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Manchin says no to new taxes, climate action in 'stunning' blow to Dems
WASHINGTON - Sen. Joe Manchin has said he’ll oppose an economic measure he’s been negotiating with Democratic leaders if it includes climate or energy provisions or higher taxes on the rich and corporations, a Democrat briefed on the conversations said late Thursday, delivering a stunning blow to one of the party’s top election-year priorities.
The official said Manchin told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday that he will only support a new measure if it is limited to curbing pharmaceutical prices and extending federal subsidies for buying health care coverage. Manchin abruptly derailed his party’s bigger and wider-ranging social and environment package last December after months of negotiations and after the measure had already passed the House.
Manchin's demands leave the future of the latest measure unclear, seemingly upending the hopes of President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders' for a more sweeping package they could push through Congress by August. That would have let them show Democratic voters that they were addressing a range of party priorities like curbing climate change and taxing the rich and draw a contrast with Republicans, who are expected to oppose the legislation unanimously.
RELATED: Teen’s ‘I Voted’ sticker design goes viral: ‘How everybody’s feeling about politics right now’
However, containing the costs of prescription drugs and extending subsidies for people buying health insurance under former President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care law are also top Democratic priorities. Manchin’s stance puts his party in the position of having to decide whether it should reluctantly declare victory by solely addressing some of its health care goals, as opposed to demanding more but potentially ending up with nothing.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that provisions Democrats have already agreed to curbing prescription drug costs — like letting Medicare negotiate prices for pharmaceuticals it buys — would save $288 billion over the coming decade.
That would be more than enough to pay for extending government subsidies for people who buy private healthcare coverage, assistance that expires in January.
Manchin spokesperson Sam Runyon issued a statement that reiterated the senator’s assertions that he did not want any measure that emerged to worsen inflation. The government reported this week that consumer costs last month grew by an annual level of 9.1%, the highest figure in four decades.
RELATED: US inflation reached 9.1% in June, a new 40-year high
"Political headlines are of no value to the millions of Americans struggling to afford groceries and gas as inflation soars to 9.1%," Runyon said. "Senator Manchin believes it’s time for leaders to put political agendas aside, reevaluate and adjust to the economic realities the country faces to avoid taking steps that add fuel to the inflation fire."
Manchin signaled unease with the negotiations on Wednesday, saying the latest inflation figures left him feeling "more cautious than I’ve ever been" about agreeing to a package that could fuel further price increases.
The official who described the talks was not authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Biden and congressional Democrats have been hoping to enact a roughly $1 trillion version of the $2 trillion bill that Manchin killed in December and tout it as an achievement before the November elections. Republicans, who hope to capture House and Senate control in the fall voting, say the new measure would worsen inflation by boosting spending and raising taxes.
RELATED: Average car payment hits record $712/month as new, used car prices continue to climb
Manchin, one of Congress' more centrist Democrats, has enormous leverage, much to the dismay of many in his party. Using special budget rules, Democrats can push a package through the 50-50 Senate if they are solidly united, along with Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking vote.
They also control the House, though narrowly. Recent grumbling from some moderates there about raising taxes — an easy campaign-season target for Republicans — has raised questions about the fate of tax boost proposals in that chamber.
Top Democrats have wanted to reach agreement and approve the measure before Congress begins its August recess. Progress on major legislation is much harder in the autumn of election years, when every vote can become the target of a barrage of campaign attack ads.
White House spokesman Nick Conger declined to comment on Manchin's position.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called Democrats' legislation "our last chance to prevent the most catastrophic-and costly-effects of climate change." But he said the party must "salvage as much of this package as possible. The expression that failure is not an option is overused, but failure really is not an option here."
"It seems odd that Sen. Manchin would choose as his legacy to be the one man who single-handedly doomed humanity. But we can’t throw in the towel on the planet," said John Podesta, founder of the liberal Center for American Progress, who said Biden should use his executive powers to take climate action.
Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called it "outrageous that Manchin and the Republican Party have killed climate legislation this Congress," and called on Biden to take action.
In talks with Schumer that have lasted months, Manchin had previously expressed support for energy and climate language and for raising levies on high-earners and big companies.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 15: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) (L) talks with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Just this week, two Democratic aides said bargainers were planning to include a proposal to extend the solvency of Medicare for three more years by applying an existing 3.8% tax on high earners to many people who earn income from some tax-advantaged business entities. Asked about that, Runyon said Manchin has always supported keeping Medicare solvent and reducing pharmaceutical costs.
According to the official, Schumer had told Manchin during their talks that he would support using half of the overall measure for deficit reduction, a Manchin demand.
Schumer also said he would back setting aside $375 billion for climate and energy provisions, the official said. He also told Manchin he would back provisions aimed at helping domestic energy drilling — the West Virginian is a strong supporter of coal and domestic oil production — and would not include tax credits for electric vehicles, which Manchin had largely opposed.
The official said that even so, the resulting measure would have included clean energy tax credits and trimmed carbon emissions by almost 40 percent by 2030, according to Democratic estimates. | https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/joe-manchin-new-taxes-climate-change-democrats-agenda-inflation | 2022-07-15T17:10:53Z | https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/joe-manchin-new-taxes-climate-change-democrats-agenda-inflation | false |
Biden set to take calibrated approach in effort to shift US-Saudi dynamics in push for more oil
By Phil Mattingly, CNN
Soaring gas prices may have been the driving factor behind President Joe Biden’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia, but the American effort to secure increased oil production will be more diplomatic than overt pressure, according to US officials.
The approach will reflect the realities of a relationship that has been under significant strain, but also an awareness of market dynamics that limit the flexibility — and capacity — the Saudis have to simply ramp up production on request.
“Everyone knows the goal here,” a US official said of the push for increased production. “But the approach is important — both from the Saudi perspective and for our domestic audience.”
That means Biden won’t be boarding Air Force One back to Washington with explicit production increases, officials said. Instead, the expectation is that there will be an understanding that will be the case in the months ahead — done within the context of increased output levels in the OPEC+ cartel laid out at its August meeting.
“Before we announced the trip, you saw an announcement from OPEC+ on accelerating and increasing production. We will discuss the issue here. And we are hopeful that we will see additional actions by OPEC+ in the coming weeks,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Jeddah.
“I don’t think you should expect a particular announcement here bilaterally because we believe any further action taken to ensure that there is sufficient energy to protect the health of the global economy will be done in the context of OPEC+,” Sullivan said.
For months, key Biden administration officials have traveled to Riyadh to lay down the conditions for the meeting — trips that underscored a more holistic approach to addressing concerns from a long-time ally that has come to question US commitment to the region.
Those meetings have touched on an array of issues, from regional stability and security to climate, technology and investment in a growing and rapidly diversifying kingdom. Yet throughout, it was clear that at some point, a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman would be a critical moment to solidify a relationship in repair.
The meetings also marked an effort to provide assurances to Saudi officials that despite Biden’s statements about making the kingdom “a pariah state” in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the Biden administration has said was ordered by MBS, the US viewed the relationship as critical for regional stability. The Crown Prince has denied involvement.
Despite the repeated insistence by Biden and other officials that any interaction with MBS would occur in the context of the Gulf Cooperation Summit or in a bilateral meeting with King Salman and an array of top Saudi officials, the White House announced the day before his arrival that Biden would hold a separate bilateral meeting with MBS.
In short, the idea that Biden can simply come to Saudi, shun MBS and demand increased production and expect results is both shortsighted and the opposite of the approach Biden will take, officials said.
“Part of the frustration on the Saudi side has been the idea that they can be kicked or ignored for the better part of a year and then all of the sudden snap to when a US president calls,” one Riyadh-based diplomat said. “It may sound transactional, but at some point any leader would ask the question: ‘What are we actually getting out of this?'”
For Saudi officials looking for a firm idea of American goals and intentions with both bilateral relationship and more broadly in the region, Biden’s ability to deliver that answer to that question is a critical component of the visit — one expected to be bolstered by a series of commitments across several areas when Biden departs.
Still, the issue of oil hangs over everything in the next two days, where US officials will focus the conversation less on specific asks than their analysis of both the acute and looming risks to the global market as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. The approach has delivered some results already, with OPEC+ agreeing to boost output last month in a decision applauded by Biden and other White House officials.
The US approach is also grounded in the reality presented by Saudi’s own commitments. The kingdom has no desire to rupture the OPEC+ coalition, which includes Russia and is viewed as a critical element of maintaining stability through an increasingly turbulent last several years.
Any decision to increase production would be made within that structure, and as such, would likely need to be tied to market realities.
“I think the conversation is really focused on, given current market conditions, how do we see things? How do we see the next six months, and how can we keep markets balanced in a way that contribute to continued economic growth? So that’s the common focus of ours, with not just the Saudis, but other producers,” a senior administration official said.
Biden gave a window into the balancing act last month when asked if he’d explicitly ask Saudi King Salman or the Crown Prince for increased production.
Biden said no, then quickly broadened out his pitch to oil producers in the region outside of just Saudi.
“I’ve indicated to them that I thought they should be increasing oil production, generically — not to the Saudis particularly,” Biden told reporters. “And I think we’re going to — I hope we see them, in their own interest, concluding that makes sense to do.”
But there are only two major producers that have the capacity to deliver a tangible increase — Saudi and the United Arab Emirates. Biden is set to hold a bilateral meeting with the UAE’s leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan the day after he sits down with top Saudi officials.
While US officials believe both countries have the capacity to increase production, they have been careful not to prescribe specific numbers, something that underscores an awareness of the limitations that exist.
“Saudi Arabia has a unique role in the global oil market because it has developed and sustained spare capacity,” Ben Cahill, a senior fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote this week. “If it maximizes output and burns through its spare capacity, there will be no room to cover a production shortfall in other countries due to war, accidents, or weather-related outages.”
With Biden’s arrival, that market reality has converged with the complex mix of political and diplomatic dynamics that US officials have been grappling with for months. Biden’s visit will go a long way to determining the future of the US-Saudi relationship during his time in office.
What it won’t do, however, is significantly change the price at the pump in the near term.
“If anyone’s under the impression MBS can just flip a switch and dramatically drive down gas prices, they simply have no idea what they’re talking about,” the Riyadh-based diplomat said.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. | https://kion546.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2022/07/15/biden-set-to-take-calibrated-approach-in-effort-to-shift-us-saudi-dynamics-in-push-for-more-oil/ | 2022-07-15T17:14:43Z | https://kion546.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2022/07/15/biden-set-to-take-calibrated-approach-in-effort-to-shift-us-saudi-dynamics-in-push-for-more-oil/ | true |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA astronauts will go back to riding Russian rockets under an agreement announced Friday, and Russian cosmonauts will catch lifts to the International Space Station with SpaceX beginning this fall.
The agreement ensures that the space station will always have at least one American and Russian on board to keep both sides of the orbiting outpost running smoothly, according to NASA and Russian officials. The swap had long been in the works and was finalized despite tensions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, a sign of continuing Russia-U.S. cooperation in space.
U.S. astronaut Frank Rubio will launch to the space station from Kazakhstan with two Russians in September. That same month, Russian cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, will join two Americans and one Japanese aboard a SpaceX rocket flying from Florida. Another crew swap will occur next spring.
No money will exchange hands under the agreement, according to NASA.
NASA astronauts routinely launched on Russian Soyuz rockets — for tens of millions of dollars apiece — until SpaceX started flying station crews from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 2020. Russian cosmonauts rode to the space station on NASA's shuttles back in the early 2000s. Before that, during the 1990s, astronauts and cosmonauts took turns flying on each other's spacecraft to and from Russia's Mir station.
Friday’s news came just hours after the blustery chief of the Russian space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, was replaced by President Vladimir Putin, although the move did not appear to have any connection to the crew swap. Rogozin was expected to be given a new post.
NASA said the agreement will “ensure continued safe operations” of the space station and protect those living on board. Seven people are up there right now: three Americans and one Italian who flew up with SpaceX and three Russians who arrived in a Soyuz.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/ap-top-news/2022/07/15/us-russian-astronauts-will-ride-each-others-rockets-again | 2022-07-15T17:14:51Z | https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/ap-top-news/2022/07/15/us-russian-astronauts-will-ride-each-others-rockets-again | false |
Bears enter new phase with Poles as GM, Eberflus as coach
By The Associated Press
The Chicago Bears are entering a new phase after general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus took over for the fired Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy. The sweeping changes came after Chicago went 6-11 to miss the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years. The Bears also traded star pass rusher Khalil Mack to the Los Angeles Chargers and parted with former top receiver Allen Robinson, who signed with the Los Angeles Rams. Chicago is counting on quarterback Justin Fields to take a big step coming off a shaky rookie season. That could hinge on how a revamped offensive line holds up. | https://kion546.com/sports/ap-national-sports/2022/07/15/bears-enter-new-phase-with-poles-as-gm-eberflus-as-coach/ | 2022-07-15T17:15:13Z | https://kion546.com/sports/ap-national-sports/2022/07/15/bears-enter-new-phase-with-poles-as-gm-eberflus-as-coach/ | false |
Brady-led Buccaneers ‘re-loading’ with lofty expectations
By The Associated Press
Tom Brady cited “unfinished business” as one of the reasons for ending a brief retirement, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain committed to surrounding the seven-time Super Bowl champion with everything he needs to win an eighth ring. The quarterback’s announcement that he was returning for a 23rd NFL season helped general manager Jason Licht retain several key components of a talented roster — moves including a trade to bolster the offensive line and the signing of receiver Russell Gage that could enhance the chances for another deep playoff run. Brady turns 45 in August, but is comping off a season in which he led the league in completions, attempts, passing yards and touchdowns. | https://kion546.com/sports/ap-national-sports/2022/07/15/brady-led-buccaneers-re-loading-with-lofty-expectations/ | 2022-07-15T17:15:20Z | https://kion546.com/sports/ap-national-sports/2022/07/15/brady-led-buccaneers-re-loading-with-lofty-expectations/ | false |
Nearly two years after Amazon filed a lawsuit accusing former employees and business partners of corrupting multiple real estate deals, federal criminal prosecutors urged both sides to agree to put the litigation on hold. They told Amazon they were better at investigating fraud than the company could ever be. Then they warned those accused of fraud that if they kept defending themselves in the civil case, they would likely be prosecuted.
It was an unusual threat in an unusual dispute, involving the massive, complex web of data centers in Northern Virginia that Amazon has spent billions of dollars creating and made billions more using to host cloud computing services. The company, which says it accounts for about a fifth of the personal property taxes paid in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, alleges some of that lucrative business was tainted by collusion between a real estate developer and its own employees.
But such fraud cases are difficult to prove, and this one has been particularly troubled. When prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia initiated the call, on the verge of depositions, the case had already led to the withdrawal of a federal judge and an FBI agent over ethical concerns.
Court records offer a glimpse into an ongoing investigation by the government and a parallel civil lawsuit. Things began the way civil cases often do, with a tip. Actually, two.
The first went straight to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
“I never considered myself a rat,” Danny Mulcahy wrote in the late-2019 email, now reproduced in court records. “But ... it is disheartening when people are rewarded so grossly for unscrupulous behavior.”
He was a former employee of a Colorado commercial real estate firm called Northstar, which had contracted to build and manage multiple data centers for Amazon in Loudoun and Prince William. Mulcahy claimed that Amazon employees had taken kickbacks as part of those deals.
He later said his suspicions were raised by the amount of money going to a trust benefiting the brother of an Amazon employee. Those same payments were noted by Northstar Chief Operating Officer Tim Lorman, who a month later raised the issue with the investment firm financing the Amazon deal.
Amazon alleges in court filings that its investigation revealed Northstar funneled money to two Amazon employees, Casey Kirschner and Carl Nelson, through Kirschner’s brother Christian, and that both the employees and Northstar had profited from separate real estate deals with Amazon.
“The evidence that has come to light ... is damning and leaves no doubt that Defendants violated the federal RICO statute and engaged in multiple acts of wire fraud, honest services fraud, money laundering, and other unlawful acts over a multiyear period,” attorneys for Amazon alleged in their most recent complaint.
By February 2020, Amazon’s attorneys had contacted the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to court records. Amazon sued in the same court in late April, a few weeks after the FBI raided the homes of the alleged fraudsters. The Justice Department that spring seized funds from the defendants through civil forfeiture. Nelson had to turn over more than $800,000; Northstar chief executive Brian Watson and his company were ordered to put $25 million in escrow. (Because he did not, citing lack of funds, a receiver now controls his assets.)
The defendants have fought back, saying that Amazon was imagining a criminal scheme out of complicated real estate deals that were vetted by an attorney. Amazon has accused that attorney of facilitating the fraud, which he has denied.
Watson has filed his own court case in Delaware, saying that thin allegations are being used to cut him out of a lucrative partnership. His attorney Stan Garnett said the case against him is “based on innuendo and misunderstandings” and that Watson had no knowledge of or involvement in any money going to an Amazon employee.
Casey Kirschner and Nelson say that all the deals were extensively negotiated and scrutinized by people above their level, and that what Amazon considers criminal is at worst a disagreement over the terms of a noncompete agreement.
“I did my level best for the company,” Nelson said. “I continue to believe the truth will prevail.”
Amazon has not specified damages, citing confidentiality.
Lawyers representing Amazon have consulted with the Justice Department more than 75 times about the case, according to court records, but charges have not yet been filed.
Thomas M. DiBiagio, a former U.S. attorney for the state of Maryland, said these kinds of fraud cases “are difficult to prove,” because “they require strong and substantial evidence of a criminal intent.”
It is not uncommon for criminal prosecutors to ask for a pause in civil litigation to allow their own work to take priority. But the Jan. 24 call began with a request from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamar Walker that nothing be recorded. Then fellow prosecutor Matt Burke spoke directly to the litigants. Two people who heard the call described it to The Washington Post. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing litigation.
Burke told Amazon on the call to “get out of our way,” promising that the government would “run this to the ground” despite “horrible” press about the company. He made the analogy of prosecuting people who rob drug dealers.
Then he said that if the defendants were “truly innocent ... we will figure that out,” but that “if you choose not to agree to a stay, you’ll get what you deserve.”
The defendants would then be “forced to make an impossible choice” between refusing to answer questions in the civil case or lying under oath, Burke said on the call. If they chose the latter, he said he would indict them for perjury or obstruction, “regardless of whether you committed any other crime.”
The defendants’ attorneys viewed that statement as a veiled threat and a not-subtle suggestion that their clients couldn’t testify truthfully. After they raised those concerns with supervisors in the prosecutor’s office, according to the people involved, the government returned the bulk of the seized funds, and Burke stopped working on the case. He followed a federal judge who recused himself after learning that his family owned Amazon stock and an FBI agent who was accused of breaching attorney-client privilege during a search.
Since the call, in depositions, both Mulcahy and Lorman have said they didn’t have hard evidence of fraud.
“I said ... this is how I believe things had happened. I didn’t say with sort of empirical authority that these — all these things did happen,” Mulcahy testified in March.
Attorneys for Amazon who had said in repeated sworn statements that they “could competently testify” to their “personal knowledge” of fraud withdrew the declarations and said they “mistakenly included form language” — the attorneys had no firsthand knowledge, only what they had learned from others. A magistrate judge in April called it “a big mistake” and “sloppy lawyering” but allowed Amazon to submit new filings.
Both the criminal investigation and the civil litigation are ongoing. The defendants are now pushing for a settlement conference or trial date, saying Amazon has probably spent more on attorneys’ fees than it stands to gain. Amazon dismissed those proposals as ploys to “run out the clock” on turning over information and “push a no-fraud narrative that is irreconcilable with the record.”
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment on the case, as did attorneys for Amazon.
Devlin Barrett and Teo Armus contributed to this report. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/amazon-virginia-lawsuit-forfeiture/ | 2022-07-15T17:16:36Z | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/amazon-virginia-lawsuit-forfeiture/ | true |
Primary school teacher, 31, is banned from the classroom for offering to sell sexual services and posting snaps of himself wearing only his pants online
- Thomas Heayel, 31, was dismissed from his Cornwall teaching role last July
- He posted photos offering to sell sexual services, with one including his name
- He expressed remorse and has now been banned from teaching indefinitely
A Cornish primary school teacher has been banned from teaching for posting inappropriate pictures of himself and offering to sell sexual services on the internet.
Thomas Heayel, 31, taught at St Columb Minor Academy in St Columb Minor, near Newquay, and was recently the subject of a Teaching Regulation Agency disciplinary hearing.
He was ruled to be guilty of posting or allowing to be displayed one or more inappropriate images of himself on the internet between February and July 2020.
He was also found to have posted or allowed to be displayed one or more images, messages and/or comments on the internet offering to sell sexual services during the same period.
Thomas Heayel, 31, taught at St Columb Minor Academy in St Columb Minor, near Newquay, Cornwall
In this image posted online the primary school teacher encouraged people to message him privately for 'modelling rates'
He was found to have posted pictures in nothing but his underwear, which the panel found could bring the teaching profession into disrepute
Mr Heayel, who started at the school on September 1, 2019, admitted the allegations and that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct.
Concerns were first raised by members of the local authority on July 7, 2021, before the teacher was dismissed on July 23.
The disciplinary panel was satisfied that Mr Heayel's conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession, but that his actions fell 'towards the lower end of sexual misconduct'.
The panel said: 'Whilst the panel had regard to the fact that there was no evidence presented that any pupils had seen or accessed the images online, the panel did consider that as a teacher Mr Heayel was likely to be viewed as a role model by pupils.
'The panel noted that whilst the website where Mr Heayel posted the images was restricted, the images could also be accessed via a generic internet search and one image contained Mr Heayel's name.
'Consequently the images were in the public domain enabling any member of the public, or pupil, to have sight of them.
'The panel therefore concluded Mr Heayel's behaviour would undoubtedly damage the public's perception of the teaching profession and there were public interest factors to consider.'
It also the considered that public confidence in teaching could be 'seriously weakened if conduct, such as that found against Mr Heayel, were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession.'
The panel noted Mr Heayel's remorse but prohibited him from teaching indefinitely.
It found that although positive references were submitted to them, these were only relevant to Mr Heayel’s application for employment at the school and no new references had been provided since his misconduct.
The panel concluded there was 'little evidence to suggest that Mr Heayel’s contribution to the profession had been either long term or significant.'
This means he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.
He can apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 5 July 2024, two years from the date of the ordert.
In order for Mr Heayel to then return to teaching, he must prove to another Teaching Regulation Agency panel that he is fit to do so. | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11018323/Primary-school-teacher-31-banned-offering-sell-sexual-services-posting-underwear-snaps.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 | 2022-07-15T17:20:39Z | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11018323/Primary-school-teacher-31-banned-offering-sell-sexual-services-posting-underwear-snaps.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 | false |
WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, July 15, 2022
_____
HEAT ADVISORY
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Amarillo TX
1058 AM CDT Fri Jul 15 2022
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING...
...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON
THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING...
* WHAT...For the Heat Advisory, high temperatures up to 108. For the
Excessive Heat Watch, dangerously hot conditions with high
temperature up to 111 possible.
* WHERE...Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
* WHEN...For the Heat Advisory, until 9 PM CDT this evening. For the
Excessive Heat Watch, from Saturday afternoon through Saturday
evening.
* IMPACTS...Heat related illnesses increase significantly during
extreme heat events.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of
the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.
* WHAT...High temperatures around 105 expected
* WHERE...In Oklahoma, Texas County. In Texas, Hansford, Hutchinson,
Moore and Sherman Counties.
* WHEN...Until 9 PM CDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses.
Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose
fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities until the
evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and
heat stroke.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.milfordmirror.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-AMARILLO-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17307575.php | 2022-07-15T17:21:32Z | https://www.milfordmirror.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-AMARILLO-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17307575.php | true |
Boy, 5, fatally shoots 8-year-old brother at Arkansas home, police say
Published: Jul. 15, 2022 at 12:05 PM CDT|Updated: 16 minutes ago
PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say a 5-year-old Arkansas boy fatally shot his 8-year-old brother in what investigators believe was an accidental shooting with an unsecured gun.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the 8-year-old was found unresponsive Thursday afternoon at a home in Pine Bluff, about 40 miles south of Little Rock.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Woods told the Pine Bluff Commercial that the 5-year-old and four other siblings will be placed in the custody of a relative pending an investigation.
The sheriff says authorities were still working to determine whether any criminal charges will be filed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbay.com/2022/07/15/boy-5-fatally-shoots-8-year-old-brother-arkansas-home-police-say/ | 2022-07-15T17:21:44Z | https://www.wbay.com/2022/07/15/boy-5-fatally-shoots-8-year-old-brother-arkansas-home-police-say/ | false |
Updated July 15, 2022 at 1:04 PM ET
NASA released the first batch of images from the James Webb telescope this week, wowing the world with never-before-seen views of ancient and distant galaxies.
The approximately $10 billion telescope was decades in the making, a partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency that involved some 20,000 collaborators across 29 countries and 14 U.S. states. It finally launched in December 2021 after a long string of setbacks and delays that led some astronomers to fear it might never get off the ground.
Gregory Robinson wasn't one of them. The career NASA employee was brought in as director of the James Webb Space Telescope Program in March 2018 to help get the project back on the rails, over the finish line and into space. Despite the challenges, he tells Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep that he never doubted whether it would work.
"As we moved closer to launch and even as we launched, I never had a concern on the outcome," Robinson says. "My biggest concern was, 'Let's get on with it already, get to the launch site and get it off the ground.' "
While Robinson credits the work of many others in making the telescope a success, he's received special recognition for the role he played — including being recognized as one of TIME's most influential people of 2022.
In his tribute, NASA astrophysicist and Nobel laureate John Mather wrote that Robinson "channeled the forces of human nature and ingenuity," from NASA and Congress to foreign space agencies and aerospace companies.
"Our teams orbit around Greg, because we trust him to ask questions and understand our concerns and respect our opinions," Mather wrote. "He makes it look easy, but I can barely imagine how he does it, and I admire him tremendously for it."
Robinson — who most recently served as the deputy associate administrator for programs in NASA's Science Mission Directorate — has worked on several high-profile missions and held numerous leadership roles since joining the space agency in 1989.
But Robinson, the ninth of 11 children born to tobacco sharecroppers in rural Virginia, says he didn't exactly grow up dreaming about space ... other than watching the moon landing.
"I often refer to Webb as our Apollo moment today," he adds. "But space was not high on my list."
Football was Robinson's ticket to college — and space
Danville, Va., is less than five hours away from agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., but Robinson says his childhood was "a long way from NASA."
Under the sharecropping system, a landowner will allow people to farm their land in exchange for a portion of the crops produced. Robinson describes it as a product from slavery through Jim Crow that still continues today.
"There are lots of nuances in there ... who keeps the books, and who alters the books. And as you go through that process there's winners and there's losers," he says. "And it keeps the losers tied to the farm so they can never get away to go on and do other things."
Robinson — who began his education in a racially segregated elementary school — recalled to The Washington Post that his teachers would tell students they could do anything they wanted if they had an education, which appealed to him because he wanted to "get out of Danville and have a better life."
He tells Morning Edition he really enjoyed math and science, and had a knack for those subjects. He also had a knack for football, which earned him a scholarship to Virginia Union University in Richmond.
"I thought I was a top-notch football player, and for my high school and my county and my district I probably was," he says. "But when I got to college the real athletes showed up, and that was a big difference. But it was really my ticket to get to college."
He wanted to major in engineering, but Virginia Union didn't offer it. They did have a dual degree program with Howard University, so he ended up graduating with degrees in both math and electrical engineering.
It was during Robinson's time at Howard that NASA landed on his radar. He recalls having friends who interned at the Goddard Space Flight Center in nearby Maryland and really enjoyed it. And while he didn't originally intend to work in the industry, he eventually made his way to NASA too.
"Once you walk through the gate and get started, the bug bites you fast and the bug never stops biting," he says.
His upbringing informed his work at NASA, and whatever he does next
Robinson has worked on many spaceflight and space shuttle missions over the years and held notable leadership positions, including as the deputy center director at NASA's John H. Glenn Research Center and NASA deputy chief engineer.
And he's applied lessons from his childhood to even his most high-tech projects.
Robinson says he learned a lot living through the process of school desegregation, including how to work with many different types of people.
"One of the things I learned is not everyone is bad who doesn't look like me," he says. "As a matter of fact, there are a lot of good folks who don't look like me, and we have a lot of things in common."
He also credits sports with teaching him the importance of leading, following and being a team player.
"Both of those [lessons] really helped shape me early on," he says. "And, of course, a really good strong family was important as well."
Robinson's latest mission was to get the Webb telescope to launch and through commissioning. With that done, what comes next? He laughs that he's worked himself out of a job, and says he's considering retirement.
"Of course I have a lot of knowledge and experiences, life and professional, that I still want to share and increase impact across the globe," Robinson adds. "So I still plan to do some things, but it's time to go to the next phase of life."
The audio for this interview was produced by Lilly Quiroz and edited by Simone Popperl.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/2022-07-15/how-the-son-of-sharecroppers-helped-send-the-worlds-most-powerful-telescope-to-space | 2022-07-15T17:21:50Z | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/2022-07-15/how-the-son-of-sharecroppers-helped-send-the-worlds-most-powerful-telescope-to-space | false |
Father of 7 dies by electrocution in roofing job site accident
LEBANON, Tenn. (WSMV/Gray News) – A Tennessee father of seven died by electrocution while working on a roof Monday.
His grieving family is trying to come to terms with what happened.
Enoc Hernandez leaves behind his wife, Ingrid Delcid, and seven children. Their daughter Jennifer Amaya said her mom’s heartbreak is so bad that she couldn’t breathe, and the kids had to take her to the hospital.
“It’s hard, you know,” Amaya said through tears. “We still can’t process it.”
Amaya said on Monday, her mom was on her way to bring her husband his lunch at a job site, something she did frequently.
“She was always there to bring him his own lunch and all the workers too. Like, all the workers adored her and everything like that,” Amaya said.
Before Delcid arrived at the job site, she got a devastating phone call. She was told a ladder fell on a powerline. Enoc was electrocuted and died. Two other men were critically injured.
Now, Delcid is a widow and a single mother. Her kids range in age from 7 months old to 23 years old. The family is now unsure how to move on without him.
“He was always bringing our daily bread,” Amaya said. “He was our provider to us.”
The family has been in touch with the other two men who were hurt. They said they may have to have their legs amputated.
Enoc Hernandez’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday. To help the family with expenses, friends and coworkers have set up two GoFundMe pages. You can donate here and here.
Copyright 2022 WSMV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wistv.com/2022/07/15/father-7-dies-by-electrocution-roofing-job-site-accident/ | 2022-07-15T17:24:11Z | https://www.wistv.com/2022/07/15/father-7-dies-by-electrocution-roofing-job-site-accident/ | true |
NASCAR at New Hampshire schedule: How to watch, odds, favorites originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The time has come for NASCAR’s annual visit to New England.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway will play host to the Cup Series this weekend for a 301-lap shootout. “The Magic Mile” is, appropriately, one mile in length with limited banking in the corners. As is tradition, the winner will earn a date with a live lobster in victory lane, which Aric Almirola claimed in 2021.
Will Almirola repeat, or will another driver raise a victory lobster? Here’s everything you need to know about the Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire:
New Hampshire entry list
Thirty-six drivers are on the New Hampshire entry list. Up to 40 cars can qualify for a race, so all 36 entrants will race on Sunday. Here's the full list:
Sports
In partnership with NBC Sports Philadelphia
When is the NASCAR New Hampshire race?
This race weekend features a practice and qualifying session before the race on Sunday.
The 36-car field will be split into two groups, and each group will get a 15-minute practice session on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET. Qualifying will begin immediately after practice, around 12:20 p.m. ET. Each car from the two practice groups will make a single lap, with the five fastest times in each group advancing to the final round. In the final round, the 10 drivers each make a single lap and the pole is awarded to the fastest time.
The 2022 Ambetter 301 begins at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 17.
How to watch NASCAR this weekend
All NASCAR action this weekend will be on USA Network.
Practice and qualifying coverage on Saturday is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. ET. Sunday’s coverage will begin at 2 p.m. ET with Countdown to Green, followed by the Ambetter 301 at 3 p.m. ET.
Coverage before, during and after Sunday’s race can be streamed online here and through the NBC Sports app.
NASCAR standings entering New Hampshire
New Hampshire is the 20th of 26 regular season races, so the postseason is near. Only 16 drivers make the playoffs, and drivers secure a berth by winning a race or scoring the most points among non-winners. Here’s a look at the current playoff standings, where winners are locked in and non-winners are fighting for every point:
- Chase Elliott, 684 points, 3 wins
- Ross Chastain, 634 points, 2 wins
- Joey Logano, 562 points, 2 wins
- William Byron, 505 points, 2 wins
- Denny Hamlin, 409 points, 2 wins
- Kyle Larson, 579 points, 1 win
- Kyle Busch, 569 points, 1 win
- Alex Bowman, 508 points, 1 win
- Austin Cindric, 465 points, 1 win
- Tyler Reddick, 458 points, 1 win
- Daniel Suarez, 451 points, 1 win
- Kurt Busch, 449 points, 1 win
- Chase Briscoe, 443 points, 1 win
- Ryan Blaney, 637 points
- Martin Truex Jr., 566 points
- Christopher Bell, 523 points
—
- Kevin Harvick, 504 points
- Aric Almirola, 481 points
- Erik Jones, 447 points
- Austin Dillon, 407 points
Which active drivers have won at New Hampshire?
Seven drivers racing this weekend have won a Cup race at New Hampshire: Harvick, Hamlin, Logano, Keselowski, Almirola, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.
Harvick’s four NHMS wins are tied with Jeff Burton for the most all-time, while Hamlin and the Busch brothers all have three victories. Logano and Keselowski have both won there twice, while Almirola is the defending winner. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/nascar-at-new-hampshire-schedule-how-to-watch-tv-odds-favorites/3301020/ | 2022-07-15T17:25:16Z | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/nascar-at-new-hampshire-schedule-how-to-watch-tv-odds-favorites/3301020/ | false |
The UK's rise in Covid-19 cases has been described as "extremely worrying" by an expert, who says the spread of two strains, lack of testing and waning efficacy of vaccines has led to the spike.
Professor Denis Kinane, a world-leading immunologist and founder of Cignpost Diagnostics, says mandatory face masks must be reintroduced and has urged people to be careful when out in public, as the "troubling" increase of Covid-19 cases in summer is just the precursor to the "traditional autumn surge". He says that infection rates are fast approaching 350,000 a day
Professer Kinane added that the two of the most prevalent strains of the virus, Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, are able to re-infect those who have already had Covid and those who are have received all of their vaccinations because of immune escape - meaning they have been able to overcome immunity developed to protect against other strains.
Additionally, those who had their booster jabs in December and January will be more susceptible to the virus, because efficacy starts to "wane at three months" and the formula is not as "effective against emerging subvariants", the Mirror reports.
Yesterday, we reported how the latest data released by the ZOE Covid Study showed that as of July 11 there have been 349,773 new daily symptomatic infections. Infections rates are at their highest since April 2022 and are quickly expected to hit the 350,000 a day mark.
These rates could be higher because free testing has ended and there is no requirement to test as well. Prof Kinane said the UK's testing strategy last year saved many lives, but the end of free testing has hindered experts' ability to monitor the virus' behaviour and has led to individuals mixing and unknowingly spreading it.
He fears the lack of testing could be "troublesome" and "more dangerous" as we approach the autumn months. Here, Prof Kinane answered our questions on the current rise of Covid cases:
How worried should we be?
There are some extremely worrying trends in the rising number of infections, particularly when compared to the levels from a year ago. These are already leading to a gradual rise in hospitalisations.
The concern now is that as these new strains infect more people and pressure on the NHS intensifies – a double whammy ensues, that is medical cases increase at the same time as staff absences, due to infection rise. We, therefore, have a simultaneous increase in demand and a decrease in supply and, whilst this is problematic for Covid management, it is a further blow to the NHS as it attempts to reduce the large backlog of cancer and other life-threatening diseases cases.
That is not to say that Covid in itself is not devastating; a quick analysis of the growing numbers of long Covid cases is a testament to how concerning this pandemic remains. That is exactly why we need to remember that Covid is still a dangerous and highly infectious disease and to remain cautious - especially for those who are vulnerable, immunosuppressed or come in contact with these groups.
The current sharp rise in UK Covid cases has been driven by the emergence, rapid transmission and immune escape of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 strains.
This has resulted in a summer surge, which is troubling as we still await the more traditional autumn surge, and for variants to appear from the southern hemisphere’s winter season. And so, on cue, we are now seeing the emergence of the new BA.2.75 variant, nicknamed "Centaurus".
First detected in India in early May, cases of the new variant of the Omicron strain are increasing exponentially in the UK - apparently multiplying twice as fast as the BA.5 strain. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have already designated it as a ‘variant under monitoring.’
How many people actually have Covid-19?
According to the latest statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 1 in 25 people in England has COVID-19, compared to 1 in 160 at the same time last year (1 in 18 and rising in Scotland).
Moreover, an estimated 2.7 million across the UK tested positive for COVID-19 in the week ending June 29, up a staggering 18% from the previous week, and hospitalisations have risen 33% in a week. Infections rates are at their highest since April 2022 and are quickly expected to hit the 350,000 a day mark.
Do we need to be wearing masks?
Yes, where appropriate. The virus will continue to evolve and develop structural changes that make it invisible to our immune system, whether we have gained immunity through vaccination or natural previous Covid infections.
We have no indications yet that a step change in disease severity is on the way, but we do know that vaccine immunity begins to wane at three months and in most cases is markedly reduced or non-existent at five months. Even though immunity wanes, it can come back quickly after the person contracts the virus again.
No one wants to return to full lockdowns, so taking reasonable precautions and being socially responsible are vital. This includes using face masks, especially in enclosed and crowded spaces, and where people mix and vocally interact.
Why are fully-vaccinated people getting infected?
As a large part of the UK’s population has already been vaccinated and/or has been infected with Covid, there is a prevalent artificial and natural immunity across the community. However, two things are at play: firstly, immunity derived from vaccines wanes over time and protection is not guaranteed.
Secondly, this virus is highly mutational and new variants which have an immune escape from previous variants are appearing every three months or so. A majority of individuals had their boosters back in December and January, but in reality, the life of a vaccine drops at around the three-month mark and by six months it needs to be boosted again.
Moreover, the vaccination programme has been geared to earlier variants of Omicron, so they are not as effective against emerging subvariants. In fact, the BA.4 and BA.5 strains have been shown to overcome immunity developed for other strains (immune escape) of the virus as evidenced by the rising numbers of reinfections.
Why are people catching it and then getting re-infected so quickly?
With cases rising in the UK and globally, and new variants emerging, it is clear the virus is continuing to evolve and people are now getting re-infected at a rapid pace. This new surge of infections is being driven by the rapid growth of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants, largely through super spreader events.
Covid cases jumped 20 per cent after the Jubilee weekend and events like Glastonbury Festival and Wimbledon are enabling case numbers to spiral.
Ending free testing also contributes to re-infections, as people are far less likely to be diagnosed, so they are mixing with others while unknowingly carrying the virus. This opens us up to additional risk.
Because we are not mandated to test and isolate, social attitudes to virus hygiene are much reduced. Many individuals are going back to work too early and not isolating sufficiently, and are therefore increasing virus spread.
How does your blood type affect Covid infections?
Research has suggested that blood types do have an impact on Covid-19 infection patterns. For example, blood groups A, B and Rh+ are found to be more susceptible to Covid-19 infection, whereas groups O, AB, and Rh- are at a lower risk of infection.
It is important to note that while the association has been noted regarding susceptibility to infection, so far, no association has been found between blood type and susceptibility to the severity of disease and mortality. There is evidence of these blood type associations, but this type of research is rarely definitive, and many associations exist whilst few are ever proved causal and thus important.
More important associations are, for instance, the extremely strong association between age and severity of Covid; the susceptibility of obese, or those with pre-existing lung conditions who are severely affected by this respiratory viral infection.
Why does it seem like LFTs aren't picking up Covid infections?
Lateral flows only detect Covid-19 infections once your viral load reaches a very high level. Prior to reaching this high viral load and long after reaching this peak, individuals are still infectious. One of the reasons SARS-CoV2 spreads so well is because asymptomatic individuals spread the virus effectively, and these would simply not be picked up by lateral flow devices.
In contrast, PCR tests are much more sensitive and detect viruses even prior to symptoms. Through regular PCR testing, Cignpost has been able to keep vital industries running, even through very high infectious waves.
It is true that PCRs remain positive for longer, even if the virus has already disappeared, but by using the infectious history and counting days from infection, and knowing the exact viral load provided by the PCR test, we can more safely return people to work. An alternative is to wait for two consecutive days of negative lateral flow tests, with those two tests being taken 6 days after catching the virus.
Do we need to return to PCR tests?
Over the course of the pandemic, the UK’s effective testing strategy allowed it to track the virus’ behaviour and allowed the Government and public health experts to ensure targeted containment measures were speedily deployed. This was effectively demonstrated by the rapid provision of boosters once we saw Omicron appearing early last winter.
This undoubtedly saved many lives. The ending of universal free testing has inevitably reduced our ability to analyse the virus’ behaviour minutely and has played a part in discouraging people from testing regularly.
The UK requires a baseline level of surveillance to track the virus’ behaviour. A return to PCR tests is the most conclusive and accurate way to implement this.
It is problematic for employers to ask employees to return to work when no testing is taking place and no prevention of workplace spread or guidance is provided. This is troublesome and could be more dangerous as we approach the autumn months and when new variants emerge.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here. | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/two-covid-strains-spreading-rapidly-27494190 | 2022-07-15T17:26:54Z | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/two-covid-strains-spreading-rapidly-27494190 | true |
BEIJING, July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As the lyrics of a popular folk song in China go, "the brothers and sisters from the 56 ethnic groups belong to the same family."
China is home to 56 ethnic groups, with the majority Han making up around 91.5 percent of the country's population, according to 2021 data. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been a multi-ethnic region since ancient times and is home to over 45 ethnic groups.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stressed promoting ethnic unity and progress and consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation during his visit to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning.
Protecting cultures of various ethnic groups
The extensive and profound Chinese civilization is composed of outstanding cultures of various ethnic groups, said Xi when watching a show called "Manas" from the Kirgiz ethnic minority at the Museum of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The performances have been inscribed as an intangible cultural heritage.
A cultural heritage like "Manas" is a treasure of both the Kirgizs and the Chinese nation, he said, urging better preservation and promotion efforts.
All ethnic groups in Xinjiang have items on the national and autonomous regional representative lists of intangible cultural heritage, and 133 cultural heritage sites are under state protection, according to a white paper released by the country's State Council Information Office last year.
The cultural traditions of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are well protected, said the paper, giving examples such as folk cultural events, such as the Han Lantern Festival, the Uygur Meshrep, the Kazak Aytes, the Kirgiz Kobuz Ballad Singing Fair, the Mongolian Nadam Fair, and the Hui Hua'er Folk Song Festival, which are still widely celebrated.
Improving livelihood of all ethnic groups
While visiting the Guyuanxiang residential community in the Tianshan District on Wednesday morning, Xi urged local officials to improve community services to benefit residents of all ethnic groups.
The president also traveled on Wednesday afternoon to Shihezi City, where he inspected officials and staff workers at the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a group whose status he called "irreplaceable."
As an important component of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the XPCC is a special social organization that handles its own administrative and judicial affairs within the reclamation areas under its administration, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the state and the region. It assumes the responsibilities of cultivating and guarding the border areas.
Speaking to XPCC officials and staff workers, Xi said he was pleased about the great progress made by the XPCC in reform and development, and XPCC officials and staff workers themselves should also be proud.
He also learned about the history of the XPCC in cultivating and guarding the frontier areas, as well as the Corps' efforts in strengthening its primary-level organizations, developing specialty agriculture, and promoting the integrated development of the Corps and local areas.
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has seen continuous economic development with businesses thriving. Xinjiang registered a 7-percent GDP growth in 2021, totaling 1.6 trillion yuan (about $253.2 billion).
A total of 477,400 urban jobs were created in the region, reducing the surveyed urban unemployment rate by 1.1 percentage points to 2.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Statistics in the autonomous region.
Nurturing talent, coordinating COVID-19 response with economic and social development and advancing Belt and Road cooperation were also stressed by the president during the inspection tour.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE CGTN | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/cgtn-xi-stresses-strengthening-sense-community-chinese-nation/ | 2022-07-15T17:27:53Z | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/cgtn-xi-stresses-strengthening-sense-community-chinese-nation/ | true |
Finally, some relief at the pump: the cost of a gallon of gas in New Jersey has begun to drop from an all-time high of $5 a gallon set early last month, with some counties seeing as big as an 8.5% decrease.
The average cost of a gallon of regular gas was $4.638 on Friday, July 15. That’s down 38 cents since June 7, when the statewide average broke $5 for the first time ever. | https://www.nj.com/data/2022/07/gas-prices-are-starting-to-drop-see-which-nj-counties-are-saving-the-most.html | 2022-07-15T17:27:59Z | https://www.nj.com/data/2022/07/gas-prices-are-starting-to-drop-see-which-nj-counties-are-saving-the-most.html | false |
Taking over as chairman of the National Governors Association, Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday announced a nationwide effort to strengthen mental health among young Americans, calling it a crisis “we must tackle together and now.”
Officials and experts say the U.S. has been facing a mental health crisis made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Murphy’s office pointed to a study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found 37% of high school students reported poor mental health during the pandemic, while 44% reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
Each chairman of the NGA — a group that includes governors from both major political parties — takes on a chief initiative, and Murphy’s will be the “Strengthening Youth Mental Health” program will be his chief initiative. The Democrat unveiled it shortly after being sworn in as chairman Friday morning.
“As governors, one of our most important and sacred responsibilities is to our state’s children,” Murphy said in a speech to his fellow governors who gathered for the NGA’s summer meeting in Portland, Maine.
“It is our jobs to ensure their safety,” he added. “It is our jobs to ensure their educations. It is our jobs to ensure their health and well-being, both physically and mentally.”
Details of what the initiative were scant, but Murphy said it will have four pillars: prevention and resilience building; increasing awareness and reducing stigma; access and affordability of quality treatment and care; and caregiver and educator training and support. He said each state will “find its own path to achieving these goals” and called on his fellow governors to share ideas.
Murphy said he chose this issue because “as challenging as the previous two years have been for us adults, we know the strain is nothing compared to what too many of America’s children were under.” That, he said, includes remote learning and students missing out on socialization among their classmates, as well as graduations, proms, and more.
MORE: Murphy could bolster national profile as he prepares to lead governors group
Murphy shuttered in-person classes in New Jersey in March 2020 as the coronavirus began to spread rapidly. He reopened school buildings in September of that year, though students remained in masks for months to help curb the virus’ spread and many schools were forced to go remote for periods of time because of outbreaks.
Republicans and some parents regularly criticized the governor for closing schools and imposing mask mandates for too long, adding to students’ stress.
Murphy’s new role as NGA could help bolster his national profile as he is considered a possible candidate for the 2024 Democratic nomination for president if President Joe Biden does not seek re-election.
In his speech Friday, Murphy noted the goal of the NGA is to “facilitate bipartisan solutions” and “recognize that we are partisans third, governors second, and Americans first and foremost.”
“To be honest, most of our constituents don’t really care what party we represent,” he said. “They elected us to deliver solutions. They asked us to lead our states to make their lives, and those of their families and neighbors, a little better. And, again, to be honest, they, like the majority of Americans, just want us to find common ground.”
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @johnsb01. | https://www.nj.com/politics/2022/07/in-new-national-role-murphy-launches-effort-to-bolster-youth-mental-health.html | 2022-07-15T17:28:24Z | https://www.nj.com/politics/2022/07/in-new-national-role-murphy-launches-effort-to-bolster-youth-mental-health.html | false |
Paramount and Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick has passed $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office, including $605.5 million domestic and $602.5 million overseas sans a single penny from China and Russia. This makes the film, already Paramount’s biggest (sans inflation) domestic grosser behind Titanic ($600 million in 1997/1998 and $659 million counting the 2012 3-D reissue), Paramount’s biggest global grosser. It has passed the $1.105 billion gross of Transformers: Age of Extinction, which was the top grossing film of 2014 and sits behind James Cameron’s Titanic. However, the Kate Winslet/Leonardo DiCaprio romantic melodrama (which has grossed $2.2 billion global) was distributed overseas by 20th Century Fox, meaning the Joseph Kosinski-directed, $170 million-budgeted Top Gun 2 is the biggest “all Paramount” global earner.
That puts the Tom Cruise/Miles Teller/Jennifer Connelly/Jon Hamm/Glen Powell action drama between Minions ($1.15 billion in 2015) and Iron Man 3 ($1.214 billion in 2013) for 22nd place globally. Presuming it continues onward, next on the list are The Fate of the Furious ($1.236 billion), Incredibles 2 ($1.243 billion), Beauty and the Beast ($1.263 billion) and Frozen ($1.282 billion) before it possibly joins the $1.3 billion club. Oh, and once it passes the $608 million domestic gross of Incredibles 2 ($609 million), it’ll be the biggest-grossing, in unadjusted domestic earnings, “part two” sequel of all time. On the global list, once it passes Incredibles 2 it’ll be behind only Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.4 billion) and Frozen II ($1.45 billion).
Top Gun: Maverick has the biggest gross jump from a respective part one installment, earning (sans inflation and thus far) $426 million more domestically and $832 million worldwide more than Top Gun ($180 million/$376 million mostly in 1986). Even Wolf Warrior II ($870 million in 2017) earned “only” $788 million more worldwide than the $81 million grossed by Wolf Warrior in 2015. The China-only upswing (from $81 million to $854 million) still leaves Maverick in the dust in terms of single-territory jumps. Maverick has earned 3.36x more domestically and 3.2x more worldwide than Top Gun, ironically without China which was the very territory whose decade-long expansion likely convinced all parties that Top Gun 2 could score globally in the first place.
That’s not a record in terms of percentage, even for a big movie follow-up to a big movie predecessor (sorry Boondock Saints or Mad Max), as (for example) Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle earned $964 million global or 3.6x the $267 million gross of Jumanji in 1995. Nonetheless, it’s the first real-world actioner to top the summer box office since Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible II ($215 million/$545 million) in 2000. Whether it ends the year on top will be determined by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (whose predecessor earned $1.346 billion in 2018, including $700 million domestic and $105 million in China) and Avatar: The Way of Water (whose predecessor has grossed $760 million domestic and $2.8 billion worldwide including $255 million in China). | https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2022/07/15/box-office-tom-cruise-top-gun-maverick-tops-12-billion-worldwide/ | 2022-07-15T17:30:48Z | https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2022/07/15/box-office-tom-cruise-top-gun-maverick-tops-12-billion-worldwide/ | false |
WASHINGTON (AP) — As bullets and bombs fall in Ukraine, Russia is waging an expanding information war throughout Eastern Europe, using fake accounts and propaganda to spread fears about refugees and rising fuel prices while calling the West an untrustworthy ally.
In Bulgaria, the Kremlin paid journalists, political analysts and other influential citizens 2,000 euros a month to post pro-Russian content online, a senior Bulgarian official revealed this month. Researchers also have uncovered sophisticated networks of fake accounts, bots and trolls in an escalating spread of disinformation and propaganda in the country.
Similar efforts are playing out in other nations in the region as Russia looks to shift the blame for its invasion of Ukraine, the ensuing refugee crisis and rising prices for food and fuel.
For Russia’s leaders, expansive propaganda and disinformation campaigns are a highly cost-effective alternative to traditional tools of war or diplomacy, according to Graham Brookie, senior director at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, which has been tracking Russian disinformation for years.
“Stirring up these reactions is the low-hanging fruit for Russian information operations,” Brookie said. “Their state media does audience analysis better than most of the media companies in the world. Where these narratives have succeeded are countries where there is more weaponization of domestic discourse or more polarized media markets.”
Bulgaria was long counted a stalwart Russian ally, though the country of 7 million residents has turned its attention westward in recent decades, joining NATO in 2004 and the European Union three years later.
When Bulgaria, Poland and other former Warsaw Pact nations sided with their NATO allies in support of Ukraine, Russia responded with a wave of disinformation and propaganda that sought to exploit public debates over globalization and westernization.
For Poland, that took the form of anti-Western propaganda and conspiracy theories. One, spread by a Russian-allied hacking group in an apparent effort to divide Ukraine and Poland, suggested that Polish gangs were harvesting the organs of Ukrainian refugees.
Russia’s onslaught comes as Eastern European governments, like others around the world, grapple with dissatisfaction and unrest caused by rising prices for fuel and food.
Bulgaria is in a particularly vulnerable position. Pro-Western Prime Minister Kiril Petkov lost a no confidence vote last month. Concerns about the economy and fuel prices only increased when Russia cut off Bulgaria’s supply of natural gas last spring. The upheaval prompted President Rumen Radev to say his country was entering a “political, economic and social crisis.”
The government’s relationship with Moscow is another complication. Bulgaria recently expelled 70 Russian diplomatic staffers over concerns about espionage, prompting the Kremlin to threaten to end diplomatic relations with it.
The same week, Russia’s embassy in Sofia posted a fundraising appeal urging Bulgarian citizens to donate their private funds to support the Russian army and its invasion of Ukraine.
Bulgaria’s government reacted angrily to Russia’s attempt to solicit donations for its war from a NATO country.
“This is scandalous,” tweeted Bozhidar Bozhanov, who served as minister of e-government in Petkov’s cabinet. “It is not right to use the platform to finance the aggressor.”
The embassy also has spread debunked conspiracy theories claiming the U.S. runs secret biolabs in Ukraine. Embassies have become key to Russia’s disinformation campaigns, especially since many technology companies have begun restricting Russian state media since the invasion began.
Fake accounts remain a valued part of the arsenal. Researchers at the Disinformation Situation Center uncovered what they believe is a network of fake Facebook accounts pushing Kremlin talking points and disinformation to Bulgarian audiences. The DSC, based in Europe, is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization of disinformation researchers working around the world.
The network, which is still in operation, typically posts criticism of Bulgaria’s decision to side with NATO over Russia. “If Bulgarians somewhere in the world have a brotherly people, it is the Russian,” read one characteristic post.
Some of the content appeared to gloat over Russia’s decision to cut natural gas exports: “Prepare for a dark, cold and hungry winter,” the author wrote.
Researchers at the DSC reported the network to Meta, Facebook’s parent company. Meta did not respond to messages seeking comment about its decision to leave the network up.
“This network is just a tiny drop in the ocean of pro-Kremlin disinformation in Bulgaria,” the DSC wrote, citing one study by a Bulgarian non-governmental organization that found pro-Russian propaganda on popular Bulgarian websites increased 10 times following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Other posts from the account attacked transgender people or featured content about QAnon, the U.S.-origin movement that argues Donald Trump is waging a covert war against satanic cannibals who secretly control world affairs. It’s a conspiracy theory that has prompted violence in the U.S., and it’s one Russian disinformation agents seem eager to encourage elsewhere.
The operation also sought to do damage control. After a senior Bulgarian official revealed Russia’s scheme to pay certain journalists, politicians or other public figures 2,000 euros, or 4,000 Bulgarian leva, for posting pro-Russian content, the Facebook accounts identified by the DSC quickly posted a rebuttal casting Russia’s actions as simply those of a benevolent patron looking to support everyday Bulgarians.
“Thank you Mr. Putin for the gesture, but I do not need 4000 leva to like Russia,” the anonymous author wrote. “I like her for free.”
___
Follow AP’s coverage of misinformation at https://apnews.com/hub/misinformation. | https://www.ksn.com/news/politics/ap-politics/russias-information-war-expands-through-eastern-europe/ | 2022-07-15T17:31:00Z | https://www.ksn.com/news/politics/ap-politics/russias-information-war-expands-through-eastern-europe/ | false |
ATLANTA, July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® has announced the early round of 2022 winners in the City of Atlanta, and Aventis Systems, Inc. has won for the 6th consecutive year. The National Association for Business Resources (NABR) assessed the winning companies using an independent research firm, which reviewed a number of key metrics. The scoring categories range from the benefits to the diversity of applicant companies, as well as various other vital factors.
Upon learning of the announcement, Tiffany Bloomer, President of Aventis Systems and Cortavo, reaffirmed her commitment to employee well-being and customer satisfaction. "Aventis Systems prides itself on happy and productive customers as well as the same for our employees. Employee satisfaction is paramount, really. Employees with work-life balance and solid benefits are happier in their work, and that trickles down to the experiences they give our customers," Tiffany stated. "We've really developed a rich company culture and it pays dividends year after year."
Tiffany was happy to elaborate on the rewards of a happy workforce. "We all know that labor shortages are a common challenge right now," she recognized. "But our culture ensures that top-flight talent wants to join us, and that our team members are happy where they're at."
Aventis Systems and Cortavo both offer a raft of amazing perks that distinguish them from the competition:
- Unlimited PTO
- Remote work
- Incentivized airline tickets
- Corporate personal trainer
- Company cell phone plan
- Student debt relief program
- Team building events
- Volunteer opportunities
- Tesla auto program
- Child care stipend
"These 2022 winning organizations have stood out during unpredictable times and have proven they are an employer of choice. They continue to keep the needs of their employees first and provide perks that include, development, wellbeing, work-life balance, rewards and recognition. In addition these winning companies offer a fantastic work culture and workplace environment that attracts and retains superior employees," said Jennifer Kluge, President and CEO of NABR and The Best and Brightest Program.
Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Aventis Systems, Inc. offers custom IT solutions to build and operate complete physical and virtual infrastructures. Their comprehensive solutions include hardware, system and application software, along with an array of in-depth managed services including Cortavo, an all-inclusive Managed Services Provider that offers all the hardware, software and cloud services to address small business technology needs and challenges at a flat monthly fee. Since 2008, thousands of small business owners have entrusted Aventis Systems as their preferred IT provider because they "Get IT Done."
Call 1-855-AVENTIS, visit www.AventisSystems.com or connect with Cortavo at www.Cortavo.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.
The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® competition identifies and honors organizations that display a commitment to excellence in operations and employee enrichment leading to increased productivity and financial performance. This competition scores potential winners based on regional data of company performance and a set standard across the nation. This national program celebrates those companies that are making better business, creating richer lives and building a stronger community as a whole. There are numerous regional celebrations throughout the country such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Houston, Milwaukee, San Diego and San Francisco. Nominations are now being accepted for all programs. Visit thebestandbrightest.com to nominate your organization.
Contact Information
Drake W. Dunaway
Content Specialist
Cortavo by Aventis Systems
770.601.9646
drake.dunaway@aventissystems.com
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SOURCE Aventis Systems, Inc. | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/national-association-business-resources-lists-aventis-systems-inc-among-atlantas-best-brightest-companies-work/ | 2022-07-15T17:31:16Z | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/national-association-business-resources-lists-aventis-systems-inc-among-atlantas-best-brightest-companies-work/ | true |
OKLAHOMA CITY, July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tailwind, a leading small business marketing software platform, has now made email marketing integrated with social content generation and scheduling accessible on all new Tailwind subscription plans, including the free plan. The move marks an important step towards Tailwind's vision of offering an end-to-end marketing automation experience for small business owners.
"What we set out to create was a marketing system with unique tools that would save a lot of time, not a little, and would act like the marketing team our members needed," says Tailwind's CEO and Co-Founder, Daniel Maloney.
"We started with social media scheduling and publishing in the distribution space, specifically for Instagram and Pinterest, and moved the core experience to multi-network with the addition of Facebook publishing. Now, we've added email creation and publishing to the offering so users can manage distribution on their most important channels from within our platform."
Tailwind's users will now be able to manage their email list, create campaign emails personalized to their brand and build email automation workflows alongside their social media campaigns within the new tool.
"Tailwind makes it easy to keep it all in alignment. I have so many tools and accounts and Tailwind makes it so simple," says Christine Martell, Founder of Visuals Speak and Tailwind subscriber. "Without it, it's complicated so I don't send as many marketing emails as I should."
"We've found that a few repeated patterns really hurt small business success, including prioritizing just one or two marketing channels, not having a clear strategy or system, and struggling with the creative elements of marketing. Email marketing is no exception," says Paul Yokota, Lead Product Manager at Tailwind.
"By adding easy-to-use email capabilities with clear use cases within our product, we're alleviating the stress of managing that channel for small businesses. We're also providing the tools to help grow their businesses, save time and level up their marketing efforts across the board."
Tailwind is backed by Pilot Growth Equity.
Launched in 2015, Tailwind is a leading small business marketing platform that helps entrepreneurs, creators, sellers and marketers plan, create and execute world-class marketing campaigns across digital marketing platforms including Email marketing, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Enquiries
For additional information on Tailwind or enquiries of your involvement in future fundraising activity, please email bd@tailwindapp.com.
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SOURCE Bridesview Inc. dba Tailwind | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/tailwind-launches-expanded-email-marketing-capabilities-continued-evolution-full-suite-marketing-platform/ | 2022-07-15T17:33:03Z | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/tailwind-launches-expanded-email-marketing-capabilities-continued-evolution-full-suite-marketing-platform/ | true |
NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Miller will umpire at home plate in Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
This will be the second All-Star Game for the 55-year-old, who worked right field at the 2007 game in San Francisco. Miller became an MLB umpire in 1999 and a crew chief in 2014. He worked the World Series in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2020.
His crew includes Lance Barksdale (first), Mark Ripperger (second), Will Little (third), Gabe Morales (left) and Carlos Torres (right), Major League Baseball said Friday.
Barksdale worked left field for the 2012 All-Star Game at Kansas City. Ripperger, Little, Morales and Torres are working their first All-Star Game.
The replay umpire in New York will be Brian Knight, the right field umpire in 2012.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/Bill-Miller-to-umpire-behind-plate-in-All-Star-17307777.php | 2022-07-15T17:33:25Z | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/Bill-Miller-to-umpire-behind-plate-in-All-Star-17307777.php | false |
Primary school teacher, 31, is banned from the classroom for offering to sell sexual services and posting snaps of himself wearing only his pants online
- Thomas Heayel, 31, was dismissed from his Cornwall teaching role last July
- He posted photos offering to sell sexual services, with one including his name
- He expressed remorse and has now been banned from teaching indefinitely
A Cornish primary school teacher has been banned from teaching for posting inappropriate pictures of himself and offering to sell sexual services on the internet.
Thomas Heayel, 31, taught at St Columb Minor Academy in St Columb Minor, near Newquay, and was recently the subject of a Teaching Regulation Agency disciplinary hearing.
He was ruled to be guilty of posting or allowing to be displayed one or more inappropriate images of himself on the internet between February and July 2020.
He was also found to have posted or allowed to be displayed one or more images, messages and/or comments on the internet offering to sell sexual services during the same period.
Thomas Heayel, 31, taught at St Columb Minor Academy in St Columb Minor, near Newquay, Cornwall
In this image posted online the primary school teacher encouraged people to message him privately for 'modelling rates'
He was found to have posted pictures in nothing but his underwear, which the panel found could bring the teaching profession into disrepute
Mr Heayel, who started at the school on September 1, 2019, admitted the allegations and that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct.
Concerns were first raised by members of the local authority on July 7, 2021, before the teacher was dismissed on July 23.
The disciplinary panel was satisfied that Mr Heayel's conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession, but that his actions fell 'towards the lower end of sexual misconduct'.
The panel said: 'Whilst the panel had regard to the fact that there was no evidence presented that any pupils had seen or accessed the images online, the panel did consider that as a teacher Mr Heayel was likely to be viewed as a role model by pupils.
'The panel noted that whilst the website where Mr Heayel posted the images was restricted, the images could also be accessed via a generic internet search and one image contained Mr Heayel's name.
'Consequently the images were in the public domain enabling any member of the public, or pupil, to have sight of them.
'The panel therefore concluded Mr Heayel's behaviour would undoubtedly damage the public's perception of the teaching profession and there were public interest factors to consider.'
It also the considered that public confidence in teaching could be 'seriously weakened if conduct, such as that found against Mr Heayel, were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession.'
The panel noted Mr Heayel's remorse but prohibited him from teaching indefinitely.
It found that although positive references were submitted to them, these were only relevant to Mr Heayel’s application for employment at the school and no new references had been provided since his misconduct.
The panel concluded there was 'little evidence to suggest that Mr Heayel’s contribution to the profession had been either long term or significant.'
This means he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.
He can apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 5 July 2024, two years from the date of the ordert.
In order for Mr Heayel to then return to teaching, he must prove to another Teaching Regulation Agency panel that he is fit to do so. | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11018323/Primary-school-teacher-31-banned-offering-sell-sexual-services-posting-underwear-snaps.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490 | 2022-07-15T17:34:03Z | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11018323/Primary-school-teacher-31-banned-offering-sell-sexual-services-posting-underwear-snaps.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490 | false |
Angelina County commissioners appoint road administrator, assistant
LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - Angelina County commissioners have appointed a new road administrator and his assistant.
James McMullen is the new road administrator. Originally from Angelina County, McMullen is back after having worked in Houston. In court on Friday, County Judge Keith Wright said McMullen has been the foreman of a construction company since 2005. He is hired at $80,000.
Clint Caton, who was already employed with the county, is the new assistant road administrator.
The hirings come after the commissioners fired Road Engineer Chuck Walker in March.
The county voters elected to switch to a unit road system in November 2020.
Texas law allows a county to hire a road administrator in the event an engineer is not available.
Copyright 2022 KTRE. All rights reserved. | https://www.ktre.com/2022/07/15/angelina-county-commissioners-appoint-road-administrator-assistant/ | 2022-07-15T17:36:00Z | https://www.ktre.com/2022/07/15/angelina-county-commissioners-appoint-road-administrator-assistant/ | false |
NEW YORK, July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lanier Law Firm has been honored with the Elite Trial Lawyers Award for 2022 in the area of Governmental Representation by American Lawyer Media, the publisher of The National Law Journal and other regional and specialty publications. An event where the publisher conveyed the award was held on the evening of July 14 in New York City.
The firm was recognized for a growing body of work in representing states, counties, municipalities, and similar agencies in complex litigation.
That success at trial includes representing two Ohio counties in federal multidistrict litigation against national retail pharmacies Walmart, CVS and Walgreens. In November 2021 a jury found that the retailers were responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic in those counties, and the firm served as counsel in a bench trial in May 2022 to determine the associated financial damages in the case. A ruling on those damages is expected this summer.
Earlier this year the firm played a key role in reaching a $1.85 billion settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors on behalf of the state of Texas, and in 2019 gained a pre-trial $260 million settlement with the nation's three biggest drug distributors and a major drugmaker on behalf of two other Ohio counties in the opioid multidistrict litigation.
The firm is also representing the State of Texas and multiple other state Attorneys General in litigation against Google, alleging that the company has unlawfully maintained monopolies in Internet search and search advertising services.
Also at the event, the firm's founder Mark Lanier received the Keith Givens Visionary Award, which honors a member of the bar who has shown extraordinary creativity in bringing the legal industry together, developing new opportunities for business growth, and supporting the professional development of attorneys across the nation.
Cumulatively, Mr. Lanier has garnered almost $20 billion in verdicts during his highly acclaimed career. In addition to this latest honor, he has been named as one of the Most Influential Attorneys of the Decade by the National Law Journal; as one of the 25 Greatest Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century by Texas Lawyer; and is a recipient of the American Association of Justice's Lifetime Achievement Award.
About the Lanier Law Firm
For more than 30 years, the men and women at the Lanier Law Firm have worked tirelessly, throughout the United States, to find unique and effective solutions for their clients. More than 60 skilled attorneys practice law in a broad array of areas, including business litigation, pharmaceutical litigation, asbestos exposure, oil and gas litigation, personal injury as well as defective and dangerous products, among others. Twice named an Elite Trial Law Firm by The National Law Journal, the Lanier Law Firm has offices in Houston, New York and Los Angeles. To learn more about Mark Lanier and the Lanier Law Firm, visit http://www.lanierlawfirm.com.
Media Contact:
J.D. Cargill
713-659-5200
jdc@lanierlawfirm.com
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SOURCE The Lanier Law Firm | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/lanier-law-firm-honored-success-representing-state-local-governments-litigation/ | 2022-07-15T17:36:51Z | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/lanier-law-firm-honored-success-representing-state-local-governments-litigation/ | false |
LiveOne Plans to Dividend a Portion of PodcastOne's Common Equity to LiveOne's More Than 15,000 Stockholders as of a Future Record Date
PodcastOne Expects Record Quarterly Revenue in Excess of $9 Million in the Quarter Ended June 30, 2022
LiveOne Invested Alongside New Institutional Investors as Demonstration of Its Confidence in PodcastOne and Its Management's Ability to Acquire Podcast Platforms and Attract Significant Podcast Talent
PodcastOne Ranked #8 On Podtrac's List of Top U.S. Podcast Publishers in May 2022 with U.S. Unique Monthly Audience Exceeding 6.9 Million
LiveOne Reiterates Its Previously Announced Plan to Also Spinout its Pay-Per-View Business Before Year End
LOS ANGELES, July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO), an award-winning, creator-first, music, entertainment and technology platform focused on delivering premium experiences and content worldwide through memberships and live and virtual events, announced today its intention to spin-out its wholly owned subsidiary, PodcastOne, as a separate public company to be listed on a national exchange and its plan to dividend a portion of PodcastOne's common equity to LiveOne's more than 15,000 stockholders as of a future record date, anticipated to be completed by year-end, in each case subject to obtaining applicable approvals and consents and complying with applicable rules and regulations and public market trading and listing requirements. In connection with the anticipated spin-out, PodcastOne closed a private placement financing of convertible notes and warrants totaling approximately $8.1 million prior to offering expenses, including $3 million invested by LiveOne, whereby the terms of the financing value PodcastOne at a pre-money valuation of $60 million.
PodcastOne is the leading advertiser-supported on-demand digital podcast company, offering a 360-degree solution for both content creators and advertisers, including content development, brand integration and distribution. Acquired by LiveOne in 2020, PodcastOne has had more than 2.1 billion downloads a year since its acquisition, across the more than 350 weekly episodes it distributes. It boasts a roster of top podcast programs, including top influencer talent like Adam Carolla, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Jordan Harbinger, The LADYGANG, Kail Lowry, T-Pain, Jay Cutler and Michael Irvin.
According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau ("IAB") and PwC's 2021 U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study, in 2021, U.S. podcast advertising revenues rose to $1.4 billion, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the first time, a revenue increase of 72% year over year. IAB also forecasts that the market will exceed $2 billion in 2022 and will be over $4 billion by 2024.
Commenting on the announcement, LiveOne's CEO, Robert Ellin, stated, "The goal of both our management team and board of directors is to maximize stockholder value. PodcastOne has been a tremendous addition to LiveOne since our acquisition in 2020, and we feel strongly that the market value of our stock dramatically undervalues the sum of our parts, which includes our PodcastOne subsidiary. Upon the successful completion of the spin out, we believe PodcastOne will be the only major pure play podcast company trading on a national exchange."
PodcastOne's President, Kit Gray, commented, "The podcasting business has exploded over the past five years and PodcastOne is one of the largest independent podcast companies in the world. The company is one of only two independent podcasting publishers in the top 10 of Podtrac's list of Top Publishers. We believe that by trading as a separate public company, PodcastOne will have the opportunity to access the public capital markets as well as be better positioned to both acquire podcast platforms and attract significant podcast talent."
As part of the private placement, LiveOne invested $3 million. For additional information on the financing, please review LiveOne's Current Report on Form 8-K to filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that LiveOne's efforts will result in the planned spin-out of PodcastOne or its pay-per-view business as a separate public company, the planned distribution of a portion of PodcastOne's common equity to LiveOne's stockholders or with respect to the timing of such plans.
Joseph Gunnar & Co., LLC acted as the sole placement agent for the private placement to institutional and accredited investors.
The securities sold in the private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or any state or other jurisdiction's securities laws, and may not be resold absent registration under, or exemption from registration under, the Securities Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
PodcastOne's select anticipated financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 ("Q1 Fiscal 2023") discussed in this press release are based on management's preliminary unaudited analysis of financial results for such quarter. As of the date of this press release, LiveOne has not completed its financial statement reporting process for Q1 Fiscal 2023, and LiveOne's independent registered accounting firm has not audited the preliminary financial data discussed in this press release. During the course of LiveOne's quarter-end closing procedures and review process, LiveOne may identify items that would require it to make adjustments, which may be material, to the information presented above. As a result, the estimates above constitute forward-looking information and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including possible adjustments to preliminary financial results.
PodcastOne is a leading advertiser-supported podcast company, offering a 360-degree solution for both content creators and advertisers, including content development, brand integration and distribution. Acquired by LiveOne (NASDAQ: LVO) in 2020, the two entities have subsequently teamed to create a new video podcast (Vodcast) network under the LiveOne umbrella. Amassing more than 2.1 billion downloads per year with 350 episodes distributed per week across a stable of hundreds of top podcast programs, including influencer talent like Adam Carolla, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Steve Austin, Armando "Pitbull'' Perez, Jordan Harbinger, Heather Dubrow, The LadyGang, Dr. Drew, Jay Cutler, Brett Favre, Robert Horry and top-rated true crime shows including Bad Bad Thing, True Crime All the Time Unsolved, The Prosecutors, Court Junkie, A&E's Cold Case Files, American Nightmare and more. Its shows are distributed across its own platform as well as LiveOne's owned-and-operated channels on mobile, mobile web, desktop and SmartTV's. PodcastOne is the parent company of LaunchpadOne, an innovative self-serve platform developed to launch, host, distribute and monetize independent user-generated podcasts. PodcastOne ranked #8 on Podtrac's list of Top U.S. Podcast Publishers in May 2022. PodcastOne is the brainchild of Radio Hall of Famer, Norm Pattiz, also the founder of Network Radio-giant, Westwood One.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, LiveOne, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVO) (the "Company") is an award-winning, creator-first, music, entertainment and technology platform focused on delivering premium experiences and content worldwide through memberships and live and virtual events. As of May 31, 2022, the Company has accrued a paid and free membership base of over 2.3 million**, streamed over 2,900 artists, has a library of 30 million songs, 600 curated radio stations, nearly 270 podcasts/vodcasts, hundreds of pay-per-views, personalized merchandise, released music-related NFTs, and created a valuable connection between fans, brands, and bands. The Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries include Slacker Radio, React Presents, Gramophone Media, Palm Beach Records, Custom Personalization Solutions, LiveXLive, PPVOne and PodcastOne, which generates more than 2.48 billion downloads per year and 300+ episodes distributed per week across its stable of top-rated podcasts. LiveOne is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and through OTT, STIRR, and XUMO. For more information, visit www.liveone.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter at @liveone.
All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements," which may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words as "may," "might," "will," "will likely result," "would," "should," "estimate," "plan," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "seek," "continue," "target" or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including: the Company's reliance on one key customer for a substantial percentage of its revenue; the Company's ability to consummate any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, distribution or transaction, including the proposed spin-out of PodcastOne or its pay-per-view business, the timing of the closing of such proposed event, including the risks that a condition to closing would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all, or that the closing of any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, distribution or transaction will not occur or whether any such event will enhance shareholder value; PodcastOne's ability to list on a national exchange; the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; the Company's ability to attract, maintain and increase the number of its users and paid members; the Company identifying, acquiring, securing and developing content; the Company's intent to repurchase shares of its common stock from time to time under its announced stock repurchase program and the timing, price, and quantity of repurchases, if any, under the program; the Company's ability to maintain compliance with certain financial and other covenants; the Company successfully implementing its growth strategy, including relating to its technology platforms and applications; management's relationships with industry stakeholders; the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic; changes in economic conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties applicable to the businesses of the Company's subsidiaries; and other risks, uncertainties and factors including, but not limited to, those described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on June 29, 2022, and in the Company's other filings and submissions with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any obligations to update these statements, except as may be required by law. The Company intends that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
** Included in the total number of paid members for the reported periods are certain members which are the subject of a contractual dispute. LiveOne is currently not recognizing revenue related to these members.
LiveOne IR Contact:
(310) 601-2505
ir@liveone.com
Press Contact:
LiveOne
aileen@liveone.com
917.842.9653
aavidon@liveone.com
516.522.1349
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SOURCE LiveOne, Inc. | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/liveones-wholly-owned-subsidiary-podcastone-closes-81-million-financing-pre-money-valuation-60-million-part-its-intention-spin-out-podcastone-separate-public-company-before-year-end/ | 2022-07-15T17:37:33Z | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/liveones-wholly-owned-subsidiary-podcastone-closes-81-million-financing-pre-money-valuation-60-million-part-its-intention-spin-out-podcastone-separate-public-company-before-year-end/ | false |
Marion County Sheriff’s Office employee arrested for domestic battery
OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - The Marion County Sheriff’s Office has arrested an employee of the sheriff’s office accused of domestic battery.
According to the sheriff’s office, Joshua Sones, 45, was arrested on Thursday during a domestic disturbance. Deputies say Sones hit the victim with an HDMI cable.
Sones, who is assigned as a Master Sergeant in the Detention Bureau, was placed on unpaid administrative leave. He has worked for the sheriff’s office for 17 years.
He was booked into the Marion County Jail.
“It devastates me that one of our own stands accused of domestic violence,” said Sheriff Billy Woods. “As the Sheriff of Marion County, I will always strive to protect and seek justice for every victim, in particular victims of domestic violence. I will continue to hold my employees to the highest standards of conduct and integrity. Anybody found to have violated the laws we have sworn to uphold will be dealt with accordingly and be made to face the consequences of their actions.”
Copyright 2022 WCJB. All rights reserved. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. | https://www.wcjb.com/2022/07/15/marion-county-sheriffs-office-employee-arrested-domestic-battery/ | 2022-07-15T17:37:47Z | https://www.wcjb.com/2022/07/15/marion-county-sheriffs-office-employee-arrested-domestic-battery/ | false |
Drivers and Helpers at Metro Atlanta Tire Recycler Ratify Agreement
ATLANTA, July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This morning, drivers and helpers at Liberty Tire Recycling voted unanimously in favor of a first contract with Teamsters Local 728. The agreement contains significant wage increases, seniority language, a grievance procedure and stronger security for the 40-worker unit.
"We learned a lot throughout this process," said Laba Mbengue, a 15-year driver at Liberty and one of the lead members of Local 728's bargaining committee. "When we decided to organize, things were really bad. We had no rights, no raise, and conditions were awful. We had one raise in 15 years – for a penny! All these years, we were suffering. Then the Teamsters came in and everything changed. It's totally different. Management treats us with respect now. A new life has started all because of the Teamsters, and everyone is happy to have won this incredible contract. It's better than we could have ever imagined. We got together and fought for our rights, and now we see the results. It's truly life-changing."
Mbengue and his co-workers reached out to the Teamsters in early Sept. 2021, seeking improved working conditions, higher wages and better benefits. On Oct. 15, workers voted overwhelmingly in favor of representation with Local 728. Since then, they have played an active role in negotiations and become active members of the union.
"Becoming a Teamster has changed everything for us," said Luis Herrera, a 25-year driver for Liberty Tire and member of the worker-led organizing committee. "This contract means a lot to us. We fought hard for this day, and we are proud of what we have accomplished. Now that we have our Teamster contract, we will be able to work and live better."
Additional highlights in the new agreement include an increase in boot and phone allowance, a Christmas bonus, an increase in vacation and holiday pay, and Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday.
"Throughout the organizing and contract campaigns, these workers showed incredible strength and solidarity. From the very start, these dedicated workers were united for a better way of life. This ratification vote reflects their determination to win the protection of a strong union contract," said Chuck Stiles, Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division and Vice President of Local 728. "I want to thank everyone who made this victory possible, including Local 728 President Matt Higdon and Business Agent Eric Mossaro. I also want to thank International Organizer Rick Hernandez for breaking the language barrier and all his hard work during negotiations. Most of all, I want to thank and congratulate the workers for their commitment to win a union voice."
Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Liberty Tire is one of the largest tire recycling services in the U.S., employing more than 2,700 workers nationwide.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE Teamsters Local 728, Atlanta | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/workers-liberty-tire-recycling-atlanta-win-first-teamster-contract/ | 2022-07-15T17:37:58Z | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/workers-liberty-tire-recycling-atlanta-win-first-teamster-contract/ | false |
Smashes previous Prime Day 2021 record with over 100% sales increase year over year
Company sold more than 1 million units over the two-day event
WALPOLE, Mass., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Thrasio, the next-generation global consumer goods company, announced today its best Amazon Prime Day ever, with an over 100% sales increase year over year. On a like-for-like adjusted basis, including the prior year's sales of newly acquired brands, overall sales increased by 60%.
"For years, Prime Day has been a platform for Prime members to discover highly-rated products and great savings on things they really want, and it's clear they want Thrasio goods," says incoming CEO Greg Greeley. "Since the company's launch, our family of brands has delighted millions of happy customers all over the world. Whether it's a Subscribe & Save for Angry Orange pet deodorizer or unique gifts like the Perfect Practice putting mat, Thrasio connects Prime members with truly great products all year long."
This Prime Day, records were broken across the Thrasio portfolio, with the home, outdoor, and beauty categories being particularly successful – no surprise as this week's event comes at the heart of summer entertaining, vacation, and wedding & party season.
Thrasio's best-performing products were from both brands recently added to the portfolio and brands that have delighted customers for years:
- ChomChom Roller – the cult-favorite pet hair roller seen all over TikTok was also seen all over Amazon's homepage as a No. 1 Trending Deal and No. 1 for the entire pet category, with tens of thousands of rollers getting into the hands of pet owners needing relief from the incessant shedding of their beloved pets;
- Nippies – the retail darling, which boasts placement in brick & mortar Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Anthropologie, and other stores, maintained its spot as No. 1 Best Seller in the fast-growing category of nipple covers and had its biggest day ever on Amazon, achieving a nearly 150% increase in sales year over year;
- Becky Cameron Home – the best-selling bedding brand achieved 474% year-over-year sales growth and Amazon homepage placement as well as key editorial endorsements in publications like People, Forbes, and Southern Living. Becky Cameron Home pillows are a favorite of creators and influencers all over the internet, and during the two-day event, over 450,000 pounds of pillows were purchased, ensuring some very lucky Prime members will have a truly restful weekend;
- Dots for Spots – the vegan, cruelty-free acne patch brand achieved its best day ever on both Amazon's UK and US marketplaces. The brand was expanded into the US marketplace just four months ago and already made up 34% of the brand's sales during Prime Day;
- Green Bulldog Bags – the foldable, washable, reusable grocery-bag brand shipped 73x the average daily units sold and grabbed the No. 1 Best Seller Badge, replacing over 100,000 plastic bags and reducing shoppers' environmental impact with each grocery run;
- Hotel Sheets Direct – standing out from the thousands of sheet sets on the Amazon marketplace is no small feat, but this brand provides unparalleled quality at an incredible value. Prime Member enthusiasm for Hotel Sheets Direct drove nearly 600% growth year over year and Amazon featured the brand on its Lightning Deals homepage;
- Enerplex – the best-selling air mattress brand, which Thrasio's Product Development team recently expanded to include more sizes of mattresses, went on to grow sales more than 70% year over year during the two-day event;
- Beard King – the men's grooming product you didn't know you needed did 755% more in sales than during Prime Day 2021 and earned a Best Seller distinction by Amazon;
- Wise Owl Outfitters – the world got wind of next week's National Hammock Day in the U.S. and geared up with purchases of the brand's hammocks & outdoor camping gear, driving a 23% increase in sales over last year's record-breaking Prime Day and earning two new Best Seller Badges.
"The secret to Amazon Prime Day success is of course having great products, but it's also about operational excellence and great team execution,'' explains Thrasio COO Stephanie Fox. "At Thrasio, the prep for Prime Day is just as significant as the actual event, and it's an organization-wide effort. Even in a challenging year where market headwinds and supply chain disruptions dominate the news, our focus remains on how best to serve customers with our powerful data-driven approach, and no one does that better than our experienced and energized team of Thrashers."
"Prime Day is our favorite global holiday at Thrasio," says Brandon Hendrix, SVP Marketing. "With thousands of Lightning Deals and Prime Exclusive Deals planned in 12 countries, Prime member response to our offerings achieved a 55% increase in Best Seller Badges for products throughout the portfolio, which creates a nice ripple effect of sales for the weeks to come. For publishers, creators, influencers and the like, if you weren't part of our partner network for this Prime Day, it's not too late to get in on the action for the remainder of the summer and upcoming holidays."
Thrasio is the next-generation consumer goods company reimagining how the world's most-loved products become accessible to everyone. We use a deep understanding of rankings, ratings, and reviews to identify and acquire quality brands selling beloved goods and help them reach customers around the globe. With every brand we grow, item listing we improve, or product we develop, our goal is to help people everywhere make the most of every moment. Thrasio operates more than 200 brands and a portfolio of products including Angry Orange pet deodorizers and stain removers, Beckham Hotel Collection bedding, and Dots for Spots vegan acne patches. In an internet-sized sea of choices, we ensure what gets delivered to your door delivers. Thrasio was founded in 2018 by Joshua Silberstein and Carlos Cashman and was named a CNBC Disruptor in 2021 and 2022. How Goods Become Great™ thrasio.com.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Thrasio | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/thrasio-has-its-most-successful-amazon-prime-day-ever/ | 2022-07-15T17:38:20Z | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/thrasio-has-its-most-successful-amazon-prime-day-ever/ | true |
Smashes previous Prime Day 2021 record with over 100% sales increase year over year
Company sold more than 1 million units over the two-day event
WALPOLE, Mass., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Thrasio, the next-generation global consumer goods company, announced today its best Amazon Prime Day ever, with an over 100% sales increase year over year. On a like-for-like adjusted basis, including the prior year's sales of newly acquired brands, overall sales increased by 60%.
"For years, Prime Day has been a platform for Prime members to discover highly-rated products and great savings on things they really want, and it's clear they want Thrasio goods," says incoming CEO Greg Greeley. "Since the company's launch, our family of brands has delighted millions of happy customers all over the world. Whether it's a Subscribe & Save for Angry Orange pet deodorizer or unique gifts like the Perfect Practice putting mat, Thrasio connects Prime members with truly great products all year long."
This Prime Day, records were broken across the Thrasio portfolio, with the home, outdoor, and beauty categories being particularly successful – no surprise as this week's event comes at the heart of summer entertaining, vacation, and wedding & party season.
Thrasio's best-performing products were from both brands recently added to the portfolio and brands that have delighted customers for years:
- ChomChom Roller – the cult-favorite pet hair roller seen all over TikTok was also seen all over Amazon's homepage as a No. 1 Trending Deal and No. 1 for the entire pet category, with tens of thousands of rollers getting into the hands of pet owners needing relief from the incessant shedding of their beloved pets;
- Nippies – the retail darling, which boasts placement in brick & mortar Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Anthropologie, and other stores, maintained its spot as No. 1 Best Seller in the fast-growing category of nipple covers and had its biggest day ever on Amazon, achieving a nearly 150% increase in sales year over year;
- Becky Cameron Home – the best-selling bedding brand achieved 474% year-over-year sales growth and Amazon homepage placement as well as key editorial endorsements in publications like People, Forbes, and Southern Living. Becky Cameron Home pillows are a favorite of creators and influencers all over the internet, and during the two-day event, over 450,000 pounds of pillows were purchased, ensuring some very lucky Prime members will have a truly restful weekend;
- Dots for Spots – the vegan, cruelty-free acne patch brand achieved its best day ever on both Amazon's UK and US marketplaces. The brand was expanded into the US marketplace just four months ago and already made up 34% of the brand's sales during Prime Day;
- Green Bulldog Bags – the foldable, washable, reusable grocery-bag brand shipped 73x the average daily units sold and grabbed the No. 1 Best Seller Badge, replacing over 100,000 plastic bags and reducing shoppers' environmental impact with each grocery run;
- Hotel Sheets Direct – standing out from the thousands of sheet sets on the Amazon marketplace is no small feat, but this brand provides unparalleled quality at an incredible value. Prime Member enthusiasm for Hotel Sheets Direct drove nearly 600% growth year over year and Amazon featured the brand on its Lightning Deals homepage;
- Enerplex – the best-selling air mattress brand, which Thrasio's Product Development team recently expanded to include more sizes of mattresses, went on to grow sales more than 70% year over year during the two-day event;
- Beard King – the men's grooming product you didn't know you needed did 755% more in sales than during Prime Day 2021 and earned a Best Seller distinction by Amazon;
- Wise Owl Outfitters – the world got wind of next week's National Hammock Day in the U.S. and geared up with purchases of the brand's hammocks & outdoor camping gear, driving a 23% increase in sales over last year's record-breaking Prime Day and earning two new Best Seller Badges.
"The secret to Amazon Prime Day success is of course having great products, but it's also about operational excellence and great team execution,'' explains Thrasio COO Stephanie Fox. "At Thrasio, the prep for Prime Day is just as significant as the actual event, and it's an organization-wide effort. Even in a challenging year where market headwinds and supply chain disruptions dominate the news, our focus remains on how best to serve customers with our powerful data-driven approach, and no one does that better than our experienced and energized team of Thrashers."
"Prime Day is our favorite global holiday at Thrasio," says Brandon Hendrix, SVP Marketing. "With thousands of Lightning Deals and Prime Exclusive Deals planned in 12 countries, Prime member response to our offerings achieved a 55% increase in Best Seller Badges for products throughout the portfolio, which creates a nice ripple effect of sales for the weeks to come. For publishers, creators, influencers and the like, if you weren't part of our partner network for this Prime Day, it's not too late to get in on the action for the remainder of the summer and upcoming holidays."
Thrasio is the next-generation consumer goods company reimagining how the world's most-loved products become accessible to everyone. We use a deep understanding of rankings, ratings, and reviews to identify and acquire quality brands selling beloved goods and help them reach customers around the globe. With every brand we grow, item listing we improve, or product we develop, our goal is to help people everywhere make the most of every moment. Thrasio operates more than 200 brands and a portfolio of products including Angry Orange pet deodorizers and stain removers, Beckham Hotel Collection bedding, and Dots for Spots vegan acne patches. In an internet-sized sea of choices, we ensure what gets delivered to your door delivers. Thrasio was founded in 2018 by Joshua Silberstein and Carlos Cashman and was named a CNBC Disruptor in 2021 and 2022. How Goods Become Great™ thrasio.com.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Thrasio | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/thrasio-has-its-most-successful-amazon-prime-day-ever/ | 2022-07-15T17:39:18Z | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/thrasio-has-its-most-successful-amazon-prime-day-ever/ | false |
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation Monday to increase penalties for motorists who have multiple DUI convictions to try to end what critics call Pennsylvania’s “revolving door” for the most serious drunken drivers.
The state Senate passed the final version last week after a couple of attempts to get the bill through the Legislature.
The new law takes effect in November and increases penalties for some offenders who receive a third or subsequent DUI conviction.
It aims to lengthen sentences by requiring someone convicted of a third DUI offense to serve consecutive sentences for separate counts, instead of serving the sentences at the same time.
The law also increases the grading of offenses — and the potential length of the sentence — for someone convicted of a fourth DUI if they are caught with drugs or record a high blood alcohol content.
The bill was inspired by the death of Deana Eckman. A five-time drunken driver killed the 45-year-old Delaware County woman in 2019 when he drove his pickup truck across a double yellow line and slammed head-on into the car she was riding in, driven by Eckman's husband, who was seriously injured.
The 30-year-old pickup driver pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges and was sentenced to 25 1/2 to 51 years in prison.
The driver, David Strowhouer, had been freed from state prison a few months before the crash after serving a concurrent sentence for his fifth DUI conviction. | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Pennsylvania-toughens-penalties-for-repeat-DUI-17307757.php | 2022-07-15T17:53:19Z | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Pennsylvania-toughens-penalties-for-repeat-DUI-17307757.php | false |
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Jim Thorpe has been reinstated as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm — nearly 110 years after being stripped of those gold medals for violations of strict amateurism rules of the time.
The International Olympic Committee announced the change Friday on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon and later being proclaimed by King Gustav V of Sweden as “the greatest athlete in the world.”
Thorpe, a Native American, returned to a ticker-tape parade in New York, but months later it was discovered he had been paid to play minor league baseball over two summers, an infringement of the Olympic amateurism rules. He was stripped of his gold medals in what was described as the first major international sports scandal.
Thorpe to some remains the greatest all-around athlete ever. He was voted as the Associated Press’ Athlete of the Half Century in a poll in 1950.
In 1982 — 29 years after Thorpe’s death — the IOC gave duplicate gold medals to his family but his Olympic records were not reinstated, nor was his status as the sole gold medalist of the two events.
Two years ago, a Bright Path Strong petition advocated declaring Thorpe the outright winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912. The IOC had listed him as a co-champion in the official record book.
“We welcome the fact that, thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong, a solution could be found,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “This is a most exceptional and unique situation, which has been addressed by an extraordinary gesture of fair play from the National Olympic Committees concerned.”
Thorpe’s Native American name, Wa-Tho-Huk, means “Bright Path.” The organization with the help of IOC member Anita DeFrantz had contacted the Swedish Olympic Committee and the family of Hugo Wieslander, who had been elevated to decathlon gold medalist in 1913.
“They confirmed that Wieslander himself had never accepted the Olympic gold medal allocated to him, and had always been of the opinion that Jim Thorpe was the sole legitimate Olympic gold medalist,” the IOC said, adding that the Swedish Olympic Committee agreed.
“The same declaration was received from the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, whose athlete, Ferdinand Bie, was named as the gold medalist when Thorpe was stripped of the pentathlon title,” the IOC said.
Bie will be listed as the silver medalist in the pentathlon, and Wieslander with silver in the decathlon.
World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, has also agreed to amend its records, the IOC said.
Bright Path Strong commended the IOC for “setting the record straight” about the Sac and Fox and Potawatomi athlete.
“We are so grateful this nearly 110-year-old injustice has finally been corrected, and there is no confusion about the most remarkable athlete in history,” said Nedra Darling, the organization co-founder and citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
As the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States, Thorpe “has inspired our people for generations,” said Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians.
In Stockholm, Thorpe tripled the score of his nearest competitor in the pentathlon and had 688 more points than the second-placed finisher in the decathlon.
During the closing ceremony, King Gustav V told Thorpe: “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.”
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.koin.com/sports/ap-sports/jim-thorpe-reinstated-as-sole-winner-for-1912-olympic-golds/ | 2022-07-15T17:54:08Z | https://www.koin.com/sports/ap-sports/jim-thorpe-reinstated-as-sole-winner-for-1912-olympic-golds/ | true |
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's Republican Party, already dominant in electing candidates, has achieved another long-sought goal, overtaking the Democratic Party in statewide voter registration.
The Kentucky State Board of Elections announced Friday that the number of registered Republican voters stands at 1,612,060, compared with 1,609,569 registered Democrats.
“After a century and a half, the birthplace of Lincoln has finally aligned with the party of Lincoln," Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams said.
U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, regarded as the main architect of the GOP's rise in Kentucky, said his party's voter registration supremacy in his home state was “a day I never thought would happen.” McConnell attributed his party's achievement to decades of “hard work and grassroots efforts,” adding that "it’s just the beginning.”
When McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, the state had 1.3 million registered Democrats and 525,060 Republicans. Republicans have narrowed the gap for years.
Republicans hold Kentucky's two U.S. Senate seats, five of six congressional seats, supermajorities in the legislature and most of the statewide constitutional offices.
But the state's top political job — the governorship — is held by Democrat Andy Beshear. Recent polling showed the governor receiving high job-performance ratings, but Beshear faces a tough reelection fight as the state trends Republican. | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Kentucky-GOP-overtakes-Democrats-in-voter-17307851.php | 2022-07-15T17:54:14Z | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Kentucky-GOP-overtakes-Democrats-in-voter-17307851.php | false |
The Shinde-Fadnavis government on Thursday has approved the implementation the Centre’s AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) 2.0 scheme in Maharashtra. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has aimed at transforming 500 select cities under the scheme.
The state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and attended by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has given its approval today.
According to Shinde, about 50 per cent of the population in the state lives in urban areas and there are a total of 413 urban local bodies in the state. ‘’Amrit 1.0 scheme has been implemented in the state since 2015 but it was limited to only 44 cities in the state. However, AMRUT 2.0 will now be implemented in all the civil local bodies of the state during the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 to provide basic infrastructure in the urban areas of the state. The main objectives of the scheme are to make all city houses 100 percent self-sufficient in terms of water supply by providing tap connections, rejuvenating water resources and developing parks and green areas in open spaces in the city, and providing 100 percent sewage treatment and sewage connections in 44 Amrit 1.0 cities,’’ he said.
Under the AMRUT 2.0 campaign, projects worth Rs. 27,700 crores will be undertaken in the state, for which central financial assistance of Rs. 9,285 crores while Rs 18,415 crore will be contributed by the state government and the urban local self-government bodies according to their classification. Under this campaign, 52.81% funds will be provided for water supply projects, 41.35% for sewage disposal projects and 5.84% funds for the revival of water resources and development of green area projects.
Further, under AMRUT 2.0, in cities with a population of one million or more, the projects of 10% cost will be take up on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis. A Viability Gap Fund ( VGF) will be made available for this up to a maximum limit of sixty percent.
A State High Power Steering Committee ( SHPSC) has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary for the implementation of this scheme.
A Chief Minister’s Office statement said that with today’s decision on implementation of AMRUT 2.0, a sustainable water supply system will be created in the urban areas and the standard of living of the citizens of the city will definitely be raised. Further, the cities of the state will become cleaner and more beautiful. | https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/maharashtra-govt-to-implement-amrut-20-in-413-urban-local-bodies | 2022-07-15T17:56:57Z | https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/maharashtra-govt-to-implement-amrut-20-in-413-urban-local-bodies | false |
Which pumpkin spice K-Cup is best?
When fall comes around, that means it’s nearly time to bring out the seasonal decorations and definitely time to make tasty autumnal beverages. When people think of fall, the image of a warm, comforting pumpkin-spiced drink tends to come to mind. Luckily, there are now a few ways to get that tasty treat without ever having to leave the comfort of your home. Here are a few K-Cup concepts to help jumpstart the season and keep you focused throughout the shortening days.
What are K-Cups?
K-Cups are generally single-use cartridges that have coffee, tea or hot chocolate placed inside. The cartridges are usually plastic and good for one cup of coffee or tea made using a Keurig. For more information on some of the best K-Cup coffee pods, check the buying guide on BestReviews.
What is pumpkin spice?
Pumpkin spice is a combination of spices typically used during the fall and colder months of the year. These spices include cinnamon, cloves, ginger and more. It is called pumpkin spice because originally, these spices and ingredients were used when baking and flavoring pie, but now it’s so common that the mixed spices often are referred to as “pumpkin spice” without any reference to a real pie.
Caffeinated pumpkin spice K-Cup coffee pods
Caffeine is a stimulant that’s generally accepted as legal and safe within reason. According to the Mayo Clinic, up to around 400 milligrams of caffeine in a single day is viewed as acceptable and safe for most adults. Consult your doctor if you aren’t sure if a caffeinated beverage or treat is right for you. If it isn’t, there are a variety of decaffeinated alternatives to choose from on the market.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Seasonal Selections Pumpkin Spice – 32 Count
These K-Cup coffee pods contain lightly roasted caffeinated coffee with a mix of fall flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg. This brand has been committed to fully responsibly sourced coffee since the end of 2020.
Sold by Amazon
San Francisco Bay Coffee Pumpkin Spice – 80 Count
A pumpkin spice treat offered in a medium-to-light roast blend of Arabica coffee by a family-owned company, this product is K-Cup compatible and packaged in compostable pods so it’s a more environmentally friendly alternative to single-use plastics.
Sold by Amazon
Maud’s Pumpkin Spice Coffee – 24 Count
This pod is made with Arabica coffee and ground fair-trade beans with hints of cinnamon and clove. Maud’s is working toward a carbon-neutral future by 2024 and uses solar energy to produce its products and create a more environmentally friendly coffee.
Sold by Amazon
Victor Allen’s Coffee K Cups – 80 Count
Made of Arabica coffee with a medium roast style and no gluten, it’s pumpkin spice flavored with a more obvious flavor profile of cinnamon and pumpkin. The product is Keurig and K-Cup compatible.
Sold by Amazon
Market & Main One Cup Pumpkin Spice – 72 Count
Each pod contains about 125 milligrams of caffeine in a medium-roast flavor containing coffee grounds that were roasted then promptly packaged to ensure freshness. Each cup is less than 10 calories if drunk without additional ingredients such as milk and sugar.
Sold by Amazon
Dunkin’ Donuts Pumpkin Spice Flavored Coffee – 60 Count
This product is available for a limited amount of time each season and contains a medium-roast level similar to what’s available at the Dunkin’ shops. It’s ideal for the person short on time who can’t make it to the coffee shop in the morning.
Sold by Amazon
Crazy Cups Flavored Coffee Pods – 22 Count
Crazy Cups breaks away from the expected with a pumpkin spice experience that includes vanilla. This vanilla pumpkin spice is a medium roast that’s both gluten-free and sugar-free.
Sold by Amazon
Starbucks K-Cup Coffee Pods – 60 Count
This product is a light roast with six packages of 10-count packs. The coffee is made with Arabica coffee beans and is only available seasonally with the pumpkin spice flavor.
Sold by Amazon
McCafé Pumpkin Spice – 72 Count
This coffee is a light roast made with Arabica coffee beans. The product also makes a sustainability claim that the coffee is responsibly sourced.
Sold by Amazon
Decaffeinated pumpkin spice K-Cup coffee pods
Decaffeinated pumpkin spice K-Cup coffee pods provide flavor and taste without the caffeine. That makes it an ideal option for people who want to avoid caffeine jitters or for those simply looking for a delicious drink before bed.
Crazy Cups Decaf Flavored Coffee – 80 Count
Crazy Cups provides pumpkin spice with a fun twist of caramel. This decaffeinated product comes as a medium roast that’s both vegan and gluten-free.
Sold by Amazon
Door County Coffee & Tea Co. Pumpkin Spice – 10 Count
This product contains no sugar and no carbs in each suggested serving size. The Wisconsin company roasts the beans in small batches to achieve the intended quality and taste.
Sold by Amazon
Organic pumpkin spice K-Cup coffee pods
According to the USDA, USDA-certified organic foods remain in accordance with practices that mandate soil quality to animal control and even regulations on fertilizer. In addition, organic food does not use genetically modified organisms in order to uphold a certain level of quality.
Organic Coffee Co. Gorilla Decaf – 80 Count
This coffee is a light roast. The Organic Coffee Co. is an U.S. family-owned company that uses Arabica coffee beans and is certified USDA organic. The pods in which the coffee is contained are completely commercially compostable.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.kark.com/reviews/best-pumpkin-spice-k-cup-coffee-pod/ | 2022-07-15T17:58:59Z | https://www.kark.com/reviews/best-pumpkin-spice-k-cup-coffee-pod/ | false |
Riyad Mahrez agrees two-year contract extension with Manchester City
By PA Staff published
Riyad Mahrez has signed a two-year extension to his contract at Manchester City.
The Algerian winger, who joined the club from Leicester four years ago, has committed his future to City until June 2025.
Mahrez has made 189 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side, scoring 63 goals and contributing 45 assists in a trophy-laden spell that has included three Premier League titles, three League Cups and one FA Cup.
2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 15, 2022
The 31-year-old said: “I’m very happy to sign the new deal. I have enjoyed every single minute of my time here. It’s a pleasure to be part of such an incredible club.
“To have helped us achieve the success we have enjoyed in the past four seasons has been unforgettable and made us all hungry to look to achieve even more.
“I would also like to thank Pep, Txiki (Begiristain) and the coaching staff, both for the way they have helped me to develop as a player and for pushing me to continue to improve.
“Now I just want to try and play my part in helping us be successful next season and beyond.”
Mahrez only started just over half of City’s games last season but chipped in with 24 goals and looks set to play a key role this term following the departures of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling.
🤩 @Mahrez22 🤩#ManCitypic.twitter.com/zEH2F912d8— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 15, 2022
Director of football Begiristain said: “Riyad has played a major part in our success in the four years since he joined us, and we are all delighted he has agreed this new deal.
“He has brought so much to the club with his skill, talent, commitment, and desire to win evident from the moment he first arrived. I also know that Pep and the coaching staff relish working with Riyad.
“He is one of the most exciting wingers operating in the game and we are all very excited to know he will be part of our ongoing drive to try and achieve more success.”
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MIAMI (AP) — Brian Anderson atoned for a costly error with a two-run triple in the 11th inning and the Miami Marlins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 Thursday.
Anderson originally was ruled to have been hit by a pitch from Wil Crowe (3-6), but the Pirates successfully challenged, saying it hit his bat first. Anderson then sent a drive to deep right center that scored Jesús Aguilar and Avisaíl García.
“At any point, you don’t shut it down,” Anderson said. “When I got hit by the pitch, I was ready to go on base. I just tried to focus on what’s in front of me. I was just thankful to have an opportunity to come up there and try to put barrel on the ball.”
Joey Wendle doubled, singled and walked for the Marlins, who had their second straight walk-off against Pittsburgh and split the four-game series.
“Hanging in there, that’s what we’ve been talking about and keep fighting until the (All-Star) break,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said.
Ben Gamel’s RBI double against Richard Bleier (2-1) in the top of the 11th put the Pirates ahead 2-1.
Pittsburgh tied it at 1 in the eighth on third baseman Anderson’s fielding error that scored Yoshi Tsutsugo from first. Tsutsugo reached on a two-out single against reliever Steven Okert. Anderson muffed Diego Castillo’s hard grounder and Tsutsugo raced home as the ball went into foul ground in left field.
“I definitely pride myself on my defense, so that’s something I have to keep working on and keep getting better at,” Anderson said.
Wendle broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the fifth. He was not in the original lineup but entered after Jon Berti left with an injury.
Billy Hamilton hit a two-out single and scored from first on Wendle’s line drive to right. Hamilton originally was called out on second baseman Kevin Newman’s relay throw to the plate, but a video review overturned the play.
Marlins starter Braxton Garrett struck out a career-high 11 in six scoreless innings. Garrett allowed two hits, walked two and hit two batters.
“It feels awesome,” Garrett said of his outing. “Got ahead often and stayed in the zone like I have been recently. My slider was just a little sharper tonight than it has been the last couple of starts so I threw more punch-outs.”
Facing his former team for the first time, Zach Thompson limited the Marlins to one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings. Thompson, who joined the Pirates in an offseason trade for catcher Jacob Stallings, walked three and struck out two.
“I think once I got past the second inning, I started calming down and kind of threw like I’m used to,” Thompson said.
Berti, the majors’ stolen base leader, exited after the first because of a mild left groin strain. He drew a leadoff walk, but felt discomfort after stealing second — his 28th stolen base this season.
Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas left in the ninth after he was hit in the mouth by the helmet of Oneil Cruz, who was unsuccessful on a steal attempt of second.
NOT THE TYPICAL INFIELD
The injuries to Berti and Rojas resulted in a radically different infield late for Miami. First baseman Aguilar finished at third and Anderson moved from third to second. Wendle replaced Berti at second early before shifting to shortstop. NL All-Star Garrett Cooper, who was expected to rest another day because of knee soreness, replaced Aguilar at first.
“It’s one of those games where you’re glad there’s a DH,” Mattingly said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on, like Aguilar playing third and he did that well and Anderson at second. It was a nice little team effort from them and the bullpen.”
CIRCUITOUS PATH
Pirates right fielder Castillo took a different angle as he tracked Nick Fortes’ drive in the second. Castillo turned right before abruptly turning and diving to his left to catch the shot on the warning track.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: C Henry Davis (left wrist injury), the No. 1 overall selection in last year’s draft, will be shut down for the remainder of the month.
Marlins: RHP Cole Sulser (right lat strain) is continuing with his throwing program.
UP NEXT
Pirates: LHP José Quintana (2-4, 3.59 will start the opener of a three-game series Friday at Colorado. Quintana will face RHP Germán Márquez (5-7, 5.66).
Marlins: RHP Sandy Alcantara (9-3, 1.73) starts the opener of a home series against Philadelphia Friday. RHP Kyle Gibson (4-3, 4.53) will start for the Phillies.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.kark.com/sports/ap-sports/andersons-two-run-triple-in-11th-lifts-marlins-past-pirates/ | 2022-07-15T18:01:33Z | https://www.kark.com/sports/ap-sports/andersons-two-run-triple-in-11th-lifts-marlins-past-pirates/ | false |
Southern Grit Advocacy warns of sextortion
WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Parents and teens were invited out Thursday night to an event that focused on empowering teens to be safe online.
Southern Grit Advocacy took on the responsibility of informing parents and teens about sextortion.
It’s a serious crime that occurs when someone threatens to expose or publish private information or sensitive material about you if you don’t give into their demands. The demands usually involve sexual images, sexual favors or money.
“The parents will then have the tools to go and educate their kids and open up communication and discussions because when teens and children are exploited, they feel like it’s their fault and they’re embarrassed and think it’s their fault and won’t talk about it,” Vicky Payne, Southern Grit Advocacy executive director, said. “Parents don’t realize their kids are having to deal with the issues and it’s a hidden crime.”
Parents and kids can report anyone who is posting or sharing images by clicking here.
Copyright 2022 KAUZ. All rights reserved. | https://www.newschannel6now.com/2022/07/15/southern-grit-advocacy-warns-sextortion/ | 2022-07-15T18:02:27Z | https://www.newschannel6now.com/2022/07/15/southern-grit-advocacy-warns-sextortion/ | true |
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In partnership with Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), celebrity chef Mario Christerna has brought healthy cooking to the Inland Empire (I.E.) by showing Members and community residents how to cook delicious, traditional meals with a healthy and spicy twist at the health plan's Victorville Community Resource Center.
A 2018 MasterChef Latino judge, Chef Mario is a Boyle Heights native and has expertise elevating the culinary experience of residents in and around the Los Angeles area. Chef Mario's demonstrations highlight cooking with both new and familiar ingredients that are proven to address common health issues in the region, including diabetes and hypertension.
"Healthy eating doesn't need to mean bland or boring food and Chef Mario knows how to make that possible," said IEHP's Community Health Senior Director Cesar Armendariz. "We're thrilled to connect Chef Mario to our Members and communities to learn how to better utilize spices and well-known ingredients to better manage our health and wellness in a vibrant, delicious manner."
Chef Mario's cooking demonstrations are open to the community and take place in July every Tuesday from 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Classes in August will be every Thursday from 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at the health plan's Victorville center, located at 12353 Mariposa Road, Suites C-2 & C-3. IEHP also plans to record demonstrations for public use in the coming months.
"This partnership means so much to me on a personal level. A healthy way of life should be available to all – it's such an important component of health care that is often ignored," said Chef Mario. "Food is the connection to everything, from our physical well-being to our mental well-being. There has been no greater time than now to embrace healthy eating but not sacrifice the flavor. I'm so excited to partner with IEHP and have so many fun demos, recipes and other surprises coming."
In addition, IEHP will connect Chef Mario to community partners for additional cooking demonstrations and civic events.
"IEHP is proud to provide education and resources to Members and community residents who want to learn how to better manage their health through cooking. We're excited to have Chef Mario's help as we continue to look for ways to serve our community," said IEHP Chief Executive Officer Jarrod McNaughton.
To learn more about IEHP's Community Resource Centers or to find a nutrition class, visit iehp.org.
About IEHP
With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. In its 26th year, IEHP is supporting more than 1.5 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plans and has a growing network of over 7,800 providers and nearly 2,700 Team Members. Through dynamic partnerships with Providers and Community Organizations, paired with award-winning service and a tradition of quality care, IEHP is fully committed to their vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. For more information, visit iehp.org.
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SOURCE Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/celebrity-chef-provides-healthy-cooking-demos-ie-residents/ | 2022-07-15T18:04:33Z | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/celebrity-chef-provides-healthy-cooking-demos-ie-residents/ | true |
Delhi HC turns down plea by unmarried woman to terminate pregnancy at 23 weeks
She has carried the child for 24 weeks, why not wait some more weeks: judges
It virtually amounts to killing the foetus, the Delhi High Court observed while denying permission to an unmarried woman on Friday to medically terminate her 23-week pregnancy.
A Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad while reserving it order on the woman’s plea seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy asked why she approached to the court “at the last moment”.
The woman’s counsel replied, “circumstances were such that she was unable to decide, and at the last moment her partner ditched her. The pregnancy is the result of consensual relationship. The 24-week period is going to get over by July 18”.
“Since she is not a divorcee and widow she requires permission of the court to terminate pregnancy till 24 weeks. It will lead to immense mental injury if she is denied her reproductive right,” her counsel argued.
“We will give you an order on merits. So that you have a window of two days,” the Bench said.
The woman’s counsel said, “Her parents are farmers. She is the eldest of five children and has four younger brothers. Her pregnancy has happened accidentally and now she is at the mercy of the court”.
The Bench replied, “She has carried the child for 24 weeks, why not wait some more weeks (till the delivery). We are rejecting your application”.
At the outset, the High Court had said it would not permit the woman to undergo medical termination as it virtually amounts to killing the foetus. “We will ensure that the girl is kept somewhere safe and she can deliver and go. There is a big queue for adoption,” the Bench assured.
“We will not permit you to kill that child. (We are) very sorry. This virtually amounts to killing (the foetus),” the Bench said noting that almost 24 out of 36 weeks of gestation were over.
The High Court clarified that it was not forcing the woman to raise the child. “We are not forcing her to raise the child. We will ensure that you go to a good hospital. Your whereabouts will not be known to anyone. Deliver the baby, please come back,” the High Court said.
“You ask the client. Everything will be looked after by the government of India or Delhi government or some good hospital…I am also offering to pay,” the Chief Justice said as he asked the counsel to seek instruction from the woman and come back.
When the case was taken up again after lunch break, the counsel said, “she refused to deliver the child”.
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- Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name, to avoid rejection. | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/delhi-hc-turns-down-plea-by-unmarried-woman-to-terminate-pregnancy-at-23-weeks/article65643720.ece | 2022-07-15T18:05:12Z | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/delhi-hc-turns-down-plea-by-unmarried-woman-to-terminate-pregnancy-at-23-weeks/article65643720.ece | true |
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s film and TV industry has hit a new peak, with record spending by video production companies in a state that drew projects including the Netflix series “Stranger Things.”
Production companies directly spent a record $855 million on films, TV series and other media in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, New Mexico’s governor announced Thursday. Industry executives have been attracted to New Mexico’s unique landscapes since the success of AMC’s long-running series “Breaking Bad” and a generous increase of incentives passed by state lawmakers in 2019.
In-state spending by the industry increased about 36% from nearly $627 million the previous fiscal year.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a first-term Democrat running for reelection, also touted an increase in spending beyond major cities such as Santa Fe and Albuquerque, fueled by expanded state incentives for rural and small-town film production.
Local production spending in those outlying areas jumped more than six-fold to $49.5 million amid an industry rebound, state economic development officials told a legislative panel gathered in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
It was unclear how much the state will eventually spend on corresponding film incentive payments. New Mexico offers a rebate of between 25% and 35% of in-state spending for video production that helps filmmakers large and small underwrite their work.
Incentive payments crested at $148 million in 2019 before falling to about $40 million for the year ending in June 2021. While the state general fund is awash in income linked to federal pandemic aid along with a surge in oil and natural gas prices and production, some lawmakers have criticized the rebates as being too costly.
State economic development officials say conversations are underway with lawmakers to revisit terms of the state film tax rebate program when the Legislature meets again in January 2023, possibly redrawing the boundaries for bonuses in rural areas and exploring new incentives linked to lower emissions of climate-warming pollution by the energy-intensive industry.
Fiscally conservative legislators have questioned for years whether New Mexico may be spending too much on the film industry in comparison with the employment it sustains. But Lujan Grisham pointed to state data that showed an increase in the number of industry worker hours and new highs for the number of film and television productions overall at nearly 110 for the year.
“Due to the work we’ve done to foster a successful environment for production and build a thriving base of talented local crews, film and television productions from around the world are putting money directly into New Mexico communities, supporting our small businesses and creating jobs for thousands of New Mexicans,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.
After the success of “Breaking Bad” and spinoff “Better Call Saul,” other notable recent productions in New Mexico include portions the fourth season of the Netflix series “Stranger Things” and AMC’s “Dark Winds,” based on the the mystery book series from Tony Hillerman and daughter Anne Hillerman.
Both Netflix and NBCUniversal have set up permanent production hubs in Albuquerque in recent years, adding to millions of dollars in investments and promises of more jobs.
Legislative reforms in 2019 opened up greater incentives to film production companies that demonstrate long-term commitments to New Mexico through a 10-year contract on a qualified production facility. Netflix and NBCUniversal have secured that “film partner” status that lifts the cap on annual production rebates.
Spending by the industry had been trending upward before the pandemic brought a halt to work due to public health mandates and industry protocols, resulting in a precipitous drop in 2020. As restrictions were eased, spending rebounded in 2021 as work ramped up.
Record-setting activity took place amid allegations of workplace safety violations on the set of “Rust,” where actor and producer Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer in October 2021. No criminal charges have been filed in the case and Baldwin has denied wrongdoing.
Rust Movie Productions is challenging the basis of a $137,000 fine against the company by state occupational safety regulators who say production managers on the set of the Western film failed to follow standard industry protocols for firearms safety.
The Legislature this year allocated $40 million to help establish a collaborative media academy to bolster training for the industry. Economic Development Secretary Alicia Keyes said the headquarters of the academy will be located in Albuquerque. | https://who13.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/new-mexico-stranger-things-backdrop-hits-production-peak/ | 2022-07-15T18:05:33Z | https://who13.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/new-mexico-stranger-things-backdrop-hits-production-peak/ | false |
IRVINE, Calif., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Starboard Realty Advisors acquired Silver Oaks, a garden-style apartment community, on May 20th, 2022. This highly-amenitized, Class A property is located in Gonzales, Louisiana, just south of Baton Rouge. Albert Elmore of Colliers International represented the Seller.
The 336-unit, low-rise community is comprised of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units and includes modern features such as stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops/island, plank flooring, patios/balconies, in-unit washer & dryer, and air conditioning. The high-end community amenities include a resort-style swimming pool, grill area, fire pit with seating, 24-hour fitness center, lake with fountains, clubhouse, playground, gated entrance, dog park, covered parking, and common area WIFI.
Silver Oaks was completed in 2019 and was 98.21% leased at the time of purchase. Planned capital improvements at the property include: a tech package, two additional dog parks, and installing security cameras in addition to electronic locks in the office to facilitate renting the clubhouse after hours.
"The previous moratorium on new development in Ascension Parish has constrained the supply of new apartments in the area which will facilitate stronger property performance and rent growth," added Stephen Carlton, Partner & Chief Operating Officer of Starboard Realty Advisors.
Starboard Realty Advisors, LLC, headquartered in Irvine, California, acquires, manages, develops and operates multi-family, multi-tenant retail shopping centers and single tenant triple net properties. Starboard is a privately held, fully integrated real estate firm, whose principals have more than 30 years of hands-on, cycle-tested experience in acquiring, developing, leasing, repositioning, managing, financing, and disposing of retail, multifamily, office and industrial real estate during which they have developed a network of relationships with brokers, sellers, retailers, and an array of other tenants. For more information, please visit www.starboard-realty.com.
Contact:
William H. Winn Jr.
CEO
(949) 420-9300
bwinn@starboard-realty.com
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SOURCE Starboard Realty Advisors | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/starboard-realty-advisors-acquires-garden-style-apartment-community-gonzales-louisianna/ | 2022-07-15T18:15:53Z | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/starboard-realty-advisors-acquires-garden-style-apartment-community-gonzales-louisianna/ | true |
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Iowa Lottery's "Pick 4 Midday" game were:
9-9-0-4
(nine, nine, zero, four)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Iowa Lottery's "Pick 4 Midday" game were:
9-9-0-4
(nine, nine, zero, four) | https://www.myplainview.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-4-Midday-game-17307944.php | 2022-07-15T18:18:37Z | https://www.myplainview.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-4-Midday-game-17307944.php | false |
BILLINGS - A Lame Deer man who admitted to fatally stabbing another man during an argument at a Crow Agency convenience store on the Crow Indian Reservation was sentenced Friday to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
James Posey Fisher Sr., 36, pleaded guilty in February to voluntary manslaughter.
U.S. District Judge Susan Watters ordered the sentence to run consecutive to pending state cases in Yellowstone and Big Horn counties, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Federal prosecutors alleged that on June 28, 2020, at the Teepee Station convenience store in Crow Agency, Fisher stabbed the victim, previously identified as 34-year-old Dane Fisher, once in the chest.
Dane Fisher died of a single stab wound before reaching the hospital.
James Fisher and Dane Fisher were with other individuals and were drinking heavily. At some point, James Fisher and Dane Fisher began arguing in a car that James Fisher was driving and continued the argument when they got out at the convenience store.
The argument turned physical. Witnesses thought it was only a fist fight until Dane Fisher backed up suddenly, ran a short distance and collapsed.
Witnesses realized Dane Fisher had been stabbed because he was bleeding. James Fisher jumped back into the car and drove away.
Dane Fisher was a standout basketball player for St. Labre.
RELATED: Lame Deer man pleads guilty to manslaughter for stabbing death | https://www.kxlf.com/news/crime-and-courts/man-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-for-fatal-stabbing-in-crow-agency | 2022-07-15T18:18:47Z | https://www.kxlf.com/news/crime-and-courts/man-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-for-fatal-stabbing-in-crow-agency | true |
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hourly.io, a fast-growing workers' comp and payroll startup, has tapped former Markel executive Jerico Vinsonhaler to serve as Head of Underwriting. Vinsonhaler spent 20 years leading underwriting strategy at Markel.
As Head of Underwriting, Vinsonhaler will oversee Hourly's overall underwriting strategy, portfolio management and manage the underwriting team.
"Hourly is the only player in the industry that is integrating real-time data from the field, payroll, and workers' comp," said Vinsonhaler. "What really drew me to the company was the impact it could have on employers and employees. Because we have the opportunity to engage directly with both on a daily basis, we see labor costs in real time which means premiums are accurate, claims are reduced, and workers' comp insurance ultimately becomes more affordable for everyone."
Established in 2018, Hourly bridges the gap between workers' comp, payroll, and time tracking and simplifies paying and insuring hourly workers for small and medium-sized businesses through its full-service platform.
Vinsonhaler will join another industry veteran Tomer Eilam who previously served as Atlas Insurance's Chief Actuary. Eilam currently serves as Hourly's Chief Analytics & Risk Officer.
"We're thrilled to welcome Jerico to the Hourly team," said Eilam. "Jerico is a top player in the industry and brings years of insight and experience to Hourly. In her new role, Jerico will help us grow and make workers' comp and payroll a whole lot easier for small businesses"
In June 2022, Hourly announced that it raised $27M in Series A funding led by Glilot Capital Partners with participation from S Capital, Vintage Investment Partners, and MS&AD. The company has raised a total of $34.2M in venture capital to date.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Hourly.io is an insurtech startup offering full-service payroll and workers' comp insurance for small and medium businesses with hourly workers. Powered by real-time data, Hourly's platform ensures running payroll is as quick as pressing a button and that you get accurate workers' comp premiums down to the penny. For more information, visit www.hourly.io.
Hourly, Inc.
Courtney Brach
Sr. PR Manager
press@hourly.io
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SOURCE Hourly, Inc. | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/hourlyio-taps-markels-exec-head-underwriting/ | 2022-07-15T18:18:57Z | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/hourlyio-taps-markels-exec-head-underwriting/ | true |
BENSALEM, Pa., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that investors with substantial losses have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit against Yext, Inc. ("Yext" or the "Company") (NYSE: YEXT).
Class Period: March 4, 2021 – March 8, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 16, 2022
Investors suffering losses on their Yext investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com.
The complaint filed alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) Yext's revenue and earnings were significantly deteriorating because of, inter alia, poor sales execution and performance, as well as COVID-19 related disruptions; (2) accordingly, Yext was unlikely to meet consensus estimates for its full year ("FY") fiscal 2022 financial results and fiscal 2023 outlook; and (3) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contacts
Law Offices of Howard G. Smith
Howard G. Smith, Esquire
215-638-4847
888-638-4847
howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com
www.howardsmithlaw.com
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SOURCE Law Offices of Howard G. Smith | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/yext-investors-have-opportunity-lead-yext-inc-securities-fraud-lawsuit/ | 2022-07-15T18:23:29Z | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/yext-investors-have-opportunity-lead-yext-inc-securities-fraud-lawsuit/ | true |
Staff at the farm, in Farnsfield, said they had been ‘keeping a close eye’ on the forecasted conditions and have now announced it will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, July 18 and 19.
A team spokesman said: “Due to the Met Office weather warning and to help us keep the animals and team safe, we have taken the difficult decision to stay closed for this period of extreme weather.
“Thank you, as always, for your understanding.”
Southwell Racecouse has also cancelled its planned fixture on Tuesday.
A racecourse spokesman said: “In light of this morning’s announcements from the Met Office and the updated local weather forecasts, we have taken the decision to abandon the fixture scheduled to take place here at Southwell Racecourse on Tuesday, July 19.
“The safety and welfare of our guests, owners, trainers, jockeys, horses and staff is of paramount importance to us, hence making this decision in conjunction with our colleagues at the British Horseracing Authority.”
The spokesman said any customers with pre-booked tickets will be contacted. | https://www.chad.co.uk/news/people/popular-farm-attraction-announces-two-day-closure-due-to-extreme-weather-warning-3770520 | 2022-07-15T18:26:09Z | https://www.chad.co.uk/news/people/popular-farm-attraction-announces-two-day-closure-due-to-extreme-weather-warning-3770520 | true |
Boy, 5, fatally shoots 8-year-old brother at Arkansas home, police say
Published: Jul. 15, 2022 at 12:05 PM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say a 5-year-old Arkansas boy fatally shot his 8-year-old brother in what investigators believe was an accidental shooting with an unsecured gun.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the 8-year-old was found unresponsive Thursday afternoon at a home in Pine Bluff, about 40 miles south of Little Rock.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Woods told the Pine Bluff Commercial that the 5-year-old and four other siblings will be placed in the custody of a relative pending an investigation.
The sheriff says authorities were still working to determine whether any criminal charges will be filed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/07/15/boy-5-fatally-shoots-8-year-old-brother-arkansas-home-police-say/ | 2022-07-15T18:29:46Z | https://www.kttc.com/2022/07/15/boy-5-fatally-shoots-8-year-old-brother-arkansas-home-police-say/ | false |
LONDON (AP) — The British government said Friday that everyone 50 or over will be offered a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine in the fall, lowering the age threshold from the previously announced 65.
The Department of Health said it had accepted advice from the U.K.’s independent vaccines adviser about the autumn booster program.
Fourth doses will also be given to health care workers, nursing home staff and residents, and all those aged 5 and up with health conditions that make them more vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19.
Most of the same groups will also get a free flu shot.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the booster campaign would “keep our defenses strong over autumn and winter.”
“Vaccines were our way out of this pandemic, and now they will make sure COVID can never haunt us in the same way again,” he said.
Like many European countries, Britain is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, driven by the ultra-contagious BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the omicron strain. The Office for National Statistics estimates that 1 in 19 people in England had the virus in the week ending July 6.
The U.K. has one of Europe’s highest official death tolls in the pandemic, with almost 178,000 confirmed deaths of people who tested positive.
___
Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic. | https://www.kron4.com/news/world/ap-international/uk-to-offer-4th-covid-19-vaccine-shot-to-all-50-and-over/ | 2022-07-15T18:30:24Z | https://www.kron4.com/news/world/ap-international/uk-to-offer-4th-covid-19-vaccine-shot-to-all-50-and-over/ | true |
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Since the brand’s first mixer was introduced more than 100 years ago, KitchenAid has become a household name. KitchenAid mixing bowls are known for their sturdiness and functionality, and right now, you can get a set of three for less than $25.
The set of three mixing bowls includes a 2.5-quart bowl, ideal for scrambling eggs or stirring up sauces, a 3.5-quart bowl, perfect for whipping cream or beating egg whites, and a 4.5-quart bowl, which is large enough for combining cookie dough, whisking cake batter or mashing potatoes.
Each bowl has a nonslip base for added stability, so you don’t have to worry about them sliding out from under your handheld mixer or utensils. They are made of durable plastic that can stand the test of time, even with frequent use.
These KitchenAid mixing bowls also have pour spouts, eliminating messes when you’re scraping batter into a pan or combining wet and dry ingredients.
Since the bowls nest together, they are easy to store and don’t take up much room in your cabinet. In addition, they are dishwasher safe. They come with a limited lifetime warranty and a one-year hassle-free replacement guarantee.
KitchenAid mixing bowls have an impressive 4.8-star rating on Amazon with more than 8,100 users weighing in. Customers appreciate the variety of sizes, the pour spouts and that the bowls are dishwasher safe.
“I really like these mixing bowls,” wrote a reviewer who shared a photo of her set of KitchenAid mixing bowls. “They are a really high quality such as what I have come to expect from this brand. I also really like the color of these. They come in three convenient sizes. I really appreciate that they have a pour spout that is helpful for things such as making pancakes and I like the nonslip bottoms.”
They also love that the bowls have nonslip rings on the bottom.
“I use these bowls daily when cooking,” wrote one reviewer, who called the bowls a must-have. “The nonslip is a game changer, allows you to have a hand mixer in one hand and a small spatula for scraping down the sides while the bowl stays perfectly still.”
According to the negative comments in reviews, some customers were disappointed that the mixing bowls do not always work with KitchenAid mixers and that the bowls are not necessarily safe for microwaves.
The set of three KitchenAid mixing bowls in Empire Red or Pistachio is usually priced at $32.99. However, they are currently discounted. The red set is on sale for 27%, making them just $23.99. The pistachio set is 37% off, so you can get it for just $20.90 right now. So grab yours now before the deal is gone!
This story originally appeared on Don't Waste Your Money. Checkout Don't Waste Your Money for product reviews and other great ideas to save and make money. | https://www.abc15.com/kitchenaid-mixing-bowls-set-3-just-21 | 2022-07-15T18:34:51Z | https://www.abc15.com/kitchenaid-mixing-bowls-set-3-just-21 | true |
Which office chair for tall people is best?
You spend most of your workday seated behind your desk, so you need to make it a comfortable experience. Finding the best office chair can be challenging, particularly if you are a taller person. A new chair should have a high backrest, an adjustable seat and other features that make long periods of sitting more tolerable for your back and legs.
What to look for in an office chair for tall people
If you are taller than the average, some of the most affordable options could be an office chair with a high maximum weight capacity of 400 pounds — if you want an executive chair. What’s more, some of the best office chairs offer adjustable lumbar support and a headrest that comfortably cradles the upper back and neck. These should be among the main considerations for anyone who needs an office chair for tall people.
Best office chair for tall people
Duramont Ergonomic Office Chair
Many tall people have issues with the height of their chairs, and the Duramont ergonomic office chair presents a solution to the problem. This chair has an adjustable headrest angle and height so that you can get a custom fit. It also features a lot of padding and breathable mesh to make it more comfortable for long work sessions. The weight capacity of this chair is impressive at 330 pounds.
Sold by Amazon
Oak Hollow Furniture Aloria Series Office Chair
If you are a taller individual, you may find that the seat depth on many chairs isn’t suitable for you. The seat depth on the Oak Hollow Furniture Aloria series office chair is adjustable up to 22.25 inches deep. You can adjust many things on this chair, including 4D armrests, a backrest that can tilt and recline, and pivoting neck rest. Another benefit of this leather chair is the lumbar support, which can be moved up or down to fit you comfortably.
Sold by Amazon
For those shopping on a budget, this office chair is an impressive option for the money. This mesh office chair has a high backrest of 27 inches with a headrest as wide as the backrest. The backrest can also tilt and recline up to a maximum of 135 degrees to give you the most comfortable fit.
Sold by Amazon
Bowery Fully Adjustable Management Office Chair
One of the most stylish options on the market, the Bowery fully adjustable office chair is popular for tall people. The back is a rubber elastomer that comfortably contours your back and effectively eliminates back pain when sitting for long hours. The only drawback is that it does not have a high backrest. It comes in at just 22 inches high. However, this seat can comfortably accommodate individuals up to 350 pounds.
Sold by Amazon
Steelcase Gesture Office Chair
Heavier individuals may want to consider the Gesture office chair, which can hold a maximum weight capacity of 400 pounds. Of course, it is also great for tall people with three seat heights from 14.5 inches to 22.5 inches. The seat is nice and wide at 20 inches with an adjustable depth of up to 18.5 inches. The modern design also features 4D armrests, an adjustable headrest and a contoured backrest.
Sold by Amazon
People who struggle with posture will love the Ticova Ergonomic Office Chair with its curved backrest and headrest. The chair’s unique shape makes it more likely that you will sit with proper posture while working long hours. It even features great lumbar support to eliminate low back pain. The seat features thick padding for a more comfortable experience.
Sold by Amazon
Bowthy Big and Tall Office Chair
Executive chairs for tall people can be a challenge to find, but the Bowthy office chair delivers. It features adjustable lumbar support, a recessed backrest and a headrest to support the upper back and neck. In addition, it holds up to 400 pounds. The only drawback to this chair is that you cannot adjust the armrests or headrest.
Sold by Amazon
Herman Miller Aeron Ergonomic Chair – Size C
The Herman Miller Aeron ergonomic chair in size C is a great option made from recycled material when money is not an object. The seat height ranges from 16 inches to 20.5 inches, and the back is broken up into eight distinct zones. Tilt the seat in one of three positions to reach a comfortable posture for long work hours as well as adjustable lumbar support.
Sold by Amazon
Serta Ergonomic Executive Office Motion Technology
The Serta brand is known for its comfort in mattresses, and it brings that same level of attention to this office chair with its unique Back in Motion Seat Technology, which swivels the lumbar forward and promotes spinal movement and flexibility in your core. It reduces the pressure to the back and neck that can sometimes come from long sitting sessions. Lower back support that can recline as you sit can help improve circulation and pressure on the legs.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/reviews/br/office-br/furniture-br/best-office-chair-for-tall-people/ | 2022-07-15T18:35:05Z | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/reviews/br/office-br/furniture-br/best-office-chair-for-tall-people/ | false |
They just can't help themselves! Los Angeles is on verge of reinstating mask mandates after city reaches 'high' level of COVID-19 risk during nationwide BA.5 surge: US Daily infections jump 30% over the past week to 140,000
- Los Angeles could bring back its indoor mask mandate as early as July 29 after the city crossed the threshold of 'high' Covid risk on Thursday
- The city is averaging 6,384 new cases every day, along with a Covid test positivity rate of 15%, causing the new designation to be reached
- The BA.5 variant is to blame for the recent rise in cases across Los Angeles, New York and across the country in recent weeks
- America is currently averaging 140,677 new cases per day - a 30 percent increase over the past week - along with 536 deaths
Masks orders are set to return to Los Angeles after the city officially crossed the threshold of 'high' Covid risk of Thursday night - with official guidance saying that mask mandates will return if it remains above that threshold for at least 14 consecutive days.
According to most recent data from the city's health department, the city is averaging 6,384 new cases every day and its test positivity rate - which has become one of the most effective ways to judge the current pandemic-state - has ballooned to 15 percent.
It comes as the BA.5 variant, which is now dominant in the U.S., continues its spread and causes case counts to jump across America.
Daily infections in America have increased by 30 percent over the past week to 140,677 per day, while deaths have crept up 25 percent to 536 daily over the last seven days.
Daily Covid cases in Los Angeles are beginning to creep upwards again, with America's second largest city not averaging 6,384 new cases every day
Los Angeles' test positivity rate, an important metric for determining Covid risk in the city, has ballooned to 15 percent in recent days, according to official data
The BA.5 (dark green) variant now makes up 65% of active cases in the U.S., over taking the BA 2.12.1 (red) strain - which now makes up just 17% of cases. The BA.4 (light green) variant is responsible for 16% of U.S. Covid cases
Whether Los Angeles remains under 'high' Covid risk is unknown, but all three relevant figures - cases, test positivity and hospitalizations - are all trending upwards.
America's second largest city is currently averaging 157 Covid-related hospitalizations every day, according to most recent official data.
'While we are not seeing anywhere near the devastation we saw last winter's omicron surge, we are seeing much higher case numbers than we saw at the peak of the delta surge. It's unlikely we are at the peak of this surge,' Barbara Ferrer, the city's public health director said Thursday.
But she added that Covid has killed more people in the city through the year's first six months than any other infectious disease.
If officials go through with plans to bring back mask mandates, which would be reinstated as early as July 29, Los Angeles would become the only city in America to require masks in all indoor public places.
It may not be the last, though, with officials in New York City also pushing to bring back mask orders amid rising cases in the Big Apple as well. Mayor Eric Adams has been hesitant to reinstate pandemic-related restrictions since he took office in January, though.
Dr Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert, is also recommending a return of masks amid widescale spread of the BA.5 variant.
'[BA.5 is] something we absolutely need to take seriously. It has a transmission advantage over the prior variant that were dominant,' Fauci told MSNBC.
The variant is believed to be the most infectious form of Omicron to arrive yet. Early data from South Africa - where it was first detected - also shows it may have the ability to evade natural Covid immunity provided by previous infection.
This is especially dangerous as it means many people who believe they are temporarily safe from Covid due to a previous infection are suddenly vulnerable once again.
It arrived alongside the BA.4 variant - also detected earlier this year in South Africa - which now makes up 16 percent of cases, per CDC data.
The BA 2.12.1 variant that was dominant before BA.5 now makes up just 17 percent of cases, being snuffed out by the two new strains.
The rampant spread of the two new strains, along with the rising cases that have come with it, have officials like Fauci recommending that Americans bring back some Covid measures they may be already-to-familiar with from the past two years.
'Everybody wants to put this pandemic behind us and feel and hope that it doesn’t exist. It does, the good news is we have the capability and the tools to address it, and we need to utilize those tools,' Fauci, who serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease said.
'For example, getting vaccinated if you're not primarily vaccinated. If you're do for a booster, get a booster.
'And if you’re in an area of high dynamic of infection – and were talking about mandating anything - but recommending people when they are in indoor congregate settings to wear a mask. Those are simple doable things that can help prevent us from even having more of a problem then we are having now.’
Booster shots will likely soon include newly formulated jabs meant to target the Omicron variant, as vaccine manufacturers aim to roll out new shots in the coming months.
Currently available shots were formulated to fight the original Wuhan strain of the virus that erupted across the world at the start of 2020.
The virus has mutated greatly in the time since, and the Omicron variant-family has the ability to evade protection from infection provided by those shots.
Some experts disagree that shots tailored to Omicron are necessary, though, as the protection against severe infection, hospitalization and death by the original shots is still effective against the highly infectious strain. | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11017841/Los-Angeles-verge-reinstating-mask-mandates-city-reaches-high-COVID-19-risk.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 | 2022-07-15T18:35:38Z | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11017841/Los-Angeles-verge-reinstating-mask-mandates-city-reaches-high-COVID-19-risk.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 | false |
OMAHA, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner — The City of Omaha is coming off a record-busting month for the amount of federal emergency aid it has distributed so far to renters set back by the pandemic.
That nearly $9 million, doled out in May, is just a slice of roughly $65 million Omaha has allocated in rent and utility grants since the launch early last year of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
Authorities say the demand is a sign of still-lingering need for housing assistance in a city that has become Nebraska’s biggest distributor of the federal aid intended to help stave off evictions.
But a new Creighton University analysis shows that not everyone has had an equal shot at the help.
Pierce Greenberg, assistant professor of social studies, examined Omaha’s ERAP process and found that South Omaha — and its sizable immigrant population — has been underserved based on the area’s needs and demographics.
“South Omaha sticks out,” Greenberg said in describing unmet gaps revealed in his research, which was funded by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “It just jumped off the map.”
Citizenship requirement raises questions
Underlying Greenberg’s analysis was a national Urban Institute report that drew upon multiple factors — including income, public assistance, unemployment and housing instability — to identify neighborhoods most likely to be in need of rental assistance. Greenberg compared the “predicted need” with where the emergency assistance actually went after the city’s vetting process.
A key takeaway: Of Douglas County’s 12 most underserved census tracts revealed in his report, 11 were in South Omaha.
Among likely reasons for those gaps, said Greenberg and South Omaha representatives, is that Omaha and Douglas County governments require applicants to have U.S. legal status. They said the underserved South Omaha census tracts have a sizable number of undocumented persons, and the citizenship query, along with language barriers, probably were deterrents to seeking help.
Furthermore, the situation exposed a disparity in how governments across Nebraska apply the legal status question when determining who gets the federal emergency rental and utility aid.
The City of Lincoln and Lancaster County, in contrast to Omaha and Douglas County, do not ask about U.S. citizenship status.
Like Omaha, the State of Nebraska — which allocates ERAP funding to the rest of the state’s 91 smaller counties — demands proof of legal status.
‘Smacks of discrimination’
South Omaha Latino activist Ben Salazar said the difference in eligibility standards “smacks of discrimination.” He is mulling legal action and has requested a meeting with managers of the Omaha program after learning of the situation from community members who sought help with housing expenses.
“There has got to be a better way to administer these funds so that the families who need the help can get the help, regardless of status,” Salazar said in a letter to Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (MACCH), the contractor the city hired to manage the rent assistance program.
Lina Traslaviña Stover, executive director of the South Omaha-based Heartland Workers Center, said undocumented workers and their families are among populations most harmed by the pandemic.
Last year, she said, an “angel fund” launched by private philanthropic sources helped keep some of the area’s undocumented households afloat. Stover said that assistance apparently ran out and is no longer available to her clients.
A statement from Mayor Jean Stothert’s Office said the proof of legal status is based on state law, “so the requirement will remain.”
Shannon Harner of the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, which provides outreach assistance to the state’s 91 smaller counties, said state government officials came to the same conclusion.
Gov. Pete Ricketts’ administration has held steady on such a requirement for public benefits.
Thousands of evictions likely averted
Lincoln authorities interpret the state law differently as it applies to emergency aid, said Dan Marvin, director of Lincoln’s Urban Development Department, and Jeff Chambers of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center on Children, Families and the Law. The two entities oversee ERAP for Lincoln and Lancaster County.
Chambers said Treasury Department guidelines on the program do not require legal status. He said Lincoln authorities chose not to add that additional barrier.
To be considered for the financial assistance, applicants must answer a host of other questions and pass various income and eligibility thresholds.
“I think all of us would like to serve those who are undocumented but we have legal departments that may or may not be allowing it,” Lisa Vukov of Omaha’s MACCH said during a webinar recorded early on in the program.
Vukov said in a recent interview that the screening process has uncovered potential fraud cases unrelated to immigration status, and those have been turned over to authorities. She said May proved to be the highest payout month for Omaha so far, adding that it was an indication of continued need.
Pierce Greenberg, in his “Delaying the Eviction Wave” report, cited sources that said non-citizens in Omaha make up about 14% of people living in poverty, yet are 7% of the city’s population.
Greenberg’s expertise is in sociology and spacial inequality, which is the unequal distribution of resources and services.
“Therefore it is reasonable to assume that a significant need for rental assistance exists among undocumented residents in South Omaha (and other neighborhoods),” he said.
Despite the gaps, Greenberg’s findings indicate that, overall, ERAP funds covered rent for about 7,400 Omaha households between April 2021 and April 2022, meaning the program likely helped prevent thousands of evictions.
“The program, on average, is reaching the neighborhoods that it should be reaching,” Greenberg said.
An area of North Omaha had the greatest concentration of ERAP use, he said. Downtown, with its high proportion of renters, also had a high concentration, along with neighborhoods west of 72nd Street containing large apartment complexes.
‘Temporary Band-aid’
For perspective, Greenberg said, more than twice as many Omaha households benefited from rental assistance in the last year than the average number of yearly evictions in Douglas County from 2012 to 2019.
According to his analysis, the average monthly rent of a person seeking assistance in Omaha was $1,035. About 56% of Omaha households receiving the aid made less than 30% of area median income.
In Lincoln and Lancaster County, roughly 70% of recipients so far earned less than 30% of the area median income, Marvin said.
The average amount of rental assistance per approved application in Omaha was $4,311, which covered about four months, said Greenberg’s report, which was based on data obtained through public records requests.
Landlords and tenants could apply for up to 12 months of past due rent and three months into the future.
In all, the study noted, the ERAP has offered a lifeline to many and has mostly been effective at delaying the “eviction wave” many advocates feared.
At the same time, Greenberg said, the evaluation underscores how many households were in need the past year and the high monthly rents many said they pay.
Said Greenberg: “A worry still remains that the program is a temporary Band-aid on larger problems related to housing affordability and poverty.”
Deadlines loom for funding
Deadlines loom on some Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds, and Nebraska officials are urging those in need to apply by September.
Omaha has about $35 million yet to be allocated of about $100 million received, according to Mayor Jean Stothert’s Office. Stothert said the city plans to seek even more federal ERAP funds to offer Omahans in pandemic-related financial straits.
Douglas County residents outside of Omaha have so far received nearly $5 million in the emergency rental and utility funding, with about $1.6 million yet to be awarded by the year’s end, said Jane Gordon of Christian Outreach Program Elkhorn, which manages the program for communities such as Bennington, Ralston and Valley.
To date in the state’s 91 counties outside Douglas and Lancaster, about $22 million has been distributed to eligible applicants, Harner said. About $24 million is left. She said the state recently decided to redirect about $15 million of those remaining funds to nonprofits that can provide “housing stability” services.
Gov. Pete Ricketts earlier rejected about $120 million that the federal government had allotted for those 91 counties in a second round of ERAP funding.
Ricketts, in declining the money, said Nebraska was over the COVID emergency and should guard against becoming a “welfare” state. The U.S. Treasury Department has said a chunk of the aid rejected by the governor might go to Omaha and Lincoln.
Lincoln so far has distributed nearly $30 million to its needy residents, said Dan Marvin of the city’s Urban Development Department. On average lately, the city has distributed about $500,000 a week of the emergency aid, and Marvin expects that flow to continue through the rest of the year.
For the next installment of federal ERAP funding, he said, Lincoln and Lancaster County plan a more stringent eligibility process that focuses more on applicants on the brink of eviction.
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Get the latest news and weather delivered straight to your inbox. | https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/federal-rent-aid-likely-averted-nebraska-eviction-wave-but-not-everyone-privy-to-help | 2022-07-15T18:36:24Z | https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/federal-rent-aid-likely-averted-nebraska-eviction-wave-but-not-everyone-privy-to-help | false |
(The Hill) – Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and her husband announced on Thursday that their gun-themed restaurant, Shooters Grill, is closing.
The two said in a statement posted on Twitter that their landlord had decided not to renew their lease, and they claimed the move had “no political motivation” but was “purely a business decision.”
“There is a time and season for everything, and God has called us to focus our time and energy elsewhere. While Shooters Grill is closed, stay tuned. The Shooters brand isn’t going away. There are exciting things in the works,” reads the statement, attributed to both Jayson and Lauren Boebert.
“Many with a political agenda will try to spin this happy transition into something it’s not. Rest assured we will not allow them to steal our joy for all that this restaurant has meant for our family.”
Established in 2013 in Rifle, Colorado, the restaurant served mostly American fare, according to menus included on Shooters Grill’s Facebook page. Servers were allowed to carry their own firearms, with many carrying semi-automatics, according to Boebert, who spoke to the Post Independent.
Employees inquired if they could carry firearms after a man was erroneously thought to have been beaten to death in front of Shooters Grill, serving as the impetus for the restaurant’s theme, according to the news outlet. The man had actually died of a drug overdose.
Milken Enterprises, the landlord for Boebert’s restaurant, notified her last month about the decision not to have the lease renewed, according to the Post Independent. She and her husband are hoping to set up shop again on Third Street in Rifle.
Boebert, the U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, was sworn in Jan. 3, 2021. Gaining a reputation as a far-right conservative, Boebert has drawn criticism for her views on COVID-19 mitigation efforts, guns, her opposition to the separation of church and state, and for referring to fellow Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as a member of “the Jihad squad” during a speech on the House floor in Nov. 2021. | https://cw33.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/lauren-boeberts-gun-themed-restaurant-closes-after-landlord-decides-not-to-renew-lease/ | 2022-07-15T18:36:45Z | https://cw33.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/lauren-boeberts-gun-themed-restaurant-closes-after-landlord-decides-not-to-renew-lease/ | true |
A 5-year-old shot and killed an 8-year-old in Arkansas, authorities said.
According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched to a home in Jefferson County after getting a report about a shooting involving a toddler.
When they arrived, they said the boy was unresponsive.
Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods, Jr. called the incident tragic, adding it could have been avoided.
"I can't emphasize strongly enough that guns need to be well secured and kept out of the hands and away from children at all times," he said. "Gun owners that do not properly secure their firearms are just one split second away from one of these tragedies happening in their home."
The children were siblings, authorities said.
The state is assessing the welfare of the children in the home as well as other conditions.
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control laws, there have been 126 unintentional shootings by children this year in the U.S. The organization says those shootings have resulted in 55 deaths and 78 injuries. | https://www.3newsnow.com/news/national/5-year-old-shoots-kills-8-year-old-brother | 2022-07-15T18:36:55Z | https://www.3newsnow.com/news/national/5-year-old-shoots-kills-8-year-old-brother | true |
(The Hill) – The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack scrambled to add new testimony from White House counsel Pat Cipollone to its latest hearing on Tuesday, and in the process bumped aside evidence about former President Trump’s ties to violent extremist groups.
Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) acknowledged the shift on Wednesday, saying the panel wanted to highlight testimony from a hard-won witness after Cipollone sat down for a formal deposition last Friday under subpoena. Left on the cutting room floor was evidence tying some of Trump’s closest allies to some of the prominent right-wing groups on the front lines of the Capitol insurrection.
“It was in the original script, but we pulled some back just because of the timing,” Thompson said in response to a question from The Hill about Trump world ties to groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.
“The Cipollone deposition was important. And obviously, it’s just a choice we had to make.”
Cipollone delivered a damaging assessment of Trump’s final weeks in office, confirming that he and other legal advisors had determined Trump had lost the election, exhausted his avenues to contest the result and should have conceded defeat instead of pressing his vice president, Mike Pence, to block the electoral count.
But the last-minute adjustment to feature Cipollone came at a cost, leaving unexplored some of the very ties the committee had previously revealed — and promised to explore in greater depth — between Trump and the extremists.
Left unmentioned, for instance, was a Jan. 5 request from Trump to have chief of staff Mark Meadows contact two informal advisors, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, who both used extremist groups as security details.
The panel also excluded any mention of the so-called “war room” at the Willard Hotel near the White House, where leading Trump allies — including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani — had huddled to devise strategy ahead of Jan. 6. At least one member of an extremist group, the 1st Amendment Praetorian, was reportedly among them.
Yet the extremist groups played a relatively minor role in Tuesday’s hearing, when the panel leaned on Cipollone’s fresh testimony to demonstrate a broader idea: that Trump drove the effort to overturn the election in defiance of his own White House counsel.
To advance that idea, the select committee cobbled together seemingly disparate themes: an “unhinged” meeting at the White House; secretive plans to make Trump’s call to march to the Capitol appear unexpected; and analysis of a tweet that mobilized extremist groups to show up armed in Washington on Jan. 6.
But the undercurrent was the committee’s push to show Trump’s willing engagement each step of the way, even as they fell short of expectations that they might establish a more direct link between the White House and violent extremists. Some outside legal experts noticed the void.
“I think the committee advanced the ball in terms of providing some new information, but it’s very clear that there are gaps in what their investigation has found with regard to potential conspiracy or Trump’s direct links to the militia groups and other extremists,” said Ryan Goodman, co-director of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law.
Over the course of the three-hour hearing, the panel sought to solidify Trump’s role, with Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) pushing back on any arguments that Trump was simply led astray by conspiratorial-minded advisors.
“The strategy is to blame people his advisers called ‘the crazies’ for what Donald Trump did,” Cheney said in her opening remarks.
“This, of course, is nonsense. President Trump is a 76-year-old man, he is not an impressionable child. Just like everyone else in our country, he is responsible for his own actions and his own choices.”
To make the case, the committee displayed a draft tweet revealing that Trump had planned days in advance to call on his supporters to march from a rally at the Ellipse, near the White House, to the Capitol, where Congress would be gathered to certify Joe Biden’s victory. The draft was marked “President has seen.”
That was paired with a text from Jan. 6 rally organizer Kylie Kremer stressing the need to be secretive about Trump’s plans to march to the Capitol since he would try to make the call “unexpectedly.” How Kremer knew in advance was not explored.
Trump also welcomed meetings with fringe advisors, including Flynn and Sidney Powell, over objections from his White House lawyers. (Powell joked that Cippolone “set a new land speed record” rushing to one Oval Office meeting with the group).
And it was Trump, not his speechwriters, who ignored the advice of West Wing aides to insist on attacking Pence during the Ellipse rally — something he did eight times during that speech.
But the committee chose not to build upon its previously teased evidence about Meadows’s call to Stone and Flynn, and never once mentioned the Willard Hotel.
The new evidence provided on Tuesday showed how Trump’s tweet on Dec. 19, when he called for a “wild” protest on Jan. 6, had energized extremist groups around the country, some of them interpreting the message as a call to arms. The committee also revealed evidence of coordination between Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, showing a Facebook post from Florida Oath Keepers chapter leader Kelly Meggs talking about the two groups joining forces with another group, the Three Percenters.
“This week I have organized an alliance,” he wrote. “We have decided to work together to shut this shit down.”
Goodman said it was strange to omit the Meadows call and the hotel.
“I think the fact that the Willard didn’t come up as a nucleus of activity, in which there was a significant overlap between some of the militia groups and Trump’s innermost circle, was unusual, especially because the committee has identified the Willard Hotel as potentially significant in their subpoenas,” he said.
Other committee members echoed Thompson, who said the exclusion was a matter of “bandwidth.”
“There’s only so much time in these hearings. There’s a lot of good stuff. And there was some great stuff that got left off the cutting room floor that hopefully will be released,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), one of the committee’s nine members, said Wednesday.
“As with all the hearings, we’re limited in how much we can cover in a discrete period of time. And that’s why our report will ultimately be so important,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told The Hill.
Goodman argued that the committee succeeded in further demonstrating Trump’s responsibility for the events of Jan. 6, saying it’s clear the former president “made the situation even more incendiary.”
“Even though the committee did not provide very strong evidence of Trump’s direct legal responsibility for the acts of the militias, the hearings certainly provided very strong evidence of Trump’s personal culpability,” he said.
“Without his actions, it’s very apparent that these events would not have occurred.” | https://www.pahomepage.com/uncategorized/jan-6-panel-changed-script-for-star-witness-at-a-steep-cost/ | 2022-07-15T18:42:14Z | https://www.pahomepage.com/uncategorized/jan-6-panel-changed-script-for-star-witness-at-a-steep-cost/ | false |
You've learned a second grand jury has declined to indict former Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. The grand jury was in Brazoria County. It looked into evidence from the 10th accusation of sexual misconduct against Watson two weeks ago. You might remember a Harris County grand jury also declined to indict Watson on criminal charges. He still, however, faces 22 civil lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct and assault.
30 women settle claims with Houston Texans over sex misconduct allegations against Deshaun Watson
Updated: 1:05 PM CDT Jul 15, 2022
Thirty women who had accused the Houston Texans of turning a blind eye to allegations that Deshaun Watson was sexually assaulting and harassing women during massage sessions have settled their legal claims against the team, their attorney said Friday.The terms of the settlements reached between each of the women and the Texans are confidential, said attorney Tony Buzbee.While only one of the women had filed a lawsuit against the team, the others had also intended to make legal claims against the Texans before the settlements were reached, Buzbee said.In separate lawsuits, 24 women accused Watson of exposing himself, touching them with his penis or kissing them against their will during massage appointments while he played for the Texans. One woman alleged Watson forced her to perform oral sex. Last month, Buzbee announced 20 of those 24 lawsuits have been settled.Watson, who has since been traded to the Cleveland Browns, has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to clear his name. Watson is facing possible discipline from the NFL over the allegations.
HOUSTON — Thirty women who had accused the Houston Texans of turning a blind eye to allegations that Deshaun Watson was sexually assaulting and harassing women during massage sessions have settled their legal claims against the team, their attorney said Friday.
The terms of the settlements reached between each of the women and the Texans are confidential, said attorney Tony Buzbee.
While only one of the women had filed a lawsuit against the team, the others had also intended to make legal claims against the Texans before the settlements were reached, Buzbee said.
In separate lawsuits, 24 women accused Watson of exposing himself, touching them with his penis or kissing them against their will during massage appointments while he played for the Texans. One woman alleged Watson forced her to perform oral sex. Last month, Buzbee announced 20 of those 24 lawsuits have been settled.
Watson, who has since been traded to the Cleveland Browns, has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to clear his name. Watson is facing possible discipline from the NFL over the allegations. | https://www.wisn.com/article/deshaun-watson-houston-texans-sex-misconduct-allegations-women-settle-claims/40626874 | 2022-07-15T18:42:24Z | https://www.wisn.com/article/deshaun-watson-houston-texans-sex-misconduct-allegations-women-settle-claims/40626874 | false |
Police chase down emu seen wandering through Greenspoint area
By Web Staff
Click here for updates on this story
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — What would you do if you were leaving work, only to be met with an emu on the road?
A hilarious video from the Greenspoint area shows a woman’s reaction to that very scenario.
“Y’all see this ostrich? Somebody done lost they ostrich,” Yvette Fleming said. “Uh oh. He’s taking off running. He’s moving now. What in the world.”
It actually wasn’t an ostrich. It was an emu that got loose Thursday afternoon.
Fleming was in her car when she saw a couple of Houston police cruisers, with their lights on, chasing the large bird.
According to HPD, officers were called to the 300 block of North Sam Houston Parkway East in response to a traffic hazard.
They arrived at the scene to find it was an emu on the loose.
The game warden eventually caught the emu, and since they’re not illegal to own, it was returned to its owner.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. | https://kion546.com/news/2022/07/15/police-chase-down-emu-seen-wandering-through-greenspoint-area/ | 2022-07-15T18:45:56Z | https://kion546.com/news/2022/07/15/police-chase-down-emu-seen-wandering-through-greenspoint-area/ | true |
J-Hope has arrived. On Friday, the BTS alum released his debut solo album, Jack in the Box, alongside a fiery new music video for the song "Arson." The 10-track full-length can be streamed in full now via digital media services.
According to a press release, the 28-year-old South Korean superstar is "leaping out of the box," showing off new sides of himself and how much he has grown as an artist. In the first two tracks, listeners will hear the story behind the origin of J-Hope's stage name, born from Greek and Roman mythology of "Pandora's Box." The dual main tracks "MORE" and "Arson" dive deeper into the artist's authentic and personal story.
The release comes as J-Hope tops Billboard's Emerging Artists chart with "MORE," becoming the fifth member of BTS to do so as a soloist.
Earlier this month, J-Hope shared with fans a visually stunning music video for that first single. On Friday, the "Arson" video picks up where its predecessor leaves off, depicting a city engulfed in flames while J-Hope reaches a crossroads for his future path.
J-Hope collaborated with renowned artist KAWS on the Jack in the Box cover art, reflecting an ongoing theme of embarking on a new path.
"I was thrilled when J-Hope invited me to collaborate on the cover artwork for his solo project. We have become friendly the last few years and I’m happy our paths will have crossed at this moment in time," KAWS said in a statement.
Later this month, J-Hope will make history as the first Korean artist to headline the main stage at Chicago's Lollapalooza Festival on July 31.
While J-Hope is focused on his current solo endeavor, fans can look forward to getting their fix of BTS with a newly announced Disney+ streaming deal.
The collaboration includes the global distribution of five major content titles from HYBE, including two exclusive series featuring BTS -- BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage -- LA and BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star -- that will launch on Disney’s streaming services.
The former is an exclusive cinematic 4K concert film that features the K-pop band's November 2021 performance at Los Angeles' Sofi Stadium. During the concert, which marked the first time in two years that the band met fans in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BTS performed tracks including "Butter" and "Permission to Dance."
The latter is a docuseries that follows the journey of the 21st-century pop icons. Featuring unprecedented access to a vast library of music and footage over the past nine years, the series will feature the daily lives, thoughts and plans of BTS members, as they prepare for their second chapter. The docuseries will be available exclusively on Disney’s streaming services next year.
RELATED CONTENT: | https://www.wfaa.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-tonight/bts-j-hope-arrives-with-debut-solo-album-jack-in-the-box/603-efe4de4e-7015-4666-b1a3-b739f9f0f90a | 2022-07-15T18:49:28Z | https://www.wfaa.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-tonight/bts-j-hope-arrives-with-debut-solo-album-jack-in-the-box/603-efe4de4e-7015-4666-b1a3-b739f9f0f90a | true |
Texans look to Mills at QB after trading Watson to Browns
By The Associated Press
The Houston Texans look to Davis Mills as their answer at quarterback after finally moving on from Deshaun Watson in a trade to Cleveland this offseason. Coach Lovie Smith takes over after David Culley was fired after just one season where the team went 4-13. He takes over a team that looks to improve with a boost from multiple high draft picks led by CB Derek Stingley, the third overall pick in the draft, and OL Kenyon Green, chosen at No. 15. RB Marlon Mack joins the team, hoping to help turn around a running game that ranked last in the NFL in each of the past two seasons. | https://kion546.com/sports/ap-national-sports/2022/07/15/texans-look-to-mills-at-qb-after-trading-watson-to-browns/ | 2022-07-15T18:49:37Z | https://kion546.com/sports/ap-national-sports/2022/07/15/texans-look-to-mills-at-qb-after-trading-watson-to-browns/ | false |
BAMAKO, Mali — Gunmen attacked a Malian army checkpoint outside Bamako, killing at least six people and wounding several others, officials said Friday, raising concerns as attacks by jihadist groups move closer to the capital.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bears the mark of the al-Qaida-linked group known as JNIM that has carried out several other attacks around Bamako.
“The Zantiguila attack shows how the al-Qaida affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin continues to expand its operations outside its traditional strongholds in northern and central Mali,” said Héni Nsaibia, a senior researcher at The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. “As in other Sahelian countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger, although to a lesser extent in the latter, major cities including the capitals themselves, are increasingly surrounded by a steady spread of Islamist militancy that poses an ever-increasing risk and challenge to the security environment.”
Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali’s northern cities with the help of a French-led military operation, but they regrouped in the desert and began attacking the Malian army and its allies. Insecurity has worsened with attacks in the northern and central regions. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/attack-outside-malis-capital-kills-6-wounds-others/2022/07/15/07d50cfc-0468-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | 2022-07-15T18:50:50Z | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/attack-outside-malis-capital-kills-6-wounds-others/2022/07/15/07d50cfc-0468-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | false |
ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY — As a noon deadline approached Thursday, and sheriff’s deputies stood in the gravel driveway, Jason Uhlmansiek, 32, swung back and forth in an outdoor swing as his grim reality was being discussed.
“We gave them 30 days’ notice on June 14,” said Calle Melkersman, director of waivers at Sunnyhill, a nonprofit organization that works with the Missouri Department of Mental Health to provide protective oversight for people with developmental disabilities.
Sunnyhill had been Uhlmansiek’s service provider for nine years. But for some reason on Thursday, they were pulling out of his home here at Lake Timberline. Efforts to find a replacement over the past month were unsuccessful.
Now it was deadline.
“So there’s no other place for him to go?” asked St. Francois County sheriff’s Deputy Bruce Momot.
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“She’s the legal guardian,” Melkersman said.
“He hasn’t lived with me for 22 years,” said Donna McCluskey.
McCluskey said she’s unable to care for him. She said he’s incapacitated, has the temperament of a 5-year-old in a man’s body. As part of an independent supported living contract through the state, she said Uhlmansiek is supposed to have two men with him at his home at all times. Three when he goes to the hospital or dentist.
“He did nothing wrong to deserve this,” said McCluskey, who adopted Uhlmansiek from a Romanian orphanage when he was 18 months old.
She pleaded with Deputy Momot to do more to keep Sunnyhill from abandoning care on Thursday, saying the firm received government funding. Momot told her to file a complaint for that.
“Right now, that’s not going to do any good,” Momot said.
“I know, that’s why I called you,” McCluskey said.
“He acted pretty violent when I pulled up,” Momot said.
They talked some more about calls that had been made to mental health providers that couldn’t do anything fast enough to keep Uhlmansiek in his home on this day.
McCluskey walked away, to a picnic table where her son’s many medications were being sorted for transfer. But transfer to whom? And how? There was concern that an ambulance would alarm Uhlmansiek.
Momot spoke to Melkersman.
“This is not my problem either,” Momot said. “I am a deputy sheriff. I don’t deal with mental health. I deal with criminal law. What you agreed on in the contract is between you guys.”
Momot thought it through some more.
“I can’t have somebody running loose out here,” he said. “He needs his own facility to go to. Sticks us in a bind. There’s financing in the city, not in the rural areas.”
At that point, a reporter asked Melkersman why Sunnyhill couldn’t stay put until a successful transition could take place for Uhlmansiek in his home. Melkersman declined to comment. She walked over to the swing to visit with Donny Mitchell, Sunnyhill’s chief operating officer, who was part of a team calming Uhlmansiek. Mitchell referred questions to attorney Derrick Good.
“There are things in this story that could help everybody understand some of the challenges for him and service providers,” Good told the Post-Dispatch by telephone. But due to privacy concerns, he wouldn’t elaborate.
A DMH spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Vincent Heitholt, an attorney for Missouri Protection & Advocacy Services, told the Post-Dispatch by email that Sunnyhill’s “abandonment” of its client “is a form of neglect.” He said the case is indicative of many other people with disabilities who can’t get appropriate residential treatment in the state. He said they are waiting in hospitals, nursing homes and less safe places.
“Because of the current staffing crisis, 30 days is not sufficient time to arrange for replacement services when a provider chooses to back out of its contract,” he said. “Further, because of the lack of provider options, DMH seems reluctant to hold any providers accountable ... parents of consumers are reluctant to advocate for their children’s rights out of fear that a provider will retaliate by terminating services that the children desperately need.”
It’s unclear what motivated Sunnyhill to discontinue service with Uhlmansiek. Heitholt said the firm wouldn’t negotiate an extension even though there wasn’t a replacement plan. Heitholt said there have been several disputes over the maintenance of the property.
McCluskey said Uhlmansiek and his 31-year-old sister own the home. Also disabled, she was transferred to a nursing home on Wednesday. Uhlmansiek is lower functioning. In 2004, he was awarded $950,000 in a settlement with the state stemming from abusive care at Marshall Habilitation Center. He was among eight boys believed to have been victims of a wide range of abuse, including being slammed against floors and made to attack each other.
“They failed him once,” McCluskey said. “They failed him again.”
Instead of leaving it up to an ambulance crew to sort out on Thursday, Sunnyhill ended up taking Uhlmansiek by van from his home to Parkland Health Center in Farmington. Momot, the deputy, said he couldn’t stay at the hospital long, but it was the best case scenario for the time being.
“They are going to find a safe place for him,” he said.
Posted at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/national/fed-up-missouri-caregivers-walk-away-from-disabled-client-leaving-mother-sheriff-s-deputy-scrambling/article_e0a735a8-de33-5caa-8f8e-90d6f8fa8e60.html | 2022-07-15T18:51:44Z | https://wcfcourier.com/news/national/fed-up-missouri-caregivers-walk-away-from-disabled-client-leaving-mother-sheriff-s-deputy-scrambling/article_e0a735a8-de33-5caa-8f8e-90d6f8fa8e60.html | true |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Retired Justice Stephen Breyer is getting a different title: professor.
Harvard said Friday that Breyer, who retired from the Supreme Court June 30, is re-joining its law school faculty. Breyer is a graduate of the law school and first joined the Harvard faculty in 1967. He continued to teach at Harvard after he became a federal appeals court judge in 1980 until former President Bill Clinton nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1994.
Harvard said in a statement that Breyer will "teach seminars and reading groups, continue to write books and produce scholarship, and participate in the intellectual life of the school and in the broader Harvard community."
Breyer, 83, does not yet have any classes listed in Harvard's online course catalog. However, the school said his appointment as Byrne Professor of Administrative Law and Process would be effective immediately. Breyer is a longtime expert in administrative law, the law surrounding government agencies, and co-authored a textbook on the subject.
Harvard's announcement included a statement from Breyer. "I am very pleased to return to Harvard to teach there and to write," he said. "Among other things, I will likely try to explain why I believe it important that the next generations of those associated with the law engage in work, and take approaches to law, that help the great American constitutional experiment work effectively for the American people."
Breyer has not said what else he might do in retirement. A 1937 law allows retired Supreme Court justices to continue to hear and decide cases on lower federal courts, a practice called "sitting by designation." Breyer has not said if that is something he will do.
With the swearing in of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, these are the current members of the U.S. Supreme Court:
Ford is expanding a recall of SUVs and telling owners to park them outside after a series of engine fires that can happen even when the ignition switches are off.
Ivana Trump, the first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother to his oldest children, has died in New York City. She was 73. People familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press that police are investigating whether she fell accidentally down the stairs at her home. The people spoke Thursday on the condition of anonymity. Ivana Trump was a Czech-born ski racer and businesswoman who with Donald Trump formed half of a publicity power couple in the 1980s. They had a messy, public divorce after he met his next wife, Marla Maples. But Ivana had recently been on good terms with her former husband.
A Texas man, not his 13-year-old son, was driving the truck that struck a college golf team's van in March, killing 9. He had meth in his system, investigators say.
Hazelwood Chief Gregg Hall appeared to struggle reciting the alphabet, and an officer said that Hall’s blood alcohol content was more than two and a half times the legal limit. The O'Fallon police chief drove him home.
The man's sister Mariah Moorman had said her brother's phone last pinged near the pond about 12:40 a.m. on July 7, a few hours after he was seen. She said her brother often goes night fishing.
The decision comes as Starbucks works to change the company culture under interim CEO Howard Schultz — and as employees across the country vote to unionize. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/national/retired-justice-stephen-breyer-joins-harvard-law-faculty/article_3fa93fa8-ef8b-559c-aecc-2a9386b3c8a0.html | 2022-07-15T18:52:21Z | https://wcfcourier.com/news/national/retired-justice-stephen-breyer-joins-harvard-law-faculty/article_3fa93fa8-ef8b-559c-aecc-2a9386b3c8a0.html | true |
‘Princess Doe’ identified 40 years after remains were found
BLAIRSTOWN, N.J. (AP) — A girl who was dubbed Princess Doe after her remains were found 40 years ago in a New Jersey cemetery has been identified as a Long Island teenager, authorities announced Friday.
Charges have been filed against the man they believe killed Dawn Olanick, 17, of West Babylon, New York, the Warren County, New Jersey, prosecutor’s office announced. The suspect, Arthur Kinlaw, 68, is currently serving 20 years to life in Sullivan County, New York, on two first-degree murder convictions.
Kinlaw tried to lure Olanick into prostitution and killed her after she refused, authorities said, according to Lehigh Valley Live. Her remains were found July 25, 1982, in Cedar Ridge Cemetery in Blairstown, in northwestern New Jersey near the Pennsylvania border. Authorities have said she was beaten beyond recognition.
Residents of the area gave her a burial, and she became known as Princess Doe, a name given to her by investigators who sought to identify her. Her burial site contains a gravestone that reads: “Princess Doe. Missing from home. Dead among strangers. Remembered by all.”
Information about a lawyer who could speak on Kinlaw’s behalf about the new charges wasn’t immediately available.
Olanick’s identity was finally confirmed April 29, authorities said.
“For 40 years, law enforcement has not given up on Princess Doe,” Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer said Friday during a news conference with New Jersey State Police and other law enforcement and assisting agencies.
Kinlaw confessed to the Princess Doe slaying in written statements dating to 2005, authorities revealed Friday. But the prosecutor said that determining the victim’s identity was crucial to assembling a solid case.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbrc.com/2022/07/15/princess-doe-identified-40-years-after-remains-were-found/ | 2022-07-15T18:54:01Z | https://www.wbrc.com/2022/07/15/princess-doe-identified-40-years-after-remains-were-found/ | false |
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NEW YORK, July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lanier Law Firm has been honored with the Elite Trial Lawyers Award for 2022 in the area of Governmental Representation by American Lawyer Media, the publisher of The National Law Journal and other regional and specialty publications. An event where the publisher conveyed the award was held on the evening of July 14 in New York City.
The firm was recognized for a growing body of work in representing states, counties, municipalities, and similar agencies in complex litigation.
That success at trial includes representing two Ohio counties in federal multidistrict litigation against national retail pharmacies Walmart, CVS and Walgreens. In November 2021 a jury found that the retailers were responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic in those counties, and the firm served as counsel in a bench trial in May 2022 to determine the associated financial damages in the case. A ruling on those damages is expected this summer.
Earlier this year the firm played a key role in reaching a $1.85 billion settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors on behalf of the state of Texas, and in 2019 gained a pre-trial $260 million settlement with the nation's three biggest drug distributors and a major drugmaker on behalf of two other Ohio counties in the opioid multidistrict litigation.
The firm is also representing the State of Texas and multiple other state Attorneys General in litigation against Google, alleging that the company has unlawfully maintained monopolies in Internet search and search advertising services.
Also at the event, the firm's founder Mark Lanier received the Keith Givens Visionary Award, which honors a member of the bar who has shown extraordinary creativity in bringing the legal industry together, developing new opportunities for business growth, and supporting the professional development of attorneys across the nation.
Cumulatively, Mr. Lanier has garnered almost $20 billion in verdicts during his highly acclaimed career. In addition to this latest honor, he has been named as one of the Most Influential Attorneys of the Decade by the National Law Journal; as one of the 25 Greatest Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century by Texas Lawyer; and is a recipient of the American Association of Justice's Lifetime Achievement Award.
About the Lanier Law Firm
For more than 30 years, the men and women at the Lanier Law Firm have worked tirelessly, throughout the United States, to find unique and effective solutions for their clients. More than 60 skilled attorneys practice law in a broad array of areas, including business litigation, pharmaceutical litigation, asbestos exposure, oil and gas litigation, personal injury as well as defective and dangerous products, among others. Twice named an Elite Trial Law Firm by The National Law Journal, the Lanier Law Firm has offices in Houston, New York and Los Angeles. To learn more about Mark Lanier and the Lanier Law Firm, visit http://www.lanierlawfirm.com.
Media Contact:
J.D. Cargill
713-659-5200
jdc@lanierlawfirm.com
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SOURCE The Lanier Law Firm | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/lanier-law-firm-honored-success-representing-state-local-governments-litigation/ | 2022-07-15T18:54:47Z | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/lanier-law-firm-honored-success-representing-state-local-governments-litigation/ | false |
DETROIT — On Friday, a vigil will be held for slain Detroit Police Officer Loren Courts, ahead of a weekend full of final goodbyes.
Courts was gunned down earlier this month while responding to a 911 call on Detroit's west side. Officers also killed the 19-year-old shooter at the scene.
Related: 'I got you': Partner of fallen Detroit police officer reflects on years of friendship
Courts leaves behind a wife, two kids, and a large extended family within the Detroit Police Department.
The prayer vigil is from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the 2nd Precinct at 13530 Lesure, and the community is welcome to join.
It's expected to include many officers, including those who knew and worked alongside Courts.
Related: Wife of slain Detroit police officer: 'He was an amazing dad, my best friend'
The public can also pay their respects on Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Courts’ family and the department will have a service on Monday, July 18 at 11:30 a.m., where he will be laid to rest.
All services will be held in Detroit at Greater Grace Temple at 23500 W. 7 Mile Road. He is set to be buried at Woodlawn Cemetery at 19975 Woodward Avenue in Detroit.
As the community says goodbye to Courts, the man accused of buying the gun used to kill him has been indicted.
Sheldon Avery Thomas is accused of lying this summer when he claimed he was buying the gun for himself, but prosecutors say he bought it for the suspect, Ehmani Davis.
It was purchased on June 7, nearly a month before the shooting.
Surveillance images from late May show Thomas and Davis together inside the gun store.
Records show Thomas wasn't able to actually buy the gun until several days later due to a delay in the background check process.
This story was first reported by Scripps' sister station WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. | https://www.kivitv.com/news/national/vigil-scheduled-friday-for-slain-detroit-police-officer | 2022-07-15T18:56:46Z | https://www.kivitv.com/news/national/vigil-scheduled-friday-for-slain-detroit-police-officer | true |
Prosecutors are disavowing the convictions of three men who spent decades in prison for one of the most horrifying crimes of New York's violent 1990s — the killing of a clerk who was set on fire in a subway toll booth.Vincent Ellerbe, James Irons and Thomas Malik confessed to and were convicted of murdering token seller Harry Kaufman in 1995. The case resounded from New York to Washington to Hollywood, after parallels were drawn between the deadly arson and a scene in the movie "Money Train."But Brooklyn prosecutors now plan to join defense lawyers in asking a judge Friday to dismiss all three men's convictions. The confessions conflicted with evidence at the scene and with each other, and witness identifications were problematic, prosecutors say. Some of the men have long said they were coerced into confessing in the case, which had a lead detective who later was repeatedly accused of forcing confessions and framing suspects."The findings of an exhaustive, years-long reinvestigation of this case leave us unable to stand by the convictions," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a release. He cited "serious problems with the evidence on which these convictions are based" and acknowledged "the harm done to these men by this failure of our system."Ellerbe, 44, was paroled in 2020, but Malik and Irons, both 45, have remained in prison.Kaufman was working an overnight shift at a Brooklyn subway station on Nov. 26, 1995, when attackers first tried to rob him, then squirted gasoline into the booth and ignited it with matches while he pleaded, "Don't light it!," authorities said at the time. The booth exploded, and the 50-year-old Kaufman ran from it in flames. The married father died of his injuries two weeks later.The attack bore some resemblance to a scene in "Money Train," an action movie that had been released four days earlier. Then-Senate Majority Leader and Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole took to the Senate floor to call for a boycott of the movie.Authorities gave mixed signals over the years about whether they believed the film had inspired the killing.Police scoured for suspects and eventually came to question Irons, getting a confession that he was acting as a lookout. He implicated Malik and Ellerbe as the men who had torched the tollbooth.From their arrests on, Ellerbe and Malik maintained that they had been coerced into false confessions, with Malik saying that Detective Louis Scarcella had screamed at him and slammed his head into a locker. Scarcella testified that he cursed, pounded a table, and tried to scare the then 18-year-old Malik but didn't beat him.Gonzalez's office said its review found that Scarcella and his partner fed important details about the crime scene to Irons — details that prosecutors later used at trial to argue that his confession was so specific that it had to be true. But it included clearly dubious claims — for instance, that he had been able to see his supposed accomplices jump into a getaway car, though it was parked a block away and around a corner, prosecutors said.At the time, Scarcella was a star Brooklyn homicide detective in a city reeling from crime. But after questions accumulated about his tactics, the Brooklyn district attorney's office began in 2013 to review scores of cases that he had worked.Scarcella, who retired in 2000, has denied any wrongdoing. While more than a dozen convictions in his cases have been overturned, prosecutors have stood by scores of others.
NEW YORK — Prosecutors are disavowing the convictions of three men who spent decades in prison for one of the most horrifying crimes of New York's violent 1990s — the killing of a clerk who was set on fire in a subway toll booth.
Vincent Ellerbe, James Irons and Thomas Malik confessed to and were convicted of murdering token seller Harry Kaufman in 1995. The case resounded from New York to Washington to Hollywood, after parallels were drawn between the deadly arson and a scene in the movie "Money Train."
But Brooklyn prosecutors now plan to join defense lawyers in asking a judge Friday to dismiss all three men's convictions. The confessions conflicted with evidence at the scene and with each other, and witness identifications were problematic, prosecutors say. Some of the men have long said they were coerced into confessing in the case, which had a lead detective who later was repeatedly accused of forcing confessions and framing suspects.
"The findings of an exhaustive, years-long reinvestigation of this case leave us unable to stand by the convictions," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a release. He cited "serious problems with the evidence on which these convictions are based" and acknowledged "the harm done to these men by this failure of our system."
Ellerbe, 44, was paroled in 2020, but Malik and Irons, both 45, have remained in prison.
Kaufman was working an overnight shift at a Brooklyn subway station on Nov. 26, 1995, when attackers first tried to rob him, then squirted gasoline into the booth and ignited it with matches while he pleaded, "Don't light it!," authorities said at the time. The booth exploded, and the 50-year-old Kaufman ran from it in flames. The married father died of his injuries two weeks later.
ROSARIO ESPOSITO
Transit workers dismantle the charred inner wall of a token booth at the Kingston Avenue and Fulton Street subway station in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Nov. 26, 1995, after attackers sprayed a flammable liquid into the token booth and lit it on fire, according to police.
The attack bore some resemblance to a scene in "Money Train," an action movie that had been released four days earlier. Then-Senate Majority Leader and Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole took to the Senate floor to call for a boycott of the movie.
Authorities gave mixed signals over the years about whether they believed the film had inspired the killing.
Police scoured for suspects and eventually came to question Irons, getting a confession that he was acting as a lookout. He implicated Malik and Ellerbe as the men who had torched the tollbooth.
From their arrests on, Ellerbe and Malik maintained that they had been coerced into false confessions, with Malik saying that Detective Louis Scarcella had screamed at him and slammed his head into a locker. Scarcella testified that he cursed, pounded a table, and tried to scare the then 18-year-old Malik but didn't beat him.
Gonzalez's office said its review found that Scarcella and his partner fed important details about the crime scene to Irons — details that prosecutors later used at trial to argue that his confession was so specific that it had to be true. But it included clearly dubious claims — for instance, that he had been able to see his supposed accomplices jump into a getaway car, though it was parked a block away and around a corner, prosecutors said.
At the time, Scarcella was a star Brooklyn homicide detective in a city reeling from crime. But after questions accumulated about his tactics, the Brooklyn district attorney's office began in 2013 to review scores of cases that he had worked.
Scarcella, who retired in 2000, has denied any wrongdoing. While more than a dozen convictions in his cases have been overturned, prosecutors have stood by scores of others. | https://www.koat.com/article/prosecutors-dismiss-convictions-3-men-wrongfully-jailed-1995-nyc-subway-killing/40625908 | 2022-07-15T18:57:37Z | https://www.koat.com/article/prosecutors-dismiss-convictions-3-men-wrongfully-jailed-1995-nyc-subway-killing/40625908 | true |
WASHINGTON — The wails pierced the walls of the walk-in clinic tucked among rundown homes in the heart of Venezuela’s capital. Artemis Parra got one vaccine in each arm, for polio and measles. The shots were free at the government site, and they filled gaps in the 1-year-old’s vaccination record. But they weren't enough to meet national requirements for children her age. Artemis needs two more, at a cost of $400 — a bill her unemployed mother and government-worker father can’t afford.
Public health officials have long warned that Venezuela, with an unraveling health-care system and roughly a decade of political unrest, has alarmingly low vaccination rates. The country is banned from purchasing vaccines through a regional system that offers affordable prices until it pays off an $11 million debt — largely the result of a power struggle between the government and the U.S.-backed opposition.
Specific data on vaccination rates have been elusive in Venezuela, where institutions are shrouded in secrecy, corruption and bureaucracy. The country hasn’t published rates since 2015.
But an Associated Press analysis of rare government data and estimates from public health agencies shows that Venezuela’s vaccination crisis is growing, putting it among the world’s worst countries for inoculating children against potentially fatal diseases.
Many children lack several of the 10 vaccines recommended by 12 months of age, to protect against 14 diseases including polio, measles and tuberculosis. Two of the shots — one that prevents life-threatening diarrhea and one that protects against respiratory viruses — have hardly been given at all over the past several years.
Rates are lowest in states far from the capital and large cities. Government and opposition officials trade blame, but most agree: There are not enough shots for a population that desperately needs them in a country plagued by supply issues.
Vaccination experts say the political turmoil in Venezuela is largely to blame, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating access issues.
“In situations of conflict, you often see a variety of different parties using the provision of health services as a way of generating favor,” said Katherine Bliss, director of the Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Bliss said overall vaccination rates dropped globally during pandemic lockdowns, and many nations rebounded. But Venezuela and others in Latin America struggled. They cannot fully fund vaccination programs but don’t qualify for the aid available to the poorest nations.
Data from Venezuela’s health department breaking down the percentage of children who have been immunized according to the nation’s vaccination schedule — provided to the AP by a medical professional on the condition of anonymity, for fear of retribution — show that roughly 70% of children had received one shot against measles but less than 30% had the standard required second dose. In the two southeastern states along the border with Brazil, the rate for the second dose is as low as 15% for that smaller, rural population.
Globally, 84% of children received a first dose; 70% got two, according to World Health Organization and UNICEF data.
The Venezuelan government didn't respond to inquiries from AP about the vaccine crisis.
For Artemis Parra, the vaccinations missing after her clinic visit were for rotavirus, which causes diarrhea and vomiting, and pneumococcal disease, responsible for pneumonia and other infections. United Nations agencies estimate the national rate at zero for both shots. The Venezuelan document obtained by AP doesn't list either vaccine.
The clinic was part of a campaign to get measles, rubella and polio shots in children’s arms. Vaccines began arriving in June through the Pan American Health Organization, WHO’s arm in the Americas. It's unclear how they were purchased.
Venezuela has traditionally bought most of its supply through PAHO’s Revolving Fund for Access to Vaccines, which consolidates demand from participating countries and leverages purchasing power for lower prices.
Despite Venezuela’s debt, the government and PAHO got 4.4 million shots for the drive. PAHO didn't answer AP’s inquiries about the source of payment.
For families, the vaccine source isn't important. Clinics mean protect for children at no cost
At 4 a.m. on a mid-June Saturday, Dimas Campos was first in line to get his 19-month-old got shots. Campos told other parents one way to obtain remaining vaccines: Travel to Colombia, 500-plus miles from Caracas. By car, the trip takes at least 13 hours. Buses take longer.
“You get on the bus at night, arrive in the morning, get vaccinated,” Campos said. His family estimated they’d spend $100 for the trip for free shots at a humanitarian aid site, versus $400 at a private Venezuelan practice.
Such trips show the effect of Venezuela's crisis beyond its borders. Peter Hotez, of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said Venezuela's crisis is destabilizing the continent.
“It’s become a Latin American problem, and really, a Western Hemisphere problem,” he said.
Venezuela and other countries face a deadline of Friday to order vaccines for next year from PAHO’s Revolving Fund.
Dr. Ciro Ugarte, of PAHO, insisted Venezuela can't make purchases: “The debt of Venezuela to the revolving fund for vaccines is still on.”
AP’s analysis shows that dips in vaccination rates matched periods of political decline. A downward trend began in 2016, just before the U.S. and other countries imposed broad economic sanctions to try to topple President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro’s socialist government and the faction of the opposition backed by the U.S. and led by Juan Guaidó have accused each other of exploiting the issue of vaccines.
The U.S. gave Guaidó and his parallel government control of hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. Disbursements must be approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Treasury officials referred questions to Guaidó’s team. Guaido's opposition faction didn't respond to inquiries from AP about vaccine payments and any use of frozen assets.
For public health officials, rotavirus and pneumococcal inoculations are top concerns. Handwashing and other good hygiene can help. But Venezuela's potable water service is unreliable at best.
Some parents are aware of the risks of skipping the expensive vaccines but say they have no choice.
“We do not have the budget,” stay-at-home mom Yuberlim Salazar said at the vaccination clinic. “It is unfair to save the money to give her the vaccine and not give food to my daughter. I prefer to give my daughter food.” | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/nation-world/venezuelas-vaccine-rates-low-among-the-worst-in-the-world/507-270a2126-d3e3-4df1-ac45-a8747b89107e | 2022-07-15T18:58:07Z | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/nation-world/venezuelas-vaccine-rates-low-among-the-worst-in-the-world/507-270a2126-d3e3-4df1-ac45-a8747b89107e | false |
‘Princess Doe’ identified 40 years after remains were found
BLAIRSTOWN, N.J. (AP) — A girl who was dubbed Princess Doe after her remains were found 40 years ago in a New Jersey cemetery has been identified as a Long Island teenager, authorities announced Friday.
Charges have been filed against the man they believe killed Dawn Olanick, 17, of West Babylon, New York, the Warren County, New Jersey, prosecutor’s office announced. The suspect, Arthur Kinlaw, 68, is currently serving 20 years to life in Sullivan County, New York, on two first-degree murder convictions.
Kinlaw tried to lure Olanick into prostitution and killed her after she refused, authorities said, according to Lehigh Valley Live. Her remains were found July 25, 1982, in Cedar Ridge Cemetery in Blairstown, in northwestern New Jersey near the Pennsylvania border. Authorities have said she was beaten beyond recognition.
Residents of the area gave her a burial, and she became known as Princess Doe, a name given to her by investigators who sought to identify her. Her burial site contains a gravestone that reads: “Princess Doe. Missing from home. Dead among strangers. Remembered by all.”
Information about a lawyer who could speak on Kinlaw’s behalf about the new charges wasn’t immediately available.
Olanick’s identity was finally confirmed April 29, authorities said.
“For 40 years, law enforcement has not given up on Princess Doe,” Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer said Friday during a news conference with New Jersey State Police and other law enforcement and assisting agencies.
Kinlaw confessed to the Princess Doe slaying in written statements dating to 2005, authorities revealed Friday. But the prosecutor said that determining the victim’s identity was crucial to assembling a solid case.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wafb.com/2022/07/15/princess-doe-identified-40-years-after-remains-were-found/ | 2022-07-15T19:00:28Z | https://www.wafb.com/2022/07/15/princess-doe-identified-40-years-after-remains-were-found/ | false |
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s prime minister was sworn in Friday as interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse.
Lawmakers were to convene Saturday to choose a new leader who would serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024.
A tenuous calm was restored in the capital of Colombo on Thursday after protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated, but with the political opposition deeply fractured, a solution to Sri Lanka’s many problems seemed no closer.
As people celebrated in the streets, Parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana promised a swift and transparent political process that should be done within a week.
The new president could appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament. After Rajapaksa resigned, pressure on the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was rising.
In a televised statement, Wickremesinghe said he would initiate steps to change the constitution to curb presidential powers and strengthen Parliament, restore law and order and take legal action against “insurgents.”
It was unclear to whom he was referring, although he said true protesters would not have gotten involved in clashes near Parliament on Wednesday night, when many soldiers reportedly were injured.
“There is a big difference between protesters and insurgents. We will take legal action against insurgents,” he said.
Wickremesinghe became acting president after Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday, flying first to the Maldives and then to Singapore. The prime minister’s office said Wickremesinghe was sworn in Friday as interim president by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.
Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertilizer, medicine and fuel for its 22 million people. Its rapid economic decline has been all the more shocking because, before this crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class.
The protests underscored the dramatic fall of the Rajapaksa political clan that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.
The Rev. Jeewantha Peiris, a Catholic priest and protest leader, said the country had “come through a hard journey.”
“We are happy as a collective effort because this struggle of Sri Lanka was participated by all the citizens of Sri Lanka, even diaspora of Sri Lanka,” he said.
Protesters cooked and distributed milk rice — a food Sri Lankans enjoy to celebrate victories — after Rajapaksa resigned. At the main protest site in front of the president’s office in Colombo, people welcomed his resignation but insisted Wickremesinghe also should step aside.
“I am happy that Gotabaya has finally left. He should have resigned earlier, without causing much problems,” Velayuthan Pillai, 73, a retired bank employee, said as patriotic songs blared from loudspeakers.
“Ranil is a supporter of Gotabaya and other Rajapaksas. He was helping them. He also must go,” he added.
Sri Lanka remains a powder keg, its economy in ruins. And the military warned Thursday that it had powers to respond in case of chaos — a message some found ominous.
Abeywardana, the speaker of Parliament, urged the public to “create a peaceful atmosphere in order to implement the proper parliamentary democratic process and enable all members of Parliament to participate in the meetings and function freely and conscientiously.”
Sri Lanka is seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and other creditors, but its finances are so poor that even obtaining a bailout has proven difficult, Wickremesinghe recently said.
The protesters accuse Rajapaksa and his powerful political family of siphoning money from government coffers and of hastening the country’s collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Rajapaksa acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to Sri Lanka’s meltdown.
Maduka Iroshan, 26, a university student and protester, said he was “thrilled” that Rajapaksa had quit, because he “ruined the dreams of the young generation.”
Months of protests reached a frenzied peak last weekend when demonstrators stormed the president’s home and office and Wickremesinghe’s official residence. On Wednesday, they seized his office.
Images of protesters inside the buildings — lounging on elegant sofas and beds, posing at officials’ desks and touring the opulent settings — captured the world’s attention.
The demonstrators initially vowed to stay until a new government was in place, but they shifted tactics Thursday, apparently concerned that an escalation in violence could undermine their message following clashes outside Parliament that left dozens injured.
Protester Mirak Raheem noted that the lack of violence was important, though their work was far from over.
“This is really something amazing, the fact that it happened on the back of largely peaceful protest,” Raheem said. “But obviously this is just a beginning, that there is a longer journey in terms of the kind of work that has to be done, not just to rebuild the economy but to create public confidence in this political system.”
Rajapaksa and his wife slipped away in the night aboard a military plane early Wednesday. On Thursday, he went to Singapore, according to the city-state’s Foreign Ministry. It said he had not requested asylum and it was unclear if he would stay or move on. He previously has obtained medical services there, including undergoing heart surgery.
Since Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, Rajapaksa likely wanted to leave while he still had constitutional immunity and access to the plane.
A military strategist whose brutal campaign helped end the country’s 26-year civil war, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, who was president at the time, were hailed by the island’s Buddhist Sinhalese majority. Despite accusations of wartime atrocities, including ordering military attacks on ethnic Tamil civilians and abducting journalists, Rajapaksa remained popular among many Sri Lankans. He has continually denied the allegations.
___
Find more of AP’s Sri Lanka coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/sri-lanka | https://cw33.com/news/international/ap-international/sri-lankan-president-resigns-parliament-to-convene/ | 2022-07-15T19:01:04Z | https://cw33.com/news/international/ap-international/sri-lankan-president-resigns-parliament-to-convene/ | false |
Hull's Raleigh Court home and ex-manager fined after rapist attacked resident
- Published
The owner of a care home has been fined £128,000 after an elderly dementia patient was sexually abused by a fellow resident with a rape conviction.
HICA was also told to pay £10,645 costs after admitting breaching the Health and Social Care Act by failing to protect the woman.
Katie Daysley, former manager of Hull's Raleigh Court, was fined after being found guilty of breaching the same act.
The judge described failures in the case as "simply unforgiveable".
District Judge Dan Curtis, sentencing both HICA and Daysley at Beverley Magistrates' Court on Friday, said not checking rapist Robert Carpenter's background prior to admission in January 2018 was a major failing.
Carpenter, then 65, carried out the attack six months after he was admitted.
Authorities had failed to tell the home of his offending, Daysley's three-day trial heard.
However, even when his historic rape conviction came to light, he was allowed to remain in the home.
In a victim impact statement, described by Mr Curtis as "the most moving" he had heard in his 17 years as a district judge, the husband said he and his wife - married for more than 50 years - had been "inseparable".
The husband said he laid awake at night, thinking he "let her down badly" by placing her in the home.
She later died from unrelated causes.
Carpenter, who was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years' imprisonment in 2019 for the care home attack, died in August 2021.
Counsels for both Daysley, 41, of Kirk Ella, and HICA apologised to the victim's family.
Andrew McGee, for Daysley, said his client had enjoyed an "exemplary" career prior to the incident.
She was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £15,067.05 costs.
'Reputational damage'
Tom Gent, representing HICA, accepted failures had been made but argued "a robust admissions policy" had not been followed.
He said the case, brought by the Care Quality Commission, had caused HICA "very significant" reputational damage.
Daysley and HICA were also ordered to pay victim surcharges of £100 and £120, respectively.
The district judge said he accepted the financial penalties would be "meaningless" to the victim's family.
Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-62177870 | 2022-07-15T19:01:46Z | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-62177870 | false |
BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Massachusetts Lottery's "Numbers Midday" game were:
1-7-8-2
(one, seven, eight, two)
BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Massachusetts Lottery's "Numbers Midday" game were:
1-7-8-2
(one, seven, eight, two) | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Numbers-Midday-game-17308013.php | 2022-07-15T19:01:56Z | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Numbers-Midday-game-17308013.php | false |
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's top legal official has no plan to prosecute the white woman whose accusation set off the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till nearly 70 years ago, an aide said Friday following revelations about an unserved arrest warrant and a newly revealed memoir by the woman.
“There’s no new evidence to open the case back up,” Michelle Williams, chief of staff for Attorney General Lynn Fitch, told The Associated Press.
Williams also said Fitch's office has not been in contact with Leflore County District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, the local prosecutor who would be responsible for pursuing any case against Carolyn Bryant Donham.
The Justice Department previously investigated without filing charges and closed the case, Williams said, referring to the government's decision in December to end its most recent review of the infamous slaying.
Neither Richardson nor Leflore Sheriff Ricky Banks immediately returned messages seeking comment Friday.
A group searching the basement of the Leflore County Courthouse in June discovered the unserved arrest warrant charging Donham, then-husband Roy Bryant and brother-in-law J.W. Milam in Till's abduction in 1955. While the men were arrested and acquitted on murder charges in Till's subsequent slaying, Donham, 21 at the time and 87 now, was never taken into custody.
In an unpublished memoir obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Donham said she was unaware of what would happen to the 14-year-old Till, who lived in Chicago and was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was abducted, killed and tossed in a river. She accused him of making lewd comments and grabbing her while she worked alone at a family store in Money, Mississippi.
Donham said in the manuscript that the men brought Till to her in the middle of the night for identification but that she tried to help the youth by denying it was him. Despite being abducted at gunpoint from a family home by Roy Bryant and Milam, the 14-year-old identified himself to the men, she claimed.
Till's battered, disfigured body was found days later in a river, where it was weighted down with a heavy metal fan. The decision by his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, to open Till's casket for his funeral in Chicago demonstrated the horror of what had happened and added fuel to the civil rights movement.
Deborah Watts, a cousin of Till who leads the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, said the unserved arrest warrant and memoir are new evidence that show Donham’s involvement in the case.
“I truly believe these developments cannot be ignored by the authorities in Mississippi,” she said.
Dale Killinger, a retired FBI agent who handled a review that ended without charges 15 years ago, said grand jurors should get a chance to review recent developments in the case.
“It's still a prosecutorial decision. As an investigator, my position has always been and remains that a grand jury should be given all the facts,” he said.
Neither Donham nor any of her relatives have responded to messages and phone calls from the AP seeking comment. It is unclear where Donham currently lives or if she has an attorney. Her last known address was in Raleigh, North Carolina.
___
Reeves reported from Birmingham, Alabama. He is a member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity Team. | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Mississippi-AG-No-prosecution-plan-in-Emmett-17308060.php | 2022-07-15T19:04:50Z | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Mississippi-AG-No-prosecution-plan-in-Emmett-17308060.php | false |
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — On the surface at Big 12 football media days, nothing really appeared much different. The 10 mannequins lining the main stage donned the uniforms of the same schools that have made up the conference for a decade.
As the annual two-day kickoff event wound up Thursday, workers began to dismantle the oversized figures, then carried them one by one off the stage that was adorned by all the team logos.
The Big 12 is heading into its final season as a 10-school league. Oklahoma and Texas, the conference’s only football national champions, still have at least this season — and up to two more after that — before moving to the Southeastern Conference.
BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF won’t join the Big 12 until next summer. And it’s unclear if there could be more teams eventually added to the mix — from the Pac-12, or elsewhere.
“Don’t want to speculate, you know, on the future,” new Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “I’m going to keep it on this season and what’s right in front of us.”
For now, that is the Sooners trying to win another Big 12 title after their record streak of six championships in a row ended last season.
As for the Longhorns, they look to make a big improvement after going 5-7 with a six-game losing streak in coach Steve Sarkisian’s first season. He hasn’t decided whether Hudson Card or transfer Quinn Ewers will be the starting quarterback, but Sarkisian isn’t worried about that — “We’re in a really good position,” he said — and also isn’t concerned about the pending switch of leagues.
“Regardless of playing this year in the Big 12, or next year in the Big 12 or whatever this is going to look like, our style of play, our roster that we have in place, is one that regardless of who we play is going to be one that fits us and what we want to do,” Sarkisian said. “This is just our belief of who we want to be as a team.”
It was a week after Big 12 media days wrapped up last July that word came out about Oklahoma and Texas planning a move to an expanded SEC.
The Big 12 responded in September with the four additions, football independent BYU and the three American Athletic Conference schools that have worked out an early departure from that league. UCF had messages on electronic billboards around AT&T Stadium this week expressing the school’s excitement about moving to the Big 12.
“We have really good programs leaving, and we have really good programs coming in,” new Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said.
Matt Campbell, the league’s second-longest tenured coach going into his seventh season, believes the Big 12 is in a strong position now because of the decision by Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and other leaders “to move, and not stand pat” last summer.
“Probably a lot better shape than we were a year ago at this time,” Campbell said Thursday. ”A good move at the time because I think it’s probably positioned us in a great spot moving forward.”
Two weeks before this year’s Big 12 media days, Brett Yormark was named the league’s new commissioner after the 70-year-old Bowlsby’s decision earlier this year to retire. There was also another surprising shift in conference alignment, with UCLA and Southern California leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.
Yormark, steadily busy even before his first official day on the job Aug. 1, described himself as actively engaged in realignment, with input from throughout the conference. He said during his introduction Wednesday that he saw “there was opportunity” without specifically naming any schools, and adding that nothing was imminent.
“As we vet out the possibilities, everything will be additive. Nothing will be dilutive,” Yormark said. “I feel very confident that our conference is in the best position it’s ever been before.”
Texas and Oklahoma are set to remain in the Big 12 through the 2024-25 academic year, which would take them to the end of the conference’s current media rights deal with ESPN and Fox.
When asked about a potential early departure for the Longhorns and Sooners, Yormark said he expected some future discussions with the two schools, and that he would always look for a “win-win situation.”
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said Wednesday he believed his team’s Bedlam series against Oklahoma would end when the Sooners leave the conference. And while saying he was joking, he also questioned why OU and Texas were still in on Big 12 meetings.
“I think the world is changing and people are like, yeah, they made a business decision. You know, the new commissioner, if I was him, I wouldn’t let OU and Texas in any meetings,” Gundy said. “I say that kind of jokingly, but really it’s almost business as usual.”
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | https://cw33.com/sports/ap-sports/big-12-changes-coming-after-one-last-season-with-10-schools/ | 2022-07-15T19:05:44Z | https://cw33.com/sports/ap-sports/big-12-changes-coming-after-one-last-season-with-10-schools/ | false |
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "Pick 3 Day" game were:
3-1-8, FIREBALL: 1
(three, one, eight; FIREBALL: one)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "Pick 3 Day" game were:
3-1-8, FIREBALL: 1
(three, one, eight; FIREBALL: one) | https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-3-Day-game-17307888.php | 2022-07-15T19:06:23Z | https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-3-Day-game-17307888.php | false |
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's Republican Party, already dominant in electing candidates, has achieved another long-sought goal, overtaking the Democratic Party in statewide voter registration.
The Kentucky State Board of Elections announced Friday that the number of registered Republican voters stands at 1,612,060, compared with 1,609,569 registered Democrats.
“After a century and a half, the birthplace of Lincoln has finally aligned with the party of Lincoln," Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams said.
U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, regarded as the main architect of the GOP's rise in Kentucky, said his party's voter registration supremacy in his home state was “a day I never thought would happen.” McConnell attributed his party's achievement to decades of “hard work and grassroots efforts,” adding that "it’s just the beginning.”
When McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, the state had 1.3 million registered Democrats and 525,060 Republicans. Republicans have narrowed the gap for years.
Republicans hold Kentucky's two U.S. Senate seats, five of six congressional seats, supermajorities in the legislature and most of the statewide constitutional offices.
But the state's top political job — the governorship — is held by Democrat Andy Beshear. Recent polling showed the governor receiving high job-performance ratings, but Beshear faces a tough reelection fight as the state trends Republican. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Kentucky-GOP-overtakes-Democrats-in-voter-17307851.php | 2022-07-15T19:06:51Z | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Kentucky-GOP-overtakes-Democrats-in-voter-17307851.php | false |
LOS ANGELES , July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CalRecycle is banking on pilot programs around the state, including "mobile" return pilots, to make it easier for consumers to get California Redemption Value (CRV) refunds as the bottle deposit system crumbles. But a Consumer Watchdog investigation reveals the pilots are not convenient, financially sustainable, or remotely successful as models to save the system.
In one case, San Francisco, it is costing $1.25 per bottle or can to return a nickel to the consumer. None of the pilot programs appear to generate enough volume to sustain the program when the initial pilot grant money runs out.
"CalRecycle, the state's recycling regulator, has pushed city and county-based pilot projects as an 'innovative' solution to the redemption crisis," according to a new report, Pilot Error: How CRV Refund Pilot Programs Are Crashing And Burning. See the report here: https://consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/PILOT%20ERROR%20report.pdf
"A review of these state-funded pilot projects shows they do not create a new, financially viable model for redemption or improve the rate at which consumers turn in bottles and cans for CRV refunds. In at least one case, the pilot created a self-dealing relationship that enriched grocers and their consultants at the expense of taxpayers and consumers.
"Consumer Watchdog has reviewed the results from four bottle return pilots in San Francisco, San Mateo, Culver City and Irvine that CalRecycle funded with $5 million in grant money appropriated by the legislature in 2019. A fifth pilot program in Sonoma County that kicked off at the beginning of April has too little data to perform a review. The data show that 'mobile' recycling being tried in three of the pilots is not working, nor is it financially justified. A fourth pilot that is stationary is working but not likely to survive. Nevertheless, despite the failure of mobile recycling in every area, CalRecycle recently proposed $70 million to create new mobile recycling projects in underserved areas."
"None of these pilots offer convenient and financially viable solutions to consumer access to CRV refunds," said the report's author, consumer advocate Liza Tucker. "One, in San Francisco, is a blatant ploy to get retailers off the recycling hook, not to improve consumer access to deposit refunds. What we need is systemic reform including the provision of convenient and modern technology and the refund of CRV by the biggest supermarket chains in the state."
The report finds:
- Pilots approved by CalRecycle restrict consumer access to redemption because they exempt all retailers in a jurisdiction from instore redemption obligations or paying state fines to get out of recycling. In San Francisco, over 400 stores stopped redeeming bottles and cans when the pilot was deemed operational.
- Conflicts of interest in the San Francisco Department of the Environment's "BottleBank" pilot enriched connected consultants. Between 2017 and November 2021, consultants to a grocers association got more than $700,000 in CalRecycle grant money. They met retailers' primary objective – exempting them from redemption responsibilities – but failed to produce a viable pilot program. Consumer Watchdog has requested an investigation by City and State officials based on these findings.
- Two of the pilots are proving to be a financial bust. In San Francisco, it is costing the pilot operator $1.25 per container to hand a nickel back to a consumer. In Irvine, where customers schedule container pickup from their homes, it is costing $.14 cents per container to refund a consumer a nickel.
- In San Mateo, it currently costs a little more than half a nickel to refund a nickel deposit while it costs the Culver City pilot a penny and a half. In the real world, however, recycling centers must generate a lot of CRV container volume for the sale of scrap to be profitable in the face of inadequate state subsidies, especially in high cost areas such as these. These pilots are not likely to generate enough volume to make it without outside financial support.
- Mobile recycling is largely an illusion. For example, San Francisco's "mobile" project consists of two trucks parked in three different parking lots for four hours a day six days a week. Culver City's consists of one truck called a "mobile redemption center" that goes between two grocery store parking lots less than one quarter of a mile apart to provide stationary redemption service.
- Irvine is the one city whose recycling program is in fact mobile: it picks up bottles and cans from people's homes. However, it is serving roughly 10 to 15 customers a day in a city with a population of 273,000 and thus has no prospects of financial success.
- Pilots in San Francisco, San Mateo and Culver City are not convenient. They offer either part-time or fulltime redemption service mainly on weekdays and only during regular work hours when consumers can't recycle. This means that the pilots take in very limited container volumes, dooming them to failure.
- Pilots would be more financially stable if they received financial support and donated parking lot space from beverage retailers, producers and distributors. Yet there is no requirement that retailers donate any parking lot space or give direct financial support in exchange for comprehensive exemptions from recycling.
"In general, reverse vending machines and bag drop technologies in use at or near supermarkets in most other bottle deposit states are far more convenient, available during and after work hours, and stimulate far higher participation rates. This brings the cost of collection and processing of empty containers down to a sustainable and acceptable minimum. The Administration must acknowledge that only increasing the number of redemption opportunities by requiring retailers to provide greater redemption, not less, will increase the redemption rate."
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SOURCE Consumer Watchdog | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/bottle-deposit-pilot-programs-help-refund-consumer-crv-are-crashing-burning-consumer-watchdog-reveals/ | 2022-07-15T19:07:44Z | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/bottle-deposit-pilot-programs-help-refund-consumer-crv-are-crashing-burning-consumer-watchdog-reveals/ | false |
COON RAPIDS, Minn., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Words can't describe this Al Parent custom built home. Inspired by Georgian architecture, it sits on a 3+ acre cul-de-sac lot rising above the Rum River with incomparable and stunning panoramic views. The 77,000 Queen size brick exterior is illuminated perfectly by the architecturally placed landscape lighting. Walk the trails behind for a breathtaking view of the back of the home. Play the jukebox in the Rock & Roll diner that takes you back to the 50's! Relax the day's stresses away in the sauna, after an invigorating workout in the fitness room. Prepare a sumptuous meal in the fully equipped kitchen complete with Sub Zero freezer, vegetable fridge, Corian counter tops! The upper level bonus room has it's own bathroom and is pre-wired for a complete home theatre. The spacious main floor Owner's Suite is decked out with large dual closets, marble surfaces, and a washer and dryer for convenience.
Proudly presented by the Chris Fritch Team eXp Realty
763-746-3997
- Ramsey has a population which is estimated at just over 26,000 people.
- Ramsey covers 28 square miles and is bordered by both the Rum and Mississippi Rivers.
- Ramsey is home to over a hundred businesses such as Connexus Energy, Life Fitness, Ace Solid Waste, and Vision Ease Lens.
- Ramsey is working to develop a new downtown, The COR.
- Ramsey offers two championship public golf courses—The Links at Northfork and Rum River Hills.
- Ramsey has two regional parks, three major City parks, and a network of trails and neighborhood parks.
- Ramsey is served by 55 paid on-call Fire Fighters that also contract Fire/Rescue coverage for Nowthen. Firefighters operate out of 2 Fire Stations in Ramsey and 1 Station located in Nowthen.
Contact:
Chris Fritch Team eXp Realty
***@chrisfritchteam.com
Photos:
https://www.prlog.org/12913257
Press release distributed by PRLog
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SOURCE Chris Fritch Team - eXp Realty | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/extraordinary-homeforsale-ramseymn-luxuryhomesforsaleinmn/ | 2022-07-15T19:09:17Z | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/extraordinary-homeforsale-ramseymn-luxuryhomesforsaleinmn/ | false |
ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vuzix® Corporation (NASDAQ: VUZI), ("Vuzix" or, the "Company"), a leading supplier of Smart Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technology and products, is pleased to announce that the Company has received a volume OEM purchase order for custom designed waveguides from a Fortune 50 US based software and hardware technology customer, which plans to use them in their own head mounted display (HMD) product development program. These waveguides are being built by Vuzix to specifically match the customer's needs and specifications. This initial volume order is from one of many companies joining Vuzix growing OEM business.
"This order for custom waveguides represents the tip of the iceberg for Vuzix OEM supply efforts in terms of the expected long-term industry demand we are seeing," said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix. "Vuzix has already demonstrated to key customers its ability to design and deliver a variety of state-of-the-art custom waveguides and to manufacture them in volume at competitive costs. To address the growing OEM supply business, Vuzix also has plans in place to significantly increase its waveguide production capacity over the next year and further still into the future."
About Vuzix Corporation
Vuzix is a leading supplier of Smart Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and products for the consumer and enterprise markets. The Company's products include personal display and wearable computing devices that offer users a portable high-quality viewing experience, provide solutions for mobility, wearable displays and augmented reality. Vuzix holds 246 patents and patents pending and numerous IP licenses in the Video Eyewear field. The Company has won Consumer Electronics Show (or CES) awards for innovation for the years 2005 to 2022 and several wireless technology innovation awards among others. Founded in 1997, Vuzix is a public company (NASDAQ: VUZI) with offices in Rochester, NY, Oxford, UK, and Tokyo, Japan. For more information, visit the Vuzix website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer
Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward looking statements contained in this release relate to Vuzix Smart Glasses, our business relationship and potential future opportunities and waveguide orders with this Fortune 50 customer, and among other things the Company's leadership in the Smart Glasses and AR display industry. They are generally identified by words such as "believes," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "should" and similar expressions. Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are based upon the Company's beliefs and assumptions as of the date of this release. The Company's actual results could differ materially due to risk factors and other items described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Reports and MD&A filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and applicable Canadian securities regulators (copies of which may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.
Media and Investor Relations Contact:
Ed McGregor, Director of Investor Relations,
Vuzix Corporation
ed_mcgregor@vuzix.com
Tel: (585) 359-5985
Vuzix Corporation, 25 Hendrix Road, Suite A, West Henrietta, NY 14586 USA,
Investor Information – IR@vuzix.com www.vuzix.com
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SOURCE Vuzix Corporation | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/vuzix-receives-initial-volume-waveguide-order-fortune-50-technology-customer/ | 2022-07-15T19:10:26Z | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/vuzix-receives-initial-volume-waveguide-order-fortune-50-technology-customer/ | false |
(NewsNation) — The House passed two bills Friday that would restore and guarantee abortion access nationwide and protect a woman’s right to travel across state lines to get the procedure.
The House voted 219-210 to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act, and 223-205 on the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act.
The vote comes as Democrats respond legislatively to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade. But both bills are likely to face obstacles in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed for passage due to the legislative filibuster, and stand little chance of becoming law.
Pelosi said that she was not going to negotiate a slimmer abortion rights bill that could potentially get through the Senate.
‘We’re not going to negotiate on a woman’s right to choose. Senators Murkowski and Senator Collins may have their view, but it is not one about a woman having the right to decide,” Pelosi said. “So we’re not negotiating that, no.”
One of the two abortion bills passed by the House would prohibit punishment of a woman or child who decides to travel to another state to get an abortion. It specifies that doctors can’t be punished for providing reproductive care outside their home state.
“Congress has the authority and the responsibility today to protect people from these unconstitutional efforts to prevent or restrict, impede or otherwise to punish people traveling to another state to obtain a legal abortion and to protect the health care providers,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on Friday.
The second House bill, which first passed in September but stalled in the Senate, would enshrine abortion access as protected under federal law. It would also expand on the protections Roe had previously provided by banning what supporters say are medically unnecessary restrictions that block access to safe and accessible abortions.
“The bill takes Roe v. Wade into the law of the land and protects it from some of the assaults that have occurred since it became overturned by the Supreme Court,” Pelosi said.
By overturning Roe, the court has allowed states to enact strict abortion limits, which is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
Ahead of the House vote, Democrats highlighted the case of a 10-year-old girl who had to cross state lines into Indiana to get an abortion after being raped, calling it an example of how the court’s decision is already having severe consequences.
“We don’t have to imagine why this might matter. We don’t need to conjure up hypotheticals. We already know what’s happened,” Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Thursday on the Senate floor.
“Should the next little 10-year-old’s right or 12-year-old’s right or 14-year-old’s right to get the care that she desperately needs be put in jeopardy?”
Republicans spoke forcefully against the legislation, praising the Supreme Court’s decision and denouncing the bills as extreme.
GOP Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who supports instituting a nationwide ban on abortion, accused his colleagues across the aisle of seeking to “inflame” the issue of abortion. He said proponents of the travel bill should ask themselves, “Does the child in the womb have the right to travel in their future?”
Washington GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the Democratic legislation “has nothing to do with protecting the health of women. It has everything to do with forcing an extreme agenda on the American people.”
Only two Senate Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, have been supportive of abortion rights, but they do not support the Democrats’ proposal, calling it too far-reaching. They have introduced alternative legislation that would bar states from placing an “undue burden” on a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion before fetal viability, among other provisions.
At a press briefing ahead of the vote, Pelosi echoed the White House in urging women to make abortion a key issue in the midterm elections.
“I have no question about this administration’s support for a woman’s right to choose and to take the necessary actions to ensure that this is something that is core to who we are,” Pelosi said. “It’s about freedom, it’s about health care, it’s about respect for women. And that is something that the president is wedded to.”
The Hill and the Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/us-politics/house-votes-to-restore-abortion-rights-senate-passage-unlikely/ | 2022-07-15T19:10:49Z | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/us-politics/house-votes-to-restore-abortion-rights-senate-passage-unlikely/ | true |
(The Hill) – Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and her husband announced on Thursday that their gun-themed restaurant, Shooters Grill, is closing.
The two said in a statement posted on Twitter that their landlord had decided not to renew their lease, and they claimed the move had “no political motivation” but was “purely a business decision.”
“There is a time and season for everything, and God has called us to focus our time and energy elsewhere. While Shooters Grill is closed, stay tuned. The Shooters brand isn’t going away. There are exciting things in the works,” reads the statement, attributed to both Jayson and Lauren Boebert.
“Many with a political agenda will try to spin this happy transition into something it’s not. Rest assured we will not allow them to steal our joy for all that this restaurant has meant for our family.”
Established in 2013 in Rifle, Colorado, the restaurant served mostly American fare, according to menus included on Shooters Grill’s Facebook page. Servers were allowed to carry their own firearms, with many carrying semi-automatics, according to Boebert, who spoke to the Post Independent.
Employees inquired if they could carry firearms after a man was erroneously thought to have been beaten to death in front of Shooters Grill, serving as the impetus for the restaurant’s theme, according to the news outlet. The man had actually died of a drug overdose.
Milken Enterprises, the landlord for Boebert’s restaurant, notified her last month about the decision not to have the lease renewed, according to the Post Independent. She and her husband are hoping to set up shop again on Third Street in Rifle.
Boebert, the U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, was sworn in Jan. 3, 2021. Gaining a reputation as a far-right conservative, Boebert has drawn criticism for her views on COVID-19 mitigation efforts, guns, her opposition to the separation of church and state, and for referring to fellow Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as a member of “the Jihad squad” during a speech on the House floor in Nov. 2021. | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/lauren-boeberts-gun-themed-restaurant-closes-after-landlord-decides-not-to-renew-lease/ | 2022-07-15T19:11:27Z | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/lauren-boeberts-gun-themed-restaurant-closes-after-landlord-decides-not-to-renew-lease/ | false |
The Disney+ Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian receives much praise, not the least of which is for the supporting character named Grogu, a small force-wielding alien affectionately referred to as “Baby Yoda” by fans and the press because... well, it looks exactly like a baby version of Yoda. But filmmaker Joe Dante has accused Star Wars of ripping off his film Gremlins — namely its furry little creature-character Gizmo. But as much as I like Gremlins and other Dante films, I have to say that no, The Mandalorian’s Baby Yoda did not rip off Gizmo from Gremlins.
HBO Max has an eagerly awaited animated series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai from writer-executive producer extraordinaire Tze Chun, which looks wonderful. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s G. Allen Johnson this week, Dante was asked about the continued popularity of Gremlins, and a key point he (rightly) made was that Gizmo is beloved by everyone in the audience. But then Dante added that he believes The Mandalorian’s Grogu (Baby Yoda) is “shamelessly” “completely stolen” from Gremlin’s Gizmo.
As I said before, I am a fan of Dante’s work, in particular The Howling (still the best werewolf movie of all time, in my opinion) and Innerspace (an admitted big influence on Marvel’s Ant-Man). And if he’d said he felt The Mandalorian might’ve seen the popularity of Gizmo and decided to make Baby Yoda similarly infant-like to achieve the same sort of appeal that made Gizmo popular for nearly 40 years, then I wouldn’t be debating the point. But the accusation that Star Wars was shameless or “out-and-out copied” Gizmo is too much of a leap, and ignores a crucial fact about Gremlins and Gizmo that flips the whole discussion on its head.
Yoda was introduced in 1980’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. He was tiny, ugly-cute, and acted silly and childlike when Luke Skywalker first meets him.
Four years later, Gremlins released in theaters. But the work on designing and creating Gizmo took place in the preceding year or two, with talk of Gizmo’s designs already being public by 1983. That’s three years after Yoda was introduced as a small, ugly-cute little guy who acted funny and childish when he first appeared.
Now, I’m not saying the designs for Gizmo were influenced by Yoda’s design and immense popularity in the couple of years leading up to Gizmo’s design. However, those large ears and the general “tiny and cute but in an ugly way (or is it ugly but in a cute way?)” look, not to mention the accidental destructiveness and obliviousness to ruining a human’s stuff, are all at least vaguely similar to elements of Yoda — especially Yoda’s introductory scenes, before he suddenly reveals himself as a Jedi.
So, jump forward in time now, to The Mandalorian. Designing a baby version of Yoda would require de-aging him, and... well, that’s pretty much it, since Grogu looks exactly like Yoda put through de-aging CGI. There’s barely any discernible difference between old Yoda’s and Grogu’s appearance besides the age difference. If you were making a child version of Yoda, I don’t see how it would even be possible to design anything that’s not 99% identical to Grogu.
If Grogu looks just like Yoda except in child form, and if Dante feels Grogu is so similar to Gizmo that it appears to be a carbon copy, then it raises the obvious point that Gizmo and Gremlins were created after Yoda and therefore are just a carbon copy of Yoda in childlike form. It’s just the simple, obvious progression of logic, once you line up the timing and the fact Grogu really looks just like a baby version of Yoda (which makes Gizmo look just like a baby Yoda, to the point he’d be a ripoff, if Dante’s comparison of how similar they are is taken as fact).
It’s impossible to assert that Grogu is a ripoff of Gizmo without inherently implying Gizmo is a ripoff of Yoda. No matter how much you might think Grogu has strong similarities to Gizmo, the accusation really boils down to a claim that — taken to its logical conclusion — looks like this: “Grogu looks like Gizmo because Grogu looks like a baby version of Yoda, which is what Gizmo looked like, so Yoda inspired Gizmo who inspired Grogu.” That’s the strongest version of the accusation that Grogu’s design is taken from Gizmo, and it necessarily starts by noting Gizmo must’ve therefore been inspired by Yoda first. This is taking the accusation at face value, mind you, and yet it still undermines the accusation against The Mandalorian.
But I don’t remotely believe Gremlins or Gizmo are “ripoffs” of Yoda. Do I think during the designing of Gizmo and Gremlins someone might have given a few sideways glances at Yoda and been inspired by very general elements — big pointed ears, childlike demeanor that includes accidental destructiveness at times, three-fingered wrinkly hands, being small and somewhat cuddly to appeal to kids as well as adults? Yep, I certainly do. And nobody should be bothered by that or call it a “ripoff,” since the elements were generalized and used in unique ways, and the results were excellent on their own merits, even if there was any possible inspiration from Yoda.
If we don’t take the accusation against The Mandalorian at face value, then we get a more reasonable version: “Gizmo’s basic design was possibly mildly influenced by a few general elements of Yoda that helped make him appealing, and now Grogu (as a baby version of Yoda) makes the similarities between Gizmo and Yoda more apparent since Grogu is just a tinier version of Yoda.” I’d even be willing to accept the theory that perhaps some designers of Grogu noticed that a “Baby Yoda” will resemble Gizmo in some superficial ways, and since Gizmo used some superficial similarities to Yoda, it’s cute and “full circle” to lean into superficial similarities between Grogu and Gizmo.
But make no mistake — Grogu is first and foremost just a de-aged babylike version of Yoda, including his tendency to make cute little noises and keep reaching to touch or mess with stuff he’s not supposed to touch or mess with. This brings us back to the question of whether Gizmo’s own little noises and constantly trying to grab stuff he’s not supposed to have was part of the inspiration used from Yoda.
I don’t really think any of it was notably inspired, it’s just similar in vague ways that naturally arise precisely because any character who is mischievous and acting like a baby who’s in need of constant supervision would be portrayed that way — and typically is, be it in cartoons or TV shows or movies. This isn’t some bold new approach chosen for Yoda or Gizmo or Grogu, it’s fairly common and logical, and the fact these characters all share those traits is just because that’s what their stories call for and how those characters would obviously behave.
As a huge fan of Dante’s work (again, The Howling is the best werewolf film, and also among the all-time best horror movies and had an immense influence on my love of horror and my own horror writing), I can understand that Joe Dante likely saw Grogu, noticed the similarities, and figured the typical Hollywood tradition of inspiration and ripoff was rearing its head again. The originality of Gremlins and perfection of Gizmo’s (and the evil Gremlins’) design no doubt is something he’s proud of and feels strongly about. So it’s not necessarily a surprise that he reacted as he did.
I just feel (purely my own guess here) that Dante probably wasn’t thinking about the much earlier inspirations and background, and also likely has a healthy degree of skepticism about Hollywood’s “originality” in general at this point. But I hope he considers the nuances of the situation and that the team behind creating Yoda and, later, Baby Yoda/Grogu were as proud of their designs and the work they put into it — and their sources of inspiration — as the team behind Gremlins was.
The creative process is filled with inspiration and influences, with retellings and popular themes, and with types of characters and designs regularly (necessarily) borrow from time-tested concepts and broadly appealing elements (such as “childlike, ugly-cute, mischievous”). We can love all of these characters, appreciate what makes them unique and what makes them similar, and speculate about this or that degree of influence in their designs, but there’s no need for — and no evidence or strong arguments to support — claims that things were stolen, copied, or shameless. We should recognize how all of this, originality and similarities, merely reflect the timelessness and connectivity of storytelling, and be grateful to the filmmakers and storytellers who brought them into our lives. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2022/07/15/no-the-mandalorian-baby-yoda-did-not-rip-off-gizmo-from-gremlins/ | 2022-07-15T19:11:39Z | https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2022/07/15/no-the-mandalorian-baby-yoda-did-not-rip-off-gizmo-from-gremlins/ | false |
BANGKOK (AP) — Top financial officials from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations met on the Indonesian island of Bali on Friday seeking strategies to counter inflation, food insecurity and other troubles that have worsened due to the war in Ukraine.
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati opened the two-day meeting by urging fellow finance ministers, central bank chiefs and other leaders to find ways to “build bridges, not walls.” The consequences of failure, especially for less wealthy nations, would be “catastrophic,” she said. “Millions and millions if not billions of people are depending on us.”
In their closed door meetings, the financial leaders are searching for ways to coordinate how they shepherd their economies through inflation that is running at 40-year highs, unsnarling supply chains and bottlenecks due to the coronavirus pandemic and fortifying financial systems against future risks.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for the G-20 to take action to fight food insecurity as millions go hungry due to soaring costs for food and other necessities. It is crucial, she said, to avoid stockpiling and export bans, to provide financial help to the needy and to ensure all organizations, such as development banks and food agencies, do their part to alleviate hunger.
“The speed and wisdom of our decisions now will make the difference on whether we get the current crisis under control,” Yellen said. “The G-20 must work together to tackle these challenges and protect vulnerable families from the threat of hunger today and tomorrow.”
Indonesia is among the developing countries contending with shortages and rising prices of fuel and grain due to the war and it says the G-20 has a responsibility to step up and ensure the rules-based global order remains relevant.
This week’s meetings in Bali’s heavily guarded Nusa Dua resort town follow a gathering there of foreign ministers earlier this month that failed to find common ground over Russia’s war in Ukraine and its global impacts.
At that meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were present in the same room at the same time for the first time since the Ukraine war began but they pointedly ignored each other.
A G-20 finance meeting in Washington, D.C. in April saw officials from the U.S., Britain, France, Canada and Ukraine walk out to protest the attendance of Russian envoys. That meeting ended without the release of a joint statement.
Caught in the middle as host, Indonesia has urged officials from all sides to overcome mistrust for the sake of a planet confronting multiple challenges from the coronavirus to climate change to Ukraine.
G-20 financial meetings have the advantage of being less political in nature, Indrawati said. She said Indonesia, as host, has tried to act as an “honest broker,” uniting a divided East and West, but there’s no “playbook” for how to find agreement given the unprecedented tensions over the war.
Still, the G-20 managed to bridge differences in coping with the 2008 global financial crisis and the pandemic, Indrawati said.
One key goal for Yellen and some other Western financial officials is gaining support for setting a price cap on Russian oil that might help bring energy costs under control and alleviate the decades-high inflation seen in many countries while also limiting Moscow’s access to revenues to fund its war effort.
Yellen said Thursday that no price had yet been determined for such a cap, but the level would have to be one “that clearly gives Russia an incentive to continue to produce, that would make production profitable for Russia.”
Without a price cap, a European Union and probably a U.S. ban on providing insurance and other financial services would take effect.
Yellen said she was “hopeful” that countries such as China and India that recently boosted imports of Russian crude oil, sold at steep discounts, would see it as being in their own self-interest to observe the price cap.
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Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta contributed. | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/g20-finance-leaders-in-bali-to-tackle-ukraine-inflation/ | 2022-07-15T19:12:14Z | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/g20-finance-leaders-in-bali-to-tackle-ukraine-inflation/ | false |
BERLIN (AP) — “It’s absolutely crazy to stick yourself to the road with superglue,” admits Lina Schinkoethe.
And yet, the 19-year-old recently landed in jail for doing just that, in protest at what she believes is the German government’s failure to act against climate change.
Schinkoethe is part of a group called Uprising of the Last Generation that claims the world has only a few years left to turn the wheel around and avoid catastrophic levels of global warming.
Like-minded activists elsewhere in Europe have interrupted major sporting events such as the Tour de France and the Formula One Grand Prix in Silverstone in recent weeks, while others glued themselves to the frame of a painting at London’s Royal Academy of Arts Tuesday. But Schinkoethe’s group has mainly targeted ordinary commuters in cities such as Berlin who, on any given day this summer, might find themselves in an hours-long tailback caused by a handful of activists gluing themselves to the asphalt.
Their actions have prompted outrage and threats from inconvenienced motorists. Tabloid media and some politicians have accused them of sowing chaos and harming ordinary folk just trying to go about their business. Some have branded them dangerous radicals.
Schinkoethe says the escalation in tactics is justified.
“If we wanted people to like us then we’d do something else but we’ve tried everything else,” she told The Associated Press. “We’ve asked nicely. We’ve demonstrated calmly.”
She recalls joining the Fridays for Future protests led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg which saw hundreds of thousands of students worldwide skip school and rally for a better world.
“I really hoped something would change, that politicians would react and finally take us and the science of climate change seriously,” she said. “But we’re still heading for a world that’s 3 to 4 degrees Celsius (5.4 to 7.2 Fahrenheit) warmer.”
Such a rise in global temperatures is more than twice the 1.5-C (2.7-F) limit countries agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate accord. While progress has been made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, experts agree the goal is still far out of reach.
Scientists agree that the world has no time to waste in cutting emissions, but have tried to counter ‘doomism’ by arguing that the world isn’t heading for one single cliff edge so much as a long, steep slope with several precipitous drops.
“Each tenth of a degree matters,” said Ricarda Winkelmann, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research near Berlin.
“If we really start acting now and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, chances are that we can limit some of the most severe climate impacts,” she said.
Such messages are lost on many of those caught up in the blockades.
At two protests witnessed by The AP in June and July, several truckers got out of their cabs to berate the activists. One physically hauled two protesters off the road.
Other drivers, some of whom weren’t affected by the blockade, also hurled abuse at the activists. A few expressed support for the climate cause but questioned the way the protests were conducted.
“They need to find a different way to do this than to block other people,” said one driver on his way to work, who would only give his name as Stefan.
Berlin’s mayor has called the street blockades “crimes,” while the city’s top security official is demanding that prosecutors and courts mete out swift convictions. So far, no cases have gone to trial.
Still, Schinkoethe believes she has no choice but to keep going.
“We need to generate friction, peaceful friction, so that there’s an honest debate and we can act accordingly,” she said.
That sentiment was echoed by Ernst Hoermann, a retired railway engineer and grandfather of eight who has been traveling to Berlin from Bavaria regularly to take part in the protests.
“We basically have to cause a nuisance until it hurts,” he said as a police officer tried to unstick him from the road with the help of cooking oil.
Similar protests have resulted in weeks-long prison sentences in Britain, where the government has sought court injunctions to preemptively stop road blockades by the group Insulate Britain.
Hoermann, 72, said he isn’t afraid of fines or the prospect of prison.
“Not compared to the fear I have for my children,” he said.
Last Generation has recently tried to focus attention on Germany’s plans to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.
Despite having the most ambitious climate target of any major industrialized nation, Germany’s center-left government is scrambling like other European countries to replace its Russian energy imports and avoid painful fuel shortages in the coming years.
Schinkoethe says the number of people participating in the group’s actions has grown from 30 to 200 in six months, and argues that the blockades follow the tradition of civil disobedience seen during the U.S. civil rights movement and the fight for women’s suffrage.
“What we’re doing is illegal,” she said. “At the same time it’s legitimate.”
Manuel Ostermann, a senior member of one of Germany’s police unions, accused the group of committing crimes while portraying themselves as victims.
“Where the process of radicalization gets going, extremism isn’t far off,” he wrote on Twitter.
Members of Last Generation have tried to counter that, citing U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who earlier this year said that “the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels.”
“I’m going to keep going until the government locks me and the other activists up for their peaceful protests, or gives in to our demands,” said Schinkoethe.
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Follow AP’s coverage of climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/german-climate-activists-aim-to-stir-friction-with-blockades/ | 2022-07-15T19:12:20Z | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/german-climate-activists-aim-to-stir-friction-with-blockades/ | true |
BANGKOK (AP) — Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi denied the accusations in an election fraud charge against her when she testified for the first time on the case Friday at the prison court in the capital Naypyitaw, a legal official said.
The army seized power from Suu Kyi’s elected government in February last year, claiming massive voting fraud in the 2020 general election, an allegation not corroborated by independent election observers.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won that election in a landslide, while the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party did poorly.
A conviction in the election fraud case could lead to Suu Kyi’s party being dissolved and unable to participate in a new election the military has promised will take place in 2023.
Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted on charges of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, sedition and a corruption charge.
Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the charges are politically motivated and an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power while keeping her from returning to politics.
Suu Kyi is being tried for multiple charges at a new facility constructed in the prison compound in the capital Naypyitaw, including the electoral fraud charge. She was transferred from a secret detention location to a custom-built solitary facility at a prison in Naypyitaw last month.
The penalty for the offense is three years’ imprisonment. Former President Win Myint and former Union Government Office Minister Min Thu are co-defendants in the case.
The election fraud charge was filed in November by the state Election Commission, whose members were appointed by the military government. The military dismissed the commission’s previous members, who had declared there were no major irregularities in the election.
The new commission accused the defendants, including its own former chairman, of being “involved in electoral processes, election fraud and lawless actions.”
A legal official familiar with Friday’s proceedings said Suu Kyi testified in the court that she did not go beyond the country’s constitution in holding the 2020 general election, and did not influence the Union Election Commission in that election, before pleading not guilty. Further details of what she said were not available because of a gag order on her lawyers.
The legal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information, said Suu Kyi appeared to be in good health.
All of Suu Kyi’s trials in the prison court are closed to the media and the public. The prosecutors do not comment on them and the state-controlled media have not reported directly on the proceedings. Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been barred since last year from providing details of the trials under a gag order.
The judge adjourned the election fraud trial for next week, when co-defendant Min Thu will testify.
Win Myint, another co-defendant in the case, gave a courtroom testimony last week denying the accusations against him, the legal official said.
Suu Kyi is also being tried on a charge of violating the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, and 11 counts under the Anti-Corruption Law, with each count punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine.
The corruption cases are among a large number of charges under which the military is prosecuting her. If found guilty of all the charges, she could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.
Her lawyers are trying to overturn the two counts under the Anti-Corruption Act in an appeal to the Supreme Court on technical grounds, saying the case should not have been filed. In this corruption case, she is accused of receiving $550,000 in bribes from Maung Weik, a construction magnate.
The army’s takeover in 2021 was met with widespread non-violent protests. After security forces unleashed lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, some opponents of military rule turned to armed resistance in many areas. | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/myanmars-suu-kyi-testifies-in-election-fraud-trial/ | 2022-07-15T19:13:13Z | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/myanmars-suu-kyi-testifies-in-election-fraud-trial/ | false |
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Gov. Kristi Noem had pledged to “immediately” call a special legislative session to “guarantee that every unborn child has a right to life in South Dakota” if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But nearly three weeks after that ruling, the first-term Republican remains unusually quiet about exactly what she wants lawmakers to pass.
Noem, widely considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate, isn’t the only GOP governor with national ambitions who followed up calls for swift action with hesitance when justices ended the constitutional right to abortion that had been in place for nearly 50 years.
In Arkansas, which like South Dakota had an abortion ban immediately triggered by the court’s ruling, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he does not plan to put abortion on the agenda of next month’s special session focused on tax cuts. And in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a top potential White House contender also running for reelection, has shied away from detailing whether he will push to completely ban abortions despite a pledge to “expand pro-life protections.”
Noem has given no indication of the date, proposals or whether a special session will even happen to anyone beyond a small group of Statehouse leaders. When asked whether the governor still plans to call lawmakers back to the Capitol, her office this week referred to a June statement that indicated it was being planned for “later this year.”
It’s a change of tack from when the Supreme Court’s decision first leaked in May and the governor fired off a tweet saying she would “immediately call for a special session to save lives” if Roe was overturned. The enthusiasm placed Noem, the first woman to hold the governor’s office in South Dakota, in a prominent spot in the anti-abortion movement.
However, as the abortion ban became reality last month, Noem kept her plans a secret besides saying “there is more work to do” and pledging “to help mothers in crisis.”
Some conservatives in the South Dakota Legislature wanted to take aggressive action, including trying to stop organizations or companies from paying for women to travel out of state for an abortion, changing the criminal punishment for performing an abortion and possibly clarifying state law to ensure the ban didn’t affect other medical procedures.
Republican state Sen. Brock Greenfield said many South Dakota lawmakers attending the state party’s convention on June 24, the same day as the Supreme Court ruling, expected Noem would call them back to Pierre this week for a special session, but “obviously that hasn’t come to fruition.”
“It might not be a bad idea to just let the dust settle and proceed very carefully, very strategically as we go forward,” said Greenfield, a former executive director of the state’s most influential anti-abortion group, South Dakota Right to Life.
The caution reflects the evolving landscape of abortion politics, as Republicans navigate an issue that threatens to divide the party while giving Democrats a potential election-year boost.
Nationwide polling conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research before the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe showed it was unpopular, with a majority of Americans wanting to see the court leave the precedent intact. Subsequent polling since the ruling showed that a growing number of Americans, particularly Democrats, cited abortion or women’s rights as priorities at the ballot box.
In political battleground states, some other prominent GOP governors — including possible White House contenders — haven’t charged to enact abortion bans.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has said he considers the abortion question settled in his state, pointing to a 1991 law that protects abortion rights. However, he has resisted efforts by the Democratic-controlled legislature to expand abortion access.
Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, also considered a potential presidential contender, wants lawmakers in the politically divided General Assembly to take up legislation next year, saying he personally would favor banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
During an online forum with abortion opponents he said he would “gleefully” sign any bill “to protect life” but acknowledged that Virginia’s political reality might require compromise.
“My goal is that we … in fact get a bill to sign,” he said. “It won’t be the bill that we all want.”
In the wake of South Dakota banning abortions, Noem took a softer approach on the issue by launching a website for pregnant women. She even seemed warm to the idea of pushing for state-backed paid family leave.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is in a closely watched gubernatorial race with Democrat Beto O’Rourke, took a similar approach to the high court ruling that could make it the most populous state to ban abortions. He issued a statement saying Texas “prioritized supporting women’s healthcare and expectant mothers” and pointed to efforts to expand programs for women’s health as well as fund organizations that dissuade women from having an abortion.
States with the nation’s strictest abortion laws, such as Texas and South Dakota, also have some of the worst rates of first-trimester prenatal care, as well as uninsured children in poverty, according to an AP analysis of federal data.
South Dakota Right to Life’s current executive director Dale Bartscher suggested Noem’s action in a special session could be part of a turn in strategy: “An entirely new pro-life movement has just begun — we stand ready to serve women, the unborn and families.”
He said he had been communicating with the governor’s office on her plans but declined to detail them.
But Noem in recent weeks has faced questioning for her stance that the only exception to the state’s abortion ban should be to save the life of a mother, even if she has been raped, became pregnant through incest or is a child.
It’s also not clear where she stands on some conservative lawmakers’ desire to target organizations and companies that are helping women leave the state to access abortion services — a proposition that could undermine Noem’s efforts to attract businesses to the state.
Brockfield warned that a special legislative session could result in “a whole lot of arguments over whether we’re going too far, or whether we haven’t gone far enough.”
At the same time, abortion rights protesters have shown up at Noem’s campaign office and named her in chants decrying the state’s ban. They see momentum growing for an effort to restore some abortion rights in the state through a 2024 ballot measure, pointing out that South Dakota voters in 2006 and 2008 rejected Republican state lawmakers’ efforts to ban the procedure.
“I’ve lived in this state my whole life and I’ve never seen people show up to protest for this issue like they have in recent weeks,” said Kim Floren, who helps run an abortion access fund called Justice Empowerment Network.
The fund has also been strategizing for a special session, including hiring legal representation and planning protests in Pierre, Floren said.
Their desires may be dismissed in South Dakota’s Statehouse, where Republicans hold 90% of seats, but abortion rights advocates say there is a fresh urgency in alerting voters to the potential impact of the state abortion ban.
“We’re going to see people die,” said Callan Baxter, president of the South Dakota chapter of the National Organization for Women. “We’re going to see some real life consequences and the exposure is going to have a big impact legislatively going forward.”
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Associated Press reporters Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland; and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed. | https://www.wane.com/news/politics/ap-politics/gop-governors-mulling-2024-run-arent-rushing-abortion-laws/ | 2022-07-15T19:13:30Z | https://www.wane.com/news/politics/ap-politics/gop-governors-mulling-2024-run-arent-rushing-abortion-laws/ | true |
LONDON (AP) — A top contender to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused opponents of “mudslinging” as the Conservative Party leadership contest ended a bruising first week on Friday with five candidates remaining
Penny Mordaunt, a junior government minister and Royal Navy reservist who is little known to the general public, has surged to become the bookies’ favorite to become Britain’s next prime minister. Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak remains the official frontrunner, with the most support from Conservative lawmakers in the voting so far.
Voting by Conservative legislators is due to continue next week until there are two candidates, who will face a runoff vote among all Conservative party members. The winner of the party race is to be announced on Sept. 5 and will automatically become prime minister.
Mordaunt is second, while Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is in third place and seeking to become the unity candidate for those on the party’s right wing who worry that Sunak lacks commitment to cutting taxes.
The contest has turned nasty.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Cabinet minister who supports Truss, called Sunak a “socialist” because of the billions he spent to keep the economy afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. Another Truss supporter, former Brexit negotiator David Frost, claimed Mordaunt “did not master the detail” when she worked in his department and had to be moved to another job.
Mordaunt urged the party to run “a positive contest.”
“I don’t want mudslinging,” she said, adding that opponents were “trying to stop me getting into the final two,” when a winner will be decided by Conservative Party members.
Since Johnson resigned as party leader on July 7 after months of ethics scandals, a field of 11 candidates to replace him has been winnowed down to five.
Sunak, whose resignation as finance minister last week helped topple Johnson, is running as an experienced minster who can guide the country through the economic turbulence caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. But he is facing attack from Johnson allies who consider him a turncoat.
Truss is touting her international experience, as Britain’s top diplomat and a former trade secretary, and is vowing to take a tough line with the European Union in post-Brexit trade spats.
Mordaunt’s chief selling points are an air of normality and a distance from the scandal-tarnished Johnson administration. She did not serve in Johnson’s Cabinet.
Also in the race are former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch, a rising star of the party’s libertarian right, and centrist backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat. Both are under pressure to drop out and throw their support behind one of the three front-runners but say they will fight on and try to build support through televised candidates’ debates over the weekend.
Johnson won the Conservatives a commanding parliamentary majority in 2019, but has been beset by accusations that he was too close to party donors, that he protected supporters from bullying and corruption allegations and that he misled Parliament about government office parties that broke COVID-19 lockdown rules.
He remains in office until his replacement is chosen.
Despite the clashes between the Conservative candidates, they agree on most issues. None of the contenders is seeking closer ties with the EU, and none has renounced Johnson’s most contentious policies: legislation to rip up parts of the U.K.’s Brexit deal with the bloc, and a plan to send some asylum-seekers arriving in Britain to Rwanda that is being challenged in the courts.
Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said the issues most important to Conservatives — above all Brexit — did not reflect the priorities of the country as a whole. That could be a problem for the party at the next national election, due by 2024.
“There’s always a potential mismatch between what a party wants — because a party is much more ideological — and what voters want,” Bale said. “(The Conservative Party) has elevated Brexit to sacred levels, and I think that sometimes blinds them to the economic realities that this country is facing.”
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Follow all of AP’s coverage of British politics at https://apnews.com/hub/boris-johnson | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/uk-leader-candidate-decries-mudslinging-as-race-gets-nasty/ | 2022-07-15T19:15:01Z | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/uk-leader-candidate-decries-mudslinging-as-race-gets-nasty/ | false |
Which Minecraft gift for kids is best?
Minecraft is a wildly popular sandbox game that puts players in control of a blocky character named Steve or Alex and allows them to collect resources, craft items and way more. If you have a child or grandchild who loves video games, chances are pretty good they enjoy playing Minecraft. When buying a Minecraft gift for kids, it can be helpful to read up on the most popular characters from the game, as well as the most popular Minecraft products.
Popular Minecraft characters
- Steve: Steve is the main protagonist in the Minecraft series and has made cameo appearances in other games such as Borderlands 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- Alex: Alex was added to Minecraft in a 2014 update to add more diversity to the game. Alex has a thinner frame than Steve and a red ponytail. Minecraft mods have stated that Minecraft is essentially a genderless world, but they wanted to have a character with feminine traits for players to choose from as well.
- Creeper: Creepers are silent green enemies that approach the player’s character and explode. Creepers are one of the most iconic characters in the Minecraft game and can be a source of frustration for new players.
- Zombie: Zombies tend to appear in groups of four and immediately try to attack the player. Zombies don’t try to avoid being hit by the player and burst into flames at dawn, making them easier to beat than many other enemies.
- Enderman: Endermen are creepy enemies that won’t attack the player unless provoked. They can teleport, making them tricky to defeat.
- Iron Golem: Iron Golems are large neutral characters a player can create to defend players and villagers. These characters can be built with four iron pieces and a pumpkin, carved pumpkin or jack-o-lantern, and often offer players and villagers poppies as a sign of friendship.
Best Minecraft gifts for children
Jada Toys Minecraft Dungeons Nano Metalfigs
These durable little figurines are perfect for pretend play or display. Each one fits into the palm of your hand, features a solid paint job and is sturdy enough not to break. The Jada Toys Nano Metalfigs set comes with popular characters such as a Creeper, an Enderman and an Iron Golem. Although some users found the paint began to wear off after a year or so, most didn’t run into any issues, and your child will love that they get 20 figures in the set.
Sold by Amazon
Nintendo Switch Minecraft Dungeons Hero Edition
If your child enjoys playing the original Minecraft game, they’ll surely get a kick out of this dungeon-crawling spinoff game. Minecraft Dungeons allows kids to journey through dungeons by themselves or with up to three friends. Character stats are primarily based on the armor and items collected throughout the game, meaning your child has plenty of opportunities to change their playstyle as they go. Some users didn’t like that the game often didn’t play at 30 frames per second, but children aren’t likely to notice. The Hero Edition of the game starts the player with two unique skins, a pet chicken, a hero cape and two DLCs that contain even more levels for your child to enjoy.
Sold by Amazon
LEGO Minecraft The Pillager Outpost Playset
This playset is ideal for children who love LEGO and Minecraft. With the Pillager Outpost Playset, kids can build a unique scene that allows them to rescue an Iron Golem by blasting open its cage. The set comes in three different sections, so kids can easily reimagine the scene and come up with their own fun adventures. In addition to the Iron Golem, this set contains three other buildable characters, including the sheep and the Vindicator.
Minecraft Potion Bottle Color-Changing LED Lamp
This pixelated potion bottle night light makes an excellent display piece. Children can cycle through the bottle’s eight colors and pretend to drink potions or use it as a lamp. Some users seem to have received defective lamps, but it is a rare occurrence and returns are easy within 30 days of purchase.
Sold by Amazon
Ravensburger Minecraft: Builders & Biomes Strategy Board Game
This board game gives children a great way to enjoy Minecraft without looking at a screen. Builders & Biomes may seem complicated at first, but your child will get the hang of it after one or two playthroughs. In this game, kids mine resources, defeat mobs and defend themselves from zombies, just like in the video game. Children have four different playable characters in the Minecraft board game, including Steve and Alex.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wane.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/best-minecraft-gifts-for-kids/ | 2022-07-15T19:16:03Z | https://www.wane.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/best-minecraft-gifts-for-kids/ | true |
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The leader of global track and field said it would have been “inconceivable” to have allowed Russians into this week’s world championships given the country’s war against Ukraine.
At his news conference Thursday, the eve of the championships, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said there was no budging from the position the federation took shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
“It was made from a very clear standpoint, and that was about the integrity of competition,” Coe said. “It would have been inconceivable to have a world championships here with athletes from Belarus and Russia, two aggressive nations who have walked into an independent state.”
Belarus, an ally of Russia in the war, is also banned from the worlds, which run from Friday through July 24.
One Russian athlete, three-time world-champion high jumper Maria Lasitskene, has publicly criticized Coe and IOC president Thomas Bach for their stance on her country.
The IOC recommended that sports exclude Russia from their events, and many sports followed that lead. Coe noted that World Athletics was one of the first federations to reach a position, one that won’t change “for the foreseeable future,” in large part because of the challenges involved in getting the 22 Ukrainian athletes who qualified for worlds safely to the championships.
The position on Russia is separate from that country’s athletics federation’s ongoing suspension, which dates to 2015. That stems from the long-running doping scandal that spread through Russia starting two years previous to that. The suspension triggered a sanction that limited the number of Russian athletes who can compete at major events as neutrals. At the last worlds, in 2019, 29 competed.
But that program isn’t in play here because of the war. Coe said that in this week’s council meeting, members received an update about the doping issues from the task force in charge with monitoring Russia’s compliance to the roadmap for reinstatement.
“I sort of feel like it’s Season 17, Box Set 126” on the issue, Coe said, before ticking off the latest updates from the task force.
Most important is an independent audit of the Russian federation, results of which will be presented at a council meeting in November.
That’s also when the council will consider changes in rules governing participation by transgender athletes and intersex athletes. Earlier this summer, Coe signaled that changes to those rules could be coming, but he said it was not an agenda item in this week’s meetings.
“Though inclusivity has really been a watch word, the balance between inclusivity and fairness will always, in my view, fall now on the side of fairness,” he said in repeating comments he’d made earlier this summer that indicate there could be tighter restrictions on allowing transgender and intersex athletes to compete.
___ | https://www.wane.com/sports/ap-sports/coe-inconceivable-russians-would-be-allowed-at-worlds/ | 2022-07-15T19:16:58Z | https://www.wane.com/sports/ap-sports/coe-inconceivable-russians-would-be-allowed-at-worlds/ | true |
The project will support the country's access to cleaner, greener, and safer energy
TAICHUNG, Taiwan, July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Bechtel, CPC Corporation, and MRY broke ground on the project to design and build LNG tanks for the CPC Taichung Phase III LNG import terminal in Taichung, Taiwan.
To meet increasing demand for natural gas and to enhance the stability of natural gas supplies in Taiwan, CPC is expanding its facility to include two full containment tanks and associated regasification facilities.
Bechtel will execute engineering, procurement, and construction of two 180,000 m3 full containment LNG tanks, Taiwan's largest storage tanks ever built.
CPC is leading the way for Taiwan in meeting the country's clean energy aspirations by rapidly expanding the country's LNG import terminals to support the move from coal to natural gas as their primary transitional source of energy for the near future.
"Today marks another important step toward meeting the increasing demand for natural gas. Together with CPC Corporation and MRY, we are delivering cleaner, greener, and safer energy to Taiwan, supporting both their energy growth and security" said Paul Marsden, president of Bechtel Energy. "To power the needs of the world, we need LNG and storage capability which is what we are doing here on this site today, by celebrating the start of construction on the largest storage tanks ever to be built in Taiwan". Hear more from Marsden in this video.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk expressed her support for Bechtel's partnership with CPC on the new LNG storage facility in Taichung. Oudkirk underscored the importance of the U.S.-Taiwan economic relationship and a commitment to reliable and clean energy that supports economic development and protects the environment.
As the need for LNG continues to grow, Bechtel stands ready to support governments and communities around the world in pursuit of carbon reduction.
Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our customers' objectives to create a lasting positive impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world's infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources, and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place.
Bechtel serves the Energy; Infrastructure; Manufacturing & Technology; Mining & Metals; and Nuclear, Security & Environmental markets. Our services span from initial planning and investment, through start-up and operations. www.bechtel.com
Media contact:
Nicole Connolly
C: 412-251-8313
nconnoll@bechtel.com
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SOURCE Bechtel | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/bechtel-starts-construction-taiwans-largest-lng-storage-tanks/ | 2022-07-15T19:27:00Z | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/15/bechtel-starts-construction-taiwans-largest-lng-storage-tanks/ | true |
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Britain’s Prince Harry will address the U.N. General Assembly at its annual celebration Monday of Nelson Madela International Day and is expected to speak about the legacy of the South African anti-apartheid leader who spent 27 years in prison and became his country’s first Black leader.
The 37-year-old Duke of Sussex will be the keynote speaker at the U.N. event and South Africa’s U.N. Mission said Friday his remarks “will be around the memories and legacy of Mandela and what has been learned from his struggle and his life that can help up face the new challenges in the world today.”
The world still faces challenges that were there during Mandela’s life including racial intolerance, the divide between rich and poor, hunger and food insecurity, a mission diplomat said.
General Assembly spokesperson Paulina Kubiak officially announced the program for Nelson Mandela International Day on Friday, with Harry giving the keynote and participants including assembly president Abdulla Shahid, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, New York Mayor Eric Adams and Guinea’s Foreign Minister Morissanda Kouaté.
The General Assembly established July 18 -- Mandela’s birthday -- as an international day to honor him not only by celebrating his life and contributions but by carrying out the tradition of participating in a community service activity.
Harry will be accompanied at the U.N. by his wife Megan, the duchess of Sussex. A former actress, she spoke at a conference at U.N. headquarters organized by UN Women on International Women’s Day in 2015, before her marriage to the prince.
In January 2020, the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family and moved to the duchess’ native Southern California, where they continue to live with their two children.
Harry and Megan visited South Africa in 2019 with their son, Archie, on their first official tour as a family before they gave up royal duties. Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, met Mandela in March 1997, just five months before her death in a car crash in Paris.
The couple’s last trip to New York was in September 2021 to appear at the Global Citizen Live concert in Central Park to help raise awareness of the need for vaccine equity to end the COVID-19 pandemic. | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Britain-s-Prince-Harry-to-keynote-Mandela-day-UN-17307996.php | 2022-07-15T19:28:47Z | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Britain-s-Prince-Harry-to-keynote-Mandela-day-UN-17307996.php | true |
PHOENIX (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is postponing a rally scheduled for Saturday in Arizona following the death of his first wife.
Trump said the rally in Prescott Valley was rescheduled for July 22.
Trump planned the rally to support the candidates he's backing in Republican primaries, including Kari Lake for governor and Blake Masters for Senate.
Ivana Trump, the mother of the former president's three oldest children, died in New York City at age 73, her family announced Thursday.
Lake wrote on Twitter that she's saddened the rally was cancelled, “however I know firsthand that it is important to be surrounded by family when you lose a Mother.” | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Trump-postpones-Arizona-rally-following-ex-wife-s-17308026.php | 2022-07-15T19:30:31Z | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Trump-postpones-Arizona-rally-following-ex-wife-s-17308026.php | true |
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is coming to Maine. Gov. Janet Mills made the announcement Friday at the National Governors Association meeting in Portland during a virtual chat with the famed singer-songwriter.
The Imagination Library sends two books every month to children enrolled in the program from birth through age 5. The program will be administered by the Maine State Library, where Jamie Ritter is the head librarian.
"The earlier we can teach children how to read and love reading, we create lifelong learners," Ritter says.
Ritter says the program costs $2 a month for each child enrolled. The state of Maine will contribute half the funding and the Maine State Library will work with local partners to cover the rest. The goal is to send books to more than 14,000 children by the end of next year. | https://www.mainepublic.org/maine/2022-07-15/program-backed-by-music-legend-dolly-parton-will-send-free-books-to-maine-kids | 2022-07-15T19:30:40Z | https://www.mainepublic.org/maine/2022-07-15/program-backed-by-music-legend-dolly-parton-will-send-free-books-to-maine-kids | false |
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Britain’s Prince Harry will address the U.N. General Assembly at its annual celebration Monday of Nelson Madela International Day and is expected to speak about the legacy of the South African anti-apartheid leader who spent 27 years in prison and became his country’s first Black leader.
The 37-year-old Duke of Sussex will be the keynote speaker at the U.N. event and South Africa’s U.N. Mission said Friday his remarks “will be around the memories and legacy of Mandela and what has been learned from his struggle and his life that can help up face the new challenges in the world today.”
The world still faces challenges that were there during Mandela’s life including racial intolerance, the divide between rich and poor, hunger and food insecurity, a mission diplomat said.
General Assembly spokesperson Paulina Kubiak officially announced the program for Nelson Mandela International Day on Friday, with Harry giving the keynote and participants including assembly president Abdulla Shahid, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, New York Mayor Eric Adams and Guinea’s Foreign Minister Morissanda Kouaté.
The General Assembly established July 18 — Mandela’s birthday — as an international day to honor him not only by celebrating his life and contributions but by carrying out the tradition of participating in a community service activity.
Harry will be accompanied at the U.N. by his wife Megan, the duchess of Sussex. A former actress, she spoke at a conference at U.N. headquarters organized by UN Women on International Women’s Day in 2015, before her marriage to the prince.
In January 2020, the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family and moved to the duchess’ native Southern California, where they continue to live with their two children.
Harry and Megan visited South Africa in 2019 with their son, Archie, on their first official tour as a family before they gave up royal duties. Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, met Mandela in March 1997, just five months before her death in a car crash in Paris.
The couple’s last trip to New York was in September 2021 to appear at the Global Citizen Live concert in Central Park to help raise awareness of the need for vaccine equity to end the COVID-19 pandemic. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/britains-prince-harry-to-keynote-mandela-day-un-celebration/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2022-07-15T19:30:53Z | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/britains-prince-harry-to-keynote-mandela-day-un-celebration/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | true |
Navy disciplines officers in massive ship fire
WASHINGTON (AP) — Navy leaders have disciplined more than 20 senior officers and sailors in connection with widespread leadership and other failures that contributed to the July 2020 arson fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard.
The most significant actions were taken against members of the ship’s leadership team, including letters of reprimand and pay cuts for the former commander and executive officer. And Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro issued a letter of censure to retired Vice Adm. Richard Brown, who was the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the fire.
The ship was undergoing a two-year, $250 million upgrade pierside in San Diego when the fire broke out. About 115 sailors were on board, and nearly 60 were treated for heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation and minor injuries. The failure to extinguish or contain the fire led to temperatures exceeding 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas, melting sections of the ship into molten metal that flowed into other parts of the ship.
A Navy report last year concluded that the massive five-day blaze was preventable and unacceptable, and that there were lapses in training, coordination, communications, fire preparedness, equipment maintenance and overall command and control. And, while one sailor — Seaman Apprentice Ryan Mays — has been charged with setting the fire, the report found that failings by about three dozen officers and sailors either directly led to the ship’s loss or contributed to it.
“When leaders’ actions or inactions result in the loss of life or capital resources, the senior leadership of the Department of the Navy has a responsibility to determine the root cause and hold those accountable,” Del Toro said in a message sent to the Department of the Navy on June 2. “This fire could have been prevented with adequate oversight into the ship’s material condition and the crew’s readiness to combat a fire.”
The Navy on Friday laid out the disciplinary actions taken by Adm. Samuel Paparo, current commander of Pacific Fleet. In most cases, Paparo issued letters in the sailors’ personnel files that ranged in severity. In many cases a disciplinary letter can be career-ending.
According to the Navy, Paparo gave punitive letters of reprimand and pay forfeitures to Capt. Gregory Scott Thoroman, the ship’s former commanding officer, and to Capt. Michael Ray, the former executive officer. Former Command Master Chief Jose Hernandez was given a punitive letter of reprimand.
Others who received letters in their files were Rear Adm. Scott Brown, who was director of fleet maintenance, and Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage, commander of the Navy Regional Maintenance Center.
Mays is facing a court martial, and was charged with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel. He has denied setting the fire. Mays set the fire because he was disgruntled after dropping out of Navy SEAL training, prosecutors said. His defense lawyers said there was no physical evidence connecting him to the blaze.
The Navy report on the fire issued last year spread blame across a wide range of ranks and responsibilities, from Brown to senior commanders, lower ranking sailors and civilian program managers. It cited 17 for failures that “directly” led to the loss of the ship, while 17 others “contributed” to the loss of the ship. Two other sailors were faulted for not effectively helping the fire response. Of the 36, nine were civilians.
The report directly faulted the ship’s three top officers — Thoroman, Ray and Hernandez — for not effectively ensuring the readiness and condition of the ship. And it said that the failures of Vice Adm. Brown; Rear Adm. Scott Brown and Ver Hage all “contributed to the loss of the ship.”
The fire marked one of the worst noncombat warship disasters in recent memory and the vessel had to be scrapped. It would cost an estimated $4 billion to replace.
The report described a ship in disarray, with combustible materials scattered and stored improperly. It said maintenance reports were falsified, and that 87% of the fire stations on board had equipment problems or had not been inspected.
It also found that crew members didn’t ring the bells to alert sailors of a fire until 10 minutes after it was discovered. Those crucial minutes, the report said, caused delays in crews donning fire gear, assembling hose teams and responding to the fire.
Sailors also failed to push the button and activate the firefighting foam system, even though it was accessible and could have slowed the fire’s progress. “No member of the crew interviewed considered this action or had specific knowledge as to the location of the button or its function,” the report said.
More broadly, the crew was slammed for “a pattern of failed drills, minimal crew participation, an absence of basic knowledge on firefighting” and an inability to coordinate with civilian firefighters.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.newschannel6now.com/2022/07/15/navy-disciplines-officers-massive-ship-fire/ | 2022-07-15T19:33:26Z | https://www.newschannel6now.com/2022/07/15/navy-disciplines-officers-massive-ship-fire/ | false |
For most people, an interaction as simple as ordering a custom birthday cake or calling for a tow truck seems simple but for the deaf and hard of hearing, tasks like these can leave them searching for interpreters, delaying or making some interactions near impossible.
A new app called Tive, created on the Central Coast, is helping to remove barriers in communication.
"We built the Tive app. It's a mobile app. It's also a communication platform and what we built it to achieve was essentially to allow the d/Deaf/hard of hearing and CODA community unfettered communication capabilities anywhere, anytime, wherever they may be, every day throughout lives," said Jefferson Coombs, one of the co-founders of the Tive app.
American Sign Language or ASL is vital to communication for over 1 million Americans but in many situations, ASL is not enough, an interpreter is also needed, but they can be hard to come by and many times need to be set up ahead of time.
Santa Barbara County resident Jacob Milton is Deaf and relies on interpreters often for communication. For his interview with KSBY he was joined by a certified interpreter, who was set up ahead of time.
Milton explained the frustration surrounding communication in a hearing world. "It's very frustrating for myself and for the deaf community. I mean, we have to depend on interpreters almost every day in our lives, and we definitely don't have enough interpreters around here. I mean, it really depends on the locality where you live as far as how many are available. And here on the Central Coast, there's not a lot of interpreters. And it is frustrating for me," he said.
"I see them frustrated and unable to communicate so often. It just means that they're not able to participate in. Life like anybody else would be able to," said Robin Babb, a certified interpreter on the Central Coast.
It is this problem that a group of Solvang residents set out to solve with the Tive app. Coombs said there isn't anything on the market that fills this need. "It actually doesn't exist anywhere in the form of a mobile application to have an on-demand ASL interpretation services capability and that's the fundamental feature of Tive that is meaningful, needed and differentiated right now in the marketplace," Coombs said.
It’s an idea similar to calling an Uber or a Lyft but for communication. Users can request on-demand interpretation and certified interpreters will be connected to them through the app in minutes.
"The idea that we could actually provide on-the-go, last-minute requests for interpreting in situations where it wouldn't normally be provided I think is super exciting," Babb explained. "If you want to buy a car, you're not going to have an interpreter at the car dealership. That's just not going to happen for you. It's for every situation you know, and if you want to go wine tasting in Paso Robles, if you want to go to a brewery or a little niche restaurant or somewhere in Solvang, and you want to order and have a communication with the server that's smooth, I think the Tive app is going to be perfect for that."
Even in situations where an interpreter is provided (and required by the Americans with Disabilities Act), like the hospital, interpretation can be clunky and delay care.
Dr. Christopher Hutton is an attending physician in an emergency room and familiar with the struggles of current interpretation platforms. "It really feels kind of like you're back in 1990s with some of them and, and I've used a couple different ones throughout my experiences as a physician and just seeing something that really kind of takes advantage of more modern technology and, and really kind of vaulting off of what's already there a little bit helps helps patients get better care. And that's what for me, it was a no brainier. You know, having the ability for someone to come in and, you know, quickly access their interpretive services like Tive can offer for the deaf and hard of hearing. That's that's a great thing," Dr. Hutton said.
Babb continued to explain the danger that is possible without proper interpretation, stating, "The amount of harm that can come to somebody who has no access to information, you can't even quantify it. Honestly, it depends on what the topic is. It could be, you know, how to drive their car or how, you know, it could be what the mechanic says is wrong. It could be how much money it's going to cost to, you know, buying a car, interest rates, anything like that. It's all super important information and a lot of us take advantage of the fact that we can hear other communications around us without having to work hard at it. We've just learned a lot of stuff that way, whereas a deaf person has to have an open channel of communication, so there's a lot of missing information if there's no interpreter."
In non-life-threatening situations, requests for interpreters can take weeks to fulfill. "I've had lots of frustrating experiences when just I had requested an interpreter and they said that they couldn't find one that was not available. Nobody that had the time that I needed is available and so I had to wait for two weeks, and then finally an interpreter was available, but it's a two-week wait," Milton said. "And so it was very frustrating for me, you know, just to have a job interview, it gets delayed two weeks, so that's the kind of thing that happens around here. Very frustrating."
The app will also feature social media and news feeds tailored to the community's needs. "We're living in a time where giving people the tools and the technologies that are easy and intuitive that are designed to bring us together, that are designed to connect us as communities, that are designed to build bridges of understanding between communities that may not understand one another or just have as much familiarity with one another, this is a time for those kinds of services and tools and technology where they can bring communities together, share information and create connection. So that's really what we're about. We're about community connection, communication and bringing folks together, so we're excited to do an honor to do it," Coombs said.
Milton is hopeful for the future where more equitable communication is possible for everyone. "My hope for the future is that every place that I go to would have resources and supports, and it would be easy for one, for me to go in and just get the service I need wherever I am and for anybody, maybe they're deaf, maybe they're deaf blind, maybe they're blind. I mean, we can go anywhere," Milton said.
For more information and details on how to download the app, click here. | https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/central-coast-app-setting-out-to-break-down-barriers-to-asl-interpretation | 2022-07-15T19:34:05Z | https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/central-coast-app-setting-out-to-break-down-barriers-to-asl-interpretation | false |
A lawyer for WNBA star Brittney Griner at her drug possession trial has given a Russian court a letter from a U.S. doctor recommending she use cannabis to treat pain.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and standout for the Phoenix Mercury was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after customs officials said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Last week, Griner pleaded guilty and acknowledged possessing the canisters but said she had no criminal intent. She said they were in her luggage because she packed hastily in her return to Russia to play for the UMMC Ekaterinburg basketball team during the WNBA’s offseason.
U.S. officials said they have been working toward Griner’s release. Last week, President Joe Biden held a phone call with Griner's wife.
The White House added it is pursuing “every avenue to bring Brittney home.” Biden directed National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to remain in contact with Cherelle Griner.
The 31-year-old has been one of the league’s most prolific stars since her 2013 professional debut. She is a seven-time All-Star and consistently one of the WNBA’s top scorers. | https://www.ksby.com/news/national/griner-lawyer-said-wnba-star-had-doctors-note-for-cannabis-use | 2022-07-15T19:34:48Z | https://www.ksby.com/news/national/griner-lawyer-said-wnba-star-had-doctors-note-for-cannabis-use | false |
Man who traveled across states to have sex with 12-year-old from Instagram sentenced to prison
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) – A man from Ohio who traveled to Kansas City, Missouri to have sex with a 12-year-old girl he saw on Instagram will spend a decade in prison after unknowingly messaging her mother and an FBI employee.
The U.S. Department of Justice said 35-year-old Timothy M. Zukoski from Southington, Ohio, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole for enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.
He pleaded guilty to that crime in February.
The court also sentenced him to 10 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution to each of four child pornography victims.
According to KCTV, Zukoski admitted he started communicating with a girl he thought was 12 years old via Instagram on Oct. 21, 2020.
That Instagram account, however, was one that a mother had set up for her daughter. She contacted the FBI when she learned that Zukoski was trying to communicate with her daughter.
At that point, an undercover employee with the FBI assumed the 12-year-old’s identity and started communicating with Zukoski via the Instagram account.
Zukoski started making plans to travel to the Kansas City area so he could meet the girl for sex.
He made plans with the undercover employee to stay in KC while the girl’s mother was supposedly out of town over the Thanksgiving weekend. He also suggested the girl could come live with him in Ohio.
When he arrived in KC on Nov. 27, 2020, he was arrested.
Authorities found “numerous” child pornography pictures on his phone.
Copyright 2022 KCTV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2022/07/15/man-traveled-across-states-have-sex-with-12-year-old-instagram-sentenced-prison/ | 2022-07-15T19:36:29Z | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2022/07/15/man-traveled-across-states-have-sex-with-12-year-old-instagram-sentenced-prison/ | false |
California wildfire destroys 12 structures, forces evacuations
Firefighters' efforts to put out the wildfire were hindered by difficult terrain
A vegetation fire in northern California forced evacuations and destroyed 12 structures, according to officials.
On Friday, the Shasta County Fire Department and CAL FIRE Shasta Trinity Unit reported that the Peter Fire had spread over 304 acres and is 35% contained.
As the blaze grew on Thursday afternoon, threatening a tortoise sanctuary, authorities said that challenging terrain and weather hampered firefighting efforts.
CAL FIRE, or the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the blaze broke out mid-afternoon, just south of Redding.
It was not immediately clear how many of the burned structures were residences, but the Redding Record Searchlight newspaper reported that at least three homes were set ablaze.
Firefighters worked on the ground and in the air.
The flames briefly threatened the Tortoise Acres sanctuary, which shared video of the fire and images of people loading tortoises into vehicles.
ALASKA WILDFIRE SEASON SETS RECORD
An evacuation center was set up at a local high school.
The cause of the Peter Fire remains under investigation.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents nationwide.
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Since Jan. 1, 36,578 wildfires have burned 5,179,043 acres – well above the 10-year averages of 29,931 wildfires that burned more than 2,7 million acres.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-wildfire-destroys-structures-evacuations | 2022-07-15T19:39:25Z | https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-wildfire-destroys-structures-evacuations | true |
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