe Gallery
- 26/F, M Place
- 54 Wong Chuk Hang Road
- Wong Chuk Hang
- Hong Kong
Dates and times
Discover Time Out original video
|
https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/what-we-are
| 2024-01-31T23:36:04Z
|
Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK – Get Free Report) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.25-1.35 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27. The company issued revenue guidance of $0.99-1.04 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.03 billion. Tetra Tech also updated its FY24 guidance to $5.90-6.20 EPS.
Tetra Tech Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ TTEK traded down $5.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $158.18. 411,459 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 215,984. The company has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Tetra Tech has a twelve month low of $131.19 and a twelve month high of $173.27.
Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 15th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.34. Tetra Tech had a net margin of 6.05% and a return on equity of 21.63%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 43.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Tetra Tech will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Tetra Tech Dividend Announcement
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have recently commented on TTEK shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Tetra Tech in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Tetra Tech in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an overweight rating and a $191.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Tetra Tech from $172.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $191.75.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Tetra Tech
Insider Buying and Selling at Tetra Tech
In other Tetra Tech news, CEO Dan L. Batrack sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.51, for a total value of $3,553,220.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,566 shares in the company, valued at $7,843,894.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Tetra Tech news, SVP Brian N. Carter sold 1,474 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.58, for a total value of $244,064.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan L. Batrack sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.51, for a total transaction of $3,553,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,566 shares in the company, valued at $7,843,894.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,232 shares of company stock valued at $5,231,987. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tetra Tech
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Toroso Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tetra Tech by 19.7% during the third quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Capula Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Tetra Tech during the second quarter worth $242,000. Colony Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tetra Tech by 8.5% during the first quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tetra Tech during the second quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tetra Tech during the first quarter worth $212,000. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Tetra Tech Company Profile
Tetra Tech, Inc provides consulting and engineering services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Government Services Group (GSG) and Commercial/International Services Group (CIG). The GSG segment offers early data collection and monitoring, data analysis and information management, science and engineering applied research, engineering design, project management, and operations and maintenance services; and climate change and energy management consulting, as well as greenhouse gas inventory assessment, certification, reduction, and management services.
Further Reading
- Five stocks we like better than Tetra Tech
- Best ESG Stocks: 11 Best Stocks for ESG Investing
- What is a bear market rally? Examples and how they work
- Golden Cross Stocks: Pattern, Examples and Charts
- 7 best bear market ETFs to battle a decline
- What is the NASDAQ Stock Exchange?
- 10 best sugar stocks to buy now
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https://www.com-unik.info/2024/01/31/tetra-tech-nasdaqttek-updates-q2-earnings-guidance.html
| 2024-01-31T23:36:05Z
|
WASHINGTON — (AP) — The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, as President Joe Biden weighs his options to respond to the strike.
Iran threatened to "decisively respond" to any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic after the U.S. said it held Tehran responsible. The U.S. has signaled it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Mideast in the wake of the Sunday drone attack that also wounded more than 40 troops at Tower 22, a secretive base in northeastern Jordan that's been crucial to the American presence in neighboring Syria.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday the U.S. believes the attack was planned, resourced and facilitated by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group that includes the militant group Kataib Hezbollah. He said Biden “believes that it is important to respond in an appropriate way.”
He said Biden was continuing to weigh his options, but Kirby said “the first thing you see won’t be the last thing," adding it “won't be a one-off.”
Kirby dismissed a statement by Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah announcing "the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces in order to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government." He said the group can't be taken at face value, and he added, "they're not the only group that has been attacking us."
As of Wednesday, Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-aligned militias had launched 166 attacks on U.S. military installations since Oct. 18, including 67 in Iraq, 98 in Syria and the one in Jordan, according to the U.S. military.
The U.S. has struck back at the militias a few times over the past three months. On Oct. 27, U.S. fighter jets struck two weapons and ammunition storage sites in eastern Syria near Boukamal that were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed groups.
Also in Syria, fighter jets dropped bombs on an IRGC weapons storage facility near Maysulun in Deir el-Zour on Nov. 8. And U.S. airstrikes targeted a training facility and a safe house in the Bulbul district of Mayadin on Nov. 12.
On Dec. 26, the U.S. launched strikes on three locations in Iraq used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, and on Jan. 23, the U.S. struck three sites in Iraq, again targeting Kataib Hezbollah.
Any additional American strikes could further inflame a region already roiled by Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The war began with Hamas attacking Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed more than 26,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 2 million others from their homes, arousing anger throughout the Muslim world.
Violence has erupted across the Mideast, with Iran striking targets in Iraq, Pakistan and Syria, and the U.S. carrying out airstrikes targeting Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels over their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Some observers fear a new round of strikes targeting Iran could tip the region into a wider war.
A U.S. Navy destroyer in the waterway shot down an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis late Tuesday, the latest attack targeting American forces patrolling the key maritime trade route, officials said. The U.S. later launched a new round of airstrikes targeting the Houthis.
The Iranian warnings first came from Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He gave a briefing to Iranian journalists late Tuesday, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
“The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on the county, its interests and nationals under any pretexts,” IRNA quoted Iravani as saying. He described any possible Iranian retaliation as a “strong response,” without elaborating.
The Iranian mission to the U.N. did not respond to requests for comment or elaboration Wednesday on Iravani's remarks.
Iravani also denied that Iran and the U.S. had exchanged any messages over the last few days, either through intermediaries or directly. The pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera, which is based in and funded by Qatar, reported earlier that such communication had taken place. Qatar often serves as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.
But Iran's government has taken note of the U.S. threats of retaliation for the attack on the base in Jordan.
"Sometime, our enemies raise the threat, and nowadays we hear some threats in between words by American officials," Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami, who answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said at an event Wednesday. "We tell them that you have experienced us, and we know each other. We do not leave any threat without an answer."
“We are not after war, but we have no fear of war,” he added, according to IRNA.
Kirby, for his part, said the U.S. doesn’t “seek a war with Iran. We’re not looking for a broader conflict.”
On Saturday, a general in charge of Iran's air defenses described them as being at their "highest defensive readiness." That raises concerns for commercial aviation traveling through and over Iran as well. After a U.S. drone strike killed a top general in 2020, Iranian air defenses mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board.
Meanwhile, attacks by the Houthis continue in the Red Sea. The private security firm Ambrey reported Wednesday night a ship was targeted with a missile southwest of Aden, Yemen, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis claimed an attack on a vessel at the time called the Koi, a Liberian-flagged container ship. The ship’s managers could not be immediately reached for comment. It was unclear if the reported missile attack caused any damage or injuries.
A missile launched Tuesday night targeted the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, the U.S. military’s Central Command said in a statement. No injuries or damage were reported.
A Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement Wednesday morning, calling it “a victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people and a response to the American-British aggression against our country.”
Saree claimed the Houthis fired "several" missiles, something not acknowledged by the U.S. Navy. Houthi claims have been exaggerated in the past, and their missiles sometimes crash on land and fail to reach their targets.
On Wednesday, a U.S. military jet struck a surface-to-air missile that was about to launch from Houthi-controlled Yemen, a U.S. official said. The missile was deemed an immediate threat and destroyed. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details ahead of a public announcement.
Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade between Asia, the Mideast and Europe.
The Houthis hit a commercial vessel with a missile on Friday, sparking a fire that burned for hours.
The U.S. and the United Kingdom have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes targeting the Houthis as allied warships patrol the waterways affected by the attacks. The European Union also plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea within three weeks to help defend cargo ships against the Houthi attacks, the bloc's top diplomat said Wednesday.
___
Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.wpxi.com/news/world/us-blames-group-iran/FACRQBZWC3OLHUUGVUHRPFV4XE/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:08Z
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Liverpool's win v. Chelsea was 'men against boys'
January 31, 2024 05:24 PM
Paul Burmeister, Tim Howard, and Robbie Mustoe react to Liverpool's dominant 4-1 victory over Chelsea and praise Conor Bradley for his man of the match performance for the Reds.
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https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/premier-league/chelsea-lacked-fight-passion-against-liverpool
| 2024-01-31T23:36:10Z
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A man convicted of arson for participating in the August 2020 rioting that damaged Target's downtown Minneapolis headquarters was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison in a hearing cut short by an outburst at the judge.
Leroy Lemonte Perry Williams, 37, interrupted closing remarks from Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, shouting that the judge's decision was "unconstitutional." Moments earlier, Magnuson sided with federal prosecutors who called for a "significant sentence" to serve as a deterrent in the event further unrest visits the state.
"While no one hopes for widespread riots in the future, the likelihood of such events remains a distinct possibility as this nation grapples with a period of civil unrest," Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Walcker argued in a previous filing with the court.
Williams, of Minneapolis. was first charged in November 2020 with arson for his participation in downtown Minneapolis rioting that started with the false rumor that a man had been killed that day by Minneapolis police. Instead, the man, Eddie Sole Jr., 38, shot himself when confronted by police investigating reports that he had earlier killed Eddie George Gordon, 61, in a nearby parking ramp. Williams has described Gordon as a "mentor and stepfather figure."
While on pretrial release and staying in a halfway house, Williams went to the Target store in downtown Minneapolis to try to intimidate and threaten a Target employee involved in the case. He was ordered detained after multiple rule violations at the halfway house.
In January 2021, Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and was granted a furlough motion to participate in the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge's mental health and substance disorder treatment program.
But he left the program – and the state – in September 2021. He has since said he fled to visit a dying relative in Indiana, but was arrested and returned to Minnesota in July 2022. Back in the state, Williams asked to vacate his guilty plea, and was then charged in a superseding indictment with arson and convicted after a three-day trial in October 2023.
Earlier Wednesday, Magnuson refused Williams' arguments to adjust a pre-sentence investigation report that would've lowered his sentencing guidelines in the case. Chiefly, Williams asked that the Target headquarters not be considered a public space.
"To say this isn't a public place is an absolute misnomer: 4,000 people work in that place and if you had been successful in your arson … 4,000 people would've been out of work," Magnuson said. "And if Target Corp. did need to rebuild that building, it probably wouldn't have been done yet. This is a very, very serious crime and I will not make light of it."
Glenn Bruder, Williams' attorney, had requested a five-year sentence. Two other men, Shador Tommie Cortez Jackson and Victor Devon Edwards, pleaded guilty in 2021 to charges related to starting a fire in the Target headquarters mail room, causing at least $1 million in damages. Edwards was sentenced to more than 8 years in federal prison and Jackson received nearly 3 years.
Williams was captured on surveillance video lighting a cardboard box on fire and placing it inside the Target headquarters building through a shattered glass door. He made several attempts to reignite the box as the flames petered out and also tried to start a fire inside the building's vestibule.
Bruder urged Magnuson to give his client "his first opportunity to turn his life around," pointing to a harrowing upbringing in which Williams first witnessed his own mother's substance disorder and physical abuse by a partner before eventually turning to drugs and alcohol himself.
Williams choked up as he addressed Magnuson midway through the hearing, noting his two children in attendance.
"What makes me cry is they shouldn't be seeing this," he said. "I should not be standing in front of you right now, but because of my bad decision making here I am fighting for my life and my freedom."
Williams apologized for his role in "adding to the problem instead of helping find a solution" at a time in which the Twin Cities were vulnerable to unrest just months after George Floyd's killing.
But as Magnuson explained his rationale for granting the government's request for a 10-year sentence, Williams shook his head and grew agitated. The judge recognized Williams' intellect, while saying that he could tell that he needed serious chemical dependency and mental health treatment.
"How do I get 10 years for attempted arson?" Williams interrupted. "It makes no sense, sir! It's unconstitutional."
"You are demonstrating right now why I am saying what I am about mental health," Magnuson said, before abruptly ending the hearing.
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https://m.startribune.com/third-man-sentenced-in-august-2020-arson-at-target-headquarters/600340051/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:08Z
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Police are treating the death of a person at a Kerikeri property as unexplained.
A police spokesperson said they learned of the death at the Riverview Rd address around 4.43pm yesterday.
No further details were released other than that it was being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.
“Police are awaiting a review by a doctor later this morning to determine any further investigation,” the spokesperson said.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/northland-police-investigating-unexplained-death-in-kerikeri/73KMYELBZJF3XDOAZLM4WCZA2Q/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:09Z
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Domestic violence has, unfortunately, been a part of society from the beginning. It thrives in darkness and in silence. Abusers are often skilled at presenting a respectable public-facing persona while gaslighting, threatening and intimidating their victim or victims.
Exhibit 1: The murders committed by an “upstanding member” of the community in Enoch, who killed his wife, his mother-in-law and his five children before killing himself. (He does not need to be named.)
Victims, advocates, lawmakers and others are speaking up, shining light in some dark places indeed.
In Utah, 1 in 3 women will experience some form of contact sexual violence, physical violence and/or stalking, according to research from the Utah Women and Leadership Project at Utah State University. Additionally, more than 4 in 10 will experience psychological aggression.
Last year, the Utah Legislature passed mandatory lethality assessments, which were implemented on July 1, 2023. Utah saw a spike in victim referrals, something advocates say is not necessarily an increase in the number of incidents, but could be a result of connecting high risk victims to services.
Like many policy issues, tackling domestic violence is complex and is made up of many interconnecting components, including socioeconomic status, education status and marginalized communities. For example, the rate of domestic violence among white women generally is about 34%, while 40% of Black women experience domestic violence in their lifetime and the percentage among Native American women is a staggering 84%.
This year on Utah’s Capitol Hill, there is a continuing focus on holding abusers accountable and keeping survivors safe. Here are a few of the bills making their way through the Utah Legislature.
Criminal code
HB81, Domestic Violence Modifications, by Rep. Matthew Gwynn, R-Farr West, adds “propelling a bodily substance or material” (spit or otherwise) to the list of crimes that qualify as a domestic violence offense. This bill was recommended by the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee and has made its way through the House and is now on the Senate side. The votes to date have been unanimous.
SB50, Aggravated Assault Amendments, by Sen. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine, and Rep. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, amends the section of code that addresses when an individual is intentionally or knowingly “restricting the breathing or circulation of another individual” and removes the requirement that such action is “likely to produce a loss of consciousness.” This bill has passed the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee and is on the Senate Second Reading calendar.
HB166, Restricted Persons Amendments, by Rep. Marsha Judkins, R-Provo, would restrict gun sales to a person who has been convicted of a felony domestic violence offense, a misdemeanor assault offense on an intimate partner, parent or guardian of the offender, or is subject to a restraining order for threats against their intimate partner and/or their child. This bill has not yet been heard in committee.
Survivor services
HB272, Child Custody Amendments, also known as Om’s Law, is being run in honor of 16-year-old Om Moses Gandhi who was killed by his father last year in a custody dispute.
HB272, by Rep. Paul Cutler, R-Centerville, and Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, directs the courts to consider evidence of domestic violence, credible allegations of child abuse, specifies that the court may admit expert evidence from a court-appointed or outside professional relating to alleged domestic violence or abuse only if the professional possesses demonstrated expertise and adequate experience in working with victims of domestic violence or abuse. (Emphasis added.)
This bill also directs the courts to develop or recommend training to improve the ability of the courts to recognize domestic violence and child abuse, implicit and explicit bias, trauma and long-term impacts of violence and abuse on children. These trainings must be evidence-based and use peer-reviewed research.
Additionally, this bill directs the courts to not remove a child from custody of a parent who is competent, protective, not abusive and bonded to a child. This section gets at the controversial and often troubling trend of using claims of “parental alienation” as a reason to remove custody from a parent, most often a mother. This bill is waiting for a committee hearing.
HB432, Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Amendments, by Rep. Anthony Loubet, R-Kearns, addresses clergy reporting instances of child abuse and neglect made during a confession by the perpetrator to the clergy member. This bill does not mandate that clergy shall report, rather, it specifies that they may report abuse or neglect. Significantly, both The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City are unopposed to this bill, reports KSL. The bill was made public this week.
HB308, Crime Victim Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Tyler Clancy, R-Provo, and Sen. McKell, focuses on the rights of victims. Clancy, a Provo City police officer, is looking to fill gaps in the way Utah currently addresses victims (survivors) of crime. This bill would put victims’ rights in one place in Utah’s code, creates a victim rights committee in each judicial district of the state and would require the Utah Office for Victims of Crime to provide law enforcement agencies with educational materials regarding sexual assault victims, among other changes. This bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
To follow these bills or any others, go to le.utah.gov
Holly Richardson is the editor of Utah Policy.
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https://www.deseret.com/2024/1/31/24055593/domestic-violence-bills-utah-legislature
| 2024-01-31T23:36:11Z
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Tuesday night Salina Central High School and the Kansas Shrine Bowl recognized Senior Hunter Mowery for his selection to the 51st Kansas Shrine Bowl All-Star Game.
Hunter was joined by his coaches, family, and representatives from Kansas Shriners and the Shrine Bowl to celebrate his selection, becoming the 52nd Salina Central player to earn the honor of participating in the most prestigious High School All-Star Game in the state.
“I was just overwhelmed with excitement,” said Mowery on learning of his selection. “I was honestly speechless.”
A Sports In Kansas Top 100 Senior Selection, Mowery visited with KSAL Sports Director Jackson Schneider during halftime of Tuesday night’s Central girls basketball game to discuss his emotions upon learning of his selection and how he was able to get where he is today with the help of his teammates, coaches, teachers, and family.
The 5A All-State Honorable Mention from this past fall set multiple records on the field for the Mustangs over the last four seasons, including holding the school record for career receiving touchdowns (20), career receptions (85), and set the single season receiving yards in each of the last two years, finishing with over 1,400 career yards.
Along with his statistical achievements, Hunter Mowery is seen as a leader and role model around the hallways and locker rooms at Salina Central. He was a three-year letter winner with the football program, as well as a team captain for the football team.
The list of career achievements for Mowery is long and impressive, but he’s far more than a one-dimensional athlete, and has big goals for himself beyond the gridiron. Mowery holds a 4.1 GPA and is in search of a college with a prestigious pre-med program, as he desires to break into the medical field in the future.
“I’m just proud of myself, but I could have a list that goes on forever of all the people I can thank. I mean coaches, teammates, I wouldn’t be here without the coaching I’ve received, and I couldn’t be more thankful for my teammates pushing me to be better every single day. I mean any of these guys deserve to get the recognition that I received, and if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here.”
Mowery will compete in the 51st Kansas Shrine Bowl held on Saturday, June 29th at Welch Stadium at Emporia State University.
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https://www.ksal.com/salina-centrals-mowery-tabbed-for-51st-shrine-bowl/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:11Z
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The Baylor women’s basketball program will be retiring Brittney Griner’s No. 42 jersey next month, the university says.
The Phoenix Mercury star is a former Baylor Bear, and will have her jersey retired during a ceremony before the game on Feb. 18. The Bears will be playing Texas Tech at 3 p.m. that day, Baylor said.
“I’m honored to return home to Baylor and celebrate where so much of my journey started,” Griner said. “I’m grateful to Coach Nicki (Collen) and the entire Baylor community and looking forward to the opportunity to be back on campus, spend time with the team and have my family beside me to share in this incredible moment. Sic ‘Em Bears.”
Griner’s jersey will be the seventh jersey retired by the Baylor women’s program, ESPN reported. Two others include her former teammates, Odyssey Sims and Melissa Jones.
Griner was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA’s 2013 draft, according to ESPN. She led Baylor to the NCAA Women’s Final Four. She also had a perfect 40-0 national championship season while she was a junior at Baylor. Griner is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Griner is also a WNBA champion, capturing the 2014 title with the Phoenix Mercury.
Griner finished her college basketball career with 3,282 points and 1,305 rebounds, according to The Associated Press.
“We are excited to welcome Brittney back to Baylor and share this special day with her,” Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades said. “There’s no doubt she is one of the most decorated student-athletes in Baylor athletics history and we’re thrilled the timing has worked out for all of us to celebrate and honor her. She always has been, and always will be, a significant member of the Baylor Family.”
“We’re excited to have Brittney back on campus and honor her with the retirement of her jersey,” Baylor Coach Nicki Collen said. “I have been saying this since I arrived at Baylor that she deserves to have her jersey retired and I wanted to make sure that happened when the timing was right. With the opening of Foster Pavilion, and the WNBA offseason fitting into our season, this seemed like the right time to honor Brittney and welcome her back home. She is one of the best basketball players in Baylor’s history and we’re thrilled that the time has come to celebrate Brittney and all of her accomplishments.”
© 2024 Cox Media Group
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https://www.k95tulsa.com/news/trending/baylor-university-retire-no-42-jersey-next-month-honor-brittney-griner/7YZ22XDWC5GPXGEVQ62HKB56SE/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:10Z
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Chinese artist Jess Xiaoyi Han is presenting a solo exhibition of her new works at Sens Gallery. Referencing her recent trip to Hawaii, the ribbon-like flowing elements against vivid backdrops emulate the colourful island tropics. Han is one of those artists who make it great fun to contemplate a series of vibrant lines and shapes and come up with personal interpretations of the work.
With love, from the island
Time Out says
Ribbon-like flowing elements and lines against vivid backdrops
Details
- Address:
- Sens Gallery
- Room 08, 19/F, Landmark South, Wong Chuk Hang
- Hong Kong
Dates and times
Discover Time Out original video
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/with-love-from-the-island
| 2024-01-31T23:36:11Z
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Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.nepm.org/2024-01-31/broadway-legend-hinton-battle-who-originally-played-scarecrow-in-the-wiz-has-died
| 2024-01-31T23:36:12Z
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A look from Maui six months after devastating wildfires By Debbie Elliott Published January 31, 2024 at 5:39 PM EST Facebook Twitter Email Listen • 5:06 As we approach the six-month anniversary of the Maui fires, we look at the biggest issues that people on the island are still facing. Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.delmarvapublicmedia.org/2024-01-31/a-look-from-maui-six-months-after-devastating-wildfires
| 2024-01-31T23:36:12Z
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LAS VEGAS — (AP) — Fans have been wondering for days whether Taylor Swift will make it to the Super Bowl next week to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs and, if so, how many times she'll show up on TV during the game. They can speculate all they want, but they won't be able to bet on it legally in the United States.
Those types of wagers can be made offshore with sportsbooks such as BetUS, which is based in Costa Rica, and potentially in the Canadian province of Ontario. BetMGM public relations manager John Ewing said he was waiting for word from Canadian authorities there if such bets will be OK.
But in the U.S., where betting laws vary from state to state, the general rule is that wagering is limited to what happens on the field. A handful of states allow bets to be placed on the color of Gatorade dumped on the winning coach — red or pink is this year's plus-260 favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook — but even that type of wager is not allowed in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas, the longtime epicenter of sports betting in the U.S., has some of the strictest rules regarding the kinds of wagers made.
Swift's romance with Kelce became one of the prominent stories this NFL season and she has attended several Chiefs games, including their victory in the AFC championship game at Baltimore on Sunday, where she joined the team for its on-field celebration and greeted Kelce with a kiss. Since she's performing in Japan the weekend of the Super Bowl, fans began wondering whether she'll make it to Las Vegas to watch Kelce and Kansas City face the San Francisco 49ers.
It seems only natural they would be able to put money on it in Vegas.
As a matter of principle, though, Ewing said it makes sense not to allow bets on things apart from the on-field action, such as the length of the national anthem.
"We don’t want any subjectivity in a prop (bet),” Ewing said. “We want it to be either it won or it didn’t win or went over or went under, and that’s the concern for regulators as well. That’s why typically we stick to if it’s in the box score, it can be posted."
Caesars Sportsbook assistant trading director Adam Pullen’s position is the more bets, the merrier.
“We’ve come a long way, but some stuff like we’re talking about here (about Swift) or betting on elections, there still might be a few years before we get to that point,” Pullen said. “But I like anything that drives action and gets people to bet. But we’re dependent on what the regulators in each particular state has to say.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.wpxi.com/sports/us-sportsbooks-wont/ZW5TNO4O45MH5OSUCBD2EHN66A/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:15Z
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United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its holdings in Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN – Free Report) by 5.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,452 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Texas Instruments were worth $2,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TXN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Texas Instruments by 333.3% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 156 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Texas Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Texas Instruments by 57.4% during the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 181 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Texas Instruments during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, AMH Equity Ltd purchased a new position in Texas Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 83.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have recently commented on TXN. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Texas Instruments from $170.00 to $164.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Texas Instruments from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays cut their target price on Texas Instruments from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Texas Instruments from $195.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Texas Instruments from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.58.
Insider Activity
In other Texas Instruments news, Director Ronald Kirk sold 12,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.51, for a total transaction of $1,789,627.49. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,984,319.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.
Texas Instruments Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ TXN traded down $2.01 on Wednesday, hitting $160.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,371,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,567,222. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 4.55 and a quick ratio of 3.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $164.01 and a 200-day moving average of $162.50. Texas Instruments Incorporated has a 12-month low of $139.48 and a 12-month high of $188.12. The company has a market capitalization of $145.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.04.
Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.03. Texas Instruments had a return on equity of 39.96% and a net margin of 37.16%. The company had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Texas Instruments’s revenue was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Texas Instruments Incorporated will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.
Texas Instruments Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Texas Instruments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.65%.
Texas Instruments Profile
Texas Instruments Incorporated designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Analog and Embedded Processing. The Analog segment offers power products to manage power requirements across various voltage levels, including battery-management solutions, DC/DC switching regulators, AC/DC and isolated controllers and converters, power switches, linear regulators, voltage references, and lighting products.
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https://www.com-unik.info/2024/01/31/texas-instruments-incorporated-nasdaqtxn-shares-purchased-by-united-asset-strategies-inc.html
| 2024-01-31T23:36:16Z
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Back-to-school costs are hitting family budgets hard this year and New Zealand’s poverty-fighting charity KidsCan is finding it harder to meet the demand for support.
Whanganui East School has helped to ease the cost burden for parents this year by supplying all the necessary stationery items for its roll of around 200 pupils.
“The board of trustees has fundraised to meet the cost so everyone has what they need,” principal Eleanore Barry said.
“Our whānau appreciate it because it has taken the pressure off at a time when it is most needed.”
Whanganui East is one of nearly 900 New Zealand schools receiving support from KidsCan.
“Not only do they supply warm, weatherproof jackets and shoes for all the children but also food items for our breakfast club, fruit, morning tea snacks and toiletries,” assistant principal Raylene Stormont said.
“They also supply sanitary products and head lice treatments.”
KidsCan founder and chief executive Julie Chapman said the need for support had increased and the charity had schools on its waiting list, while donors had also been affected by rising living costs.
“The charity is under huge pressure and donations are dropping as people are forced to tighten their belts. This is always the hardest time of the year for vulnerable families as they face crippling back-to-school costs but 2024 may be the toughest yet,” she said.
“We’re facing record demand with thousands of students waiting for help. Schools aren’t just asking us for food and clothing - some need shampoo, soap and toothpaste. The essentials are becoming luxuries.”
Chapman, who founded KidsCan in 2005, said it was heartbreaking not to be able to support the schools on the waiting list.
“Every child deserves to be well fed and clothed so they can just focus on learning - because education is their best chance at getting out of poverty. We urgently need donations from those who can afford to make a difference.”
Whanganui Budget Advisory Service manager Sandy Fage said the impact of the costs on families would hit home in the coming weeks.
“We know that families with no wriggle room in their budgets will often defer essential costs, such as a power bill, to pay for school costs.
“That won’t hit home until March when they will be trying to catch up on the missed payments.”
Fage said for those who had a small amount of fat in their budgets the best advice was to open an account for school costs and transfer regular, affordable amounts throughout the year.
“That is not a realistic option for people on low, fixed incomes living day-to-day,” she said.
“When there is often not enough income to pay for essentials, people have no option but to incur debt. They might defer bill payments or borrow money they can’t afford to repay. We can help by negotiating with the lender or the power company but then there are winter uniforms to pay for and the potential for another debt cycle.”
Angela Crichton at the Whanganui City Mission said there had been an increased demand for food parcels over the past two weeks.
“Several people said they were struggling with food costs after paying for school uniforms and supplies,” she said.
“It is something we see every year and it’s good that people are willing to ask for our help so they don’t have to go without.”
Crichton said it was important that families accessed the help they needed.
“There is no judgment here and we understand that it’s a difficult time of year for many people.”
Barry said Whanganui East School kept its uniform costs to a minimum and the polar fleece top with the school logo was the most expensive item at $39.
“The other items can be purchased at a range of places so parents have choices for affordability,” she said.
“The KidsCan jackets and shoes mean that everyone can be warm and dry. They’re available for all the children so no one misses out.”
A secondary school summer uniform costs around $500 and from Year 6 on parents also need to purchase their child a Chromebook, tablet or laptop which can cost between $350 and $2000.
KidsCan has 77 schools on its waiting list which Chapman said was the most since 2018.
Stormont said the Whanganui East School team “would love to see those schools getting the support that KidsCan gives us”.
“In our position, we see how much difference it makes. It takes the stress off the school and our whānau knowing that no child will be left behind.”
Donations can be made at kidscan.org.nz.
Liz Wylie is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. She joined the editorial team in 2014 and regularly covers stories from Whanganui and the wider region. She also writes features and profile stories.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/record-demand-for-support-as-back-to-school-costs-impact-whanganui-families/KGCXXFDB7JCWXIZF7N7JIIM4Z4/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:16Z
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DOLTON, Ill. — A traffic dispute in suburban Chicago erupted into gunfire Wednesday, with four people taken to hospitals after being shot, authorities said.
Saul Mazon told the Chicago Tribune said he was headed to a store when he saw several cars traveling quickly down a street, one car hit another, and the vehicles pulled into a parking lot where people got out and were yelling and arguing before he heard several shots.
Dolton Village Trustee Kiana Belcher said she was in the drive-thru lane at a Dunkin Donuts when people in two vehicles started shooting at each other.
''The people involved were taken to the hospital,'' Belcher said.
Four patients, all adults suffering gunshot wounds, were taken to several hospitals, Dolton Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeremy Cole said.
The shooting happened around 10 a.m.
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https://m.startribune.com/traffic-dispute-in-suburban-chicago-erupts-into-gunfire-with-4-shot/600340049/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:16Z
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BYU fans in the Phoenix area had been waiting eight years for Tuesday’s announcement that will bring the Cougars back to the Valley of the Sun for the first time since 2016. BYU will play at Arizona State on Nov. 23 as members of the Big 12 Conference.
It took an improbable five-step plan to make it happen.
First: Texas and Oklahoma announced their surprise departure from the Big 12 to join the SEC, which they will officially do on July 1.
Second: Needing replacements for the Longhorns and Sooners, the Big 12 quickly invited BYU to join the conference, which the Cougars happily did on July 1, 2023.
Third: USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon bolted the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, leading to the collapse of the Pac-12.
Fourth: Needing a home, Arizona State, Arizona, Utah and Colorado found refuge in the Big 12. They will officially join the conference on Aug. 2.
Fifth: The Big 12 configured its first 16-team schedule in a way that facilitates BYU playing at Arizona State the weekend before Thanksgiving on Nov. 23.
Home away from home
If there are two valleys outside of Utah that rival its BYU fandom, it is Las Vegas and Phoenix. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which sponsors BYU, has hundreds of thousands of members and a strong alumni footprint in those respective areas.
As history has shown in both locations, when the Cougars come to town, the fans show up in droves.
“It’s one of those signature events,” said Duane Oakes, BYU Southwest Region Chapter director. “Everybody is excited!”
The last time BYU was in the Phoenix area was in 2016 when the Cougars staged a neutral site game against Arizona at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The season opener attracted 50,528 fans, with a majority cheering for BYU.
When freshman Jake Oldroyd kicked the game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired to give Kalani Sitake his first win as the Cougars head coach, the venue looked and sounded a lot like LaVell Edwards Stadium.
BYU was scheduled to play at Arizona State on Sept. 19, 2020, but the Pac-12 cancelled its nonconference games that season as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November, the Cougars will attempt a second stadium takeover in the Phoenix area 19 miles east of Glendale at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe. Capacity is 53,599 and with the Sun Devils football program mired in a major rebuild, the Cougars sense an opportunity to pounce on every available seat.
Wheels in motion
Within hours of Tuesday’s Big 12 announcement, Oakes was on the phone with the Arizona State ticket office.
“We are going to try and get as many tickets as we can,” Oakes said. “I don’t know how many they will allow us, but no matter, there will be a lot of BYU fans. I’ll bet at least a third (of the stadium) and maybe more.”
There are 439,000 Latter-day Saints, including more than 14,000 BYU alumni, living in Arizona, most of them within a reasonable driving distance of Tempe.
Months before the team arrives, a selected group of coaches, players and BYUtv will headline a BYU Alumni Association FanFest in the Phoenix-Gilbert area on May 18. The idea is to plant the seeds for a full fan-harvest when the Cougars return in the fall.
“We are really excited about the upcoming FanFest here. These events are more than just a party and more than great sports teams,” said Michael Johanson, director of BYU Alumni Relations. “It’s a chance to gather, mobilize and strengthen Cougar Nation made up of alumni and fans who embrace the mission and purpose of Brigham Young University.”
BYU will also hold a FanFest in Dallas on April 27, months before the Cougars return to the alumni-rich Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to face SMU on Friday, Sept. 6.
BYU history in Tempe
BYU and Arizona State have split the last 10 meetings, with the Cougars winning the last three, including a 27-17 upset in Provo in 2021. The teams haven’t met in Tempe since BYU beat the Sun Devils 13-10 in 1997. They haven’t faced each other as conference foes since 1978 when Arizona State held off the Cougars at home 24-17 as members of the Western Athletic Conference.
The Sun Devils will be the second Big 12 team BYU will face at Mountain America Stadium. In 1974, the Cougars played Oklahoma State in their first bowl game. Once the Cowboys knocked quarterback Gary Shiede out of the game on a questionable hit, they turned a 6-0 deficit into a 16-6 victory.
Fifty years after that Fiesta Bowl, and after a wild turn of events, the Cougars will return to Tempe for a conference clash against the Sun Devils, where qualifying for BYU’s 41st bowl could be on the line with the game so late in the season.
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https://www.deseret.com/2024/1/31/24056250/byu-cougars-will-receive-a-warm-welcome-when-cougars-return-to-the-valley-of-the-sun-next-fall
| 2024-01-31T23:36:17Z
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Take the Field, Take the Stage
Taiwanese artist Kuo Yen Fu will be having a solo exhibition with his paintings themed around athletes and films – inspired by his personal experience of being an athlete before transitioning to the entertainment industry. His athletes series depict muscles and movements with tense, dynamic lines, while the works inspired by films playfully look at pop culture and stereotypes in the industry.
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/art/wkm-gallery
| 2024-01-31T23:36:17Z
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Updated January 31, 2024 at 5:33 PM ET
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but signaled that rates could fall in the coming months if inflation continues to cool.
Policy makers have kept their benchmark interest rate between 5.25% and 5.5% — the highest in over two decades — since July.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell told reporters Wednesday that interest rates are unlikely to go any higher, and that he and his colleagues are beginning to contemplate cutting rates.
"If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year," Powell said.
He cautioned, however, that the economy remains unpredictable and said the central bank would proceed cautiously.
"The economic outlook is uncertain and we remain highly attentive to inflation risks," Powell said.
The Fed has been pleasantly surprised by the rapid drop in inflation in recent months. Core prices in December — which exclude food and energy prices — were up just 2.9% from a year ago, according to the Fed's preferred inflation yardstick. That's a smaller increase than the 3.2% core inflation rate that Fed officials had projected in December.
If that positive trend continues, the Fed may be able to start cutting interest rates as early as this spring. First, though, Powell said he and his colleagues will need to see additional evidence that inflation is easing.
And he sounded doubtful about a rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in March as many investors in Wall Street had hoped for.
"Based on the meeting today, I would tell you that I don't think it's likely the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting," Powell said. "But that's to be seen."
The comments disappointed investors, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 317 points.
Investors are still hopeful about a rate cut by the following Fed meeting in May, with markets putting the likelihood of that at better than 90%.
Good omens in the economy
Both the economy and the job market have performed better than expected over the last year, despite the highest interest rates since 2001. The nation's gross domestic product grew 3.1% in 2023, while employers added 2.7 million jobs
Unemployment has been under 4%for nearly two years. And average wages in December were up 4.1% from a year ago.
While that strong economy is welcome news for businesses and workers, it also raises the risk of reigniting inflation. As a result, Fed policymakers say they'll be cautious not to cut interest rates prematurely.
"We have history on this," Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic told the Rotary Club of Atlanta this month. "In the '70s, the Fed started removing accommodation too soon. Inflation spiked back up. Then we had to tighten. Inflation came down. Then we removed it again. Inflation went back up. And by the time we were done with that, all Americans could think about was inflation."
The Fed is determined not to repeat that '70s show. At the same time, waiting too long to cut interest rates risks slowing the economy more than necessary to bring inflation under control.
A report from the Labor Department Wednesday showed employers' cost for labor rose more slowly than expected in the final months of last year. Labor costs increased just 0.9% in the fourth quarter. That's a smaller increase than the previous quarter, suggesting labor costs are putting less upward pressure on prices.
Fed officials promised to keep an eye on upcoming economic data and adjust accordingly.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.nepm.org/2024-01-31/the-federal-reserve-holds-interest-rates-steady-but-signals-rate-cuts-may-be-coming
| 2024-01-31T23:36:18Z
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Broadway legend Hinton Battle, who originally played Scarecrow in 'The Wiz', has died By Megan Lim, Tinbete Ermyas Published January 31, 2024 at 5:39 PM EST Facebook Twitter Email Listen • 1:59 Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner. Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.delmarvapublicmedia.org/2024-01-31/broadway-legend-hinton-battle-who-originally-played-scarecrow-in-the-wiz-has-died
| 2024-01-31T23:36:18Z
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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — For the first time in her 65-year history, Barbie will be decked out in the colors of this year’s Super Bowl champion.
Ahead of the Feb. 11 game between the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, Mattel Creations announced its first Super Bowl Champion doll, which will be decked out in the colors of the winning team.
According to a news release, the world’s most famous doll will be one of three items offered after the big game. There will also be a Fisher-Price Little People Collector and a UNO Fandom deck available for purchase.
Toy manufacturer Mattel is returning to what it says was a winning game plan last year, and adding some new plays, in a bid to sell collectible toys tied to this year’s Super Bowl. https://t.co/j79io1DTML
— Forbes (@Forbes) January 30, 2024
The toys can be pre-ordered, but they will only be issued in the uniform jersey and hat of the winning team, USA Today reported. The Barbie doll will have a $30 price tag, and so will the Little People collectible. The UNO Fandom deck will be sold for $12.
The Little People figurines will feature three players from the winning team, plus a “super fan,” Mattel said in its release.
The Fandom deck will feature the winning team’s official logo, cards featuring players from the champions and a collectible foil card in each pack.
“As football fans across the country get ready for The Big Game, we’re thrilled to offer San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs superfans the chance to commemorate a historic win with these special collectibles from our Fisher-Price, Barbie, and UNO brands,” Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s executive vice president and chief brand officer, said in a statement. “Whichever team reigns supreme on February 11th, Mattel Creations is the place to find that must-have piece of Super Bowl LVIII memorabilia worthy of any collection.”
Last year’s Little People Collector line from Super Bowl LVII included Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, defensive tackle Chris Jones and a Kansas City super fan.
The Barbie and Fisher-Price items are officially licensed NFL products. Fans and collectors can preorder the items through Feb. 25 at MattelCreations.com/thebiggame. Items will begin shipping in August, Mattel said.
People who preorder the losing team will have their money refunded.
Orders are only valid for U.S. customers.
The Fandom deck will be available in March.
Last year, Mattel asked fans to vote for their Super Bowl favorite by preordering sets featuring the Chiefs or Eagles, Forbes reported. While the Eagles got more preorders, the Chiefs got the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
© 2024 Cox Media Group
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https://www.k95tulsa.com/news/trending/super-bowl-lviii-mattel-creating-barbie-doll-commemorate-big-game/ZMZWHWSLKVEVRI2CE33NEILQXE/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:17Z
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Atiku Seeks Votes for PDP in Saturday’s By-election
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has urged citizens of Ebonyi, Yobe, Borno, Kaduna, Benue, Ondo, Taraba, Lagos and Kebbi to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party in the by-election scheduled for Saturday.
According to Atiku, the outcome of the election will determine how prepared Nigerians are to provoke the march to economic and national recovery.
The by-election arising from outstanding voting into various legislative positions in the 2023 General Election is billed for Saturday.
He wrote on X, “These elections that cover a wide range of polling units and a few constituencies shall be the last effort by the respective voters in the affected electoral wards to conclude their franchise in the last General Elections.
“It is my appeal to voters in the Ebonyi South senatorial district to give their unalloyed support to Barrister Silas Onu and, by so doing, vote for the Peoples Democratic Party in Saturday’s by-election. The people of Ebonyi South Senatorial District, the Senate and indeed Nigeria stand to gain from Silas Onu’s multiple set skills and the vibrancy of his youth.
“My appeal goes beyond Ebonyi State and connects with voters in all the 35 constituencies and nine states affected by court-ordered by-elections.
“I do hope that voters in these states, which include Ebonyi, Yobe, Borno, Kaduna, Benue, Ondo, Taraba, Lagos and Kebbi, shall make a bold statement in the forthcoming election by putting a stamp of rejection on the ruling All Progressives Congress for having made insecurity and impoverishment a policy of the state in all the affected polling units.
“Our country stands at the cusp of a new beginning, and the decisions that voters in the elections on Saturday shall make will determine how ready we are, as a people, to provoke the march to economic and national recovery.
“I would also like to advocate for a peaceful election this Saturday and urge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use the opportunity of this by-election to redeem itself of the fraudulent and shambolic elections of 2023.
“I want to specifically urge members of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party and, indeed, agents of other political parties participating in the elections to conduct themselves according to the laid down regulations on the day of the election. -AA”
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https://concise.ng/atiku-seeks-votes-for-pdp-in-saturdays-by-election/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:19Z
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Traditional Ghanaian Brooms Selling For Over GH¢200 On Amazon Sparks Debate On Social Media
- The cost of local Ghanaian brooms selling on Amazon has generated conversations on social media
- The brooms cost $18 which is GH¢222.39 with the current exchange rate on Google
- Many people opined that the brooms cost way less in Ghana while others were surprised at the price
The cost of traditional Ghanaian brooms being sold in dollars on Amazon has caused a stir on social media as many people talk about the price tag.
The price of brooms sold online caused a stir
A screenshot of the prices of the traditional Ghanaian brooms was shared on the Instagram page of Accra-based media house, GHOne TV.
The price tag of the brooms that sparked a debate online was $18 which is GH¢222.39 with the current exchange rate on Google.
Below are pictures showing the price tags of traditional Ghanaian brooms being sold on Amazon.
Ghanaians reacted to the cost of the broom on Amazon
Many Ghanaians in the comment section of the post could not believe the cost of the broom since it costs way less in the country.
Below are some of the thoughts from Ghanaians:
baronjnr said:
You’re now selling brooms on Amazon?
evrepixel said:
Eeii hmm, I wonder why you guys don't understand this post. It's just trying to show us how ridiculous a common broom costs on Amazon when it's a penny here
1aj_loco said:
Prayɛ mpo nie... Ɛniɛ fufuo wɔma nsoɛ
mimies.trendz said:
It’s the 32 inches for me
darlyn_naa said:
Blɔ two million, two hundred and two chopable Ghana cedis
jozziebae said:
Ashesi alumna Princess Asante bags GH¢304k after taking part in the giveaway of American YouTuber Mr Beast
How can I become a supplier?
westside_66_6 said:
Pray3 2Million
"I still get my daily bread from this": 76-year-old GH broom maker inspires youth
YEN.com.gh reported that a video of an elderly man opening up on his work as a broom maker left many feeling inspired.
The 76-year-old revealed he had been doing the business for over 6 years and has no regrets about the job.
Netizens who saw the video have commended the elderly man for working hard even at this age.
New feature: Сheck out news that is picked for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!
Source: YEN.com.gh
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https://yen.com.gh/facts-lifehacks/250676-traditional-brooms-selling-ghc200-amazon-sparks-debate-social-media/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:19Z
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Liverpool's win v. Chelsea was 'men against boys'
January 31, 2024 05:24 PM
Paul Burmeister, Tim Howard, and Robbie Mustoe react to Liverpool's dominant 4-1 victory over Chelsea and praise Conor Bradley for his man of the match performance for the Reds.
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https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/premier-league/diazs-sliding-effort-makes-it-4-1-for-liverpool
| 2024-01-31T23:36:20Z
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Joe Dumars went to a game a couple of weeks ago that came down to the very last shot, and he thought it was one of the best games of the season to this point. Final score: Denver 102, Boston 100.
It was a reminder that defense still can get played in the NBA.
Amid a flurry of big individual performances — Luka Doncic scoring 73, Joel Embiid scoring 70, Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns each scoring 62 — in the last two weeks alone, Dumars said Wednesday that NBA officials aren't alarmed by such numbers because the league's scoring average is up only slightly compared to last season.
“It's where the game is today,” said Dumars, the NBA's executive vice president and head of basketball operations. “It's the pace of the game. It's the amount of 3s guys are shooting now. You're going to have some offensive eruptions like that.”
There hadn't been an instance since April 1978 of two players scoring at least 60 points in the same day. That is, until it happened twice last week: Embiid and Towns had their huge games on Jan. 22, Doncic and Booker put on their scoring shows on Jan. 26.
Having those events happen twice in the span of a few days is a statistical oddity, for certain. But the numbers show it's not really much more than that.
Scoring leaguewide this season is up just 0.78% over last season entering Wednesday, from 114.7 points per game to 115.6 points per game. The jump was far bigger last season, when scoring rose 3.7% over the rate of 110.6 points per game that the league saw in 2021-22.
There have been more high-scoring games, but the averages suggest things also tend to balance out. Entering Wednesday, there had been 78 instances of teams scoring at least 135 points in a game this season — already the second most for a full season in league history and on pace to smash the record of 112, set last season. The previous mark was 74 games of 135 or more, done in 2019-20.
“We're going to see offensive eruptions with this kind of pace and the amount of 3s people shoot,” Dumars said. “But there's no push here at the league office from me or anyone else that we want to see a certain score. I left that Boston-Denver game saying, ‘wow, great game.’ That's what fans want. Fans want to leave a game or watch a game and at the end say, ‘that was incredible.’ The score is secondary to that. Fans just want to see great games.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.wpxi.com/sports/with-scoring-up-less/5QFZ254JCBNCYJSEAYKGVDSC2Y/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:21Z
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Various levels and amounts of company layoffs are starting to commence across the U.S. due to reasons including lower revenues and organizational rearrangements.
Numerous amounts of companies in industries such as technology, finance, shipping and travel are making significant changes to their respective staff.
According to a survey shared by Business Insider, 38% of business leaders believe their own company will deal with layoffs this year — and half of them say their companies will have hiring freezes.
UPS
The shipping company announced 12,000 layoffs this week, reporting a decrease in shipping volume in both domestic and international markets from the previous year.
Brian Hughes, the UPS director of financial and strategy communications, shared to USA Today that in 2023, dynamic economic conditions resulted in a $9 billion decline in revenue, year after year.
“2023 was a unique, and quite candidly, difficult and disappointing year,” said by CEO Carol Tomé, per CNBC. “We experienced declines in volume, revenue and operating profits and all three of our business segments.”
Hughes also shared to USA Today that the layoffs will occur around the world over the next several months, with 75% of them commencing in the first half of this year — although it wasn’t revealed which positions would be affected.
American Airlines
The U.S. based transportation company announced this week the layoff of 656 customer support employees.
According to Fox Business, 335 employees in Phoenix and an additional 321 in Dallas-Fort Worth, who are part of the company’s various customer service groups, are to be laid off to reorganize the overall customer service experience and simplify it down to one source.
Prior to this change, customers with multiple issues had to contact multiple groups to handle each issue individually.
“As part of these updates, we are creating a new Customer Success team that will be dedicated to providing more convenient, elevated support to American Airlines customers with some of their most complex travel needs,” according to a statement shared by NBC 5 Dallas Fort-Worth, an NBC affiliate.
PayPal
On Tuesday, the financial tech company announced a roughly 9% cut of its workforce.
Forbes reported that approximately 2,500 jobs from its near 30,000 employees will be removed to eliminate filled and non-filled positions.
PayPal CEO Alex Chriss stated in a press release, “Specifically, across our organization, we need to drive more focus and efficiency, deploy automation, and consolidate our technology to reduce complexity and duplication.”
According to CNBC, the affected employees will be notified by the end of the week.
In addition, CNBC included news from the previous week of PayPal announcing plans to introduce AI features to its program, as Chriss calls it the “next chapter” for the company.
eBay
Last week, the e-commerce company stated it would be laying off 9%, or about 1,000 full-time jobs, from its workforce.
CEO Jamie Iannone shared a letter to the company’s corporate blog that the move is to “scale back the number of contracts” because “overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business.”
As reported by CNBC, eBay shares went down about 4% last November, with Iannone stating, “Inflationary pressures and rising interest rates continue to weigh on consumer confidence and pressured demand for discretionary goods.”
The news comes shortly after eBay was fined $3 million in court over incidents of harassment to a Massachusetts couple.
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https://www.deseret.com/2024/1/31/24056957/january-2024-layoffs-ups-american-paypal-ebay
| 2024-01-31T23:36:23Z
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Some of the country’s rugby league legends will be swapping the pitch for putting instead at Rugby League Northland’s golfing fundraiser.
Chief executive Robbie Johnson said the Legends of League Golf Fundraiser, organised in collaboration with Northland Golf, was to help raise money to ease the financial burden on young players.
Among the star-studded line-up taking on the par at the Pines Golf Club in Whangārei Heads on Friday are former New Zealand Warriors and Kiwi players Ruben Wiki, Duane Mann, Jerry Suesue, and Ali Lauiti’iti.
And while the fellas might be more familiar with nuisances of rugby league, Johnson said they weren’t strangers to golf. Many had taken up the sport as a pastime.
Johnson said spots to take part in the fundraiser booked up within two weeks. Around 40 teams had entered, amassing roughly 120 players.
The turnout was a strong show of support for removing financial barriers for players representing Northland in the under-14s, 16s, and 18s divisions.
Youth teams - boys and girls - each attended a national tournament throughout the year that usually lasted two or three days over a weekend.
“It can be quite a substantial cost to whānau to get them there,” Johnson said.
He described how van hire, accommodation and food to fuel the close to 100 youth at times through the competition all added up.
“Unfortunately we don’t have the revenue streams to cover those costs.”
Johnson said Rugby League Northland was supported by funders, fundraisers, and sponsorship.
Supporting the large number of youth who taken up the sport in the region was a key priority for the organisation.
“Northland has already been blessed with rugby talent, it is very much a sport for Northlanders. Rugby League Northland has an obligation to create platforms and opportunities so kids can achieve their dreams,” Johnson said.
He believed the success of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021, the Kiwi Ferns and National Women’s Rugby League had stirred up women’s sport and encouraged youngsters to get involved.
Other than just seeing rugby league royalty up close, the golfing fundraiser also has exciting prizes on offer for fans of the sport. Among them is a boot signed by Kiwis captain James Fisher-Harris, who was named the winner of international rugby league’s Golden Boot award last year. Fisher-Harris is the first prop to win the award since its inception in 1984.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rugby-league-northlands-legend-of-league-golf-fundraiser-attracts-major-sporting-talent/ZBKAP3RXEJHIZJZTKSZDBQDOLI/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:23Z
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Leading wine retailer Crushed Wines has relocated their wine bar to a new and larger space in Sai Ying Pun that’s opposite their sister venue Brut!. On Crushed’s ground floor, guests can enjoy a casual bar experience with their favourite sips, or opt for wine flights as they nibble on light plates like braised leeks with almond and garlic puree ($88), aubergine with whipped roast chilli topped with chocolate chilli crisp ($98), or peanut butter pie ($78). Those seeking more filling options can head to Crushed’s second floor to enjoy a meal in the venue’s spacious dining room and browse through their menu, which includes hearty dishes like roast acorn squash with burrata and hazelnut brown butter ($248), scallop risotto with sumac beurre blanc ($298), and Roquefort mac & cheese ($148).
Crushed Wine Bar
Time Out says
Details
- Address:
- Shop A, G/F, 6-8 Second Street, Sai Ying Pun
- Hong Kong
- Contact:
- View Website
- Opening hours:
- Tues-Fri 4pm-11pm, Sat 3pm-11pm
Discover Time Out original video
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/bars-and-pubs/crushed-wine-bar
| 2024-01-31T23:36:24Z
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LONDON — British police said Wednesday they are hunting for a suspect after several people were injured with a corrosive substance in London.
The Metropolitan Police force said nine people were hurt, including a woman and two children, in the incident in the Clapham area.
Detective Superintendent Alexander Castle called it a ''horrific incident.''
Police said nine people had been taken to hospitals: the woman and two children; three adults who came to their assistance; and three police officers. Castle said the officers' injuries were believed to be minor. There was no immediate word on the condition of the others.
Castle said tests were underway to determine what had caused the injuries but ''at this stage we believe it to be a corrosive substance.''
He said police were searching for a man who was seen fleeing the scene.
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https://m.startribune.com/uk-police-hunt-suspect-after-several-injured-with-corrosive-substance-in-london/600340055/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:23Z
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Drugmaker Biogen is pulling the plug on its controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, following disappointing sales. It had been expected to be a blockbuster product.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Drugmaker Biogen is pulling the plug on its controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, following disappointing sales. It had been expected to be a blockbuster product.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.delmarvapublicmedia.org/2024-01-31/expected-to-be-a-big-deal-alzheimers-drug-is-pulled-after-disappointing-sales
| 2024-01-31T23:36:24Z
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Donald Trump has yet to officially clinch the Republican presidential nomination, but he's already begun to tease about a running mate. The NPR Politics Podcast dives into who might be on his list.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Donald Trump has yet to officially clinch the Republican presidential nomination, but he's already begun to tease about a running mate. The NPR Politics Podcast dives into who might be on his list.
Copyright 2024 NPR
|
https://www.nepm.org/2024-01-31/trump-says-vp-pick-wont-impact-the-race-so-whats-he-looking-for-in-a-running-mate
| 2024-01-31T23:36:24Z
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Court Orders Arrest Of Fubara’s Chief Of Staff
Following the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex, a Federal High Court in Abuja has sanctioned a bench warrant against Edison Ehie, Chief of Staff to Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Justice Emeka Nwite, presiding over the case, has also authorized the arrest, investigation, and prosecution of Jinjiri Bala, Happy Benedict, Progress Joseph, Adokiye Oyagiri, and Chibuike Peter, also known as Rambo.
The court’s decision comes after an ex parte application by the Inspector General of Police against the former factional speaker of the state assembly and the named suspects.
The application, presented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Simon Lough, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, referenced legal provisions including sections 37, 113, 114, 84, and 184 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Section 35 of the Nigerian Constitution, and 32 of the Police Act, 2020.
The Inspector General of Police has accused the fugitive defendants of serious offenses, including conspiracy, arson, terrorism, and the murder of Superintendent of Police Bako Agbashim, along with five other police informants.
The victims, identified as Charles Osu, Ogbonna Eja, Idaowuka Felix, Paul Victor Chibuogu, and Saturday Edi, were police informants in the Ahoada community of Rivers State.
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https://concise.ng/court-orders-arrest-of-fubaras-chief-of-staff/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:25Z
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The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,270,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the December 31st total of 3,110,000 shares. Approximately 9.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 445,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.3 days.
Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Down 2.2 %
NASDAQ:CHEF traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $31.82. 482,185 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 366,395. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.24. Chefs’ Warehouse has a twelve month low of $17.29 and a twelve month high of $39.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.81 and a beta of 2.12.
Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33. The company had revenue of $881.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $836.19 million. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 0.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 33.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.
Insider Activity
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American International Group Inc. lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 1.6% in the second quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 18,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 13.1% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 5.0% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 1.4% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 30,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.95% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CHEF. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Friday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $50.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Chefs’ Warehouse
Chefs’ Warehouse Company Profile
The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in distribution of specialty food products in the United States and Canada. The company's product portfolio includes approximately 55,000 stock-keeping units, such as specialty food products, including artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate, and pastry products.
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https://www.com-unik.info/2024/01/31/the-chefs-warehouse-inc-nasdaqchef-sees-significant-increase-in-short-interest.html
| 2024-01-31T23:36:26Z
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We already know superfoods are healthy. But a new medical study suggests pasta, bread, potatoes and even pizza have health benefits.
The study, publishing in January in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined how protein intake influences aging. Researchers from Tufts University used surveys collected every four years from Harvard-based Nurses’ Health Study. The data was collected over the span of 32 years and included more than 48,000 female participants.
Researchers considered participants “healthy agers” if they remained free from 11 chronic diseases and maintained cognitive function, physical function and mental health.
Is plant protein or animal protein better for aging?
Women with higher consumption of plant proteins — defined in the study as protein from bread, pizza, fruits, vegetables, mashed potatoes, beans, cereal and baked items — were 46% more likely to remain healthy while aging, researchers noted. These women were less likely to get frail or develop ailments such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and declining cognitive function later in life.
The same results were not true for participants with diets heavy in animal protein such as meat, cheese, milk and seafood.
“Consuming protein in midlife was linked to promoting good health in older adulthood. ... We also found that the source of protein matters,” said lead author of the study, nutritional epidemiologist Andres Ardisson Korat, a scientist with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, per Tufts University.
Korat continues: “Getting the majority of your protein from plant sources at midlife, plus a small amount of animal protein seems to be conducive to good health and good survival to older ages.”
Researchers noted that animal protein has a moderate link to fewer limitations in aging but plant protein consumption has a more consistent association across the board and stronger benefits for mental and cognitive health in old age.
“Those who consumed greater amounts of animal protein tended to have more chronic disease and didn’t manage to obtain the improved physical function that we normally associate with eating protein,” said Korat, per Tufts University.
Plant protein is heart-healthy
Higher plant protein consumption was also tied to lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and a healthier heart. On the other hand, higher animal protein consumption was linked to higher LDL cholesterol levels and higher blood pressure.
“The advantage of consuming more plant protein compared with other nutrients in the diet is that plant protein is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions,” Ardisson Korat explained, per Forbes. “It promotes good physical function by enhancing muscle synthesis. And it comes from food sources that typically contain high-quality carbohydrates, such as dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, and antioxidants.”
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https://www.deseret.com/2024/1/31/24057021/pizza-healthy
| 2024-01-31T23:36:29Z
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Liverpool's win v. Chelsea was 'men against boys'
January 31, 2024 05:24 PM
Paul Burmeister, Tim Howard, and Robbie Mustoe react to Liverpool's dominant 4-1 victory over Chelsea and praise Conor Bradley for his man of the match performance for the Reds.
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https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/soccer/premier-league/extended-hls-liverpool-v-chelsea-matchweek-22
| 2024-01-31T23:36:30Z
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“Sometimes it’s like a gut punch that forces all the air out of your lungs.”
That’s how a Tauranga mother describes the impact of the loss of her son, apprentice builder Ethan Thomas Perham-Turner, who was killed after unbraced timber framing fell on him at a Ōmokoroa worksite in March 2022.
He had tried to stop two frames from falling over but slipped off the edge of a dirt bank. The top plate of the frames struck him on the back of his neck and head area inflicting fatal injuries.
The 19-year-old was just four months into his apprenticeship with Inspire Building Limited which had been contracted by Thorne Group B.O.P Limited to construct dwellings at the Te Kaha Plc property.
WorkSafe found that the businesses should have consulted on the timber framing installation plan and ensured a mechanical aid (such as a Hiab crane truck) was used to install the framing. The safety risk was heightened by the framing being manually installed around the site, and a temporary support brace had been removed shortly before the fatal incident.
The companies were sentenced in the Tauranga District Court yesterday after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of failing to comply with their duty to ensure the health and safety of their workers.
Judge Paul Geoghegan fined The Thorne Group $210,000 and Inspire $30,000. A $130,000 of emotional harm reparation to be paid to Ethan’s family, with Inspire paying 60 per cent of the award and Thorne Group the balance.
The companies also have to pay another $10,000 emotional harm reparation to a work colleague of Ethan’s, as well as $5706.30 in consequential losses, with Inspire to pay 60 per cent of this award and Thorne Group the rest. WorkSafe costs of 11,712.02 must also be paid.
Judge Geoghegan said assessing the sum to be paid to the family for the loss of a loved one in these circumstances was an “impossible task”.
The judge said he had assessed Inspire’s level of culpability for the tragedy as greater than Thorne Group, which admitted it had failed to adequately monitor the effectiveness of Inspire’s safety systems in terms of timber framing.
Ethan’s devastated mother Sheleace Turner, supported by her husband Jason, Ethan’s sister Charlie, his grandmother Wanda Penham and grandfather Dennis Turner read victim impact statements to the court.
Sheleace Turner placed a large framed photograph of her son on a seat next to the public gallery.
“Ethan brought a beautiful layer of light and warmth to our lives that I had never known before him. From his first breath and throughout his short 19 years and up until his last breath he was someone who only ever added good to the world and to the people who crossed his path.”
Shelaece Turner said her son was the “happiest person” she had ever known.
“People loved being around Ethan. They were drawn to him. He had this ability to make you feel like a better version of yourself. People would always compliment me on what an amazing, human Ethan was.
“He was kind, caring, generous, fun, humorous, confident, committed, creative, imaginative, honest, ambitious, loyal, and dependable.
“I am so proud of Ethan.”
The devastated mother said she questioned how a healthy teenage boy could go to work and never come home.
“This question often steals hours of every day for me. Ethan was an apprentice builder and the youngest and least experienced builder on the site.
“There is no greater loss than losing a child ... Ethan should be alive and he should be enjoying the amazing life he created. He had an incredible future ahead of him and so many hopes and dreams. Ethan left this world feeling valued and loved. He was a fabulous brother to his siblings and adored his grandparents.
“I miss everything about him.
“Our lives are altered forever, and we will never know a life without grief,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s like a gut punch that forces all the air out of your lungs.”
She had struggled with her mental health since the tragedy and had to give up work.
She told directors of the companies they got to go home after the sentencing hearing and this chapter of their lives was closed.
“We’ve drawn the short straw, and go home to the same heartache that we have felt since the day Ethan was killed and to a life without our beautiful son.”
“There is no tougher sentence ... We are left with a small urn that holds Ethan’s ashes and a few boxes of his special things that we cannot part with and photos that spark memories, and we have the light and warmth that Ethan wove into our lives and hearts.”
Ethan’s grandmother Wanda Perham and his grandfather Dennis Turner told the court they had suffered an “unimaginable” loss and would never get over the death of their grandson from what could never be described as an accident.
In a written statement WorkSafe NZ said Perham-Turner’s death was yet another example of why the construction sector needed to “up its game”.
”The death of a worker so young is an indictment on the construction sector, WorkSafe’s area investigation manager, Paul West said.
”Ethan was new to the job and should have been provided with what he needed to be safe.
”It is unacceptable that companies are not identifying the risks and providing workers with a safe workplace.
“We can only hope the death of a very young apprentice might motivate the step change required to improve the sector’s health and safety performance,” he said.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tauranga-companies-thorne-group-bop-limited-and-inspire-building-limited-fined-after-apprentice-builders-death-at-omokoroa-worksite/PMEWJVWECFAUHBEOLH7D6XTBME/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:30Z
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Jazz enthusiasts will revel in the latest addition to the Singular Concepts family – The Trilogy's new jazz venue. The new space pays tribute to the legendary Queen of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, and embodies the vibrant spirit of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. With a curated selection of cocktails inspired by the classics like Roasted Boulevardier ($120) and Loui Sazerac ($130), as well as New Orleans-style bites like Rockefeller oysters (starts at $90) and Boudin arancini balls ($98), the ambience transports you to an era of classic bars where you can enjoy soul-stirring jazz music. Catch live jazz performances that bring the place to life every Wednesday through Saturday, starting at 8pm.
Ella
Time Out says
Details
- Address:
- 26F, The Trilogy, H Code, 45 Pottinger Street, Central
- Hong Kong
- Contact:
- View Website
- Opening hours:
- Tue-Sat 6pm-1am
Discover Time Out original video
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https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/bars-and-pubs/ella
| 2024-01-31T23:36:30Z
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Jorge Rubiano arrived alone in Chicago, but his pain and trauma came with him.
For months, he tried to find steady work. For months, he's been sleeping in a crowded temporary shelter, worrying about his wife and mother back in Colombia. Are they safe? Did I make the right decision?
He recalls a frightening phone call with his wife in Colombia, cut short when the bus she was riding on was being robbed.
Rubiano, 43, is also haunted by memories of his harrowing journey to Chicago, during which he says he was kidnapped for a month, before escaping.
He left his country, he says, over a land dispute in which the government threatened his life.
"I'm still in between two dangers," Rubiano says in Spanish. "If I return it's very possible they kill me, and if I stay I don't know what can happen here."
More than 30,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since August of 2022 — most of them from South and Central America. They are fleeing the collapse of their economies, a lack of food and jobs, and violence back home.
Many came here on a bus from Texas, sent by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who said Chicago — and other so-called sanctuary cities that embrace immigrants — would provide much-needed relief "to our small, overrun border towns."
The buses haven't stopped since.
Migrants fleeing hardship, danger, fear and loss
Interviews with more than 30 people reveal the emotional toll migrants face, and the efforts of individuals and organizations that are trying to fill the gaps of a frayed mental health system.
Some of those efforts are catching the attention of leaders in other big U.S. cities also coping with large influxes of newly-arrived migrants.
For many, their journeys here were terrifying. A young girl who fell into a river, her pregnant mother struggling to hold her small hand, so the current wouldn't whisk her away. Women who were forced to have sex with gang members to get from country to country. People who walked over the dead in the jungle, or are wracked with guilt over the sick and injured left behind.
Their stories have unfolded across Chicago: in the quiet space of a therapist's office, at an informal healing circle in the back of a store, with a nurse at a folding table propped up outside a police station.
But for many migrants, taking care of their mental health might not be a priority.
"They're in survival mode," says Sharon Davila, a school-based social worker who has screened migrant families. "They need their basic needs met. The number one thing is they're looking for jobs."
Just getting in front of a therapist or a social worker can be extremely difficult for even the most savvy and persistent. With a shortage of mental health workers, wait lists for an appointment can be months long.
Layer on being new to this country, speaking a different language, and having no health insurance. Getting help can seem impossible.
Therapist Susie Moya worries about a mental health crisis brewing for many migrants.
"Right now it's on the back burner," says Moya, who has worked with migrants on Chicago's Lower West Side. "But I'm thinking a year from now when these families are settled in. Who is going to be providing that support?"
Informal support, with a side of soup
It's a Monday night in the back room of an insurance agency on the Southwest Side. About 20 migrants have arranged their chairs in a circle. Each person takes a turn describing how they feel on a scale of one to 10, as social worker Veronica Sanchez gently encourages them to share why.
Warm homemade chicken soup and arepas await them for dinner.
A woman says her husband got deported, and she's heartbroken that she left her children behind. A man says he worked several days that week, but never got paid. Another says he is grateful to God for bringing him to America, but he misses his mom, dad and brothers.
Finding work and reuniting with family is important, Sanchez tells them. But right now she's concerned about their mental health.
"Maybe we have answers. Maybe we don't. But when you open up a safe space where you can share your sorrows... you don't feel so alone," Sanchez says in Spanish.
Sanchez understands the migrants' desperation. She comes from a long line of pottery makers in Mexico. Sanchez was just four years old when her father left to work in Cicero, a suburb outside Chicago. She didn't see her father for almost seven years, until they were reunited as a family in Cicero.
Those memories fuel her work with the healing circle. "When I was talking to them, it really came from the heart," Sanchez says. "I was seeing the migrants' faces, that they were so scared."
Informal support groups like this one have popped up around Chicago in shelters, storefronts, churches and schools, led by volunteers or mental health professionals.
Many of these support groups don't last long. Volunteers get burned out. Migrants prioritize other needs. Or the city moves them from place to place.
The costs of ignoring loss and trauma
Some volunteers and mental health providers emphasize that not every migrant might be experiencing severe trauma.
But for many, trauma can have lasting impact. Trauma can change the wiring in a person's brain and make someone more vulnerable to depression and anxiety.
Daily or ongoing stressors can add up to what Chicago psychologist Laura Pappa calls "little t trauma" — like not feeling welcomed right away.
"A lot of people come here seeking the American dream and they realize that that's not there," says Pappa, who came to the U.S. from Argentina as a teen. "A lot of people were not expecting that, how hard it is on this side. I've had a lot of parents who've come alone and ask themselves, was it worth it?"
It can be hard to persuade migrants to seek help, however. There's a stigma about the need for mental health care in many immigrant communities, particularly among Latino men, Pappa says.
But, she adds, the stigma is easing as talking about emotions becomes more common.
Training the front-line workers in shelters
One effort to provide faster help involves training hundreds of peoplewho don't have a medical background, but work in city-run shelters. These front-line workers, such as case managers and shelter supervisors, are learning to lead support groups called Café y Comunidad charlas — coffee and community talks.
The initiative is led by the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health, the University of Chicago's Crown Family School, and Lurie Children's Center for Childhood Resilience.
The idea is to help migrants feel less isolated and try to prevent the most extreme outcomes, such as suicide.
"We have to help people the minute they arrive," explainsAimee Hilado, an assistant professor at UC's Crown School and chair of the coalition. "That's actually going to promote healing down the line."
Case manager Albert Ayala has led a charla in the ballroom of a downtown shelter. He recalls moments of joy, such as when a woman said she was searching for love — and hands shot up hoping to catch her attention.
Ayala says he's watched migrants who arrive scared and shy blossom after attending a charla.
"We try to tell them we're no different from you," says Ayala, who is Mexican American. "Your dream is possible."
Leaders in Philadelphia and San Jose have reached out asking how to replicate the effort, Hilado says.
Outside his shelter, Rubiano, the migrant from Colombia, says he hasn't attended one of these support groups. He says he tries to keep busy working on his English skills. And he recently found a full-time job in a supermarket.
He longs for his family, and for the chance to bring them here — once there is a stable life he can offer them.
WBEZ is part of the Mental Health Parity Collaborative, a group of newsrooms covering stories on mental health care access and inequities in the U.S. The Collaborative's partners include The Carter Center, the Center for Public Integrity and newsrooms in select states across the country.
WBEZ's Manuel Martinez contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 WBEZ
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https://www.delmarvapublicmedia.org/2024-01-31/for-chicagos-new-migrants-informal-support-groups-help-ease-the-pain-and-trauma
| 2024-01-31T23:36:30Z
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National & World News A look from Maui six months after devastating wildfires By Debbie Elliott Published January 31, 2024 at 5:39 PM EST Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 5:06 As we approach the six-month anniversary of the Maui fires, we look at the biggest issues that people on the island are still facing. Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2024-01-31/a-look-from-maui-six-months-after-devastating-wildfires
| 2024-01-31T23:36:30Z
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Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.kosu.org/arts-culture/2024-01-31/broadway-legend-hinton-battle-who-originally-played-scarecrow-in-the-wiz-has-died
| 2024-01-31T23:36:31Z
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LAS VEGAS — Fans have been wondering for days whether Taylor Swift will make it to the Super Bowl next week to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs and, if so, how many times she'll show up on TV during the game. They can speculate all they want, but they won't be able to bet on it legally in the United States.
Those types of wagers can be made offshore with sportsbooks such as BetUS, which is based in Costa Rica, and potentially in the Canadian province of Ontario. BetMGM public relations manager John Ewing said he was waiting for word from Canadian authorities there if such bets will be OK.
But in the U.S., where betting laws vary from state to state, the general rule is that wagering is limited to what happens on the field. A handful of states allow bets to be placed on the color of Gatorade dumped on the winning coach — red or pink is this year's plus-260 favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook — but even that type of wager is not allowed in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas, the longtime epicenter of sports betting in the U.S., has some of the strictest rules regarding the kinds of wagers made.
Swift's romance with Kelce became one of the prominent stories this NFL season and she has attended several Chiefs games, including their victory in the AFC championship game at Baltimore on Sunday, where she joined the team for its on-field celebration and greeted Kelce with a kiss. Since she's performing in Japan the weekend of the Super Bowl, fans began wondering whether she'll make it to Las Vegas to watch Kelce and Kansas City face the San Francisco 49ers.
It seems only natural they would be able to put money on it in Vegas.
As a matter of principle, though, Ewing said it makes sense not to allow bets on things apart from the on-field action, such as the length of the national anthem.
"We don't want any subjectivity in a prop (bet),'' Ewing said. ''We want it to be either it won or it didn't win or went over or went under, and that's the concern for regulators as well. That's why typically we stick to if it's in the box score, it can be posted."
Caesars Sportsbook assistant trading director Adam Pullen's position is the more bets, the merrier.
''We've come a long way, but some stuff like we're talking about here (about Swift) or betting on elections, there still might be a few years before we get to that point,'' Pullen said. ''But I like anything that drives action and gets people to bet. But we're dependent on what the regulators in each particular state has to say.''
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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https://m.startribune.com/us-sportsbooks-wont-take-bets-on-possible-taylor-swift-appearance-at-the-super-bowl/600340041/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:30Z
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EFCC Uncovers Religious Sect Laundering Money for Terrorists
Ola Olukoyede, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has said a religious sect in Nigeria launders money for terrorists.
Olukoyede also accused another religious body of protecting a money launderer whose money the anti-graft agency traced to the organisation’s bank account.
The EFCC boss made the revelation on Wednesday at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, during a one-day dialogue on “Youth, Religion, and the Fight against Corruption.”
Olukoyede said, “A religious sect in this country had been found to be laundering money for terrorists.”
Earlier, he noted, “We were able to trace some laundered money to a religious organisation, and when we apporached the religious organisation about it and we were carrying out our investigation, we got a restraining order stopping us from carrying out our investigation.
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https://concise.ng/efcc-uncovers-religious-sect-laundering-money-for-terrorists/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:31Z
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ELMWOOD, Okla. -- A gas pipeline exploded in an Oklahoma town near the Texas border overnight, creating a glow that could "be seen for miles," local fire officials said Wednesday.
Photos and videos of the explosion posted on social media show flames shooting high into the air and illuminating an otherwise dark night sky with a red haze, KTVT reported. The Elmwood Fire Department has not publicly provided details about the status of the pipeline, only saying overnight on Facebook that its crews responded to a "pipeline blow out." CBS News has reached out to the fire department for more information.
Locals commented on the fire department's social media post that they could see the fire from miles away.
"We are 36 miles away from the fire and we can see it," one person said, while another posted a photo of the fire's glow from roughly 25 miles away.
The Booker Fire Department, which serves Booker, Texas, about 20 miles away from Elmwood, also responded to the fire. They posted videos of the explosion, saying it was a gas line.
"Crews from several departments are staged at a safe distance until the gas can be turned off," Booker Fire said on one of the videos. "...The flames are estimated to reach over 500 feet high."
The cause of the pipeline explosion has not been announced.
(The-CNN-Wire & 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
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https://abc7.com/oklahoma-pipeline-explosion-in-elmwood-today/14375985/
| 2024-01-31T23:36:30Z
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