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Abbott announced that it has put a halt on production at its Michigan plant following severe thunderstorms and heavy rains in the region Monday that resulted in power outages and flood damage.
According to the company, the heavy rainfall overwhelmed the storm-water systems, resulting in major flooding at the plant.
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The company added that it stopped production of its EleCare specialty formula in order to clean and re-sanitize the plant, after which it will consult the FDA to undergo comprehensive testing to ensure the plant is safe enough to resume production.
While Abbott said the process will likely delay production for a few weeks, the company still has enough product to meet demand.
“Based upon historical demand and current projections, Abbott has ample existing supply of EleCare and most of its specialty and metabolic formulas to meet needs for these products until new product is available,” Abbot said. “These products are being released to consumers in need in coordination with healthcare professionals.”
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf tweeted Wednesday that the administration is working to increase supply of baby formula.
“Abbott has been exceeding the monthly quantity of formula that it produced in 2021 — all while the Sturgis facility is out of production,” he tweeted. “Other producers also continue to make formula at higher-than-average rates, and we continue to exercise flexibility to import (additional) formula.”
Abbott has been exceeding the monthly quantity of formula that it produced in 2021 – all while the Sturgis facility is out of production. Other producers also continue to make formula at higher-than-average rates, and we continue to exercise flexibility to import add'l formula.
— Dr. Robert M. Califf (@DrCaliff_FDA) June 16, 2022 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/abbott-baby-formula-plant-stops-production-following-severe-weather/ | 2022-06-16T04:26:51 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/abbott-baby-formula-plant-stops-production-following-severe-weather/ |
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Following reports last year that The Walt Disney Company plans to move at least 2,000 workers from California to Florida, the company announced the plans would be delayed.
The original plans intended to help integrate creative and business teams from California into Florida by constructing a new regional campus in Central Florida, the company said.
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The Walt Disney Company stated the campus will be built just south of Orlando International Airport, between the 417 Tollway and Lake Nona Boulevard.
Officials from the company told News 6 they are aligning the relocation period with the new anticipated completion date of the campus in 2026. The Walt Disney Company originally said employees were expected to move to Florida by the end of 2022.
“While a growing number of our employees, who will ultimately work at the campus, have already made the move to Central Florida, we also want to continue to provide flexibility to those relocating, especially given the anticipated completion date of the campus is now in 2026,” the company said. “Therefore, where possible, we are aligning the relocation period with the campus completion.”
Previous reports showed concerns that the plans could drive up the cost of already-competitive housing in Central Florida, with employees from California’s inflated housing market potentially buying up local properties. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/disney-delays-campus-project-bringing-2000-workers-from-california-to-florida/ | 2022-06-16T04:26:57 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/disney-delays-campus-project-bringing-2000-workers-from-california-to-florida/ |
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Following the announcement of a COVID-19 vaccine aimed at children five years of age or younger last month, the Florida Department of Health has stated that it has not preordered any of the pediatric vaccine for Florida doctors and hospitals.
“The Florida Department of Health has made it clear to the federal government that states do not need to be involved in the convoluted vaccine distribution process, especially when the federal government has a track record of developing inconsistent and unsustainable COVID-19 policies,” the department said.
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The department pointed to studies that show children below 17 years of age are “at little to no risk of severe illness complications from COVID-19,” saying that vaccine efficacy declined quickly among the demographic.
In addition, the department added that it had concerns over risks of myocarditis and pericarditis in children receiving the vaccine, especially among adolescent boys.
However, current state health guidance for pediatric COVID-19 vaccines says that children with underlying conditions are the best candidates for the vaccine, though parents should discuss risks and benefits with the child’s health care practitioner.
Florida Department of Health Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern told News 6 that there are currently no plans to distribute the vaccine for children five years of age or younger due to the departments vaccine guidelines for children.
“Doctors can order vaccines if they are in need, and there are currently no orders in the department’s ordering system for the COVID-19 vaccine for this age group,” Redfern stated. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/florida-health-department-says-no-orders-in-system-for-pediatric-covid-19-vaccine/ | 2022-06-16T04:27:03 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/florida-health-department-says-no-orders-in-system-for-pediatric-covid-19-vaccine/ |
OCALA, Fla. – A commercial fire sprang up Wednesday afternoon at a Hydrologic Plumbing Supplies in Ocala, according to Ocala Fire Rescue.
According to the department, employees in the building were able to evacuate safely as fire crews headed to the scene.
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The department said a dumpster, part of the building’s wall and the back of the semi-truck had gone up in flames by the time crews arrived at 5:30 p.m.
Records show crews were able to knock down the truck fire in about three minutes, with the other two fires being put out by 5:42 p.m.
Ocala police also arrived at the business to assist crews. Ocala Fire Rescue said no injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
At this time, no information has been released as to the cause of the fire. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/no-injuries-reported-at-hydrologic-fire-in-ocala-fire-department-says/ | 2022-06-16T04:27:10 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/no-injuries-reported-at-hydrologic-fire-in-ocala-fire-department-says/ |
HURRICANE, WV (WOWK) — An incident involving an oversized truck left Suddenlink customers without internet, TV, or phone service.
According to Suddenlink’s Facebook post, the truck brought down fiber lines on US-60 in Hurricane. This caused Suddenlink’s services to go down.
They say crews are working to restore service. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/oversized-truck-knocks-out-internet-service-for-suddenlink-customers-in-hurricane/ | 2022-06-16T04:29:12 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/oversized-truck-knocks-out-internet-service-for-suddenlink-customers-in-hurricane/ |
Federal offices: Closed Monday
State offices: Open Monday
Greensboro city offices: Closed Monday
High Point city offices: Closed Monday
County offices: Closed Monday
Schools: Closed Monday
Greensboro Transit: GTA and Access GSO operate on a normal schedule on Friday.
High Point Transit: HPTS Access and Hi Tran closed on Monday.
GARBAGE COLLECTION
(Week of June 20)
Greensboro: No collection on Monday. Monday’s collection is Tuesday. Tuesday’s collection is Wednesday. All other collections remain the same.
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High Point: Garbage collection is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. | https://greensboro.com/news/local/juneteenth-closings/article_efc2e988-ecd7-11ec-bd2c-33ef61e1c6d0.html | 2022-06-16T04:32:56 | 1 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/juneteenth-closings/article_efc2e988-ecd7-11ec-bd2c-33ef61e1c6d0.html |
BLOOMINGTON — The Bloomington school board honored retiring District 87 Superintendent Barry M. Reilly on Wednesday night before filling a vacant seat and finalizing this year's budget.
“This job, just like any leadership role, you don’t do it alone,” Reilly said. “Anything that I’ve ever accomplished on my own, it’s always been done with the help of others.”
Reilly will be succeeded on July 1 by David Mouser, the departing superintendent of Downs-based Tri-Valley schools.
A statement by former Superintendent Robert Nielsen, which was presented by John Durst, touched on their relationship, which spanned beyond 30 years at the Bloomington-based district. Reilly was a teacher, coach, assistant principal and principal at Bloomington High School and then spent seven years as assistant superintendent of human resources before succeeding Nielsen in 2010.
Bloomington Education Association President Julie Riley, who was the only person to speak during the meeting’s public comment period, used the allotted time to congratulate Reilly on his retirement.
“We have seen you move through your various roles in the district, taking on additional responsibilities, and modeling what we want for both our students and our staff,” Riley said. “It’s not goodbye but farewell perhaps because I think we’re gonna continue to see you as there is no greater champion in District 87.”
State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, spoke at the meeting about Reilly's work in ensuring students across grades 6 through 12 were issued internet-capable devices and online access in 2014 and in leading efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“Thank you, Dr. Reilly, from the Illinois House of Representatives 96th General Assembly, and we extend to you our best wishes and deep gratitude for your service in the public, education and to all students that went through grade school, high school and, yes, even higher education,” Brady said.
Following the recognition of Reilly, the board appointed Valeda Harvey to the seat recently vacated Tammy Houtzel.
Harvey, who is originally from Bloomington and moved back to the area in 2013 with her three children, succeeded Houtzel, a seven-year member who resigned in April because she moved out of the district.
Harvey's two older sons have graduated from Bloomington High School and her youngest daughter will be a senior this fall.
“It’s a special opportunity that I’ve been presented again. I’ve been in District 87 as a student, I’ve seen it as a parent and now as a board member,” Harvey said. “Once a Raider, always a Raider.”
After reviewing 14 applicants and interviewing five, the board approved Harvey’s appointment to fill the vacancy through the end of the position’s term in April 2023 when the next school election is scheduled.
“I’m very excited that Valeda will serve on this board. She has been a great supporter of District 87 from the moment she arrived here from California with her kids,” Reilly said. “I had the chance to meet her right away and I was very impressed with this woman and what she stood for and her family. I’m so glad that District 87 will benefit from her being on this board.”
Harvey is a paralegal with Pioletti Pioletti & Nichols, previously working at the McLean County Law and Justice Center, and also served on several committees at Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Bloomington-Normal Area Sports Commission and Westminster Village's foundation board.
The school board also voted reappoint as officers board President Mark Wylie and board Vice President Elizabeth Fox Anvick.
In other business, the school board approved a tentative amended budget for fiscal 2022, which ends June 30.
Since the board approved the tentative budget in September, projections now show a deficit of $621,260, down from the $3.5 million that was initially calculated.
The slimmer deficit is attributed to the increased revenue in the education fund, errors made in the state’s funding calculation and a decrease in spending, said Chief Financial and Facilities Officer Michael Cornale.
The education fund’s revenue was increased by $2.7 million, which included revenue increases in the corporate personal property replacement tax and property taxes, and a reduction in interest income, he said.
Cornale said a $243,258 reduction in the education fund’s spending was projected as well.
Revenue and spending from the capital projects funds were reduced by $1.5 million after the school board moved funds from the camera upgrades project to the operations and maintenance fund, Cornale said.
The reallocation of the camera project money increases the revenue and spending of the O&M fund by $500,000.
2022 Pulse Nightclub Memorial Observance
Attendees standing in hearts on the street holding names of 49 victims
Laura O'Connor holds a placard with the name of a victim in the Pulse Nightclub shooting
Rebecca Grant, Unitarian Universalist Church of B/N offers words of hope
Mike Matejka, Frankie Pelusi
Michael and Laura O’Connor
Christina, Sandra, Sophia and Juan Rivera
Karla Bailey-Smith, Donna Walley, Karen Irvin
Aiden, Lisa and Andy Novinska
Crowds gathered to remember and pay tribute
Tammy Peasley, Gaylen Bourland
Jon and Tracy Perkins
Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence were one of the sponsors of the event
Amy Arkell, Kate Waggoner
Rev. Rebecca Grant
Donna Walley
Jan Lancaster, Lennox Martin
Christine Breeden performs “Violent Music” a piece composed in honor of the Pulse Nightclub shooting
Kerri Johnson holds a sign honoring one of the Pulse Nightclub victims
Karla Bailey-Smith holds a sign honoring Joel Rayon Paniagua
Jessika Jones holds a sign remembering Deonka Deidra Drayton
Marcos Mendez tears up after reading the victim names
David Bentlin
Jessika Jones, Jeremy Brunk, Sgt. Kiel Nowers
Rhonda Dover, Stacy Trowbridge
Samantha Nussbaum, Mike Gaines
Amanda and Sarah Breeden, Sheri Strohl | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/bloomington-school-board-honors-retiring-superintendent-reilly/article_10830216-ed19-11ec-896d-337b53e2b235.html | 2022-06-16T04:38:22 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/bloomington-school-board-honors-retiring-superintendent-reilly/article_10830216-ed19-11ec-896d-337b53e2b235.html |
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Celebrating its 41st year is Wall Street Bar & Grill, located across from the downtown post office. As the advertisement reads, eat “contemporary American fare served in a 1910 building with pressed-tin ceilings and a mahogany bar.” Originally established by a group of investors, Lisa Johnson purchased the restaurant in 2006.
One of the first employees, Manager Celinda Knight has seen all of Midland’s oil booms and busts since 1981. Although the ticker tape no longer scrolls stock prices along the ceiling, she says the restaurant caters to downtown office workers during the week. Lawyers and bankers still arrive in suits, and oil industry folks dress in what she calls “West Texas casual.” They come for lunch or for drinks and/or dinner after work. As a former daytime bartender, she can call them by name.
Bowing to the number of new downtown restaurants, Manager Jamie Johnson said that on weekends Wall Street is only open for Saturday dinner from 5:30-9:30 p.m. and for Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Over the years, Celinda says, new seafood items, like étouffeés, have been added to the menu. Cilantro Chicken and Tomatillo Chicken are also crowd pleasers, topped by a legendary Gold Brick Sundae.
Like all restaurants, the staff made major adjustments to survive the pandemic. During a month-long closure in 2020, the restaurant was cleaned and refurbished. They tried takeout and to this day still prepare “to go” orders (like the flavorful chicken-fried steaks and loaded baked potatoes we had last week) and curbside delivery, if requested.
Once reopened, Wall Street’s fan favorite Sunday salad bar had to pivot to become a sumptuous tray for each table. But, Celinda stressed, diners still get everything they want from the seasonal fruit to the tiny, baked-in-house cinnamon rolls.
For more information or to make a reservation, call 684-8686. | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/Small-Bites-Wall-Street-Bar-Grill-remains-17241401.php | 2022-06-16T04:38:27 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/Small-Bites-Wall-Street-Bar-Grill-remains-17241401.php |
NORMAL — There is promising community support for McLean County Unit 5, says the consultant helping the Normal-based school district decide how to fix its deficit.
Ed Sullivan, founder and president of EOSullivan Consulting, spoke to the Unit 5 board Wednesday night. He presented the results of Phase 2 of the district’s four phase community engagement process, which will help it decide how to address the deficit in its education fund.
Phase 2 involved receiving feedback on specific “menu” items, including both the cost of overcoming negative effects if the deficit is not fixed and potential opportunities that increasing funding could bring. The district would not move onto the enhancements until all of the negative impacts are mitigated.
“We know there are certain things that have to take place to right the ship, if you will, and those are the negative impacts,” Sullivan said. “But, if the community decided, or if there were additional resources, what do you think are the items you’d like to see happen going forward?”
Over Phase 1 and Phase 2, the consultants have received more than 1,000 responses, he said. During Phase 2, that included more than 200 responses from a community committee and public engagement sessions and more then 530 from a phone survey.
The phone survey is considered “intuitive” data, Sullivan said. The people answering the survey did not have as much information as those at the public engagement sessions or on the community committee.
In the phone survey, just 19% of respondents preferred adding no additional funding. Further, 72% had favorable opinions about the district. The 534 phone responses were also the largest sample Sullivan has ever seen, giving a margin of error in the results of 4.2%.
The phone survey also showed majorities of respondents supporting a minimal funding increase to mitigate most of the negative impacts and a higher base funding level to mitigate all of them. A plurality favored the base funding level as their top preference.
The firm estimates the minimal funding at around $11 million more a year and the base funding at $13 million more a year.
The community committee and public engagement sessions ranked a “medium” funding level, estimated at about $17 million more a year, higher than the general public did.
Among the phone survey respondents, community committee and public engagement respondents, decreasing staff and increasing class sizes were the two negatives they least wanted to see. Among potential opportunities, lowering class sizes and increasing student resources and supports were in the top three for all three groups.
For the public engagement group and the phone survey group, improving school safety and security was also in the top three. Board Secretary Kelly Pyle asked Sullivan if that might be related to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, the same day as the last community engagement session and while the phone survey was taking place.
“There’s no doubt that sometimes you’re going to get some results that are reflective of what’s happening in society,” Sullivan said.
He said that in Phase 3 the firm plans to present the district with three more fleshed out plans, building from the options presented in Phase 2. Those three plans are expected to roughly correspond with the minimum, base and medium funding levels.
In its action items, the board passed an amended budget for the fiscal year that ends on June 30. Passing an amended budget to reflect changes during the year is standard practice for the district.
The tentative amended budget was presented to the board at the May 25 meeting. The amended budget reduced working cash transfer to the education fund from $12.5 million to $11 million and reduced the deficit in the transportation fund from $3.26 million to $1.27 million.
The board also gave its approval to a standardized incentive program for the Bloomington-Normal area enterprise zone administered by the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council.
Kristal Shelvin, the director of diversity, equity and inclusion, and members of the District Equity Leadership Team gave an update on the equity action plan one year into implementation. That included presenting a board equity statement developed with the Board of Education which formalizes the board’s commitment to “dismantling systemic barriers to learning and educational success for every student.”
The board approved the statement as part of the consent agenda.
Board member Kentrica Coleman applauded the work the staff has done so far in improving equity, diversity and inclusion at the district. There is still work to be done, she said, but it is also important to take a moment and acknowledge the work that has happened.
“This says a lot about how committed we are as a district to changing the culture, to improving the culture, to improving the student experience, to improving the staff experience, to improving the family experience,” Coleman said. “This says a lot, and that’s why I said ‘Wow.’ I know we have a long way to go, but I think we have to stop, pause and celebrate where we are and how far we’ve come.”
Photos: Emergency crews train on air disaster readiness at Bloomington airport
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Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter:@connorkwood | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/watch-now-unit-5-prepares-for-phase-3-of-community-engagement-on-deficit/article_1e7320de-ed1b-11ec-ae00-bba0039cee0f.html | 2022-06-16T04:38:29 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/watch-now-unit-5-prepares-for-phase-3-of-community-engagement-on-deficit/article_1e7320de-ed1b-11ec-ae00-bba0039cee0f.html |
NORMAL — The guests of honor at the 2022 History Makers Gala have poured themselves into the community, but they recognized they weren’t alone in their endeavors to give back.
Deanna Frautschi, Alan Bedell, Myra Gordon and George Gordon received the distinction Wednesday night in the Brown Ballroom at Bone Student Center on the Illinois State University campus in Normal.
Three years after the gala was last held in person, the ballroom was filled with applause as the community came together to honor these History Makers as well as those who had been quietly recognized during a virtual ceremony last year: Carole and Jerry Ringer, Marilyn and Bob Sutherland and Barbara Stuart.
Tom Eder, president of the McLean County Museum of History board of directors, called the four honorees Wednesday the sort of people one can look to as “an example of the highest use of our lives.”
Phani Aytam, whose own community service caused his path to cross with Frautschi, called her the “godmother of good” whose support and advocacy is boundless for the causes she believes in.
“The true mark of a human being is the emotion one evokes when your paths cross with her. Dee, her work, her love for nature and her name evoke peace, empathy, togetherness and joy,” he said.
Frautschi has served on more than 12 nonprofit boards, including the United Way of McLean County, for which she was board chairwoman and campaign chairwoman.
Along with her fellow History Maker and husband Bedell, she is an avid supporter of the Miller Park Zoo, having served as president of the zoological society board and volunteered to help feed the baby snow leopards.
“We, like many of you, believe in giving back to our community … a community where we believe in supporting others and helping others to find their way to make this a better community,” Frautschi said upon receiving the award. “... As we all know, it takes a village.”
Former Normal Mayor Paul Harmon introduced Bedell. Recalling a meeting with the new History Maker’s local AMBUCS chapter, he described them as “exuberant” and showing their “passion to help others who need help.”
Bedell worked with the Corn Belt chapter of the National AMBUCS, building wheelchair ramps throughout the community, eventually serving as national president and working to create more chapters of the nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding mobility and independence.
Thanking those in attendance, he said “With your help we’ve been successful and with your help, we have a better community to live in.”
In accepting their honors, the Gordons emphasized a Hebrew phrase to live by: “tikkun olam,” or “repair the world.”
Michael Brown, executive director of the Ecology Action Center, said Myra Gordon could be called many things, including a visionary, a tree hugger, an educator, a trailblazer and a rebel and radical, laughing at the inside joke.
“Myra and I have often discussed how amusing it is, amusing on good days, how controversial things can be — even something as simple as recycling,” Brown said. “So Myra’s not only a rebel and a radical, but she’s also a collaborator, a builder of bridges.”
Myra Gordon thanked Brown and the many volunteers who have spent countless days planting trees, the latest in the Gordons' environmental missions: plant 10,000 trees.
“It means so much to me that nobody here can do it all by himself, but tikkun olam. If we work together, we can change the world," she said, having served long tenures on the Ecology Action Center board along with her husband.
George Gordon was also noted for his bridge building, working to reach across the aisle during his 24 years on the McLean County Board.
He said it was important to remember “when the good Lord made us, the good Lord made each of us two ears and one mouth, suggesting proportional use.”
“This is a wonderful community. No one does anything by himself or herself, as Myra noted,” he said. “A lot of you have been part of the successes that all of us have had and I think that’s going to continue because I think Bloomington-Normal and McLean County is the kind of community where it is likely to happen. … I think, I hope and I believe that it’s going to continue.”
Watch now: Photos from Brews at the Zoo
Kim Schoenbein, Tracy Patkunas, Tyler Cox, Jennifer and Jeff Mroz
Kim Schoenbein, Annie Swanson, Dan Adams
Melissa Isenburg Tremper, Mark Tremper
Phyllis and Hans Rasmussen
Dennis and Cathy Wentworth, Roger Finney
Shane and Angie Starkey, Lucy and Dick Meads, Paula Pratt
Rick and Kim Percy
Vanessa Campos, Chad Bevers, Kiel Macewan, Patty Young
Mike and Wendy Dwinal, Mega and Scott Novotney
Eleanor and Will Nave
Jeannie Higdon, Brendan O’Neill, Chris McConnell
Dan Adams
John Street, Steve and Julie Sturm, Christine Street
Maggie Stolfa
Linda Simkins, Alan Novick
J Balmer
Jonell Kehias, Brad Glenn
Carla Orr, Tonya Rut
Karen and Robert Starckovich, Frank and Angie Hoffman
Sara Larsen, Michael Miller
Michael and Kim Campbell
Heather and Sarah Rod, Anthony Schuhmacher
Mackenzie Bouavong, Drake Folkerts
Roseanne and Brad Secord
Michael and Liz Fornero
Adam and Alexa Buffington
Michael and Laura O’Connor
Healthy Homes Crew
Brews at Zoo check-in volunteers
Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/watch-now-bloomington-normal-environmentalists-community-servants-recognized-as-2022-history-makers/article_6f8b44a8-ecdd-11ec-a0cf-abf586969a3d.html | 2022-06-16T04:38:35 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/watch-now-bloomington-normal-environmentalists-community-servants-recognized-as-2022-history-makers/article_6f8b44a8-ecdd-11ec-a0cf-abf586969a3d.html |
INDIANAPOLIS — Court documents say a shooting at an east side apartment complex last weekend started with a fight outside of a party.
It happened at Warren Harbor Apartments near 21st Street & Post Road.
Witnesses told police two women started fighting and ended up on the ground. Police said that’s when another woman, 19-year-old Raniya Lee, shot at the women who were fighting.
According to police, that started a chain reaction of other people with guns shooting too, gunfire from an unknown number of people which led to more people being wounded.
Someone captured video of it all, which circulated on Facebook. The gunshots could be heard on the recording.
According to the charging documents, "at minimum there was at least 40 gunshots heard in the video.”
“I heard the gunshots,” said Richard Jones. Every single one.
Jones lives in a building across from where it all went down.
“That’s what woke me up out of bed, 'cause my infant was right there,” Jones said.
Jones said he heard the screams.
“I see all these kids running around out here. It was more than 50-some kids that night,” he said.
Among them, four women who were shot.
Police said Lee, the woman alleged to have fired the first shots, showed up later at a local hospital, shot in the hip. Charging documents said she still had a gun with her.
“Inside of the vehicle that Miss Lee arrived in there was a rifle with a drum magazine in plain view in the backseat,” read the affidavit of probable cause, charging Lee with attempted murder and aggravated battery.
According to investigators, another woman also showed up at a local hospital, shot in the leg.
The women who had been fighting were taken to hospitals in critical condition. Police said one of them is paralyzed.
“Bullets, they don’t know no color. They have no name. You’re firing, you don’t know where it’s going to go,” said Jones, adding he’s just relieved his own family members were not among the victims.
“It was just one of those things where I had to think about my own children,” said Jones.
What other people are reading: | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/at-least-40-shots-fired-in-indianapolis-fight-that-left-4-women-wounded-disturbance-injury-impd/531-041927df-2b22-4743-86ac-035c1374f07a | 2022-06-16T04:43:10 | 0 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/at-least-40-shots-fired-in-indianapolis-fight-that-left-4-women-wounded-disturbance-injury-impd/531-041927df-2b22-4743-86ac-035c1374f07a |
INDIANAPOLIS — At Wednesday’s Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee meeting, Indianapolis Metro Police gave its first update on the rollout of crime fighting technology.
The $9 million investment was announced last October and is part of the mayor’s $150 million American Rescue Plant Act funding for anti-violence initiatives.
Currently, IMPD is setting up three gunshot detection systems, which will alert officers when and where shots are fired.
The companies include Flock, ShotSpotter and J and M Security. The programs will be tested in five square mile areas on the east and near east sides. The plan is to test the programs from mid-August to late-October.
IMPD plans to evaluate whether the systems help with response times and evidence collection. To determine that, the department will work with IUPUI to organize the results.
IMPD also plans to add 127 license plate readers in the coming months but are currently dealing with supply chain issues. So far, there are 70 operating license plate readers in the city. The devices have helped police gather leads in reckless driving cases, hit and runs and homicides.
To increase its presence virtually, IMPD is also planning to add six mobile camera trailers in the next few weeks, devices which can stream video in real time from high-trafficked areas. Currently, the department only has one that is stationed in downtown Broad Ripple.
On top of that, IMPD has about 275 public safety camera views, with about 170 of those connect to the B-Link Program
Since the rollout, IMPD has met with community members in each district to talk about the technology and how it will work. They plan to keep doing so as new devices are added.
The mayor’s $150 million violence reduction plan also includes 100 new IMPD officer positions, 40 civilian position to cover non-emergencies, $45 million to grassroot organizations, 50 peacemakers and $30 million for mental health resources.
What other people are reading: | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/impd-implements-more-crimefighting-technology-including-gunshot-detection-pilot-program-police-safety-cameras/531-3cee4a9a-70bd-4528-9374-c1bb56fb29c3 | 2022-06-16T04:43:16 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/impd-implements-more-crimefighting-technology-including-gunshot-detection-pilot-program-police-safety-cameras/531-3cee4a9a-70bd-4528-9374-c1bb56fb29c3 |
FORT WORTH, Texas — As she unlocked the door to her newly purchased home in Fort Worth, Carolyn Blackman rejoiced.
“I’m excited about it,” Blackman said.
She sees the light after experiencing the turbulence of the real estate market. The school counselor told WFAA she was outbid several times when she tried to purchase a newly built home.
"You have your hopes and desires all up, and then all of a sudden you get the call you didn’t get it," Blackman said. “Your dreams just fall apart.”
Bidding wars combined with rising mortgage rates aimed to combat inflation forced her to pivot during her home-buying journey.
“It’s scary,” Blackman said. “I knew I had to get a house, because I don’t believe that my sons, who are grown and live in apartments, will be able to get a house by next year.”
With the help of her real estate agent, Colleen Love, Blackman was able to secure a home in DFW’s hot market.
Love said flexibility is necessary in today’s market.
“We’re having to pivot and change everything. It may be location, now you find consumers driving further out for a home, choosing a one-story home instead of two,” Love said.
Data from the National Association of Realtors shows the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate doubled in less than six months.
Back in January 2022, lingered at around 3%. Today, they’re well over 6%, according to the NAR.
Now that mortgage rates are higher, home ownership is becoming unattainable more difficult for home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, according to InTouch Credit Union President & CEO Kent Lugrand.
“The biggest impact is that more than likely they’ll have to lower their budget or relook at how much they can afford,” Lugrand said.
According to Lawrence Yun, a chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, on a $300,000 mortgage, the monthly payment has risen from $1,265 in December to $1,800 today.
“That's painful and, consequently, will shrink the buyer pool,” Yun said in an online blog for NAR.
Love said this year, she has lost three clients who were priced out of the market when trying to purchase newly built homes in DFW. She’s determined to make the dream of buying a home possible for people navigating today’s market.
“It saddens me for the average first time buyer, because a lot of people are gonna be priced out of the market and not be able to experience the American dream,” Love said.
While mortgage rate hikes are aimed at lowering home prices, Lugrand estimates home values in DFW will remain strong.
“Home prices are going to come down, fall. I don’t think they’ll fall in a dramatic way, because of the demand for housing in this market,” Lugrand said.
More than two years on, the DFW housing market still keeps many on their toes. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/home-affordability-worsens-mortgage-rates-spike-dfw-home-prices/287-72942457-8cd4-46c8-a4bd-0ea79aaa7e64 | 2022-06-16T04:46:19 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/home-affordability-worsens-mortgage-rates-spike-dfw-home-prices/287-72942457-8cd4-46c8-a4bd-0ea79aaa7e64 |
ODESSA, Texas —
The First Baptist Church of Odessa and the Black Cultural Council of Odessa welcomed Grammy-winning artist Fred Hammond Wednesday for a night of live music and celebration.
Hammond said that celebrating Juneteenth on this scale has been a long time coming.
“It’s good to know that now we can recognize it and that it’s embraced by the entire culture Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, whatever,” Hammond said. “Man it's good to be able to do it multiculturally, to be able to have us here together, all colors, all nationalities, to be able to say ‘man listen, let’s enjoy each other.'”
This is just one of many ways Midland and Odessa are getting into the Juneteenth spirit this week. For a full list of other events in the Permian Basin, click here. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/award-winning-gospel-artist-stops-in-odessa-to-celebrate-juneteenth/513-4725818a-765a-456d-b767-22a31c3f9857 | 2022-06-16T04:50:15 | 0 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/award-winning-gospel-artist-stops-in-odessa-to-celebrate-juneteenth/513-4725818a-765a-456d-b767-22a31c3f9857 |
MIDLAND, Texas — Neighbors helping neighbors, it is something we have seen all week in our community, and that includes our hospitals.
Midland Memorial Hospital has received seven patients from Odessa hospitals and clinics, due to their water outage.
“The majority have been through our medical surgical areas, so we haven’t seen a high level of trauma or anything like that," said Chief Nursing Officer at MMH, Dr. Kit Bredimus.
Bredimus said when this happens, hospitals normally communicate with one another that they are in need of some assistance.
“I get a call, we coordinate exactly what we’re looking at as far as time frames, and we alert our teams and let everyone know where we stand and what to expect in regards to incoming transfers,” said Bredimus.
It is a system he said local hospitals do well.
“We have great communication between all the hospitals, and whenever there’s an event like this, we’re good about contacting each other and letting each other know ‘hey this is going on, here’s what we may need’ and then providing and coordinating those resources,” said Bredimus.
Because of the Midland-Odessa community, at Midland Memorial, they're able to step in and help their health care friends in times of crisis.
"It’s just a great testament to the community we have here in Midland and Odessa," said Bredimus. "We always rely on each other to help carry the burdens when we need to. It’s always great to see us come together, work together for the health of our communities, and knowing that we have that safety net in each other when these things happen." | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/midland-memorial-hospital-takes-in-transfer-patients-from-odessa-hospitals-during-water-outage/513-01a3f172-7483-4d3d-a420-01a8215888c5 | 2022-06-16T04:50:16 | 0 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/midland-memorial-hospital-takes-in-transfer-patients-from-odessa-hospitals-during-water-outage/513-01a3f172-7483-4d3d-a420-01a8215888c5 |
ODESSA, Texas — Odessa is still under a boil water notice, but it could soon be coming to an end, depending on what the results of the tested water samples bring.
According to the Odessa Public Works Director, Tom Kerr, the city still needs to test water samples once the repairs have been made to make sure that there aren't any harmful bacteria that could make someone sick still in the water supply.
"When we treat water, it is to make sure that there is no live bacteria or pathogens in the water that might make a person ill," Kerr said. "And so what we'll be testing for is to make sure that the chlorine disinfection we do, normally we're using chloramines, that that will get rid of those microorganisms or bacteria."
Kerr said that the plan is to test water samples Thursday morning. It's a process the city does all the time.
"It’s a very common practice," Kerr said. "We actually run these tests, about 90 of these tests, every month to confirm our water is clean. It’s not an uncommon practice. Once we can demonstrate that the system is back in operating condition and the water is safe to drink, then we can turn the people loose."
So what does testing look like? It's a process that will take about 24 hours to get the results.
"They're taken to a lab," Kerr said. "The lab is certified. It is a city lab, but it’s completely certified and they meet our standards. So they set the samples up such that they might grow bacteria if bacteria existed in the water, and so that takes about 24 hours to see if that does happen."
It's only if the test results come back negative for any harmful bacteria that Odessa will give its residents the all clear to use their water without boiling it.
"If everything comes out negative with the results so that we don’t have any bacteria in the water, then we will be able to turn people loose to drink the water without boiling the water," Kerr said. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/odessa-test-water-samples-boil-water-notice/513-b97b5f58-e9df-4cbc-ad0b-b271f4274fff | 2022-06-16T04:50:17 | 1 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/odessa-test-water-samples-boil-water-notice/513-b97b5f58-e9df-4cbc-ad0b-b271f4274fff |
Another Jersey Shore town is cracking down on unruly teenagers who have taken over beaches and boardwalks at night thus far this summer.
Toms River is bringing back a beach curfew for minors in all its barrier island communities, and it will remain in place for the rest of the summer, through September. The curfew will be in effect starting at 11 p.m. for everyone 17 or younger.
"We’re responding to the residents' request. We had a little pop up on Ortley Beach, we had a couple hundred kids gather on Third Avenue and the week before there was some problems around the Wawa (on Route 35)," said Toms River Mayor Mo Hill. "We don’t want to inhibit the youngsters going out and have a good time, but we do want to prevent any property damage or mischief that might be going on."
On Memorial Day Weekend, parts of Ocean Terrace in the Normandy Beach neighborhood were filled with hundreds of young people.
"You see just wild kids, they go from one street to the next. Police chase them off one street, they go to the next street, it’s a real problem," said Bart Zabelski, who lives in the area.
Residents said that many of the kids are coming from the mainland by ride service companies.
"It's a nice family feel but when you have 200, 300 — and I’m not exaggerating — kids going up and down the street, well obviously that’s not a nice family feel," said another resident, Karla.
She said that many of the kids were carrying backpacks, which she said are full of alcohol or other substances. But she said that's not even the worst of it.
"These kids all have backpacks and you know nothing in that is legal," she said "They urinate on people’s yards and they leave their trash all over, and they curse like you cannot even imagine....worse than a sailor."
In neighboring Brick, the curfew is an hour earlier, at 10 p.m. Some Toms River residents have pushed for the township to adopt the earlier time as well. A spokesman for the town told NBC New York that they will make adjustments if necessary, and that public safety always comes first.
"At 11 p.m., people want to settle down in their homes way before that. Ten o’clock would be much better," said Zabelski.
The curfew comes as two other shore communities further north, Point Pleasant Beach and Long Branch, are again bracing for pop-up parties over the weekend, similar to recent ones that have quickly gotten out of control. Two more of the large gatherings have been announced on social media for those locations this weekend.
Later Wednesday evening, Asbury Park police said several social media posts were promoting a pop-up party for their beachfront over the weekend as well. While not confirmed, police said that those organizing or hosting the unauthorized parties would be held "financially and legally responsible."
Down in Ocean City, officials said the kids are causing havoc, especially on the beach, and leaders say the problem is getting worse. The large groups of teens that descend on Ocean City’s boardwalk and beach are impossible to miss, and some officials have said it has become "the hottest nightclub for teenagers at the Jersey Shore" so far this summer.
Police have said the crowds of kids are bigger this year with more underage drinking, more pot smoking and more fighting compared to 2021.
“It's just become a whole other set of riff-raff that we've never seen before, said business owner and City Council member Jody Levchuk.
Complaints about unruly teens intensified in many Jersey Shore communities after state laws legalizing recreational marijuana for adults significantly limited police enforcement power when dealing with underage drinking and pot possession. Although Ocean City has a 10 p.m. curfew for the beach, police have been keeping the teens on the sand instead of having them swarm the boardwalk.
Ocean City’s police chief told NBC New York that staffers and other officials plan to formulate new strategies this week. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/jersey-shore-towns-cracking-down-on-partying-teens-with-new-curfews/3736450/ | 2022-06-16T04:54:28 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/jersey-shore-towns-cracking-down-on-partying-teens-with-new-curfews/3736450/ |
SALEM LAKES — A tree that fell onto wires in the 8600 block of 221st Avenue caused about 3,900 households to lose power Wednesday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just after 7 p.m. when the tree hit the wires causing the large outage," said Lt. Tom Gilley of the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department.
We energies was called to the scene to respond to the outage and move the tree. Power was restored about an hour later.
"We responded to the scene and were able to clear the tree and get power restored in about an hour. We do not have any reports of why the tree fell," said Brendan Conway, We Energies spokesperson.
Authorities said there were no injuries.
Ready for anything: Photos from live-fire training involving Racine and Kenosha area departments | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/tree-strikes-wires-in-salem-lakes-resulting-in-outage-power-restored-to-3-900-customers/article_223025be-ed16-11ec-8fe2-bb090af73070.html | 2022-06-16T05:20:36 | 1 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/tree-strikes-wires-in-salem-lakes-resulting-in-outage-power-restored-to-3-900-customers/article_223025be-ed16-11ec-8fe2-bb090af73070.html |
Arizona lottery numbers, June 15
Associated Press
These Arizona lotteries were drawn Wednesday:
Pick 3
7-9-5
Fantasy 5
06-10-12-26-28
Estimated jackpot: $82,000
The Pick
05-13-31-34-43-44
Estimated jackpot: $1 million
Triple Twist
07-15-17-19-26-33
Estimated jackpot: $411,000
Mega Millions
Estimated jackpot: $273 million
Powerball
19-28-41-42-51, Powerball: 7, Power Play: 2 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/06/15/arizona-lottery-numbers-june-15/7643843001/ | 2022-06-16T05:34:18 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/06/15/arizona-lottery-numbers-june-15/7643843001/ |
EMMETT, Idaho — The family of a man who went missing while floating the Payette River in Emmett said they are not giving up hope.
“I want to find him. I’m constantly, as we're walking I’m praying. Believing, I’m holding onto, we will find him,” said the sister of Everett Jackson, Meaghan.
Jackson was visiting from Louisiana. The Gem County Sheriff’s Office said he was floating the Payette River with a group on Saturday, when he missed the cutoff point to get out of the river. A witness told the sheriff's office that they saw him go under the water and never come up. Sheriff Donnie Wunder told KTVB, right now, the flow is dangerous and that’s making the search for Jackson more difficult.
“The best time to float or raft is when it's about 1200 cfs [cubic feet per second]. and the night that he went into the water, the river was flowing a little over 10,000 cfs. Then Sunday, we got all the rain and Monday the water went clear up to 13,200 cfs,” Wunder said.
He added, the water has come down a little bit since then, but not enough.
"I had a helicopter up yesterday and they can't see anything,” Wunder said. “It's just like looking through chocolate milk, it's so dark right now."
On Wednesday, volunteers also joined crews from the Gem County Sheriff's Office, along with fire and Jackson’s family, who flew in from Louisiana, searching on the ground and by boat.
“Mentally I’m drained, physically I’m tired, but I’m not giving up,” Meaghan Jackson said.
Despite time passing, and still no update about Jackson, the family says they're not giving up.
“I have hope, we're a strong spiritual family so we believe that he's there, that he will be found and we can bring him back home. He’s the glue to our family, we need him" Meagan said.
While there were volunteers helping search for Jackson on Wednesday, the sheriff wants to warn folks that because the river is still very dangerous, he's urging people to only come out and help if you have experience with rescue or operating a boat. Otherwise he's asking folks to stay away from the river.
“If it was my child, I would, I mean I would be hopeful as I can, I’d want everybody that could come out and help, but this river, we got to be careful because I don't want any more people getting hurt,” Wunder said.
He told KTVB, crews will be back out searching on Thursday. Once the water goes down a little more, then he'll fly the helicopter out there again.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/family-not-giving-up-hope-crews-continue-search-payette-river-missing-floater-everett-jackson/277-37d0e0b2-163b-47f4-a612-048c0444ef0d | 2022-06-16T05:36:22 | 0 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/family-not-giving-up-hope-crews-continue-search-payette-river-missing-floater-everett-jackson/277-37d0e0b2-163b-47f4-a612-048c0444ef0d |
DEATH VALLEY JUNCTION, Calif. — A Southern California man was found dead in Death Valley National Park after apparently running out of gas and getting out to walk in the scorching heat, authorities said Wednesday.
Park visitors found the body of David Kelleher on Tuesday, a park statement said.
Kelleher, 67, of Huntington Beach, was about 2 1/2 miles from the vehicle, and apparently was walking from Zabriskie Point toward Furnace Creek, the park said.
He was found about 30 feet from State Route 190 but the highway was obscured by terrain and a mesquite tree, the park said.
Kelleher hadn't been reported missing but a park ranger spotted a lone vehicle in the Zabriskie Point parking lot on June 11 and remembered it from three days earlier, the park said. It was registered to Kelleher.
"A crumpled note inside Kelleher's vehicle said, 'out of gas,'" the park said.
An air and ground search for Kelleher had been limited by temperatures that topped 120 degrees at times, officials said.
Kelleher had been cited for off-road driving at the park on May 30, when he mentioned to a park ranger that he was low on gas.
It was the second reported death this month. The body of John McCarry, 69, of Long Beach, was found in Panamint Valley on June 1.
WATCH ALSO: | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/man-found-dead-death-valley-national-park/103-7e93e3a4-55b9-4840-824d-21c6f1151581 | 2022-06-16T05:36:36 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/man-found-dead-death-valley-national-park/103-7e93e3a4-55b9-4840-824d-21c6f1151581 |
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — People who live along the American River spoke out Wednesday against a proposed ordinance to prohibit camping in some areas of Sacramento County.
Word traveled fast among the unhoused community, along with fears that the ordinance would be used to remove their encampments soon.
The board is considering a ban on camping in areas close to critical infrastructure and areas that face risk of wildfire or flooding. In an hours-long workshop Tuesday, the supervisors heard public comment from concerned citizens and debated the ordinance.
“Now, we feel like we are being betrayed, and we don’t know why,” said Dan Alderholt, who founded the nonprofit American River Homeless Crews 10 years ago. “And there’s no reason for this.”
With a permit from the county Parks and Recreation Department, Alderholt’s organization can regularly be seen cleaning Sacramento area waterways of trash and debris.
“Why don’t they go after the ones that are doing the mess instead of those that are keeping it clean and safe. Make a law where you have to keep your camps clean and safe. We’ll back that 100%,” Alderholt said.
While many of those who left their encampments to give off-agenda remarks at the Wednesday meeting arrived feeling angry, the mood shifted as they opened up to the board about their experiences and concerns.
“We don’t want to lose our animals. We love them; they’re like our children,” one woman said.
As those on both sides of the room shared their concerns and listened, many of the unhoused people who attended left the meeting feeling more reassured.
The proposed ordinance carries a first-time warning, then a misdemeanor charge for a repeat offense within 30 days. Supervisors have pushed back on the idea that the camping ban would criminalize homelessness, emphasizing that law enforcement involvement would be a last resort.
WATCH ALSO: | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/protest-sacramento-county-camping-ordinance/103-8a579748-2052-4b39-850c-0a83d7528a86 | 2022-06-16T05:36:42 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/protest-sacramento-county-camping-ordinance/103-8a579748-2052-4b39-850c-0a83d7528a86 |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sausages, pork chops and steaks are about to be a 24/7 product in East Sacramento. It's all part of a quirky idea from a local butcher that's becoming a reality.
Eric Veldman Miller, owner of V. Miller Meats, is opening a vending machine just for meat products that come from his shop. The new machine, which goes online Thursday, will be stocked with bacon, house-made sausages, ribeye steaks, pork chops and ground beef, a sample of what is most popular at his shop.
However, the new technology is more than just for the novelty of getting a raw ribeye at 3 a.m. He's doing it for his customers who returned to work after the pandemic and don't have the time to head to his shop.
"We gained a whole bunch of customers (during the pandemic), but then last fall when a lot of people started going back to work, the hours that we keep at the butcher shop - 10 to six - didn't necessarily fit with their lifestyle or their schedule anymore," Miller said, noting that he couldn't easily adjust his businesses hours.
He mused the idea for a meat vending machine months ago, but he said the machines just weren't built to for meat. It didn't gain the right traction until Josh Applestone, of Applestone Solutions, built the technology to make it a reality. Miller said Applestone had learned the ups and downs of these machines through his experience with them in New York.
"Anything you could think of, these guys were already on top of it because they'd had that history of using machines that were not built for it, so the solutions were right there," Miller said.
One of the issues that needed a solution was the scathing Sacramento heat. Applestone had actually visited Miller in town and was greeted with triple-digit temperatures. It was another detail they kept in mind when they refined the machine.
"The compressors and the refrigeration system that's in the machine now were built to be outside. It's built to be in the heat. It's built to withstand really gnarly weather," Miller said.
Even the touchscreen was built with scathing Sacramento temperatures in mind, Miller said the screen's thickness was doubled to keep it safe from the heat and potentially anything else that could do it harm.
"Just as a side benefit, like if anybody... decided to hit it with a rock or a hammer, it's not gonna happen, so the security benefits kind of amplified there as well," Miller said.
Despite the new tech and 24/7 service, prices will stay the same whether you're buying in the store or through the machine.
WATCH ALSO: | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/meat-vending-machine-debuting-east-sacramento/103-cbfa8429-12ba-4423-a89c-ec043ea88f07 | 2022-06-16T05:36:48 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/meat-vending-machine-debuting-east-sacramento/103-cbfa8429-12ba-4423-a89c-ec043ea88f07 |
Racial gap in RI homeownership wider than national average, report says
In Rhode Island, racial disparities in homeownership are more severe than the national average, according to a new report.
The report, released Thursday and authored by Brown School of Public Health academics whose work was funded by United Way of Rhode Island, states that overall, 62% percent of the state's residents own a home, yet only 34% of the state's Black residents are homeowners. By contrast, across the United States, 64% of the population owns homes, while 42% of Black people are homeowners. The data dates back to 2019.
"Homeownership is a primary wealth-building vehicle for everyone in general," said Akilah Dulin, one of the report's authors. "Black people, if they were able to own homes, have the opportunity to in part close the wealth gap, barring any discrimination in home valuation as we know exists and how Black homes are appraised at lower values."
Lending issues
Reasons for the gap in homeownership are many, some dating back decades. During the early-to-mid-20th century, the Federal Housing Administration practiced redlining, stopping banks from offering loans to people in Black neighborhoods. As the report notes, from the 1930s through the 1950s, Black families received a mere 2% of FHA loans.
Lending issues have persisted in recent years, with the City of Providence suing Santander Bank in 2014, accusing it of having drastically cut back on mortgage lending in minority neighborhoods while boosting lending in primarily white areas. Eventually, the suit was dropped and Santander gave out grants to low- and moderate-income residents, among funding other initiatives.
What happened with Santander?:Lawsuit claimed discrimination dated back to 2009
Where did all the homes go?:Rhode Island faces a crisis in housing
Racism in banking, housing covenants, and the GI Bill of 1994, which did not award U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-guaranteed mortgage loans to most Black veterans, are among the list of other historical inequities. Today, issues with loans persist, as Black applicants are more likely to be denied.
Kobe Dennis, another of the report's authors, said it's time leaders "admit that we’re not concentrating on the Black community, that it's lagging immensely as far as homeownership in Rhode Island."
Lack of knowledge, homes and resources for those in Black communities
Dennis is also concerned about what he described as a lack of education about buying a house and knowledge about how to boost one's credit score.
"I’m 50 years old and I’m not ashamed to say I bought my first home at 47, and that’s not because I didn’t have the finances," Dennis said. "It’s because I didn’t have the knowledge base, and no one was offering it. So I was just trying to survive. To me, surviving was just providing a roof over my family’s head."
New Providence boardweighs how to offer reparations, from housing to education
More in Providence:How the Providence Preservation Society will atone for 'racist practices'
According to the report, which cited a mix of articles, academic writing, economic research and other sources, Black people are less likely to be able to afford down payments and have barriers to credit. Even with credit similar to other prospective homeowners, "Black homebuyers are more likely
to be pushed toward subprime and higher-interest mortgage loans compared to White borrowers," the report reads.
Authors also found that Black people are directed to minority neighborhoods, shown fewer homes and offered less help, making the search process all the more difficult.
The report was completed as part of The State of Black Rhode Island, a collaborative project between Brown academics and United Way, which "examines the current state and future direction of the Black community in Rhode Island."
Once in the business of selling slaves, Jamestown Town Council will 'acknowledge a wrong'
Not only is the report intended to expose inequities in homeownership, it is intended to offer policy changes.
Among those are developing financing programs for Black homebuyers with lower credit scores, making small-scale mortgage assistance and down-payment help more accessible, and expanding federal programs offered by the FHA and Housing and Urban Development.
"For me personally, it’s about legacy homeownership," Dennis said. "Everyone wants to leave a legacy with their family, their friends and the community. It’s hard to do that when you’re renting because of the instability of renting." | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/brown-university-report-ri-racial-gap-owning-house/7633908001/ | 2022-06-16T05:37:46 | 1 | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/brown-university-report-ri-racial-gap-owning-house/7633908001/ |
It may be hard to believe, New York City could soon be facing another new surge in commuters.
A new study found that more people are expected to commute from New Jersey over the next decade, meaning that the packed commutes across the Hudson River, shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers on NJ Transit, are likely to make a comeback.
And it'll only get more and more jam-packed in the future.
In 2019, more than 400,000 commuters a day crossed the Hudson during the average work week. That number is projected to jump 10 percent by 2030, and increase 15 to 32 percent by 2050, according to a study from the Regional Plan Association.
"We need all of this infrastructure to be able to handle that capacity. People shouldn’t be like cows in a truck trying to get to work," said Felicia Park-Rogers, of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
It also comes as the MTA celebrated a new record with the most railroad riders in a day since the pandemic began. On Tuesday, more than 365,000 took Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road, following a packed weekend for the rails.
The LIRR passed its pre-pandemic ridership levels on Saturday, thanks to the Belmont Stakes. On Metro-North, the nice weather drew people to take the trains for weekend getaways — and led to the rail hitting 99 percent of its pre-pandemic levels.
All of this is giving the fight for the long-delayed "Gateway Project" fresh urgency.
"It would be impossible to accommodate that demand without the additional capacity Gateway would add," said Chris jones, the author of the RPA study.
Gateway is the $30 billion project, anchored by a $12 billion tunnel across the Hudson. It has considerable support, from the white house to regional leadership.
"This has taken years to get to where we are and we need to keep moving forward," said RPA President and CEO Tom Wright.
But Wright warns that looming midterm elections could erase any political support the project has.
"Time is not on our side," he said. "The longer we delay on this the more expensive it will be and the more opportunity there is to see a change in political leadership derail it."
Wright worries that many outside of the Tri-State won’t want to see federal dollars dedicated to New York and New Jersey.
While Gateway does have significant support in the public, there are doubters who worry about cost or cost overruns. The federal funding is sitting and waiting, according to the RPA. There is urgency to get a memorandum of understanding on the state level. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nj-to-nyc-commuter-surge-is-coming-and-current-infrastructure-wont-be-enough-study/3736497/ | 2022-06-16T05:39:24 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nj-to-nyc-commuter-surge-is-coming-and-current-infrastructure-wont-be-enough-study/3736497/ |
Bossier City Police arrest suspect in connection with Wednesday morning shooting
Bossier City Police Department announced just after 9:15 p.m. that have made an arrest in connection with a Wednesday morning shooting that injured one person.
Just before 11:20 a.m., Bossier City Police Department received a call about a shooting on Boone Street near Nattin Street. Upon arrival, officers located a male victim who was lying in the road with multiple gunshot wounds.
Three hours later police arrested 18-year-old Laterence Jurell Arkansas.
Chief Chris Estess said, "I would like to thank all law enforcement officers for their dedication and for the quick apprehension of a violent criminal. Our community is safer this evening due to the commitment of our local law enforcement officers.”
More:Bossier Police are searching for suspect after one injured in Wednesday morning shooting
Arkansas was booked into the Bossier City Jail and charged with one count of Attempted Second Degree Murder, one count of Illegal Use of a Weapon, and one count of Aggravated Criminal Property Damage. His bond is set at $545,000.
The victim is currently receiving treatment for life-threatening injuries at Ochsner LSU Medical Center.
Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com. | https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2022/06/15/arrest-made-wednesday-morning-bossier-shooting/7643534001/ | 2022-06-16T05:52:39 | 0 | https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2022/06/15/arrest-made-wednesday-morning-bossier-shooting/7643534001/ |
Two men injured in shooting at a Shreveport's park AB Palmer Park
Makenzie Boucher
Shreveport Times
Just after 7:30 p.m. Shreveport Police Department received a call to AB Palmer Park in the 8000 block of Thornhill Avenue to reports ofa shooting.
Upon arrival, officers located two victims who had been shot inside a vehicle.
The victims were transported to a local hospital and their conditions are unknown at this time.
Detectives are currently on the scene searching the neighborhood for any suspects or weapons.
This shooting is under investigation.
More:Bossier City Police arrest suspect in connection with Wednesday morning shooting
Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com. | https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2022/06/15/two-men-injured-after-shooting-shreveport-park/7643736001/ | 2022-06-16T05:52:45 | 0 | https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2022/06/15/two-men-injured-after-shooting-shreveport-park/7643736001/ |
July 3, 1948 - June 14, 2022
LAKE STATION - David R. Mefford, age 73 of Lake Station passed away peacefully June 14, 2022. He was born in Huntsville, AL on July 3, 1948 to James D. and Nettie R. Mefford. He graduated from River Forest High School in 1966.
He is survived by his loving wife of 44 years, Vanessa Mefford; sons: Louie (Marilee) Mefford, Jake (Hope), and Alex (Chrissy) Mefford; six grandchildren: Bradley, Alyssa, Clayton, Levi, Carley, and Corra; sister, Jamie (late Ray) Cain; numerous nieces; nephews; family; and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents: James and Nettie Mefford; son, Jake Mefford; brother, Mike Mefford; and brother-in-law, Ray Cain.
David retired from Bethlehem Steel after 34 years of service. He owned and operated Babe's Pizza in Lake Station for 8 years. He retired from Cardinal Health after 10 years of service. He served as President of Lake Station little league for 6 years. He also managed and coached little league and softball for several years. He served on the River Forest School Board for 13 years.
He was an avid White Sox fan, enjoyed woodworking, playing golf and spending time with family. He was a devoted husband, loving father, but being a Papa is what he loved the most. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him.
A memorial service for David will be held Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. at Burns Funeral Home, 701 East 7th Street, Hobart, Pastor Ben Devine officiating. Friends may visit with David's family on Friday, June 17, 2022 from 04:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Burns Funeral Home (Hobart).
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the family. www.burnsfuneral.com. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/david-r-mefford/article_a40f0954-16e4-5b2a-a753-d0659955e056.html | 2022-06-16T06:13:16 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/david-r-mefford/article_a40f0954-16e4-5b2a-a753-d0659955e056.html |
CROWN POINT - Dennis E. Miller, 81, of Crown Point, IN, passed away on June 14, 2022.
Survived by his loving wife, Elizabeth Jean; children: Mary (Patrick) McGrath, Michael D. (Julie) Miller; two grandchildren: Andrew and Anthony; one great-grandchild, Wren; sisters: Diane Susereny, Sylvia (James) Emery; brother, Robert (Sherril) Miller; several nieces and nephews.
Funeral service will be held on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Michael Catholic Church in Schererville, IN and at rest at St. Michael Cemetery.
Friends are invited to visit with Dennis' family on Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home, 7607 W Lincoln Hwy., Schererville, IN (RT 30 E of Cline Ave.)
Dennis was a retired employee of U.S.X. Steel Company. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/dennis-e-miller/article_1e8af112-7ee7-59b6-9434-56258b312858.html | 2022-06-16T06:13:22 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/dennis-e-miller/article_1e8af112-7ee7-59b6-9434-56258b312858.html |
Nov. 15, 1935 - May 28, 2022
CROWN POINT - Frances (Ferguson) Marek born November 15, 1935, passed away May 28, 2022, after a brief battle with cancer.
Fran, as she was known by family and friends, was born, and raised in Belvidere, IL. She married Richard Marek June 18, 1955, and moved from Cicero, IL to Prospect Heights, IL before permanently settling in Crown Point, IN in 1966 where they raised their four daughters. She was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Crown Point, Youche Country Club, and Tri-Kappa Sorority.
She is survived by daughters: Dana (Brian) Whitehead of Essex Junction, VT; Andrea (Kevin) Odom-McGrath of Highland, IN and Risha (Alvin) Reeves of Crown Point, IN; eight grandchildren; nineteen great-grandchildren; four nieces; and a nephew.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard; daughter, Carla Kosinski; parents: Donald and Marian Ferguson; and sister, Donna Gorney.
Her family extends their deepest gratitude to her caregivers and staff of Clarendale of Schererville, as well as the staff of Unity Hospice and Southlake Methodist Hospital.
In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation in her memory to First Presbyterian Church or Unity Hospice.
Inurnment will be at Maplewood Cemetery in Crown Point on June 18, 2022, followed by a Celebration of Life gathering. Please call Risha at Reeves Fence (219) 322-7840 for details.
Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home - 219-322-6616. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/frances-s-marek/article_b55955fe-08e1-5e7e-b963-cb477f1c57f0.html | 2022-06-16T06:13:28 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/frances-s-marek/article_b55955fe-08e1-5e7e-b963-cb477f1c57f0.html |
WHITING - Frank Pirosko, age 69, of Whiting, IN passed away on June 4, 2022. He is survived by his daughters: Angela Pirosko and Gina (Ryan) Miller; two granddaughters: Gloria and Hannah; two brothers: Dennis (Marietta) Pirosko and Kevin (Lisa) Pirosko; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Debra Pirosko; and by his parents: Steven and Helen Pirosko.
Frank graduated from Clark High School in 1970 and went on to obtain various certificates. He worked as a master welder/fabricator/mechanic for many years, until he retired about 10 years ago. Frank was a veteran of the U.S. Army and as a member of the U.S. Reserves as a Sergeant. Frank was a member of the High Rail Modular Train Club for over 20 years and was an avid collector of model trains. Frank also loved the outdoors. He enjoyed activities such as hockey, hunting, and fishing. Frank was the kind of person who would help anyone, anytime; he would show up ready with a Diet Pepsi in hand.
There will be memorial services held on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at Fagen-Miller Funeral Home, 2828 Highway Ave., Highland, with visitation from 12:00 p.m. until the time of service at 5:00 p.m.
Frank was a dedicated son, brother, husband, father, papa, uncle, and friend. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/frank-pirosko/article_ced89c2a-9207-528a-b80f-88fd50aa3dca.html | 2022-06-16T06:13:34 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/frank-pirosko/article_ced89c2a-9207-528a-b80f-88fd50aa3dca.html |
Aug. 2, 1945 - Feb. 2, 2022
MARCO ISLAND, FL - James D. Bruno, 76, of Marco Island, Florida (formerly of LaPorte, Indiana) passed away peacefully on Tuesday, February 2, 2022 at Physicians Regional Hospital in Naples, Florida.
He was preceded in death by his parents: Antonio and Margaret Bruno of East Chicago, Indiana. He was also preceded in death by his brothers: Dominic, Albert, and Anthony Bruno; his sisters: Frances Chvostal, Antionette LaBarge, and Ann Pazik; and son-in-law, Paul DelRio.
He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Nancy Pozywio Bruno. Also surviving are his adult children: daughter, Jennifer Bruno DelRio; along with grandson, Lucas J. DelRio of LaPorte, Indiana, and son, David J. Bruno of Tampa, Florida. Jim has two surviving sisters; and a sister-in-law as well: Yolanda Martin resides in Austin, Texas, Margaret (Eli) Zak resides in Highland, Indiana and Betty Jo Bruno of Cedar Lake, Indiana. Lastly, being from a large family he has numerous nieces and nephews surviving.
Jim graduated from East Chicago Washington HS, class of 1963. He proudly served in the U.S. Marine Corp. He started his career like many in East Chicago at Inland Steel. Not one to be satisfied, he and Nancy ventured out on their own to become entrepreneurs. They began with a retail business in Crown Point, Indiana. With that not being enough to satisfy his taste for success, they decided to move their family to LaPorte, Indiana in 1978. They made their home in LaPorte for over 40 years. That move was the start of an amazing future. It all began with the purchase of a Supper Club. Within a few years Jim started to expand and before long he owned numerous Arby's Roast Beef restaurants, Pizza Huts, Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin Robbins, Brown's Chicken, and Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants - we've honestly lost count as to the actual number. He is a member of St. Peter Catholic Church in LaPorte and the Knights of Columbus Council #1542. He most treasured his time with his family. No one was a more proud grandparent than he. He was most certainly the loudest fan at all his grandson's sporting events and the most animated person at the table describing the day's events when the game ended. He was always up for a good time and thoroughly enjoyed the after-party. At the end of a game, (or actually anytime) he would invite all his friends, to join him at whatever restaurant he was patronizing. He also enjoyed traveling.. (and even if he didn't) he went and had a marvelous time since it is Nancy's passion. He was the life of the party on every excursion, cruise ship, or plane. There wasn't a thing he wouldn't do for his "Nan", making her happy was his passion. He and Nancy traveled to all 50 of the United States and visited 54 countries during their adventures, sometimes to their kid's dismay... Syria!
Jim was an inspiration to all who knew him, as he was a caring generous person who always gave from the heart. He supported many organizations and participated in any charity event that came across his desk. For him, it was always about others. He was a kind and gentle person who made friends everywhere he went. His family and friends could always count on him for a funny story or a helping hand. He is already sorely missed.
Cremation has taken place. A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, June 26, 2022 at the Silver Palace, 1719 State St, LaPorte, IN from 2:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M. CST.
In lieu of flowers, Donations can be made to: Share with the Handicapped P.O. Box 400 Rolling Prairie, Indiana 46371 LaPorte Pop Warner 2967 N. Larkspur Ct Rolling Prairie, Indiana 46371. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/james-d-bruno/article_84a3736f-94fe-5b82-a59c-da1e8658cb7d.html | 2022-06-16T06:13:40 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/james-d-bruno/article_84a3736f-94fe-5b82-a59c-da1e8658cb7d.html |
WANATAH - Joanne M. (Polite) Ross, 60, died June 7, 2022, following a 28-month battle with cancer.
Joanne loved her family. She also loved music, playing alto saxophone ever since she was a child. She performed in the Valparaiso Community/University Concert Band and the Sousapalooza ensemble in Chicago during Make Music Chicago. Joanne was a past president of the Lake County Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, a professional music fraternity for women. She was also a deacon at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Valparaiso. Joanne was a preschool teacher at the former Mother's Time Out until she left to become a homemaker. She enjoyed spending time with her family and accompanying her husband on adventures throughout Northwest Indiana.
On October 10, 1998, Joanne married Doug Ross, who survives with her son, Nicolas Ross; stepdaughter, Kathryne (Juan) Chavez; step-grandchildren: Oliver Chavez and Juniper Chavez; and her cat, Gizmo.
Joanne was preceded in death by her parents: Nicolas and Lois (nee Fryar) Polite; and numerous beloved pets.
Visitation will be from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on June 20, 2022, at Dykes Funeral Home, 2305 N. Campbell St., Valparaiso, IN. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on June 21, 2022, at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 1507 E. Glendale Blvd., Valparaiso, IN with Rev. Tim Trussell-Smith officiating. Interment, Graceland Cemetery, Valparaiso IN.
Memorials may be made to First Christian Church.
Arrangements made by Dykes Funeral Home, Inc., Valparaiso IN. 219-462-3125. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/joanne-m-polite-ross/article_04f82b8d-82b0-517a-9bd1-a68c45221c85.html | 2022-06-16T06:13:47 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/joanne-m-polite-ross/article_04f82b8d-82b0-517a-9bd1-a68c45221c85.html |
IN LOVING MEMORY OF JOHN KASPEREK ON HIS 7TH ANNIVERSARY IN HEAVEN
This day is remembered and quietly kept, no words are needed, we shall never forget.
For those we love don't go away they walk beside us every day. Unseen and unheard, but always near, so loved, so missed .... and so very dear.
We miss you Dad, Your Loving Family. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/john-kasperek/article_cda73fb1-b847-5842-a84f-2f64115572c1.html | 2022-06-16T06:13:53 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/john-kasperek/article_cda73fb1-b847-5842-a84f-2f64115572c1.html |
Dec. 9, 1925 - June 8, 2022
HIGHLAND - John R. Jage passed away peacefully on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, at the age of 96 surrounded by his family.
John was a prolific broadcaster, photographer, historian, pilot, and friend to many.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy (nee Herbst); as well as children; and countless grandchildren. He will be incredibly missed.
A reception will be held on Monday, June 20, 2022, from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. at First Christian Church in Highland, Indiana. A memorial service will follow at 7:00 p.m. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/john-r-jage/article_c0783ae1-6812-5e8b-a785-437483a35b07.html | 2022-06-16T06:13:59 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/john-r-jage/article_c0783ae1-6812-5e8b-a785-437483a35b07.html |
May 18, 1947 - June 16, 2015
IN HONOR OF MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE, RITA
It's been 7 years since you passed away. Our hearts were broken that very sad day. We love and miss you with all our hearts and souls.
God keep you in his loving arms!
Your loving family,
Husband, Frank Sainato
Children, Lisa (Troy) Grady, Frank (Jayme) Sainato Grandchildren Alexa (Lane) Hosier, Troy Grady, Paytn Grady, Dominic Sainato, Anthony Sainato and Isabella Sainato. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/rita-sainato/article_e1b6f79e-27cf-596a-9aae-1287eb257dbc.html | 2022-06-16T06:14:05 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/rita-sainato/article_e1b6f79e-27cf-596a-9aae-1287eb257dbc.html |
CALUMET CITY, IL - Thomas Hobgood, age 62, of Calumet City, IL passed away on Monday, May 9, 2022, after a lionhearted battle with medical issues in recent months. Even through all he endured during his hospitalization, Thomas maintained his courageous constitution and kind disposition with which he treated others on even his hardest days; always with a sweet smile on his face.
Mr. Hobgood is survived by children: Anuhea and Kyley; mother, Olga Erwin; sisters: Maria, Susan, Anna (Dana), Alicia, Kendall (Steve); and brother, James (Sherry); uncles; aunts; numerous cousins; and dear friends.
Thomas was preceded in death by devoted wife, Rachele Hobgood, whom he sorely missed; father, John J.L. Hobgood; and his brother, John Jay Hobgood.
A memorial service for Thomas will be held on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at the Schroeder–Lauer Funeral Home, 3227 Ridge Road, Lansing IL at 6:00 P.M. with Deacon Jim Renwick officiating. Friends may visit with family from 1:00 P.M. until time of service.
After graduating from St. Ignatius High School, he enlisted in the Army and would become a Ranger. His decorations included his Army Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Parachute Badge, and Ranger Tab. He would continue his service with the Illinois Army National Guard; Hawaii Army National Guard, 29th SIB, and retired as Sergeant. During his time in Hawaii while working toward Army Officer Candidate School and Honolulu Police Department Candidate school he cultivated a passion for serving the public.
As a young man he enjoyed his time on the North Shore watching the waves break, with the trade winds at his back as he surfed. While on Oahu, he would meet his "Honey Rachele" and they would enjoy a beautiful union of 22 years. Thomas found his highest achievement in the pursuit of happiness for those he loved by role of ardent husband, father, son, brother, and friend who stood firm in the face of adversity as a pillar of strength and will truly be missed. www.schroederlauer.com | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/thomas-hobgood/article_bb35a72f-e48a-52e4-8596-120f0b31b583.html | 2022-06-16T06:14:11 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/thomas-hobgood/article_bb35a72f-e48a-52e4-8596-120f0b31b583.html |
Peter John Children, 88, died Saturday, June 11, 2022, at MercyOne North Iowa Hospice, Mason City. Arrangements: Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel.
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Peter John Children, 88, died Saturday, June 11, 2022, at MercyOne North Iowa Hospice, Mason City. Arrangements: Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/death-notices/globe-death-notices/article_e8e367a7-a51f-53ea-ac81-e2be371f791b.html | 2022-06-16T06:21:19 | 1 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/obituaries/death-notices/globe-death-notices/article_e8e367a7-a51f-53ea-ac81-e2be371f791b.html |
Morton County is using online videos to promote county parks.
The videos feature scenic destinations, ample shorelines for anglers, and camping and playground amenities.
“These videos help people see what our parks have to offer, and they might even be surprised at what adventures await,” County Parks Director Tim Nilsen said. “Morton County Parks has plenty of opportunities for fun and relaxation, and we want more people to discover them.”
The videos are at https://www.mortonnd.org/destinations. They're being shown on social media, YouTube and community access television. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/morton-county-promoting-parks-through-videos/article_13f31958-e905-11ec-9caf-e72e38dd3893.html | 2022-06-16T06:41:58 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/morton-county-promoting-parks-through-videos/article_13f31958-e905-11ec-9caf-e72e38dd3893.html |
Two teenagers have been arrested and charged with hate crimes related to an attack on a Jewish man in Brooklyn, according to police.
Police said in May that the 18-year-old victim wearing traditional Jewish attire near the corner of East 18th Street and Avenue M in Midwood was approached by a male, who demanded the victim say something about Palestine. The suspect then punched the victim in his right eye, and ran off.
The victim was briefly hospitalized at Maimonides Medical Center and released.
The two teens, ages 14 and 16 years old, arrested on Wednesday were charged third-degree assault and first-degree harassment, both as hate crimes.
Attorney information for the teens, whose identities have not been released, was not immediately clear. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/two-teens-arrested-on-hate-crime-charges-in-assault-against-jewish-man-in-nyc-police/3736524/ | 2022-06-16T07:07:19 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/two-teens-arrested-on-hate-crime-charges-in-assault-against-jewish-man-in-nyc-police/3736524/ |
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Local | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/long-island-teen-rescues-woman-who-drove-into-water/3736206/ | 2022-06-16T07:11:34 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/long-island-teen-rescues-woman-who-drove-into-water/3736206/ |
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is working on an ambitious project to bury thousands of miles of power lines in an effort to prevent igniting fires with its equipment and avoid shutting down electricity during hot and windy weather.
PG&E announced last year that it planned to bury 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) of power lines in the next decade at a projected cost of $15 billion to $30 billion. The announcement came just days after PG&E informed regulators that a 70-foot (23-meter) pine tree that toppled on one of its power lines ignited a major fire in Butte County, the same rural area about 145 miles (233 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco where another fire sparked by its equipment killed more than 80 people and destroyed thousands of homes in 2018.
Since 2017, the aging equipment of the nation's largest utility has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires that wiped out more than 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people. In 2019, PG&E filed for bankruptcy after facing billions of dollars in wildfire fines and lawsuits.
In addition to preventing wildfires, PG&E says burying power lines underground will lead to fewer disruptive public safety power shutoffs, which have become more frequent in the last few years due to dry weather and high wind events linked to climate change.
PG&E previously has buried power lines as systems are rebuilt in the wake of destructive wildfires, such as the massive blaze that wiped out most of the town of Paradise in 2018. This month, it started work on a plan to place 175 miles (280 kilometers) of power lines underground this year in central and Northern California, said Deanna Contreras, a PG&E spokeswoman.
The company has said it plans to bury as many as 1,200 miles a year to meet its goal.
"Undergrounding reduces ignition risk by 99% so we are starting in the areas of the highest fire risk, high fire threat district areas, and also prioritizing areas where we can reduce the number of public safety power shutoffs," she said.
She said burying power lines costs $3.75 million per mile.
"As we increase the line miles every year and we scale up, we expect those costs to come down to about $2.5 million a mile by the end of 2026," she added.
But some critics of PG&E's plan say it's too expensive and will take too long to complete. The plan calls for ratepayers to finance the project through higher utility bills.
The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, a consumer advocacy organization, questions whether PG&E will be able to continue properly maintaining its power lines while it focuses on the burying power lines, which will take at least a decade to complete.
"This would take years upon years and we need to be sure that the company is focusing on its compliance in the meantime," said Katy Morsony, a TURN staff attorney. "By also trying to engage in this huge capital investment program at the same time, it's unclear that they can both properly manage compliance in the meantime, as well as successfully and efficiently complete the undergrounding program."
PG&E, a 117-year-old company, generates about $20 billion in revenue annually while serving a 70,000-square-mile (181,300-square-kilometer) service area in the northern and central part of California that includes farmland, forests, big cities and the world's technology hub in Silicon Valley.
One of the places where lines are currently being buried is near the Sonoma County site of the 2017 Tubbs wildfire that killed at least 22 people and destroyed thousands of homes in and around Santa Rosa.
Supporters say burying the lines also provides a more aesthetically pleasing California landscape.
Tom Sullivan, who rebuilt after losing his home in the 2017 Tubbs wildfire, said he's willing to pay a little more for his power if it means there's less chance of another devastating wildfire.
"It's something that has to be done, so we're just all going to have to pay for it. Either that or we're going to end up with more fires," Sullivan said.
WATCH ALSO: | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/wildfire/pge-moves-power-underground-plan/103-5421c124-2198-4ada-b406-4931b2df7c7a | 2022-06-16T07:32:10 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/wildfire/pge-moves-power-underground-plan/103-5421c124-2198-4ada-b406-4931b2df7c7a |
Thousands of Fort Wayne-area residents and businesses were still without power Wednesday, even as temperatures reached a high of 94 degrees and a heat index of 99 degrees.
Indiana Michigan Power said about 13,500 customers were still without power at 9 p.m. Wednesday. I&M estimates power will be restored by 11 p.m. today.
Multiple local businesses had to close after losing power Monday night, mostly in southwest Fort Wayne and Waynedale, after a hurricane-like storm called a derecho hit wind speeds up to 98 mph at Fort Wayne International Airport, where a hangar for aircraft repair and maintenance was damaged.
John Rang, president of Bobick’s Golf, said his store lost power Monday night and cannot reopen until it is restored.
“I’m obviously not happy,” Rang said. “This is one of our biggest weeks of the year. Father’s Day is Sunday and we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary this week.”
To notify customers, Rang and his employees sent a couple email blasts and posted an announcement on the company’s website. Customers who need help are encouraged to email the golf store, as phone lines are also down.
Rang said most of the inquiries received have been about whether the store is closed and when it plans to reopen.
“We’re telling them we can’t do anything until the power is back,” he said. “But once we can open, we will be ready to go immediately.”
Bobick’s receives its power through I&M, and Rang is on a text list tied to the store’s address that sends him updates. He said the last text he received Wednesday was one apologizing for the outage, saying it should return by 11 p.m. today.
“I’m sure they’re trying their hardest,” Ring said Wednesday afternoon. “But I’m praying I get a text any minute saying, ‘Your power has been restored.’ ”
Ryan Palmer, general manager of The Stand, said his business lost power Monday night around 10:30 p.m.
“I don’t know how they’re going to get everything done by 11,” he said.
Palmer said he is hoping The Stand will open Friday, but it is possible it won’t open until Saturday.
Once the power is restored, employees will have to wash out and fill ice cream machines, so the restaurant will be closed an additional day after regaining power.
The Stand hasn’t lost much food from the power outage, Palmer said, because the store has a backup generator running.
Palmer lives in Waynedale and said his home was also without power. The storm damaged several trees in his neighborhood, with both sides of the street being blocked at one point.
Janelle Brown, Churubusco resident, said she first lost power around 10:15 p.m. Monday night. I&M initially told her she would regain power by 3 p.m. Wednesday, but that had shifted to 11 p.m.
“I just get on the website and check, and there’s updates on Facebook,” Brown said. “There’s nothing more they can do … it is what it is, we’re just getting through it.”
Brown said she has been staying at her parents’ house although she has a generator hooked up at her house. She works at C&A Tool in Churubusco and has not been to work since the power outage.
Jeff Baxter, Allen County Parks superintendent, said power was the least of his worries at Fox Island County Park. Fox Island will remain closed until at least mid-July, Baxter said, because of extensive storm damage at the park.
The buildings were not damaged, the power’s restored and phones are working, but Baxter said there were about 100 trees down on roads in the park. They won’t know about damage to the trails until the roads can be cleared off.
Baxter said none of the other Allen County parks had damage as substantial as Fox Island.
Homestead High School and Summit Middle School were still without power Wednesday, as was Maplewood Elementary School. Summer classes at Homestead were moved to Woodside Middle School.
John Perlich, the city’s spokesman, said traffic signals were out at 25 locations at 4 p.m.
With rising temperatures and power outages, multiple places offered cooling stations Tuesday and Wednesday. Perlich said Fort Wayne offered cooling stations at the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory and the Salvation Army, and the Rescue Mission also offered one for residents.
The National Weather Service said the high temperatures were close to breaking records. On Tuesday, the high was 96 degrees and on Wednesday, it was 94 degrees. The records for each day were 97 and 96 degrees, respectively.
Temperatures are expected to fall today and into the weekend before returning to the 90s early next week. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/13-500-residents-endure-heat-wave-without-power/article_1017b0ca-ecf0-11ec-9480-efb6461226d4.html | 2022-06-16T07:36:26 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/13-500-residents-endure-heat-wave-without-power/article_1017b0ca-ecf0-11ec-9480-efb6461226d4.html |
Two companies plan to create dozens of new local jobs after the Fort Wayne City Council approved 10 years of tax breaks Tuesday.
Do Good Foods Fort Wayne LLC plans to buy the 8645 Aviation Drive building and equipment to process leftover food from supermarkets into animal feed. The $96 million project is expected to create 100 new jobs with an average salary of $60,320.
Premier Truck Rental LLC wants to expand its current facility at 9138 Bluffton Road by 24,000 square feet as part of a $5.6 million investment. The local company will create 70 jobs with an average salary of $60,806 and retain 100 jobs with an average salary of $75,514.
Both companies requested tax abatements, which will phase in taxes they pay on their investments over the next 10 years.
Before approval, Councilwoman Sharon Tucker, D-6th, asked the companies how they will fill the new positions.
“One of the challenges that we are seeing locally here is that our employment pool has been hard to help businesses succeed with employees,” she said.
Andy D’Amico of Do Good Foods said the company will recruit employees locally. The business will also train employees for the work they are assigned.
Adriene Horn of Premier Truck said they work with a few local recruiters to find employees, but the company’s wages and benefits package has been enough to attract some high-level employees to move to Fort Wayne for the job. Premier Truck employee packages include access to a full gym, access to a personal trainer and yoga classes.
Premier Truck hires drivers with and without commercial driver’s licenses.
Councilman Russ Jehl, R-2nd, asked city economic development officials to explain the difference between the tax abatement and Do Good Food’s upcoming request for financing through a bond.
“This is a very standard application, but if you could kind of give the public an idea of what else is transpiring,” Jehl said.
Carmen Young, economic development specialist, said the only request Tuesday for Do Good Foods was for the tax abatement. The Fort Wayne Economic Development Commission will soon consider a $142 million bond application for Do Good Foods using a pass-through financing mechanism, Young said.
By approving the bond application, the commission would endorse the project, which will allow Do Good Foods to get a lower interest rate when it gets a $142 million loan from a private entity.
Do Good Foods will save on taxes with the abatement, but the city will not directly give Do Good Foods money as part of either process.
The abatements for Do Good Foods and Premier Truck were approved with 7-2 votes. Councilman Paul Ensley, R-1st, and Jason Arp, R-4th, historically oppose most tax abatements, and they have brought legislation to the council twice that would eliminate business personal property taxes altogether. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/city-council-approves-tax-phase-ins-for-2-companies/article_63de56d8-ecdb-11ec-8180-175bc4bd6136.html | 2022-06-16T07:36:32 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/city-council-approves-tax-phase-ins-for-2-companies/article_63de56d8-ecdb-11ec-8180-175bc4bd6136.html |
Patrons of a new Giordano’s off Dupont Road won’t have to look hard to find the pizza and subs spot with the Allen County Board of Zoning Appeals’ approval Wednesday of a sign more than double the zoning ordinance’s limits.
The restaurant requested a waiver of development standards to allow a sign to rise 30 feet and contain 200 square feet. The allowable limits are 8 feet tall and 80 square feet.
The Chicago restaurant’s address is 10180 Diebold Road, but it is accessed from Dupont by a driveway to a Meijer store opened in the last few weeks. The applicant, Stuffed ZA LLC doing business as Giordano’s Fort Wayne, said the larger sign was needed because customers said they couldn’t find the restaurant or didn’t know it was open.
Giordano’s is near Parkview Regional Medical Center with many other restaurants. Board members questioned why the restaurant needed visibility from Dupont Road, on which it has no frontage.
But they unanimously approved the variance.
In other business, the board approved the request of a Springfield Township family who asked to expand a special use allowing a slaughtering and butchering business to include a grocery store.
The board voted unanimously to allow the request of Elam and Laura Lengacher, who have their business at the corner of Grabill and Cuba roads.
Representing the applicants, Matt Kelty of Kelty Tappy Design, Fort Wayne, told board members they weren’t being asked to approve a typical full-service grocery. Instead, the Lengachers want to sell some prepared meat products, such as sausage and seasoned burgers, from a shop at their location, Kelty said. He added the store may include bread, baked goods and possibly eggs.
The family has six sons who want to join the business, Kelty said. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/county-bza-backs-giordanos-small-grocery/article_ff8cfd76-ece7-11ec-94f1-c740352de1c5.html | 2022-06-16T07:36:38 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/county-bza-backs-giordanos-small-grocery/article_ff8cfd76-ece7-11ec-94f1-c740352de1c5.html |
Downtown lunch spot Jun 16, 2022 3 hrs ago Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email A woodpecker finds a tasty treat Wednesday while eating berries in a tree near the Historic Old Fort. Mike Moore | The Journal Gazette Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Lunch spot Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Most Popular FWCS to honor retired superintendent Sunday violence badly injures 2 men in Fort Wayne 13,500 in Fort Wayne still without power after storms Retired FWCS superintendent 'past honored' by building's new name Holcomb proposes $225 taxpayer payments amid high inflation Stocks Market Data by TradingView | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/downtown-lunch-spot/article_c3ae7a52-ecef-11ec-a098-cbec0a02edd5.html | 2022-06-16T07:36:44 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/downtown-lunch-spot/article_c3ae7a52-ecef-11ec-a098-cbec0a02edd5.html |
On the move Jun 16, 2022 3 hrs ago Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email A man rides his bike Wednesday along the Rivergreenway near Lawton Park. Mike Moore | The Journal Gazette Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save On the move Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Most Popular FWCS to honor retired superintendent Sunday violence badly injures 2 men in Fort Wayne 13,500 in Fort Wayne still without power after storms Retired FWCS superintendent 'past honored' by building's new name Holcomb proposes $225 taxpayer payments amid high inflation Stocks Market Data by TradingView | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/on-the-move/article_36d5454c-ecf0-11ec-ac5b-6f48c2c78957.html | 2022-06-16T07:36:51 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/on-the-move/article_36d5454c-ecf0-11ec-ac5b-6f48c2c78957.html |
A Huntington County woman accused of arranging meetings between a young teen and a man in his 40s pleaded guilty to one of the three felonies against her: aiding in promotion of child sex trafficking.
If a judge accepts the plea agreement, Brenda Leah Chopson, 38, of Warren, faces a sentence of three to 16 years at an argued hearing at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 29.
Chopson, who pleaded guilty Monday in Huntington Circuit Court, is accused of arranging meetings between the juvenile and Charles Daub II, who molested the juvenile and took her to have sex with other men, according to court records. It happened between July 1, 2018, and Oct. 27, 2020, while the girl was 13 to 15 years old and Daub was 45 to 47 years old, according to court records.
Daub, of Huntington, was sentenced on March 1, 2021, to 30 years in prison and five years after that on probation. He had pleaded guilty to child molesting and promoting child sexual trafficking.
One of men he took the girl to meet, Chad Richardson of Fort Wayne, was sentenced Nov. 12 in Allen Superior Court to 12 years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to felony sexual misconduct and felony child exploitation.
If the judge also determines that Chopson is a sexually violent predator, she will have to register as a convicted sex offender for life and will be on parole for the rest of her life after leaving incarceration, according to the plea agreement.
In exchange for her plea, the prosecution will drop charges of aiding in child molestation and of aiding in sexual misconduct with a minor.
Chopson was Daub’s girlfriend, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Dylan Lagonegro of the Huntington County Sheriff’s Department. Chopson would let Daub know when the child was staying in town and arranged times he could pick her up. Many times she walked the child out to Daub’s vehicle. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/felonies/huntington-woman-pleads-guilty-to-child-trafficking/article_cca7136a-ed00-11ec-9e55-67fdc283e2f0.html | 2022-06-16T07:36:57 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/felonies/huntington-woman-pleads-guilty-to-child-trafficking/article_cca7136a-ed00-11ec-9e55-67fdc283e2f0.html |
The Fort Wayne Fire Department recognized the actions of its own Wednesday in a private ceremony.
The department honored 22 firefighters for their rescue work Feb. 21 after a brick wall at Electric Works Building 20 collapsed just before 3 p.m. A worker was pinned under 1,000 pounds of masonry, said Fire Department Deputy Chief Adam O’Connor.
The man wasn’t crushed because there was a hole beneath him in the dirt, but he was pinned, said O’Connor. More of the wall was near collapse.
Multiple engine companies responded, and the Technical Rescue Team excavated the man. The Technical Rescue Team specializes in rescues from collapsed buildings, trenches and similar situations. The man was taken to the hospital after he was rescued and has since been released.
Fort Wayne Fire Chief Eric Lahey and Mayor Tom Henry presented the firefighters with certificates for their heroism Wednesday.
The ceremony differed from the department’s usual award ceremonies in recognizing individuals, O’Connor said. Lahey usually believes in giving citations to units because it’s a team effort.
“However, there were several firefighters that took great risk in rescuing that man because the rest of the building was hanging over their heads,” O’Connor said.
The work on Building 20 is part of the first phase of renovation of multiple buildings at the former General Electric campus, off Broadway and north of Taylor Street. It’s Phase I of a public-private partnership the city has with RTM Ventures and is estimated to cost $286 million.
A mixed-use development, Electric Works’ 39 acres will host apartments in Phase II. Phase I will have offices, retail space, a co-working space, entertainment, arts and health care facilities.
Building 20 is the oldest on the project’s west campus, built about 1907, and plans call for it to be home to Fort Wayne’s Ferguson Advertising and a market
Electric Works is supposed to have its first tenant, Fort Wayne Community Schools’ Amp Lab STEAM school, in August.
The rest of the campus is set to open to the public in fall. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/firefighters-recognized-for-their-heroism/article_ffff3460-ecf9-11ec-8cd3-a77f17c3c7b5.html | 2022-06-16T07:37:03 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/firefighters-recognized-for-their-heroism/article_ffff3460-ecf9-11ec-8cd3-a77f17c3c7b5.html |
The southbound lane of Landin Road in New Haven was opened to traffic Wednesday from North River Road to Powers Street, officials said.
Only southbound traffic is permitted so that construction can be completed for the second phase of this project. Rose Avenue will remain closed and is scheduled to open July 1.
Some restrictions are still in effect. No left or right turns from the southbound lane will be allowed between North River Road and Powers Street. The speed limit in this construction zone will remain 35 mph.
The city asks that drivers remember to make a full stop at the Stop Sign on Powers Street when accessing Landin Road and Broadway. Landin Road southbound traffic has the right of way and does not stop. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/southbound-landin-reopens/article_16b997b2-ecf6-11ec-b539-2ff0874e04b7.html | 2022-06-16T07:37:09 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/southbound-landin-reopens/article_16b997b2-ecf6-11ec-b539-2ff0874e04b7.html |
Gaston County trapping and identifying mosquitoes
The Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services is working to trap and identify mosquitoes to help the community to figure out how to eliminate them.
The program was launched in 2017, and since then, the county has spent more than 80 nights trapping mosquitoes and has collected more than 1,400 specimens, the county said.
Twenty-four species have been identified in Gaston County and staff set traps at Goat Island, Rankin Lake and Crowders Mountain.
The most common mosquito-borne illnesses in North Carolina are West Nile virus infection, eastern equine encephalitis and La Crosse encephalitis, the county said. North Carolina reported the second-highest number of LAC cases in the United States between 2011–2020. Gaston County has identified cases of West Nile virus locally.
To reduce exposure to mosquitoes:
- Use an EPA registered insect repellent with one of the active ingredients below. When used as directed, EPA-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
- Consider treating clothing and gear with 0.5% permethrin.
- Install or repair screens on windows and doors and use air conditioning if possible.
- Talk with your primary care provider or local health department if you plan to travel to an area where exotic mosquito-borne diseases occur.
- Always check your destination to identify appropriate prevention methods.
- Reduce mosquito breeding by emptying standing water from flowerpots, gutters, buckets, pool covers, pet water dishes, discarded tires and birdbaths at least once a week. Most mosquitoes only travel short distances for a blood meal. Consider locating areas in your own yard that could contribute to the mosquito problem.
- If you have pest control, discuss all options for the best products for mosquito control.
If you have questions or would like to speak to someone about a mosquito issue, call Gaston County Public Health at 704-853-5200.
Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 704-869-1850 or at kfohner@gannett.com. Support local journalism by subscribing here. | https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/local/2022/06/15/gaston-county-trapping-and-identifying-mosquitoes/7635480001/ | 2022-06-16T08:26:27 | 0 | https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/local/2022/06/15/gaston-county-trapping-and-identifying-mosquitoes/7635480001/ |
Photo removed from Gaston County Museum to be displayed in Santa Fe gallery
A gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will display the photograph that the Gaston County manager ordered removed from a museum exhibit.
The photograph, which features two men kissing after one of them proposed at a Charlotte Pride parade in 2019, will be featured in an exhibit titled "Imagine a World Without Photojournalism" at the Monroe Gallery of Photography. The exhibit runs from July 1 to Sept. 29.
Grant Baldwin, the photographer who shot the image, said that he received an email from the gallery owners, Sidney and Michelle Monroe, asking to use the photograph in the exhibit with plans to include an explanation about how it was removed from the photography exhibition at the Gaston County Museum of Art and History.
The photograph was removed from the Gaston County Museum at the order of County Manager Kim Eagle. The county said in a written statement that Eagle reviewed the photograph and told museum staff to work with the photographer to find an alternative photograph to display "that would be more considerate of differing viewpoints in the community."
The county said that it finds it important that the items the museum shares be "informational without championing political views," according to a statement released by the county Tuesday.
Baldwin, who has been a freelance photojournalist for 11 years, has mixed feelings about the situation. He is sensitive to the impact that the news of the photo's removal may have had on LGBTQ+ individuals in Gaston County, but he is also excited that the photograph seems to have taken on a life of its own.
"I just feel like, you know, on those occasions when a journalist gets to make something that takes on its own narrative and life, ... that's really great, that excites me. And I feel honored that I got to make a piece of work that's doing that," Baldwin said. "So, as a journalist, I'm excited about what's going on, and I don't mean that in any sort of disrespectful way to the challenges that this poses for the LGBTQ community. I'm not happy with what they're experiencing with this."
Michelle Monroe, one of the co-owners of the Monroe Gallery of Photography, said that she learned the photograph had been removed from the museum exhibit from media reports.
"I'm using the photo for several reasons, but it is also a wonderful photograph. We are a gallery, and you know, we don't just want a photograph with substance. We want a photograph that is well done and beautiful, and tells an important story," she said. "We actually have had other work that would represent the human civil rights of the LGBTQ and decided that we would switch out one of those for this, because this was so current and apparently so threatening that we wanted to champion it."
She said that in terms of the arc of history, some moments are signals, catalysts that ultimately have historical significance.
She said the removal of the photograph from the exhibit is a clear signal that history is moving in the wrong direction.
"This piece of art is simply a photograph, right?" she said. "This is just two people protected under the Constitution, and it is seen as suddenly offensive. That's a huge problem."
Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 704-869-1850 or at kfohner@gannett.com. Support local journalism by subscribing here. | https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/local/2022/06/15/photo-removed-gaston-county-museum-displayed-new-mexico/7641439001/ | 2022-06-16T08:26:33 | 1 | https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/local/2022/06/15/photo-removed-gaston-county-museum-displayed-new-mexico/7641439001/ |
A new law sponsored by Dayton-area lawmakers will make it easier to convict someone of human trafficking by closing what she described as a loophole in Ohio law.
House Bill 427 expands the legal definition of compulsion to include using drugs to control someone. Previously compulsion only covered “fear, force, duress, intimidation or fraud,” according to a legislative news release.
State Reps. Andrea White, R-Kettering, and Susan Manchester, R-Waynesfield, introduced the bill in September. It passed the House in February and the Senate on May 25, unanimously approved by both chambers. Gov. Mike DeWine signed it into law Tuesday.
Now luring someone with drugs, forcing them to use drugs, or manipulating them through addiction, can be used in charges of human trafficking or compelling prostitution.
“The crimes of human trafficking and prostitution are rampant in Ohio, with substance use and addiction frequently being used as weapons to prey on vulnerable victims,” White said in the announcement. “One study suggests as high as 84% of sex trafficking survivors reported substance abuse during their victimization.”
Speaking to a Senate committee in March, White said traffickers know police are less likely to believe someone has been trafficked if the victim is under the influence of drugs.
The change in the law could affect hundreds of people in Ohio each year, she said.
Ohio generates the sixth-most calls of any state to the national human trafficking hotline, according to White.
Anyone who has been a target of human trafficking, or who knows someone who may be a victim, can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or by text at 233733.
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/new-law-expands-human-trafficking-charge/GQUP3S4HX5GJHH6RPLLLODVRJU/ | 2022-06-16T08:39:44 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/new-law-expands-human-trafficking-charge/GQUP3S4HX5GJHH6RPLLLODVRJU/ |
Police say a 49-year-old man is dead after being struck and run over by a box truck while operating an electric scooter in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.
Investigators say it was around 11:47 a.m. when the man was riding his scooter in the southbound bike lane on Central Avenue, and a Hino Box Truck also traveling southbound made a left turn to enter eastbound Palmetto Street. The man on the scooter hit the side of the truck and was thrown onto the street, where the truck’s rear tires then ran him over.
The operator of truck, a 33-year-old man, remained on the scene, while the 49-year-old was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation remains ongoing by the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad. No arrests have been made. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/49-year-old-electric-scooter-rider-dead-after-fatal-collision/3736569/ | 2022-06-16T08:40:58 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/49-year-old-electric-scooter-rider-dead-after-fatal-collision/3736569/ |
INDIANAPOLIS — Dr. Tim Kelly, the medical director of Addiction Treatment Services at Community Health Network, loves to swim.
"I saw a sign that said, 'Annual Event: Swim Around Key West.' And, that just stuck in my head like, that sounds like a blast," Kelly said.
It's not often what he does away from the office, helps those he treats.
"We've put together a team of swimmers — five of us who intend to swim around Key West, which is 12 and a half miles, in a relay to raise awareness and raise financial support for Dove Recovery House," Kelly said.
"We are the largest women's recovery residence here in the state of Indiana, and we're free," said Dove Recovery House CEO Wendy Noe. "We provide recovery housing and clinical support for women recovering from substance use disorder. Every night we house 40 women."
But the demand is higher.
"We're trying to add 15 beds to the existing 40 beds because there's a two-to-three-month waiting list," Kelly said. "Literally, people are suffering and even dying on the waiting list due to things like overdose and other complications of trauma, depression, anxiety, addiction that they all are struggling and dealing with."
Noe said there are currently 135 women waiting for a bed at Dove House. The recovery house is averaging more than 120 inquiries each month.
Kelly recruited a team of five swimmers, both amateur and elite, to complete the 12-mile swim Saturday. He said they've already raised around $13,000 for the 5,000-square-foot expansion project. The fundraising goal for the swim is $100,000.
Donations can be made online, here. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/community-health-network-doctor-swims-in-support-of-dove-recovery-house-indiana/531-fbe01c0c-7508-4e6a-8c27-b67ec283697a | 2022-06-16T09:18:31 | 0 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/community-health-network-doctor-swims-in-support-of-dove-recovery-house-indiana/531-fbe01c0c-7508-4e6a-8c27-b67ec283697a |
MUNCIE, Ind. — Inside the halls of Muncie's Northside Middle School, local law enforcement gear up for training.
This, however, is not typical training.
This is a nationwide program called Active Attack Integrated Response Training.
Sgt. Anthony Hurst with the Ball State University Police Department is one of the certified instructors.
"We face this, maybe not a school shooter scene in a school, but we face the evil every day," said Hurst. "So for us, it's a little bit more real."
Hurst is one of the instructors responsible for teaching and implementing this training for all public safety agencies in Delaware County.
"If we can help get officers and EMS and first responders to experience that here, should that day ever come, hopefully they have already experienced it in some realm that they can kind of think about it," said Hurst.
Hurst said the training starts in with a sit-down session to review response and communication plans.
"We even break it down as far as to say, 'As a law enforcement officer, chances are you are going to be the first one on scene,'" Hurst said. "So once you get in and the threat is no longer there, what can we do to start saving lives?"
Then it is time to go inside. Chief Jim Duckham said volunteer victims make the simulation even more realistic.
"The training was good for a 30-year police veteran to an officer that hasn't even gone to the police yet," said Duckham. "It's just really learning the basics of law enforcement."
Duckham said the training incorporates more than just police. It also includes EMS, fire and other local public safety agencies.
"Getting an understanding of what each other's roles will be, I think is really helpful for the entire response," said Duckham.
Hurst said another critical unit of AAIR training is local dispatch.
"We are giving them simulated calls," said Hurst. "We are allowing them to take radio traffic as we are dealing with things that are happening, and we've also got people who are calling the dispatchers while they are trying to monitor our traffic as well, because we all know, as soon as something happens, those phones are going to start going off."
This is a training program that organizers say they pray they never have to use.
"I am a father of a five-and-a-half-year-old daughter who is getting ready to start kindergarten in August. Being on this side of it and understanding the realism and the viability of something like this, definitely rests uneasy in the back of your mind," said Hurst.
Organizers describe this training as an "emotion and adrenalin dump."
"It's sad, actually," said Duckham. "That's the way you have to look at it, but we have to be prepared. You have to kind of take the emotion out of it, and you have to be prepared to respond and to do your job."
"It makes you uneasy," Hurst said, "but again, going back to understanding the realism and understanding the viability of something like this actually happening, being able to practice it gives you a little bit of confidence in knowing that should that day ever come, you, the other people you work with, the other agencies around our area, we've had some form of training in that."
Duckham said UPD conducts this kind of training year-round, but AAIR Training is usually hosted once a year. Organizers said around 100 people went through this year's training.
"Ultimately, our job, day in and day out is to provide a safety net of sorts to the public that entrusts us to serve them," said Hurst.
"We are trained," said Duckham. "We are ready. We are capable. Your children are in good hands with the Ball State Police Department." | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/delaware-county-indiana-safety-agencies-take-on-active-attack-training/531-6944763b-55c8-4183-9ead-422325994948 | 2022-06-16T09:18:37 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/delaware-county-indiana-safety-agencies-take-on-active-attack-training/531-6944763b-55c8-4183-9ead-422325994948 |
Cal Ripken Jr.? Dale Davis? Here are people behind the companies interested in Grand Park
The majority of the companies that expressed interest to Westfield about purchasing or operating Grand Park have a focus in sports and entertainment.
At least three of them have connections to former professional athletes in the NBA and the MLB.
Eighteen companies told Westfield earlier this year they planned to submit a bid to either purchase or enter a public-private partnership to operate the 400-acre sports campus. Nearly all of the companies made the April 1 deadline to inform the city of their intent. Only Eastern Sports Management missed the cut off.
The companies that made the deadline have until June 22 to submit their bids to the Westfield Redevelopment Commission. A committee will review the bids and an anticipated decision is expected mid-July, according to a provided timeline.
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IndyStar called and emailed all 17 companies to ask about their interest in Grand Park and what they would do if selected at the end of Westfield's process. Six of the companies responded.
The business interests of the organizations could indicate that sports will continue to be part of Grand Park’s future, even if Westfield no longer operates it.
"The city has done a really, really good job and did exactly what it was supposed to do in creating an economic driver not only for Westfield, but for the region," said Andy Card, owner and operator of Card & Associates and the Pacers Athletic Center, which is seeking to purchase Grand Park.
"It's my opinion ... the city's kind of brought it as far as it can go and now it's time for a private operator to take Grand Park to the next step and the next level that it can be."
The $49 million Grand Park Sports Campus opened in 2014. It includes 31 soccer fields, 26 baseball diamonds and other facilities. A $26 million indoor event center opened in 2016.
Here are more details on the companies that could submit bids for Grand Park.
Academy E
- Where it’s based: Indianapolis
- When it formed: September 2021
According to state corporation data, the registered agent of the Academy E is Tadd M Miller, who is the CEO of Milhaus, an Indianapolis-based development company. Milhaus’s website describes the company as a “mixed-use development, construction, and property management company.”
Academy E and the town of Whitestown are building a nearly 200,000 square foot sports facility as part of a multi-use project, Rob Laycock, president of the Academy E, wrote in March to Westfield director of enterprise development John Rogers. The residential part of the project would be developed by Milhaus, Laycock wrote.
Laycock declined to comment to IndyStar on the Academy E's interest in Grand Park.
Ambassador Enterprises
- Where it’s based: Fort Wayne
- When it formed: May 2006
Ambassador Enterprises is a private equity firm, which “actively seeks to buy companies, greenfield opportunities, and to partner with other like-minded leaders,” according to its website.
Sherry Grate, the former superintendent of Westfield Washington Schools, serves on the firm’s staff as the vice president of strategic initiatives.
"We believe in Grand Park and its impact on the Westfield community, local businesses, the central Indiana region, and the millions of people who visit the campus every year," a statement provided to IndyStar states. "It's a tremendous asset for Westfield and the area, and we want to keep ownership in Indiana."
Anytown USA
- Where it’s based: Illinois
- When it formed: February 2018
Anytown USA is a real estate development company centered on the youth sports industry, according to the LinkedIn page for Lou Tenore the company’s founder and CEO.
The company is interested in purchasing Grand Park, spokesman Jim Isch told IndyStar.
"It's our intention to operate it as an independent community sports asset. The only difference we would be from what it currently is is our plan is to invest money and to make it even a more premier sports asset in the U.S.," Isch said.
Anytown wants to build on what Westfield has done with the property, Isch said.
"We don't want to build a bunch of houses on that land," he said. "We want to take this sports facility and make it even better."
Bullpen Ventures
- Where it’s based: Westfield
- When it formed: August 2017
Bullpen Ventures' letter of intent submitted to Westfield is signed by owner and manager Ken Kocher.
Kocher is a member of Bullpen Tournaments, LLC, which runs the baseball operations at Grand Park. Bullpen Tournaments has previously been the subject of scrutiny in Westfield City Council discussions about Grand Park. The company was cited in a 2020 State Board of Accounts report that said Westfield did not properly approve or follow agreements with Bullpen Tournaments.
According to state corporation data, the vice president of Bullpen Ventures is Matt Saba, who serves as the director of operations and finance at Pro X Athlete Development. The president of Pro X Athlete is former major league baseball player Joe Thatcher, the nephew of Westfield Mayor Andy Cook.
Kocher did not respond to requests for comment from IndyStar.
Card & Associates
- Where it’s based: Westfield
- When it formed: June 2016
Card & Associates Athletic Facilities operates the Pacers Athletic Center at Grand Park and was one of the first private developers to come to the sports campus.
The company is planning a 270,000 square-foot field house it will operate in Lebanon.
Owner Andy Card said he has interest in purchasing the campus and continuing "the legacy."
"How I intend on doing that is by leveraging the relationships that we've created over the last 10, 11 years at the Pacers Athletic Center," Card said.
"In my opinion, the best chance for Grand Park to be all it can be? It needs to be a local owner that understands and has been here and just understands the continued potential of this facility and these grounds."
Confidential client of Cushman & Wakefield
- Where it's based: Unknown
- When it formed: Unknown
An Indianapolis-based director of real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield told Westfield in an email that a "confidential client" intends to bid on Grand Park.
IndyStar contacted the firm for additional details but received no response.
Indiana Metro Utility Supply and Technology
- Where it’s based: Indianapolis
- When it formed: September 2016
In an email, attorney Octavia Florence Snulligan wrote that Indiana Metro Utility Supply and Technology intends to bid on the Grand Park RFP “with several other partners.”
According to state corporation data, the CEO of the company is Gawen “Bonzi” Wells, who played basketball at Ball State and professionally in the NBA.
Snulligan did not respond to requests for comment from IndyStar.
Indy Sports and Entertainment
- Where it’s based: Indianapolis
- When it formed: October 2012
Emails between Westfield's director of enterprise development and Greg Stremlaw, president and CEO of the Indy Eleven soccer team, indicate that a new entity that is not Indy Sports and Entertainment will submit a bid on Westfield’s request for proposals.
A new entity of the development company the Keystone Group and “others” might partner on submitting a bid on Grand Park, according to Stremlaw’s emails.
Ersal Ozdemir, is the founder and chairman of Indy Eleven and the Keystone Group. The soccer team’s official north training center is Grand Park.
Stremlaw did not respond to requests for comment from IndyStar.
LakePoint Sports
- Where it’s based: Emerson, Georgia
- When it formed: July 2013
LakePoint Sports is a 1,300-acre sports campus outside of Atlanta. The campus features eight Major League-sized baseball fields, three multi-use fields, a 10-court beach volleyball pavilion and a three-lake wakeboarding park, according to the company’s website.
It also boasts a 170,000 square foot indoor center with a continuous wood floor that can hold 12 full-court basketball games or 24 full-court volleyball games.
IndyStar contacted LakePoint Sports for comment but received no response.
Legacy Sports Group
- Where it’s based: Westfield
- When it formed: January 2020
Legacy Sports Group is led by William Knox, the former director of Grand Park Sports Campus. The company has a services agreement with Westfield’s Redevelopment Commission to help the park with marketing and sponsorships.
According to Grand Park’s website, Legacy Sports Group has two staff members working for the sports campus.
The company wants to enter a public-private partnership to focus on the operations and management of Grand Park, Knox told IndyStar.
"Our goal is to as it relates to the response to the RFP is just to continue working with the park on evolution and growth in the future," Knox said. "That could be through our company itself or through other relationships, but we feel it's important to make sure that there's some history, a part of a team that would continue to operate the campus, such that it can continue to grow and do the things that it needs to do not only for the city of Westfield or central Indiana, but for the region."
Oak View Group
- Where it’s based: Los Angeles
- When it formed: June 2015
Oak View Group is led by Tim Leiweke, a veteran in the sports and music industry. Irving Axoff, a 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and longtime music manager, serves as a board member.
The company has nine divisions with focuses on subjects such as business development, arenas, facilities, media and conferences.
IndyStar contacted Oak View Group for comment and received no response.
ProPlayer Holdings
- Where it’s based: Atlanta, Georgia
- When it formed: June 2009
Former Indiana Pacers star Dale Davis is the CEO of ProPlayer Holdings.
The company in 2021 invested in a $20 million athletic facility in College Park, Georgia, according to media reports.
IndyStar contacted Davis for comment and received no response.
REV Entertainment
- Where it’s based: Arlington, Texas
- When it formed: February 2018
REV Entertainment manages events at the current and former stadiums for the Texas Rangers. Globe Life Field and Choctaw Stadium are both located in Arlington, Texas, but the company also works with sports and entertainment events and venues around the country, according to its website.
REV Entertainment spokesperson Madison Pelletier confirmed the company's "interest in and admiration for Grand Park," but said it would not comment on ongoing projects.
Ripken Baseball
- Where it’s based: Aberdeen, Maryland
- When it formed: June 1999
Ripken Baseball, run by former Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripken Jr. has locations in Maryland, South Carolina and Tennessee. The company runs youth baseball facilities.
In 2011, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that the company was looking to Indianapolis for potential expansion locations.
IndyStar contacted Ripken Baseball for comment and received no response.
Sports Facilities Companies
- Where it’s based: Clearwater, Florida
- When it formed: February 2019
The Florida company operates sports facilities in nearly 30 locations around the country. Sports Facilities Companies is comprised of advisory, management and development divisions that help communities “plan, fund, develop, or operate sports, recreation, entertainment and fitness centers,” according to its website.
IndyStar contacted Sports Facilities Companies for comment and received no response.
Sports Force Parks
- Where it’s based: Canton, Georgia
- When it formed: September 2019
Sports Force Parks centers on sports tourism and can perform feasibility studies, planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance of youth sports complexes, according to its website.
The company has a focus on public private partnerships. It has locations in Ohio and Mississippi.
IndyStar contacted Sports Force Parks for comment and received no response.
Venue Strategies
- Where it’s based: New York, New York
- When it formed: February 2019
Venue Strategies focuses on planning, development, financing and operations of sports venues and special event and entertainment centers, according to its website.
The company has completed private sector, public sector and university projects around the country.
IndyStar contacted Venue Strategies for comment and received no response.
Contact IndyStar's Carmel and Westfield reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter @CarloniBrittany. | https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/westfield/2022/06/16/grand-park-indiana-bidders-westfield-sports-entertainment/7488583001/ | 2022-06-16T09:40:22 | 0 | https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/westfield/2022/06/16/grand-park-indiana-bidders-westfield-sports-entertainment/7488583001/ |
As Southern Indiana explores new way of financing major highway, residents are wary
In Mayor Noel Harty's decade of attending public meetings in the Southern Indiana city of Loogootee, population 2,600, hardly anyone has ever shown up.
But in early 2020, a discussion of one highway project left standing room only in the Loogootee High School auditorium, which seats 600.
"And that was before the route was chosen," he said.
The kind of project they came out in droves to hear about is equally rare.
The Mid-States Corridor is a proposed 50-mile highway roughly following U.S. 231 with cost estimates near $1 billion, built for the express purpose of boosting economic activity in Southern Indiana. The only other comparable endeavor in the area in recent living memory is the I-69 project.
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It's also rare because, if approved, it would be the first time Indiana has used a new method of funding major highways, created by a 2017 law.
That law authorizes a Regional Development Authority — a public entity spanning multiple cities or counties whose appointed board helps plan and fund economic development projects — to directly leverage federal funding for regional transportation infrastructure projects, such as the Mid-States Corridor, which affects a 12-county region.
To get this process rolling, the RDA behind the Mid-States — rather than state agencies like INDOT, which typically initiates projects of this scale — raised money to pay for a thick federally required environmental study, which published this spring.
Local entities commonly seek federal grants to fund projects. This legislation grants the power to a collaboration of entities — the multiple local governments that formed the RDA, whose funding may come from a combination of public and private dollars — to seek federal money and partner with the state on regional highway projects, therefore expanding the RDA's ability to finance large-scale projects and leverage private dollars.
To industry leaders in Southern Indiana, the highway is a crucial means of reducing travel time to business centers and presenting a lifeline to a region that's losing population and needs better connectivity for jobs. To critics, it's an example of business leaders pitching their dollars toward a huge project that benefits them, at the expense of more than 1,000 acres of farmland, karst and cave areas and up to 100 homes.
At a Huntingburg city council meeting in February, Mark Schroeder, chair of the Mid-States Corridor RDA, told councilors he believes this partnership could be a model for future infrastructure projects.
Watching on YouTube, Mark Nowotarski, active in the Coalition Against the Mid-States Corridor, thought to himself, "What will be next?"
Origins of the Mid-States Corridor
The U.S. 231 corridor has been studied off and on since the 1990s.
In 1993, the Indiana Department of Transportation commissioned a study to identify ways to improve traffic service and capacity on the road within Dubois County, in the areas of Jasper and Huntingburg. The study came up with some bypass ideas, but none came to fruition.
In 2004, INDOT approved a draft Environmental Impact Statement — a federally required document investigating a project's costs and impacts to land and resources — for the same 20-mile span of U.S. 231.
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Doing nothing on this road would have fewer environmental impacts, the 2004 study noted, but would not be consistent with "the intended function of U.S. 231 as a regional mobility corridor and a commerce corridor."
A final Environmental Impact Statement was never approved or published. In early 2010, INDOT and the Federal Highway Administration decided to update the 2004 data in a new statement published in 2011.
In 2014, the federal government withdrew both the 2004 and 2011 studies, saying the project is "no longer warranted" after reevaluating the traffic information, according to the Federal Register notice.
But the effort to build a new highway only expanded.
The I-67 Development Corporation, a coalition of business leaders and elected officials, commissioned a feasibility study in 2012 of an interstate project that would connect Nashville to western Michigan, with one section spanning what is roughly now the proposed 50-mile Mid-States: starting at I-64, bypassing Huntingburg and Jasper to the east, and tying into I-69.
Cambridge Systematics, the author, interviewed industrial leaders to determine their transportation connection needs to improve freight movement in the region, arguing that an efficient network is essential to keeping Indiana competitive. The study specifically called out the benefits for companies like Jasper Engines and furniture manufacturers in the area.
In 2014, the I-67 corporation renamed that southern Indiana portion the Mid-States Corridor. Several corporation members — including Hank Menke, CEO of Jasper-based furniture manufacturer OFS Brands, and then-Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann — also participated in former Gov. Mike Pence's Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Infrastructure, which named the Mid-States Corridor a second-tier priority for the state.
But projects don't actually get built without the say-so of the state and federal transportation agencies.
Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, who is vice president of Jasper-based plumbing company Messmer Mechanics, authored Senate Bill 128, which became the law allowing an RDA to apply for federal money and partner with INDOT on funding regional transportation infrastructure projects.
Through a spokesperson, Messmer declined IndyStar's request for comment.
Dubois and Spencer counties and the cities of Jasper and Huntingburg formed the Mid-States Corridor RDA in 2017. The RDA struck up an agreement with INDOT in 2018 to embark on the environmental impact study process, a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act for projects expected to use federal dollars and have significant impacts to land and resources. INDOT contracted civil engineering consultant Lochmeuller Group to put together the draft Environmental Impact Statement, or DEIS, which published in April.
The study identifies two main purposes for the highway: to improve business and personal connectivity in the region, and to improve highway access to multi-modal business locations such as Indianapolis and Louisville. Relieving congestion in Dubois County, a key purpose of previous U.S. 231 studies, is now a secondary goal for the Mid-States.
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The preferred route identified in the study would save an estimated 2-5 minutes in travel time to most destinations, with the greatest savings of 9-15 minutes from the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center to Rockport. Business leaders interviewed for the study identified highway access, unpredictable delivery times and increased freight costs as key inhibitors to business growth and attraction, in a region where population growth has for decades lagged behind the state and nation.
The study projects an annual growth in the region's gross domestic product by somewhere between $314 million and $451 million and an increase of between 1,700 and 2,500 jobs, at the expense of potentially 600 to 900 acres of forest, 1,400 to 1,800 acres of farmland and 75 to 100 homes.
While acknowledging farmland as an important resource, the study says the economic benefits of the highway would "more than compensate for these impacts," through better market access and reduced transportation costs for supplies.
The calculation feels different for David Ring, fifth-generation owner of Ring Farms in Dubois County. Based on the map of the preferred route, his 140-acre plot where he grows award-winning bushels of corn would be spliced in half. In a market where not many farmers are looking to sell, he doesn't see the land as replaceable.
“That’s our livelihood," he said. "That land is our factory."
Business involvement in public infrastructure projects
Though the Mid-States is the first example in the state of an RDA undertaking the federal highway study process, it's certainly not the first example of such stakeholders having heavy involvement.
All projects of this scale involve stakeholder and public engagement. Local public agencies frequently participate financially in projects.
What's different in the 2017 law is the ability for this regional body to apply directly to the largest source of money available, the federal government, to strengthen their purchasing power on projects impacting multiple counties, rather than relying on state distributions. The law also allows an RDA to seek low-interest loans from the Indiana Finance Authority.
"It’s a leverage point," said Tom Guevara, director of Indiana University's Public Policy Institute. "It’s a new financing arrow in their quiver."
This is especially significant as President Joe Biden's new infrastructure law is set to significantly increase available federal money over the next five years.
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"I do think it has the potential to be a vehicle of the future that kind of represents how local dollars may be a part of the mix," Schroeder, the RDA chairman, told IndyStar. "The involvement of locals allows the state to stretch their dollars farther."
The RDA mechanism certainly can help raise the profile of a project that wasn't previously on INDOT's radar, said Purdue University Professor Emeritus Kumares Sinha. Schroeder acknowledged that was likely the case with this project.
This may make more transparent what is a common stakeholder relationship, Sinha said.
"The idea is nothing new, and it is good the local areas are buying in in a more explicit way, putting their money where their mouth is," he said.
The project proposal for a U.S. 231 bypass around Jasper and Huntingburg appeared in INDOT's State Transportation Improvement Program for 2010-13, a four-year planning document outlining projects that the state plans to help fund. Planning documents since then have not programmed dollars to study the corridor.
The RDA raised $6.5 million in public and private dollars, including inputs from Dubois County and the cities of Jasper and Huntingburg, to pay for the draft EIS. Private donors contributed $3.7 million, including nearly half a million from Jasper Engines. The list of private donors, a copy of which was obtained and authenticated by IndyStar, is heavily redacted, as state law allows those who donate to public agencies to request nondisclosure.
This does not guarantee the project's completion.
"The EIS just signals that somebody is willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars studying it," said Michael Hicks, economics professor at Ball State University. "Which, for roads, is background noise."
As mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, the draft EIS undergoes independent review by agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state historic preservation office, and others. The final decision on whether to proceed with the project comes from state and federal transportation officials.
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The fact that an RDA is the genesis of this project does not change that federally mandated process and criteria, Jason DuPont, Lochmeuller's project manager for the Mid-States Corridor, wrote via email.
Those transportation agencies know their decision must stand up to legal scrutiny, given that public dollars are at stake, said Ken Westlake, deputy director of the EPA's Office of Multimedia Programs.
"NEPA is intended to be a very transparent process," he said. "Ultimately INDOT and FHWA will have to stand behind their document."
Hicks similarly has confidence in the NEPA process, noting that the era of earmarks, which subjected public projects to the whims of powerful politicians, is long gone.
He has sat on independent EIS review teams, and said projects have to prove a broader economic benefit beyond the scope of just a few business interests to pass muster.
"It’s more bureaucratic now, but it introduces a very high level of scrutiny on the project that didn’t exist in the 1950s when many of these highways were built," he said. "If that road is just a benefit to somebody making wood products or shipping, it won’t get built. Because roads are expensive as all get-out."
Will the Mid-States get built?
Because of the size of the project, the funders decided to pursue a two-tier study. The first tier, published in April, gives a broad evaluation of the project's potential impacts. The second tier, yet unfunded, would get into specifics on smaller chunks of the project.
Each of those chunks could take years and cost about what the Tier 1 study cost, Schroeder said. No entity has committed dollars yet to Tier 2.
Generally, a project doesn't move to the end of the NEPA process unless there's an expectation it'll get funded, Westlake said. In the case of the Mid-States corridor, that could be in excess of $1 billion.
Key to the NEPA process is the public input, which independent reviewers are obligated to weigh. That public comment period, which ended June 14, was dissenters' best opportunity to have an impact.
Dozens of local businesses and environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Hoosier Environmental Council, penned a letter in 2020 urging INDOT to halt the planning of the project. The Coalition Against the Mid-States Corridor has written letters to INDOT and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, marched around the Dubois County courthouse and hosted several crowded town halls.
They don't want any more taxpayer dollars allocated toward future studies of a project they view as unnecessary, Nowotarski, a Jasper resident, said.
"We're trying to plant seeds early," he said.
From 2020: Businesses, groups call on INDOT to stop planning highway project
Dissenters were dubious of the need for building new highway terrain when Gov. Eric Holcomb announced last year $75 million in improvements on U.S. 231 in the exact stretch of the proposed Mid-States.
"This project represents ridiculous extravagance and fiscal waste on the part of the political leaders supporting this project,” Indiana Forest Alliance Executive Director Jeff Stant said in a statement following the April release of the draft EIS. “There is zero need — unless you own a trucking company — to build a new-terrain road right beside 231 when the state has already committed $75 million to upgrade to 231.”
Those upgrades were considered in the crafting of the DEIS, according to the Mid-States Corridor website.
Schroeder pushes back against the claim that just a few freight companies benefit from the highway, noting the list of donors spans a variety of organizations and people.
"Clearly, there’s a fair amount of industry in Dubois County, and better connectivity would certainly benefit them," he said. "But I think everyone who donated understands that this is a long-term strategy."
Given the length of the review process, even a successful project is at minimum a decade away.
"There’s certainly a lot of review that goes on," said Tim Maloney, senior policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council. "I guess we’re just more cynical."
Cynical, he said, of the objectivity of the premise of the project.
There's no denying the political nature to these major decisions, experts said.
"Everyone has a stake in it, everyone has an important argument to make," Guevara, of IU, said. "The question comes down to: whose argument do they give the greatest weight to?"
Ring, the farmer, is buoyed by the sea change in resident involvement he's observed over the last several years. Back then, when he tried to rile up his neighbors, he said he was often met with a jaded, it'll-happen-regardless attitude. But now, he's seeing a vocal contingent rising to meet his enthusiastic opposition.
"I think the momentum has shifted. Whether or not it’s enough, that’s the question," he said. "We’re not just laying down and dying."
Contact IndyStar transportation reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17. | https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/transportation/2022/06/16/mid-states-corridor-proposal-regional-development-authority/7501692001/ | 2022-06-16T09:40:28 | 1 | https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/transportation/2022/06/16/mid-states-corridor-proposal-regional-development-authority/7501692001/ |
TUPELO • Kelly Elliott has had to absorb a lot of information in his first two months on the job as head of one of the largest full-time fire departments in Northeast Mississippi.
“I think things are going good,” said the Pontotoc native hired as the Tupelo Fire Chief in early April. “I wanted to use the first two or three months to assess and evaluate the department to see where things stand.”
Although Elliott and his family are in the middle of moving their belongings from Jackson to Tupelo, the fire chief has spent the past two months in the All-America City on his own while his three sons finished the school year. That gave the reluctant bachelor the freedom to put in longer hours to study his department’s strengths and challenges.
Foremost, Elliott had to address the openings and the graying of the department. Because of a massive hiring spurt 25 years ago, a large number of firefighters now have enough years in the system to retire. Several veterans have stuck it out for another year, but hiring has been a priority.
“I have heard people say that once they heard (the new fire chief) was going to be me, instead of someone they had never heard of, they decided to hang around,” Elliot said.
Elliott is currently hiring five rookie firefighters, and he is still filling out his command staff.
“I am still missing a few members through retirement and moving on to the next stage in life,” Elliott said. “When I get the staff together, we will be able to put together a plan of what we want to accomplish, benchmarks of what we want to do – everything from one-year to a five-year plan.”
Part of that is also talking with the firefighters to see what they think the department is doing right and what they can do better.
“The firefighters are at the bottom of the inverted pyramid. They do the heavy lifting,” Elliott said. “As chief, I have to figure out how to support them and give them the resources – whether it is equipment or training – to do their job.”
Among the things Elliott would like to accomplish during his tenure is to establish a formal physical fitness program and to look into the possibilities of lowering the city’s fire insurance rating.
“Physical fitness is very important in firefighters,” he said. “If you look around, it is obvious we have a lot of folks in great shape. We have to work to make sure that is the case regardless of their stage of life. But I want to make sure that it’s not punitive, where they fear for their job.”
Elliott said he wants to ensure his employees are not only healthy enough to serve the city for decades but also in good enough shape to handle the rigors of fighting fires.
Improving the city’s current fire insurance rating of 4 will take quite a bit of work. The city has already ticked off the easy boxes. It has state-of-the-art fire trucks and a water system that can supply the pressure needed to fight fires.
“When you are a 4, the details matter. There are a lot of things we can do better,” Elliott said. “One of the big things the ratings bureau looks at is manpower. At the end of the day, they want you to have four men on a truck.”
Tupelo normally has three men on regular fire engines and four on its ladder trucks. More on each truck would mean Tupelo could get more personnel on the scene quicker, but hiring is costly.
“Then you have to look at things like fire prevention and code enforcement, and everything from the age of the hoses on each truck to response times,” he said. “There is a lot to consider.” | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/elliott-settling-in-to-role-as-tupelo-fire-chief/article_0420cacc-375e-5b3a-8d20-b693b33f5906.html | 2022-06-16T09:55:53 | 0 | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/elliott-settling-in-to-role-as-tupelo-fire-chief/article_0420cacc-375e-5b3a-8d20-b693b33f5906.html |
TUPELO • An uncaring family of crooks; a cruel and violent headmistress; a loving teacher with a secret past; and at the heart of it all, a little girl with a brilliant, powerful mind.
Tupelo Community Theatre will bring all of these beloved (and reviled) characters to life next weekend when they open "Matilda Jr.," their stage adaption of Roald Dahl's timeless children's novel, at the Lyric Theatre.
The show opens Thursday, June 23, at 1:30 p.m. and will run through Saturday, June 25, with a final matinee performance at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids and students.
Anne Frances Atkinson will portray the titular character, Matilda, a mischievous, ingenious child raised by terrible parents who gradually learns to harness an unusual power that makes her truly special.
As a Tupelo native and student at Tupelo Middle School, Atkinson has developed a love for theatre and starred in nearly 10 TCT productions so far.
"It's been really good but also stressful because this is my first main role," said the middle schooler about her leading role in the play. "I really like how strong her character is, but, also, she knows how to turn a frown upside down."
The kid-based summer production features young actors and actresses ranging in age from 9 to 18. Rehearsals began in May, so the cast has been working tirelessly to assemble the book-turned-movie-turned-play throughout the early summer.
A TCT veteran and rising freshman at Northwest Community College, Brice Stone said his role as Ms. Trunchbull has been challenging but fun to play.
"It's absolutely crazy because I have to completely transform into another person. It's someone that I'm not like physically or mentally," said the recent Saltillo High School grad. "We are not in the same head space in any form or fashion."
For those that haven't seen the 1996 film starring Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman and Mara Wilson, "Matilda" follows the journey of a brilliant young girl who is confined to a less-than-average life with her dim family members. However, she soon realizes her full potential and that her teacher, Miss Honey, and friends from school are more like family than her biological one.
Tupelo Community Theatre has a longstanding tradition of youth summer productions, including past performances of "Godspell," "The Little Mermaid Jr." and "The Lion King Jr."
Up next for the local thespian organization is their annual kids theatre camp beginning July 11. Additionally, the 2022-2023 TCT season will kick-off with Tony Award-winning musical "Once" on August 25.
To secure tickets for next weekend's production of "Matilda Jr.," call the Tupelo Community Theatre box office at 662-844-1935. | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/tupelo-community-theatre-presents-matilda-jr-next-weekend/article_8a415df7-440f-5f09-a404-1cbc84d4b5c3.html | 2022-06-16T09:55:59 | 1 | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/tupelo-community-theatre-presents-matilda-jr-next-weekend/article_8a415df7-440f-5f09-a404-1cbc84d4b5c3.html |
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Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/teen-shot-killed-in-mercedes-in-apparent-road-rage-in-center-city/3272626/ | 2022-06-16T10:23:48 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/teen-shot-killed-in-mercedes-in-apparent-road-rage-in-center-city/3272626/ |
What is the Boys & Girls Club of Volusia-Flagler? Here's what you need to know
It's hard to say just how many individual lives the Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia/Flagler Counties touched over the past three decades.
Since 2018, the organization has served, on average, 1,218 children each year, according to data from annual reports.
Currently, there are eight clubs: Rymfire Palm Coast; Jeep Beach Edgewater; Harris Saxon Deltona; Rossmeyer Family Holly Hill; Mid-Florida Jeep Lake Helen; Oretha Bell New Smyrna Beach; John H. Dickerson Daytona; and Lacey Family Spring Hill.
In 2021, each club had at least 100 members, according to the organization's annual report. The clubs operate 48 weeks each year with most of the clubs running from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. during the school year and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer.
'We save and change lives every day': Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia/Flagler celebrates 30 years
Membership costs $25 for the school year and $25 for the summer session, but if a family cannot afford it, Joe Sullivan, the organization's chief professional officer, won't let that stand in the way of a child joining.
"Most organizations like ours pretty much depend on government dollars or collecting fees," Sullivan said.
For the Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia/Flagler Counties, member fees don't make or break the organization.
Club member dues in 2021 made up just 1% of the revenue and support for the year. Government support amounted to about 50% while community support and donated facilities and in-kind services amounted to about 40% and nearly 9%, respectively.
Government dollars — including funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, and the American Rescue Plan Act — kept the organization afloat during the pandemic.
COVID-19:All of the COVID-19 stimulus bills, visualized
Sullivan is working on starting a club in Pierson and bringing a second club to Flagler County.
"We try to put our clubs where they’re needed the most," Sullivan said. "There’s a big need for what we do." | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/boys-girls-club-volusia-flagler-florida-thirty-years/7637392001/ | 2022-06-16T10:31:57 | 1 | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/boys-girls-club-volusia-flagler-florida-thirty-years/7637392001/ |
Mayor, Venice council members disagree on height, key issues in development rules
VENICE – Venice Mayor Ron Feinsod attempted to draw a proverbial line in the sand – actually a line 35 feet in the sky – on Tuesday.
He contended that 35 feet was the maximum building height desired by hundreds of people who have voiced their opinion at public meetings and more than a thousand who have signed a local petition.
“It's clear what the public wants – 35 foot to the peak of the building, noting above 35 feet, no height exceptions, period,” Feinsod said. “That’s what the public has asked for, over and over again, thousands of comments, signatures on petitions.
"Hundreds of people showing up to our meetings, that's what they want, I don’t know what the problem is.”
He added that he believed most people wanted no exceptions, including any decorative elements -- "no frou frou stuff, nothing.
"Why we cannot respect that, I fail to understand."
Related:Issues remain as Venice council schedules Monday workshop on land development regulations
In the debate over the building heights, the city's land development rules should allow, Venice Planning Commission Vice Chairman Bill Wilson countered that the input Feinsod referenced represented a only small percentage of all Venice residents.
“Mr. Mayor, I think we have 23,000 people, approximately, in this city and you’re saying a thousand or thousands – that means another 20,000 that you haven’t heard from,” Willson said. “So don’t speak for me, because I know as a citizen, a voting citizen how I feel.
“Don’t speak to me and say you’re representing me, because there’s lots of me out there.”
Feinsod countered, “If your people want to speak up, they should.”
Council members Mitzie Fiedler and Helen Moore both said they had heard from people who favored flexibility above 35 feet.
City regulations now allow for developers to ask for 10 additional feet over a 35-foot limit, with unlimited height for features such as stairwells and elevator shafts. Under proposed changes, the code would set 35 feet as the midpoint of a peaked roof and limit those features to 20% above the building height.
Fiedler said that whether the 35 feet should be measured from the top of the roofline or the midpoint amounted to arguing over “six feet of inhabitable space.”
Major points of contention remain
On the biggest points of contention – building height in the downtown core, limiting the square footage of commercial space in a planned-unit development and a merger of the Architectural Review Board and Historic Preservation Board – the council did not change its stance from its previous meeting on May 24.
Regarding the latter issue, Feinsod favored the merger of the two boards, with only Moore voicing opposition.
Because Council Member Joe Neunder resigned earlier Tuesday and Vice Mayor Nick Pachota was traveling and could not get a reliable WIFI connection to attend via Zoom, the council met with only five members.
The board did make some changes to the proposed code, including one regarding density bonuses awarded for developers who build affordable housing with those extra units. The commission created a 10-year window during which the rent of those units could not be increased. That passed 4-1, with Feinsod in dissent because he favored at least a 15-year window.
The new development regulations will also be revised so the amount of open space in a planned-unit development would need to remain in perpetuity, or for at least 99 years.
That change was inspired by two planned-unit development shifts in Northeast Venice – specifically the push to add pickleball courts to the Venetian Golf & River Club – and developer Pat Neal’s stated interest to put a supermarket-anchored shopping center at the corner of Jacaranda Boulevard and Laurel Road, in the Milando development.
Venetian Golf & River Club residents are going to appeal a Planning Commission decision to allow three pickleball courts to be built near the River Club.
Earlier: Neunder resigns Venice council seat
Approval still on track for the summer
If Feinsod could get his wish, the City Council will not approve the new development rules until October, after several more public workshops and multiple board meetings.
While that may still happen, his fellow board members continued to move on a timetable that could have the first reading of the revised regulations on June 28 and a second reading on July 12.
Feinsod has previously said he will not be at the July 12 meeting and considers that deadline rushed.
The board opted to host a public workshop at 5 p.m. June 22 to receive more public comment and then a special meeting at 8:30 a.m. June 24 to discuss the regulations among themselves.
Moore scoffed at the notion that the process had been rushed, saying, “Anyone who thinks this has been fast hasn't been paying attention for 4 ½ years.".
In other action
Also on Tuesday, the City Council:
• Directed staff to work with Charles Hines, program director of the Florida Gulf Coast Trail, on efforts to improve access from the Legacy Trail to the part of the trail that accesses North Port via Border Road.
• Heard an update from Public Works Director Charlie Mopps to address speeding concerns on Barcelona Avenue. Mopps said there were plans to stripe a pedestrian crossing of Barcelona Avenue at Park Boulevard North and to place double yellow stripes down the center of Barcelona, to prohibit passing. Mopps noted that the average measured speed on Barcelona is 26 mph – the speed limit is 25 mph – but motorists do speed and pass slower vehicles on that road.
Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune. | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/venice/2022/06/16/venice-florida-land-development-regulation-rewrite-spotlights-rift-city-council/7619442001/ | 2022-06-16T10:41:38 | 0 | https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/venice/2022/06/16/venice-florida-land-development-regulation-rewrite-spotlights-rift-city-council/7619442001/ |
18th annual Little Traverse CROP Hunger Walk scheduled for June 25
BAY VIEW — The annual CROP Hunger Walk will be held in-person on Saturday, June 25 in Bay View. This year, the walk will raise money to fight against disease, disaster, displacement and other challenges that leave people hungry.
Registration for the 18th annual Little Traverse CROP Hunger Walk begins at 8:30 a.m. in front of Evelyn Hall. The non-competitive walk starts at 9 a.m. and follows a three-mile course through Bay View. Refreshments, live music — even chair massages — are all a part of the event.
Walking is not required however. Participants can join simply by rocking on the porch of Evelyn Hall while enjoying live music. Rocking chairs provided. For those not in the area, contributions may be made online at www.crophungerwalk.org/petoskeymi.
CROP welcomes participation and support from everyone. Individuals, groups, families, children, strollers, and dogs on leash are all welcome. Donations to the 2022 CROP Hunger Walk support the overall ministry of Church World Service, especially grassroots, hunger-fighting development efforts such as Manna Food Project in the U.S. and around the world. CROP Hunger Walks help to provide food and water, as well as resources that empower people to meet their own needs.
Manna Food Project, Brother Dan’s Food Pantry, and the Harbor Springs Community Food Pantry have all received support from CROP Walk. Little Traverse CROP Hunger Walk has contributed over $100,000 to these local food banks over the past 17 years. Nearly $450,000 has been raised overall. This year’s goal is $30,000 in contributions. | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/entertainment/local/2022/06/16/18th-annual-little-traverse-crop-hunger-walk-scheduled-june-25/7632543001/ | 2022-06-16T10:42:36 | 0 | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/entertainment/local/2022/06/16/18th-annual-little-traverse-crop-hunger-walk-scheduled-june-25/7632543001/ |
Bay Harbor kicks off 20th annual In Water Boat Show this Friday
BAY HARBOR — A popular kick-off-to-summer event is slated to return to both the lawns and docks at the Bay Harbor marina this weekend.
The 20th annual In Water Boat Show kicks off this Friday, June 17 with around 50 different boats of all shapes, ages and sizes for enthusiasts to enjoy. The lawns will also have their share of boats and other activities for families and kids to enjoy.
"Even with the shortages we are facing around the world right now, we will still have a great show," said harbormaster Martin Leemaster.
"All the local guys like Walstrom Marine and Irish Boat Shop will be here and we will have sailboats, kayaks and all sorts of boats. Audi will be here with some cars, we'll have a helicopter, GEM cars and more. Most everything is nautical themed but our marina, lawns and dock will be full," he said.
The annual Father's Day Weekend event always strives to be family friendly, and this year is no different.
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Alongside the watercraft, there will be a tiki island obstacle course available for kids, live entertainment with the Waterbaby Brass Band and Chris Calleja and more.
"We have all sorts of things going on and this is all paired with all of Bay Harbor's new stores and restaurants that people can check out as well," said Leemaster.
Leemaster also took time to look back over the event's 20 years and is glad the Village of Bay Harbor has been able to keep it going for so long.
"I'm glad we are able to do this. We have the location for it and it really helps us have a fun way of kicking off the season as people get up this way," he said.
"Since we started it, it's become the biggest show like this in the Great Lakes area and we want to keep that going. Especially so as our venue is sitting on beautiful Lake Michigan. It's really special."
This weekend's 20th annual In Water Boat Show in the Village of Bay Harbor takes place noon-8 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday. The event and parking are free and the event is open to anyone and everyone of all ages.
More information and event specifics can be found online at www.bayharbor.com.
Contact reporter Sean Miller at smiller@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @seanmillerpnr, and Instagram, @sean_everest. | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/entertainment/local/2022/06/16/bay-harbor-celebrates-20th-annual-water-boat-show-friday/7632762001/ | 2022-06-16T10:42:42 | 1 | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/entertainment/local/2022/06/16/bay-harbor-celebrates-20th-annual-water-boat-show-friday/7632762001/ |
ODESSA, Texas — As of 3:00 a.m., the Odessa Water Plant has turned back online.
This plant is currently pressurizing. The residents in the lower elevations of the city have seen water come through, however it is taking longer than expected to get water in the higher elevations of the city.
The City of Odessa hope to have these areas restored later this morning. Once the system is fully restored, the 24-hour time frame required ensure that the water is safe can begin.
The city must make sure there is no bacteria in the water before lifting the boil water notice. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/odessa-water-plant-turns-back-online-and-begins-pressurizing/513-0ac41eda-dea0-4437-9e53-db31f0a5e7d2 | 2022-06-16T11:08:25 | 0 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/odessa-water-plant-turns-back-online-and-begins-pressurizing/513-0ac41eda-dea0-4437-9e53-db31f0a5e7d2 |
PrideFest is back in Providence after a two-year pause. What you need to know
Get ready, Rhode Island: PrideFest is back. After a two-year hiatus amid the pandemic, the fun returns Saturday. Here's everything you need to know.
When and where is PrideFest in Rhode Island?
The festival kicks off at 1 p.m. at Providence's Innovation District Park, which is the riverfront area around the pedestrian bridge. You're familiar with it if you've ever visited Providence Flea or downed some suds at the pop-up beer garden. You can enter either at Dyer Street or via the bridge. Events wrap at 7 p.m.
Who will perform at RI's PrideFest in 2022?
The better question is who won't. Raymond Davis, president of Rhode Island Pride, which organizes the festival, highlighted two performers in particular, Ada Vox and Pangina Heals.
Vox, a two-time American Idol contestant, first competed in the show without her costume or her stage name, arriving as Adam Sanders. Having been eliminated, Vox returned in makeup and heels, advancing to the top 10. In 2021, she become a runner-up in Ru Paul's Queen of the Universe, a drag queen contest featuring real singing rather than the lip syncing for which some Ru Paul competitions are famed.
"She's a powerhouse singer," Davis said. "You'll be blown away."
Last year's Pride celebration:Rain doesn't dampen spirits at RI Pride's first celebration in two years
But that's not all. Heals, a host and judge on Drag Race Thailand – a show based on the American version – is described by Davis as "basically the Ru Paul of Thailand." Davis noted that EGO Providence, an area nightclub, was "instrumental" in bringing Heals to the city.
A slate of other performers will take the stage throughout the day, including Rhode Island pop rockers The Dust Ruffles, singer Willie Gomez, who was once Britney Spears' backup dancer, and Boston drag star DJ Coleslaw. See a full schedule of events here.
What else is there?
Aside from entertainment, the festival is advertising more than "200 vendors in the business marketplace, social resource organizations, food trucks," a beer, wine and spirits garden for adults and a Hasbro kid's zone for the little ones.
What about the Pride parade?
Stick around after the festival concludes to see the Illuminated Night Parade, the only night parade in New England. Rhode Island Pride boasts a "dazzling display of brightly lit-up floats, performing artists, marching groups, businesses and tens of thousands of spectators." The best spot to watch is near the Providence Performing Arts Center on Weybosset Street.
Wait 'til you hear our rank:Providence is among the best places to live says US News.
How about the afterparty?
Providence punches above its weight in gay clubs and bars. Sip a cocktail at The Stable, dance at the Providence Eagle, check out the aforementioned club EGO, The Dark Lady, or its neighbor, the Alley Cat. Many are hosting their own pride celebrations. | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/everything-to-know-providence-pride-2022/7622466001/ | 2022-06-16T11:20:11 | 1 | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/everything-to-know-providence-pride-2022/7622466001/ |
PLEASANTVILLE — City Council will discuss the Midtown Neighborhood Plan at its June 22 meeting at 6:30 p.m., according to a city news release issued Wednesday.
The plan is an initiative of the Pleasantville Housing & Redevelopment Corporation, in conjunction with the city, to launch revitalization projects for Pleasantville’s Midtown neighborhood. The state Department of Community Affairs would award the corporation a grant to launch the revitalization project through its Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit program.
Midtown, as defined in the plan, is bounded by the Atlantic City Expressway to the north, the West Atlantic City section of Egg Harbor Township to the east, Bayview Avenue to the south and U.S. Route 9 to the west.
Pleasantville Housing Authority Executive Director Vernon Lawrence, who is also a member of the Pleasantville Housing & Redevelopment Corporation, expressed optimism about the plan.
“We are preparing a community-based plan that will guide future investments in the City,” Lawrence said in the news release.
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A neighborhood revitalization committee of business owners and residents has met several times over the last year to help design the plan. Other important entities in the community, such as AtlantiCare, the Atlantic County Improvement Authority and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority have also weighed in on the plan, offering advice and funding.
A town hall on the redevelopment plan was held in January. Residents and business owners, along with city and school district officials, discussed the possibility of using the funds to grow workforce readiness programs and to teach technological literacy. They also suggested the funds could be used to make city sidewalks and bike paths more navigable or to provide more recreational opportunities for children.
The council deliberations on the Midtown plan comes in the wake of the city’s other recent efforts to help rejuvenate local communities. The state awarded Pleasantville a Neighborhood Preservation grant last year to help to improve Main Street. City officials used the grant to enhance streetlights, paint murals, add flower pots and launch a farmers market, improvements to benefit the surrounding community.
Mayor Judy Ward said in the news release that the two projects were complementary.
“(We) are building on the success of our Downtown Neighborhood Preservation Program to improve the City of Pleasantville,” said Ward. She also credited the state for its "continued support and interest" in Pleasantville.
Under the NRTC program, established in 2010, non-profit entities execute revitalization plan on behalf of low or moderate-income neighborhoods after their revitalization plans obtains state approval. Those entities must use at least three-fifths of the tax credits they receive on housing and projects that promote “economic development,” according to the DCA website page for the program. The remainder of the funds can be spent on other revitalization measures, such as small-business assistance, and promoting integrated, mixed-income neighborhoods. The city news release specified that the funds can also be spent on crime prevent, infrastructure improvements and recreation projects.
“The NRTC Program helps turn the tide on some of New Jersey’s most distressed neighborhoods,” Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who is also DCA commissioner, said in an earlier state news release quoted by the city. “The improvements that result from this program not only transform communities, they transform lives.”
The improvements that result from this program not only transform communities, they transform lives,” A total of $15 million in NRTC funds annually and each applicant may receive up to $985,000.
Contact Chris Doyle | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/pleasantville-city-council-to-deliberate-on-midtown-neighborhood-plan/article_84db23a6-ecdc-11ec-8dac-afdcd4981d60.html | 2022-06-16T11:25:48 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/pleasantville-city-council-to-deliberate-on-midtown-neighborhood-plan/article_84db23a6-ecdc-11ec-8dac-afdcd4981d60.html |
After the individual girls wrestling state tournament in February, Gracie Cordasco planned to take a year off before returning to the mat.
That did not last too long.
“I realized I really do want to continue and pursue my wrestling career, so taking the gap year wasn’t my best option if I want to continue wrestling,” Cordasco said.
Cordasco signed a national letter of intent Tuesday, one day before her Southern Regional High School graduation, to continue her athletic and academic career at the University of Mount Olive, an NCAA Division II program in North Carolina. She received a partial academic and athletic scholarship.
Cordasco received other offers but she chose Mount Olive because the coaching staff and school were very friendly and made the process easier. Also, other girls from New Jersey, including three from Jackson Memorial, have committed there.
Choosing to wrestle in college was a collective decision made among herself, her family and coaches, Cordasco said.
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“I’m just super, super excited,” said Cordasco, 18, of the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township. “I really didn’t think any of this would happen. I’m just really proud of myself for coming and getting myself together and finally standing up and going to college.”
As of January, there were 114 women’s wrestling college programs, according to Wreaper Wrestling, an online database for female wrestling. That total includes 57 NCAA team — three in Division I, 21 in D-II and 33 in D-III — plus 44 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics teams, 13 National Junior College Athletic Association teams and five women’s wrestling clubs.
The 2022-23 season will be the first for Mount Olive. The Trojans will compete in the Conference Carolinas under coach Dan Willis, who joined the university in 2020 as an assistant on the men’s wrestling team.
“Girls wrestling is growing, and that is great because it gives these girls an opportunity to continue to wrestle,” Southern coach Dan Roy said.
PHILLIPSBURG — When debating who are some of the top wrestlers in the state, many names come…
Cordasco was the first female wrestler for Southern and now is the first to move on to collegiate wrestling. As a senior, she finished third at the South Region. She also placed fourth among the top six medalists at the state tournament. She won her weight class at the Brick Memorial Tournament and was second at Shore Conference Wrestling Tournament.
Cordasco, a first-team Press All Star, was the first girls wrestler to place at states (top six) for Southern.
“She is a great role model for the girls coming up in the program,” Roy said. “Nothing was given to her. She dealt with some adversity.”
As a freshman, Cordasco placed fourth at the regional tournament, just missing a medal (the top three advanced to the state tournament). As a sophomore, she underwent hip surgery and did not compete at regions. As a junior, she missed regions again after testing positive for COVID-19 the previous week.
“For her to get through this season and do what she did is a great achievement,” Roy said. “Her willingness to not give up and move forward and work hard, it is paying off for her. She did everything the guys had to do. The workouts. The practices. We didn’t treat her any different.”
Girls at Southern can look at Cordasco and know wrestling in college is possible, Roy said.
“It’ll help more girls participate in wrestling, especially at our school,” Roy said. “It’s just going to get bigger. I’m proud of everything she accomplished. I’m really proud she can move on and compete in college.”
Numbers increasing
In 2018, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association sanctioned girls wrestling. Since then, the sport has rapidly grown across the state. This past winter, about 230 female wrestlers competed in the South Region tournament compared to around 80 in 2021.
Last month, the NJSIAA officially sanctioned girls wrestling as a separate sport, allowing schools that have all-girl teams can compete in dual matches, have team tournaments and their own regulations.
More high school girls are likely to come out for the sport next winter. The number of Cape-Atlantic League female wrestlers doubled from 2020-21 to this past season.
“I am very, very excited,” Cordasco said. “I’m very, very happy. More girls are feeling confident and ready to step on the mat, and I think that is amazing. I think it’s really cool. A lot of younger girls, like elementary and middle school girls, are starting up now.”
Now, though, Cordasco will join an all-women’s team for the first time.
“I’m just going to keep training hard, and hopefully my abilities are up to the standard of college wrestling,” Cordasco said. “And if they aren’t, I’m going to work harder to make sure they are.” | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/highschool/gracie-cordasco-first-female-wrestler-in-southern-regional-history-to-sign-with-college-program/article_e670bc06-ebf7-11ec-8434-734136204f33.html | 2022-06-16T11:25:54 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/highschool/gracie-cordasco-first-female-wrestler-in-southern-regional-history-to-sign-with-college-program/article_e670bc06-ebf7-11ec-8434-734136204f33.html |
HONEY GROVE, Texas — An AMBER alert was issued Thursday morning for a 13-year-old girl who went missing in Honey Grove, about 90 miles northeast of Dallas.
Police said Kionna Braxton hasn't been seen since 1:40 p.m. Tuesday. At that time, she was on Elm Street near Highway 82.
According to Honey Grove police, Kionna is a Black girl standing at almost 5 feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds. She has brown eyes and had blondish-brown braids when she was last seen.
Before she went missing, police say Kionna was wearing an orange and white cheerleading outfit and Crocs with the colors blue, orange and red.
Anyone with any information about the 13-year-old should call 911 or the Honey Grove Police Department at 903-378-2222.
Honey Grove is a town of about 1,600 people, located between Paris and Bonham along Highway 82.
Other news: | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/amber-alert-honey-grove-texas-missing-child-13-year-old-girl/287-19ca0261-b458-4d07-96ee-c0ce3a704b00 | 2022-06-16T11:43:11 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/amber-alert-honey-grove-texas-missing-child-13-year-old-girl/287-19ca0261-b458-4d07-96ee-c0ce3a704b00 |
After a hearing into concerns about three warehouses planned for the site of the former Air Products headquarters in Upper Macungie lasted more than three hours, residents will get another chance to let township officials know what they think next week.
A developer wants to demolish Air Products and Chemicals’ old headquarters, 7201 Hamilton Blvd., and replace it with three warehouses that would total over 2.6 million square feet, or 61 acres of the 235-acre property.
The logistics real estate company Prologis, which owns dozens of properties in the Lehigh Valley, would own the warehouses.
Residents have seized on township hearings, and the approvals process, for their chance to influence the project: “Public input could make the difference of what is developed,” a post from the Facebook group Upper Macungie Community stated.
The main concerns are possible increases in traffic, accident risk and storm water runoff impacting neighboring properties, according to Township Manager Bob Ibach.
The developers gave testimony about the project to the Zoning Hearing Board and answered questions at a meeting that began June 8. That meeting will continue 6:30 p.m. at the township building, 8330 Schantz Road.
Ibach said the redevelopment is still in the approval process and construction won’t likely start this summer.
Air Products spokesperson Art George said it’s too early to estimate what the total cost would be of the project, when the former headquarters would be demolished and when warehouse construction would begin.
To address concerns about traffic and accidents, George said Air Products would add a section to Cetronia Road to mitigate road flooding, add extensive parking to mitigate congestion off of the property, and create berms and landscape screening to give nearby property owners privacy.
“The steps we are taking now are aimed at the responsible redevelopment of our former industrial property,” he said. “In pursuing the sale of our former headquarters property, we want to be responsive to our former property neighbors, the surrounding community, and the township.”
First Call
The project “is a disaster waiting to happen,” according to Percy Dougherty, a former Lehigh County commissioner and member of a committee of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission that looked at the proposal. “The traffic problems here are insurmountable in my opinion.”
The warehouses are expected to be in operation in 2024 and create more than 3,600 vehicle trips per day, according to a traffic impact study conducted by the Pidcock Co. in late March.
The study states the company examined 544 intersections within three miles of the proposed development, claiming to find that the traffic impact from the new warehouses would be negligible on the area.
Air Products’ new headquarters was constructed in 2021 alongside Mill Creek Road, about a mile away from the original site. | https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-air-products-redevelopment-20220616-z7xf2we3pvhlzlj3lgqi46ejpy-story.html | 2022-06-16T11:54:45 | 1 | https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-air-products-redevelopment-20220616-z7xf2we3pvhlzlj3lgqi46ejpy-story.html |
Restaurants across North Texas are helping families celebrate Father's Day with brunches, lunches, and dinners for dine-in or to-go.
FATHER'S DAY MEAL DEALS IN DALLAS-FORT WORTH
Bar Louie
Guests at this restaurant with locations across North Texas can enjoy $2 mimosas until 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Blue Mesa Grill
This Mexican restaurant with locations in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Plano is offering a brunch buffet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Menu items include Belgian waffles, chicken and waffles, an omelet bar, a carving station, and more. The meal costs $30 per person. Children ages six to 11 can eat for $7, and children ages five and under eat for free.
Bulla Gastrobar
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Guests can celebrate dad on Sunday, June 19 with a special three-course prix fixe menu starting at 10 a.m. Fathers will receive a $20 gift card to use on their next visit.
El Chingon
This Fort Worth Tex-Mex eatery is offering a $60 meal special with a molcajete bowl and a beer tower from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 19. The regular menu is also available.
Fearing’s
This Southwestern restaurant inside the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas is hosting a Father’s Day Backyard Bash with a prix fixe menu on Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will involve live music, cigar rolling, mini desserts, and face painting for children, and it will cost $125 for adults, $85 for vegetarians, and $45 for children.
Fiatto
Guests at this Italian restaurant in Dallas can enjoy a three-course meal on Father's Day that will cost $39 per person. The menu will include items like calamari and antipasti vegetables, meat gravy with meatballs, sausage, pork shoulder, spaghetti, fettuccine cacio e pepe, and cannoli. An optional wine pairing is available for an additional $29 per person
Fogo de Chao
This Brazilian steakhouse is offering a to-go meal that includes a choice of fire-roasted meats, sides, brownies, and more. The meal serves six people and costs $140. Orders must be placed online at least 24 hours in advance, and pick-up is all day on June 18 or by 10:30 a.m. June 19. The restaurant is will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Haywire
This restaurant in Plano is offering a brunch buffet on Sunday that will cost $48.95 for adults, $19.95 for children ages nine to 13, and $12.95 for children ages five to eight. Kids under four eat for free. The meal will feature hearty breakfast selections, a Texas seafood bar, carving station, taco station, decadent desserts, and more.
LAW Restaurant
Guests at this Irving restaurant can enjoy a brunch buffet on Sunday that will cost $125 for adults and $55 for children under 12. The meal will feature a cereal bar, a deli station, seafood, and meat carving stations, a smoked salmon bar, an omelet station, and more.
Legacy Hall
This food hall in Plano is hosting a brunch with blues music and complimentary liquor tastings for fathers on Sunday.
Nuri Grill
This Korean restaurant in Dallas is offering Father's Day drink specials from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Specials include an East Texas Old Fashioned for $10 and 25% off all whiskeys on the menu.
Pluckers Wing Bar
This wing bar with locations across North Texas is celebrating Father's Day by letting all dads eat for free on Sunday.
The Ranch at Las Colinas
Guests at this Irving restaurant can enjoy a brunch buffet on Sunday that will cost $44.95 for adults, $18.95 for children ages nine to 13, and $10.95 for children ages five to eight. Kids under four eat for free. The event will involve an 11-station buffet of made-from-scratch, farm-to-fork selections that demand a Texas-sized appetite. Dads can also enjoy the three-piece band on the patio and a menu of 12 different craft beers made in Texas.
Sfuzzi
This Dallas restaurant is serving a Father's Day brunch involving pizzas, craft cocktails, a breakfast calzone, blueberry ricotta pancakes, and a bacon and egg croissant on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The first 100 dads will also receive a free custom golf ball.
SusieCakes
This bakery with locations in Dallas and Fort Worth is offering a Father’s Day cupcake box with four assorted festive cupcakes, a DinoDad Cake, and more through June 19.
III Forks
Guests at this Frisco restaurant can enjoy a $29 boneless ribeye with whipped potatoes, sugar snap peas, cream corn, tomatoes, and spring onions on Sunday.
Tarrant Area Food Bank
In the midst of food and donation shortages and a lack of volunteers, the Tarrant Area Food Bank is finding a way to make dads feel appreciated on Father's Day. The TAFB has partnered with multiple brands to create the first ever Dinner for Dads, a new event that will provide families all they need for a Father's Day cookout. Dinner for Dads meal pickup will take place Thursday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. There will be approximately 1,200 meals available for pickup in the Yellow Lot from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
Toussaint Brasserie
This French-inspired restaurant in Dallas is offering a Father’s Day brunch special featuring steak and eggs with roasted potatoes, mushrooms, and a whiskey demi-glace. A dinner special featuring a blackened ribeye with shrimp and root hash and a tomato demi-glace is also available. Guests who add a beer flight with Pegasus Brewery beers will get a complimentary six-pack to take home.
Truluck’s
This seafood and steak restaurant with locations in Dallas and Southlake is offering a Father’s Day special of tenderloin medallions with lobster and smoked salmon with a baked potato for $125 on June 19 from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. The regular menu will also be available.
Whiskey Hatchet
This Dallas bar is offering free ax throwing for dads on Father’s Day. The regular menu is available. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dfw-restaurants-offering-brunches-dinners-and-meal-deals-for-fathers-day/2992887/ | 2022-06-16T11:54:45 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dfw-restaurants-offering-brunches-dinners-and-meal-deals-for-fathers-day/2992887/ |
Philadelphia police said two men in their late teens are dead after a shooting in the Kingsessing section of the city early Thursday morning.
Officers found a 19-year-old man shot inside of a home on the 5400 block of Ridgewood Street, and an 18-year-old man shot in an alley nearby. Police said it happened shortly before 1:30 a.m.
Police said witnesses told investigators the 19-year-old victim was shot while on the porch, then ran inside.
Officers found the 18-year-old about 200 feet away in an alley on the opposite side of Ridgewood Street. Police said he was shot multiple times in his torso.
The responding officers rushed the two men to Presbyterian Medical Center, however, they both died a short time later.
"At this time it is unclear what relationship, if any, exists between the 18-year-old and the 19-year-old," Inspector D. F. Pace said.
Seven or eight other people, including a small child, were inside of the home at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but no one else was injured.
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Witnesses spoke with homicide investigators as police tried to figure out details about the shooting. Pace said investigators will review several cameras in the area to hopefully help in the investigation.
Entering Thursday, there were at least 229 homicides in Philadelphia this year, down 7% from the same time last year which was ultimately the deadliest in the city on record.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/2-young-men-shot-killed-outside-kingsessing-home/3272663/ | 2022-06-16T11:55:13 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/2-young-men-shot-killed-outside-kingsessing-home/3272663/ |
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Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/two-young-men-shot-killed-near-philly-home/3272655/ | 2022-06-16T11:55:20 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/two-young-men-shot-killed-near-philly-home/3272655/ |
100 years ago
June 16, 1922: Officers J.S. "Sol" Jones, of the Illinois State Reformatory in Pontiac, was killed by an inmate, Byron Corbridge. Corbridge reportedly beat Jones to death with a piece of 2-inch gas pipe, then calmly walked out and told other inmates that he would murder them if they "squealed" on him. Jones was married with a baby; he had moved to Pontiac two years earlier from Chenoa.
75 years ago
June 16, 1947: No performance of the American Passion Play, Bloomington's religious drama of the life of Christ, has ever been canceled because of injury or accident, director Aaron Brooks told the Kiwanis Club. It has been performed more than 250 times, with about $40,000 having been invested in the scenery. Brooks estimated more than 350,000 people from across the country had seen it.
50 years ago
June 16, 1972: The Illinois State University board approved proceeding with $5.9 million in contract awards for the university's new library. ISU vice president Eric Johnson told the board that construction of the new library could begin by early July, with construction expected to take two years. The state appropriated $8 million for the library in 1970, but that was later cut to $7.2 million by Gov. Richard Ogilvie.
25 years ago
June 16, 1997: This summer, the 20th anniversary of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, will be the last for the wooden theater built next to Ewing Manor when the festival first began. The new facility, with a $1.5 million cost raised through donations, will feature a larger, fan-shaped stage, more spacious backstage area, restrooms and about 500 comfortable chair-backed seats. The current capacity is about 390 seats.
Compiled by Pantagraph staff | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/100-years-ago-pontiac-reformatory-guard-killed-by-inmate/article_00f01810-eccf-11ec-8df3-57feb050cb94.html | 2022-06-16T12:11:31 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/100-years-ago-pontiac-reformatory-guard-killed-by-inmate/article_00f01810-eccf-11ec-8df3-57feb050cb94.html |
COVID-19 cases continue to rise in New Mexico during June
Vaccines for younger children could come as soon as next week
New Mexico's known COVID-19 cases continue to trend upward, according to weekly epidemiology reports, while data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show increased transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus over most of the state.
A total of 6,357 cases reported between June 6 and June 13 continues a jump that started the previous week with 6,104 cases reported.
Grant County, which has been a hotspot for transmission in recent weeks, saw the highest number of infections adjusted for population in the state, with 82.5 per 100,000 people, far greater than surrounding southern New Mexico counties.
After Grant County, infections were highest per population in Santa Fe County, at 64.8 per 100,000.
The per-population adjustment is used to compare counties with populations of varying size in a state that includes densely populated metropolitan areas and extensive rural areas.
Reported daily cases are generally accepted as an undercount of the number of infections as residents have come to rely on home-based tests over lab-confirmed PCR tests. Among the latter, New Mexico reported a positivity rate of nearly 12 percent during the last week of May.
A heat map maintained by the CDC showed 30 of New Mexico's 33 counties at substantial to high rates of transmission Wednesday, based on known daily case rates and test positivity.
Besides the known cases, the percentage of emergency department visits with COVID-19 discharge diagnoses has risen sharply since April, topping 5 percent of all ED visits for symptoms consistent with SARS-CoV-2 or influenza infection.
More:Anthony Fauci tests positive for COVID-19
The state's hospital network reported a slight week-over-week increase to 122 hospitalizations over the past week. During the week of May 30 to June 5, the most recent data reported, hospitalizations for COVID-19 were densest in San Miguel County when adjusted for age and population, at 17.7 per 100,000. In the southern part of the state, Luna County led in hospitalizations at 14.2 per 100,000.
On Wednesday, the state reported 165 hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, of whom 17 were on ventilators.
The day's reported cases were 1,132. While the majority of positive cases recover with mild to moderate symptoms of disease, 7,869 cases (1.4 percent of the total) had proven fatal as of Wednesday.
Vaccines against COVID-19 continue to be available for free and can be located online at https://vaccinenm.org.
According to the state health department's vaccine data portal, as of its last update on June 7 over 1.3 million New Mexico adults had completed a primary course of vaccine, or 78.8 percent of those ages 18 and over. However, despite rising cases being attributed in part to waning immunity, only 60.6 percent had received at least one booster shot.
Want a COVID shot in New Mexico? Here's a refresher on vaccines and boosters.
Among younger residents, over 61 percent of those between ages 12 and 17 had completed a primary course, while 34 percent had received a booster. Among ages 5 to 11, 32.4 percent had completed a primary course and 6.6 percent had received a booster.
Vaccines for children as young as 6 months old took another step toward authorization Wednesday, when a Food and Drug Administration panel voted in favor of authorizing vaccines manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for young children.
As reported by USA Today, the votes require approval by the FDA commissioner and then by the CDC. If those approvals come through, vaccine doses would be ready for distribution as soon as next week.
Besides vaccines, health officials have recommended frequent handwashing, physical distance from non-household members and wearing a well-fitting N95 or KN95 mask in public indoor settings as ways to slow community spread and protect others. While recommended, indoor mask mandates were lifted in most public spaces in February.
Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/06/16/covid-19-cases-continue-to-rise-in-new-mexico-during-june/65361211007/ | 2022-06-16T12:12:10 | 0 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/06/16/covid-19-cases-continue-to-rise-in-new-mexico-during-june/65361211007/ |
1 arrested after Mustangs stolen from Flat Rock plant; 3 recovered in Detroit
Flat Rock — One man has been arrested in connection with the theft of four or five 2022 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500s from an assembly plant early Thursday, Michigan State Police said.
Three of the vehicles have also been recovered, they said.
Flat Rock police called state police at about 3:20 a.m. Thursday to get help to stop the thieves, who fled onto northbound Interstate 75 in the vehicles. Police saw them trying to put fuel in the vehicles, but they drove off when they saw the officers.
Officials said the police didn't pursue the cars and state police spotted them on I-75 at Schaefer in Detroit. Troopers tried to stop the Mustangs, but the drivers continued to flee.
They then singled out one of the Mustangs and pursued it until it ran out of gas on westbound Interstate 96 near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
State police said the driver of the vehicle drove it up the freeway's grass embankment. A trooper blocked the car from rolling back onto the freeway with the front of his patrol car.
Troopers then took the Mustang's lone occupant into custody without incident and transported him to the Detroit Detention Center.
Investigators later received a call from a tow truck driver that an orange Shelby GT500 Mustang had been abandoned on northbound I-75 near Livernois. Police said they believe the vehicle ran out of fuel.
Officials said Detroit police found a third Mustang, a red one, abandoned on Warren Avenue near 30th street. They said they also believe the car ran out of gas.
All three vehicles are being processed for evidence.
State police said Flat Rock police are investigating the suspect who was taken into custody.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @CharlesERamirez | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2022/06/16/1-arrested-after-mustangs-stolen-flat-rock-plant-3-recovered-detroit/7644527001/ | 2022-06-16T12:25:46 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2022/06/16/1-arrested-after-mustangs-stolen-flat-rock-plant-3-recovered-detroit/7644527001/ |
BRADFORD COUNTY, Pa. — According to Pennsylvania 511, a multi-vehicle crash shut down a stretch of Route 220 near Athens for about two hours.
Reports of the crash came in just after 11:30 Wednesday night.
Authorities have not said how many vehicles were involved, or if anyone was hurt.
Route 220 reopened Thursday morning after the crash in Bradford County.
Check out the latest traffic conditions at wnep.com/traffic.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/bradford-county/crash-closed-route-220-athens-bradford-county-accident/523-d8c1ffba-8c37-4511-88ae-d61b868f9e6b | 2022-06-16T12:38:37 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/bradford-county/crash-closed-route-220-athens-bradford-county-accident/523-d8c1ffba-8c37-4511-88ae-d61b868f9e6b |
MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — A man is behind bars in Monroe County after allegedly leading police on a chase.
According to Pocono Mountain Regional Police, say Darius Scott was wanted on a warrant when police found him driving in Mount Pocono.
When they tried to pull him over, he took off.
Authorities caught up with him, and Scott slammed into a police cruiser head-on.
Scott and his passenger, Cameron Burge, are both facing drug charges in Monroe County.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/man-locked-after-police-chase-through-poconos-monroe-county-mount-pocono/523-010e3768-3bb2-4588-afb9-85e0d703faf4 | 2022-06-16T12:38:38 | 0 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/man-locked-after-police-chase-through-poconos-monroe-county-mount-pocono/523-010e3768-3bb2-4588-afb9-85e0d703faf4 |
I&M poised for summer heat, addresses the likelihood of blackouts in Muncie area
MUNCIE, Ind. — Brutally hot temperatures this week have had air conditioners working overtime, using ample amounts of electricity to keep indoors habitable. While that power drain could push parts of Indiana toward restrictions on electricity use, Muncie appears in the clear for that this summer.
Tracy Warner, corporate communications manager at Indiana and Michigan Power in Fort Wayne, said the utility's power grid has reported it has the power available to push through this summer.
"American Electric Power, I&M's parent company, is part of the PJM Interconnection — the nation's largest electric grid operator. PJM says it has enough supply to meet summer electricity needs for the 65 million people it serves in 13 states, including the I&M service territory," a statement from Warner said.
I&M plans upgrade:Of electric transmission in NW Muncie to increase reliability
PJM reported last month that it was prepared to serve a forecasted summer peak demand of about 149,000 megawatts, but has performed reliability studies at even higher loads – in excess of 157,000 MW. PJM has about 185,000 MW of installed generating capacity available to meet customer needs, with sufficient resources available in reserve to cover generation that is unexpectedly unavailable.
“PJM understands the critical importance that electricity plays in the daily lives of the 65 million people in our footprint. We prepare for summer operations throughout the year, knowing electricity use is normally highest during this season,” said PJM President and CEO Manu Asthana. “Reliability is a primary focus for us.”
Possible rolling blackouts elsewhere in Indiana
Much of the rest of Indiana is served by another grid operator that has been candid about the challenges it's facing this summer and on into the future.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), already has warned of potential capacity shortfalls and other reliability concerns in parts of its territory that includes most of Indiana outside of the northeast part of the state.
Related:As officials project warm temps, high energy demands, could Indiana see rolling blackouts?
Earlier this year, MISO projected this summer could be difficult due to an increase in demand post-pandemic and a drop in capacity due to coal fired plants retiring and going offline. The MISO grid, which covers 42 million people in 15 U.S. central states and Manitoba, has 2.3% less generation going into the summer compared to 2021.
"More extreme temperatures, higher generation outages, or low wind conditions expose the MISO North and Central areas to higher risk of temporary operator-initiated load shedding to maintain system reliability," the MISO report said.
Last week MISO released another report that surveyed its future resources and forecasted possible shortfalls in 2023, 2024 and beyond.
Solar vs. grain:Farm feud in Washington Township roils community, ends friendships
“To ensure reliable operations, MISO will be increasingly reliant on emergency or non-firm resources, such as imports, which are not reflected in the survey but have historically been important and available to MISO,” last week's report read.
According to a Reuters report, MISO said its northern and central regions of the grid are at "increased risk of temporary, controlled outages to preserve the integrity of the bulk electric system,"
Sarah Freeman, a commissioner with the Indiana Utility regulatory and president of the Organization of MISO States issued a statement in support of the grid operators as they move to greener sources of power generation.
"States stand ready to work with MISO … to maintain reliability and resilience throughout this significant resource transformation," she said
David Penticuff is the local government reporter at the Star Press. Contact him at dpenticuff@gannett.com. | https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/could-muncie-face-power-outages-summer-indiana-heats-up/7636639001/ | 2022-06-16T12:47:43 | 0 | https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/could-muncie-face-power-outages-summer-indiana-heats-up/7636639001/ |
New Castle Library adds new self-checkout stations
NEW CASTLE, Ind. — The New Castle-Henry County Public Library has three new self-checkout stations to improve patron service. Two are next to the main circulation desk and the third is located in the children’s department, according to a release.
The stations use RFID technology, sending a radio signal from the checkout station to the book, which it then deems as “checked out.” Patrons can stack four to five books and check them all out at the same time. When tags cannot be found, scans are available. Checkout slips show a variety of information including the number of books checked out under the account, when books are due back, and holds.
Patrons who prefer in-person service can use the main circulation desk, where a library staff member will be available to help
Information: nchcpl.org.
More:Students get their summer reading through United Way's Summer Book Give-Away
River Valley Road reopens
YORKTOWN — River Valley Road between Delaware County roads 700-W and 725-W has reopened as of Thursday, according to the Delaware County Engineering Department.
Other road closures:Nebo, River roads closed for roundabout construction
History program to show 'What Muncie Women Wore'
MUNCIE — “Essay and Ensembles: What Muncie Women Wore Making History” will be presented 2-3 p.m. Thursday, June 23, at the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center, 400 W. Minnetrista Blvd.
The program is free but requires a reservation. To make a reservation, call the E.B. Ball Center at 765-285-8975 and leave a message.
Melissa Gentry, supervisor for the Geographic Information Science Research and Map Collection at Ball State University’s Bracken Library, will present the program. Diana Saiki, curator of Ball State’s Beeman Historic Costume Collection, will bring examples of clothing from the collection to complement Gentry’s presentation.
Attendees will learn about what Muncie women wore as suffragists and flappers, as well as during the gas boom, the influenza pandemic, the depression, wars and social unrest. Individual stories of local women of style and substance also will be shared.
Send news items to The Star Press at news@muncie.gannett.com. | https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/new-castle-library-adds-new-self-checkout-stations/7632763001/ | 2022-06-16T12:47:44 | 1 | https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2022/06/16/new-castle-library-adds-new-self-checkout-stations/7632763001/ |
A Kenosha Unified School District joint standing committee held a budget workshop Tuesday to identify aspects of the budget it would like to cut last and aspects they would like to have analyzed for reductions.
"These initial reductions that we did were initial," KUSD superintendent Bethany Ormseth said. "And it's these next two and three layers that are really going to have to have input."
The groups suggested that core academics, extracurricular activities, classes for college credit, gifted classes and special education classes not be cut first, and it was asked that the district not max out kindergarten through third grade class sizes.
Ormseth said topics such as gifted classes, classes for college credit and special education classes are required by the state to be provided.
Programs not geared toward the classroom, administration employee reductions and school consolidation were all given as areas to analyze for reductions. A member of one of the tables also asked the district to define "waste" in its budget.
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"When we start getting into this structural deficit, you are looking at programs, you are looking at structures of benefits— you are looking at everything," Ormseth said.
When KUSD staff were asked about their priorities within the budget, there were a variety of responses to different areas of the budget. Some responses included asking students and families to cover the costs of damaged Chromebooks, closing schools with lower enrollment and allowing students to not take fruit with lunch if they do not want it, among many other responses.
"It's (reductions) going to have to be thoughtfully done, it's going to have to have more eyes and more voices, because it's not going to be as easy," Ormseth said. "We did what was easy this year; what was obvious this year; and what was natural this year." | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/kusd-budget-workshop-shares-feedback/article_17f30e7c-ec44-11ec-8448-bfde9ad1e5a2.html | 2022-06-16T12:52:31 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/kusd-budget-workshop-shares-feedback/article_17f30e7c-ec44-11ec-8448-bfde9ad1e5a2.html |
ORLANDO, Fla. – A fire broke out Thursday morning at an auto shop in Orange County, killing one person, officials said.
The fire was reported around 6 a.m. at Orlando Garage Auto Inc. on Grand Street, between Interstate 4 and Rio Grande Avenue near Orlando.
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Orange County Fire Rescue said crews arrived and found “heavy fire and smoke, with exposures to a separate warehouse.”
Fire officials said one person died in the blaze, but no other details have been released.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Check back for updates.
#BLDFire 1500 block of Grand St. Calls at 6:03am with reports of business on fire. Crews arrived to heavy fire & smoke w/ exposures to separate warehouse. 1 fatality. Fire out. No other details related.
— OCFire Rescue (@OCFireRescue) June 16, 2022 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/1-dead-in-fire-at-business-near-orlando/ | 2022-06-16T12:52:33 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/1-dead-in-fire-at-business-near-orlando/ |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — An investigation is underway after a Birmingham police officer was involved in a single-vehicle crash early Thursday morning.
According to Truman Fitzgerald with the BPD, the officer crashed their vehicle into a utility pole at the old Alabama Power building on 19th Street and First Avenue South. The accident happened just before 2 a.m.
The preliminary investigation reveals the officer was on patrol traveling northbound on 19th Street South before colliding into the pole. Fitzgerald reports that the officer did not have their lights or sirens activated, nor were they responding to a call.
The officer was transported to UAB Hospital in stable condition. There were no other injuries. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/birmingham-police-officer-injured-after-crashing-into-utility-pole/ | 2022-06-16T12:52:36 | 0 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/birmingham-police-officer-injured-after-crashing-into-utility-pole/ |
Eat your vegetables! It’s Fresh Veggies Day, a time to remind yourself to eat enough vegetables in your daily diet. (And if you just can’t eat any more green stuff, it’s also Fudge Day. Go ahead and indulge your sweet tooth; we won’t tell!)
Batter up! The Kenosha Kingfish are hosting the Traverse City Pit Spitters tonight at Simmons Field. The 6:35 p.m. also celebrates the 75th anniversary of local radio station WLIP. To purchase tickets, call 262-653-0900, log on at kingfishbaseball.com or go to the ticket office at Simmons Field.
All aboard! Kenosha’s Downtown electric streetcars are running seven days a week again, offering wonderful lakefront views. The streetcars run 11:05 a.m. to 6:35 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:35 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The fare is $1 for ages 13 and older and 50 cents for kids ages 5-12 (free for kids age 4 and younger). An all-day pass is $3.50.
Looking for live music tonight? The Prince Experience (a Prince tribute show) kicks off this season of River Rhythms in Waterford. The free concerts are 6:30 to 9 p.m. every other Thursday (through Aug. 25) in Village Hall Park, 123 N. River St. Food and beverages are available for purchase. Audience members should bring chairs and/or blankets. Admission is free.
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The new season of “Music & More” concerts continues today. The free concerts are noon to 1 p.m. Thursdays in Racine at First Presbyterian Church, 716 College Ave. For more details, see the story in today’s Get Out & About entertainment section. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/todays-events-for-thursday-june-16/article_71b1b1cc-ec51-11ec-b498-cb0bf67926bd.html | 2022-06-16T12:52:37 | 1 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/todays-events-for-thursday-june-16/article_71b1b1cc-ec51-11ec-b498-cb0bf67926bd.html |
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando firefighters sent multiple crews to a burning commercial building near the Mills 50 area.
The Orlando Fire Department responded at 10:50 p.m. Wednesday to the structure fire at 716 E. Colonial Drive, records show.
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Three chiefs responded to the fire, as well as three tower trucks, five engines, a heavy rescue vehicle and an air unit, the department said.
Photos and video of the scene shared on Twitter by Orlando firefighters show smoke and flames erupting from the small property.
Additional video of the fire on East Colonial Drive. pic.twitter.com/29QaYkhHWC
— Orlando Fire Dept (@OrlandoFireDept) June 16, 2022
The building was vacant and no injuries were reported, firefighters said.
No other details were released. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/video-fire-burns-building-near-mills-50-area-in-orlando/ | 2022-06-16T12:52:39 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/video-fire-burns-building-near-mills-50-area-in-orlando/ |
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Prosecutors are calling rebuttal witnesses Thursday morning in the murder trial for a woman accused of fatally stabbing her husband in their Winter Park home in January 2019.
Danielle Redlick, 48, faces charges of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of 65-year-old Michael Redlick, who worked as director of external affairs and partnership relations at UCF’s DeVos Sport Business Management Graduate Program.
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Redlick testified Wednesday for the second day in a row about the night her husband was stabbed on Jan. 19, 2019. During cross-examination, the state spent nearly two hours poking holes in Redlick’s story. She admitted she lied when she first reported Michael Redlick’s death.
Prosecutors then questioned her about cleaning up the scene before officers arrived. The jury also heard testimony Wednesday from a physician who said he treated the couple following a domestic incident.
Danielle Redlick claimed she was being choked by her husband, which forced her to stab him, although the state said evidence points to a case of second-degree murder, not self-defense.
Prosecutors said evidence shows she cleaned up afterward, checked messages on a dating app and waited 11 hours to call police. Investigators said the nature of her husband’s wounds don’t match up with her claims.
Michael Redlick was found dead Jan. 12, 2019, in their shared home on Temple Drive. According to a warrant for Redlick’s arrest, investigators said Redlick initially told 911 dispatchers that her husband suffered a heart attack after an argument, later claiming he stabbed himself. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/watch-live-at-9-am-more-witnesses-take-stand-in-murder-trial-for-woman-accused-in-ucf-executives-death/ | 2022-06-16T12:52:45 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/16/watch-live-at-9-am-more-witnesses-take-stand-in-murder-trial-for-woman-accused-in-ucf-executives-death/ |
TUPELO • Elvis's legacy looms large over Tupelo, but in Australian writer/director Baz Luhrmann's new film, Tupelo's influence on the King of Rock and Roll is front and center.
Luhrmann, who served as writer, director and producer for "Elvis,” visited Tupelo two times to conduct research for the film. During his trips, he stopped at the Elvis Presley Birthplace and chatted with the late Sam Bell, a childhood friend of Elvis, who died in September 2021 at age 85.
In the movie, viewers are offered a sepia-toned look at Elvis's childhood in the Shake Rag community of east Tupelo in 1947, with scenes straight from Bell's mouth to the big screen.
While making the film, Luhrmann — whose previous movies include “Strictly Ballroom,” “Romeo + Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge!” and “The Great Gatsby” — found that most people show little interest in Elvis’s life before he walked into Sun Studio to record his first hit. But for Luhrmann, portraying Elvis's childhood fully and accurately was of the utmost importance.
"It was an obsession of mine to find someone who knew him in that time," Luhrmann told the Daily Journal via a video interview, this week. "Sam tells it in such an open-hearted way. I just found out so much. I put all of it verbatim in the movie."
In one of the film's opening scenes, Elvis and a group of friends from the predominantly Black neighborhood in which he lived peer inside a juke joint and see people dancing to "That's All Right" by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup.
Elvis's version of the song would be the first single he recorded in 1954 at Sun Studio in Memphis.
"Down in Tupelo, Mississippi, I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now, and I said if I ever got to the place I could feel all old Arthur felt, I’d be a music man like nobody ever saw," Presley said in a 1956 interview.
From the juke joint, Luhrmann’s movie takes the boys to a tent revival, where a wide-eyed Elvis ends up in the middle of the worship service. And that's exactly how it went down, Bell recounted to Luhrmann.
Elvis would go down amongst the musicians, getting swept up in the music and moving back and forth.
"Do you think that kind of influenced the movement (he had onstage)?" Luhrmann said he asked Bell, to which Elvis’s childhood friend answered, “Absolutely.”
Elvis's friends thought hanging out in gospel tents was uncool, Luhrmann said. Bell remembered going up to grab Elvis and leave, but the preacher told him, "Leave him be. He's with the Spirit."
Throughout the movie, the scenes of Elvis peeking through the cracks of the juke joint or gyrating at the revival are paralleled with pivotal performances, linking back to his Tupelo roots.
From watching Elvis movies to making one about him
As Luhrmann sees it, a lifelong connection to one's adolescence is a universal experience.
"I think in a way that period as you're transitioning into an adult, what happens to you then, you probably spend the rest of your life working it out," Luhrmann said.
"It just never goes away," he added. "It’s like being programmed. It’s your hard-wiring."
Luhrmann's first encounter with Elvis's larger-than-life persona came during his formative years. He grew up in the tiny town of Herons Creek in New South Wales, Australia — a town much smaller than Tupelo.
There was only one gas station in the town, which his family owned. Down the road, in the next biggest town, there was a movie theater.
And for a while, Luhrmann's dad operated it. The Sunday matinee was often an Elvis movie.
"I was a young kid. He was the coolest guy in the world," Luhrmann said. "So that was that, and it left an imprint on me."
Years later, he'd still refer to Elvis as a touchpoint for an understanding of America. But generations born after Elvis's untimely death know little of his life beyond the iconic white jumpsuit.
"(For) a certain age group, he’s just kind of relegated to a Halloween costume," Luhrmann said.
The director's goal isn't to sell Elvis to a new generation, but to show them a cautionary tale about fame in an era when anyone can pick up an iPhone and become famous overnight.
"What he represents about America and the journey he went through, the story, is so valuable and particularly in relation to the Colonel, that this generation will miss out if you don’t tell the story," Luhrmann said.
Telling the story of Elvis and his manager, Col. Tom Parker, was a way for Luhrmann to show the contrast between the freedom of creativity, spirit, soul and truth and the ability to sell and promote hype and energy.
"There’s nothing wrong with self-promotion, hype and energy," Luhrmann said. "But if self-promotion, hype and energy become the dominant force and there’s no room for soul, truth, invention, creativity, that’s when tragic things occur."
It's like a Shakespearian play in that way, he feels.
"If Shakespeare were here, I think he would think the musical ‘Hamlet’ character in modern-day culture would be Elvis," Luhrmann said.
'Tupelo Shuffle': A modern take on a classic Elvis tune
Despite the recurring theme of tragedy, the film has more than its fair share of upbeat moments — and music.
The film's 36-song soundtrack includes one track that's sure to interest audiences in and around Northeast Mississippi: "Tupelo Shuffle" features vocals from Swae Lee and production from Diplo, both Tupelo natives. It also includes vocals from the gospel choir seen in the revival tent scene and interpolates Austin Butler as Elvis Presley and Gary Clark Jr. as Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup performing "That's All Right" in the film.
Luhrmann, known for his involvement in creating the soundtracks for his films, said his goal was to translate the music's original themes and messages for a modern audience.
"(Diplo) and Swae wrote this overlay, which was really about going out on the town," Luhrmann said of the Tupelo-centric track. "It’s a kind of sexy song. Because in truth ‘That’s Alright Mama’ is a sexy song but it’s hard to understand that now."
Luhrmann said he's thankful for the kind people of Tupelo who looked after his team during their visits to research Elvis's early life.
"I wanted to represent that town and those people with the respect and the accuracy that it deserves," he said.
The film, which received a 12-minute standing ovation following its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, will open in theaters June 24.
Early access fan screening events across the country, including in Tupelo, will take place June 21. Tickets can be purchased at elvis.warnerbros.com/earlyaccessfanevent. | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/in-baz-luhrmanns-elvis-movie-tupelos-influence-is-front-and-center/article_86da43b6-f18c-5f80-b8c1-21c4f5da166e.html | 2022-06-16T13:03:56 | 1 | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/in-baz-luhrmanns-elvis-movie-tupelos-influence-is-front-and-center/article_86da43b6-f18c-5f80-b8c1-21c4f5da166e.html |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Retaining and luring new talent. It is the goal of NetApp’s new facility on Wichita State University’s (WSU) Innovation Campus.
Wednesday was the grand opening of the new 168,000-square-foot building.
It includes a game room, a quiet room, and opportunities for students to learn about a field they might want to go into after college.
“I think the biggest thing is collaboration is really easy now you know if you’re having an issue or working through something help is really not far away,” said incoming WSU Senior Justin Buresh.
This new $50 million NetApp facility will help students like Buresh get experience in fields like computer science.
The company’s investments will open doors for students who will learn about data management, artificial intelligence, and machine learning,” said Gov. Laura Kelly.
The new facility offers innovative ways for students to keep up with the current technology trends and set new trends.
Over 500 NetApp employees, as well as WSU students, will use the space.
The community is also invited to use the indoor space and the outdoor spaces like the basketball or pickleball courts.
“They might come here to play basketball, but because they feel good being here, they might apply to go to this college and which is going to lead them to apply to work for a place like NetApp or apply for an internship,” said Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple.
It’s a way to inspire the next generation of students to make Wichita a place to innovate.
“The real-world experience is really great. I know a lot of students kind of struggle to get that, but I will work here also during the school year, so I think to have that on my resume will make me a more promising candidate,” said WSU incoming Junior Gannon Steiner.
To learn more about Wichita State’s Innovation Campus, click here. | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/wsus-innovation-campus-expands-netapp-opens-wichita-headquarters/ | 2022-06-16T13:10:24 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/wsus-innovation-campus-expands-netapp-opens-wichita-headquarters/ |
A subway rider in his 30s is fighting for his life after his clothes somehow got stuck in a train door as it pulled away from a Brooklyn station, dragging him along with it in a scene that likely appears in many New Yorkers' nightmares.
The victim, whose name has not been released, was getting off a northbound Q train at Brooklyn's Avenue M stop at East 16th Street in Midwood shortly before midnight when his clothing got caught in the door, police said.
The train pulled away, dragging the straphanger along with it, police say.
At some point, the man fell to the tracks and was hit by a northbound Q train.
Power was shut off in the area so authorities could pull him off the tracks. They did and he was taken to a hospital, where he was said to be fighting for life early Thursday.
Service was restored in the area before 1 a.m. No other details were available. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/clothes-trapped-in-nyc-subway-door-lead-to-terrifying-accident/3736799/ | 2022-06-16T13:11:27 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/clothes-trapped-in-nyc-subway-door-lead-to-terrifying-accident/3736799/ |
When Lincoln Southwest High School theater director Bob Henrichs heard about the Cyndi Lauper shoutout, he rightfully erred on the side of disbelief.
There could be no way. The Cyndi Lauper of '80s pop music fame? Who wrote such hits as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time"? Not to mention the Tony Award-winning musical "Kinky Boots," which Southwest performed last December.
"It was like, 'Oh, my gosh, is this really true?'" Henrichs said Wednesday.
Indeed, Lauper had turned to Facebook last year to praise Southwest for putting on a "great version" of her 2012 musical. Jerry Mitchell, the choreographer and director of the Broadway show, even sent the cast and crew a personal video, too.
But it wasn't just the performance that impressed Lauper. It was the fact that Southwest was using the show to raise money for the Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth.
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The students raised about $3,000 for the organization through their performances last year, but they're not done yet.
On Thursday and Friday, the students will reprise their roles in "Kinky Boots" at Southwest before heading next week to Bloomington, Indiana, for the International Thespian Festival, where they'll be one of six schools from across the country to take the main stage.
It's the second year in a row and fourth time overall that Southwest has reached the prestigious high school theater festival's main stage, the only school in Lincoln to ever do so and the only school in Nebraska in the past 30 years.
Last year, the school's rendition of the musical "Newsies" earned main-stage honors, but the festival — which was held in Lincoln before moving to Indiana a few years ago — was held virtually, which meant no live performances.
"We just had to click send and send the video link," Henrichs said.
But this year's festival is returning to its in-person format. The two benefit performances at Southwest on Thursday and Friday, which both start at 7 p.m., will raise money to pay for the cast and crew to attend the festival. It will also help pay for production costs, including moving the set's 40-by-18-feet faux-brick factory wall made of Styrofoam.
"It's about 1,000 pounds of wall that has to be (moved)," Henrichs said.
Each upcoming performance will feature a "minute to give it" fundraiser, in which audience members can make cash donations to the Trevor Project on site. You can also donate at https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/59958.
For Southwest junior Steven Dao, who plays the drag queen Lola in "Kinky Boots," raising money for the Trevor Project was personal for him as a member of the LGBTQ community.
"It was just something that we wanted to do ... in the light of the LGBTQ community and the hardships that we face being openly gay," he said.
Dao got involved in musical theater as a crew member his freshman year before earning prominent roles in productions of "Newsies" and "Mamma Mia" his sophomore year.
When he auditioned for "Kinky Boots," he originally wanted to play the main role of Charlie Price, who takes over the failing shoe factory from his father and forms an unlikely partnership with Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots and save the business.
In fact, playing Lola wasn't even on his mind.
"I did not want to touch the role," Dao said.
It was difficult as first, he says. He felt like he was trying too hard to emulate Billy Porter, who played Lola on Broadway, rather than just being himself.
"As I continued and got more comfortable and accepted myself as the character, I put myself in the role rather than putting someone else in the role," he said.
He especially credits Jami Tesch and Tricia Aldag, instructors from the local dance school Pas de Deux, in helping him learn the choreography.
And when he found out in January that the school's production was invited to the mainstage, Dao — like many of his peers — was surprised.
"We were all in shock," he said. "All the hard work for the past couple of months felt paid off."
Southwest wasn't even planning on putting on the musical until Music Theatre International, a licensing agency in New York, reached out to Henrichs asking if the school would be interested in being part of free nationwide pilot of the show, which was based off a 2005 British movie of the same name.
"It was too good to pass up," Henrichs said.
The Silver Hawk cast was allowed to use the original, trademarked choreography from the show, too.
In the end, raising money for the Trevor Project went hand-in-hand with "Kinky Boots," a show about "the positive message of being yourself," acceptance and love, Henrichs said.
Southwest has used past shows to raise money for other organizations, too, including the Matthew Sheppard Foundation when it put on the play "The Laramie Project."
Next week, the Southwest cast will perform "Kinky Boots" twice on the Indiana University campus, where thousands of students will flock for the weeklong event. They take the stage on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
For Dao, it will be culmination of everybody's hard work.
"It's kind of a team effort to get there."
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Contact the writer at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @HammackLJS | https://journalstar.com/news/local/education/they-earned-a-cyndi-lauper-shoutout-now-southwests-kinky-boots-cast-is-headed-to-national/article_6dea40ee-762d-5f6c-958e-bb782282c9da.html | 2022-06-16T13:12:50 | 0 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/education/they-earned-a-cyndi-lauper-shoutout-now-southwests-kinky-boots-cast-is-headed-to-national/article_6dea40ee-762d-5f6c-958e-bb782282c9da.html |
UPPER TOWNSHIP — For years, probably decades, not much happened on Bayaire Road, a shady cul-de-sac lined with single-family houses built in the 1960s and ’70s.
Recently, neighbors banded together to oppose a plan to create a winery on a former Christmas tree farm nearby. More recently, some of the same neighbors have come to Upper Township Committee asking for more controls on short-term rentals.
Residents were back at the committee meeting this week, asking for more limits on house rentals handled through internet sites like VRBO and Airbnb. Their concern was for a specific house, one they told the committee was rented to young people each weekend, and used as a party house.
Neighbors told committee that the property was advertised as sleeping up to 14 people.
“I look at it as a business in a residential neighborhood,” said Ed Price, who lives nearby.
Usually, when there are complaints about party houses in shore communities, noise is the first complaint. That has not been the case here.
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Price said there has not been much noise coming from the property. Still, he and other residents want new limits on the use, citing increased traffic and other concerns.
“It’s unbelievable how many cars they bring into your neighborhood,” Price said.
In previous meetings, when residents asked for limits on short-term rentals, township administrator Gary DeMarzo said the township already has laws and ordinances that prevent disruptive behavior and loud parties.
Maria Busz, who also lives nearby the house in question, said that is not enough to address the concerns of the neighborhood.
“The Beesleys Point area is a prime spot for investors to buy up properties and alter the neighborhood,” Busz said. “There will be no property left for young families.”
She also said there had been no problems with undue noise from the property since neighbors spoke at the last meeting.
“They were quiet and on their best behavior,” she said. “If they were noisy, I would have called the police, but this is about fixing the issue, not harassing the neighbors.”
Among the suggestions from neighbors are a limit to rentals of a week or less.
There was no action from Township Committee on the issue, but Mayor Curtis Corson expressed sympathy for the neighbor’s concerns about the use.
“It’s not something we want to encourage, I don’t think, because it’s basically a hotel,” he said. “The septic is not designed for that.”
But he again sounded a cautious note as well, citing the Strathmere section of the township, where weekly rentals are common in the beachfront village.
Some of the concerns with increased traffic and a change to the character of the neighborhood were similar to those raised about a plan to create Ocean City Winery at a former Christmas tree farm. The plans include a tasting room.
The owner has agreed to have the entrance to the facility on Route 9 rather than on Bayaire Road, but neighbors remained skeptical, and the township had attorneys present at a Monday meeting of the Cape May County Agricultural Development Board.
Both the township and a group of neighbors challenged the initial notice of a previous meeting, at which the board certified that the property is a farm, according to attorney Colin Bell who represents the winery owner Michael Halpern.
In the coming weeks, he will submit what’s called a site-specific agriculture management plan for the winery. Bell maintains that approval of that plan by the agriculture board would allow the proposal to move forward without review by the township Zoning Board or Planning Board, under New Jersey’s Right to Farm law.
The land, a little over five acres, was already preserved farmland when Halpern bought it, Bell said on Wednesday. It cannot be developed as residential units or used for other purposes, Bell said.
“There’s really no question on that. There’s nothing you can do on it but farm and do other agricultural activities,” he said.
One of the people objecting to the winery plan at previous meetings was identified on Monday as the owner of the rental property on Bayaire Road. Victor Nappen, the father of Township Committee candidate Victor Nappen II, was said the be the owner of the VRBO property by some of the neighbors.
At previous meetings, Nappen had said the winery plan would disturb the very quiet neighborhood. Attempts to contact Nappen for an interview this week were not successful.
An advertisement for the property posted to airbnb.com cites its proximity to a vineyard, as well as to the Tuckahoe Inn, Yesterday’s and the beaches of Ocean City. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/beesleys-point-neighbors-seek-to-stave-off-change/article_908bff9e-ecd3-11ec-8945-db4e6be04e12.html | 2022-06-16T13:14:29 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/beesleys-point-neighbors-seek-to-stave-off-change/article_908bff9e-ecd3-11ec-8945-db4e6be04e12.html |
MILLINOCKET, Maine — A boy died Wednesday after he fell off the end of a dock while fishing, according to the Piscataquis County Sheriff's Office.
The 5-year-old from southern Maine was fishing with his family at Ambajejus Lake in T1 R9, a township just northwest of Millinocket and south of Baxter State Park.
The boy reportedly fell into the lake around 2 p.m. while he was left alone for a few minutes and was found in the water when the family returned to the dock, Sheriff Robert Young told NEWS CENTER Maine.
The boy's father and other EMTs attempted CPR and other life-saving measures on their way to a nearby hospital, but the boy did not survive, the sheriff said.
No other information was released as of Thursday morning. | https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/boy-5-dies-after-falling-into-ambajejus-lake-on-wednesday/97-56cae30f-0ef5-408d-8ff5-65151b294f6f | 2022-06-16T13:23:25 | 0 | https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/boy-5-dies-after-falling-into-ambajejus-lake-on-wednesday/97-56cae30f-0ef5-408d-8ff5-65151b294f6f |
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Restaurateur Stephen Starr will launch a seasonal Center City café next week that will serve up a French-inspired menu of light bites, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported.
The 138-seat Café Click at Comcast Center will debut at 1701 John F. Kennedy Blvd. on June 21. It will be open for lunch and dinner Mondays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. until the end of September.
The all-day cafe will offer a menu of coffee, salads, soups, artisanal cheeses and charcuterie. In the evening, cocktails and wine will be available, as well as fare like oysters, crêpes, tartines and quiches. Pastry selections include L’éclair Classique and Crème Caramel.
See photos from Stephen Starr's newest Philadelphia eatery Café Click at PBJ.com.
Get all of your business news at the Philadelphia Business Journal. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/stephen-starr-opening-seasonal-cafe-at-comcast-center/3272801/ | 2022-06-16T13:26:57 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/stephen-starr-opening-seasonal-cafe-at-comcast-center/3272801/ |
GREENSBORO — Police say they arrested a 33-year-old man after he shot at officers from a hotel room Wednesday night and barricaded himself inside.
Officers responded at 7:22 p.m. to Relax Inn, in the 1700 block of McKnight Mill Road, where Michael Eltorres Stirling Robinson Jr. shot at them as they arrived, according to a news release from Greensboro police.
After hours of negotiations, officers arrested Robinson without further incident just before 11:30 p.m., police said in the news release.
Robinson had outstanding orders for arrest for possession of firearm by a felon, assault on a female, drug charges, and multiple traffic offenses. Police are still investigating and additional charges may be pending.
According to online jail records, Robinson is also charged with burning of personal property. He faces multiple charges of failure to appear, some of which are from Rockingham, records show.
Robinson is scheduled to appear in court this morning. | https://greensboro.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/greensboro-police-man-33-shot-at-officers-barricaded-himself-in-hotel-room-wednesday-night/article_8c7e49b2-ed63-11ec-9746-a32bf71eab2a.html | 2022-06-16T13:30:31 | 1 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/greensboro-police-man-33-shot-at-officers-barricaded-himself-in-hotel-room-wednesday-night/article_8c7e49b2-ed63-11ec-9746-a32bf71eab2a.html |
HONEY GROVE, Texas — An AMBER alert was issued Thursday morning for a 13-year-old girl who went missing in Honey Grove, about 90 miles northeast of Dallas.
Police said Kionna Braxton hasn't been seen since 1:40 p.m. Tuesday. At that time, she was on Elm Street near Highway 82.
According to Honey Grove police, Kionna is a Black girl standing at almost 5 feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds. She has brown eyes and had blondish-brown braids when she was last seen.
Before she went missing, police say Kionna was wearing an orange and white cheerleading outfit and Crocs with the colors blue, orange and red.
Anyone with any information about the 13-year-old should call 911 or the Honey Grove Police Department at 903-378-2222.
Honey Grove is a town of about 1,600 people, located between Paris and Bonham along Highway 82.
Other news: | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/amber-alert-honey-grove-texas-missing-child-13-year-old-girl/287-19ca0261-b458-4d07-96ee-c0ce3a704b00 | 2022-06-16T13:33:56 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/amber-alert-honey-grove-texas-missing-child-13-year-old-girl/287-19ca0261-b458-4d07-96ee-c0ce3a704b00 |
SAN ANTONIO — A man was critically injured after he crashed into the back of an 18-wheeler that was pulled over on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck.
It happened at 3:15 a.m. Thursday on I-35 North near Eisenhauer Road on the northeast side of town. Officials say the big rig was pulled over on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck when a driver plowed into the back of his truck. The driver of the pickup truck was pinned inside his truck and had to be cut out by firefighters. He was taken to SAMMC in life-threatening condition.
No other injuries were reported. Police are not sure how the crash happened but are investigating. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/man-critically-injured-after-crashing-into-18-wheeler-on-side-of-highway-thursday-san-antonio/273-59a1b39e-c31f-4092-83a4-16788a062f24 | 2022-06-16T13:33:56 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/man-critically-injured-after-crashing-into-18-wheeler-on-side-of-highway-thursday-san-antonio/273-59a1b39e-c31f-4092-83a4-16788a062f24 |
SAN ANTONIO — A man was shot multiple times early Thursday morning as he was pulling into an apartment complex on the west side of town.
Police and firefighters responded to the 1100 block of Callaghan near Culebra just after 1:00 a.m. when officers arrived at the location, officers found the victim, a man in his late 20s, with two gunshot wounds in his arm. He told police he did not know who shot him.
The victim told police he had just pulled into the west side apartment complex, when the suspect in a white car pulled in behind him and shot him multiple times through the driver’s side window. The suspect drove off immediately following the shooting.
The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay.
Officials are still searching for the suspect and the white car he was driving. They are collecting evidence and gathering more information as the investigation continues. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/police-searching-for-suspect-who-shot-man-multiple-times-at-west-side-san-antonio-thursday/273-0825c3cb-4431-4409-b4a6-203058166eb6 | 2022-06-16T13:33:58 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/police-searching-for-suspect-who-shot-man-multiple-times-at-west-side-san-antonio-thursday/273-0825c3cb-4431-4409-b4a6-203058166eb6 |
Randolph "Pat" Jenks was born to a prosperous family in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1912. He first came west at age 15 to attend the Mesa Ranch School; later he went to the University of Arizona, followed by two field seasons at UC Berkely where he studied birds with Joseph Grinnell. At 19 years old, he homesteaded at Veit Springs. At that time he was the first Curator of Ornithology for the Museum of Northern Arizona.
On a pack trip from Mesa Ranch School's Flagstaff campus, his instructor, Lionel Brady, took Pat and the class up the old wagon road beside Hart Prairie up into the Peaks. They stopped near a cabin with a small cave with a spring, pond, and Native American petroglyphs. “I had a drink from that pure, ice-cold water and it did something to me at that very moment. I felt connected to that place in a deep way.”
Pat was struck by the bird diversity in these hills. “I wrote my family a letter and told them about the wonderful place that we had been to.” The 160 acres had originally been homesteaded in 1892 by German immigrant Ludwig Veit. Pat noted, “in my letter home I wrote how happy I’d be if I could get a place like this. They wrote back that they’d help secure the place. With great enthusiasm I went to the courthouse in Flagstaff and looked up the owner, Mr. George Campbell also a sheepherder. He was an old man in 1928 and wanted to sell it for $10,000. What a gift! Imagine a teenager getting a whole ranch like that. I referred to the place as ‘Deerwater Ranch.’”
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At this same time, Dr. and Mrs. Harold Colton, known to Jenks’ parents, were developing the Museum of Northern Arizona. They offered Pat a position as the first curator of birds. At the encouragement of Edwin McKee, park naturalist on the South Rim, Jenks wrote an article on the birds in each life zone from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the top of the San Francisco Peaks discovering new sub-species of Golden-Crowned Kinglet and Pine Grosbeak along the way.
Between 1931 and 1932 while studying at University of Arizona, Pat recorded “nearly every weekend I’d head up to my ranch in Flagstaff. ... The three-room, two-story cabin on the property was originally built by Veit in 1892, and was a unique, stylistic example of early log cabins. Veit used square hewn logs and half, dove tail notches on the corners. This wonderfully constructed cabin with two rooms on the main floor and a ladder going up to a trapdoor entering into a loft where I installed two more windows and used it as an office. The two large rooms downstairs served as kitchen-living room and bedroom.”
The cabin, variously known as “Veit,” “Deerwater” and “Jenks,” can be seen today near Frances Short Pond, where it was moved and used as an environmental education classroom.
While exploring near Deerwater, Jenks found an old Forest Service shack that was falling apart. With permission from the Coconino National Forest, he disassembled it log by log and reconstructed it at Deerwater between three large volcanic boulders. It served as his guest house (hosting Everett Ruess among others), equipped with a double bunk, stove and running water that he developed for both cabins from the three local springs (Veit, Middle and Indian). Each spring had a rock-faced spring house, pipes and troughs to keep a pond full and water running to the cabins.
In 1949, to cover debts, Pat sold Deerwater Ranch to Arizona Game and Fish, which renamed the area the Lamar Haines Memorial Wildlife Area after a notable Flagstaff sportsman and environmental educator. Jenks had owned Deerwater Ranch for 21 years and occupied it sporadically for 11 years.
Sadly, after the main cabin was moved to Frances Short Pond in Flagstaff, the small cabin collapsed in heavy snow in 2010 and has deteriorated since then. Pat Jenks lived to be 98, passing away in Tucson in 2011.
The next two Ask a Ranger columns will tell the story of Everett Ruess, the young artist-explorer of the Southwest and his visits to Flagstaff, including Deerwater Ranch.
Dan Campbell retired after 30 years with The Nature Conservancy as Director for Arizona, Belize, Jamaica and Bahamas, focusing on freshwater, marine and tropical forests systems.
The NPS/USFS Roving Rangers volunteer through a unique agreement between the Flagstaff Area National Monuments and the Coconino National Forest to provide Interpretive Ranger walks and talks in the Flagstaff area each summer.
Submit questions for the ‘Ask a Ranger’ weekly column to askaranger@gmail.com. | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/ask-a-ranger-pat-jenks-and-deerwater-ranch/article_7318bf30-ecfe-11ec-afc1-abf19242d70f.html | 2022-06-16T13:35:26 | 1 | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/ask-a-ranger-pat-jenks-and-deerwater-ranch/article_7318bf30-ecfe-11ec-afc1-abf19242d70f.html |
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